Does a science major give you a higher chance of acceptance?

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floatingribs

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I was just reading through statistics because I like to stress myself out and for example UCSD says 70% of all majors were Bio/Chem. Is this because people doing pre med majorly just stick to those majors, or is it because generic science majors do actually look better compared to your humanity majors (like someone w/ the same MCAT scores, science GPA, overall GPA, etc the only difference being there major)?

Like are science majors seen as more competitive even when they have the same stats as a humanity major or a non-trad?
 
No you could major in whatever you want. Many people do science majors since it aligns with what they like to study, and the med school pre-reds double as major pre-reqs
 
Having a unique non-science major (or unique science major for that matter) might actually be a small benefit in helping your application stand out.
 
ZPakEffect said:
Having a unique non-science major (or unique science major for that matter) might actually be a small benefit in helping your application stand out.
Click to expand...

A person who can earn an excellent gpa in a subject area unrelated to science (or as a math major) and do very, very well in the pre-reqs will stand out as a rarity. These rare birds are admitted in higher proportions than the flocks of bio and chem majors.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/factstablea17.pdf
 
LizzyM said:
A person who can earn an excellent gpa in a subject area unrelated to science (or as a math major) and do very, very well in the pre-reqs will stand out as a rarity. These rare birds are admitted in higher proportions than the flocks of bio and chem majors.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/factstablea17.pdf
Click to expand...

I've always wondered, is exercise physiology (or applied physiology and kinesiology) considered Specialized Health Sciences or Biological Sciences?
 
Brilliant people are generally attracted to Neuroscience, they do really well and all get in and boost the science % a lot. There's a good number of humanities plebs that get in too though
 
efle said:
Brilliant people are generally attracted to Neuroscience, they do really well and all get in and boost the science % a lot. There's a good number of humanities plebs that get in too though
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This is sarcasm right>?
 
efle said:
Not at all, subjects like philosophy are useless in the real world and admissions recognizes the poor judgement of people who study it
Click to expand...
I know several philosophy majors at Google right now. In fact, at my school philosophy major alums have some of the most interesting careers. What should you learn in undergrad other than writing and critical thinking skills?

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raiderette said:
I know several philosophy majors at Google right now. In fact, at my school philosophy major alums have some of the most interesting careers. What should you learn in undergrad other than writing and critical thinking skills?

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Click to expand...
He's kidding.
 
I should have realized who posted. My bad. To OP, study everything. You may find a new passion.

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The reason why most med students were science majors is because more science majors apply to med school. You would have to look at acceptance rate by major to really know the answer.
 
floatingribs said:
I was just reading through statistics because I like to stress myself out and for example UCSD says 70% of all majors were Bio/Chem. Is this because people doing pre med majorly just stick to those majors, or is it because generic science majors do actually look better compared to your humanity majors (like someone w/ the same MCAT scores, science GPA, overall GPA, etc the only difference being there major)?

Like are science majors seen as more competitive even when they have the same stats as a humanity major or a non-trad?
Click to expand...
About 90% of applicants to med school are science majors. So if "70%" of a med school class is science majors that means a lot more were left by the wayside. People who go into med school often simply like the biological sciences, or are poorly advised by parents who lived through a time when you absolutely needed to be a science major to get into med school. Nowdays it makes little difference. If anything being a different major might give you something different to talk about on an interview, make you less cookie cutter. So no med schools definitely do not prefer science majors. Many premeds do, for their own personal reasons.
 
markovchn123 said:
The reason why most med students were science majors is because more science majors apply to med school. You would have to look at acceptance rate by major to really know the answer.
Click to expand...

AAMC provides the data. You can see how many apply within each broad category of majors and with a little math on your part, you can see what proportion of the universe of admitted applicants are admitted from each category and within each broad category what proportion of applicants become matriculants.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/factstablea17.pdf
 
SurgeonOfLife said:
I've always wondered, is exercise physiology (or applied physiology and kinesiology) considered Specialized Health Sciences or Biological Sciences?
Click to expand...

I did it! Not impossible by any means but my classes were full of the dumbest kids I have ever seen so that's probably the reason.
 
TBV said:
I did it! Not impossible by any means but my classes were full of the dumbest kids I have ever seen so that's probably the reason.
Click to expand...
Couldn't be worse than my business classes.
 
Nah I've seen dumber lol

But I'd say at my school at least, we have a strong ex phys program, and there are quite a few smart kids. A decent amount go to med school. Maybe rarely to T10 or T20, but a decent amount to state schools
 
LizzyM said:
AAMC provides the data. You can see how many apply within each broad category of majors and with a little math on your part, you can see what proportion of the universe of admitted applicants are admitted from each category and within each broad category what proportion of applicants become matriculants.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/factstablea17.pdf
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! I took the percentages as well and science majors don't necessarily have the highest percentage as well. It was super helpful thanks again for the link 🙂
 
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