Science versus nonscience undergraduate studies for medical school: a study of nine classes

The undergraduate grade-point average, scores on the Medical College Admission Tests and Parts I and II of the examinations of the National Board of Medical Examiners, medical school grades, and membership in Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society, were compared for four categories of undergraduate majors to determine whether nonscience preparation was a handicap for medical training. Data for nine complete classes at one medical school were used. The results indicated that nonscience students performed as well as or better than traditional science trained students on almost all performance measures. Implications for medical school admissions policies are discussed.