Majoring in a Nonscience

[pbehzad]

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I know med schools say they want well-rounded individuals, but does majoring in a non-science really help your admissions chances? I am planning on majoring in international studies. Do the science majors have an advantage? Do they seem to score higher on mcats?
thanks for any help.

 

[Trek]

Maybe.
No.
No. --Trek

 

[flyingillini]

I asked this same question, and the response I got from others is that it does not matter, as long as you do well on the MCAT. If Med Schools really cared about science majors so much, then why would they allow you to major in what you want? This will be the last chance for you to major in something you like, so take advantage of it. Just study hard for the MCAT.

 

[tatabox80]

From what I've heard, if you do well in both science and non-science classes and show that you can handle science classes you will be fine. As far as an advantage on the MCAT I think it all has to do with how well you prepare for the MCAT, not what you major in. I had the same thoughts a couple of years ago before deciding to be a psychology major.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

I was a double non-science major....I think it helped me get interviews and have something cool to talk about.....but I felt disadvantaged on the mcat and worried about starting school.

Oh, and i majored in spanish and latin american studies :wink:

 

[jot]

i found that doing a bs in biology helped with physical sections a lot (just cause of the allied fields), but it was almost exclusively training as a history major that came through on verbal. oddly enough, the history major helped a lot with the bio section maybe more than my bio major did; critical reading and analysis was key - the bio major just provided some basal background information. being a critical reader helps throughout the test.
-jot

 

[none]

Humanities majors, statistically, do better on the MCAT. Take that as you will.

 

[encee]

I was a sociology major--and I feel like it was the best thing I could have done (in terms of what to major in).
My recommendation is to pick something you are interested. To be pre-med requires the bio/ science courses, so if you are interested in int'l studies or whatever else--do it. Once you go to med school you won't really have the opportunity to study these other disciplines.
Plus, I feel like being a non-science major helped in me getting good grades. I almost never had a heavy science workload--2 science classes and 2 non-science was how I tried to work each term. This way when I got tired of science I would switch to the other subjects.
I don't think that being a soc major helped me nor hurt me for the MCATs--verbal was my weakest section! But that is just me!
As long as you get good grades--that is the bottom line. Also, you may want to take a few more bio courses than those listed for med school pre-reqs--this way you might feel you have more knowledge for the MCATs (Ex: physiology, biochem).

 

[avhart]

I am also a sociology major (and have a non-science minor and certificate also) and I scored 13 on the verbal (S on writing) and only 10s on the sciences. So I think that it can hurt your science MCAT scores, just because you don't have built-in preparation...the majority of my course work trains me to read critically and write well, not work through orgo and bio and physics stuff. But I think that a major that helps you understand people and society in the long run helps you as a person (and maybe someday a doctor), which is more important than what med school admissions folks think, in my mind. And at some point you have to choose what you WANT to do, not what you think looks best on your resume. 🙂

 

[geneman]

If I was to do it all again, I would major in a non-science. I love science, but undergrad is the last true chance you can truly study a different subject in depth. Bottomline: Major in what you like and do well on the MCAT.

 

[Doctor Octagonecologyst]

If your major isn't math or a science, you'll have fewer science classes, so your BCPM GPA will be based on a relatively small number of classes. Thus, the important thing is to do well in every math and science class you take - a single slip-up can hurt you badly. As long as you handle your science classes, though, your non-science major can only work to your advantage. Because there are so many similarly qualified people applying, the difference between accepted and rejected applicants often comes down to the presence or absence of some aspect(s) of their application that stands out as unique. A non-science major will definitely help set you apart from the crowd. Plus, keep in mind that if you major in a subject you truly enjoy, maintaining a high GPA won't be such a chore.

There was a thread a little while back that had a link to average MCAT performance by major. To summarize, humanities majors scored highest on the verbal, but math majors(!) scored highest on the sciences and overall. Of course, these statistics don't really matter; what's important is your own preparation for the MCAT.