recommended premed major ADVICE WANTED

[clep3705]

Let's say you don't go to medical school for whatever reason. Do you want to go to graduate school before entering the workforce? Is having a graduate level degree important to you? If so, this could influence your choice of undergraduate major.

[jadae@wgu.edu]

My 2 pieces of advice for most types of pre-med:

1. Take Biomedical Ethics. It looks GREAT on applications, along with the other more hard science stuff.

2. Be sure you can deal with cadavers. I mean, being okay with digging in a dead person's hand or any other part. For many, its can be as mentally/emotionally exhausting as PTSD. Just be aware that there is a very abnormal side of medicine.

[clep3705]

Biomedical engineering is not medicine. It will prepare you for a completely different job. It is very hard and hard in a different way. I like having backup plans. But sometimes being all in is what is needed. GPA matters. The admissions committee might consider a harder major more favorably than another, but you first have to make the cut to even been considered. That requires good grades. Can you do that with biomedical engineering?

What is missing here is medical school success - not getting into medical school - by major. Do the biology majors find medical school easier? We can speculate on this, but it would be great to see the data.

[jgbenjamin]

A graduate level degree is important to me. That being said, I am also willing and want to enter the work force BEFORE I enter medical school in order to help pay for my education and other expenses.

[sanantone]

Biomedical engineering is not medicine. It will prepare you for a completely different job. It is very hard and hard in a different way. I like having backup plans. But sometimes being all in is what is needed. GPA matters. The admissions committee might consider a harder major more favorably than another, but you first have to make the cut to even been considered. That requires good grades. Can you do that with biomedical engineering?

What is missing here is medical school success - not getting into medical school - by major. Do the biology majors find medical school easier? We can speculate on this, but it would be great to see the data.

Do MCAT scores predict success? Biology majors' MCAT scores aren't that great.

[TrailRunr]

I think it's much more important to concentrate on getting in. If you stumble badly on this step, the damage is usually permanent and you will have to face reality: you are not going to become a doctor. If you try to fix a bad GPA, it will be super expensive and time consuming with a postbac program.

You will not get a mulligan for picking a STEM major, choosing a prestigious school, or having XYZ extracurricular or volunteer activity. If you end up with a GPA of 2.7 (B-) on your BCPM, it is game over.

What are your exam scores and grades so far? If you don't have college BCPM exams or grades, what were the high school grades? Usually we don't care about grades, but this time it's very important.

[jgbenjamin]

I have passed these CLEP tests with these scores: US history I 64, US History II 59, College Algebra 59, Humanities 50+, Sociology 60, College Composition50+, Developmental Psychology 54, and today Biology 57. My current high school GPA is 3.7+(somewhere between 3.7 -4.0). I will be graduating in May.
Also, I have let up on my extracurricular activities specifically flute playing (maybe a bad idea?, since I was good, good at the flute).
Please keep the advice coming; it is great and helpful (and interesting)!!!
Oh yes, will someone please give me a link to see just what the MCAT scores look like per students' chosen major????

[rebel100]

I have passed these CLEP tests with these scores: US history I 64, US History II 59, College Algebra 59, Humanities 50+, Sociology 60, College Composition50+, Developmental Psychology 54, and today Biology 57. My current high school GPA is 3.7+(somewhere between 3.7 -4.0). I will be graduating in May.
Also, I have let up on my extracurricular activities specifically flute playing (maybe a bad idea?, since I was good, good at the flute).
Please keep the advice coming; it is great and helpful (and interesting)!!!
Oh yes, will someone please give me a link to see just what the MCAT scores look like per students' chosen major????

My advice is to get into the best school you can graduate from without debt for the undergrad. Maybe CC the University 2+2, Great grades, especially in the science core are required. Volunteer or paid time in a hospital or related place will help. Knowing Physicians who will write letters of recommendation is important (though not critical). Great MCAT's are important.

Having a fall back plan is critical. I know so many folks who have headed down this path yet failed for whatever reason. Many of these had the grades, had the "right" degree, but just couldn't quite find the right angle to get in. I know three folks who started out as Paramedics on a truck and made it to medical school. One worked his ass off at the networking side, really hustled, to make a Caribbean med school work for him. Another was pretty much a boy genius...the guy would bring books on string theory as light reading. I believe he was a Chemistry major, he ended up accepted to Boston College out of the University of Central Florida (undergrad). The third guy had to work to make the good grades, also at UCF he was a bit older than the second guy. Wife, kids, full time job. He ended up at a DO school in South Carolina. I think his unique route made DO school more practical than the more traditional MD route.

I will venture that superior grades in the 8 course core is most important...without it the rest is sort of moot. I think the particular degree is of less importance, but still important. Having an idea how you would use this is crucial. One pal of mine who failed to gain entry to Med School ended up reluctantly using his Biology Degree to teach high school, in the end he became a firefighter and paramedic...he seems happy, but he sure took the long route to firefighter/paramedic. Yet another friend had the biology degree, failed to gain entry to PA school or Med School and now she is having to eat the full cost of nursing school as she already has a biology degree and is ineligible for financial aid. SO the choices you make are critical. MCAT and volunteering is important too, they can help make up for slightly lackluster performance elsewhere.

I would almost tell you to find another passion altogether, pursue that along with Med School Core prerequisites...at least the fall back plan would be fully in place and med school could be a dream fullfilled or forgotten, it wouldn't matter that much either way.

[alleycat]

My daughter is in a PharmD program. She was a biochem major. The program she got into was highly competitive. It was the full deal. Grads, extra circular activities, MCAT score, her lab experience and on and on. But you know what her enrollment person was most impressed with, that she actually worked. Had a job not just went to school. It was apparent that she was able to do all tasks that she must. Also the school actually like that she had worked as a server. Yes that line of work stood out because people that actually have to work with the public have a better understanding of how to read people. It's more than just grads and a MCAT that makes the application boards pick who gets to attend their school. Well rounded is always better.

[jgbenjamin]

Does anyone know of any colleges that have reputably good undergraduate programs for pre-med students to get practice for med school in???