Undergraduate Major

<p>I am currently a freshman at Michigan and I am really stressed out about what I should do for a major. My end goal is to go to medical school and become a doctor one day, but I don't know what route I should take. I have heard from many people that getting out of LS&A is the best thing to do so I am considering either Engineering or Kinesiology. The majors I am looking at are Biomedical Engineering or Movement Science. I know a lot of medical school admittance depends on GPA so Kinesiology would be better in that aspect, but I have heard from many people that you can't go wrong with an engineering degree these days. Does anyone have any advice what I should do?</p>

<p>Thanks and Go Blue!</p>

<p>I don’t know that Kinesiology is taken more seriously by med schools just due to higher gpa. I don’t really hear many say leave LSA for that. If classes are currently too hard for a 3.8, maybe med school isn’t for you? Don’t expect to take an easy route to becoming a doctor. LSA is perfectly fine for premed, if you find a major that interests you, and there are a ton. Many do the Neuroscience BS for example. Biomed and do well in science reqs is also a great option. You might end up with a lower gpa, it’ll be tough (but so is med school), but that’s correct that Eng degree is well worth it.</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply. It’s not that it is too hard, but I just want to put myself in the best possible shape to get into the best medical school. It all comes down to what I am interested in the most because that’s what I will do the best in. In terms of LS&A, neuroscience is a great, very common degree, but I was told not to do just biology or chemistry. Apparently those are very common degrees and the head of admissions want to see diversity.</p>

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<p>Who told you that? That doesn’t sound right at all.</p>

<p>Wolverine, you know how low the ENG GPAs are, right? I mean, at COE, a 3.2 is cum laude. Your odds of getting a med-school-level-GPA outta there are, well, pretty slim.</p>

<p>Wolverine</p>

<p>As a physician who majored in French, I would major in whatever interests you the most. Now it is pretty well established that BME majors do the best on the MCAT, GPA is still very important. But I’d still say study whatever interests you the most. My son may be attending Michigan next year and has already decided on majoring in the Classics. What you study is not as important as how well you do in your classes. Best of luck.</p>

<p>Vladenschlutte, I listened to the head of admissions for Michigan’s medical school speak and he said that he enjoys seeing diversity in the majors. He said that 75% of applicants these days are biology majors and he wants to see diversity within the majors. Those biology majors get sorted into their own pile because it is such a common degree. He said it used to be around 90% biology majors, but now that number is slowly decreasing. His advice was to do what you love and not what you think will get you the best chance of getting accepted. If you love history, then he wants you to do history. The three areas they want to see you be extremely competent in are Biology, Biochemistry and Statistics. I am solely interested in science and math so I will do something along those lines as a major.</p>

<p>kmcmom13, thanks for the reply. I know that of course engineering grade point averages are much lower because it is so difficult, but do you know if medical schools only care about grade point average or do they care a lot about rigorous majors? Of course pre-med is already tough and time consuming. I am honestly leaning towards movement science right now after looking at the required courses. The only thing that worries me is what if I can’t get accepted right away to medical school? With an engineering degree, I could get a job right away and get work experience or get a masters and then go to medical school. Also, biomedical engineering deals with the type of doctor I want to become/ field of medicine I want to go into, so should I also consider that?</p>

<p>PsychoDad10, thanks for the reply. To be honest, both majors interest me equally the same, but of course I think that I would do the best in movement science. I am meeting with a biomedical advisor next week to talk about everything. I currently do research in the kinesiology school and I really enjoy it. My sister once went to the ER and the doctor majored in spanish so you can truly major in anything and still go to medical school. Good luck to your son. Michigan is truly a great place and I love it here.</p>

<p>Have you considered the biophysics program? It might be worth investigating, as it combines a variety of disciplines and frequently discusses medical applications: </p>

<p>[Undergraduate</a> Curriculum | Biophysics | University of Michigan](<a href=“http://www.lsa.umich.edu/biophysics/undergraduate/undergraduatecurriculum]Undergraduate”>http://www.lsa.umich.edu/biophysics/undergraduate/undergraduatecurriculum)</p>