<p>I am looking to get accepted into medical school. I plan on majoring in Family Social Science, with the idea that I can explain in essays and interviews for med school admissions that I want to be a family doctor, and I was advised that this major would help me the greatest. The Family Social Science major is relatively easy in comparison to some of the more intensive science majors out there, so it is my thought that I can get a higher GPA. I am in a medical internship program that is geared towards helping students that are minorities get into medical school and includes shadowing doctors (ones that are on the medical school admission board of my university nonetheless), and paying for MCAT prep courses. I am a certified EMT-B and plan on volunteering with my school’s emergency medical services next year in order to get volunteer/clinical experience. I plan on doing research next summer, and my entire senior year. Are there any flaws or suggestions that you have in my candidacy for medical school?</p>
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<p>Bad idea. Pick an academic major. There is evidence out there that health science majors and non-academic majors do not do as well during the admissions process than academic majors do. Your college career should not be solely about preparation for medical school.</p>
<p>As for the GPA, medical schools are looking for people who do well in a rigorous course of study. Picking a course of study for its perceived ease is not a good idea. Find a subject that you like and major in that - you’re much more likely to do well in your major if you actually like it.</p>
<p>Actually, don’t all majors have a close enough acceptance rate that there is no statistical difference? </p>
<p>I’ve been considering music major just for this reason. I think I would really like it and supposedly I would not be at a disadvantage.</p>
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Whoever advised that is just ridiculous. (Don’t tell me it’s your premed advisor.)</p>
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Not ALL majors do. Some majors like health sciences tend to have a very low rate, as shades said above.</p>
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<p>On the other hand, us philosophy majors are ballers at getting into medical school, as evidenced by our acceptance rates :D</p>
<p>yes, I know its more of a self-selection phenomenon, but hey, I can still brag about the numbers :)</p>
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<p>When people say “all majors,” they mean “all academic majors.” Music is an academic major. Family Social Science is not.</p>
<p>Take a look at [AAMC:</a> FACTS Table 18: MCAT and GPAs for Applicants and Matriculants by Undergraduate Major](<a href=“http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2008/mcatgpabymaj08.htm]AAMC:”>http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2008/mcatgpabymaj08.htm). You’ll see that in terms of raw percentage (matriculants divided by applicants), “specialized health science” and “other” majors do the worst in terms of admissions. Family Social Science would probably fall into the category of specialized health science majors.</p>
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From personal experience, philosophy majors at my school are usually intelligent.</p>
<p>^^^ Would economics be considered a “good” major…Is it considered “academic”, I have been doing internships at doctor’s officies,(I am a senior in high school, going to Emory next year)…They suggested majoring in Economics, because its more practical to the medical feild than say a biology major, because the higher level classes in bio don’t really help you in medical school or afterwards…The thing is, Economics at Emory is considered an easy 3.8(if you do minimal work), …Would medical schools frown on an Economics degree from Emory? I am interested in the business part of the medical industry…Possible MPH after Med School?</p>
<p>I want to know a little bit more about “family social sciences” before I lump it in as “non-academic”. The study of sociology of marriage and family is a legitimate academic pursuit, and would be acceptable.</p>
<p>But if family social sciences is some sort of home ec or something else, it’s iffy.</p>
<p>This is a list of the courses I would be taking, I’m not sure what you mean by “academic majors”… It is possible for me to minor in biology and biochemistry at the same time, and I am in my University’s honors program… does that help?</p>
<pre><code>* FSoS 2101Preparation for Working with Families (2 cr)
- FSoS 2103Family Policy (3 cr)
- FSoS 2105Family Research (3 cr)
- FSoS 3101Personal and Family Finances (3 cr)
- FSoS 3102Family Systems and Diversity (3 cr)
- FSoS 3104Global and Diverse Families (3 cr)
</code></pre>
<p>Professional Core</p>
<p>Select 18 credits from the following list:</p>
<pre><code>* FSoS 3426 - Alcohol & Drugs: Families & Culture (3 cr)
- FSoS 3429 - Counseling Practicum I (3 cr)
- FSoS 4101 - Sexuality & Gender in Families & Close Relationships (3 cr)
- FSoS 4104W - Family Psychology (3 cr)
- FSoS 4106 - Family Resource Management (3 cr)
- FSos 4150 - Special Topics in FSoS (1-4 cr)
- FSoS 4152 - Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual People in Families (3 cr)
- FSoS 4153 - Family Financial Counseling (3 cr)
- FSoS 4154W - Families & Aging (3 cr)
- FSoS 4155 - Parent-Child Relationships (3 cr)
- FSoS 4156 - Legal-Economic Controversies in Families (3 cr)
- FSoS 5150 - Special Topics in FSoS (1-4 cr)
</code></pre>
<p>Advanced/Applied Skill Courses</p>
<p>Select one course from the following:</p>
<pre><code>* FSoS 4296Field Study: Working with Families (4 cr)
- FSoS 4296Research Internship
</code></pre>
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<p>The ADCOMs I know only care about the GPA (+ scores). They dont care how hard the courses were and generally cant compare since things are different at every school. </p>
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<p>Again, I have seen the totally opposite. This is anecdotal, but my health science/nutrition friends did fine during admissions time. Once you have the other required stuff (ECs/scores) it generally became a non-issue.</p>
<p>Economics is indeed considered as an academic major, but Accounting and Finance are not.</p>
<p>I am not sure if this is true, but I have the impression that whenever a course name or a department name is very short (just the noun, no adjective before the noun), and the course/major represents a relatively broad subject area rather than a very specialized application, it is more likely an academic course/major.</p>
<p>In this sense, I even think that a course from the plain old chemistry (or biology or physics) department is better than that from the “newer”, cross-over biochemistry (or biophysics) department. This is because there will be no ambiguity about whether the course is considered as a chemistry course or not.</p>
<p>Hmm…for the course name like “Family Financial Counseling”, the words like “Financial” and “Counseling” seem to indicate that the course is somewhat too “practical” or “career-oriented” (that is, what you learn is directly applicable to a career), in my subjective opinion. On the other hand, a course like “Introduction to Sociology” is good because it covers a very broad subject area.</p>
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I don’t know about biophysics, but from my experience, biochemistry is academically more rigorous or “better” (whatever that means) than bio major, at least at my school. (I know this because I switched from bio to biochem major) Many people I know, including some profs, also agree on this. Also, bio and biochem major requirements mostly overlap at my school anyway. </p>
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Biochem is actually not as new a discipline as you’d think.</p>
<p>im sorry to say, but i have never seen a worse set of major requirements in my life. you could google all of that stuff in 5 minutes.</p>
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<p>I agree. But I doubt that being in an overly rigorous major will give you much break in GPA.</p>
<p>Suppose that the top X percents of the bio majors are competitive applicants. It is likely that the top X percents (maybe plus/minus 1 or 2 percents at most) of the biochem majors are considered as competitive applicants by most medical schools. If a higher percentage of biochem majors at your school happen to be academically stronger (i.e., are “gunners”), will you more likely to lose out unless you are a gunner yourself?</p>
<p>I am of the opinion that if you are not a superstar academically speaking, it is better (for the purpose of medical school admission) to be in a somewhat rigorous major, but not in an overly rigorous major. It is all about the “fit” – Whatever major you choose to be, you need to be in the top X percents of your major. </p>
<p>Of course, it is a different story if your goal is to go to a top medical school (which is an unrealistic goal for most above-average applicants, IMHO.)</p>
<p>Being a biochem major (or an engineering major) could give you a better backup plan though, mostly because there are much more bio majors than biochem majors.</p>
<p>" im sorry to say, but i have never seen a worse set of major requirements in my life. you could google all of that stuff in 5 minutes. "</p>
<p>I hate to break it to you, but you can google anything nowadays.</p>
<p>After seeing the requirements this is NOT a good program for you as future physician…it’s setting you up to be a family counselor. It’s like the difference between a major in Sociology vs. a major in Social Work. The courses are set up so that when you graduate, you could get a job as a family counselor. They’ve dressed it up by calling it “family social science” perhaps in an effort to get more students into the course. </p>
<p>Now don’t get me wrong, family practice physicians need to understand family dynamics - especially if they’re taking care of more than one family member, BUT you’re not going to be the one mediating conflicts or running counseling sessions when you have a family that’s dysfunctional. The naming of family medicine is more due to the ability to take care of the individual from birth to grave, rather than taking care of a family unit. This major is aimed at training individuals to run group therapy.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in social science like this, become a sociology major (my bachelors is in sociology). It’ll be more broadly applicable so that even if you decide not to be a family doc, it’ll still help you understand patients and their issues. One of the tenets of physician professionalism (from the American Board of Internal Medicine) is social justice, which as a sociology major, you’ll very concretely understand, but there are other issues as well a sociology major can help with…</p>