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There are a number of categories that you’ll need to fill to various degrees in order to make yourself a competitive applicant. In order to explain these most simply, I will offer forth a simplified, distilled list below. For a quicker read, hit the bold points and the bulleted tips at the bottom.Personal History (I don’t like “Application Skills,” so we’ll tack that on at the end)Academic MetricsClinical Capacity/ExperienceResearchVolunteering/Community ServiceExtra-curricular ActivitiesSo, I’ll expound on these topics and give some rationale behind their consideration in admissions and implications on potential as a physician, as well as offer some advice.Personal History: What I mean by this is: why are you going in to medicine? Ideally, you’d like to have some compelling reason for entering the field. This shows the admissions committee that your desire to pursue medicine is rooted in something other than a desire for money, prestige, or simply because it’s what everyone in your family does. None of these are good reasons to enter medicine. The rationale behind this on the side of the admissions committee is derived from a need for longevity on your part as a physician. Medical schools have a mission that is both inherent to themselves in providing optimal care and improving medicine as a whole, but also on the part of the government to generate doctors that can bear the burden of treating our citizens. Hence, they receive subsidies and resources from the government that hinge on whether they generate doctors from the students that matriculate. It reflects poorly on the medical school if they admit a student that doesn’t graduate or that goes on to leave medicine. When you apply to medical school, you will fill out an American Medical School Application System (AMCAS) application, which will include a personal statement of your reasons for pursuing a career in medicine and detailed explanations of 10–15 experiences that influenced you in your life. These are critical pieces of data that will decide whether you get in or not. Metrics (MCAT, GPA) are fantastic, but without a compelling story and valuable experiences that have developed you into a mature individual capable of understanding the world (yes, the world. Not necessarily just medicine) to some complex degree, those metrics are an indication that you’re an egghead that can learn scientific concepts. So, preparing in this field means to have valuable experiences that sculpt you as a person and show that you can/have faced adversity and grown. This can include experiences while shadowing or working in medicine, playing sports in high school/college, losing someone close to you and how that affected your desire to enter medicine, watching someone battle disease, things that happened while you conducted research, volunteering, other extracurriculars, etc.Metrics: While your personal history will oftentimes be the pillar around which your candidacy is built, you must meet certain criterion of academic aptitude in order to show the admissions committee that you are capable of learning the material in medical school and performing well on your United States Medical Learning Exams (USMLE). These are your Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) and your GPA (with a heavy emphasis on your science courses). We’ll talk GPA first. You need to choose a major that interests you. I repeat: You need to choose a major that interests you! We have people in our medical school class that majored in Art, History, Spanish, Engineering, Anthropology, Archaeology, Chemistry, Biology, Psychology, English….. You get it. Medical schools require that you have Introductory Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, and (most schools) Biochemistry. These will ALL be on the MCAT. About the MCAT® Exam. You would do well to take some other courses like Genetics, Microbiology, Research Design (or some sort of research course), Immunology, etc. However, these are not required. You will be judged heavily based on your GPA in these subjects, as well as the courses you take for your major. Being a freshman, you will soon discover that classes that don’t interest you at least a certain modicum tend to be ones that you perform worse in. Therefore, if you have a sincere interest in Literature, study it! Enjoy your degree, and learn the science you need to in order to build your foundation for understanding in medical school. Why did I highlight the word understanding? You will have friends throughout college that will begin studying the night before the test. Some of them will be inherently smart, and will often be able to recognize information and concepts well enough to perform well on tests. Others will study all the time and still perform poorly. What do these two groups have in common? They are not learning for understanding! You may be able to get by like either of these students in your introductory courses; but I promise that as you elevate in your education, you will encounter classes and material that will push you to the limits of your ability to learn. Hence, you need to really learn the material that you’re learning in class. Here’s a set of good guidelines to start with. Take notes EVERY class period. NEVER let a lecture be the first time you’re seeing material. Even simply skimming through the readings for 10 minutes the night before will increase the amount of understanding you’re able to derive from a class. Yeah, this is tough to do. Get used to it. Medical school is on a completely different plane. You can make time for this by nailing down your scheduling and time-management. I spend the first 15 or so minutes of every day referring to my Google Calendar and ensuring that things are scheduled out. Make a schedule and STICK TO IT. Spontaneity is great and fun, but don’t make a habit of deviating from your schedule. Your life will become a disorganized mess and you’ll feel worse for it. People will think you’re a prude, stuck-up, or a loser; but these people will likely never be called Dr. _____. Keep this in mind. You’re going to be less than 1% of the population as a physician. Show them you’re different. Also, sit close to the front. Answer and ask questions in the class. Engage yourself and the professor. You will learn more and develop relationships with your professors, which will be essential when it comes time to get letters of recommendation for school (ESPECIALLY from your science professors). Start studying deliberately for an exam at least a week prior. You will learn the material thoroughly at a reasonable pace and will be MUCH less worried when it comes time for the exam. Your friends will be jealous and wonder how you got so smart. Don’t let yourself be surrounded by people that aren’t working as hard or harder than you. This brings up another point I’d like to make. You will have people that are in college simply because it’s “What people do.” These people have no clue what they’re going to do after college and it shows in their actions. Don’t get caught up with these people. Don’t get caught up in their partying, drugs, and “fun.” Don’t be misconstrued, you can have fun and you should! Your undergrad will be a fantastic time and you’ll grow immensely; but you’ll realize at some point that you gain nothing from partying all the time and drinking every weekend besides an empty wallet, lost time, and shallow friendships. So party and have fun, but remember to never party or hang out with people that don’t have something to lose. Anyways, back to studying. If you’re not surrounded by motivated people, you will begin to think that it’s okay to be like them. You will see that as the norm. Instead, surround yourself with the highest achievers you can find in your classes. You will learn things from them, and seeing them do well and put in work will help you become conditioned to doing the same. Also, find yourself a few of these hard-workers and form a study group, then teach each other. This is the best way I found during my academic career to expose holes in my own understanding and hammer down concepts. This brings me to a favorite quote of mine.Lastly, your schedule needs to be purposefully somewhat difficult for a period of time. You MUST have a semester during which you take 3 science courses. This would ideally be the semester (or two) before you take your MCAT, so that the material is fresh in your head. Admissions committees look for this so that they can determine that you’re capable of the massive amount of scientific integration and processing that is required of medical school. This is absolutely necessary. That said, this is ideally done the first semester of your junior year. Plan accordingly. For example, I took Physics 1, Organic 2, and Genetics that semester. Your junior year is the time for the hardest work you can possibly muster. As far as your MCAT is concerned, here are a few tips (I took the old MCAT, granted). Start studying for the MCAT no less than six months in advance. You will NEVER be able to get through all of the material and learn it well enough to do well in less. You need dedicated MCAT time 3x weekly for that six months. Now this next part has a bit of wiggle-room in it. I didn’t take the test when I would like to have, but I had a LOT of factors coming into play that I hadn’t planned for, (and I actually hadn’t finished the first semester of physics when I took my test). Plan out what you’re going to cover on which days, and schedule your first MCAT for mid-january of your junior year, either just before you return from school or shortly after so that you have time to study for it with no other obligations. This means that you will start your 6 months shortly after you finish your sophomore year, and also means that you will need to take both semesters of intro Chem, intro Biology, Organic Chemistry, and at least the first semester of Physics by the beginning of your junior year so that you can take Physics 2 and Biochemistry in the Fall of your Junior year (caveats to this to come). This placement is ideal, as Physics and Biochemistry are two very high-yield subjects and having them fresh in your mind from class come test day will be perfect. Note that I’ve left psychology and sociology open as far as placement in your schedule. Sprinkle these in anywhere. It’s unlikely that you’ll get everything you need for the MCAT from your intro course anyways (so ensure that you pool outside resources for this material). This will leave you able to retake the test again with ample study time in the following early summer. Again, between January and late May, you will need to have a dedicated schedule for studying. You’ll retake the exam in the beginning of the summer, and be ready when the AMCAS application opens in mid-Summer to submit. So what have I left out of this portion? Materials! I’ve no conflicts of interest. I personally used Khan Academy, practice tests from the AAMC, Kaplan books and Qbanks, as well as whatever practice tests I could get my hands on. I’ve heard examcrackers was good stuff as well, but I never used it. There are tons of apps available for your phone to get MCAT questions as well, but many of them only offer limited free material, so do your research on the paid ones to ensure they’re decent materials. Also, Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards is a fantastic way to learn. There are tons of decks of MCAT cards floating around the internet on reddit and other sites, but making your own is definitely the way to go. Ideally, you’d make your ANKI cards as you went through your classes so that you’d have them as study tools during those and later, for the MCAT. Fool around with it and download their app (free for Android users, sorry Apple). I use it in medical school and it’s fantastic.3. Clinical Capacity/Experience: Now this is likely one that I was strongest with coming in. Once piece of advice that I’ve given to every single pre-med I’ve ever met: Use the summer before you start school or between your freshman/sophomore year to get your EMT-B. I got my EMT certifications through my training to become a combat medic for the Army. This was fantastic (and I got paid to do it), but of course you do your obligated time (Active Duty or Reserves) for it and you’ve got to do Basic Combat Training as well. If you’re enticed by the military, go ahead! It’s great training and looks fantastic for your application. Otherwise, take your EMT-B course at your college IN THE SUMMER. Why? Because it’s shorter! It’s only two months as opposed to three in the regular semester, and it’s inherently more immersive. Once you do this, you can get a job working on an ambulance or in an Emergency Department (I recommend the latter, as you’ll work more closely with physicians). Either way, you will gain valuable medical experience, familiarize yourself with many different areas of medicine, learn what you’ll be dealing with as a healthcare worker for the rest of your life, and get the fulfillment of seeing patients for years while in your undergrad, while your friends work fast food, retail, etc. This does two very important things for your application. It shows that you can balance a heavy workload, which you will have to do as a medical student/resident/physician, and shows the admissions committee that you can take care of patients, enjoy medicine, and won’t faint when you see blood. If, by the time you get to your interviews you’ve already spent three years taking care of patients, the committee will know that you aren’t going to see your first cadaver, patient, surgery, etc. and decide that you don’t want to do this anymore. It happens, and remember that it looks bad for them to have someone drop out. Now, if for some reason you aren’t able to do your EMT (HIGHLY recommended), a CNA course, phlebotomy course, or position as a scribe will get you valuable experience in medicine as well. Now, what are scribes? Scribes are non-clinical personnel that work with doctors in clinical settings to help them fill out the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) so that they can focus on the patients and not the computers. These are becoming more and more commonplace, and allows the scribe to get valuable medical exposure while being close to a physician. However, they are non-clinical and can therefore not have contact with patients. Any of these will help you familiarize with medicine and will be great for your application. They also will help you to become close with doctors, who will likely be open to having you shadow them and know doctors in various specialties that you can shadow as well. Now, if you’re unable to do ANY of the above (I’m not sure why, and I can’t stress enough how far ahead any of the above will put you in reference to your peers), you will need to do a large number of shadowing hours to make up for it. This consists of you finding doctors willing to let you follow them around in the hospital or clinic so that you can watch what they do and figure out if you like it while you get exposure. You should do a bit of this even if you do any of the medical occupations above, but you’ll need to do much less. Some medical schools have a number requirement for shadowing hours, but most just want to see some substantial exposure. I’d suggest at least 100 clinical hours as a baseline (shadowing or otherwise). Aside, clinical experience will help you in other ways. It will give you a paradigm in which to place all of the knowledge that you obtain in your classes. You’ll learn about racemic mixtures in Organic Chemistry, competitive inhibition and enzyme kinetics in Biochemistry, and fluid mechanics in Physics. Where does any of this matter? Well, racemic mixtures in synthesis affect the concentration of active drugs in medication doses, enzyme kinetics affect the mechanisms/absorption of drugs and other physiologic mechanisms, and fluid mechanics determine blood pressure! It’s all relevant, and seeing the connections between what you’re learning in school and seeing in the clinic will help to solidify ideas. Think learning about a drug in Pharmacology as an undergrad and seeing it in the clinic that weekend. This is why my Pharmacology knowledge is so solid!4. Research: My FAVORITE! Woo! Alright, so you’ve stayed with the answer this far. You must really want to be a physician. Well, medical schools are increasingly placing a priority on research experience prior to entering medical school. Many medical schools hold a lack of any research experience as a disqualifying factor in applications they receive. Now, this doesn’t necessarily have to be what we call “Basic Science” research, which is the bench and lab work that most people think of when they hear research. Public health (epidemiology, biostatistics), clinical outcomes, health education research all qualify. The rationale behind this is simple. As a physician, you will be a scientist. It will be essential for you to be able to dig into the primary literature in order to decipher studies and data so that you can apply it to your practice and educate your patients. This is critical. I would advise you to get into research as early as you possibly can. There are a number of ways that you can do this. Pre-med Internships is a compilation of many research internships that are available for students planning on careers in medicine. Many of these are PAID summer internships that (if you’re following the schedule I’ve laid out in this answer), you should do in either the summer after your freshman year (if you do your EMT the summer after you finish high school) or the summer following your sophomore year (during which you should be studying for the MCAT as well). These internships tend to be 9–5 academic affairs with weekends off, and are extremely flexible and oftentimes include MCAT study programs or classes that will prove helpful. You will be assigned a mentor, who will teach you lab techniques and scientific investigation. You will then begin a project that you will ideally finish that summer, and present it as a poster at the end! Some of these programs have room/board built in with their stipends, so look out for those! Now, your home institution may have some programs like this as well, which could be even better for you! But, you should also be trying to find a way to do research throughout the year so that you could potentially do larger projects. This is easy to do, and again something that I’d advise as early as your freshman year. Go to the chair of whatever department you’re interested in doing research in, and ask what research opportunities are available. “Which professors have spots in their labs?” “Do any professors have projects in ____ that I’m interested in?” He’ll give you some contact info and perhaps help you set up a meeting with one of the professors you’re interested in. I’d advise looking at the department page and reading about the professor before you meet with them. Read a couple of their recent publications and see what their lab is doing, so that you can ask specific questions while you’re meeting with them. MOST (not all) professors are open to having undergrads work with them in their labs, and oftentimes the department will offer a course in its respective discipline that is really simply you doing research under a professor for a defined number of hours during the week. Use this time to do research, learn methods, interact with your professor, and read publications. You will be tempted to study during down time in the lab, but don’t fall into that hole. Your research professor (primary investigator) will be an essential letter of recommendation when it comes time to apply, and you don’t want him/her thinking you’re a slacker. Did I mention read publications? Start this early. Figure out how to digest material like this. Look up things you don’t know. As you take your courses, you will progressively see that you understand more and more of it until you can crank through them easily. This will be a very valuable skill later on. When looking for publications to read, refer to good sources. PubMed is a great place to start. Peer-reviewed journals like Nature, JAMA, and BMC Genetics are good as well (depending on the type of research you’re looking at. These are just some of the big dogs). Read publications!5. Volunteering/Community Service: This one almost speaks for itself. There are TONS of volunteering activities you can get involved in. They absolutely don’t have to be medical in nature, but can be! For example, there are programs at hospitals in my area that take volunteers to push an art-cart around the children’s hospital to paint with kids on the wards. There are also volunteers that help with clerical work and logistics. Outside of medicine, you can volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, or volunteer for waterway cleanups. I guarantee you that there are organizations at your University doing volunteer projects- you only have to seek them out. A good national pre-med organization that does lots of volunteering is Alpha Epsilon Delta. Biology Student Association, Army ROTC, SGA, and the YMCA are all organizations that I volunteered with in my undergrad. Seek these opportunities out and get involved in your community. The admissions committee wants to see this. As a physician, you will be a pillar in your community. Along with our desire to heal comes one to make the world better, which we are capable of doing in more ways than by treating patients like we would on the day-to-day at the clinic. Physicians do mission trips, free clinics for children and the underserved, run free community health education programs, and organize legislation around public service. I suppose the message here is: if you don’t like serving others, don’t go into medicine. For all my people that dwell on numbers and requirements, most schools don’t have specified numbers; they simply want to see a continued history of volunteering that shows your devotion to public service. Also, this ties back in to my first bullet. Volunteering is one of the activities that you can use to build valuable life experiences that will help prepare you for life as a physician, and is favorable on your application for the admissions committee.6. Extra-Curricular Activities: This is the catch-all as far as support of your application goes. Holding a part-time job, shadowing, volunteering, being a part of school organizations, and anything else you do with your time outside of school fits in to here. The organizations that you didn’t necessarily volunteer with, but participated in are included here. So playing sports, music, doing theater, running road races, carpentry, working on cars, spelunking, writing, kayaking, fishing, hiking, collecting stamps, etc. Medical schools want a person that is well-rounded, showing an aptitude and interest for things other than medicine. No matter how much you love medicine, there will come a day that you will feel burnt out and tired of it. If you lack other interests to occupy your time and keep you grounded/enjoying yourself, this burnout could slowly wear on you, hindering your performance as a physician and satisfaction with your life. So yes, you need to do everything I lined out above, but still leave some time in to be a person, okay?To cap this off, a few pointers for your application and some other general tips.You will have plenty of time to work on AMCAS. Filling out your application will be a hugely interesting time for you. You will have to delve down deep inside of yourself to tease out the real reasons that you’ve decided to enter medicine. The year before I began medical school was one of the most profoundly introspective times of my entire life. I hyper-analyzed all of my experiences and dug down into the core of who I was. I found flaws and I discovered new strengths. Write about these things you find. Write about the experiences that created these things and what they meant to you. This said, leave yourself enough time so that you can get your AMCAS application processed and get to filling out secondary applications. I worked on AMCAS for a month, starting in early July or so, I believe. I filled out secondaries until December. Those essays are a doozie!Many Universities have a pre-health committee. If yours does, you’ll need a letter from them. This will likely be a group of faculty members that teach many of the pre-med requirements. Set up your advising appointments with a member of this committee as soon as you get to school. You want them to know your face and see your progression. If your university doesn’t have one, you’ll simply let AMCAS know and get another couple of letters as a substitute.Build networks with your professors and professional colleagues. These will be people that you will call on for letters for years to come, hence they need to know you well and think highly of you. Give them a reason to do this!! Don’t ask for letters from people that don’t know you well, either. Their lack of knowledge about you will turn out to hurt you more than help you through their generic letter about how much potential you have and how great having you in their class was (boring). You’ll want most of your letters to be from science faculty (Definitely one from your research mentor), but will need at least one from a non-science professor. If you do any clinical work/shadowing, you may want to include a letter from a physician you worked with as well. Also, ask for these letters far in advance. These people are busy, and you don’t want your application to be waiting around incomplete in cyberspace because you didn’t give your letter-writers enough time.Be reasonable when you’re picking out schools to apply to. Everybody wants to aim high and go to an Ivy League school, but many of these places have screening cutoffs for GPAs and MCAT scores and will charge you to submit secondary applications that end up never getting looked at. If you feel like you’ve got a chance, go for it! However, if you’re at the 50th percentile for your MCAT and GPA, don’t waste your money applying to Harvard! In the end, medical educations are highly standardized and you will get a very similar education at any US medical school, so don’t fret!Get others to read over your personal statement and experiences essays. Getting other eyes on your application materials is essential. You will work on these for nearly a month. They will be absolutely perfect in your eyes. Then, you will let your buddy (an English major, no less) review it and discover that your ideas are scattered and disorganized, or that your syntax is all messed up, or that you have a horrible run on sentence with too many comma splices and lists and nobody understands what you’re saying anymore!Getting in to medical school is not a linear track. I had a friend that was in the coast guard and didn’t go back to school until he was nearly 30. He matriculated last year. There are people in my class that got their M.S. or Ph.D before they came to medical school. We’ve got a man that was a pilot instructor for the Air Force, and will go back to be a pilot-physician for them when he’s done with his medical training. We also had a 19 year-old matriculate with us. The moral here is you don’t have to go straight into medical school. You don’t have to complete your degree in four years. It is not a race to get to the finish. Everyone is different and you should embrace your strengths. Taking some extra time to finish your degree may help you to do better in your classes. Taking a year or more off to do research, travel, work, etc. is all in the budget when it comes to getting into medical school. All of these experiences will be formative and will only go towards developing you further as a physician and as a person. So, don’t get discouraged if things don’t work out how you planned.They rarely ever do.

Q. Is it possible to double-major in biology and philosophy, while taking the required premed courses, and still graduate in four years?A. It is doable, depending on the requirements of your institution. If you are passionate about the major, you would presumably do well. Humanity courses generally are more generous in the grading, which would help elevate your GPA. The major should make you a more thoughtful physician, a more passionate humanistic doctor and a logical advocate. You should also be a better writer and future administrator, prepares you for MPH, MBA or MPH.Just stay on top of your studies, maintain a high GPA, do well on the MCAT and don’t forget ECs and LORs.The Philosophy second major would be looked upon favorably in your application.8 Best Pre-Med Majors {I don’t believe this is correct at all. Doubtful if this person went to medical school.}Some non-traditional pre-med majors provide an opportunity to set you apart from the crowd.Dorothy Crouch July 26, 2016To increase your chances of success as a medical student, gain the skills of a well-rounded leader by pursuing the best pre-med majors.When deciding on an undergraduate course of study and the best pre-med majors, many future medical-school candidates choose subjects they feel are relevant to a career in medicine. The truth is that the best pre-med majors might be less obvious. Admissions boards value a high grade point average (GPA), proof of a strong and determined work ethic, and excellent Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) scores over the type of major pursued during undergraduate work. Though they aren’t recognized as traditional pre-med programs, these eight of the best pre-med majors will give students with excellent grades an edge over the competition, setting them apart from cloned members of the candidate pack.1. Public HealthPursuing a degree in public health, such as those offered through the programs at East Kentucky University and Johns Hopkins University, allows students to explore the policies and processes in the medical industry and could be one of the best pre-med majors. Choosing this type of program reveals a side of medicine that many pre-med students don’t see and might not fully understand as doctors. Through internships and working with hospital professionals in areas such as healthcare policy, prevention, and substance abuse, students make invaluable connections during their undergraduate careers.2. Environmental ScienceWhile the effects of human lifestyles are damaging the environment, doctors must address the converse relationship and how it relates to patient health. In schools such as Upper Iowa University and the University of Southern California, students use mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, and earth science to examine pollution, nuclear waste, and global warming. As one of the best pre-med majors, environmental science will prepare pre-med students to address how the environment is shifting the health concerns of the population.3. SociologyThrough gaining a clear picture of how social standing, culture, gender identity, race, heritage, and age affect how humans live in this world, pre-med students who pursue sociology, which is one of the best pre-med majors, develop skills that will prepare them for working with the public upon graduation from medical school. In addition to these skills, students will also build research strategies and critical analysis abilities. A bachelor’s in a sociology program, such as those offered by the University of California at Berkeley and Princeton University, can prepare students for working with patients, colleagues, and senior hospital staff.4. PsychologyBy studying psychology, pre-med students will leave their undergraduate studies with a greater understanding of the mind and its connection to behavior. Psychology’s best pre-med majors are offered at schools including Stanford University and New York’s Stony Brook University. Students who are interested in pursuing medicine following undergraduate work in psychology can concentrate on clinical, cognitive science, integrative health, and social and health — which blends these two concentrations into one program.5. PhilosophyPhoto Credit: Flickr Creative CommonsPursuing an undergraduate degree in philosophy at a high-ranking school, such as Columbia University, affords students many tools that will prove valuable in medical school and during a career as a doctor. As one of the country’s top philosophy schools, the University of Michigan offers one of the best pre-med majors for undergraduates. Students who pursue a degree in philosophy will develop critical thinking skills, a strong understanding of ethics, and the philosophical aspects of science. Students who are able to excel in philosophy will certainly impress any medical-school admissions board.6. MusicReceiving a bachelor’s degree in music might not seem to be one of the best pre-med majors, but the skills acquired by becoming one of the country’s most talented musicians are extremely valuable to those in the medical field. Gaining acceptance to the Juilliard School — the most competitive performance arts school in the country — or another top school, like the University of California, Los Angeles, requires determination, dedication, and a detailed understanding of the technical aspects of music. Musicians are dedicated to working as a team with their ensemble and seek out the highest-quality education in their discipline, both of which are integral to success in medical school.7. DancePhoto Credit: Flickr Creative CommonsThis is an extremely specific major and, similar to the aforementioned music program, dance requires determination and dedication. Students who have a strong foundation in dance, but are not interested in pursuing a professional-level position within a company might be interested in studying dance science at schools such as Elon University. Marymount Manhattan College’s Body, Science & Motion program prepares students for careers in dance medicine by offering coursework in nutrition, anatomy, human physiology, movement, and biology.8. Women’s StudiesThough women’s studies might not seem like a suitable undergraduate major for future doctors, the coursework, such as the education offered through Williams College or The City College of New York, can be extremely useful to students who want to focus on treating female patients. Through studying the social, economic, and cultural issues faced by women worldwide, pre-med students can be better prepared for international medical roles, especially with organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) that provide help to patients in war-torn, disease-stricken, and devastated regions.Students should build a solid foundation in the relevant coursework that will be represented on the MCAT, and high-school advanced placement (AP) courses provide a strong starting point to achieve this goal. To properly prepare for the MCAT, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) suggests that students should be comfortable tackling: “…biological and biochemical foundations of living systems; chemical and physical foundations of biological systems; psychological, social, and biological foundations of behavior; and critical analysis and reasoning skills.” In addition to choosing their own, personal best pre-med major, pursuing a minor in a subject that will provide sufficient MCAT preparation is a wise choice.You can also check out some other colleges with great pre-med programs.Graduation Coach Campaign College PresentationCase in point!Take a guess at which of these college majors best prepare students for medical school or law school entrance exams!MCAT: A six-hour test students must take to get into medical school. Which of these majors get the highest scores? What about the lowest?LSAT: A challenging test students must take to get into law school. Which majors get the highest scores? What about the lowest?• Physics • Biology • English • Economics • Premed • Engineering • Philosophy • Prelaw • Criminal Justice • Physics • Economics • EnglishANSWERS: 1. Engineering 2. Physics 3. Economics 4. English 5. Biology 6. PremedANSWERS: 1. Physics 2. Philosophy 3. Economics 4. English 5. Prelaw 6. Criminal Justice “Average LSAT Scores for 29 Majors w/ over 400 Students Taking the Exam.” Department of Philosophy, University of Florida. Accessed 28 August 2013.Average LSAT Scores for 29 Majors with over 400 Students Taking the Exam “MCAT, LSAT, and Physics Bachelors.” American Institute of Physics. February 2010.http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/mcat2009.pdfCM’s Guide to the Philosophy Major - College MagazineDespite popular belief, philosophy majors don’t sit around in togas pretending to be in Ancient Greece. Sure, they know the works of Homer (not from The Simpsons), but after four years of reading their big brains out, they’re all action. These Nietzches with smaller libidos start nonprofit companies across the globe, defend you in court and try to get your vote in the world of politics.WHAT YOU’LL BE DOINGYou will analyze everything from “What does it mean to be a good person?” to “Why is the word ‘abbreviation’ so long?” while your peers and professors constantly question you like your parents did that one time you snuck out of the house. You’ll be reading the works of geniuses and hopefully be writing genius responses of your own. This major focuses extensively on critical thinking, reading and writing so get ready for all-nighters at the library.UPSIDESknowyourmeme.com1. “You learn how to argue persuasively, which is helpful in every career and your personal life. You really find yourself questioning yourself and all of your assumptions of the world.” – Jessica Blackband, Florida State University Class of 2015, Communications Employee for Fish and Wildlife Services2. “I think the challenge is a unique one academically. The nature of the work is different from majors that just regurgitate it. Philosophy is based almost solely on analysis. Your exams are to critique, and they are usually essays so you can think about it.” – Dante Frisiello, University of Florida 2015, Georgetown Law School3. “You get to tackle the most interesting and important problems in the history of thought, and you learn to do that both insightfully and rigorously. You get to wrestle with the most impressive minds in history, trying to understand why they saw things the way they did. You are subjected to challenges that will enrich you beyond anything you can imagine. You will undoubtedly emerge a different, more thoughtful, more mature person.” – Ricardo Abend Van Dalen, University of Georgia Class of 2015, Georgetown Law SchoolDOWNSIDESgiphy.com1. “The perception of people’s perspective on your major is annoying; people view you as too abstract and impractical. I found it kind of difficult to combat the stereotype that all philosophy majors have their heads in the clouds.” – Jessica Blackband, Florida State University Class of 2015, Communications Employee for Fish and Wildlife Services2. “You have to read some stuff that is so weird and outdated. Metaphysics is something that they pondered–like we all get that science exists, but they just explained it so oddly that it pissed me off,” – Dante Frisiello, University of Florida 2015, Georgetown Law School3. “It can be a lonely enterprise. You will learn almost as much from arguing with your classmates as you will from your professors and your assigned readings, but you will do most of your philosophical work alone with a cup of coffee (or tea, or both) and you will feel like you’re in way over your head. You will also feel a bit isolated from and uncomprehended by other majors, who, in my experience, seldom appreciate the importance of philosophy. They will tell you that philosophy is a form of intellectual onanism at best and a useless or even harmful venture at worst. They are wrong.” – Ricardo Abend Van Dalen, University of Georgia Class of 2015, Georgetown Law SchoolCAREER OPPORTUNITIESWhen you told people you were considering philosophy as a major, they probably made some joke about your parents’ basement. Next time, tell them to FOH. Every field imaginable needs employees skilled in analytic writing, problem solving, decision-making and communications.1. LawyerThis is the big one. Philosophy is one of the top majors that law schools select because these kids’ LSAT scores are unthinkable. So if your mom cries when you tell her you’re majoring in philosophy, whip out those argument-making skills to ensure her you have a future.2. JournalistIn journalism, communication is life. In philosophy, communication is life. It’s a match made in heaven. Philosophy helps journalists hone their communication skills both on and off the page. Journalism isn’t a members-only club; a number of jobs are open to humanities majors like philosophy.3. ProfessorEvery humanities department salivates at the thought of having a philosophy major to teach students. A philosophy major’s design, planning, research and administrative talents are secret weapons in a classroom. You can easily be that professor who has written over 9,000 books and exclusively wears suits with elbow patches.4. DoctorI bet you didn’t see this one coming. This is another career with a six-figure salary to tell your mother about. Hospitals can be havens for philosophy majors who are able to assess theories, uncover assumptions, suggest alternatives, speak effectively and thoroughly analyze the consequences of each action. You could very well be with the next McDreamy if you move on to med school after getting your degree.5. PoliticianThanks, Obama! Politicians have to be able to think critically, analyze the problems in government and captivate large audiences with their ideas and voices. I’m pretty sure majoring in philosophy will make you more qualified for the White House than Waka Flocka and Donald Trump.Emanuel GriffinI am a sophomore majoring in journalism at the University of Florida. I am living every day like it's my birthday. I am the greatest writer of the 21st century so you should read all of my articles.University of Texas Austin Health_Professions 2015 Final Med Stats

Thank you for the A2A, Rujusmitaa P!There a number of factors to consider when applying to any MA program, regardless of major:Specialized TrainingBesides graduate-level general studies, programs usually differentiate themselves with specialized training. So, in terms of Art Therapy, graduate school degree programs are usually for Psychology, with a double specialization in Counseling or Marriage and Family Therapy, and Art Therapy. At least this is how it tends to work in the United States. I can’t necessarily speak for other countries, such as Canada, the UK, and the like.LocationWhere do you see yourself living for 2–3 years, depending on the program? (MA programs in the UK are 9–18 months). Do you prefer living in a city, or would you rather focus on your graduate studies while in a more rural setting?Also - consider that, at least in the States, you have to complete 3000 hours of clinical placement before sitting for the licensure exam; in California, where I live, at least 1700 of those hours have to be post-graduate, i.e., after graduate school. You need to take into consideration where you want to be licensed as well, since each state has different standards. I do not know about other countries’ postgraduate requirements towards licensure.Budget (i.e., Financial Aid)Graduate study is a financial investment, and one most people cannot make without some form of financial assistance. Depending on where you want to study, this can affect the forms of financial aid for which you are eligible. If you are an international student, for example, you may only be eligible for certain scholarships or loans. Also, you may have to find part-time work while you are in school to augment your budget. In the US, graduate students may be eligible for federal work-study, in which certain on-campus jobs can also contribute towards loans. In the UK, with a student visa an international student may work for up to 20 hours/week. Research your options accordingly.HousingNot all graduate schools provide housing. My graduate school, for instance, did not. I commuted to school for classes. There ARE schools that have graduate housing available, at a cost. Again, do your research.PracticumPractical experience is crucial, particularly for the mental health field. A practicum is essentially an internship on the pre-graduate level. Where you attend graduate school will affect what practicum opportunities are available. Schools located in cities may have more partnerships with nearby hospitals, community centers, and non-profits. Some schools have counseling centers on-site where you can obtain direct experience. In some schools, they maintain a list of organizations to which students can apply; in others, you will be expected to do the legwork on your own.For more information, you can contact the following organizations (thanks for the suggestion, Basia Lubicz!):American Art Therapy AssociationCanadian Art Therapy AssociationInternational Arts Therapy AssociationTrauma-Informed Practices & Expressive Arts Therapy Institute