Greetings everyone,
I am 35 and starting my freshman year this fall on the looong road to becoming a doc. I’m married with two girls, 4, and 8 years old. I see that many of you have situations similar to mine, so any advice would be much appreciated.
I do have one question for now- I was going to claim “pre-med” as my major, but my academic advisor suggested that I major in biology so as to actually graduate with a Ba/Sci.
She said biology would cover all of the pre-reqs for med-school.
Any experience/suggestions? Thanks, and great board!!!
Frank
My advice would be to major in whatever you want to major in. It is not necessary to major in biology or chemistry in order to be pre-med. Most people choose those simply because the pre-req’s also fulfill a lot of the degree requirements. Foreign language majors and art majors have a better acceptance rate than biology majors (Of course, one must consider the fact that there are a LOT more biology pre-med’s out there than the other ones I mentioned).
As I was told at a medical school open house, they don’t really care what your degree is in as long as you have the pre-reqs.
So, that being said, sit down and look at majors from a stand point of what interests you and not what is most convenient.
Good luck!
Amy
Quote:
Greetings everyone,
I do have one question for now- I was going to claim “pre-med” as my major, but my academic advisor suggested that I major in biology so as to actually graduate with a Ba/Sci.
Frank
Frank-
Welcome aboard! Just so you know, there is no true major called “premed”. Premed is only a status or identifier that people utilize to typically be recognized as one who is planning/studying to enter medicine in some form or fashion. As mentioned before, just about any area of study (major) will get you prepped as long as you incorporate the required pre-req courses needed, but these can take a bit more time to complete than say majoring in Biology or Chemistry, which contain most of the pre-req courses required. I was a bit mystified on the whole “pre-med” thing when I went back to complete my undergrad several years ago. It all sinks in once you get into the environment. Best of luck to you and don’t hesitate to pose your questions when you have them. There are plenty of us here that are all in different stages of the process.
Thanks for the input! I am surprised that foreign language have a high acceptance. I plan on studying as much Japanese as possible, maybe that will help, LOL.
I knew that technically “Pre-med” was not a major, but found that I was very interested in biology- so it should work out for me. I’m enrolled at OSU and it seems that biology (at least my class schedule) is math heavy. I’ve also found that not only do I enjoy math, but I’m pretty good at it (weird, for me).
It’s funny- I had no intentions whatsoever of going to college when I was in high-school, now I can’t wait. Anyone else have that same situation?
Frank -
OSU - THE OSU (as they commonly call it around here)?
I will be attending main campus this fall after taking classes at Mansfield this past year.
An interesting major you might check into at OSU is “Circulation Technology”. The pre-reqs for this program are the same as for medical school. You take mostly pre-reqs and GEC’s your first two years and then mostly classes in Circulation Technology your junior and senior year. I have met several pre-meds with this major.
I wouldn’t think that Biology would be any heavier on math than a chemistry major. I think the reason the math requirement is heavy is because they have put in a lot of upper level molecular genetics courses that require through Math 152 as a prerequisite.
Amy
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OSU - THE OSU (as they commonly call it around here)?
LOL, I get the same response. I’m enrolled at the Lima branch. I believe acceptance at the main campus is competitive, so I’ll be doing the same as you- starting at a branch then transferring to the Columbus campus, since I’m non-trad. Although, I can get a B/S in biology right at Lima. IF I do stay with biology, I’ll probably stay at Lima, I’m told that some class sizes are 1/10 the size of Columbus’.
Interesting about the “Circulation Technology” major. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be going to talk with my academic advisor tomorrow and will mention that.
Frank -
I started at Mansfield campus not because of competitive admission at main campus, but because I live much closer to the branch than main. Class sizes are definitely smaller at the branches. My biggest class was Chem 121 which was full and waitlisted with 64 students. (By the last quarter of the series though, we were down to about 28). Organic chemistry had about 8 students, biology 20, and physics about 20. The classes were all taught by PhD’s (even labs) - no TA’s. Most of the professors at Mansfield appeared to be there because they wanted to be, and truly seemed to enjoy the interaction with the students.
Downside - if the prof who teaches a pre-req is rotten, you just have to suck it up - there are usually no other options to take them with another prof. Research opportunities are somewhat limited, due to the size and facilities (my chem prof said she would love to get students involved with her research, but she does her research at Akron U nearly an hour away). Lima may have more research opportunities if it offers a complete biology degree.
I think there is an attitude in C-town that courses at the branches aren’t as demanding as at main, but I disagree. I felt challenged and learned a lot in all of my classes. If anything, I felt that a couple profs went out of their way to be “hard” because of the main campus attitude. A friend who took Chem 121 at main and 122 and 123 at Mansfield felt it was tougher at Mansfield.
Overall, I loved the branch. I’m not looking forward to the commuting and parking headaches I will face in the fall.
Good Luck!
Amy
P.S. (another plus to a major like Circulation Technology is that you have clinical time involved. I think there are a few other health care related technology majors available that include most of the medical school prereqs in their core requirements)
PPS - I grew up as a Michigan fan, and it just KILLS me to say that I go to school at OSU!! 
Frank,
I was surprised during the panel interview the weight placed on experience. I had a very similar academic background as most of the applicants - science work with a mix of post bac and or master degrees.
The question that seemed to predominate the interview was our clinical background. It is my opinion that as non-traditional students, we come to the table with not only an extensive educational portfolio but also rich life experiences. I am a nurse so I had an extensive clinical background and I believe that experience got me into med school. My science grades were par with my compatriots and my MCAT score was very average. But my clinical experience was exceptional. So I would think that a major is not as important as comprehensive clinical experience. You did not mention your background so this may be redundant.
Glenn