Computer Science and Med School

[nonstop]

Hi I'm a looong time lurker, first time poster. I'm in grade 11 and it'l almost time that I decide what undergrad I'm going to pursue.

 

So far in high school, computer science was my easiest and highest-scoring subject. I also find biology interesting and want to pursue the field of medicine as I don't find the typical comp sci job of working in a cubicle glued to the monitor 9-5 very appealing.

 

I know that med school doesn't care about what uni/program you did, however, I'm not a genius. Will going to UofT/Waterloo for Comp Sci really annihilate my chances for med school? I love programming but computer science is a lot more than just programming and I'm not sure how I'll do, not to mention that UofT and Waterloo are considered "harder" universities.

 

What about pursuing a double major w/ Bio and Comp Sci at some easier school, like Western?

 

I want to pursue computer science as it is an excellent backup in case med school doesn't work out, but I'm trying to keep my chances at med school realistic and alive.

 

All of this raises another question. Do universities deliberately make the typical pre-health-professional undergrads like biomed/health/life/kine/psych "easier" than other sciences, so that the students get a competitive GPA to be able to have a shot at professional schools? Why should engineering be harder than typical premed?

[aaronjw]

First off all, welcome to the forums

 

Next, I can't help you with your question regarding comp sci but another member on this forum, psychoswim, went from comp sci to meds (now in med school) so it's def possible.

 

That said, you can't see yourself staring at a monitor all day but are considering this as a backup? Major red flag to your future right there. If you can't see it at 17 I doubt you'll grow into it at 30

 

Just somefood for thought there.

[nonstop]

That said, you can't see yourself staring at a monitor all day but are considering this as a backup? Major red flag to your future right there. If you can't see it at 17 I doubt you'll grow into it at 30

 

Computer science for me is analogous to how some artists love doing art but would be hesitant to turn it into their means for making a living. Just to be clear, I love working with computers.

 

If med school/other professional schools don't work out, I'd rather be staring at a monitor making decent bank, doing something I enjoy, than be flipping burgers or doing clerical lab assistant work with my life science degree. But I am the risky type and willing to put everything into life sciences and making the med school dream work. I just want to know if computer science undergrad is really that much harder than a life science undergrad.

 

Basically I want to do something meaningful with my life.

 

Damn I'm so confused right now.

[future_doc]

It does not matter what your program is. It's all about GPA.

[nonstop]

But isn't your GPA influenced by which program and at what university you study? A person getting a 3.9 in life science is not gonna get the same grade in engineering, no?

 

I think choosing your undergrad is probably the most influential and difficult choice a person pursuing medicine has to make.

[treejuice1]

Computer science for me is analogous to how some artists love doing art but would be hesitant to turn it into their means for making a living. Just to be clear, I love working with computers.

 

If med school/other professional schools don't work out, I'd rather be staring at a monitor making decent bank, doing something I enjoy, than be flipping burgers or doing clerical lab assistant work with my life science degree. But I am the risky type and willing to put everything into life sciences and making the med school dream work. I just want to know if computer science undergrad is really that much harder than a life science undergrad.

 

Basically I want to do something meaningful with my life.

 

Damn I'm so confused right now.

 

Don't worry, most people find comp sci easier than life sci anyway. If you prefer understanding + application to rote memorization, comp sci would definitely suit you

[aaronjw]

But isn't your GPA influenced by which program and at what university you study? A person getting a 3.9 in life science is not gonna get the same grade in engineering, no?

 

I think choosing your undergrad is probably the most influential and difficult choice a person pursuing medicine has to make.

 

the biggest influence of grades is appitude and affinity to the material being studied.

 

A person studying Engineering may be able to get a 3.9+ because they have an appitude and affinity for the material whereas they could do poorly in life sciences for the reverse reasons. My fiance had 3.9+ in her civil engineering UG and 4.0 in her masters. She would not fair well in life sciences, history, business or law (her own admission) because the material bores her to death. She comes from a long line of engineers so she has an affinity to it.

[notjk]

But isn't your GPA influenced by which program and at what university you study? A person getting a 3.9 in life science is not gonna get the same grade in engineering, no?

 

I think choosing your undergrad is probably the most influential and difficult choice a person pursuing medicine has to make.

 

Most medical schools don't care what you do your undergrad in, ( some do though such as UCalgary). So in general, they won't differentiate what your undergrad degree is in, but what GPA you have.

[nonstop]

Thanks for the response guys. Really appreciated. I'm seriously considering doing computer science and then aiming for med. BTW I've been lurking this forum since grade 9. Reading premed101 is basically what I do in my free time.

 

Another question:

 

Do universities deliberately make the typical pre-health-professional undergrads like biomed/health/life/kine/psych "easier" than other sciences, so that the students get a competitive GPA to be able to have a shot at professional schools?

 

By easier, i mean give a higher class average.

[aaronjw]

Thanks for the response guys. Really appreciated. I'm seriously considering doing computer science and then aiming for med. BTW I've been lurking this forum since grade 9. Reading premed101 is basically what I do in my free time.

 

Get some friends and go out more. Play a sport, learn a musical instrument. Flirt with girls, get a job... Life is way to short to waste your teenage years of pure freedom on premed101

 

Seriously, it's a short life. Work hard and play harder man. Never know when your card will be punched and the last thing you want to be thinking is "oh man I wish I had of...." Go enjoy yourself!

 

 

By easier, i mean give a higher class average.

 

No

[nonstop]

Get some friends and go out more. Play a sport, learn a musical instrument. Flirt with girls, get a job... Life is way to short to waste your teenage years of pure freedom on premed101

 

Seriously, it's a short life. Work hard and play harder man. Never know when your card will be punched and the last thing you want to be thinking is "oh man I wish I had of...." Go enjoy yourself!

 

LOL I probably sounded like a nerd. I do go out with friends and I'm kinda involved in extra-curriculars. I just find reading premed101 more interesting than, say, reading a book or watching a TV series. premed101 in a sense is very dramatic. You have the people who're lost, confused and the people who console and guide them. Then you have the success and failure stories. It's honestly like reading a good book. It's too interesting to read about anonymous people struggling in the pursuit of their dreams and then to see them achieve it.

 

Excellent advice though. Beautifully said.

[TheBoss]

I don't know where you heard comp sci is harder than life sci, cause most of the time when people compare them i hear comp sci is suppose to be easier. I'd say go for comp sci; one of the great things about it is also that, like the natural sciences, it has low subjectivity, so it's generally considered easier easier to get consistent high marks than in, say, humanities.

 

I could also point out some ways in which comp sci could be relevant to working as a physician in the future, but premeds try to relate every field to meds these days anyway so it'd just be redundant.

[shady]

As a comp sci and life sci at U of T, I think CS is definitely easier. However, there is a catch: in absolute terms, i find life sci easier. But life sci is full of premeds and the competition is quite intense. CS on the other hand has virtually no premeds and few people who want to go to grad school. The majority want to work in industry and as such aren't aiming for 3.9+ GPA.

 

Also, CS tends to start really easy and gets progressively more difficult as the years go by, whereas the difficulty of life sci course are, imho, consistent across the years.

 

The cool thing about CS though is no matter how difficult it gets, rest assured your classmates aren't aiming for top marks. So you will be curved up often. I've had courses curved up by +30% and I actually got a 100% in a course this way (the class avg was in the 30s). This never happens in life sci.

 

At the end of the day, do what you like to do. Presonally, I love CS and it opened a lot of doors for me (hopefully hasn't closed any ). Just make sure you can get research positions in whatever field you choose.

 

Keep in mind I haven't yet been accepted into medicine.

[Drakoulias]

LOL I probably sounded like a nerd. I do go out with friends and I'm kinda involved in extra-curriculars. I just find reading premed101 more interesting than, say, reading a book or watching a TV series. premed101 in a sense is very dramatic. You have the people who're lost, confused and the people who console and guide them. Then you have the success and failure stories. It's honestly like reading a good book. It's too interesting to read about anonymous people struggling in the pursuit of their dreams and then to see them achieve it.

 

Excellent advice though. Beautifully said.

 

It's great that you find this interesting! It suggests that you might consider majoring in Counselling in university. Your high school probably has some kind of peer counselling program that you could join to try out this field and see if it's the right fit for you.

 

My advice is that you try to figure out which field of study interests you most, while at the same time keeping a little bit of thought to the employment prospects in that field. There's a good chance that the subject that interests you most will also be the one in which you can achieve the best GPA (if that's important to you). At my university, the Governor General's Silver Medal (top undergrad GPA) went to comp sci students in the year I graduated and the year before that.

 

The advice to get off these forums and go do something outside is good advice too...for everyone!

[tigars53]

Before getting into medschool, I did one year of Bio-informatics in UG to bring up my CEGEP marks. It was the best choice I've ever done. I found comp sci really motivating and got As and A+ in all my CS classes, while learning a little bit of biology that helped me prepare for medschool. Because of this, my grades went up and I got in the next year.

Plus, as a backup plan if I didn't get into med, I could have just switched to a full major in CS.

[psychoswim]

I finished my masters in CS in 2007, and did 2 years of PhD before dropping out because I realized it wasn't what I wanted to do. About a year later I decided I wanted to go to med school, applied and got in. I remember in high school saying I wanted to do physiotherapy and CS.. not too far off!

 

I didn't think CS was necessarily easier, but if the subject interests you then you'll be motivated to get good grades. Programming does ask for a lot of work while advanced comp/math courses can be quite hard, but I would do it all over again.

[Veritas et Utilitas]

UWO has an honours specialization module in computational biology. Might be something that my interest you. It is pretty much comp sci + bio, with a thesis in the 4th year

[nonstop]

UWO has an honours specialization module in computational biology. Might be something that my interest you. It is pretty much comp sci + bio, with a thesis in the 4th year

 

I'll certainly look into that since I'm almost definitely going to UWO. I was planning to do a double major in CS and something related to medicine.

[st8ic]

I am a reformed-life-sci-now-CS-major and I can echo what a lot of people have said. I found intro CS far easier than intro organic chem, as do most people.

 

That said, don't be deceived about what CS is. It's an applied math. It's not "using computers". My program mandates calc I, calc II, linear algebra, discrete mathematics, proof-based mathematics, boolean algebra, and others. The higher level CS courses are about complexity theory and computability, which is all deriving equations by hand.

 

A lot of people think "gee, I took an intro to programming class in high school, what an easy degree this is going to be", and then promptly get slaughtered by the mathematics.

[Veritas et Utilitas]

I'll certainly look into that since I'm almost definitely going to UWO. I was planning to do a double major in CS and something related to medicine.

 

If you take Honours Spec, you will get a BMSc (Bachelor of Medical Sciences) by the time you graduate, it is already combined for you. Double Majors dont have some honours couses or a thesis at UWO and some other uni's

[Lunasly]

I don't know if people will agree with this, but I'll share my view:

 

The way I see it, you should do everything you can to obtain the highest GPA possible. To me that means enrolling in the easiest degree possible at a small university. I don't think university if about "learning" anymore. It's about whether you can handle x volume of information and slap it back on paper. If you want an education, you have wikipedia and google.

 

If I were you, I'd only do Comp. Sci if I absolutely knew I was good at the stuff and that I can get as close to a 4.0 as possible. My brother is doing Comp Sci and he loves computers, but even he admits its tough. The computer classes you take in high school aren't near the same difficulty or material that you will engage with in university.

 

My advice: Do bachelors of nose picking. Get your 4.0 and EC's, do you're pre-reqs, write the MCAT, and apply broadly.

[IamIDP]

I know that med school doesn't care about what uni/program you did, however, I'm not a genius. Will going to UofT/Waterloo for Comp Sci really annihilate my chances for med school? I love programming but computer science is a lot more than just programming and I'm not sure how I'll do, not to mention that UofT and Waterloo are considered "harder" universities.

 

What about pursuing a double major w/ Bio and Comp Sci at some easier school, like Western?

 

Hi, we should clear this up asap: No school is typically more difficult than others in Canada since most schools are nearly the same tier. You have to look at each school's program and courses that are required (this is what determines how difficult a program it is).

 

P.S. If you keep an attitude that some schools are easier and you take that same attitude to an "easier" school, I garuntee you will do worse than you would have at the "harder school". Once again I repeat, you cannot say that 1 school is more difficult than the other just be looking at its reputation.

[nonstop]

Interesting.

[bored]

i actually love comp sci and comp eng more than bio. in gr 12 i decided to treat computers as a hobby, and chose bio as my major.

Id recommend going the other way. choose comp as your major and do pre reqs.

 

also, hs comp sci is much easy. in uni, ur gonna have to love math. so only do it if your goodnat math or like math.

[rmorelan]

i actually love comp sci and comp eng more than bio. in gr 12 i decided to treat computers as a hobby, and chose bio as my major.

Id recommend going the other way. choose comp as your major and do pre reqs.

 

also, hs comp sci is much easy. in uni, ur gonna have to love math. so only do it if your goodnat math or like math.

 

or go to Guelph - not much math in that program (3 courses, and even that math is not that hard). Focus is on programming.

 

Some schools comp sci is int he math department (like Waterloo - hence the math). Some places is in Science and is some others it is its own degree program. The content varies quite a bit as result so you have to really check out each program closely.