<p>I want to major in biology and minor in dance. Is this a good idea? What will Medical Schools think of this? Will managing my time be hard? Will I still have time to study and have some fun? Please answer<3 thanks so much! (:</p>
<p>It’s only a good idea if you would want to do enough dance to get a minor regardless of whether you were going to get a minor or not.</p>
<p>If you do a lot of dance, regardless of whether you get a minor or not, I’m sure it will come up in an interview because it’s interesting. In other words, the fact that you got a minor is not what will count, it’s the amount and level of dance that you do that counts. This will apply for anything, not just dance. </p>
<p>If say you compete or are in some sort of dance group and hold some sort of leadership role, then it’s a genuine boost to your application. Otherwise it’s a hobby that makes you interesting (i.e. certainly not a negative, but not really a positive per se).</p>
<p>Will you have time to study and have fun is up to you, but keep in mind that successful pre-meds do lots of things outside the classroom and such behavior is expected and encouraged by medical schools.</p>
<p>Med schools adcoms won’t think a dance minor is strange at all. People major and minor in all sorts of things and still go to med school. (One of D1’s med school classmate was a music performance & theory major…) If dance makes you happy–do it!</p>
<p>You will have time to have fun as pre-med. (If you’re don’t, then you’re doing something wrong. I have 2 kids–one in med school and one applying next year. I guarantee that neither of them ever spent a Friday night languishing in the library. They have friends, hobbies, sports, clubs. And they partied too. It’s all about learning to manage your time and balance the competing parts of your life.)</p>
<p>Med schools want interesting, well-rounded individuals, not grade grubbing drudges.</p>
<p>The dance thing won’t hurt you as far as SOMs caring.</p>
<p>However, if a dance minor requires a lot of practices and time demands that will interfere with your studying for your major and pre-reqs, then that will hurt your GPA.</p>
<p>A hobby is quite different. You can set aside a hobby when your school work is demanding. A “hobby” that is a minor has req’ts that have to be done at prescribed times and that can be a problem.</p>
<p>I minored in dance. It was a major conversation topic during my interviews, which is a good or bad thing depending on your motivations for dancing. If you are doing it for the sheer love of it, then it is a good thing. If you are doing it as a way of padding your resume, it will not help.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Any performance major/minor will require a large time commitment. I must perform before a faculty jury every term and I had better be ready because they can be tough. But I am used to it, as is anyone who performs should be. I’ve been doing it all my life in addition to regular school and it in no way should “hurt your GPA”. </p>
<p>OP, you will be fine :)</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I love to dance so that is why I was thinking of minoring in dance but now I’m stuck between either: joining a dance club or minoring in dance. which one is better? btw, some of the dance clubs costs money and it could get expensive. What do you guys think I should do? Thanks!</p>
<p>As long as anytype of EC such as won’t hurt your GPA (can not be GAP <~3.5 for Med), you are free to do whatever you deem fit in your schedule.</p>
<p>Where on Earth does it say that medical schools care one whit what your major/minor is?</p>
<p>Would participating in club or intramural sports be a bad idea? Are there any pre med athletes out there?</p>
<p>There are plenty of pre med athletes out in the world. Some are even D1 athletes (with the time commitment that includes). </p>
<p>One of D2’s high school classmates is nationally ranked distance runner who has been invited to tryouts for the US Olympic team. Also an biomedical engineering major at a top 5 research U with 3.8GPA. And a pre-med.</p>
<p>So…if you want to participate in club or intramural sports — go ahead. Just be sure you can manage your time appropriately. It certainly can be done.</p>
<p>There are 3 D1 athletes in my class alone (me and two others) and I’m sure LOTS of intramural athletes since that’s a pretty minor time commitment unless you’re on a team that takes it REALLY seriously. I can think of at least 3 club teamers off the top of my head as well.</p>
<p>so would it be a good or bad idea to do sports as a pre med student?</p>
<p>It could be either. Good if you enjoy it and are able to manage your time well. Bad if it takes too much time away from your academics that your grades suffer.</p>
<p>A message board is not going to be able to tell you what you should do. Only you know how much study time you need and how good you are at managing your time.</p>
<p>agree with WOWmom. Additionally, as I tried to hint in my post early on in the thread, almost nothing you do actually matters to med schools per se. It’s about what the things you do mean to you and what they say about you. Organized sports (i’m not talking IM here) are just another way to show off how studious you are, how you succeed in the face of adversity, and how you’re dedicated to a craft that is never finished, much like being a physician. There are many, many ways to show off these attributes. </p>
<p>I enjoyed my sport and I was not recruited so I had to bust my ass every year to earn my spot on the team and then REALLY bust my ass to earn a spot in the starting lineup. If I was doing this just for med school, I would have quit long ago because quite frankly it wouldn’t have been worth it. I had 7am practices and had to give up entire weekends for competitions, but the feeling I got from playing was unmatchable and I loved my teammates. This type of mentality can apply to anything (e.g. dance)-i’m not trying to paint athletics as a better activity than anything else. If you’re doing anything just to get into med school, you’re probably going to hate it and med schools are going to see through you because of that.</p>
<p>
Quoted for truth.</p>
<p>I would just like to point out that there are a near infinite number of things that you can do that “look good on your application.” So many, in fact, that there is no reason why you should need to do anything you don’t like when there HAS to be something you like.</p>
<p>Well put mmcdowe</p>