<p>Can someone, who has a good knowledge of medical admissions or has been through the process, clear up the mental aspect of medical school admissions?</p>
<p>Are Chemistry, Biology, and Biochemistry majors at a disadvantage?</p>
<p>Are Humanities and Classics major favored?</p>
<p>I really don't understand all the semantics behind it...</p>
<p>If you really wanted to be a doctor or dentist, why wouldn't you major in something related to the field? Why would it hurt you to major in Biology or Human Nutrition? </p>
<p>Why would someone have to go out of their way and major in a social science just to be more favorable for medical school?</p>
<p>People rarely go out of their way and major in something they don’t like JUST to get into med school.</p>
<p>People with humanities majors do it because they ENJOY humanities, yet at the same time want to be a doctor. If they can be a humanities major and still have competitive BCPM scores (Bio, Chem, Physics, Math) as well as an outstanding MCAT, then it sets them slightly apart from regular Bio majors. However, the emphasis on undergraduate major is very little, so Bio majors are not really at a disadvantage. Humanities majors may get a closer look from time to time, but they wont be held as ‘special’ if their stats are not up to par.</p>
<p>Do what you want. Any minute interest they would take in you for a given major will be out of the window instantly once they get a whiff that you did it to look interesting and not out of passion. </p>
<p>Human nutrition may hurt you because it is not a good prep for medical school compared to academic majors and it nutrition is more focused on people who go to nutrition careers. For better or worse, medical school doesn’t focus that much on it.</p>
<p>Also, is it really needed to get yourself apart? Why not just get all A’s, decent MCAT, various EC’s (related and not), pursue some personal interests and have some normal life at college? Why look into some unrealistic goal that make you suffer for 4 years?</p>
<p>Yes, because even your “average” medical school has a 5 percent acceptance rate. I have a couple of friends who “should” have gotten in somewhere in Texas, but got rejected everywhere (32 MCAT, 3.7+ gpa, 2 years of research, applied early and to numerous schools)</p>
<p>Just did a bunch of numbers crunching, and Colleges is totally right–most schools boast <8% acceptance rates for nonresidents (which is what you’ll most likely be, since you’re only the resident of one state!). Yikes!</p>
<p>My advice would be to major in something you genuinely like as opposed to what you think you should major in. I know many people who are Biology majors simply because they want to do something health-related and they think they should major in Bio. That doesn’t come across well. </p>
<p>Honestly though, majors don’t count for much these days because you can’t do a heck of a lot with a BA. You almost have to go on to some sort of grad or professional school.</p>
<p>Some people overthink this. A lot of admissions officers and doctors were former bio majors. There is nothing wrong with majoring in bio. It is incredibly stupid (and painful) to major in something you don’t like for 4 years simply because you think it’ll give you an advantage. Varsity-quality athletics will help you stand out. A 40 on the MCAT will help you stand out. Peace Corps will help you stand out. Majoring in classics instead of bio is not going to help you stand out because adcoms frankly don’t care very much about your coursework.</p>
<p>^^^ I agree with norcalguy. Adcoms would be impressed by challenging and advanced courses, regardless of the specific subject or declared major.</p>
<p>colleges007101,
"Yes, because even your “average” medical school has a 5 percent acceptance rate. I have a couple of friends who “should” have gotten in somewhere in Texas, but got rejected everywhere (32 MCAT, 3.7+ gpa, 2 years of research, applied early and to numerous schools) "</p>
<p>Apprently they did not research where they fit the best. These stats would be enough to get somewhere, if they have applied to schools that match their stats (and state of residency). People are getting in with lesser stats and nothing significant to stand out but wider range of schools.</p>
<p>But only if you earn high grades in those courses. Adcoms are distinctly unimpressed by challenging advanced courses if you earn low grades in them. And the downside seems to be far more salient than the upside, such that it is better to not take a difficult course at all than to take it and receive a poor grade. Sad but true. </p>
<p>This is why engineering students encounter such difficulty in winning admission to med-school, as adcoms don’t seem to properly compensate for engineering grade deflation. If you happen to be one of the few engineering students who receives top grades, your admissions chances might be boosted. But the vast majority of engineering students will not receive top grades. They study harder and receive lower grades than do the students in the average major, and the adcoms don’t seem to care.</p>
<p>Sakky, how do engineering classes determine grades? I agree that it seems unfortunate engineering majors aren’t properly recognized for taking such challenging classes. I’ve always wondered where this “grade deflation” comes from and figured you may know. </p>
<p>As a bio major at a big state school, I’ve found that all of my upper-level science courses have graded on a curve–where only the top 20-25% of the class gets an A, with those on the borderline getting an A-, the next 30-35% get Bs, etc. Perhaps I had incorrectly assumed that this grading strategy was applicable to more majors than just bio and chem (which is what I’m most familiar with). </p>
<p>Do you find that it’s more like “>90%=A, >80%=B, >70%=C, etc” with pretty strict cutoffs and getting >90% is, like it seems, extremely difficult? If that’s the case then that totally sucks for engineering kids–I’ve taken one or two classes that grade in such a way, and I must say, I’m not a fan!</p>
<p>I think a major is always going to be a good choice if you actually enjoy it. Adcoms will probably prefer someone who’s really passionate about neuroscience and shows it through research, activities, etc., rather then an East Asian major who took it for an easy pass and the chance to be different.</p>
<p>^^Indeed, if you look at med school acceptance rates from MIT students, you will find that their numbers are higher than the mean. If engineers were cut a break/attractive to adcoms, one would expect just the opposite from arguably one of the world’s to eng schools.</p>