So, i always thought that in order to get into medical school, i needed to major in pre-med; however, i realised that not all universities have pre-med programs. So, what type of programs should i major in if i still want to have a chance in medical school? Is it something like biology or chemistry or maybe even both?
any help would be appreciated eventhough i know this question might be silly.
Premed is not a major. It’s not a subject. Premed just means you are planning to go to medical school. If you are planning to go to medical school, you have to take the prerequisite courses. Here’s an example from one medical school:
http://www.uwmedicine.org/education/md-program/admissions/applicants/course-requirements
As long as you take the prerequisites, as illustrated in the link above, you can major in whatever you want. It doesn’t have to be a science. You can major in English or history. Or Latin American studies. Or philosophy. Whatever you want.
so i could major in biology and still get into med school depending on my grades right?
Sure, if biology is what you like and you can do very, very well in bio courses, that’s a perfectly good major for premed. And I would say exactly the same thing about any other major.
great, thanks.
one more thing, is there a recommended number of majors or anything like that?
One, I guess. :))
If you mean “is there a list of recommended majors,” no, there is not.
Over 4 years, you’ll take roughly 30-40% classes for gen eds, 30-40% for your major, and 20-30% classes as electives.
Being top 10% in your major + top 10% in each and every premed prereq + top 20% in every other class is going to be tough enough - especially at universities with weedout classes (= designed to give low grades to a significant percentage of the class).
If you’re interested in something, you don’t major in it, you just take a class in it as part of your electives. 
Either for the MCAT or for med schools, you will need to take:
2 semesters each of English (composition/communication/literature), Physics, Inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, Biology, + 1 semester each of calculus, statistics, biochemistry, sociology, psychology, and if possible neuroscience and ability in a language spoken by immigrants (which can be acquired through community education or a clinic where you volunteer, as many of these languages aren’t taught: Hmong, Somali, French Creole…- Spanish, Korean, Russian are also perfectly fine.)
A biology Major is not required, and as you noticed chemistry is more important among pre-reqs; Math, Music, Philosophy, Foreign language, and English majors do very well in admisisons (as they must be top students in their major AND in sciences).
I am not sure you are understanding. What do you mean by a “recommended number of majors”?
You major in one subject. As examples, it can be biology, chemistry, physics, history, anthropology, Japanese language, Asian studies, business, math, economics, philosophy … etc. Pick one. Any one you like. You have to complete the required curriculum FOR THAT MAJOR. You then graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biology or chemistry or economics or business or history – whatever you majored in.
Separate and apart from completing the required curriculum FOR THAT MAJOR, you will need to complete the PREREQUISITES FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL, which is a set of courses that medical school admissions committees require. Some of those courses may – in addition – be part of the required curriculum FOR YOUR MAJOR. If you major in biology, several of the courses required FOR THE MAJOR will also satisfy PREREQUISITES FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL. If you major in Japanese language, there won’t be any overlap between the required courses FOR THE MAJOR and the PREREQUISITES FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL.
Bottom line is that you have to think of it as two separate buckets of courses that you have to complete: your major and your premed requirements. If you’re lucky, there will be some overlap.
As the advice above indicates, you can major in biology or music or history or Spanish or… The main thing for med school is that you have a high overall GPA, a high GPA within the med school pre-reqs, and a great MCAT score. That’s a summary of the advice already given.
What I want to add is that there is a bit of a move among some med schools, and it is spreading, to look more at people that major in the humanities and other non-sciences. I am not suggesting it is a move against people that have science majors, that is hardly the case. But there is a growing awareness that people that majored in the humanities bring a valuable perspective to their med school classmates and certain skills and personality traits that are valuable as well. Which only emphasizes even further that you should major in what you enjoy, not what you think med schools want to see. By the time you finish undergrad, who knows where the pendulum will be pointing, so to speak?
Premed is an INTENTION, not a major. You can major in ANYTHING.
In order to get into med school ONE of the things you’ll need is a college degree. It doesn’t matter if your degree is a Bachelor of Science (BS) or Bachelor of Arts (BA). To get a degree you’ll have to complete your school’s requirements which will include GE reqs, your major’s reqs, and any other reqs your school requires. In addition to any degree reqs, as a premed, you’ll need to complete premed reqs. You can go to any college website and find out what reqs are required to earn a degree. Most of your courses will be related to satisfying your major requirements. BS majors tend to require you take a couple more courses than a BA degree. You should pick a major that you like because if you like the material in the major you are more likely to do well GPA wise which is ONE of the things med schools will care about. You should also pick a major with a Plan B backup plan in mind in case you change your career goals. Most premeds will never see the inside of a med school.
Although any major is acceptable for med schools, most premeds pick some flavor of bio or chem as a major. Why? Some premed reqs (eg bio, physics, chem) are year long sequences. If you’re say a bio major, you’re satisfying premed and major reqs at same time, and so a bio major tends to have a shorter pathway to earning a degree and completing the premed reqs than say a history major. If you’re a History major, you’re going to have to find a way to fit these year long premed sequences into your schedule which is not impossible, but can be much more challenging to schedule and demanding trying to stay on top of.
As to being both a bio and chem major (or say a bio and any other major), certainly not impossible. But it would require more effort on your part, especially to maintain grades, finding time to participate in meaningful ECs, prep for MCAT. But don’t apply to med schools with tears running down your face and your lip quivering saying that your grades aren’t competitive but that’s only because you choose to double major and it was really, really hard, so please med school cut me some slack. Med schools don’t require double majors, that was your decision, not their requirement. Plan B awaits you.
As to getting into med school: you’ll need a degree, competitive grades and MCAT score, solid ECs, strong LORs, a compelling, interesting PS answering why medicine, and even with all that, you may get an interview which if you’re rude, arrogant…., say bye bye to your chances at getting into the med school where you’re interviewing. So grades alone are only part of what you need. Good luck.