abcgirl89

I'm currently a sophomore in college.
So like everyone else in here, I'm heading down the pre-med path, hoping one day to be accepted into medical school.
I'm a biology major, and doing fairly well in all my courses. However, I feel a tad lost as to what I should major in. I like biology, but I am also interested in anthropology.

I feel as though being just a biology major (and asian at that) makes me a rather boring and predictable candidate for med schools. But at the same time, if I were to major in anthropology, and if med school admissions go awry, I'd probably be without a real job considering how I've no intentions to pursue a PHD in anthro.

Should I stick with being a boring bio major?
Or should I try out anthropology (while taking the premed pre-reqs) and face a gamble?

I would greatly appreciate some help. >_<

mmmcdowe

The choice is yours, but either major is not going to be a significant affector of your admissions chances. It sounds to me that you could never see yourself in an anthro career, but could see yourself in a bio one. If that's the case, sounds like you should stick with bio.

MiamiDAP

Would you like to have major and minor. Most pre-meds at D's school have minor or two in their area of interest related or unrelated to medical field, like Music, Neuroscience,....whatever.

Batllo

Perhaps medical school is not your calling. Pharmacy, Optometry, Biomedical, EnviroSciences there's lots of fields related to Bio for you to consider. It is typical for sophomores to wonder what is next for them.

abcgirl89

I did give those other bio-related options some thought, but I don't believe they'd be suitable for me.

Btw, this is an off topic question, but what exactly is the format of the verbal reasoning section on the new MCAT?
Is it still essay/passage reading?

mmmcdowe

passage reading yes. 2 essays are also on the MCAT, for a combined score that is separate from verbal..

abcgirl89

But I thought the MCAT has become computerized now. So how does the essay portion work? That's my only question of confusion regarding the MCAT. My school doesn't really have a very organized pre-med advisor to help.

GoldShadow

It's computerized like you said, so you type the essay. But unless you're applying to Canadian schools, the writing score really doesn't matter anyway.

mmmcdowe

It doesnt matter as much at least.

abcgirl89

I see. Thanks a lot for all the feedback and answers.

futuredoc2011

If your passion is bio and you can see yourself in a bio career outside of med school then stick with it. As for that making you boring, most admissions committees don't care what your major is but rather look for someone who can demonstrate a sincere passion for medicine and who are well rounded. That's where your personal statement comes into play. A well written personal statement will make you stand out to the admissions committee regardless of your major. Exploit the power of your personal statement.