Science Education and Pre-Health students
The average age of medical school matriculants in the United States is between 24 and 25 years old. The vast majority of future doctors are choosing to take at least one or two gap years between college and medical school.
If you’re one of those future doctors, have you considered teaching high school science during those gap years? There are a lot of advantages to doing so:
- Science Education majors who specialize in Chemistry or Biology can complete all of the typical medical school requirements as part of the major
- Brand new High School science teachers in Boston can make over $60,000 a year, which is well-above what typical gap year jobs pay
- It is an opportunity to “give back” and inspire the next generation of future scientists and doctors. We can’t think of a more meaningful way to spend the time before medical school!
- As part of a small major, you will quickly get to know many science faculty who will serve as mentors and advisors as you move along your path to medical school
- The critical competencies that medical schools look for in applicants are the traits that the Science Education program looks to instill in its students: service orientation, teamwork, communication skills, reliability, resilience, scientific knowledge, critical thinking, and the capacity for improvement.
Frequently asked questions about Science Education and Pre-health
Question: Don’t medical schools prefer students from certain majors?
Answer: Actually, no! Medical schools do not show a preference for an applicant’s choice of major. Rather, it is the quality and scope of the student’s work and abilities that they consider the most. Professional schools usually prefer students who do well and display a variety of interests in their course work. The personal qualities that admission committees find valuable (service orientation, resilience, scientific competency, critical thinking, and communication) can be demonstrated in any academic field.
Question: Will I be able to finish all of the pre-medical requirements and the major in Science Education?
Answer: Yes! As long as you choose your electives correctly, there can be perfect overlap between the pre-medical requirements and the Science Education major. For example: a major who is specializing in Chemistry would choose biochemistry (CH421) and physical biochemistry (CH525) as their two depth requirement choices; they would choose statistics as their second math requirement; and they would choose biology 2 (BI108) and another biology with lab (BI107 or BI315) as their two breadth electives.
Question: But don’t Biology and Human Physiology majors have an easier time getting in to medical school?
Answer: That’s not what the data say. Nationwide, the acceptance rates are highest for applicants who majored in physical sciences or the humanities.
Question: What will BU’s Pre-professional/Pre-health advising office say about all of this?
Answer: Exactly what we’ve written here! We have worked with the pre-health office to make sure that all of the advice on this page is accurate.
