Best Major for Med School Might Not be Biology

Entering the medical educational establishment is one of the most preferred career choices young people do in college. Why? There are many reasons - the high wage, the status and reputation of the medical profession, and sometimes the acclaim of various medical TV series (like Doctor House or Scrubs). This field is greatly aggressive; that's why ambitious and promising future doctors are searching for any possibilities and specialties that will allow them to enter medical educational establishments and become doctors.

We've thoroughly examined all info we had and tried to compile a roaster of the top medical specialties. As it turned out, the most preferred specialty for medicals is biology. Yes, it is not news, although this specialty comes with one of the worst-ever admission levels. Just look at this list:

1. Biology
2. Molecular Biology, Biophysics, and Biochemistry
3. Psychology
4. Chemistry
5. Nursing
6. Medical and health preparative
7. English language
8. Biomedical Engineering
9. Economics studies
10. History

Although the liberal arts come with a top acceptance level, you can wonder why they take the last place. Together with the top med specializations, we’ll discuss it later, but firstly, let's talk a little about these popular majors and metrics.

With a background in biology, it's challenging to enter a med educational establishment.

The USA Med College Association is extremely sparing in sharing data that relates to the specialties’ level. To find out which the top specializations, over seven million summaries had to be scoured to define what modern doctors specialize in more.

And while more than forty percent of all medical school applicants opted for biology specifically, the biology major turned out to come with one of the worst-ever admission levels. Even though the USA Med College Association flatly rejected to share particular info about applicants, they did share information about the specialties, which they grouped into six general categories with the "other studies":

1. Liberal arts: the applicants' number is 1,915; the acceptance level comprises over 45 percent.
2. Physical Science: 5,609 students, and over 44 percent acceptance rate
3. Statistics and Mathematics: 383 candidates; a little more than 42 percent of acceptance level
4. Social Studies: over 5,500 applicants and acceptance level is more than 40 percent
5. Biological Studies: over 28,500 students; the acceptance indicator comprises around 39 percent
6. The other studies category: 9,911 candidates; almost 38,5 percent of acceptance level
7. Specialized Health Studies: over 1,600 students; the acceptance rate is over 32 percent

To sum up: the total applicants' number – more than 53 students, and the admission indicator comprises over 39 percent.

The biology majors plenty is due to usability—mandatory thesis for dual-core subjects for medical educational establishment preconditions. And you can get some advantages on the MCAT, but justifying your choice it’s not enough: you should also have solid knowledge in such subjects as organic chemistry, biochemistry, general chemistry, physics, psychology, and sociology. Besides, you should also have critical review and reasoning abilities.

And frustrated med educational establishment students are probably the reason biology specialties come with the top unemployment level among people aged 22-25.

Why humanitarian areas should never be discounted when entering med institutes

Your Med College Admission Test and Grade Point Average play a very significant role. Moreover, it would be best if you always learned the things you’re interested in. The USA Med College Association agrees with us on this. There are two reasons for this. First, you are more likely to have a high Grade Point Average. The second is that the chances of you going to medical school are low, so you will always have a second career at hand.

But before you definitively discount humanitarian destinations because they take the easy way out, increasing average scores to get ahead, think about this. The humanities majors have the highest overall Med College Admission Test scores of any significant group.

But here, you have to think about the ethical side. An English Language and Literature Specialist should have this quality to specialize in something other than their hard field and get the highest Med College Admission Test score. 

In reality, medical schools care about your history, experience in medicine, and leadership qualities. Because under equal admission conditions, the applicant who wants more than anything else to go to a medical college will be able to survive in its harsh conditions, keeping a cool head and common sense.

Is your professionalism essential if you still decide to go to medical school?

It does not matter at all, unlike most professions and specialties. You will have to start from scratch in the med educational establishment and retake science disciplines. Therefore, specializing in a scientific field will give you absolutely no advantage.

We tried to find out the USA Med College Association data on admission to a specialty. But we could not find out absolutely anything about enrollment in specific specialties. As it turned out, they do not provide this kind of information even if there is a particular request. We tried to reach them out, but a definite "no" was answered.

It is precisely because of the lack of this kind of information that we will not be able to share how many people and what specialties were accepted for undergraduate studies.

They deliberately withhold this info as they do not want young people to plan their lives and careers, given that the chances of entering medical schools are minimal. For instance, in 2017, almost forty percent of students entered medical universities on the USA Med College Association data.

Therefore, if you still plan to go to the med educational establishment, you should think about getting a similar degree of interesting-for-you area. Who knows, maybe you will find something better. For reference: approximately 30 to 60% of students drop out long before graduation at Harvard.

We are waiting for you after conducting a similar study for dental schools and pre-dental areas.

We've named you the top ten med profiles in the very beginning. And now there’re the other top ten medical specializations: 

1. Business
2. Anatomy and Physiology
3. Anatomical Studies and Cell Biology
4. Pharmaceutics
5. Electrical Engineering
6. Political Studies
7. Anthropology
8. Biomedical Studies
9. Kinesiology
10. Math