In case the subject line doesn’t portray what I’m saying… I am probably the most NON-scientific person on this board! That being said, I am not going to let that discourage me- I am here to move forward to the next chapter of my life and hopefully offer encouragement and stories along the way with my fellow non-science likes.
My background is almost totally business. with a bachelors and a Masters in Business to boot- despite my distaste for sales and the other business experience that I have. Why I went after a second degree in it is beyond me; although I saw it as a step forward and it did increase my salary by 67% after I graduated =)
My dream was to become a Physician and I took the easy way out and now I am here to rectify that by going after what I truly want. It will indeed be a challenge, and I expect to hear from the Adcoms about why did I study business so much and not science. I guess you find out what you don’t want to do the rest of your life early in your career as opposed to what you love doing. Somehow in the midst, I discovered both- and that is Medicine. Rock on Non-trads and also Non-Science Majors! I welcome comments and joy stories from others who come from this group.
Bachelor’s in Communications here (from the 80’s), later a master’s in Library science, and took only the required Liberal Arts sciences (a basic physics course) before I started my prereqs for med school. It’s really been fine, and nobody asked me why I didn’t take more science before. I took the basic required pre-reqs plus a semester each of genetics an biochem (during “glide year”, that time when you’ve finished all your stuff and are applying) and school is going fine.
I’m studying about as hard as my classmates, and my performance is about the middle of the pack, and that’s good enough for me.
Bachelors in Spanish, Masters in Education. Took the bare minimum of math/science classes in undergrad (9 semester hours - geology, astronomy, algebra).
I have several classmates with non-science degrees. The older non-trads had to go back for the pre-req, the more traditional students just took the med school pre-reqs. One of my classmates is a PhD in English.
Well, when I started back to school a few years back, I had finished all of my prereqs to get into accounting, but I still had to take two science classes to get my AA. Well, I took Human Body…and I was a goner…I just loved learning about the physiology, and I preceded to take A&P I/II and microbiology thinking that nursing was my calling. Well, since I prefer the diagnostic side…I’m now pursuing medicine and even if it takes me the rest of my life, that is the path I am going to take.
Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Asian Studies, went into computer programming and took some comp sci classes. The mathematical discipline of software helped with courses like chemistry and physics, I think. First year of undergrad, I took (and did miserably in) chemistry and calculus, and then left science/math behind. Coming back into science years later was a tremendous experience–science rocks!
My undergrad is in Music Performance, master’s in Music Ed, and am all but dissertation for my Doctor of Musical Arts. Nobody had any problem with this; in fact, I think it helped during my interviews. They had real questions to ask about how I came to medicine, etc. Some of my interviews took more than the allotted time! Just make sure you have good answers to why you chose the path you did, and it will help you. Most incoming med students have a fairly narrow science background, but your broader background can help you identify with more people.