Several students contacted for this article say they have had to sacrifice electives in order to fulfill requirements for both fields.

“That’s probably one of the biggest downsides, not being able to take a random class on acting, or drama,” says Prabhu, who is currently enrolled in organic chemistry while also writing a senior thesis.

But Flehinger, the history lecturer, says he believes the Gen Ed program has done a lot for pre-meds looking to fulfill distribution and pre-med requirements at the same time.

Several students also say they face the challenge of convincing laboratories and medical schools that they are equipped to handle greater workloads in science.

“I found when I was applying to work in labs over the summer ... it was a little bit difficult to convince them that I was qualified to work in the lab,” says Kumar.

Not taking as many science courses can also impact a student’s ability to find a consistent group of study companions. Wang says he has a “lot of friends through doing problem sets together,” but that it is much more difficult to find people who can share his cross-disciplinary perspective and work demands.

“The pre-meds that are majoring in science together, they have more of a camaraderie,” says Choe. “Being a humanities major, I feel like I need to come up with my own path.”

While Choe says she enjoys the “creative license” this independent path brings, she admits that it can be “kind of stressful.”

Many of these pre-meds say that finding advisers with an interdisciplinary perspective can also be difficult. While several students say they have found support from the Office of Career Services, pre-med tutors in their houses, or professors in their respective departments, they note that not everyone has first-hand experience with melding the two disciplines.

“One thing that I wish we had more was diversity among the pre-med advisers. I haven’t been able to speak a lot to those [who] majored in humanities,” says Choe.

Ultimately, however, many students say that the diversity of their studies actually reinforces their desire to pursue medicine.

“Because I was in a situation where people around me were looking at other concentrations, I questioned whether I really wanted to do medicine,” says Kumar.

“I definitely think concentrating in a non-science while being pre-med is one of the best decisions I made at Harvard.”

—Staff writer Radhika Jain can be reached at radhikajain@college.harvard.edu.