<p>Yes, I know, another topic concerning what to major for med. school. But the consistent "it doesn't matter" really isn't me. I would like feedback on which of these majors would best prep me for medical school, and which would have the higher paying job if I were to change my plans on going to medical school, or both! Also, please stay away from choose what interest you the most, I don't know what really interests me yet, time will tell. So I think it would be best to start somewhere that would provide a promising future.</p>
<p>Thank you in advance!</p>
<p>Biochemistry
Biology
Chemistry
Environmental Science
Health Science
Humanities and Science
Microbiology
Occupational Therapy
Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Pharmaceutical Sciences
Pharmacology and Toxicology
Physics (Biophysics Track)
Physics (Material Science Track)
Psychology</p>
<p>Maybe it’s because I went to a school “in a certain northeast athletic conference” as WOWmom or Miami so eloquently put it (I forget who) but I personally think that your major plays a much smaller role in your career prospects than people think. You don’t have to study Econ to go into banking, you can study literally anything and go into consulting, you can even get entry level research jobs with typically any sort of science degree, etc. There are so many career options out there that you aren’t really that pigeon-holed by what your major is. “Major” is just a proxy for coursework/experience anyway. The cover letter you send is all about explaining how you’re a good fit anyway.</p>
<p>" WOWmom or Miami so eloquently put it " Yep thats it. :D</p>
<p>Its very hard to do this outside of some big name schools. Most of the other schools’ recruitment is limited by the major. </p>
<p>Pharmacy has the most stable income among these majors. As UCB keeps advising over and over, Biology has the least income in STEM if you don’t make it into medicine.</p>
<p>None of the majors preps you for med school any better than the other. I majored in French, which is not on your list, and I have been a Cardiologist for the last 13 years. I really can’t answer the second part of your question about if you decide to change your career path and which field pays more than the other. But the general rule for medical school is to get the best GPA and highest MCAT score, and it doesn’t matter what major you chose- well I guess underwater basket weaving wouldn’t pass muster, but majoring in a humanities area will not hurt you. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>I know doctors and med students who had all of the following majors: electrical engineering (surgeon); physics (oncology, MS2); English Lit (pediatric oncology); theology (oncology); Spanish (opthalmology, MS3, MS1, EM); forestry (MS2 in MD/PhD); music theory and composition (MS2).</p>
<p>Really doesn’t matter what your major is so long as it’s not in a vocational area. </p>
<p>I can can say the physics (material sciences track) has very good employment opportunities—even at the bachelor’s level-- if you’re willing to do shift work in micro-fab processing and are willing to relocate. (I know tons of physicists in this field.)</p>
<p>Pharmacy generally requires the completion of a Pharm.D. to find the stable income texaspg speaks of.</p>
<p>My son is a Chemical Engineering major who has been accepted to med school (hooray!). He found that nearly all the premed prereq classes were already required. </p>
<p>He chose that major so that he’d have a “back up” in case he changed his mind about med school while he was in college. </p>
<p>It’s a demanding major, and if you’re not careful and dedicated then your GPA could be hurt, but if you stay on top of things and you’re a strong student then you can emerge with a strong BCMP GPA and cum GPA. </p>
<p>I think my son’s major prepared him well. He has a very firm foundation and I doubt will stumble in med school. Although he’s been accepted to med school, he is still being considered at some others. At his most recent (not blind) interview, one of the profs decided that my son should be considered for their MD/PhD program (son didn’t apply to that). During the interview, the prof gave an impromptu “pop quiz” so to speak, asking all kinds of detailed bio, chem, genetics, and other technical questions. The interview went well beyond the scheduled time. Thankfully, my son was able to answer those questions because his major and minors (bio and chem) well prepared him. </p>
<p>Others can correct me if I’m wrong, but the beginning of med school is a repeat of some of the pre-med pre-reqs, so if you have a firm foundation, then you won’t be lost or overwhelmed. </p>
<p>Of your list, I’m guessing that Physics would be your best bet for an alternative career. Or, the Pharm route if you’d be interested in becoming a PharmD.</p>
<p>(P.S. “not blind” means that the interviewer has your school transcript and MCAT scores in front of him. During blind interviews, the interviewers do not know your stats.)</p>
<p>"At his most recent (not blind) interview, one of the profs decided that my son should be considered for their MD/PhD program (son didn’t apply to that). "</p>
<p>This sounds really cool. Can they add him to the applicants?</p>
<p>Blind interview = interviewer does not have an applicant’s transcript, MCAT or GPA available to him/her. The assumption is that if the applicant got this far, s/he’s qualified.</p>
<p>Non-blind interview = interviewer does have the applicant’s full record, including transcript, MCAT, GPA.</p>
<p>*I would not have guessed they had blind interviews for MD admissions! Sounds more like an Alumnus interview.</p>
<p>Is this common? Which schools do it?*</p>
<p>I don’t have a list. Some of my son’s schools have had blind, this one did not. </p>
<p>Many do have blind inteviews because they don’t want the interviewer to be biased (for or against) the student simply because he has high or lowish scores (lowish for someone being interviewed usually isn’t really “low”…lol).</p>
<p>As WOWM says, for blind interviews, the student is considered already qualified (stats wise), and the interview is more about fit and the “crazy test”. </p>
<p>Since only a small number of applicants are interviewed, the student is already qualified. At my son’s SOM, I believe that there have been over 8000 applicants, about 400 interviewed, and about 200 accepted. </p>
<p>*"At his most recent (not blind) interview, one of the profs decided that my son should be considered for their MD/PhD program (son didn’t apply to that). "</p>
<p>This sounds really cool. Can they add him to the applicants?*</p>
<p>What I’ve learned from med school and PhD admissions (since I’ve been thru both with two kids now), is that grad-level schools are rather autonomous and can do what they want.</p>
<p>m2ck - so is your son being added to MD/PhD applicant list or did he decline?</p>
<p>He didn’t decline. He has no idea what the prof decided after the pop quiz. Guess we’ll find out at some point. Don’t know if they’ll ask him to take the GRE or not. I guess they could waive that req’t if they wanted to.</p>
<p>^^
From what i understand, some require both. Some only require the MCAT. It’s up to the school/program. Yes, I think the MCAT is superior. However, the GRE may better measure Quantitative and Verbal strengths? Not sure.</p>
<p>Thank you for the insights! I really appreciate it. I think I’m going start on the physics track. @_@ Going on the med school path is quite scary with the terrible economy atm.</p>
<p>As far as GRE question, I really don’t know, but my guess is that it is not required for MD/PhD program, but it would be best to find that out from the particular schools. I would hope that all schools would be uniform on testing requirements.</p>
<p>I asked a parent today whose kid applied to only to MSTP programs this year and the kid did not take it. The parent was not sure if there was a school requiring it.</p>