If you want to go to medical school, you may be frustrated to learn that you cannot major in pre-med. What is the best major for a pre-med student?
Let’s look at the data.
Biology (and related biological sciences) is by far the most popular major for pre-med students. Fifty-three percent of medical school applicants in 2015-16 claimed this major. However, that doesn’t necessarily make it the best choice.
Medical School Applicants and Matriculants (2015-2016) |
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| Applicants | Matriculants | |||
| Biological Sciences | 27653 | 53% | 10676 | 52% |
| Humanities | 2193 | 4% | 1073 | 5% |
| Math and Statistics | 438 | <1% | 192 | <1% |
| Physical Sciences | 5102 | 10% | 2319 | 11% |
| Social Sciences | 5629 | 11% | 2277 | 11% |
| Specialized Health Sciences | 1596 | 3% | 494 | 2% |
| Other | 9938 | 19% | 3600 | 17% |
| TOTAL | 52549 | 20631 | ||
The percentage of applicants and matriculants (those actually entering medical school) is pretty much the same for any given major. In other words, no one major gives a clear advantage– pre-med students enter medical school in the same ratios by major with which they apply.
Rather than focusing on a title, choose your major based its ability to help you earn a good MCAT score, keep a high GPA, meet prerequisites and foster excellent relationships with your professors.
Choose a major that won’t consume all your time.
Although medical schools do not care about the title of your undergraduate major, they do care about your MCAT. The average MCAT for a student entering medical school last year was 31.4. This is significantly higher than the average score for applicants, which was just 28.3.
While choosing a major in a relevant area might help your score, ultimately you’ll still have to study outside of regular classes. You won’t be able to do that if you choose a major that is too difficult and consumes too much of your time.
Choose a major that is interesting to you.
Medical schools are also going to judge you based on…
The comments in the The Best Undergraduate Major for a Pre-Med Student form a lucidly written, highly useful, and well constructed commentary for students wishing to pursue such graduate studies! Maija is to be commended for this well written contribution.