<p>Hi there! I had a question if anyone knows. I was planning on getting a double major in Chinese and Business because many people told me it's a good idea to get a major that is different from just a strict science major like Biology and such . Because Med-schools likes to see all kinds of students and degrees. But if I plan on doing Psychiatry...would it be a better idea to do Chinese and Psychology instead? I wasn't sure if Psychology fell under the "don't get a science degree etc." category. Or does it make a difference? I like Psychology and Business equally well, just wasn't sure if there was a preference.</p>
<p>If anyone could give me their opinion on this because I have NO idea about pre-med and medical school. Thank you!</p>
<p>Psych doesn’t fall under “don’t do bio.” It’s really up to you. Psych for psychiatry isn’t a bad idea as it will help you in getting some applicable clinical xp if that’s what you want… (But most people will change their specialty of interest while in med school anyway)</p>
<p>Ah, I see! Hmm…I understand about the changing your specialty while in med school. Maybe I’ll just wait to see what I’ll enjoy once I’m actually in it. Thanks for the advice.</p>
Psych and bio are both prominent majors chosen for pre med, “don’t do bio” also refers to psych, in a way, as well, if you are truly trying to heed that advice.</p>
<p>If you are going to actually choose a non-science major because you heard to not pursue bio, then you should definitely be pursuing whatever field it is that you enjoy. You should be doing that anyway (not trying to give tautology). If you’re going to take the advice that med-schools don’t care about majors and that you should take a non-science major, then you should definitely just pursue whatever major it is that intrigues you the most (even if it is science). Take that advice and use it to your advantage, and pursue something that will keep you absorbed without effort.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t head the advice don’t do bio/psych/science. I would head the advice don’t do bio/psych/science if you don’t want to. You can’t game medical school by trying to pick a unique major. Pick the major you think you want to study for the next four years. You’ll do better and get more out of it now and later.</p>
<p>^ was my point, I simply assumed that moochi’s subject of desire was out of the sciences since moochi seemed so willing to divert from the sciences.</p>
<p>Maybe psychology is not a common pre-med major. Simply from what I recognize in my daily life, I have noticed the psychology major to be almost second to biology that pre-meds will choose, even over chemistry and biochemistry - which both are extremely common.</p>
<p>One way or another it isn’t uncommon enough for some adcom to read and be all like “Holy ****ake mushrooms I gotta hear this kids story” so I wouldn’t expect any favoritism.</p>
Fair enough. Going by the numbers from last year, however, 49.7% of medical school matriculants and 51.2% of applicants were bio majors. 12.4% of matriculants and 12.1% of applicants were social sciences majors. Keeping in mind that social sciences includes a number of majors such as economics, poli sci, sociology, anthropology, etc in addition to psychology, the percentage of psych majors is even lower.</p>
<p>Well, it really depends on your particular school as to whether psychology is grouped with the social sciences or the life sciences. Actually, as a discipline, it includes aspects of both. And, within a psychology major, many schools now offer undergraduate subspecialty tracks, such as biopsychology, neuroscience, or animal behavior. In some schools, subspecialty tracks, such as neuroscience, are offered under both the psychology and biology majors. In still other schools, a field, such as neuroscience, is an interdisciplinary major.</p>
<p>In any case, as long as you complete the traditional pre-med requirements, psychology can be a very good undergrad major for those planning to go to med school, and not just for those who want to go into psychiatry.</p>