Medical Malpractice

What should I major in if I want to apply to Law school and Medical school?

My situation is that I want to take prerequisite courses that are needed to apply to medical school but at the same time I want to take courses that will help me out with applying to law school. I want to be certified as a teacher when I graduate but my college says I need to have a major in something and then take the required education courses as a minor. What major can I choose that will allow me to do what I mentioned above? I was thinking of majoring in psychology, sociology, neuroscience or physics. Should I double major to fix this problem? Please help, serious only please. Thank you!

Public Comments

1. You don't need any specific major or classes to get into law school, so put that part of it out of your mind.
2. So you want to go to law or medical school? Law students aren't required to be a certain major... but it would look strange to law schools to apply with a neuroscience degree unless you tell them your reasoning for it... like you want to specialize in medical cases or something. You also want to pick a degree that will actually help you with it. English, criminal justice, psychology (maybe), political science. For med school, you will need a lot of biology, chemistry, and anatomy. The two things are almost mutally exclusive. You may have to double major to cover all of that. It is totally do-able if you have time. It may take you an extra year. But hey, when you apply to grad school, you'll look extremely determined and educated. But no one on Yahoo can tell you for sure. The only people that can really help you are the college admissions counselors. Start talking to them. They'll answer your questions. But first check the websites for the law and med schools for FAQ and such
3. you'll have to choose. you will not be able to get certified in teaching and be qualified to apply to med school --- and you probably could apply to law school, but you'd have no related prereqs... you absolutely have to choose. those are totally different paths -- if you want to go to med school, you have to take like all science courses -- but you can't do this and get certification in education -- that's an ordeal by itself... you COULD be an education and poly sci major or education and something else double major and get certification and apply to law school as well -- but not med school on top of that, you just can't do it in four (or five, probably) years the reason is because EACH of these courses of action are serious committments and will take all of your energy -- any one of them alone is plenty to do this...
4. Here is what I always tell people who want to go to law school: major in whatever area you can get the best grades. If you really think you can do well in bio-chem (and if you are serious about medical school, you better do well), go ahead and major in science. If you end up in law, you either want to get into the best school in the region where you want to practice and play the alumni connections, or one of the top schools (Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Chicago, etc.) where any firm in the country will hire you. The only way to do that is have high grades and an awesome LSAT. The first poster was almost right when he said no major is going to really apply to law (see below). There are no pre-requisites to worry about. You will start at square one with torts, contracts, and property, just like everyone else. Since you sound like a science minded person, you may also want to look into patent law. I majored in English, so I don't know too much about the process, but there is a special bar exam, and prior science knowledge is helpful when you look to get a job, especially if you want to go into medical patents. If you plan on teaching (I did it for a year, and it convinced me to get into law school), you could try to get into Teach for America (I know a guy at Harvard Law right now, and that is what he did). The program does not require an education degree. Law Schools will love to see that you are not afraid of a challenge, and that you might be willing to take a low-paying job to help the underrepresented. Get a 3.8 in college, a high score on the LSAT, and teach science to kids on an Indian reservation for two years, and Harvard will probably let you in. I would say it sounds like you have big plans, and the only way you can screw yourself at this point is get over-extended and have a bad semester. I think the answer is, if you know you are going to do well, focus on the science, maybe join the pre-law society and go to any events they host to see if law really might be your cup of tea, work your tail off in college, and study for the MCAT or the LSAT when the time comes.
5. Ehh, some ok answers but nothing great so I guess I have to throw in my 2 cents in an attempt to "clear things up." First, you can major in anything for law and med schools. Neither "require" any particular major. For law school, pick whatever interests you the most and you can get the best grades in. Doesn't matter if it's science. There are all kinds of lawyers out there. Getting a BS qualifies you to get a job as an intellectual property lawyer. IP law is one of the "hot" law fields right now, but IP firms normally won't hire you unless you have, at a minimum, a BS in something math or science related. The patent bar requires a BS as well I believe. For med, there are a list of required courses you need to take before you can apply. Most are science, but not all. If you can take those classes without being a science major, great. However, many colleges are so full, they give priority (or restrict the classes) to kids who are science majors. So, depending on your school, you may be forced to pick a science major. Out of what you listed, only neuroscience is a major that's sure to qualify at any school. Psychology can be a BS, but it's only a BA at many schools. That might not qualify you to get into the required science courses at some schools. I know it wouldn't at my school. In terms of what's easiest (getting the best chance at good grades), psychology and sociology are the easiest that you've listed. By far. Law schools and med schools know that though, so you better have really high grades or else it looks really bad.
6. I would major in a hard science like chemistry or biology. As everyone has mentioned law school requires no specific major, but if you want to be a patents lawyer you have to have a background in hard sciences. This way you can kill two birds with one stone plus patent lawyers are in demand and they make a lot of money!