Medical School and Appropriate Majors?

Question

I understand that anyone can major in anything for medical school. What do medical schools really say and think about that? I assume when you want to go to medical school, you have a major that pertains to majority of the sciences. It makes sense right, because by taking a lot of sciences can prepare you for medical school and the MCAT. Why major in plumbing (if that is a major) If you are not going to do anything with it and it's not going to prepare you? I can see a business major (you can run your own clinic) or psychology major (psychatrist) because they are going to have a purpose in the medical field. Why have a better chance of getting into medical school if you are a non science major than a science major? I am diverse in my classes ( I take art, computer classes, music, language, etc) and I love biology. I'm not just majoring in it so I can have a better chance of getting in. That will be unfair right? Do you have to be aleast realistic when it comes to your major?

Answer 1

in college all you do is major in pre-med, take your mcats, and apply for med school.

you're right though. in something like psychiatry you could and perhaps should double major in pre-med and psychology. but to go to med school you have to graduate from a pre-med program

Answer 2

When you apply to medical school the only thing that you need is the appropriate amount of credits in the sciences that that medical school requires. You can major in anything that you want, it's just that having a major in biology and chemistry might help you get in, and no that is not being unfair, you're majoring in biology because you love it and want to focus your future work on it. You truly can have any major, but most take a science major because taking any other major and then going to med school is kinda redundant. take a major relating to science if you plan to spend your future in that science. For the MCAT, in college, you should take bio 1 and chem 1 your freshman year, bio2 and chem 2 your sophmore year and then physics 1 and 2 along with organic chem 1 and 2 your junior year, and then take your MCAT as soon as you are done with your junior year. Then your chances of passing the MCAT and becoming a successful medical whatever is high. Good Luck.

Answer 3

It is true that you'll need to know about the basic sciences for your MCAT, and you can learn them in either your major requirement classes (if you're a science) or pre-med classes.
This is why they say it does not really matter what major you are (you can be a non-science and still take those pre-med classes to know enough for being a doctor, plus, you're gonna learn about those things all over again in med school).
The benefit of being a nonscience major, if any, would be that some schools look particularly for people with more humanities background than a regular science major. Moreover, if you're thinking about combined degrees like MD/MBA or MD/MPH, then you probably wanna either double-major or just pick up some requirement classes for business (MBA) or public health (MPH).

I don't think simply/purposely choosing a major that is not in science will increase your chances of getting in.

g'luck

Answer 4

The best advice is to choose a Major which facilitates pre-med courses but also offers a good fallback career if Medical School doesn't happen. Here are five Majors that meet these criteria: Bioprocess Engineering Biological Engineering Biomedical Engineering Technology Chemical Engineering Pharmaceutical Sciences Note: Biology and Biomedical Engineering are NOT on this list.

Answer 5

Best advice is to major in what you really like or are really good at. Fulfill the med school required courses, but don't feel obligated to major in a medical field. For me, I got accepted to med school as an English major. They really look for diversity in their acceptance review and don't want a million biology majors. The trick is to appear that you excelled at something. It doesnt matter what, as long as you truly do an excellent job. The other thing is to make sure that if you major in pottery, that you volunteer at hospitals since when you interview, they will ask "why did you chose medicine." You don't want to get stuck saying "its just what I;ve always wanted to do." You want to be able to say "I had this experience X working with patients and it was the best experience" etc.

Answer 6

The avg med school requires 4-5 bio classes, 4-5 chem classes, 2 physics classes, high level math/stats and a few other assorted pre-reqs. if you major in bio or chem it'll be easier for you to fulfill these requirements--sure. i was always told that med schools, like every other school want diversity so that as long as you've got the aforementioned pre-reqs and great MCAT scores they'd love to take you if you majored in art or music or whatever. i went to washington university which has a top 5 med school and all the wash u pre-med majored in biology (relevant) or psychology (because it was easy.)

Another thing you have to think about is that it's hard to get accepted to med school and you may want to have a major to fall back on in case you don't get accepted right away and need to work in the meantime. good luck :)

Answer 7

Be efficient. You need to get a great GPA and MCAT score to get an interview. An art degree won't prepare you for the MCAT and, if you go to a mediocre undergrad institution, it'll make your GPA look duller. On the flip side, don't look like a science geek that can't communicate with people. Get some humanities under your belt.

I majored in Biochemistry with a formal minor in German studies....it's worked for me.

Answer 8

so the whole point about diversity in your classes is that med schools want real people who can relate to their patients. more and more emphasis is being put on bed side manner nowadays because people dont want biochem machines who have no personality treating them. what it comes down to is do what you love and be true to yourself. dont try to fill checklists of things "med schools want". if med schools see you are a well rounded good person with good grades they will love you. that being said the premed courses that all schools require are: 1 year english, 1 year calc, 1 year gchem with lab, 1 year gen bio with lab, 1 year ochem with lab, 1 year physics with lab. some schools require the first semester of biochem and some schools require mcb.

Answer 9

Biochemistry is probably the best. It will get you much of everything. Be sure to include a pharmocological class or two and several psychology courses as well.

Answer 10

Just get a 38 on your Cats and you'll be fine