Hi all! I’ll give you fair warning that this may be a long post
I am a rising senior and I am intending on being a comp sci major. More specifically though, I am planning to be a comp sci major on a pre-med track. I know that many people wash out of being a pre-med, change their minds, etc. but assuming I stick with my plan, I am a bit unclear of the process. I have watched quite a few videos on the topic and what I have gathered so far is that it does not (technically) matter what you major in as a pre-med, so long as you have the prerequisites. You also have to complete your undergrad before applying to med school.
However, here are my remaining questions:
During your undergraduate years, when should you start applying to med school?
How should a comp sci major (or any major) balance their pre-med requisites along with the courses required for your major? (Two pre-med requisites a semester? One?)
Does it matter which college you go to? For instance, for comp sci, I have to get into the engineering program at the college but should I pick a college that more known for being "beneficial" for pre-meds or more pre-med oriented? (Like Emory, NYU, etc.)
How hard would it be for me to apply to med school with the added difficulty of being a comp sci major? In other words, is it a solid, feasible plan? (Difficulty being the stresses of long projects and such)
This is a bit off topic but while I love the STEM field (learning math and sciences), it is not innate to me as writing or learning history and I find myself having to work twice as hard as others who are going into similar career paths as me. I know ideally a STEM major would be strong in mathematics and science so could this be a reason I shouldn't go into the STEM field?
Again, sorry for the long post but I want to be as informed as possible going into college!
If you are that much better at non-STEM than STEM, you should reconsider the CS path. Computer science and pre-med courses can be weeder courses. You don't want to flunk out. You need a high GPA for medical school.
All upper-level courses will have long projects. Choose a major that you love and you will do well in it. If you choose a major that you don't like, you won't do well in it.
For both CS and med school, it really doesn't matter that much which school you go to. There are nuances to this though. Not all CS programs are run through the engineering school.
Up to you.
The actual application for med school would be started in your senior year of college.
The medical school application process takes a full year. Students apply in May/June to begin the following summer.
If you wish to matriculate directly into medical school from undergrad, you will apply to medical schools at the end of your junior year of college.
If you apply after graduation will need to take a gap year. The majority of successful med school applicants now take 1-3 (or more) gap years between undergrad and beginning medical school. (Per the MSQ.)
There’s no set rule for this. CS has a large set of required classes with minimal overlap with the courses required for medical school. It will be unavoidable having a number of challenging semesters where you will be be taking 4 hardcore science/math classes at the same time. It’s do-able.
Some pre-med classes are notoriously time consuming <ochem–i’m looking=“” at=“” you=“”> both lecture and lab. Try not to over schedule yourself by taking 3 other time consuming classes at the same time as Ochem. </ochem–i’m>
I would caution you against taking pre-med classes during the summer for several reasons. Summers are more beneficially used to work on pre-med ECs.
There are a couple of parents on this site whose children were CS majors who either have applied to med school or are in the process. Perhaps they can offer you more specific advice.
Not really. Pre-med is pretty much the same everywhere. It’s a set of commonly available classes offered at pretty much every college in the US. The name of your undergrad carries very little weight when adcomms are reviewing a med school application. It’s the student’s complete application portfolio that gets one accepted. A strong application portfolio includes excellent grades, a strong MCAT score, strong LORs from science & non-science professors and the expected pre-med ECs. (Physician shadowing including primary care, clinical experience, community service with disadvantaged populations, leadership roles in your activities, clinical or lab-based research experience, and for some some schools, teaching/tutoring/coaching experience.) Strong stats without the correlative ECs are worthless. You need both good stats AND strong ECs. There’s a saying about med school admissions–good stats get you to the front door, but It’s your ECs that get you invited inside for an interview.
Some colleges may have better staffed or more knowledgable health profession advising than others. But I’m not sure it’s worth paying a premium for advising–which can find elsewhere for free.
Be aware that some of the schools you’ve mentioned use health profession committee letter to control who is and who is not allowed to apply to medical school. (This is just one way undergrads keep their “accepted to med school” percentage high. Basically if the HP committee doesn’t believe you’re extremely likely be accepted, they won’t issue you a favorable letter or issue you any letter at all. Without a favorable letter, your application is DOA.)
Possible, but challenging and requiring excellent time management skills. You aren’t the first and certainly won’t be the last student to follow this path.
For most people, math is largely a area which requires a lot of grinding. Doing tons of problems until you get a innate feel for how certain categories of problems work. Finding solutions seems to involve a great deal of trial &error problem solving. I’ve heard that from all sort of successful science professionals. PhDs in engineering. PhDs in physics and chemistry. PhD is computer science. It surprised me because I had always assumed that these people were just “naturally good” at math. Some are but most are not.
Both my daughters were math + science double majors in college. One had an intuitive “knack” for seeing how to arrive at elegant solutions (so did their physicist dad); for the other, math was more a matter of keeping grinding away at it. But both were successful in their major. Did one arrive at her solutions more quickly than the other? Probably, but both were able to be successful in their math & science majors. (BTW, both were accepted to med school and both are now physicians.)
My opinion-- if you enjoy STEM subjects and have at least the required minimum talent for the fields and are willing to put in all the necessary hours–then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t pursue STEM at the college level. (Though I will admit there does come a point for many people where no matter how much time & effort they devote to studying they simply cannot succeed since they don’t have the ability/talent to go farther. In which case it’s better to re-tool and pursue some other field than continuing to spin your wheels. Science is a very Darwinistic field of study.)
RE : #1 The med school application process takes a full year. Student submit an application in May/June to begin medical school the following summer.
If you want to matriculate directly into med school from undergrad you need to apply spring of your junior year. If you apply during your senior year, you will need to take a gap year.
I don’t know if things have changed so much, but a little time, and a post-bac course in a pre-med prereq, can get you around that dreaded committee. I had an unusual undergrad major, traveled after graduation for a year, then returned to my Ivy, which had one of those post grad pre med programs before everyone else did, and they wouldn’t let me into it. So I just took my premeds as I liked, at the Ivy, through the College of General Studies (which let anyone into the exact same courses, sitting next to those at the School of Arts and Sciences), without the blessing of the post bac program. When it came time to apply, the director of the post bac program refused me a letter, said I wouldn’t get in anywhere, so I just applied on my own, to only mid to low competitive schools, and got in EVERYWHERE I had applied (I had high MCATs and an interesting undergrad major and travel experience - I wasn’t the 999th biology major walking in the door).
So, my advice is, study whatever you love, whatever you can do well in. Take your premeds however you want to, in a way that will allow you to get excellent grades. Do extracurriculars as you like, but getting a quick certification that allows you to do some clinical work, like phlebotomy, would do just as well, might look better than shadowing, especially if you can get shifts drawing all over the hospital. Med school committees want human beings - hence their acceptance of English, Art, Music majors. They also love students who they think might end up bringing useful knowledge that will advance medicine - bioengineers who might wind up inventing medical devices, comp sci majors who might wind up designing better EMRs. So I would think that if you do well in comp sci, have excellent grades in your premed prereqs, and do well on the MCATs, you’ll be fine.
I can’t thank you enough for the information and advice you gave! I did not know that information about the HP committees-that is quite interesting and it now makes sense that it doesn’t matter where you go for undergrad. As for math (and og chem!) it seems like I am in for a busy next few years, but my dad (also a comp sci major) said the same thing about getting through college math classes. Thank you again!
Wow that sounds like quite a journey-I’m glad it worked out very well for you! As for med schools appreciating liberal arts, I am mainly going in the direction of a comp sci major because I do enjoy it but also because I feel like it would yield better career options if I don’t get into med-school if that makes sense. Thank you for your advice!
I didn’t say that it doesn’t matter where you go for undergrad, I said adcomms place little weight on the brand name of the undergrad. Not exactly the same thing.
You don’t need to graduate from a brand name private U, but going to a tiny regional college that specializes in teacher education may not be the best choice for a pre-med because you’re not likely to be challenged in the science curriculum there. (And thus may end up underprepared for the MCAT and med school.) And it helps in admission if your app reader has at least heard of your college. Students from unknown colleges need to have absolutely impeccable credentials for adcomms to take a risk on them.
Yes! I was a bit general but I am planning on attending a college (quite well known) with a heavy focus on stem and competitive to get into, which (as you said) would be more ideal the pressure of having to have perfect credentials from an unknown college. Thank you for clarifying though!
A computer science major can be pursued as a B.A (College of Arts) or as a B.S (College of Science/Engineering). Also Computer Engineering can be very close to Computer Science with extra knowledge of hardware (chips), computer design and architecture, communication technologies.
Yes, I have been doing some research and discovered that the college I would like to go to puts Computer Science into their engineering school. Would you happen to have any advice on how hard the classes are and if it would be doable to take premed requisites along with them? (I’m still leaning towards Computer Science instead of engineering)
Please don’t put the cart before the horse. You mention specific medical schools (Emory and NYU, as examples). Understand that NYU Med School has a VERY VERY VERY low acceptance rate because it offers free tuition.
You need to think a little more broadly about medical schools than just tippy top ones.
Can you fully fund your elite undergrad college education and fund medical school?
Yes, it’s possible to major in engineering or computer science and take the required courses for medical school admissions. You may find a very tight schedule. You may need an extra term to complete everything, or a year.
As others have noted, major in something you like. You sound like CS is something you would really enjoy. If that’s the case, go for it.
You sound like you plan to go to an elite undergrad school. I would urge you to cast a broader net than just tippy top schools, because you never know what will happen with admissions there. Also, you may find a great college with terrific merit aid that will cut your undergrad costs.
What have you done so far that makes you think you want to be a doctor?
CS and premed courses are kind of the worst combination for GPA. One has to be extremely good at time management and at least intuitively very good at one or the other areas (CS or sciences). Where you are competitive for medical school completely depends on GPA and MCAT score.
Engineering school may require more math classes (tough to get As) and Arts & Science schools may require liberal arts classes. Check the degree requirements closely. Lot of premed kids are taking CS as major.
I agree with everything you said! In fact, over the past week or so, I’ve did some more research of majors, prospective colleges, etc. and I have realized that going to one of the “top” schools where everything is much more likely to be competitive (and expensive!) is not ideal because the schools offered in my state (VA) are actually very good while also providing a balance of a competitive environment and the ability for me to thrive. As for comp sci, my dad has been helping me look into other majors that have classes that are similar or overlap with comp sci but are not as intense and would be easier to balance with prerequisites. I have always felt like I wanted to be a “doctor” but as I have matured over the years and have understood what that truly means, I was still driven by my personal experiences to that path. Thank you for your help!
Yes, I have come to realize that as well and I am considering other options, especially because the school I am looking into has an engineering program that is extremely hard to get into. I am thinking that it might be a better idea to get a degree in something that has overlap with comp sci (perhaps information systems) to get exposure, focus on my gpa, complete my pre reqs., and then go from there. However, you said a lot of premeds do comp sci as their major-do you know anyone who has taken that path and how they are doing?
Yup, you said it! I’m coming to realize that while some people can overachieve and be fine, I don’t think I will have the same outcome (and I am not leaning towards taking the chance and finding out). Though I think I have a good grasp on comp sci., I know that college classes and the courses for the major may be different than what I have been exposed to thus far. I am looking into less intense (and gpa killer!) majors that still have overlap with comp sci classes though! Thank you your advice though!!
@zacademics
Computational Biology or Bioinformatics or do some thing you are passionate for major and do CS or Stats or Applied Maths as minor. Alternatively do few courses in the first or second semester and then finalize what major and/or minor you want to do.
You are fortunate to live in VA where your instate public universities are plentiful and very good. Take a look at all of them. What a gift you would have with no undergrad debt!
