<p>I was admitted into UCSB as a Political Science major but I have chosen to follow the Pre Med route instead of the Pre Law route. I was thinking of changing my major to a science major, but I heard that medical schools don't care about what your undergrad is as long as you finish the pre med requirements, get a good GPA, and do well on the MCAT. Could I be a political science major and still do pre med? How would my classes/schedule work if I did that? </p>
<p>I read that the lowest admission rate at med schools are for biology majors, so what would be another major that I can switch into if needed? </p>
<p>Also, I already submitted my SIR so I don't know how I would change my major (on the website it says you can change it only before you submit your SIR)..do I have to wait until orientation?</p>
<p>Hey there!
Yeah Med schools accept any major as long as you have the pre-reqs. However, most students do science majors because the classes are many and time consuming. I know that for most med schools they require calculus, statistics, biology, chemistry, physics, and at least encourage (if not require) anatomy, ethics, etc. in addition social science, language, english classes and so on outside of general ed requirements. I’m sure you’ll be able to change your major with little issue and I’m pretty sure everyone in LnS has the same GE requirements anyway. Most med schools also require clinical and research experience, so getting to know the science professors is pretty important to finding those kinds of opportunities. You might be able to change it at orientation but I’m not sure. If not, I would just sign up for mostly your math and science pre-reqs first with some english/social sciences thrown in. i know they do advising at the orientation so you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Hope that helped!</p>
<p>How much do you know about what doctors do? The training required? Whether you’d actually be happy in a career as a doctor, or indeed in any facet of medicine? When someone says in effect “well, I was thinking of law but I’ve changed my mind and I’m going to be a doctor” I wonder just how committed they really are to it, how much they really know about what they’re doing. There is a certain cachet to saying “I’m premed”, but its hardly enough reason to do so. </p>
<p>I’m not saying this to discourage you or because I think it isn’t right for you; rather to give you advice. And that advice is to spend as much time as it takes now to find out if its right for you before you invest a few years taking courses, working in labs, etc. If you find out it is right then you’ll be motivated to push hard to make it work. And who knows, maybe you’ll find some other area within medicine that doesn’t require 7-12 years of training after college that is a fit for you. </p>
<p>As far as the nitty gritty details, there’s only about 6 year-long sequences required to apply to med school. It’s not that difficult to fit them in with almost any major over 4 years, although if you major outside the sciences you will be asked why by the med schools when you interview. Lab research experience is a plus, and an unofficial requirement is experience in a patient-care setting so the med school believes you understand what you’re getting into. </p>
<p>Hi, thanks for all the advice. I actually really am interested in becoming a doctor. I always thought I would do law because my grandma and grandpa were both doctors, and my sister wanted to be a doctor too so I wanted to do something different. The more I think about it, the more I really like the idea of becoming a doctor. I know what the medical process is like, one of our close family friends took Economics and Political Science at Stanford, went onto medical school at UCI, and is now an OBGYN at UCI Medical Center. She has been helping me a lot and she’s offered to allow me to shadow her. I will also be applying for a volunteer position at the hospital she works at. </p>
<p>I am going to major in Political Science because I really like the idea of become a lawyer as well. Plus, the subject interests me. I will also do all of my premed courses (I might do a Biology minor but I don’t know forsure). This way, if at the end of 4 years I want to continue onto medical school, I will have completed the required courses to do so. However, if I enter med school and do not like it or if I end up wanting to go to law school instead after undergrad, I have my political science major to fall back on.</p>
<p>I would do PoliSci if that is what you are interested in. Med schools do not care what your major is as long as you do well in it. And you are more likely to do well if you love the subject matter. Admit rates for med schools are higher for non-science majors. I do not know why that is, but it may reflect that people in those majors are well rounded or simply do better academically. The other advantage to choosing a non-science major is that you will only have to take 1-2 science classes at a time which makes it easier to do well in them. </p>
<p>FYI: I was an econ major undergrad and went to on to graduate from med school.</p>
<p>The whole stat about higher acceptance rates for non-science majors is flawed since so few non-science majors actually apply. Most people just seem to change majors to some sort of science since taking the premed requirements is essentially taking the pre-bio requirements. If your smart enough to take all those classes in addition to your non-science major classes then by all means do. It’s just really hard and you don’t see it all that often.</p>
<p>ucsbpremed: actually several thousand non-science major are accepted into medical schools each and every year. Where did you get the idea that few non-science majors apply? And their admission rate is higher compared to traditional premed majors in the biological sciences. Why that is the case is a mystery. It may be that med schools like these majors better, or perhaps students that can combine a non-science major with the premedical curriculum are just better students to begin with. Interestingly physical science majors and math majors also have higher admissions rates compared to bio majors.</p>
<p>I would disagree with it being harder to combine a non-science degree with premed. That was certainly not my experience nor anyone I knew.</p>
<p>Again, major in what you have a passion for. And do well in it. Ignore the advice of people speaking off the top of their head without any data or experience to back up their statements.</p>
<p>hi, i talked to some doctors the other day and i talked to an advisor at spring insight today.
i chose to be a biochemistry major while doing pre med. it is true that regular bio majors are the least accepted into med school because there are so many of them and they want a diverse student body. a lot of the biochem courses and pre med courses overlap, but i figure this would help me double dip my classes so i could have more time to do non-science classes that seem interesting. they recommend taking non science classes if you’re a science major in order to round out your application.</p>
<p>during the pre med advising presentation the question about non science majors was brought up…they said that it’s fine to be a non science major, it would be beneficial to be a science major while doing pre med because science majors get priority registration for their science classes (which will probably overlap with pre med requirements) over non science majors who are simply enrolling in the class to complete their pre med requirements. they also said that because the pre med courses are so hard and time consuming, they think it would be better to be a science major that has overlapping classes. basically, it doesn’t REALLY matter which major you pick as long as you do well in your major classes, your pre meds, your science classes in general, you volunteer/get experience, do research projects, do well on the mcat, keep a high gpa, take a variety of classes, get good teacher recs, write an awesome personal statement, etc etc etc.</p>
<p>Well put, this is more or less what I was attempting to convey. Your reasoning for choosing biochem was essentially the same as mine for choosing a science major. The overlap is so much that your first 2 years of prebio are essentially just doing all the premed requirements. For me, it just seemed like the easier route. Apparently I’m not alone since most premeds I know in my class here at UCSB are some sort of science major. I do know a few who aren’t but they seem few and far between…at least within my classes. </p>
<p>Also, I would consider 4000 out of 37000 a fairly small percentage. choroidal, your right about it not being harder but it’s highly dependent on the person and the nonscience major that the person it choosing. Also, thanks for your comment about me not knowing what I’m talking about. I’m just trying to give my perspective as of a current premed at UCSB who is applying this year. Obviously I’m not the end all of medical school knowledge</p>
<p>ucsbpremed: sorry, that was a bit harsh. Forgive me please. </p>
<p>in your original post you implied that the number of non-science major applicants was so small that their acceptance rate could be ignored. They are over 10% of the applicant pool. That is not a statistically insignificant number. In fact they are nearly as many non-science applicants as there are physical science majors. And I do not hear anyone claiming that we should ignore chemistry and physics acceptance rates as being immaterial.</p>
<p>Your point about priority registration for science classes is a valid one. Fortunately it was something that I did not confront back in my day. And your right. Some people may have an easier time as a science major and completely stumble as a philosophy major.</p>
<p>Again, as one who has been through this before, select the major you will enjoy the most. College is too short to be worrying about which major is the “best” in the eyes of med school admissions committees. I can never remember, even once, this being a topic of committee meetings when we discussed applicants. They wanted to know how you did in whatever you decided to study, and, more importantly what kind of physician you would likely become. Once you achieve a decent GPA and MCATs the personality of the applicant becomes much more important as conveyed through essays, letters of rec, life experiences, and interviews.</p>