Choosing majors or specialist?

[TQTN2002]

Hi,

I'm a first year life science student and I've recently been informed that I have to select a a major by April of this year. I'm currently studying the basic first yr life science courses, such as bio, physic,chem,cal,and soc. I recently realized that excessive science courses really deters my interest and as such has not have a very profound effect on me academically. Ofcourse, I still would like to persue med school, but not necessarily with a specialist in neurology, genetics, immunology etc. At the same time I've also found that humanities and social courses seems to be fairly interesting and I could consider taking a major in one of these particular areas. However, I'm some what worry as to how this will all work out if I don't get accepted into med school and I end up with a B.Sc comprising of a major in biology and sociology. Would it be better if I choose a specialist in one of these areas instead? Also, is it possible or reasonable to take a general arts major where I can study courses in poetry,philosophy,sociology,women's studies, asian studies etc
If you have any advice or suggestion please let me know, it would be greatly appreciated.

[TimmyMax]

Hey there,

The most important thing in choosing a major is to select something you are genuinely interested in. That way, should the med thing fail, (and as you said, science doesn't necessarily interest you that much) you aren't left with a degree in some discipline you don't particularly like or want to follow up on. The best course, in my opinion, is to select a major that you like, but do some research in terms of the prereqs the med schools you are interested in require. This way, you can get a degree in a field you are interested in, and with some careful planning, cover the necessary prereqs such that you're still able to be considered for med when it's all said and done!
Your med eligibility isn't necessarily hingent on having a degree in science- any degree will do so long as you have the necessary prereqs for the school you are applying to. Keep that in mind, and with some planning, you'll be in the driver's seat when the time to apply comes around again!

Best of luck!
Tim

[brandonite]

Yup. Agree completely. Take a subject you find interesting. I don't have the link handy, but if you go to the AAMC site, you'll see that a fair percentage of MCAT takers are non-science majors. Humanities and social science majors actually do much better on the MCAT (on average, a point and a half in each section!) than biology majors.

So, go ahead and take whatever you want! :)