<p>Why do you think more music majors get into med school than bio majors?</p>
<p>Probably due to the fact that there are less people applying to med school with a music major, than with a bio major. (self-selecting pool)</p>
<p>Among the incoming medical students at Michigan last year, there were more English major than anything else. Go figure that one.</p>
<p>It doesn't seem intuitive to me that majoring in a science related to medicine would get you into med school. You take bio and chem and anatomy and what not in med school, and, to apply, some while getting the BA or BS. Why should more knowledge of what they plan on teaching you help you in admissions? Isn't the general education stuff in med school (as in before specialization) relatively uniform between schools? They all want you to know what they all teach. It seems like they want to see the capacity to do well in the sciences, and this can well be demonstrated through MCAT scores and grades in the chem, bio, physics, and math grades while getting the BA or BS.</p>
<p>I would think that proven success in math and science classes would be an indicator of continued success in those areas. Someone who has studied music composition or British literature may have never taken a math or science class in college. And we know from various SAT vs GPA discussions, doing well on a test does not equate with performing well in class. I just think it odd that getting into college in the first place depends so much on what you took in high school and how well you did, then medical medical school no longer cares about proven ability in those disciplines. The same thing could be said about a law school applicant who never took a writing class for four years. It makes no sense.</p>
<p>Maybe Gutrade's theory is correct about HYPS feeder schools.</p>
<p>Well, medical schools do require certain premed classes (I think it's a year of calculus, a year of chemistry, a year of biology, a year of organic chemistry, and a year of something writing-intensive), so you really can't go through all four years without taking math and science. And if you do well in (difficult and competitive) premed classes, I for one would consider that "proving yourself," even if you do choose to spend the rest of your time taking humanities courses. After all, college is the last period for a while when you'll have time to explore -- once you hit med school, you're not going to have the option of taking literature courses -- so if you love lit but want to be a doctor, why not use college as an opportunity to learn about something <em>else</em> you love?</p>
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But you might not have had a 2.0, and you would have had better research opportunities, internships, and stronger mentoring, if you'd been at the state u.
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<p>Here I have to agree with Gutrade that the guy who ended up with a 2.0 at HYPS is probably quite immature and lazy, and/or suffered from extraordinary personal/psychological problems, and such a student would have almost certainly flunked out of State U if he had gone there instead. Like I said, you can be ridiculously lazy and slothful at HYPS and still graduate. You'll get weak grades, but at least you'll graduate. StateU's on the other hand, will not hesitate in the least to expel you. Some of them actually seem to enjoy flunking students out.</p>
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I would think that proven success in math and science classes would be an indicator of continued success in those areas. Someone who has studied music composition or British literature may have never taken a math or science class in college. And we know from various SAT vs GPA discussions, doing well on a test does not equate with performing well in class. I just think it odd that getting into college in the first place depends so much on what you took in high school and how well you did, then medical medical school no longer cares about proven ability in those disciplines. The same thing could be said about a law school applicant who never took a writing class for four years. It makes no sense.</p>
<p>Maybe Gutrade's theory is correct about HYPS feeder schools.
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<p>I thik what's really going on is that the med-schools view MCAT scores and those required premed courses as sufficient evidence that a person is or is not suitable. If a guy does great on his MCAT scores and on those premed courses, what more does he need to prove? The guy clearly has the scientific capability.</p>
<p>As far as law school is concerned, I think that capability is demostrated through the LSAT scores and through the essay answers. Again, if the guy demonstrates top LSAT scores and good essays, and if he demonstrates good grades (even if those grades are in a science), then he has clearly demostrated the work ethic and maturity necessary to do well, then what more is left to prove?</p>
<p>Beyond the test score and the pre-med courses, he needs to show a deeper desire to do well or ability to do significant research, hence the importance of overall GPA. Also, one thing about the difficulty of the process before medical school is that it eliminates many would be applicants and potential doctors.</p>
<p>Both law and med school are similar in that they want high test scores, high GPA, good recs (I think both need this), and good statements of purpose (i think both have this as well). For med school, you could have majored in anything, but you must take about a year of about 4 subjects. For law school, it is much harder to find and do any sort of research directly helping one's chacnces of admission.</p>
<p>As to what there is to prove, who knows. Maybe the schools just want fewer applicants with the chances of getting in. It's not as if schools need more applicants. The schools want the best they can get, and they tend to get who they want. I haven't heard that acceptances were increasing or applications were dwindling.</p>
<p>I guess I spoke out of turn. I didn't realize that med school had science prerequisites. When it was said that music majors were admitted to med school, I assumed those applicants had only music major curriculum (kind of like law school will accept any undergrad major).</p>
<p>For either professional school, I guess doing well on the test is paramount, followed by good undergrad gpa (?)</p>
<p>These schools are major geek no social scene schools.</p>