Do medical schools prefer non-science majors?

Question

I am a science major student considering a change of major. My plan is to go to medical school but i am having second thoughts about my major. I know that medical schools like diversity but would they prefer a B-C grade student that majors in science of an A-B grade student that majors in a humanities major?....

Answer 1

They prefer a strong science and/or math background and good MCAT scores--other than that you can major in anything. However, if you are considering an extremely competitive school you need to think of the competition and what they offer. However, a C average won't get you in, and may not help you score well on the MCAT,

Answer 2

It use to be that all matriculants in med schools had a life science degree, but that trend is changing. The most recent statistics reflect that 40% of matriculants are nonscience majors.

In making the first cut in the applicants, admission committees look at the objective evidence of an applicant's academic performance: the overall GPA, the GPA in the prereq courses and the MCAT score. A high MCAT score will compensate for a less than stellar GPA, but a low GPA overall certainly puts your medical future at risk.

Before taking the MCAT, take all of the practice questions that you need to consistently achieve a high score. These practice questions will idnentify your strengths and weakness. You may need to repeat a course or two if you aren't achieving a high score.

You should also strongly consider retaking any course that is bringing your GPA down. An alternative to that is to take additional courses (and obviously do well in them) to elevate your GPA. These should be primarily math and science courses.

But, if you graduate with less than a 3.5 GPA and a MCAT score of less than 27, you might want to consider attending an offshore medical school. You can research those at StudentDoctor.net or ValueMD.com.

Answer 3

I don't know of any medical schools which would take a B-C grade student majoring in anything. You pretty much have to be an outstanding student regardless of major. And while they may like diversity, the fact remains that the majority of medical students were science majors in college.

Answer 4

Natural Science

Answer 5

It really depends on the individual school. Start checking now on what schools you want to attend and see what htey like

John Hopkins for instance prefers the humanities background.

To be honest, only engineering (bio or chemical)....lets you get a lower gpa and still be a possible prospect for them. THey tend to be more rigorous studies. You're still looking at a 3.0 or higher......i've been offered 80K starting with a 2.3 as a chem e...so yeah that should put things into perspective.

Anyways, if you choose a non science major....to get into medschool...you are looking at doing chem....through organic 2...a lot do p-chem. Physics ( general, electro..(i forget what the official name is..but that electro stuff)... thermo.... optics/quantum).
Calc 2, and about 3 upper bio related courses.

Big thing is "community service" in a hospital or something like that and your MCATS

I had a friend get a 3.97...honors college......drank excessively....lots of extracurriculars......didn't get a single offer from a "good" med school.

Answer 6

I wouldn't say prefer, but if you aren't going to major in science you had better have some significant extracurricular activities.

Answer 7

i dont really know