My whole life, I’ve wanted to be a doctor. It’s a surefire thing. I chose Cell/Molecular Biology as my undergraduate major with minors in Chemistry and English. Recently, I was told by another pre-medical student that this in conjunction with my volunteer work, future doctor shadowing experience, and work experience would not be enough to set me apart from my fellow applicants. Should I be looking into another major? I want to know before I go into the second half of my freshman year. Can anybody give me some advice on what I could do to beef up my application or if this guy is right–that I should think about majoring in something less predictable for a pre-med student?
Thanks so much!
Med schools admission committee don’t care what your major is. Really.
Major in what interests you and in what you feel will give you the best opportunity to maintain a high GPA.
Also consider what major will offer you the best Plan B career should you not gain an acceptance to med school. (Every year more than 60% of applicants don’t get a single acceptance so every pre-med needs a Plan B.)
You “beef up” your application not by pursuing an unusual major in college, but by performing well academically and having non-cookie cutter ECs.
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Med Schools don’t care what your major is-- I even know a Spanish major who was admitted. I would major in something that can be useful beyond med school or that you are genuinely interested in. For example, if you want to open your own practice then a business major might be useful.
Exactly. As well, you don’t need any minor, much less two. You need to spend some serious time with your college’s med school advisor. You seem to possess some serious misinformation on what it takes to eventually get to med school. Stop listening to amateurs and speak with someone with authoritative information.
I’m not sure that med school AdComs even notice applicants’ majors. Why would they?
You set yourself apart by writing a PS that captures attention, meaningful ECs/volunteering, interesting research, having top grades, strong MCAT.
One’s major doesn’t set you apart.
I do know for some Med school interviews, I forget what they called it, but they only know your undergrad and your major. Obviously major still means nothing, but it is something to talk about so pick what you enjoy.
Your choice of major doesn’t help you that much. I was an engineer and I did get a lot of compliments by interviewers on the interview trail, but I also had a very good GPA. If anything, a difficult major like engineering may have a marginal benefit (i.e 3.9 GPA chemical engineering vs 3.9 Biology GPA), but it won’t make your break your application by any stretch.
Major in what you’re interested in and what you can get the best GPA in.