Which path is recommended?

[BlitzSleep]

At the University I will be attending this Spring (UT) One of the advisors told me I had two choices in pursuing a career in medicine.

1. Majoring in Biology or Chemistry and getting a degree in that and going from there.

or

2. Prerequisites

The advisor told me that the only reason why people go with the first choice is for security reasons. But I dont see myself happy with anything other than medicine at the moment. And I dont see what kind of job I could obtain with a Biology major.

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[MD Dreams]

At the University I will be attending this Spring (UT) One of the advisors told me I had two choices in pursuing a career in medicine.

1. Majoring in Biology or Chemistry and getting a degree in that and going from there.

or

2. Prerequisites

The advisor told me that the only reason why people go with the first choice is for security reasons. But I dont see myself happy with anything other than medicine at the moment. And I dont see what kind of job I could obtain with a Biology major.

If I could do it over again, I would do my pre-med prerequisites and major in a completely different fieled, either one that will give you a back up occupation plan or one that may simply interest you and make you a more knowledgeable human being. Unless you are going into research majoring in science is a complete waste of time and a difficult way to earn solid grades. In addition to your pre-requisites I would also take anatomy and physiology and maybe histology just because they will help you in med school. Good luck.

 

[jetproppilot]

If I could do it over again, I would do my pre-med prerequisites and major in a completely different fieled, either one that will give you a back up occupation plan or one that may simply interest you and make you a more knowledgeable human being. Unless you are going into research majoring in science is a complete waste of time and a difficult way to earn solid grades. In addition to your pre-requisites I would also take anatomy and physiology and maybe histology just because they will help you in med school. Good luck.

Totally agree.

I wish I wouldve majored in something other than chemistry.....like history, spanish, something that would've made better conversation than identifying an unknown moiety in a solution....

 

[DreamLover]

At the University I will be attending this Spring (UT) One of the advisors told me I had two choices in pursuing a career in medicine.

1. Majoring in Biology or Chemistry and getting a degree in that and going from there.

or

2. Prerequisites

The advisor told me that the only reason why people go with the first choice is for security reasons. But I dont see myself happy with anything other than medicine at the moment. And I dont see what kind of job I could obtain with a Biology major.

As a Biology grad myself...if I can save anyone from doing what I did I've made a contribution to society...go with the Pre-Reqs!

Major is something practical that will actually help get you a job

or major in Spanish because that will help you in medicine much more than a BS in Biology will!

that's just my educated opinion

 

[DrDre']

SPANISH. Useful and will help you in many ways. With equal grades and all, any adcom committee will take a spanish major over another bio major. It sets you apart. Enjoy your classes! You also can raise your grade point with non-science classes...

 

[Bertelman]

Go with what makes you happy! Do you like Chem or Biology? Enough to study it in more detail than you thought neccessary?

For me, sometime during my sophomore year I kind of fell for microbiology. I switched my lame-o Pre-Med major to Micro and pretty much enjoyed the rest of my college experience. The most important facet for yourself and your grades is to study something you truly enjoy, then everything will seem like less "work". Ironically, there are actually a fair amount of job opportunities for microbiologists, like public health, food safety, etc. Hey, I even toured a local brewery (Shiner, baby!!) and saw them plating samples onto agar for whatever. Saccharomyces, I love thee.

But I'm not here to sell you on my degree. I would agree with all of the above that you should do something that may offer you a chance for a career if med school doen't work out, or at least help you in some facet other than Chemistry.

 

[RockLee]

Ditto on the posts above. Major in Spanish, not only will this make you a unique applicant but it will also prepare you for a career in medicine serving a population that's currently booming here in the states.

 

[BlitzSleep]

Thank you so much everyone for your posts...But I was wondering how Spanish would make me a unique applicant compared to others that have lets say a Biology or Chemistry major. I would like to major in something that would be beneficial in a career in medicine.

 

[DreamLover]

Thank you so much everyone for your posts...But I was wondering how Spanish would make me a unique applicant compared to others that have lets say a Biology or Chemistry major. I would like to major in something that would be beneficial in a career in medicine.

like I said.........Espanol mi amigo

 

[MTGas2B]

Or you could major in chemical engineering, you won't get the broad background in another field, like Spanish or history (so you still won't have much to talk about), but you get will as much chemistry as most chemistry majors, some background economics, and a degree that will allow you to get a job. If you like the science and the math its not too bad.

Plus, you can impress your attendings when they lecture you on laminar flow and you whip the equation to calculate Reynolds numbers

I don't mean to discount what others are saying about chosing a major. I agree the humanities are very beneficial to a career in medicine, I won't deny that. I am merely suggesting another option you may not have considered. Whatever you pick, try to find something that you enjoy studying, it makes it easier. At least in udergrad you have that choice.

.

 

[DreamLover]

Or you could major in chemical engineering, you won't get the broad background in another field, like Spanish or history (so you still won't have much to talk about), but you get will as much chemistry as most chemistry majors, some background economics, and a degree that will allow you to get a job. If you like the science and the math its not too bad.

Plus, you can impress your attendings when they lecture you on laminar flow and you whip the equation to calculate Reynolds numbers

I don't mean to discount what others are saying about chosing a major. I agree the humanities are very beneficial to a career in medicine, I won't deny that. I am merely suggesting another option you may not have considered. Whatever you pick, try to find something that you enjoy studying, it makes it easier. At least in udergrad you have that choice.

.

I'm not saying that a Spanish Major is easy per say...but Chemical Engineering...that's hard...and a real GPA buster....unless you love it, I'd stay away (although it has real career opportunties and engineering is a great option for a practical degree) and get the best grades you can with a decent class load-take those pre-reqs and enjoy college...spend less time in the biblioteca

we all know that it comes down to grades and scores...with a little emphasis on major or ECs...sadly...in reality...an A in conversational Spanish (me taking conversational Spanish --> ) equals an A in Physical-chemistry (me taking p-chem --> )

 

[bubalus]

Major in whatever you find interesting. You'll do better in a major that interests you than in one that doesn't. If I were doing it over, knowing what I know now, I'd probably major in photography. I agree that spanish classes, whether you major in it or not, will be very useful.

 

[Lizard1]

just to play the devil's advocate.....i too thought of majoring in something outside of the sciences but was told by several counselors that doing so would not reflect a committment to medicine and possibly detour my chances of getting in med school.

however, i ended up serving on a med school admissions committee yrs later and i actually thought it was a bonus if someone majored outside of bio or chem - showed them be "more" well-rounded. other committee members also agreed

 

[Lizard1]

and oh yeah, hook 'em

 

[bubalus]

If anybody questions your dedication to or ability to succeed in medicine with a nonscience major, you can remind them Harold Varmus got his BA and MA in English before going to med school. The guy managed to win a Nobel prize, head the NIH and Sloan-Kettering. Not too bad for a nonscience major.

 

[Noyac]

I'm not saying that a Spanish Major is easy per say...but Chemical Engineering...that's hard...and a real GPA buster....unless you love it, I'd stay away (although it has real career opportunties and engineering is a great option for a practical degree) and get the best grades you can with a decent class load-take those pre-reqs and enjoy college...spend less time in the biblioteca :

I got straight A's in chemistry and struggled in spanish. An A, a B and even a C in spanish. So to each his own.

If I were to do it again, I'd major in mechanical engineering or even architecture. And then i'd be in some other field other than medicine as well. Don't get me wrong, I like my position in life right now but hey, we all have dreams.

 

[MD Dreams]

Don't make the mistake of thinking that a chemistry or biology degree is going to help you in medicine or is going to make you a better physician. The stuff that you learn in these majors is all BS in terms of its application to medicine (unless your going into research). Pre-med advisors say a lot of things, many of which may be misguided.

 

[DreamLover]

Don't make the mistake of thinking that a chemistry or biology degree is going to help you in medicine or is going to make you a better physician. The stuff that you learn in these majors is all BS in terms of its application to medicine (unless your going into research). Pre-med advisors say a lot of things, many of which may be misguided.

Well said

A BS in Biology doesn't really "help" you anymore than just completing the pre-reqs as far as medical school is concerned

if I had to do it over again...I would NOT get a BS in Bio or Chem...I'd get a business degree...take classes in economics...accounting and investing...so I perhaps could know more about running a business...investing in my retirement and how not to get swindled by your neighborhood CPA

but I am where I am and that is a mere 7 months from finishing med school so I will take what I got and run with it...BS in Biology and all

 

[aredoubleyou]

At the University I will be attending this Spring (UT) One of the advisors told me I had two choices in pursuing a career in medicine.

1. Majoring in Biology or Chemistry and getting a degree in that and going from there.

or

2. Prerequisites

The advisor told me that the only reason why people go with the first choice is for security reasons. But I dont see myself happy with anything other than medicine at the moment. And I dont see what kind of job I could obtain with a Biology major.

Before you take everyone's advice. note that everyone who posted was a science major. Hmmmmm. I wonder if there's a reason for that. Or are the History majors who decided on going to med school just being quite.....yea, yea, and I know everybody knows ssomeone who majored in music and is now a neurosurgery resident, blah, blah, blah. Dude, straight up, if medicine is the only thing you wann do, then the most likely path to medicine is through the sciences, for better or worse.

 

[Varmit22]

Go with what interests you the most. I wished I would have done something else besides Biology. If you don't agree, think about studying for a Plant Taxonomy final at 2 in the morning. If that doesn't convince you, maybe Compartative Plant Morphology will. Anyways, if you are not interested in the general field, these classes will be even more painful.

 

[jetproppilot]

Before you take everyone's advice. note that everyone who posted was a science major. Hmmmmm. I wonder if there's a reason for that. Or are the History majors who decided on going to med school just being quite.....yea, yea, and I know everybody knows ssomeone who majored in music and is now a neurosurgery resident, blah, blah, blah. Dude, straight up, if medicine is the only thing you wann do, then the most likely path to medicine is through the sciences, for better or worse.

hmmmmmmmmmm.........

interesting point, as is varmits.

Maybe its only wishful (retrospective) thinking that I couldve put as much effort into Spanish or whatever as I did into the sciences.

An Arsenio moment......

Plant Taxonomy.......HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAH....reminds me of a close friend of mine who was really wild back in his college days....today the dude is a very successful Florida interventionalist...back then he took a plant taxonomy class so he could distinguish the....uhhhhh....poisonous mushrooms from the hallucinogenic ones.....turns out the sought after shrooms just so happened to grow in the lawn of the local police department....so at night he'd....well you get the picture...

 

[militarymd]

Before you take everyone's advice. note that everyone who posted was a science major. Hmmmmm. I wonder if there's a reason for that. Or are the History majors who decided on going to med school just being quite.....yea, yea, and I know everybody knows ssomeone who majored in music and is now a neurosurgery resident, blah, blah, blah. Dude, straight up, if medicine is the only thing you wann do, then the most likely path to medicine is through the sciences, for better or worse.

I concur with this post.

 

[jennyboo]

I majored in English literature.

Some people were a little taken aback during my residency interviews (i.e. the "Hmmm, I'm surprised you survived medical school" musing) and asked me whether it was tough. Hard to say, because my sis is starting her first year of med school right now with her chemistry degree and she's every bit as worried about flunking, etc etc that I was during my first two months of med school. This is confirmed by my husband who's saying, "Yeah, she sounds exactly the same as you did."

So I'm thinking that chemistry doesn't prepare you that much better. She liked her chemistry though, so I think she did the right thing. I liked my English lit, but I wish I hadn't skipped so many volumes of Shakespeare and done a half-arsed job of writing papers in favor of trying to get good grades in the pre-med prerequisite classes. I spent 80% of my time trying to study chemistry and physics for pre-med and 20% of my time reading literature -- even though 3 of my 4 classes were English and not sciencey.

If I were to choose a major again: Computer science. Another thing I am interested in. Then again, like Noyac, I wouldn't be here then -- I'd be doing something other than medicine. Grass is always greener on the other side.

Just pick something that you like and figure out how to fit the pre-med reqs in. If you can't stand studying it, you shouldn't study it more than you have to.

 

[proman]

Why not double major, or at least consider it? I did anthropology and biology. Looking back, I wish I had done history (something I'm now more interested in). Point is, do well no matter what the major.

 

[markneil]

i finished my degree in computer science. i loved the theory, programming classes, and designing/implementing software WHILE i was in school. totally different once i got out of college. before i majored in computer science, however, i was an RT 1.5 years out of high school (did RT prereqs: anatomy and physio, micro, etc while i was a senior in hs)..i was totally dedicated to going into med school and i was planned on majoring in neuroscience. once i started at the univ of calif i explored my options a bit: a lil math and computer science here and there. i picked cs. wrong choice. plus it was the height of the dot.com boom (the 1st and only one).

so here i am now, 3 years out of college. i finished med school prereqs while working as an RT at night for a couple of years since it was way more flexible than being a programmer full time. it was also a great experience since i work all over the hospital: ICUs, ER, floors and do a sh@tload of cool stuff with docs of all types and nurses of all types. i have a vague idea of what i'm getting into. i took the semi-long road, but i think it was worth it.

 

[chips]

i agree with everything everyone has said about majoring in something you like, but as someone who majored in molecular biology i'd like to just add that while i was pretty disillusioned with cloning genetically altered slime mold by the time i graduated, my major put me in the path of some pretty great research opportunities, ALL of which undoubtedly contributed to my getting into med school (despite the fact that my science GPA was a little lower than my econ counterparts).

 

[The_Sensei]

something that would've made better conversation than identifying an unknown moiety in a solution....

I was cackling like a mad idiot and drawing quizzical stares after reading this post at work. Funny......

 

[ketamine]

Before you take everyone's advice. note that everyone who posted was a science major. Hmmmmm. I wonder if there's a reason for that. Or are the History majors who decided on going to med school just being quite.....yea, yea, and I know everybody knows ssomeone who majored in music and is now a neurosurgery resident, blah, blah, blah. Dude, straight up, if medicine is the only thing you wann do, then the most likely path to medicine is through the sciences, for better or worse.

I didn't major in science, although I took more than enough science courses to have a science major if only they were in the same discipline. I was six credit hours away from biology major. I think what the admissions committees are looking for is that you took challenging courses and got good grades.

I would consider majors that allow for an alternative career than medicine. Engineering, Accounting, or Actuary science are all majors that will land you a good job at graduation or if you get reject from medical school. Pharmacy, Nursing, PA certificate, radiology technician, Respiratory therapy, and Laboratory technician are health-related areas that will pay well until you get into medical school.

 

[BlitzSleep]

i'm afraid taking a Biology, Engineering, or computer science major would be biting off more than i could chew. I dont plan on going into a researching field at all...so should Biology and Chemical major be out of the question? I just want to take classes that would make me a better physician.

 

[Bertelman]

i'm afraid taking a Biology, Engineering, or computer science major would be biting off more than i could chew.

Please, explain this statement. I'll forgive the engineering, but if you can't handle Bio, how will you possibly handle med school? What makes it more than you can chew? Don't like studying upper-level molecular biology courses because you know you'll never need to know that info? Welcome to your MS1 Biochem class!

It sounds like you have an aversion to the natural sciences. That's fine. As suggested in prior posts, find something you ENJOY! Throw in a few business courses, spanish, of course the required pre-meds. I would also suggest at least one semester of Biochem (it wasn't required at my med school, but soon will be). That will help you through the first week of your med school class, then it's off to the races. Believe me, week 1 of med school is not the time to be memorizing the amino acids, ribosomes and protein structures.

Really, don't suck up to a science major if it's not interesting. Do what pleases you. If you had never wanted to become a doctor, what would your major have been? Pick that. You never know, you may realize the M.D. thing isn't so cool. If you squeezed through with a Bio degree, only to find another great career not related to science, you'd really be pissed (and screwed).

 

[thegasman]

Major in what is the best fit for you and your interests, not just for med school. I did chemical engineering. I graduated mid-year and was easily able to get a good job for six months before med school started.

 

[Laurel123]

Major in what interests you, and then get good grades in that.

It is interesting how a lot of people seem to believe that getting good grades in science classes is harder than getting good grades in non-science courses. Personally, I majored in Biochemistry and easily did well in those courses but struggled through my required humanities courses.

Anyways, 10 years later I still have have tons of wonderful memories of college, but yet I don't remember anything that I learned in class. So my true advice is to just meet a lot of different people, try new activities, party and just enjoy college.

 

[BlitzSleep]

Chemistry, Biology, and Physics came pretty easy to me in high school and was a bit enjoyable (I was a total slacker, never studied) So I guess Bio is the way i'm leaning towards atm...

 

[jetproppilot]

i'm afraid taking a Biology, Engineering, or computer science major would be biting off more than i could chew. I dont plan on going into a researching field at all...so should Biology and Chemical major be out of the question? I just want to take classes that would make me a better physician.

If you're solely pre-med and wanna stick with a science major biology and chemistry are at different ends of the spectrum IMHO.....biology being the easiest and chemistry being at the harder end of the spectrum.

Physical chemistry and analytical chemistry made biochem look like a high school course. I dont think upper level biology courses come close to the academic challenges you will face taking upper level chemistry courses.

 

[BlitzSleep]

alright i've decided on Biochemistry.

i'm taking Chem, Bio, Calc, and Composition. lecture and labs.