YouTube, and email – what is the best pre-med major?

In traditional Med School Insiders fashion, we'll take a look at the numbers, analyze

the data, and give you actionable advice to optimize your chances of a medical school

acceptance.

Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.

First, it's important to understand that at most schools, there is no such thing as

a “pre-med major”.

To get into medical school, you can technically choose any major you'd like, so long as

you also complete the medical school pre-requisites.

Each medical school will have slightly different pre-requisites in order to apply.

However, there's a shared core of requirements which are as follows:

1 year of Biology with lab 1 year of General Chemistry with lab

1 year of Organic Chemistry with lab Physics with lab

And also 1 year of English

Many other schools require a few additional courses.

For that reason, we suggest you also take the following:

Math, biochemistry, psych and soc.

You should aim to take as many of these courses as possible prior to taking the MCAT, although

taking every single one is not always necessary.

For example, I didn't take biochemistry until after my MCAT, and I still achieved

a 99.9th percentile score, or “100th” percentile, as the statistically illiterate

would say.

Following this logic, many students and advisors alike conclude that you can choose any major

and it shouldn't matter, so long as you complete your pre-requisites.

I don't necessarily agree with that, and I'd say that not all majors are created

equal.

To see what I mean, let's jump to the data.

When people ask, “what is the best pre-med major”, they're usually asking, “what

is the major that will maximize my chances of getting into a good medical school?”

Luckily, we have data on just that.

The Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC for short, publishes annual data on

the medical school application process.

For the 2018-2019 application cycle, we can group applicants by the major that they applied

to.

Out of the 52,777 applicants last cycle, 55.8% majored in biological sciences, including

majors like molecular biology, cell biology, neuroscience, which is what I majored in,

and the like.

About 9.7% majored in social sciences, including majors such as economics, government, etc.

Approximately 9% majored in physical sciences, such as physics and chemistry, and 3.4% majored

in specialized health sciences, including nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy,

and public health.

3.2% majored in humanities, such as history, English, and literature, and 0.7%

majored in math and statistics.

The remaining 18.1% studied other majors not falling into the aforementioned categories.

It's clear that the biological sciences are the most popular pre-med major, and we'll

discuss why shortly.

But more interestingly, the average MCAT score and even acceptance rate vary significantly

between these majors.

On average, math and statistics majors topped the list with an MCAT of 509.4, followed by

physical sciences at 508.0, humanities at 507.6, social sciences at 505.6, biological

sciences at 505.5, other at 505.0, and specialized health sciences by far the lowest at 502.4.

In terms of acceptance rates, math and statistics topped the list at 47.6%, followed by humanities

at 47.2%, physical sciences at 46.1%, and so on.

Biological sciences were second to last, at 40.2%, trailed only by specialized health

sciences at an abysmal 36.2%.

If you were to go blindly off the data, you may assume that you should pursue a math,

physical sciences, or humanities major.

After all, those are the three majors with the highest average MCAT scores and highest

average acceptance rates.

But such a conclusion would be a terribly inaccurate portrayal of the data.

So how should we interpret these findings?

First, correlation does not equal causation.

Just because students studying certain majors had a higher MCAT or acceptance rate does

not mean it's because of their major.

In fact, there are a series of confounding variables and biases that are likely at play.

Others have suggested that students majoring in humanities may have higher MCAT scores

because they're better prepared for the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills section,

or CARS, arguably the one section on the MCAT that is hardest to improve your score in.

These students are exposed to tremendous amounts of writing and for that reason you would expect their CARS section scores to be higher.

But by looking at the data, we see this explanation falls short.

While humanities majors do score highest on CARS, it's only on average 1 point higher

than other majors, thereby only accounting for half of the total MCAT score difference

between humanities and these other majors.

In extending this logic, we would expect biological science majors to score the best on the bio

section of the MCAT.

But that's not the case.

In fact, bio majors score right on average with everyone else, and it's actually math

and statistics majors that score highest.

What about physical sciences majors. Do they score highest on the chemical and physical section of the

MCAT?

Nope, again it's the math majors that win out.

Taking a step back, we can notice two interesting trends.

First, students majoring in Humanities, Math, and Physical Sciences dominated multiple sections

of the MCAT and had the highest medical school acceptance rates by a large margin.

Second, students majoring in Specialized Health Sciences were far behind the pack, scoring

the worst in both the MCAT and having the lowest medical school acceptance rates.

I'd argue that the reason we see these trends has little to do with the major and field

of study.

Rather, over the large population of medical school applicants, we're seeing a survivorship

bias of highly ambitious and driven students.

Allow me to explain

Biological sciences are the default pre-med major, because it's the most straightforward.

Most classes that are medical school pre-requisites overlap well with the courses that are required

for a biological science major.

For that reason, 55.8% of pre-meds default to a biological science major.

And therein lies the secret.

It's on average an easier path.

If a pre-med choose a biological science major, they're more likely to end up applying to

medical school.

There are fewer obstacles in the way.

On the other hand, the less than 1% of pre-meds who major in mathematics or statistics are

generally working an uphill battle.

You need to not only complete your full major requirements for math, but also 2 years worth

of medical school pre-requisites.

For this reason, those who choose this path and are able to even get to the point of applying

to medical schools must really want it.

Remember, this path is more difficult, so I'd argue that a higher percentage of those

who choose this path will actually fall short.

They'll simply never even get to the point of applying to medical schools.

Like most students who enter college as pre-meds, they may decide it's not worth the effort

and decide to change majors and ultimately change career paths.

Hence the survivorship bias.

We only see the successful fraction that made it all the way through – those that really

want it.

This also explains why those studying Specialized Health Sciences fare off so much worse.

They're essentially the opposite of the math majors.

Some portion of students who choose nursing or physical therapy may be pre-med as more

of a moonshot – something they'd like to do, but they aren't fully committed to.

After all, they have a backup option in the healthcare industry that they can fall back on.

But since so many pre-requisites for nursing or PT overlap with med school, it's easy to just apply to both.

As you guys know, I don't like to leave you hanging, so in classic Med School Insiders

fashion, after busting the myths and misconceptions, I'm going to provide you with actionable

advice.

Consideration 1: A Straightforward & Streamlined Path

If your top priority is getting into medical school, I recommend you actually pursue a major in

a Biological Science, particularly one that is of interest to you.

The requirements for your major will overlap nicely with your medical school prerequisite

courses, and you'll hopefully be studying something that you are interested in.

After all, you want to be a doctor and study the human body.

Consideration 2: Prioritize Something You're Interested In

If you want to be a doctor, there should be at least one Biological Science major that

is of interest to you.

If you hate the thought of all bio majors, then seriously ask yourself why you want to

be a doctor.

That being said, there are students who still would rather pursue something else.

After all, you have the rest of your career to study biology and the human body.

For those students with a burning interest in political science, the humanities, art,

or Asian history, by all means follow that passion.

Simply understand that it'll be a bit more of an uphill battle for you, but it's definitely

not impossible.

In fact, some medical schools will even prefer that you have a unique background and interests

outside of medicine that you pursued.

And Consideration 3: Preparation for Medical School Medical school is the toughest, most rigorous

schooling in the world.

Getting yourself prepared for that process will only make the transition easier.

For that reason, I suggest you consider majors that will prepare you either in subject matter

or in rigor – or do what I did, and choose a major that prepares you for both.

As a pre-med at UCLA, I chose Neuroscience as my major.

The brain, after all, is the sexiest organ in the human body and one of life's greatest

mysteries – it was something I was and still am deeply interested in.

It was a biological science major, so the overlap with my pre-requisites was nice.

And finally, it was tough.

In fact, during my time at UCLA, Neuroscience and Bioengineering were considered the two

most challenging pre-med majors.

In choosing a difficult path, I was able to hone my work ethic and learn a great deal

about the nervous system – in some areas to far greater depth than what I even covered

in medical school.

I learned so much about the brain and its anatomy as a Neuroscience major that in medical

school, setting the curve in my neuro and psych block came easily.

Remember, statistics apply to populations, not to individuals.

Just because you're a math major doesn't mean you'll do spectacularly, and just because

you're a bio major doesn't mean you're bound to be mediocre.

Despite choosing Neuroscience, a biological science, I ended up with a killer MCAT score

and my pick of multiple top medical schools, some even with full tuition merit based scholarships.

And you can do the same!

That's why I started this YouTube channel – to help you learn the ingredients to success

in both your personal and professional life.

These are things that took me years of studying, optimizing, and experimenting to figure out.

In the end, they helped me become wildly successful and I know they can do the same for you.

If you need help planning out your college courses or choosing a pre-med major or even

optimizing your extracurriculars, our top physician advisors at MedSchoolInsiders.com

are here to help.

They love what they do, and they're the best in the industry.

They've passed our highly rigorous application process and have excelled in their own medical

careers.

As you guys know, I'm a huge proponent of systems generating results.

That's why my team and I have spent months perfecting our proprietary and systematic

processes that ensure the highest quality service for each and every student.

Unlike other companies, you'll never worry about being “unlucky” and not getting

a phenomenal advisor.

Our team consistently delivers an excellent experience and service, and I personally stand

by that.

Our results speak for themselves.

Whether it's MCAT tutoring, personal statement editing, preparing for medical school interviews,

or anything else in the medical school application process, we've got your back.

Learn more at MedSchoolInsiders.com.

Thank you guys so much for watching.

What major did you decide on?

Let me know in the comments below!

If you have any questions that you'd like me to answer or have featured on my YouTube

channels, shoot me a message on Instagram @kevinjubbalmd.

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Much love to you all, and I will see you guys in that next one.