<p>I have been thinking about doing a double major in Economics and Computer Science as a premed student for a very long time, but I’m not sure if this would be a good idea.
Before you guys start posting, I’d appreciate it if you could take into account for what I’m about to say.
Since premed courses contain 2 semesters of English, general chem, organic chem, bio, and physics, with 1 semester of calc, stat, psychology, and sociology, I should be able to finish these courses in the first two years of my UG.
For a BA in economics, the school that I’m going to only requires a minimum of 11 core classes in order to graduate, which is very doable in my opinion (SUNY Binghamton).
Lastly, computer science may require a little bit more classes for graduation, but a lot of electives overlapped with one another. For example, most computer science degrees require calc 3 or calc 4/mutivariable/differential equation. Given that I’m currently taking AP Calculus BC, I should be able to take calc 3 when I go to college (I’m 90% confident that I’ll get a 5). This means that I can get the calc requirement out of the way for both premed and computer science. When I take statistics, I can use the stat credit for both premed and econ, and maybe electives for CS.
Since I can rush through all the premed requirements during the first two years, I can focus my time on upper division econ and CS courses for the last two years. From the sample course sequence provided by Binghamton, both econ and CS degree require 2 upper division courses along with some electives each semester for the last two years. This means that I only have to take 4 classes minimum for the last two years of my UG (since I can use premed courses as my electives).
I also understand that I have to do volunteering and researches and prepare for MCAT throughout the school year in order to be a competitive med school candidate. However, I can do these during the weekend and summer and focus on my academics during the weekday/school year. If I organize and prioritize everything, then I should be able to handle both academics and extracurricular activities.
Do you guys think this is doable? Would you recommend it? Given that I’ll work hard and prioritize everything, do you think it’s possible?
The reason why I want to do this is that I always want to open my own practice when I finish med school and internship, so a degree in economics will be helpful. At the same time, I thinking about working as a computer programmer for a few years before I go to med school. So, I think that a double major in econ and CS will be the best combination for me. Last but not least, I have heard that econ and CS is one of the most popular double major combinations. Thus, I want to give it a try.
I know it’s long, but I’ll really appreciate it if anyone could share their knowledge and experiences with me.</p>
<p>Yout GPA and MCAT are important for med school. Is this your back up plan ?</p>
<p>A good plan you have. One issue is that you may want to consider becoming a computer programmer before med school. While that’s completely fine, keep in mind when some people do this they get locked into their cozy jobs with a good salary and you may not want to quit or give up the time to go to med school, so keep that in mind.</p>
<p>If you think you can double major in CS and economics and still maintain the good GPA and graduate on time, that’s fine. GPA and the MCAT scores are heavily weighted for You want to limit how much you’re paying so don’t do anything that will prolong the time you are in undergrad. It’s great how you are playing this all out and using all of the details. </p>
<p>Well, let me take that back.
I don’t “necessarily” want to work as a computer programmer for a few years before I go to med school.
Since I’m still struggling about whether or not to pursuit a medical career, I think it would also be a good idea if I can finish school and find a job when I’m 22. I always want to be a doctor because I always like to help people with my limited ability, but it takes more than a decade to complete school and residency. That’s not something that I’m really ready for. Given that I have to finish 4 years of UG, 4 years of med school, and 4-5 years of residency before I can be a certified doctor, I’ll be at least 30-31 by the time I finish all the preparation.
On the other side of the story, I’m thinking about using my economics/finance knowledge to open a business as a programmer. I mean, the richest people in America are computer programmers or anything related (Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, etc.). I mean, the developer of Flappy Bird makes around $50K a DAY from the ads just for programming such a simple game. I’m not saying I’ll become one of them one day, but opening a business is always something that I want to try (this is also why I want to major in economics to study some economic theories, finance, accounting, and marketing concepts). Even if I’m going into the medical field, I’ll open my own practice someday anyway. Being said that, I don’t start my own business because I love money; I want to start my own business because I like the idea of not having someone to tell me what to do and I want to have the freedom to live in the way I want. Most importantly, I want to try things that others haven’t try before.
Anyway, my main concerns are time and GPA. While Computer Science looks like an ideal “backup” choice for med school, it may have the potential to kill my GPA and end my med school career prematurely. It takes up a lot of time to write programs and focus on other projects while I may need these “computer times” to prep for my MCAT or do some researches/volunteering. I’m concerned that I may not even get into a med school at all if I risk myself and do double dipping. Regardless of whether or not I’ll be a programmer, I want to leave a choice for myself. I always want to make med school as a potential choice for me.
So, would you guys recommend me to major in computer science (and economics, which is something I concern less about) if it has the potential to kill my GPA and consumes a large amount of my time?</p>
<p>Remember that you can take classes without declaring a major. Find out if you can take business classes without being in the business school. I think that will free up your schedule and is a more suitable plan given your goals. </p>
<p>You may want to look into the sequence required for a computer science major. It may be more than two years of sequential classes. </p>
<p>I would encourage you to take pre-med classes and shadow early on in your college career to figure out if you really want to continue. Figure out if it’s worth it, figure out if you are willing to put in the time to get the A’s, etc. If you figure that it’s not for you, swiftly move on. </p>
<p>Most people who are successful in these “back-up” careers that pre-med students think about work to accumulate various experiences that put them on the right track. Sure, you can probably get a job easier with comp sci degree, but because you wasted time slugging through annoying pre-med classes, you missed out on good opportunities for comp sci students. I encourage you to not spread yourself too thin – focus on one goal at a time. If it doesn’t resonate with you, switch gears and go “all in.” </p>
<p>It really does not matter what you major in as a premed major. But you should not extend your time in college, nor should you add to any debt you might incur. And remember that a lot of the content on the MCAT is contained in those required classes for med school. Plus, you need top grades. Figure out how to do all that, and the major, or double major, etc, will not matter. But if you are serious about med school, you will want to get there as quickly, and efficiently as possible.</p>
<p>“Remember that you can take classes without declaring a major.” - Very true. </p>
<p>There can be advantages to Econ/CS combos. But in your case it seems that perhaps a few business courses would be more relevant. Doing that and CS and all the premed prereqs while maintaining a good GPA might not be feasible. CS courses take A LOT or time, and you’d need to start them freshman year. </p>
<p>It may be hard to go all-in to all of these paths.</p>
<p>For your first semester, you can take the following courses:</p>
<ul>
<li>CS (first course for CS majors)</li>
<li>Economics (first course for economics majors)</li>
<li>General chemistry (for pre-med purposes)</li>
<li>Calculus 3 (useful for all of your potential paths)</li>
</ul>
<p>Based on how you like and how you do in these courses, you can decide which paths to continue and which to drop.</p>
<p>I agree with @worth2try that if you’re planning on opening your own business in whatever field you choose, taking some classes that cover econ/business rather than majoring on it would be a good option. Have you taken or are you taking AP econ? </p>
<p>As a CPA who has done books and tax returns for physicians and dentists, I don’t see how economics is helpful. I would suggest some accounting including a class in taxes and perhaps human resource management. You really don’t need much more than that. Also knowledge of computers is always a good thing in this world. </p>
<p>What you really need to do is decide whether or not you want to be a doctor. Once you do that everything you do should be geared towards getting into the best med school you can. That means taking classes which will help you pass MCATs. Having said that, I can see a major in computer science working.</p>