<p>I've been accepted to Northeastern and I applied as a Health Science major to the Bouv College of Health Sciences. I however want to pursue a degree in biology rather than a Health Science major. What is the difference between the two? When do I have to declare a major?? Which is better? A degree in Health Science or Biology? I am planning on being on the pre-med pathway. </p>
<p>Biology is more focused on the scientific aspect, while health sciences is more about the application of this to health care. You can actually compare the exact major requirements, if you want to see the detailed differences.
Health Sciences: <a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/courses/cat1314-acad-bv-hsci.pdf”>http://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/courses/cat1314-acad-bv-hsci.pdf</a>
Biology: <a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/courses/cat1314-acad-sc-biol.pdf”>http://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/courses/cat1314-acad-sc-biol.pdf</a></p>
<p>It is hard to argue that one is “better”, but for pre-med, I might recommend biology. It will give you a stronger science foundation, which you will need for the MCAT and being prepared for medical school. You won’t get the clinical experience aspect that you would from a health science major, but there are a lot of ways to get clinical experience. Northeastern is right next to the Longwood Medical Area, which has some of the top hospitals in the country, and I think all of them have volunteer programs.</p>
<p>In terms of declaring a major, it sounds like you already have declared it, if you applied as a health science major. But that doesn’t lock you in forever. There will be a lot of overlap in coursework between these two majors at the beginning, so I think that it would be fairly easy to switch within the first year. If you want to switch to biology right away, though, I believe that there is a link in your accepted student portal with an option to request a major change, and I see no reason why they wouldn’t let you switch to bio at this point.</p>
<p>I just looked through the requirements myself and noticed that the bio requirements align more closely with pre-med requirements. For example, health science only has 1 semester of organic chemistry, 1 semester of calc, and no physics. Bio has 2 semesters of orgo, 2 of calc, and 2 of physics, which matches most med school requirements.</p>
<p>So definitely switch to biology?? Can you double major at NEU?</p>
<p>If you were really attached to health sciences, I would say to stick with it. But since you are already tempted to switch to bio, it seems like a reasonable switch. It would also be possible to fulfill all of your requirements while still doing a health science major, but they wouldn’t be automatically fulfilled by your major.</p>
<p>You can double major, but that’s always difficult since you have to meet the requirements of 2 different requirements. There are dual majors, which have combined requirements of 2 different majors, but health science does not have any dual majors.</p>
<p>Say that I stayed with health sciences for at least a semester just to try it out…I wouldn’t be missing anything major would I? I got into the N.U.in program and the locations that I am compatiable for are Greece and Australia. </p>
<p>I think the NUin program is going to be very similar whether you do health sciences or biology. I would recommend contacting your academic advisor or someone in admissions, and they know the details to help you with this, or know where to direct you. (There’s the list of Bouve advisors here: <a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/bouve/undergrad/directory.html”>A COVID-19 vaccine won't mean a swift end for wearing masks or physical distancing - Bouvé College of Health Sciences)</p>
<p>I’m a northeastern grad and I’m now a cell biologist (with plenty of friends in med school). If you’re considering switching to Bio, do it. I’m really biased because I majored in behavioral neuroscience and am now a basic scientist, but I think the background that a Bio major gives you is much more relevant to medical school than Health Science. Bio coursework also tends to be seen as more rigorous by medical/grad school admissions committees, which is a bonus. From totally anecdotal experience, my bio/bns/biochem friends had an easier time getting into medical school than my health science friends.</p>
<p>Is biology at Northeastern particularly difficult? And how would a typical course load look like? </p>
<p>I don’t think bio is more difficult than you would find at any other institution. As with all science majors, though, you can expect to have a lot of time in labs (i.e., 3 hour labs worth 1 credit). You can see exactly what courses are required in the course catalog from the registrar’s website: <a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/courses/cat1314-acad-sc-biol.pdf”>http://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/courses/cat1314-acad-sc-biol.pdf</a></p>