Stanford Human Biology Major Questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
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<p>Hi, I'm considering majoring in HumBio, and I have a few questions about the program:</p>

<p>1) I know it's advertised as being quite interdisciplinary, but exactly HOW interdisciplinary is it? Are you going to be taking an even distribution of science, psychology, and social studies classes, or is the emphasis on a certain area?</p>

<p>2) Would it be possible to major in HumBio and minor in a language?</p>

<p>3) Do the major requirements fully prepare you for Med school? What about Law school?</p>

<p>4) What are the benefits of doing this major compared to a normal Bio or Psych major?</p>

<p>5) Is HumBio thought of as a more rigorous major, or is it on the easier side? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>First of all…congratulations on getting into Stanford!</p>

<p>I wouldn’t be too quick to decide on a major if you are planning to apply to med school or even law school…</p>

<p>…many high school students and even unsophisticated “college” students ASSUME you have to major in something “biology” in college…it is far from the truth…</p>

<p>…most elite TOP med schools don’t care what you “major” in as long as you take the BASIC requirements…biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics (which will prepare you well for the MCAT)…plus some “recommended” courses that are dependent on each particular med school…</p>

<p>for example lets look at Stanford Med School:
[Admissions</a> - Education - Stanford University School of Medicine](<a href=“http://www.med.stanford.edu/md/admissions/preparation.html]Admissions”>http://www.med.stanford.edu/md/admissions/preparation.html)</p>

<p>…in reality…schools like Stanford Med School, Harvard Med School, Yale Med School, etc…have very similar admissions standards…in that…they like college students who have pursued a “major” that they were PASSIONATE about…whether it be music, computer science, materials engineering, philosophy, classics, English literature, art, or even theater/drama…they want to see that you have excelled in a particular area that you love…and if you happen to love biology…so be it!</p>

<p>…they understand college only comes once in a lifetime…you may never get another chance to take or explore courses/classes that are offered in “college”…</p>

<p>…because once you get to med school…it is like plumbing school…you will NOT have much deviation in terms of what you have to take…everyone takes basically the same set of med school courses/clerkships to graduate to meet the requirements for the M.D. degree…</p>

<p>…to close…some of the most successful recent med school applicants have majored in Symbolic Systems…computer science with individualized track…Science, Technology, and Society…bioengineering…because these students are double/triple threats…in that…they can pursue top med schools (even law schools), create start-ups, entrepreneurship, work right out of college with lucrative/high paying jobs in most technology fields…</p>

<p>…hope this helps.</p>

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<p>

When I was at Stanford, HumBio had a reputation for being an easier major, which may relate it’s flexibility. Your concentration can be in a wide variety of fields, including concentrations tied to other majors. For example, you might do a concentration in the psychology of healing and take a lot of psych classes. Or you might choose something related to evolution, including a lot of anthropology classes. Or you might choose infectious diseases, including undergrad classes taught at the med school. It’s my understanding you can choose almost anything related to human biology, so long as your proposal gets approved.</p>

<p>The HumBio core classes substitute for the Bio portion of the premed classes (Bio 41/42/43 or HumBio 2A/B,3A/B,4A/B). I’ve taken the Bio sequence, but not the HumBio one. It’s my understanding the HumBio courses have more of an emphasis on human biology and also cover the social aspects of the biology (the B courses). They set a maximum of no more than 10 credits of pre-med requirements can be used for the foundation major requirements (not the core bio above, things like chem, physics, calc, …).</p>

<p>As stated above, you don’t need to major in a medical related field for med school. You can major in anything, although if you choose a major that requires a lot of credits, such as many engineering fields, most of your electives may need to go to the pre-med requirements. It’s my understanding that law schools generally do not require specific undergraduate courses for admission, giving even more flexibility in major choice.</p>

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<p>Hi there, I just thought I’d straight up answer your questions. I’m a current student, I have plenty of friends majoring in HumBio. Some are pre-med, some aren’t!</p>

<p>1) HumBio is as interdisciplinary or as focused as you want it to be. When you declare the major, you choose your concentration and you basically design your own curriculum which the department has to approve. For example, I have one friend concentrating in developmental psychology and another concentrating in public health. HumBio is often seen as the “pre-med major” because it fulfills a lot of the requirements, but again you don’t have to be pre-med to do HumBio. </p>

<p>2) It is completely possible to minor in a language with HumBio, especially with language credit from high school. I’d recommend starting a language early though, because scheduling intro-level languages can be difficult. </p>

<p>3) I’m not entirely sure if HumBio fulfills ALL the med school requirements (chemistry in particular), I would check the program website, but depending on your concentration it definitely knocks out a lot. As another poster said, the Bio Core will get you the bio requirements. Law schools don’t have many strict requirements for courses so I imaine you could adapt HumBio to those purposes. </p>

<p>4) Many of my friends who picked HumBio really enjoy the flexibility that it offers compared to a major in the natural or social sciences. Again, it’s the interdisciplinary approach which makes it very appealing, because rather than major in stock “bio” for pre-med, students can pursue a passion they have. </p>

<p>5) HumBio is as hard or as easy as you want it, again varying by concentration. The BioCore can be pretty brutal with 10 units/quarter your sophomore year, but other than that it’s up to you. Often times the most difficult classes will come out of your pre-med requirements moreso than your HumBio classes though. </p>

<p>Again, you don’t have to do HumBio for pre-med but if you have a passion for it, definitely consider it! Hope this helped :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the responses!</p>