......best prepare you for Medical School? I have heard a lot of people on here say BIMS isn't the best major because its basically a one way street and if you aren't going to medical school it really doesn't do anything. A lot of people I know are in Allied Health, Biology, etc. What do you guys think?

When I talked to the pre-med people before I started school, they told me that BIMS wasn't the only way to go though the most used. Any of the hard sciences are a good shot too. They also told me that med schools always look to branch out and get all kinds of different majors, so if you're in history or poli sci and take your necessary pre-med courses, you'll be in good shape too.

The most important thing is that you make good grades in whatever major it is you pick.

Took the words right out of my mouth Lance. I have a few friends with a B.S. in Math who are in Med School

Yeah your major doesn't matter as long as you do the pre-recs and get good grades. That being said, I am a BIMS major because it was the most interesting to me which is also why I'm pre-med. The two just seem to go hand in hand.

it doesnt matter at all. if i were to advise somebody in your shoes i would say pick something you can get good grades in, something you enjoy, and something that gives you options or a plan B. The main problem with BIMS is that it doesnt give you tons of options other than profesional school. Like was said before, it could be history for all anybody cares. Medical schools care about 2 things. they care about grades, and they care about MCAT scores. They seperate their applicants into three piles from these. (for the most part) the top pile... those who have great grades and a great MCAT score. these people get in. it doesnt matter, you can never have done anything worth while in your life other than ace the MCAT, and get great grades....somebody will let you in. The bottom pile are those that sucked in school and on the MCAT.. these people never get a second look. they dont even look at the rest of your application. the middle pile is the maybe pile. its the people who are competitive but nothing special. you got OK grades, maybe a 3.4 or a 3.5. you did OK on the MCAT, nothing special. this is a crap shoot. some get in, some dont. this is where they really look over your application. they look at your volunteer work, research etc. when they tell you that medical schools are looking for a well rounded person they are partially lying to you. they only want a well rounded person if you fall into this middle stack. that is how they decide between the "competitive" students. the trick to getting in is to be in the top stack. come in with as high of a GPA, AND MCAT as you can. it really takes the guess work out of it. it almost takes the decision out of their hands.... somebody will accept you. medical schools want somebody to do well. they want students to come in,study, learn and kill the boards. if their students do well on the boards, then their rankings go up...... better rankings means its easier to recruit better faculty, eventually it means more money. more funding leads to better research and better marketing etc...... the easiest way for them to guage how well a student is going to do is how good their MCAT is, and how high their GPA is. getting into medical school isnt about being good enough to get in. its about being better than everbody else who is good enough to get in.

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The two just seem to go hand in hand.

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Until you can't get into med school because BIMS killed your GPA or you do poorly in med school because BIMS burnt you out.

Well then it's a good thing to find out before med school. If you can't get good grades in BIMS and don't have the drive to become a doctor, then you probably shouldn't be going to med school anyway.

Biology, Biomedical engineering, and chemistry

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Well then it's a good thing to find out before med school. If you can't get good grades in BIMS and don't have the drive to become a doctor, then you probably shouldn't be going to med school anyway.

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How is it a good thing to take the hardest, most worthless road towards your goal which offers a greater chance for you not to succeed?

I have spoken to plenty of BIMS majors and have heard so many complaints about it that you can't possibly justify the major to me. It's the only program at A&M in which I've heard someone become almost suicidal over it. Like someone said recently, it is a trap.

There is absolutely no point of putting that much stress on yourself for a degree that you can hardly do anything with by yourself just for medical school. There's plenty of other majors to choose from that will get you into medical school.

What I meant was medical school will be a lot harder than anything that is done here as an undergrad. If it's too difficult than medical school will be much, much worse. Of course by the time you realize this it's too late and you are stuck with a worthless degree. I agree BIMS can be the worst major or it can be the best. In my short time in the major I've met people who just kind of want to be a doctor or just kind of want to be a veterinarian. Those are the types that should stay clear of BIMS. I heard that BIMS was the largest major for this years freshman class. That is where the problem is. People come into the major not realizing the amount of work involved and the dedication it takes. That being said, I'm only a second semester sophomore, but BIMS hasn't gotten hard yet. My friends in engineering work a lot harder than I do.

I'm a 3rd year medical student, and I agree with pretty much everything on this thread. I was a marketing major, and the pre-req's sufficiently prepared me for medical school, while my business major allowed me to explore another field I was interested in.

As far as truly being prepared for medical school, I'm not sure that's possible. It's such a leap from undergrad that I don't think one can be fully prepared. Also, after your first semester, you're well beyond anything you did in college, so everyone's on the same equal footing.

While I don't suggest spending four years of your life preparing for one semester in medical school, some of the most "prepared" of my classmates were biochemistry majors. Medical school biochem is out of control and is often the first course you take (at least it's first at UT Southwestern). Therefore, it makes the undergrad to medical school transition a tad easier having already gone through a ton of biochem.

Bottom line:
1) Shadow and get enough experience to KNOW (not think) you want to be a physician
2) Pick a major you will enjoy and keep you interested.
3) Make as good of grades as you can (interested in your major usually = good grades).
4) Prepare for and do well on the MCAT.

20-12th Man,

It's pretty obvious that you are trying to justify a degree that you have little experience with. Go ahead and spend $30,000+ for a four-year BIMS degree if you want. You're just buying a $30,000 lottery ticket to see if you can get into medical school (notice that I did not say succeed) and if you don't win, you just have a piece of paper.

p-townag has the right idea. He can FALL back on his undergrad degree if the medical field doesn't work out for him. You can't fall back on a BIMS degree.

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Until you can't get into med school because BIMS killed your GPA or you do poorly in med school because BIMS burnt you out.

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If you can't keep a decent GPA in BIMS, OR if you get burned out by BIMS, you shouldn't go to medical school.

I was a Biology major.

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f you can't keep a decent GPA in BIMS, OR if you get burned out by BIMS, you shouldn't go to medical school.

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Haha, sounds to me like you didn't choose BIMS for a reason.

It's possible to be able to survive biology and medical school but not BIMS and then get shut out of medical school.

Plus you can do a lot more with another undergraduate degree besides BIMS that can also take you to medical school if you want.

You don't really bring anything new to the discussion.

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy productive New Year! Thanks to people like 7yrplan for being such a great support (to people like my son and I.)

Ranger222 - hang in there you can do it! BIMS isn't bad, just some students need a different choice/degree other than BIMS - it doesn't matter if it's BIMS or not - it's getting there that counts and like some have said, it's the grades (GPR) and the the electives to get in that counts and matters the most.

~Just an Aggie Mom~

I don't disagree with the advice at all. I honestly had a hard time choosing majors because I knew how narrow a BIMS degree was. I did choose the degree which interested me the most. By all means major in economics, micro, english, whatever. And as for the lottery ticket comment: I control my own fate. I understand the competitiveness involved with medical school but I'm working hard to make it happen. Nothing is guaranteed by any means, but I haven't earned 52 hours of a 4.0 by taking it lightly.
That being said, we are all aggies and have many opportunities to succeed here. Good luck to everyone, follow your dreams, and have a very Merry Christmas.

Generally, as long as you have at least a 3.5 GPA in the med school prerequisites and do good on your MCATs you'll be fine. Something like 97% of all Aggies who meet those criteria are accepted.

what about someone who is in his 3rd year of the BIMS program and is really trying hard to make the grades but is only barely reaching a 3.0 gpa. is everyone basically telling me that I have nothing in my future? that I cannot get into medical or any other professional school?

pretty much

its a tough pill to swallow...

you still have a shot at dental, chiropractic, DO, etc....depending on your science GPA

I couldn't stomach going through all that school only to have people put an asterisk next to my Dr. so I let my grades keep dropping. It's fun! Now I have a BIMS degree and am qualified to be a bum

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And as for the lottery ticket comment: I control my own fate.

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Sorry to say, but you obviously have little to no experience with the real world.

If you want to major in BIMS, good for you, but don't come on here later and start b****ing about how they screwed you over.

The only reason I got involved in this thread is because I keep seeing all these BIMS majors coming on here and complaining. Combined with talking to several BIMS majors myself, I know that the major is more trouble than it's worth.

If these kids do more research before picking a major, they could avoid the pitfall. I am not involved with the medical field at all nor will I ever be, and even I know not to major in BIMS.

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what about someone who is in his 3rd year of the BIMS program and is really trying hard to make the grades but is only barely reaching a 3.0 gpa. is everyone basically telling me that I have nothing in my future? that I cannot get into medical or any other professional school?

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If you are determined to be a physician, and it's the only thing you can see yourself doing, you can put forth the effort to make it into medical school.

Put everything you have into your remaining semesters at A&M. Study like crazy for the MCAT (Kaplan/Princeton review courses, lots of self-study). Do lots of meaningful, substantial volunteering/shadowing/research to make your application the best it can possibly be.

I'm of the opinion that no matter your GPA, you can eventually get into medical school. You just have to show the schools that there's more to you than your GPA. It may even take applying 2 or 3 times before you get in. If you're hell-bent on doing it, you can make it happen. The only limiting factors will be how hard you work to get there, and how many years you'll allow yourself to apply. I know at least three people who got in on their third try.

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Haha, sounds to me like you didn't choose BIMS for a reason.

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Huh? Are you saying BIMS is harder than Biology or something? I'm not seeing your point.

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It's possible to be able to survive biology and medical school but not BIMS and then get shut out of medical school.

Plus you can do a lot more with another undergraduate degree besides BIMS that can also take you to medical school if you want.

You don't really bring anything new to the discussion.

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Of course I brought something to the discussion. You were saying that BIMS could kill your GPA and burn you out. I said that if that is the case, the person that did poorly probably wouldn't be able to handle the even greater course load in medical school. You disagree?

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what about someone who is in his 3rd year of the BIMS program and is really trying hard to make the grades but is only barely reaching a 3.0 gpa. is everyone basically telling me that I have nothing in my future? that I cannot get into medical or any other professional school?

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You can. It will be harder. Much harder. You'll either need a fantastic MCAT score or a Masters, or something else. If this is your dream, don't give up. And definitely look into D.O. schools and dental schools in the end if you don't think you'll have a shot at an MD program.

Yeah don't give up. A&M had a list of all the med school admits and their GPA, MCAT. Surprisingly there are 2.8 and the like that are admitted. They are very rare of course, just make sure you are a well rounded applicant.

Interesting fact: The major with the highest percentage of med school acceptances is Theater Arts. (Not saying they are the most frequent though, the sample size probably affects this stat.)

My sis-in-law is a physician and her undergrad degree was in Theater. Seriously.

I've also known a few AniSci majors that went on to med school, and a few entomology majors. I would recommend biology or biochem.

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what about someone who is in his 3rd year of the BIMS program and is really trying hard to make the grades but is only barely reaching a 3.0 gpa. is everyone basically telling me that I have nothing in my future? that I cannot get into medical or any other professional school?

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Be a Pharmacist, seriously.

I'm a current resident and have worked closely with admissions committees at 2 different medical schools in Texas over the last few years.

If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be not to go into medicine. The gratification is far too delayed, the lifestyle is miserable for all but a few fields, and there are much easier ways to make your money. Once you start med school it's already too late to quit because you are in too much debt to do anything else.

If you are absolutely certain you want to be a physician, then don't major in science. The admission committees give preference to students with unique majors, especially business and liberal arts. It translates to a more well-rounded person that they believe will be come a more well-rounded and personable doctor. And it's a heck of a lot easier to get that 4.0 as a liberal arts major than in BIMS, BICH, or BIOL.

BIMS hasn't been a struggle for me, in fact I'm doing quite well. I have a 3.8 with most of my pre req's done. I like exploring options and I want to leave as many doors open as I can, and I just keep hearing that BIMS closes them and leaves you in a hole if you don't get into Med school, or find out later Med school isn't what you wanted to do.

My personal physician,an Aggie class of 98, was a philosophy undergrad.

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My personal physician,an Aggie class of 98, was a philosophy undergrad.

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So he really does bullsh*t you when you are going for a checkup. Interesting! j/k

If you don't make it into professional school, is biology any less of a dead end degree than BIMS really? I would think job opportunities are similar for both. That being said, I was a BIMS major and wouldn't change that if I did it again. The science pre-reqs suck but you will have to do those in any major to apply to med/dent/etc. If you're sure you want to do medical, then I'd stick with it. Like you said, it's definitely not a lottery, it depends on how committed you are and how hard you work. The BIMS anatomy, physiology, and microbiology are hard but are the best at preparing you for professional school. BIMS is not for everyone though and a wide variety of majors are accepted to medical and dental school from A&M every year.

I went the business school route to professional school so that I'd have more options if I changed my mind or didn't get in. It is very easy to keep a high GPA in the business school. If you attend class for every lecture you can usually get an A with minimal studying. I can't speak for medical applicants, but for dental the prereqs that you take will do a good job of preparing you for the DAT, so if you work hard studying for the DAT you'll have a high GPA and a high DAT score that will make it easy to get into dental school.

The only negative, which can be pretty huge, is that it doesn't prepare you for dental/medical school like BIMS and other tough majors do. I was used to cramming for 2 hours before a test and making a 95+ for most of my college classes outside of organic chemistry. When I started dental school I honestly didn't know how to study for the types of tests that you regularly take there. You are required to memorize large amounts of material and it's not the kind of stuff that you can prepare for in 2 hours or even a weekend in some classes. I felt that my classmates with a background in BIMS or similar majors were used to these types of tests and more prepared to study for them when we started out. Also, I managed to make it there without ever taking anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, or histology and many of my classmates had two or more semesters in these subjects when they started school. That experience also had them more prepared for those classes.

If I was advising someone on what to do, I'd say that if you are 100% sure that you want to go to professional school and you are 100% sure that you have what it takes to have a great GPA as a BIMS major, you should go that route. It will give the best chance for continued success in professional school so you can finish at the top of your class there.

If you're not 100% sure about the whole professional school thing, pick a major that you'll perform well in (like business) and take the prereqs on top of that. If you go this route, make sure that you get guidance from someone that has chosen a similar path to professional school so that you will be prepared for the huge jump in the level of difficulty from the easy major to professional school. If you're smart enough you'll adapt and be happy you chose that route, but you are better off adapting before you start school than dropping two Fs on your first two major tests because you thought you could still get away with cramming.

I don't really get the endless bashing of BIMS on this board. I really enjoyed my experience with the program. You will without a doubt study a lot more than your friends who are business/marketing/liberal arts majors. It's a challenging major, but if you apply yourself and work hard (as in you can't go out five nights a week like your other friends) then it's really not that difficult to do well in your classes.

Having said that, the jump from BIMS to medical school is HUGE! The study time required for medical school is literally at least double that required for BIMS. If you struggle in BIMS or any other science major (BIOL, CHEM, BICH) you are going to be really hurting once you get to medical school.

BIMS prepared me very well for my first year of medical school. I had already taken histology, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and biochemistry before starting medical school. If you know for sure you want to go to medical school, this can really help ease the transition from undergrad to medical school. I'm sure some of the other majors offer similar classes.

Bottom line, you have to have good grades and a good MCAT score to get into medical school. You also have to display a desire to learn more about what you are getting into (shadowing, research, etc.). Excuses for why you didn't do well in undergrad are not going to get you anywhere in your interviews. They want people who were able to buckle down and get the job done as students. Don't put yourself in the position of having to make excuses.

You really want to be an MD but have < 3.5? There are 3 little letters that will help you out:

PhD

H2342..... if you want to be a MD bad enough... you will be an MD. I have a collegue whom i work with who exemplifies this. he was born in a small african village. one of those self sustaining farming villages you see on the discovery channel. his whole entire family worked and traded goods to send him to a nearby town to go to school. he was the only one in his family who was educated past the 3rd grade. to make a really long story short he eventauly went to medical school and then practiced medicine back in his village for free for 15 years. he had a dream to come be a Dr in america. so he learned english, bought a ticket and came. he eventaully passed his boards, did his residency, and now his a cardiologist. one of the most inspiring men i have ever met. he now sends money back, and supports a large part of his entire village, where his family still lives. it took him until he was 51 to be where he wanted to be, but he got there.

i would suggest doing really well on the MCAT. dont take it more than once. twice at the most. study, study, study and do your absolute best the first time you take it. if you dont get in, go get a masters. then in the masters be the student you wished you were in undergraduate. it may take a few years, and a few attempts but you can do it if you want it bad enough.