Will medical schools view a BA (Bachelor of Art) degree less than a BS (Bachelor of Science) degree?

[Itachi Uchiha]

I am conflicted. I have been thinking about this for weeks now and cannot get a good answer. I feel like BA (Bachelor of Art) will be more suited for me but I am worried that medical schools will think it is less challenging and not as important as BS (Bachelor of science). Has any of you dealt with this. Did any of you matriculate into medical school with a BA? Preferably top 20?

Thanks in advance.

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[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

No one cares. Do what you are interested in and do it well.

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Depends. How artistic are you?

 

[Podstar]

It won’t matter whether you have a BA or BS. Pick a major that you enjoy and that will also be useful if for some reason medicine does not work out. If I could do it over I probably would have done finance and just taken the prerequisites instead of biochem.

 

[stickgirl390]

My BA helped me stand out among the sea of biology and chemistry applicants. We all take the same MCATs at the end of the day.

 

[Banco]

Doesn't matter. Just do well in whatever you do.

 

[sella.turcica]

Not at all, I had a humanities BA and I was accepted to 18 MD programs

Which tier were these med schools?

 

[Itachi Uchiha]

Depends. How artistic are you?

Not at all.

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

I am conflicted. I have been thinking about this for weeks now and cannot get a good answer. I feel like BA (Bachelor of Art) will be more suited for me but I am worried that medical schools will think it is less challenging and not as important as BS (Bachelor of science). Has any of you dealt with this. Did any of you matriculate into medical school with a BA? Preferably top 20?

Thanks in advance.

I have a BA, not at a top 20 school but a good Florida school.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

BA vs. BS means essentially nothing - my school exclusively offered BAs, even in the sciences

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Not at all.

Not even paint by numbers?

 

[altblue]

Which tier were these med schools?

Asking all the right questions

 

[Redpancreas]

I am conflicted. I have been thinking about this for weeks now and cannot get a good answer. I feel like BA (Bachelor of Art) will be more suited for me but I am worried that medical schools will think it is less challenging and not as important as BS (Bachelor of science). Has any of you dealt with this. Did any of you matriculate into medical school with a BA? Preferably top 20?

Thanks in advance.

No. The admissions process including prerequisites and the MCAT put everyone on the same page. If OP needs further clarification or more in depth perspectives, they should ask in pre-allo.

 

[citymedhopeful]

Asking all the right questions

Top 20s, Top 40s, we all take the same mcat and pre-reqs, major is not a big deal

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

As others said no one cares. My kid will be getting BA in sciences at a T20 school and he has 3 T5 (PD ranks) acceptances.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Moving to pre-med

Doesn't matter

 

[Itachi Uchiha]

My BA helped me stand out among the sea of biology and chemistry applicants. We all take the same MCATs at the end of the day.

Are you currently in an MD program?

 

[LizzyM]

If you are deciding between a BS and a BA at a particular school and the BS requires original research and a thesis and the BA does not, and you don't get some research experience outside of your curriculum, then the choice of a BA rather than BS could put you at a disadvantage ,all else equal.

 

[Goro]

I am conflicted. I have been thinking about this for weeks now and cannot get a good answer. I feel like BA (Bachelor of Art) will be more suited for me but I am worried that medical schools will think it is less challenging and not as important as BS (Bachelor of science). Has any of you dealt with this. Did any of you matriculate into medical school with a BA? Preferably top 20?

Thanks in advance.

No one will care. We don't care about majors or minors either. Just do well

 

[YCAGA]

If you are deciding between a BS and a BA at a particular school and the BS requires original research and a thesis and the BA does not, and you don't get some research experience outside of your curriculum, then the choice of a BA rather than BS could put you at a disadvantage ,all else equal.

I forgot that some schools offer both, and my school actually did that if I remember correctly. In this case, I think a BA would be a poor choice since research and thesis is an obvious boost for a medical school app, like you said.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

If you are deciding between a BS and a BA at a particular school and the BS requires original research and a thesis and the BA does not, and you don't get some research experience outside of your curriculum, then the choice of a BA rather than BS could put you at a disadvantage ,all else equal.

At my S's school research and thesis are required to get honors.

 

[stickgirl390]

Are you currently in an MD program?

Yes I’m US MD class of 2022

 

[spottedcory]

My school has only BAs for all biology concentrations, econ, computer science, math and physics lol. I had a BA

 

[Ms Procrastinator]

Short answer:

 

[fluorescent colors]

If you are deciding between a BS and a BA at a particular school and the BS requires original research and a thesis and the BA does not, and you don't get some research experience outside of your curriculum, then the choice of a BA rather than BS could put you at a disadvantage ,all else equal.

This is an interesting post. I didn't know that some BS programs require original research while BAs don't. Thank you.

 

[lacrossegirl420]

Doesn't make any difference

 

[The Med-Peds Dude]

FWIW, my biology degree was a BA. I don't see it making any difference whatsoever.

 

[Schadret]

Considering that a school like Princeton doesn't even offer BS's and only BA's (or AB as they call it, not counting engineering) and it should be pretty evident that it doesn't matter..