The ‘Best Major for Medical School’ Myth: What Outcomes Really Show

The belief that there is a “best major” for medical school is wrong—and the data has been shouting that for years.

The myth: You must be a biology (or science) major to get into med school

College premed culture runs on a few persistent myths. At the top of the list:

• “You have to major in biology.”
• “Non-science majors are at a disadvantage.”
• “Admissions committees prefer traditional science majors.”
• “If you don’t major in something ‘hard,’ you’re not competitive.”

Those claims are repeated so often they sound like facts. They are not.

Here is what the numbers from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and other outcome data actually show:

1. Medical schools do not require or prefer any specific major.
2. Every major category has both accepted and rejected applicants.
3. Non-traditional and non-science majors often have equal or slightly better acceptance rates than the standard bio/chem premed.
4. Your GPA + MCAT + rigor + narrative matter far more than the words on your diploma.

The “best major for medical school” is not a specific field. It is the major that lets you:

• Earn a high GPA
• Complete all premed prereqs
• Do meaningful activities
• Stay sane enough to actually enjoy your life

Let’s dismantle this myth with the actual outcomes.

What AAMC data really shows about majors and acceptance rates

AAMC publishes annual “Applicants and Matriculants” tables that correlate majors, MCAT, GPA, and acceptance rates. The data changes a bit year to year, but the pattern is consistent.

To keep it simple, look at a recent multi-year pattern (numbers rounded but representative):

For MD applicants:

• Biological sciences majors:

  • Average GPA ~3.55–3.60
  • Average MCAT ~507–508
  • Acceptance rate usually around 40–43%

• Physical sciences (chem, physics, etc.):

  • Average GPA similar or slightly higher
  • Average MCAT slightly higher
  • Acceptance rate typically a bit higher than bio

• Social sciences (psych, sociology, etc.):

  • GPA often slightly lower than bio
  • MCAT similar
  • Acceptance rate similar to or slightly above bio

• Humanities majors (English, philosophy, history, etc.):

  • GPA often similar or slightly higher than bio
  • MCAT sometimes a bit higher
  • Acceptance rate often higher than bio (commonly mid-40%+)

• “Other” / specialized majors (engineering, business, etc.):

  • GPAs more variable, MCATs often higher
  • Acceptance rates in the same ballpark as everyone else

Here’s the key: biology majors are not at a special advantage. In many data sets they’re slightly below humanities and some other majors in raw acceptance rate.

If a single “best major” existed, you’d expect it to blow the others away. It does not.

What actually happens: strong students get in, regardless of major. Weak applicants get rejected, regardless of major.

The major is not the engine. It’s just the frame.

Why biology feels like “the premed major” (and why that’s misleading)

So if there’s no best major, why does everyone default to biology?

Three reasons:

1. Overlap with prereqs
   Biology majors usually knock out a lot of medical school prerequisites automatically:

   • General bio
   • General and organic chemistry
   • Physics
   • Sometimes biochemistry and statistics

   That convenience gives biology a cultural monopoly. It does not give it an admissions edge.

2. Departmental marketing and peer pressure
   Departments that see a large premed pipeline subtly (or overtly) sell themselves as “the premed path.” Freshmen see a herd of premeds in biology and assume that’s the rule.

3. Fear of being “non-traditional”
   Premeds are risk-averse. A humanities or music major feels like a risk, even when outcomes are comparable—or better.

The problem: confusing norm with advantage. Biology is common, not superior.

Plenty of biology majors get in. Plenty do not. Same story for English, economics, physics, and engineering.

What actually predicts your chances: MCAT, GPA, rigor, and fit

If you strip the myth away and look at patterns, four variables dominate outcomes:

1. Science GPA and overall GPA
2. MCAT score
3. Course rigor and trend
4. Coherent narrative and experiences

Your major influences some of these, but indirectly.

A humanities major with a 3.9 GPA, 515 MCAT, strong clinical exposure, and solid letters is not “disadvantaged” compared to a biology major with a 3.6 and 510. In practice, the humanities major is more competitive at most schools.

Medical schools care whether you can handle the science. They do not care whether you did your upper-level coursework in molecular genetics, 19th-century literature, or political theory—as long as you nailed the required sciences and proved you can think.

GPA: the brutal filter

Many schools do an initial screen with numbers. If your GPA is far below their usual range, they may not read your file deeply.

Your major matters here only insofar as it affects your ability to earn grades. If majoring in physics will realistically tank you at a 3.2–3.3, but you could thrive at 3.8 in psychology, physics is not the “better” premed major for you.

You get zero extra points for suffering through a brutal major if the result is a mediocre GPA.

MCAT: the great equalizer

Medical schools use the MCAT to assess:

• Science knowledge
• Critical reasoning
• Reading comprehension
• Psychological and social understanding

Non-science majors often do very well here, especially in CARS and the psych/soc section. They’re used to dense reading and conceptual analysis.

Science majors sometimes crush the bio/biochem and chem/phys but lag a bit in CARS. Big picture: once the MCAT clears a certain threshold for a given school, your major largely fades into the background.

Rigor and course choices

What admissions committees do look at:

• Did you challenge yourself within your context?
• Did you take upper-level science courses (physiology, biochemistry, etc.) at some point?
• Are there obvious patterns of avoiding harder classes or dropping core sciences?

A philosophy major who takes:

• General and organic chemistry
• Physics
• Biology
• Biochemistry
• Maybe physiology or cell biology

and does well, proves that majoring in philosophy did not shield them from difficult science. That’s what medical schools need to see.

Non-science majors: advantage, disadvantage, or neither?

The myth goes both ways. Some premed forums now swing to the opposite extreme: “Major in humanities—it’s a golden ticket.” That is also false.

Here’s the more honest breakdown.

Real advantages of non-science majors

1. Signal of genuine intellectual diversity
   A political science or music performance major who still completed all science requirements shows range. Committees like diverse classes: people who can discuss ethics, policy, language, culture—not just glycolysis.

2. Stronger narrative potential
   It’s easier to tell a memorable story if your path is not identical to 80% of the applicant pool. “I studied medieval history, did archival research, and then spent summers in a neurology lab” stands out.

3. Built-in strengths for certain competencies

   • Writing-heavy majors hone personal statements and essays.
   • Social science and philosophy majors bring frameworks for empathy, ethics, and health disparities.
   • Arts majors often demonstrate discipline, creativity, and perseverance in practice-based work.

Real risks for non-science majors

1. Underestimating the science load
   You still need:

   • General biology with lab
   • General and organic chemistry with labs
   • Physics with lab
   • Biochemistry
   • Statistics / sometimes calculus
   • Often psychology and sociology

   Cramming these into 1–2 years because you ignored them early is how GPAs die.

2. Assuming “different” automatically means “competitive”
   A 3.4 GPA in a humanities major with weak science grades is not saved by uniqueness.

Non-science majors are neither magic nor suicidal. They work when you respect two rules: start prereqs early and take the sciences seriously.

Engineering, computer science, and other “hard” majors

Another popular myth: “Engineering is the best major because it’s the hardest, so schools will ‘bump’ your GPA.”

No. They will contextualize it. They will not mathematically bump it.

Admissions committees know that:

• Engineering curves can be brutal
• Some STEM pathways have lower average GPAs

So yes, they may look more kindly at a 3.6 in biomedical engineering than a 3.6 in a notoriously easy, low-rigor track. But a 3.2 in engineering will still struggle compared with a 3.8 in a rigorous non-STEM field.

Choose engineering if:

• You genuinely enjoy it
• You’re confident you can still hit at least a mid-3.6+
• You’re okay with the time sink and workload

Do not choose it just for perceived “respect.” You are not applying to “Med School for Suffering Engineers.” You’re applying as an individual with numbers and a story.

How to actually choose a major as a premed

Strip away the noise, and use a cleaner framework.

Ask yourself:

1. Where can I realistically excel?
   What subjects have historically been your strengths? In what fields do you think you can maintain a high GPA over four years, not just survive?

2. What will keep you engaged enough to not burn out?
   Four years of classes you hate is a recipe for apathy, procrastination, and mediocre performance.

3. How will you fit in all the prereqs alongside your major requirements?
   Map it out semester by semester. Many non-science majors are fine, but some combinations make it very hard to schedule labs.

4. Does this major leave you employable or grad-school ready if you don’t get in?
   You need an identity and a future that does not hinge solely on “MD or bust.”

If that points you toward biology, fine. But then you’re choosing biology because it fits you—not because it’s the “best” or “required” path.

What admissions committees actually want from your academic background

When real admissions committee members talk about majors, they rarely sound dogmatic. They usually want to see:

• Mastery of core sciences
• Evidence you can handle medical school rigor
• Intellectual curiosity and depth
• Some distinct perspective you bring to the class

A cohort of 100 biology majors with near-identical experiences is not their dream class. They want the biochem researcher, the health policy nerd, the musician, the first-gen engineer, the anthropologist who worked on community-based research.

You are not being judged on whether you guessed the “right” major. You are being evaluated on whether your academic choices form a coherent, compelling, and successful story that fits their training environment.

Myth-busting summary

The “best major for medical school” idea survives because it simplifies a complex process into an easy slogan. Reality is less convenient but more freeing:

• There is no universally preferred premed major. Outcomes across majors are broadly similar when you control for GPA and MCAT.
• Biology is common, not inherently advantageous. Humanities and social science majors often have equal or higher acceptance rates.
• What drives outcomes is performance (GPA, MCAT, rigor) and the story you can tell about why you chose your path, not the label on your degree.

FAQ

1. Does being a non-science major make it harder to handle med school?
Not if you have a solid foundation in the prerequisites. Many non-science majors perform very well in medical school once they’re in. The key is how seriously you took the core sciences before matriculation and whether you’ve proven you can learn dense, technical material.

2. Will medical schools think I’m “less serious” if I don’t major in biology or chemistry?
No. As long as you complete the required sciences and demonstrate sustained interest in medicine through clinical and extracurricular work, your seriousness is not questioned. A well-executed non-science major often reads as intentional and thoughtful rather than “less serious.”

3. Can I switch my major after starting as a biology premed without hurting my chances?
Yes. Major changes are common. If you pivot from biology to, say, psychology or English, and your grades improve while you continue your science coursework, that’s often seen as a smart adjustment, not a red flag. Just make sure your transcript and activities still clearly support the medical path.

4. If there’s no best major, what’s the single worst mistake I can make with my major as a premed?
Choosing a major you dislike because you think it is what medical schools want. That is how students end up with lower GPAs, shallow engagement, and burned-out applications. The worst move is sacrificing performance and authenticity for the illusion of an advantage that doesn’t exist.