Course work and grades of premedical students at two liberal arts colleges

Choices of courses and academic performances of premedical students were investigated at two liberal arts colleges. Four hypotheses tested related to the areas of science concentration in the students' overall academic programs, breadth of the programs, depth of study in subjects outside science, and the grades achieved in all areas. Altogether, 345 students from the classes of 1982 and 1983 were studied. Premedical students were compared with nonpremedical students studying biology and chemistry and with all other students. Premedical students and other students majoring in biology, chemistry, or other health-related subjects had similar distributions of course credits by academic division and studied a greater breadth of subject matter than did other students. In contrast, the other students tended to study one subject outside their major in greater depth than the premedical students and other students majoring in biology and chemistry, and these subjects were usually in an academic division that did not include their major departments. The students from the two colleges who were admitted to medical schools achieved higher grades than either rejected applicants or nonapplicants from the colleges.