Not at UIUC but I believe @WayOutWestMom’s kids were math majors on the premed track. Perhaps @thumper’s too (math or engineering?). Hopefully they can help.
Premed pre-reqs are just a bunch of classes that will match gen ed requirements for some, with a few extra. They’re not medical in any way- just regular intro classes that majors take, except ypu must do better thqn Bio majors in their Bio major class, better then Chem majors in their Chem classes, etc.
In most cases, your 1st semester as a premed math major will be Freshman English* , General Chem+Lab* , Math for your major, Psychology or Sociology* , Spanish* and 2nd semester is likely to be GenChem2+Lab, GenBio1+lab* , Biostats or calc based stats for your major, Psychology or sociology* , perhaps Spanish for Health professions (or another language spoken in the US beside English.)
All the "* " classes would count for Gen Ed requirements as well as Premed pre-reqs.
Then (to cover all possible med schools) you’d need to do well in Organic Chemistry 1&2, Biochemistry, Neuroscience or Cognitive science, Bioethics or Ethics* , a diversity-focused class*, Physics 1&2, another English/Communication class - to be taken over the next 3 years.
These should not keep you from “getting engaged with the Math Dept”
Btw, Math majors are among the most successful med school applicants (along with musicians) because it takes talent, dedication, and discipline to do very well.
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I suppose that I have expertise for half of this issue, since I was a math major in university.
In my experience, how difficult math classes are will depend a LOT on both the student and the class. As some examples, one friend took algebraic topology while we were both undergraduate students at MIT. Based on his experience, I intentionally avoided algebraic topology for my full four years there. Some students found probability and statistics to be tough, some just took to it (almost like a duck to a pond, or a fish to water). I found most other math classes to not be all that tough, but then I avoided the more theoretical classes and focused on applied classes. I found it to be fine for example to take a number of computer science classes at the same time (even with the obvious computer science related problem of being stuck debugging software sometimes late at night).
If you are good at math, to me this seems like a reasonable combination. Also, math is a good “plan B”, and every premed student should have a plan B.
and UIUC is very good for mathematics.
One obvious question: Let’s suppose that you continue to be a math major through 3 years of university, and then drop math for the fourth year. Do you get to keep the $12,000 per year from the first three years, and just don’t get the $12,000 from the fourth year?
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Both my daughters had double majors and one of each of their majors was math.
D1 was physics + math double major. (Because physics already required so many math classes it completed a minor and only required 3 or 4 more for a major.)
D1 only decided to do pre-med as a senior when she had already been accepted to PhD in biophysics. She did a self-directed career changer post bacc and did her ECs during her postbacc.
D2 was neuroscience + math double major . She came into college with 4 semesters of college level math (Calc 1, calc 2, calc 3 and linear algebra) so he only need 2 classes for minor and six for a major. She was able to double dip on one or two of her math classes–that is have them count toward both her majors.(Biostatistics was one and I can’t remember the other.)
D2 finished in 4 years. D took a course overload of 18-21 credits every semester except her first at college. She also was a TA (for calc 1, 2, 3 and later biochem) every semester except her first at college, She volunteered at various off campus sites in both a clinical or non-clinical capacity, Starting her sophomore year she worked 8-15 hours /week in a research lab (both as paid employee and a volunteer at the same time. Paid to perform certain tasks by her PI; unpaid to work on her independent project which became her senior research thesis.) She also went to formals & parties, pledged a sorority and had a normal college experience. It’s a matter of time management.
Her only really bad semester was the one where took 21 credits (5 of which were Ochem + Ochem lab) plus she just started working in her research lab (huge learning curves requiring outside of lab reading time for her) AND she was TAing 2 sections of Calc 2. Plus volunteering. Plus required sorority activities. She overdid it and got a B in Ochem lab and a B+ in Ochem. She found she could handle 18-19 credits just fine, but not 21. She never took 21 credits/semester again. (Well until med school, but everyone takes 24+ credits in med school.)
She didn’t apply to med school immediately after graduation for 2 reasons:
1, she wanted a breather before diving into the all consuming intense academics of med school
2. she was deciding between a MD and MD/PhD (She worked as a full time research assistant/research coordinator at the Top 10 med school to give her a broader exposure to medical research.)
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Yes, this definitely looks more doable laid out like this. Thank you for the time and effort you placed on this. A couple of questions:
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I’ve already technically taken AP Physics C (so calculus based physics 1 and 2 in high school). Do you think it would look bad or suspicious if I took algebra based physics 1 and 2 in college, especially as a math major, to lessen my load?
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I have taken a seal of biliteracy in Illinois for French, as that was my high school language. do you think I should START Spanish in college? Or, again, to lessen my load, can I forgo it? I completely understand that Spanish should be an integral part of a healthcare and introduced to workers, but again, I am concerned about time.
Thanks again!
My understanding is that they evaluate my renewal contracts every year. The specific wording on the contract they sent me was that renewal of the scholarship was dependent on 30 credit hours per year and a math major path, so I think I could drop it after 2 or 3 years if I decide it was too much. I would just feel really bad since they only award this to one or two people and it’s a memorial scholarship 
. Definitely a good question!
My daughter was a double major also…bioengineering and biology. Her bioengineering major was a math intensive course of study. My kid was not premed in college, but did complete all of the required courses while in undergrad school…coincidentally…with these majors. She didn’t decide on a medical career until several years after receiving her bachelors degree.
I’m not sure this is true.
@WayOutWestMom posted above. BOTH of her doctor kids were math majors. Worked out well for them.
The worst thing that could happen is you have to take a glide year or so to complete the required courses for medical school applicants. Since the average age of first year med school grads is mid 20’s, that shouldn’t be a problem. Lots of medical school applicants do this now.
Congrats on that additional money from UIUC!
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Definitely not impossible to major in math and also take your premed requirements.
Once you subtract the pre med requirements that can be taken as part of your gen ed requirements (2 semesters of writing, plus psych sociology), and subtract your required supporting coursework for a math degree ( 2 semesters of physics and maybe stats/biostats ), you are left with basically 7 classes: 2 semesters of intro bio, 2 semesters of gen chem, 2 semesters of ochem and 1 semester of biochem.
I would suggest using a spreadsheet and the course catalog at UIUC ti lay out a 4 year plan to see if you can fit your premed coursework in around your math classes.
By doing this you can see if you will have any really tough semesters and maybe find ways to lighten the burden. Maybe by taking an online class or two ( which is allowed by the math dept) or by taking a couple of summer session classes either in person or online.
FYI, I strongly recommend that you DO NOT attempt to take Ochem in the summer. Either at UIUC or at another college. The shorter time frame makes a tough course ever tougher and all too frequently the material covered gets truncated in summer sessions leaving you with knowledge gaps. Gen chem in the summer is fine. You needn’t take your summer classes at UIUC unless you are planning on using those classes to fulfill graduation requirements for your math degree. In that case any non-UIUC summer classes must be first approved by the math deparment and the registrar before you enroll in them.
I think the easiest way to free up some schedule space would be to take gen chem over the summer at local CC or 4 year college near your home. Since you won’t be using those credits to fulfill your math degree requirements, you don’t need registrar pre-approval. You could then take Ochem and biochem at UIUC thus supplementing your CC credits with credits at your college of record. (Which med schools want you to do with CC credits.)
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- I’ve already technically taken AP Physics C (so calculus based physics 1 and 2 in high school). Do you think it would look bad or suspicious if I took algebra based physics 1 and 2 in college, especially as a math major, to lessen my load? [/quote]
No, but if you choose to take physics to fulfill the supporting coursework requirements for your math degree, the math department requires that you take calc-based physics.
- I have taken a seal of biliteracy in Illinois for French, as that was my high school language. do you think I should START Spanish in college? Or, again, to lessen my load, can I forgo it? I completely understand that Spanish should be an integral part of a healthcare and introduced to workers, but again, I am concerned about time.
Although Spanish is useful for physicians and other healthcare workers, it’s not a requirement.
(And to be honest 3 semesters of college Spanish won’t bring you close enough to fluency to be able to converse with patients… There’s a reason why all hospitals have licensed medical translators available.
Also tdepending where you go for med school, there will be opportunities to learn conversational Spanish then. D2 did a 6 week away term in Oaxaca, Mexico studying medical Spanish at a hospital while doing a ob/gyn clinical rotation there.
D1 has learned enough Spanish/ Mandarin/Korean to get by from her patients who are largely Mexican, South American, Chinese and Korean. She got a crash course in Romani when she treated a large extended family of Roma women who spoke no English over the course of 2 weeks. D1 is LD has always did terrible in foreign languages in an academic setting because, as she puts it, she has enough trouble just reading and writing English. She’s far from fluent in any of these languages but she can hold an elementary conversation in all of them. Also D1 used her college French to converse with a pharmacist in French well enough so she was able to order the correct medications to give to 2 of her travel companions who had been bitten by stray dog on Mo’orea. )
You may be able to use your HS languages proficiency to satisfy UIUC’s foreign language requirements for graduation.That will free up 3 semester slots in your schedule that you can use for your pre-med classes.
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- In that case, you can just take Algebra based Physics 2, since you already know the concepts and will just see them through algebra instead. Transfer 1 semester-worth of AP physics credits.
- There will not be any “French for medical professions” at least not that I know of BUT there’s a dearth of Haitian Creole speaking helpers in hospitals. Spoken Haitian Creole has a lot of similarities with French (the written version is quite different) making it much easier to learn for French speakers. You can see if there’s non credit community education classes then look for positions helping people, in particular helping patients fins their way around hospitals, etc. (There would be professional interpreters for medical diagnosis - after some time you can look into this, too, but it requires a high degree of medical and linguistic skill so I don’t think it’ll be practical.) You can also help people in the library, etc. to practice. It’s a good way to gain relevant linguistic skills.
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Hi! It’s been a crazy week or so, but I’m now fully committed to UIUC in the department of math and as a premed. I’m trying to get everything arranged for myself before AP exams hits (I have 6 tests this year) and have just arranged for 40 hours of shadowing this summer at the hospital where I volunteer. I’ve decided I’d like to get a license this summer at my cc to get some clinical hours in at UIUC since shadowing there is quite tricky while on campus. I was wondering if anyone had any insight into whether a CNA or EMT license would be more useful for part time work at UIUC. I know the have an EMT program at UIUC but it seems like it caters to people who take the EMT class at the school. I am also aware that CNAs often work at retirement homes, and would afford me less exposure to actual physicians, but I think any medical exposure is better than none. Any thoughts?
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