Stanford University Class of 2022 Accepted: Picking a Pre-Med Major!

I am an athlete and I recently accepted a recruitment spot to Stanford for the class of 2022! Though I’m open minded to exploring all Stanford has to offer, I have maintained an interest in pursuing a career as a physician since I was five years old.
That said, I was wondering what the ideal major is for pre-med. I know this is a loaded question and many people say to simply go for what you’re passionate about. However, I am interested in a little bit of everything-- I’m leaning towards something interdisciplinary but I was unsure if human biology will be beneficial/overlapping with pre-med required classes (** a major which overlaps with pre med reqs is extremely helpful as an athlete with a busy schedule).

Any advice on a pre-med major for someone who will probably have limited time to be able to balance pre-med reqs with a completely unrelated major? Any overall advice for Stanford pre-med especially through the lens of balancing athletics) would be very helpful!! Thanks so much!

It doesn’t really matter what you major in. Med schools will look to see that you can get As in the hard science classes. But apart from that, major in whatever you like. Most pre-meds choose biology or chemistry as a major. But keep in mind that you will be competing against thousands of other students with similar backgrounds.

Students who major in the arts, or in the humanities have a bit easier time distinguishing themselves from the pack.

You can major in anything and still go to med school so long as you complete the med school pre-reqs.

If time is a crunch item–and it is usually is for athletes-- choose a field you find interesting but has a large overlap with those pre med requirements. Biology, neuroscience, BME, chemistry, chem engineering–these majors typically have the largest overlap.

Not particularly helpful, but D2’s high school science lab partner for 3 years went to Stanford as a recruited athlete in track & field, majored in BME, qualified for & went to the Olympic trials in his sport (didn’t make the final Olympic team though), had a pro sponsorship contract for a year after college & competed professionally. He still managed to keep his GPA in med school worthy range (3.7+). He and D2 are now classmates again–this time at the same med school where they’re both MS4s. (And where they’re both in the running for class valedictorian.)

ETA: Because the lab partner had summer training and other commitments (he had summer sponsorship contracts that had required appearances and sports camp teaching), he was not able to take any summer classes. And because track & field has both fall & spring seasons (with the co-comittant travel & training), he was not able to save his tougher classes for a particular term, nor was he able to take an overload of courses. This meant that if a class wasn’t already part of the graduation requirements for his major, he wasn’t able to take it. This meant that he would have been completely unable to take his pre-med requirements if they weren’t already part of his major. This is something to keep in mind when choosing your major–especially if your sport is multi season or the season overlaps both fall & spring terms.

Congrats on your Stanford acceptance.

There is no ideal premed major. Consider when do you plan on applying to med school (eg, ‘traditional” way of applying after 3 years with intent on starting med school after graduation, or applying after you graduate and taking a gap year, or something else.) Depending on time line, consider where/how do you plan to fit into timeline completing premed/major reqs, fit into timeline participating in your sport, fit into timeline preparing for MCAT, fit into timeline having a college life, fit into timeline participating in clinical related ECs, fit into timeline etc, etc? Also consider what you can do with your major should you change your mind about medicine. Good luck.

All very good advice from others. I’d add - pick a major at Stanford that is athlete-friendly, that is, no mandatory lab sessions that you can’t miss (of course, this doesn’t apply to pre-med science classes… you can’t avoid them), sth like reading/writing assignments that you can work on them while on the road for competition. In that respect, hard science, engineering or CS (super time-consuming) is not good (plus they are usually GPA-killer). Summers can be the best time to knock down some of the hard pre-med science classes when there is no training/competition. As WOWM said, maintain 3.7+ GPA is your top priority.