<p>On most of the college apps. i am filling out, there are two spaces to put:
1)intended/possible college major, and
2)intended/possible career choice</p>
<p>Here's the problem. Right now I am looking into medicine as a career field, but I do NOT want to be a biology, chemistry, or any other science-related major. I want a very broad, liberal arts cirriculum. Actually, I am strongly considering a major in Humanities. I know that at many colleges (at LACs, anyway) it is okay for your major to be somewhat not-related to your career choice... my sister goes to an LAC where she knows History majors who are planning to go into medicine, etc. But, my question is... will it look weird if I put on my applications: "Humanities major, Career in medicine"?? I think it would be okay for LACs, but what about Ivies? Would it be better if I wrote "undecided major, career in medicine"? "Humanities major, undecided career path"? or even "undecided, undecided"? I know what I WANT to write, but I'm really unsure as to whether or not it will be understood by adcoms. I'm afraid they will think, "these two having nothing to do with eachother?" What do you think? Thanks!</p>
<p>Colleges really don't take your major into consideration during admissions, mostly because they figure most people will change their minds. Futhermore, you can major in absolutely anything and go into medicine, so it's not a big deal. If you want to major in the humanities, that's fine. Ivies aren't any different from LACs in this respect. In fact, humanities majors (like music and philosophy) have much, much higher med school acceptance rates than science majors.</p>
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[quote]
In fact, humanities majors (like music and philosophy) have much, much higher med school acceptance rates than science majors.</p>
<p>reply: I assume this is because much, much fewer humanities majors apply for medschool.
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That's a plausible argument, but I think this is an area where there are multiple causes rather than one single cause.</p>
<p>It's certainly true that a non-traditional major is going to stand out, and to some extent med schools want to attract the liberal arts majors as well as those in the hard sciences. On the other hand there are interviewers who will ask point-blank why you didn't take more science courses since medicine is so intertwined with research.</p>
<p>And another contributing factor could be self-selection. Students intending to apply to med school do not randomly end up in majors. There's a lot of choice involved. It may be that kids who major in the humanities and choose to meet the premed requirements for math & science are a special group, better qualified than the average bio or chem major. To see a parallel in college admissions, look at the University of Chicago. By selectivity they don't look that tough (40% acceptance rate), but kids thinking of applying there find out what they're signing up for and there's a lot of self-screening that goes on.</p>