BCom

[Guest ML]

Is there anyone out there who has actually got into med school with a BCom?

 

Is a BCom generally looked down upon by med schools? Because I haven't seen anyone with a BCom going into med.

[Guest Ian Wong]

There probably aren't that many people applying to med school after a Commerce degree. There is a girl in my class who did a Commerce/Microbiology double major (not sure how she managed that).

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest strider2004]

Somebody in my class has an MBA. A person in the following year did a commerce degree and decided that she didn't like the finance world.

[Guest ML]

well, considering that a BCOM is like a full degree with little elective time, which science courses would someone trying to get a BCom take if they wanted to do well on the MCAT?

[Guest not rex morgan]

The MCAT consists of four sections. Writing (two essays, 30 minutes each). I'm assuming you do some writing in your BCom degree program. Verbal reasoning basically tests how fast you can read...and integrate what you've read to answer some questions. Speed readers do well in this section. One section integrates physics and inorganic chem, another integrates physiology and organic chem. So you want to have the physics down, both chems and biology. I did my MCAT before I took physiology. I didn't take highschool physics, so I needed the uni physics course. I'd say chem and organic are a must. Keep in mind, also, that med schools have science prerequisites, so you are going to have to take certain courses in order to be eligable to apply. If I remember correctly, at UBC, they required first year math, chem, organic chem, biochem and two Englishes. I would look up the requirements on a few university websites.

[Guest Carolyn]

I have a BComm (Queen's) and now study at Mac -- I did however, complete a BSc over two years once I decided I wanted to change careers... I'm sure the science degree helped a lot but I think there are lots of ways to learn and show your aptitude in Science outside of traditional schooling.

 

There are at least two other people in my class with business degrees -- Plus a number of people who worked in business before coming to mac.

[Guest Akane200]

I was in the midst of doing a BComm specialist and human bio majors concurrently prior to entry to med school. BComm is a full degree of 13.5/20 credits. There's lots of room to take science courses (some courses such as math overlap), so you can fit in the pre reqs if you want to.

 

However, I started out as a life sciences student before starting commerce in second year. There is no real disadvantage to having BComm since most schools don't really care what you did your undergrad degree on. It is, however, a good back up plan. Employment opportunities are a little better than say, the human bio degree by itself.

[Guest Go Bcom]

I have a BCom (Finance Major) from UBC and am now in my first year of Dentistry at UBC. I'm so glad that I switched out of science after 1st year and entered Commerece. As others have mentioned it gives you an excellent backup plan if you don't get into med or change your mind. Also for med and especially dentistry once your out practicing the only hard part is running your business, doing the medicine/dent is the easy part (ask any practicioner). I also think that applying with a BCom is fairly rare (I know I'm the only one in this years med/dent class) and this can be a unique feature of your application versus the 100's of biology/microbi degrees the admissions people see year after year.

 

As for BCom people not applying to med its probably because Bcom people are usually a different type of person and besides by the time one finishes med school those Bcom grads will be making more than any doctor can hope for.

[Guest ML]

I was wondering, is getting a B.Com considered more difficult than getting a Bachelor of Science?

 

Also, (for "Go Bcom") how did you find UBC's BCom program? difficult? long and tedious?

[Guest JSK]

Where did you get the degree (ie. - where can i find info on it) and what kind jobs can you get from it?

 

Thanks!!

d

[Guest Go Bcom]

In reply to ML, UBC's BCom program was a good experience. Your only in the BCom part for 3 years and the time went by fairly fast. The workload was very manageble and its great to have no labs or tutorials to waste your time with. I usually had no school on Fridays and only 3-4.5 hours of class per day. Just be ready for some hyper-competetive people who won't think twice to stab you in the back if it will get them something. For me it was nice because I was able to ingnore all the competition, get good grades and come out to get into a program that I really wanted to get into. I would reccomend a commerce degree to anyone who just needs a bachelor degree to get into the program they really want (ie medicine, dentistry, law, optometry, etc).