If your kid wants to go to med school, what are they doing as an undergraduate major?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:major in something you can maintain high GPA. difficult majors don't get bonus points.

OP here. This was my thinking. I thought DS should major in something he truly enjoys, get As and also take all his science requirements to apply for med school.

I know many guys who did not act very hard chem or engineering classes and never made it to med school.

This. Do not do the premed track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:major in something you can maintain high GPA. difficult majors don't get bonus points.

OP here. This was my thinking. I thought DS should major in something he truly enjoys, get As and also take all his science requirements to apply for med school.

I know many guys who did not act very hard chem or engineering classes and never made it to med school.

This. Do not do the premed track.

Huh?

[Anonymous]

Be born to a doctor, wealthy donor to a med school, or affiliated with someone on the admission's committee.

Your kid is already starting behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:major in something you can maintain high GPA. difficult majors don't get bonus points.

OP here. This was my thinking. I thought DS should major in something he truly enjoys, get As and also take all his science requirements to apply for med school.

I know many guys who did not act very hard chem or engineering classes and never made it to med school.

This. Do not do the premed track.

Huh?

That was a puzzling statement wasn't it?

[Anonymous]

I have two kids applying, one is in an MD/BS. Both are science majors. Biochem and neuro bio.
I mean this kindly - you don’t know what you’re doing so stop advising. (I don’t either so refrain from giving advice!) I don’t know any current med school applicants that are non-science majors. I do know some older doctors that were.
They must must must take classes that will prepare them for the MCAT. I don’t think an English major is right for that reason. Yes, it’s possible to study outside of it but why not take classes that would help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with history is the tremendous amount of reading and paper writing. If you are also taking difficult weed-out intro science courses to fulfill the pre-med requirements, the workload could be unmanageable.

I also think — just speculating — that a kid who prefers history to science may not actually end up happy practicing medicine. I have several physician friends from college looking to pivot now to the most random alternative careers, and I can’t help remembering how all along I was surprised they wanted medical school so badly when their true interests seemed to lie elsewhere.

I want to echo this. I see a lot of kids taking up Linguistics, Gender Studies etc as a easier major and finish pre-med reqs in parallel. They are getting into med schools. But I wonder, if you don't enjoy bio, chemistry, science in general and avoid it as a major, how likely is it that you will like being a med student? And liking it is important given how long it takes.

[Anonymous]

OP: The correct answer is biochem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would focus on schools with excellent med school placement like Wash U or Davidson. I would talk to them about what are the majors they suggest and go from there.

Ew. Are there other schools that have good placement?

Hi-I am sure there are (this is athlete who was recruited at WashU and Davidson mom)-I just remember them talking about the assistance for med school entrance with the applications and help with the preparation. I don’t have a premed kid so
maybe I am paraphrasing but it seemed important to look at the percentage who gets in med school from the college and if the college has prescribed help getting you over the hump so to speak with testing and recxomendations.

[Anonymous]

Medical anthropology and bioethics are also complimentary to med school pre reqs and are popular majors/minors for those pre med.

History, I dunno but I don’t see it. anthropology at least has some biological components.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two kids applying, one is in an MD/BS. Both are science majors. Biochem and neuro bio.
I mean this kindly - you don’t know what you’re doing so stop advising. (I don’t either so refrain from giving advice!) I don’t know any current med school applicants that are non-science majors. I do know some older doctors that were.
They must must must take classes that will prepare them for the MCAT. I don’t think an English major is right for that reason. Yes, it’s possible to study outside of it but why not take classes that would help?

Mom - you don't know what you are advising. Med Schools look for talent in the sciences. THey don't care if your kid is a history major. They DO care about major in the sciences, biology, chemistry, etc. They do care about test scores (all based upon math and science). STOP imposing your thoughts on your DH and your kid. You have no idea what you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Admissions committee member and interviewer at T20 medical school. Applicants need to show that they can manage rigorous, upper level science coursework, preferably more than one course at a time. Whether they accomplish this by being a science major or in addition to a humanities major is not important. At least not to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Admissions committee member and interviewer at T20 medical school. Applicants need to show that they can manage rigorous, upper level science coursework, preferably more than one course at a time. Whether they accomplish this by being a science major or in addition to a humanities major is not important. At least not to me.

I think what you are saying is very different from what OP is saying - she’s implying take courses that allow you to keep your GPA really high. Bottom line is this is not a good idea. Med schools want to see rigorous science work.

[Anonymous]

Look at guaranteed med school paths like VCU and U South Carolina.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admissions committee member and interviewer at T20 medical school. Applicants need to show that they can manage rigorous, upper level science coursework, preferably more than one course at a time. Whether they accomplish this by being a science major or in addition to a humanities major is not important. At least not to me.

I think what you are saying is very different from what OP is saying - she’s implying take courses that allow you to keep your GPA really high. Bottom line is this is not a good idea. Med schools want to see rigorous science work.

Correct. You need rigorous science courses AND a solid GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:major in something you can maintain high GPA. difficult majors don't get bonus points.

This right here.

Also, don't assume that he can be a history major and take lots of science courses. He'll have courses he must take to complete his history major and there are usually very few open slots of courses of interest.

I was a psych major and went to med school without any issue. My spouse was a business major who then went to med school.