Science Majors and Nonscience Majors Entering Medical School: Acceptance Rates and Academic Performance

Abstract

As undergraduate students, most applicants to medical schools have majored in a natural science area. This study compared rates of acceptance and medical school academic performance of science and nonscience majors applying to 13 classes of The University of Alabama School of Medicine. There was no significant difference in acceptance rates between the two types of majors. Upon matriculation, medical students with nonscience majors performed as well as those with science majors on most standard measures of medical school academic performance.