Choice of Major

Students sometimes worry about selecting the "right" major. For the health professions, there is no particular undergraduate major required or favored for admission to health profession schools. In general, your chances of admission will not be affected by your choice of major. Most Cal Poly applicants pursuing medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy school major in a science discipline such as: biology, microbiology, biochemistry or chemistry, partly because of personal interest and partly because several of the courses in these majors overlap the course requirements for professional school. But professional schools are just as interested in considering qualified individuals who have had training in other areas, with nutrition, business, engineering and liberal arts degrees.

Since you have a wide choice of subjects in which to major, your decision should be based on an honest assessment of your interests and talents. Another consideration is a major that offers an alternate career path if you change your mind about a health career or are unable to gain admission. You are strongly urged to view your undergraduate years as at time for intellectual growth, not solely as a means to an end.Your major by itself does not guarantee or eliminate any possibility.