Should I go pre-med or switch my major? Future Bowdoin student

N_s_Mom
Sat, 21 Nov 2015 00:22:00 +0000

S did a Division III sport while a pre-med at a LAC. He had to be highly organized and during his game season, he purposely took a lighter than average course load (3 classes, not 4). He had enough AP credits that this wasn’t a problem, but even without, he could have made up the reduced units during quarters when he wasn’t on the road for away games, helping manage the team, dealing with the occasional injury or just plain beat from practice…It also meant that he did his shadowing and research over the summers rather than during the school year. So if you plan your workload carefully, you can manage this.

And yes, it seemed to be a significant positive for his application to med school: Most of his interviewers picked up on his sport as something to talk. I think what the schools were seeing is the self-discipline, the interest in the human body that athletes tend to have, and the teamwork that goes with many sports.