Want an easy road into med school? Don’t pick biology…
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), biology majors are among the least likely to gain acceptance to med school (source).
Given the fact that biology’s considered a difficult subject, are the easiest majors the better ones to go for? Let’s find out!
In this article you’ll learn:
- Possible “easy” pre med majors
- If you should pick an “easy” major
- What the pros and cons of choosing one are
Make sure you read this first before settling on your undergrad major!
What’s The Easiest Pre Med Major?
The easiest pre med major is one you enjoy and can work hard at to earn a high GPA. Being interested in your major also helps. You’ll put more hours into quality study as a result and increase your chances of getting good grades.
Med school admissions boards look at your GPA before anything else.
When it comes to actual subject recommendations from pre med students, here’s a couple that kept coming up during my research as “easier” options:
- Public Health: specifically as it has a strong correlation to many of the pre med courses you’re expected to take before applying to med school. Many students report getting easy A’s in this field.
- Psychology: considered an easy but interesting life science, psychology seems to compare more favorably to the tougher physical science subjects (physics etc) that can be notoriously hard to score well in. Taking this major will help you out later in med school too. It’s one of the core subjects of a MBBS curriculum.
- Liberal Arts: subjects like english, sociology and fine art can all be fun majors to take that can motivate you to study and perform well. As long as you take the required pre med classes alongside your major, you can pick almost anything.
Subjects that most students say you’d do best to avoid – particularly when trying to score as high a GPA as possible – include engineering and math.
Can STEM Subjects Be Easy?
STEM subjects (like the hard sciences and math) have some overlap with pre med course requirements.
Picking a STEM major can seem like a good option given you won’t need to take a whole bunch of extra courses.
Economics could be an easier major but only one class (math) from its syllabus would count as a pre med prereq.
Fewer credit hours can make college life – and achieving better grades in a smaller class load – easier though.
But STEM courses are notoriously tougher to do well in.
Only major in STEM if you’re very confident of securing a high GPA.
The Problems With Choosing An ‘Easy’ Major For Med School
The problem with judging any major “easy” is that it’s subjective.
What’s a walk in the park for one student, could be hell for another. Choosing an easy major depends a lot on the person.
Another problem is that just because a major is deemed “easy” it’s no guarantee you’ll score a 4.0 in it.
A lot of the grading in the majors recommmended above (particularly the liberal arts) can be subjective and professor-dependent. Exams aren’t standardised in the same way most STEM majors are.
One last thing; med schools are good at picking out applications and judging whether someone has taken the “easy road” or not.
If your letters of recommendation and personal statement don’t check out, your decision to take a decidedly “easy” pre med major could count against you.
Only the admissions teams of the schools themselves can be clear about this.
Related: Why Do You Want To Be A Doctor? Reddit’s Response (19 Best Answers)
What Are The Pros Of Choosing An Easy Major for Pre Med?
Some of the pros include:
- Increasing the time available to focus on research, the MCAT and gaining clinical experience or shadowing opportunities
- Makes your overall life easier. You can take up interesting hobbies and side projects that can add real diversity to a med school application. Helping you stand out.
Related: What Are The Best Hobbies For a Medical School Application?
What Are The Cons Of Choosing An Easy Major for Pre Med?
Looking to choose an “easy” major for pre med to help you become a doctor can be a little risky.
Here are the main cons:
- Choosing something you think is easy could bore you. If it bores you, you’ll find it difficult to get motivated to study. Your GPA could take a hit as a result.
- Picking the “easiest” major might do you more harm than good. Med school is a very tough environment. If you can’t rise to the challenge of undergrad or are unwilling to apply yourself, you’ll find the step up to med school (or even competing in the entry process) very hard indeed.
Should I Choose An Easy Pre Med Major?
My personal opinion is that you should go for something you think is most likely to motivate you. For me, that was a liberal arts degree. Pursuing something I was genuinely interested in before giving a whole bunch of years to medicine, has made me a much more rounded person.
For you the path could be different. Remember that, statistically speaking, you’re unlikely to end up going to med school given the competition. Don’t waste your college years picking something “easy” for a future that doesn’t work out or for an idea you’ll only lose interest in.
What you choose as your pre med major ultimately doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you meet all the pre med course requirements and come out with the best GPA possible.
Summary
Don’t focus on what’s “easy” when it comes to your pre med plans. Instead think about what you feel you can do well in.
And be sure to check out sites like Rate My Professor to scope your school’s classes beforehand. Oftentimes, you can find gems there that’ll help you raise your GPA by giving you the top marks in class.
Sources
- https://www.aamc.org/media/6061/download
Image Credit: @siora 18 at Unsplash
Born and raised in the UK, Will went into medicine late (31) after a career in journalism. He’s into football (soccer), learned Spanish after 5 years in Spain, and has had his work published all over the web. Read more.