<p>Since Columbia doesn't have a Pre-Med major (which is what I've checked off for most of my other applications) does anyone have a recommendation as to what major I should choose if I'm looking towards medical school?</p>
<p>I'm thinking Biology or Biochemistry.</p>
<p>And in my essay and everything else, should I avoid talking about my aspirations to medical school? Will mentioning that my preferred major doesn't exist at Columbia hurt my chances?</p>
<p>Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, History, Political Science, doesnt matter....BTW, to go to MEd School u dont have to major in a science...major in what u enjoy for u will do much better if u love history but dont really like biochem. So major in what u like and enjoy for ur grades will be much better. Just make sure you take the premed reqs on the side</p>
<p>Yeah! That's what I'm kind of doing. Neuroscience/Econ is my hopeful major situation. Inter-dis stuff is whats up.</p>
<p>Are you joking? Why would you TELL Columbia that they don't have what you want to major in? Do you not think Columbia students regularly go to med school despite the fact that a "premed" major is not offered? No good school has a premed major.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, what the above poster said is correct. Even though the poster was rude about it, it's true. Practically all top-tier universities and liberal arts colleges do not offer a "premed" major. The preprofessional majors are generally offered at 3rd and 4th tier state colleges. As for Columbia, I'm sure it has a very high acceptance rate to medical school and I think you should just major in the field you're most passionate about.</p>
<p>I don't think Columbia's med school acceptance rate is that stellar. I know a number of smart people who did tough majors and had good (but not stellar) GPAs who didn't get in the first time around. These people surely would have pulled 4.0's at state schools and would probably have been accepted the first time around. I doubt this is limited to Columbia, though.</p>
<p>Well, the committee that writes recommendation letters for premeds at private universities generally skew with the statistics to make their med school admissions rate look much higher than it actually is. The way they do this is by only offering recommednations to those students with stellar GPAs, MCATs, activities, etc. They only include these select students in their "medical school admissions rate" statistics and this information is then included in promotional materials for the college. I'm not sure if Columbia has a premed committee that writes a committee letter, but most private schools and some select public universities have these committees. I assumed that the medical school admissions rate for Columbia would be relatively high simply because the student body at Columbia is so impressive.</p>
<p>I don't mind the rudeness, I'm just glad that he took the time to answer my question, especially in a pointed enough way that I definitely got the hint.</p>
<p>I realize that a lot of the higher-up schools don't have premed or look down on it but I was just wondering what majors would be good preparation.</p>
<p>Sorry if it sounded like a stupid question</p>
<p>What majors would be good preparation? Any. You need to take all of the premed courses (genchem, organic, physics, calculus, etc.) no matter what you do. If you like bio, pick one of the life sciences majors. You don't have to.</p>
<p>ok...sounds good.</p>
<p>Thank you, that helped clear up some misconceptions! :)</p>