I am considering switching my degree. The interdisciplinary core class is pretty fluffy and stops me from taking a class that may be better suited for medschool application, like a serious English class or Psych.
I have heard that unique degrees are beneficial in that you stand out from the B.Sc. people. Hence, the interdisciplinary degree. I saw a poster in the philosophy department advertising a philosophy degree as being a popular choice for Med. and Law school. Am I right in thinking as long as you have good marks, taken classes as electives to prepare for MCAT and specific med. school pre-reqs, one’s program of study does not matter?
Generally that is true. As long as you do well on the required pre-req courses and your major courses it does have advantages to be a non-science major. The only caveat to this as a non-traditional student who may have been out of school for a while, you may want to supplement the pre-req sciences course with an advanced biology course or two such as Biochem, Molecular Biology, Genetics, etc.
The majority of matriculates for University of Washington SOM were History majors in 2008. The University was really proud of that too. I am certain, as usual, that it depends on the school.
I have to admit I detest math and the thought of taking calculus was just too much for me to pursue a Science degree. (I feel weak for admitting that, but, I have to be honest). I am going to do my prereq’s for SOM and my major will be in Sociology. We will see where it takes me, but, it appears to be a major that I can use as a Plan B.
Reading the book, “Not an Entirely Benign Procedure” and was pleased to read that the author struggled through Physics and Chemisty (both math based) and through explanation was able to make her way into medical school. Encouraging.
A good proportion of students being accepted into medical schools each year have degrees in areas outside of the sciences. It does help show development of a well rounded individual.
However, I would highly recommend taking more than just the prereq courses needed to get into medical school. Medical school is hard–point blank. Any introduction you have to the material you will be studying in greater depth will help you. Also, if you are in a major which prepares you well for critical thinking and less for memorizing, look to take classes where you can practice intense memorizing, including a lot of minutiae, as this will become your life in the first two years of medical school. Developing strategies for this will be incredibly beneficial to you, and key to great success in medical school. It has been said in multiple arenas that learning in medical school is like trying to take a drink from a firehose–the material comes at you fast and hard! (In one of my classes we had exams every 3 weeks covering over 1000 pages of notes each–good times!)