Majors and Classes

[Altema]

Okay i once asked about what to major in and if it had anything to do with my chances to get in. Major in what you like is what i was told and when i decided to plan my classes i got confused on something. If i major in something like Art, or in my case psychology, wouldnt most of my classes be more geared towards that and when i apply for med school then wouldnt i be missing alot of the classes to even be considered for med school? Or does med school not have a set standard of classes by which to judge? Could someone please clarify this ?

[y82benji]

You need:
1 Yr of Biology (w/lab)
1 Yr of Physics (w/lab)
1 Yr of Chemistry (w/lab)
1 Yr of Organic Chemistry (w/lab)
1 Yr of English
1 Yr of Higher Math, especially Calc I, Calc II, and/or Statistics
Possibly courses in behavioral/social sciences and humanities (more school dependent)

You need those classes (listed above). Beyond that you really just need a reasonably challenging curriculum. Courses such as upper level physics, chem, and bio or biochemistry will probably help you out in med school and may help you on the MCATs, but they are not required. I have heard that individuals in writing-intensive majors tend to do better on the MCATs because they are more prepared to read and interpret the information in the MCAT’s passage style testing. Also, some upper level psychology courses may require basic biology and chemistry as prerequisites or those courses may simply be degree requirements.

[Altema]

Oh i see, thanks alot.

Psych does require the lower division chem/bio/phyiscs (i think one of the 3 was left out so its not all 3).

One last thing for clarification; when you simply say 1 yr of Bio, does that mean even 1 year of the simplest bio?

Thank you once again

[y82benji]

I think a course like “Bio111: Animals in Your Backyard” would be insufficient, but like at my school the most taken courses were “Principles of Biology I” and “Principles of Biology II.” That’s basically your standard general biology 1 and general biology 2. Those (and perhaps a course in genetics and cell bio) will serve you best for the MCATs too.

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