<p>Does anyone know any of the pros and cons of majoring in something like History or Philosophy with plans to go to medical school? In high school those are my strongest subjects, and I feel that my GPA will be considerably higher if I don't major in a science. I know that there are pre-requisites for medical school, so I would probably minor in neuroscience. However, would majoring in History or Philosophy hurt my resume for medical school? Will having a non-science major limit your research opportunities and internships?</p>
<p>I don’t think a neuroscience minor would fulfill your pre-med requirements. You’d be better off not minoring and just taking the classes as electives (or gen eds) instead.</p>
<p>As long as you complete the pre-req’s, you’ll be fine. </p>
<p>I think some medical schools look favorably on applicants who don’t major in a science; forgot where I heard this though.</p>
<p>Tulane has a special program called Creative Premedical Scholars program. The applicants take the science prereqs before junior year and are accepted into medical school. I know that math majors and philosophy majors had high acceptance rates.</p>
<p>I went to medical school as a special ed major after 8 years of teaching. My classmates were French majors, high school band directors and electronic engineering majors. Our only similarity was that we did well in our majors and the MCAT and we all graduated and are practicing physicians 20 years later. Short answer – major in what you love, do really well and ace the MCATs.</p>
<p>*I know that there are pre-requisites for medical school, so I would probably minor in neuroscience. However, would majoring in History or Philosophy hurt my resume for medical school? Will having a non-science major limit your research opportunities and internships? *</p>
<p>You can major in whatever you want. You just have to make sure that you have taken the pre-reqs for the med schools that you want to apply to…generally, you’ll take…</p>
<p>2 semesters of Intro to Bio
2 semesters of Gen Chem
2 semesters of OChem with lab
2 semesters of physics
1 -2 semesters of Cal</p>
<p>and some med schools have additional req’ts or recommended classes, such as Stats, BioChem, etc. Some Texas med schools, USC, and a few others have other req’ts. </p>
<p>Don’t bother with any minor(s) that might weaken your GPA in any way…such as causing you to have less time for the classes in your major or pre-med reqts. Or, would cause you to have less time to shadow doctors, intern, and do research. You can always take a neuroscience class or two for interest and possible research opps.</p>
<p>You’ll want your “cum GPA” and your “science GPA” to be at least a 3.6/3.7+</p>
<p>You can always ask your science profs about any research opps that you can assist them with.</p>
<p>Unless you’re going to do a glide year and apply after graduation, you’ll likely take your MCAT in the spring of junior year, and then submit apps in summer between jr and sr year. Keep your fall of senior year light to have time for interviews.</p>
<p>From a top 20 med school dean: Medical schools are looking for nonscience majors!</p>
<p>Definately major in a nonscience, my mom is a professor at a med school, and in one of her recent conservation with the dean, he was telling her how they’re looking for nonsccience majors, there are so many bio/chem majors, showing that you are well rounded really stands out. I’m thinking of doing the exact same thing.</p>