Applying to medical school is a challenging experience that many students must deal with. It is an experience wrought with uncertainty, anxiety, hope, suppositions and rumors.
One common rumor among pre-med undergraduates is that studying a nonscience field may provide an advantage in the application process, but the validity of this claim has been scrutinized.
Dina Farzan, a third-year history student, said she believes this rumor to be false. She said she has heard that nonscience students actually have a disadvantage since they must take on a heavier course load in order to fulfill major requirements in addition to pre-med requirements. Farzan said she chose her major because she was unsure whether she wanted to go on to medical school. She said she decided to choose something she knew she would enjoy. But now that she has decided to pursue medical school, Farzan says she is having difficulty managing her time.
Third-year anthropology student Michael Spiker is on the opposite end of the spectrum. He said he believes that nonscience students, especially those in the social and behavioral as opposed to the hard sciences, give students a wider and more diverse educational foundation. He said he thinks that this diversity increases overall performance and prepares students for the science-loaded course schedule in medical school. “In some sense, (undergraduate coursework) could be easier (as a nonscience student) since anthropology courses are generally easier than upper division science courses.” He also concedes, however, that it is difficult to switch between science and nonscience courses since students must adjust to very different structures.
Kimberly Gon, a second-year anthropology student, and David Pollack, a second-year philosophy student, have more of a middle-ground opinion regarding the rumor. Gon says that she is unsure what to believe, but she has heard that being a nonscience student shows admissions that the student is well-rounded.
Pollack said he believes that there are both advantages and disadvantages to being a nonscience student. He also heard that medical schools are looking for diversity, which is a strength to nonscience students, he said. Pollack said taking classes in the humanities field teaches students valuable analytical skills that strict science students may not receive.
Students also said they are supplementing their course work with extracurricular experience. Pollack, Gon, Spiker and Farzan are all involved, or are planning to be involved, in laboratory research. Gon and Farzan are involved in Care Extenders, a hospital internship program. All of the students are also involved in other programs ranging from tutoring to volunteering with the Mobile Clinic Project at UCLA.
Lili Fobert, administrative assistant at the David Geffen School of Medicine Office of the Dean of Admissions, said the type of major, whether science or nonscience, has no intrinsic value and a student’s major is not even considered in the application process for the school. Fobert also said that she would never recommend any particular major for a student hoping to go to medical school. She did say, however, that the medical school stresses well-roundedness, and that if there was any advantage to being a nonscience student it would be that students of nonscience majors must fulfill a wide variety of prerequisites. However, she also stated that it is possible to get a well-rounded education as a science student as well.
“Science Majors and Nonscience Majors Entering Medical School: Acceptance Rates and Academic Performance,” a report published in the Spring 1997 by the National Academic Advising Association Journal, found there are advantages on both sides. According to the report, which was conducted on applicants and matriculants to the University of Alabama School of Medicine from 1978 to 1990, science students had a 24.8 percent acceptance rate while the acceptance rate for nonscience students was 27.5 percent. The report said that the 2.7-percent difference was statistically significant.
The report also showed that science major-applicants had slightly higher scores on the science section of the MCAT while nonscience students had higher scores on the reading and quantitative sections, but the difference in students’ overall scores was negligible.
Whether or not there is any advantage for science students or nonscience students, Lili Fobert said that the most important things for students to do is to fulfill (and do well) in all of the prerequisites, have a clear idea of what they are interested in, and do well on the MCAT.
In addition to these, Fobert stressed that students should focus on enjoying the four years of education they are receiving.