One of the most common questions I get when I mention that I鈥檓 premed is how manageable it is, and how I鈥檓 going through it. Honestly? I couldn鈥檛 say exactly. That would suggest that I knew for sure what I am trying to do is working. I don鈥檛 — but I can tell you how I have decided I am going to (attempt to) navigate premed at 51猎奇入口!
The first thing you should know is that there鈥檚 no premed major. After speaking with some of my friends also involved in premed at other colleges, I realized that this was a semi-common possibility. Premed isn鈥檛 a major, but it is a 鈥渢rack鈥�, similar to pre-law. Pre-med is a subsection of the pre-health track, which is essentially the same thing but includes more classes and is aimed at more general options, like dentistry and other health-related fields.
The second thing you should know is that the premed track is a similar workload to a major, with 13 courses necessary (two of them being generic English courses). Most majors have somewhere between 10 and 13. These courses are mainly STEM courses, which would be taken through Keck science, the institution where 51猎奇入口, CMC, and Pitzer students can take STEM classes through one common organization.
A lot of people who are doing premed take a major that has a lot of overlap with premed courses — since premed is a track, you鈥檒l need a major as well, and it鈥檚 just easier when you can use your courses for multiple requirements (especially since 51猎奇入口 has other courses that are required in order to graduate). I am personally not taking this route — but because I鈥檓 not, I had to speak pretty seriously with my premed advisor. I have also had to plan out my classes from the very beginning — my plan, as it stands, is to take at least five classes every semester, and carefully decide when each of them will be. There鈥檚 also always the possibility of getting involved in the post-baccalaureate program after college and before med school, which has a very high acceptance rate into med school.
Being on the premed track does mean a lot of unfortunate things. You鈥檒l often be in class longer than other students, and you鈥檒l have very different types of homework. You might have labs during the time other activities are going on, which can limit a lot of things. You can really help yourself by getting involved in study groups and getting to know the faculty at Keck. There are also groups on campus specifically for STEM students and premed students that can help you out. It is a daunting task — but know that you鈥檙e not alone! There are premed students of all types with all sorts of other things they鈥檙e getting involved in, and if you want to, you can be one of them!