Is Biochem+Korean double major a good idea?

baktrax
Tue, 10 Feb 2015 03:55:54 +0000

It doesn’t matter either way. Double major if you want to, but don’t do it because it will look good on medical school applications. Your MCAT score, your GPA, and your experience (internships, research, volunteering, shadowing, etc) will be MUCH more important than whether you double major or not. If you can double major easily without sacrificing anything else (such as your GPA or time to volunteer in a hospital or shadow docs or do research or whatever), then go for it. If you find that you have to sacrifice other things, it probably won’t matter and will likely be one of the least important parts in your application.

That being said, knowing different languages would be very valuable, especially if you can speak them at a level where you could potentially see patients in that language. In healthcare, that’s extremely valuable. But if learning Korean is really what you want to do, you don’t need to major in it. Majors typically take into account a lot more than just learning the language. Students will take classes in literature, history, political science, etc, about that culture. If you want to just learn the language, it would be much better to just take language courses in addition to your major and participate in some other program to help you become fluent (such as studying abroad or finding some other way to practice with native speakers).