Help me pick a premed major!

elise123
Wed, 17 Apr 2024 13:02:42 +0000

Hi,
I’ve decided on the University of Alabama, and now I’m choosing a major. I know I can change later. That said, I don’t know what I want to major in.

I’m premed, and I’m 100% sure about that. I know that can change too, but I don’t think it will.

I don’t want to major in biology, chemistry, or neuroscience. I probably should because I’d have more room for electives since it would overlap with my premed classes, but I just don’t enjoy either of those enough.

Right now I’m deciding between math, philosophy and medicine, or public health to designate as my intended major. I can of course change, but this will affect my first 2 semesters’ classes since my AP test get me out of nearly all gen Ed’s.

The pro of math is that I love math. I’ve heard that med schools like math majors because they are good at problem solving. The con is that if I don’t go to med school idk what I’ll do with it, and my dad says it’s really hard and I shouldn’t major in it for my gpa’s sake. I had no problem getting As on nearly every AP Calc BC test and got a 5 on the exam, but I know math gets really theoretical and difficult as you get to a higher level. I am only 4 classes away from a minor bc of calc BC credit, so I could also just do that.

The pro of philosophy and medicine is that I think it would be very interesting, and would teach me the important non-science portion of medicine. I also think med schools will like this. The classes all look interesting and fun. The con is that if I don’t go to med school, I’ll either have to go to law school or switch my major no matter how late it is because what else could I actually do with a philosophy degree?

The pro of public health is that my current goal now is to be an OB/GYN in a high-need area. If I don’t go to med school, working in public health would actually be something I’d consider, and I can do a 4+1, get a masters and have it all paid for by my scholarship.

The main cons are that only some of the classes actually interest me, and this major leaves me nearly no space for electives after I factor in my premed classes. For math, my AP credits take up 2 classes and it was smaller than public health to begin with. Philosophy is a BA, not a BS, so I have more elective space. That is important to me.

There is a rural community health minor, which is basically only the public health classes I am actually interested in. I will try to get that.

Which is best to start out as and would be best for premed? I’ll need to take an intro honors class, chem I, and bio I first semester, which is already 10 hours. So I really only get two classes to actually choose.