Pre-Medical Advising: Choosing A Major

Earning a B.S. or B.A. degree in college requires selecting a major and there are advantages in doing this early. Terms such as pre-med or pre-dental are only descriptive labels since Florida State University does not award any pre-health degrees.

Medical schools understand the importance of applicants having a strong foundation in the natural sciences, biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics and these schools have established course requirements in these areas in order to be admitted to their programs. Usually, these science requirements represent about one-third of the credit hours needed for graduation.

Students can use two criteria to help select a major:

Select a major that you are truly interested in; something which would be a backup plan if you are not successful in getting into medical school.
If you don't have an interest outside of the health field, choose a major which includes the prerequisites required by your career field such as biology, exercise science, chemical science or biochemistry.

Medical schools are not as concerned with what major the applicant has chosen but how well they performed within their major and in their pre-medical coursework. Over the years, most pre-medical students have majored in the sciences either because they were interested in the coursework or they felt it was the most practical way to complete a degree and pre-health prerequisite coursework.

The majors offered at FSU which come closest to including the prerequisite coursework are Biological Sciences (Biology), Chemical Sciences, Exercise Physiology, Biochemistry, Clinical Professions, Community Patient Care, and Health Management, Policy, & Information. Specific information about these and other degree programs offered at Florida State University can be found at: www.academic-guide.fsu.edu/