Pre-Med and D1 Track/XC?

hard work duh nuh nuh wrote:

Could I make this work?

Did UMBC beat Virginia?

Why would you consider majoring in philosophy? Lately majoring or minor in compsci in addition to Biology or chemistry has been popular for premed students. If you plan on doing premed and D1 athletics, however, you won’t be able to get in nearly as many beneficial extracurricular and research. Unless you’re set in stone on running in college, I’d recommend going to a smaller, private d3 where you can have smaller class sizes, get a higher class rank, and have less competition for research.

Premed’er wrote:

Why would you consider majoring in philosophy? Lately majoring or minor in compsci in addition to Biology or chemistry has been popular for premed students. If you plan on doing premed and D1 athletics, however, you won’t be able to get in nearly as many beneficial extracurricular and research. Unless you’re set in stone on running in college, I’d recommend going to a smaller, private d3 where you can have smaller class sizes, get a higher class rank, and have less competition for research.

It's a personal interest and something I really like. Also, coincidentally, not an common double for oncologists, which is what I want to do. I'm a talented coder though (mandatory at my school) so I'll look into compsci more though, thanks for the advice.

I'd be able to do research over the summer, and according to Student Doctor being a legit D1 athlete makes up for a lot of the extracurricular stuff (hard work, dedication, self motivated). Furthermore, I already have a fair amount of connections (accepted to some elite academies for high schoolers planning to go into medicine).

As for running itself, I love doing it and I know I can compete at a national level, which makes it very hard for me to throw away the talent I have. Secondly, I wouldn't be fulfilled at a little school, as I just don't like D3s.

I don't mean to come off as arrogant, but I've never really had to make a big decision like this before and I couldn't throw away my talent (I just simply wouldn't be happy as a student at a small school, much less motivated as a runner) but at the same time I know my career matters more. I've never struggled in school, so hopefully while it might be challenging doing both wouldn't be impossible.

Premed’er wrote:

Why would you consider majoring in philosophy? Lately majoring or minor in compsci in addition to Biology or chemistry has been popular for premed students. If you plan on doing premed and D1 athletics, however, you won’t be able to get in nearly as many beneficial extracurricular and research. Unless you’re set in stone on running in college, I’d recommend going to a smaller, private d3 where you can have smaller class sizes, get a higher class rank, and have less competition for research.

Don't listen to this guy. I ran at a top 5 D1 xc school for 4 years. My gpa was 3.87 when it all ended (as a biology major), and I did MANY extracurricular activities. I'm now on staff at Stanford as a Professor in General Surgery.

I crushed the MCATs (33), and went to Mayo for med school. I also sit on the admissions board at Stanford. I'll tell you that research has little to nothing to do with it. Further, we look fondly on non traditional majors like philosopophy, etc. If you're a collegiate athlete with good grades, good letters of rec (college coach, professors, etc), and an outstanding MCAT, you're auto admit to any in-state school. Seriously, just go to college and let it rip. If you've got a fire in your belly to go to med school, you'll make it. Just be careful where you're getting your advice- Letsrun is full of people giving out black pearls.

I agree with the above poster. Current D1 student-athlete here who has been accepted into my goal medical school. It’s tough, but I know plenty of teammates/competitors that are doing the exact same thing. As far as extracurriculars- focus on shadowing/research/volunteer activities as opposed to campus involvement, which running will cover. In one of my interviews, a committee member told me that being a student-athlete is one of the few activities that helps your chances of admission into every school in the country. Some schools really care about athletes, some don’t, but they all recognized the level of commitment that it takes. Regardless, you must have something besides your grades to stand out, and athletics takes care of that. Go for it- it is certainly doable.

I'd rather be a hobby jogger doctor than a liberal arts track star.

The Card wrote:

I also sit on the admissions board at Stanford. I'll tell you that research has little to nothing to do with it. Further, we look fondly on non traditional majors like philosopophy, etc.

This wasn't true when I was in school. Research had a lot to do with it, and an arts major was a joke. Non-traditional meant sciences like physics, aeronotical engineering.

OP, you can learn philosophy on your own time, easy, when your a grown-up. If you are already comp sci literate, I'd pad your resume that way. Otherwise learn a health tangent science like psychology, food science or farm science, or math or business.

I don't know why people act like college running is hard. Get a good coach, and just do what he says. If you don't spend a bunch of time worrying about what you are doing, it takes less than 2 hours a day to actually do it. Don't play video games and you'll have the time.

The Card wrote:

I crushed the MCATs (33)

That's funny. I just did okay on my MCAT, but got the same score as you.

lol. Agree that '33' is hardly crushing it, although it's not bad for a D1 athlete.

Most top 10 med schools won't even sniff at you unless you have a 36 minimum on the old scoring

(exceptions being athletes, underrepresented minorities, growing up in poverty, strong research

credentials etc)

Average MCAT score at Harvard is 36

WashU 38

UCSF 35

Penn 35

The Card wrote:

I crushed the MCATs (33)

Did you also crush the mile (4:15)?

Somewhat unrelated, but what are your PRs?

Probably most important is to make sure you know what you're signing yourself up for with medicine - it's a long road. (You've probably heard that before, but make sure you actually think through it.) It can be extremely rewarding, but do your homework and try to get as much experience as you can shadowing, etc. Regarding major, Bio/Philosophy would be good. Do something you're interested in/something you would want to go into if you don't stick with medicine. I double majored in Bio and Chem, but it would have been nice to have studied something else before med school to get a different perspective on things. I'd also recommend taking Spanish classes if you can help it. Very useful skill to have in the medical field.

If you're this smart, do pre-med and compsci, forgo the MD, and make bank at a bio-tech firm. Competitive running at the D1 level will only interfere and unless you're truly talented, it won't be worth it. Run for a club.

You're responding with idiocy to someone who apparently actually makes admissions decisions at a highly-ranked school. This is so letsrun.

Like others have mentioned, I would seriously think twice about a career in medicine. Ask yourself if that is really what you are passionate about or is the it the societal respect you are after? Doctors have minimal opportunity for originality/creativity and work their lives away. If you are intent on the medical career, I would advise you to be sure to demonstrate a commitment to your fellow man by establishing a substantial history of volunteer activities (and when will you have time for that). When I interviewed for med school I was surprised to learn athletic participation was viewed as a NEGATIVE, selfish activity. And if you do interview for medical school you should go out of your way to emphasize that your are DONE as a competitive athlete and that you will be nothing more than a hobby jogger going forward with no distractions to your medical career which you are fully committed to ever after.