My question to you all is…does it matter what your bach. was in? And what school it is from? Do certain GPS’s and majors get thrown away (which in my eyes is not right) while other GPS’s from higher ranking schools get better consideration? Anyone know how that works?
You would think that maybe a degree in Biochem or even Genetics would be preferable but all that I have heard was the opposite. One can major in theater studies or philosophy and still be competitive with adcoms. I don’t believe that the school matters either. Just bang out your core science classes (Chem, Ochem, Bio, Physics), rock the MCAT, and wow the adcoms during your interview and you’re good to go…
A very simple explanation for a highly complex application process, lol! But to answer your question; I’ve yet to hear of a class or major being thrown away simply because it was not good enough in the adcom’s eyes.
Hope that helps,
Cheers!
Julio is correct for the most part. It really does not matter what is your major, as long as you do well. However, a perusal of majors versus medical school acceptance rates show that non-science social science/humanities majors get accepted at higher rates than pure science majors. Some premeds double major in one science and one non-science (e.g. biology & journalism) in order to appear well-rounded. In the end, study what you love; you will probably do better at it.
Agree with above. Most medical students majored in the sciences as undergrads for one of two reasons: 1) they really like science or 2) because the pre-reqs for medical school are part of the degree requirements for many science majors, it’s easier to major in one of those areas than an area where none of the pre-reqs will count towards your degree.
Whatever you major in, chose a major that
- . . you love.
- . . you will excel in.
I have degrees in both the social sciences and the hard core sciences, but it is the former that I love more – and it shows: My grades in the social sciences are much higher than those of mine in the biological and chemical sciences.
I just had a meeting with a Med school advisor, and I asked this very question!
The response surprised me, but on examination, it makes perfect sense. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts and was quite nervous when contemplating the adcom’s reaction.
The advisors answer was, and I quote, ‘Admission Committees will love the fact that you are NOT a Science major!’
My guess is that they must see Science majors ad nauseum, and get a bit worn out with it. When you have other interests, you stand out. When you stand out, you have a better chance. Surprising, but logical.
Good luck!
there was a thread on this in the past few months
Link to Majors
In short, the percentages of what majors get in vary but are misleading. Across majors I found that those who were accepted science GPAs were all about 3.6 and overall GPAs were 3.7 no matter the major. The MCATs were also all about 30 in the accepted group
So major in what you what, take the prereqs, take the MCAT and do well