Pre Med (science) and theatre double major?

I know I’m going to sound crazy, but I really want to do a science (to eventually go into medicine) and theatre double major. I know both are very taxing, but I can’t imagine my life without either of them. Anyone know if this is feasibly possible?? Are you someone or do u know someone who has done this? I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew but I’m also used to managing a lot on my plate. Know any good elite schools for my interests? I’ve been struggling to find ones with really great academics and theatre. I’ve seen Northwestern but looking for others.

WashU has a drama/theater arts major. But a double major in a hard science and an unrelated major is going to take a major commitment. Especially with theater arts with rehearsals required possibly conflicting with lab sessions.

I can relate to your predicament since my son is a double major (Biology and History) at WashU considering pre-med. For him switching back and forth from science classes and having to write 15 page papers for History can be painful. But more power to those who can do majors in completely different subjects.

Note that pre-med does not require any particular major, although the pre-med courses include about 2/3 of a biological science major, making biological science majors “convenient”. But you can theoretically major in something else like theater while taking the pre-med courses. Whether that is practical can depend on the college, specifically the volume of course work for the theater major and general education requirements.

Also, performing arts courses can have time consuming practice/performance sessions that you need to take into account when scheduling.

For your interests, you could look into colleges with an obvious theatre presence, such as Vassar and Skidmore. Alternatively, you could look into the theatre programs at academically top-notch schools notable for their curricular flexibility, such as Amherst, Hamilton, Smith and Brown. A commitment to both a theatre major and the recommended courses for medical school preparation would consume about 23 of 32 courses at this latter group of schools, which would still leave you room to explore other academic interests or to study abroad.

Kenyon would be a good option. The school has a thriving theatre program and offers excellent medical school preparation.

Exactly. Alternatively, one could major in the sciences and participate in theatrical productions on the side. This may be easier at schools where you’re not competing with BFA theatre majors.

I was heavily involved in the student-run musical theatre group at my undergrad, which puts on 3 big musicals per year. Most of the participants - including me - were not theatre majors. You had people studying everything from poli sci to chemistry to music.

Not at all crazy, @charmk. It’s actually quite common to double major or major/minor in the sciences + the arts. You might want to look at schools that offer the BA in theater instead of a BFA, though.

Also, be sure to consider your financial situation carefully. Medical school is expensive! Many of the what you call “elite” schools only offer need-based aid, so if you need (or want) financial aid ask your parents to run a few net price calculators to make sure that the colleges that you are considering are affordable.

I would suggest that you look at Williams College. It has a small but vibrant theater program with beautiful facilities and many performance opportunities for major and non-majors alike. The Williamstown Theater Festival which is one of the most respected summer stock theaters in the northeast is not administered by the college, but the influence rubs off.

Williams also has superb sciences and a very strong track record of getting its students into medical school.

@charmk : See https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/factstablea17.pdf

If you have diverse interests, you need to strategically position yourself so you can maximize your chances of success. Target open curriculum schools. Most clueless premeds got a wait-up call during their freshman year and they moved on. It is not a big deal. But if you are serious about your premed intention, you need to position yourself for success. The first year or two is brutal for every premed.

At my kid’s school, my understanding is that a lot of the theatre participants are not theatre majors. (my kid watches most of them if tickets are available. It is very hard to get tickets.) In fact, I have seen someone here complained “it is a step-down ??” You don’t need to be theatre major to be involved in theatre as @warblersrule pointed out.

Thank you for your response. I’m not completely educated on all this. What is the difference between BA and BFA? Also, that’s crazy you recommended that because Williams is one of my top two dream schools! I visited there and loved their focus on the arts and academics. I’m looking for more just because I know I can’t count on making it in.

My doctor was a theatre major and even spent a year or two acting before med school. So an existence proof…

@momrath Thank you for your response. I’m not completely educated on all this. What is the difference between BA and BFA? Also, that’s crazy you recommended that because Williams is one of my top two dream schools! I visited there and loved their focus on the arts and academics. I’m looking for more just because I know I can’t count on making it in.

@mikemac That is cool to hear because that’s exactly what I want to do! Ideally, I would love to double major in science/theatre, then do theatre after college, then go to med school. I sound crazy, but it is honestly my dream.

Wesleyan?

@charmk, I’ll have to defer to the experts for the differences between a BA and a BFA in theater. Generally speaking, the BA is less demanding, thus allowing for more opportunities to double major or explore other disciplines.

I would second Wesleyan for a good combination of science and theater. Some others would be Skidmore, Vassar, Kenyon.

You should also look at the two threads on the Parents board of this site in which students are looking for schools good for theater plus another major.

Be sure to clarify your financial situation first, though.

To be eligible for medical school you just need to take the dozen or so required classes. Double-major in a science if you want, but you’d have more freedom to take other classes of interest if you didn’t.

As the parent of a musician, the topic of an arts major plus an academic major comes up fairly frequently. I would advise that you dig deep into the individual schools on your list now to determine how possible it would be, whether it could be completed in 4 years, whether auditions are required for the theater program, what the gen ed/distribution requirements are like etc. A key question at many schools may be whether the theater major is part of the main School of Arts and Sciences (or whatever it’s called depending on the school) or part of a different school at the university. For example, at U of Michigan there is the highly regarded School of Music, Theatre and Dance or some schools may have the theater program as part of their Conservatory. If your two majors are in two different schools within the same university it is normally called a double degree instead of a double major and it becomes much more tricky because you need to fulfill the requirements of both schools, and many of those may not overlap. Double degrees usually take 5 years for that reason. Some universities may offer both a BA in theatre in one of their schools and a BFA in another, or they may just have one or the other.

As others have pointed out, you can just be a theater major and still apply to med schools, but if theater is anything like music, labs for pre-med classes may frequently conflict with rehearsals and performing arts majors often have more credit hours and more time in class/lessons/rehearsals than more academic majors, and there is often less room for non-arts courses. In many schools of music (my frame of reference), 3/4 of the course work in a bachelor of music program is music-related classes vs. a typical BA in music being more like 1/4 music classes. In music, BM programs are more performance focused and require auditions, BA programs are usually more academic and usually do not require auditions. I do not know if the BA/BFA distinction in theater is as different as the BM/BA distinction in music, but it is worth looking into that more now so that you’ll know what type of theater program you are looking for. If an audition is required the admissions process may be much more complicated, as well.

I recommend that you look at the Theater/Drama major forum (and/or Musical Theater Major forum) here at CC, because people there will know the ins and outs of BA vs BFA, which programs might be most compatible with pre-med classes, which elite schools have the best theater programs, which programs have or don’t have auditions, etc. You might also reach out to the theater programs of interest and find out how many students each year are pre-med and if they have any trouble completing everything in 4 years.

In general, I think your desire to do both theater and pre-med will be a major factor that will determine your list of colleges so it’s worth researching that in depth before you finalize your college list. Be sure to take a good look at your in state public universities, as well, since those are often the most cost-effective and med school is so expensive. In our state, for example, different public universities are strong in different subjects, so for art or music or theater most students would not pick our best known flagship school even if they were accepted there, because other U’s in the system have superior arts programs.

Good luck!

Are you female? There are some women’s colleges that have theater (Bryn Mawr) and strong science.

Also look at –

  • Drew University
  • U of Maine at Orono has surprisingly good theater (also has in-state matching tuition scholarship)
  • U of Indiana at Bloomington
  • Penn State
  • Muhlenberg
  • Vassar
  • Wesleyan U in CT

The best thing is to check out the musical theater thread.

Illinois Wesleyan, Knox college, Muhlenberg, Northwestern. DePaul . Note : most are more theater with some musical theater performances yearly.

A BFA is more of a “professional” arts degree than a BA. More courses total, and more courses focused on specific skill development. Like a conservatory program in music or a museum program in visual arts. Additional analogies would be engineering vs. applied math/science and business vs economics. The added coursework and added performance work would make it more challenging to double up with pre-med in 4 years (especially given the the high GPA requirements for med school and the need for research, internships and studying for the MCAT). Sometimes just a BFA will take 5 years. BA degrees will also vary in the number and type of courses and performance requirements.
https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/ba-vs-bfa-acting-best/

The top BFA programs tend to be at special performance schools or larger universities, which may also make doubling up more challenging.
https://www.onstageblog.com/onstage-blog-news/2018/8/27/the-top-25-bfa-actingperformance-programs-for-2018-19

Tufts

https://dramadance.tufts.edu/drama/undergraduate.htm