philosophy majors and the MCAT
May 10, 2009 8:33 PM   Subscribe

Is it true that philosophy majors score #1 overall on the MCAT?
posted by bardona to Education (13 answers total)
 
I heard something similar that philosophy majors had the highest acceptance rate in med school but I've never heard of them scoring higher on the MCAT. I'm sure a philosophy major would do very well on the verbal section, it's all reading comprehension and takes no knowledge of science but I don't see how studying philosophy would come close to preparing you to know the strongest Bronstead acid or deteremining the structure of a compound based on it's IR spec.
posted by BrnP84 at 8:43 PM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


I think its the other tests (non subject specific tests) like the GRE, LSAT, GMAT, etc... you're thinking of. See this.
posted by jourman2 at 8:56 PM on May 10, 2009


It's not as fine-grained as individual majors, but there's this: MCAT and GPAs for Applicants and Matriculants to U.S. Medical Schools by Primary Undergraduate Major, 2008. It looks like Humanities majors had the highest MCAT scores among matriculants but not among applicants, although the applicant scores are above average.

There are lots of ways to interpret that. My interpretation is that a humanities major is a handicap that is overcome with a high MCAT score.

You can get data for other years as well.
posted by jedicus at 8:57 PM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


My interpretation is that a humanities major is a handicap that is overcome with a high MCAT score.

That may explain the gap between matriculant and applicant scores, but it can't explain high applicant scores.
posted by grobstein at 9:04 PM on May 10, 2009


I would imagine that it is because the only people who are going to apply to medical school with a humanities degree are those who are unusually talented. It's self-selecting, you see.
posted by Electrius at 10:03 PM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


This (pdf) is the information my old undergraduate department gives on why you should be a philosophy major. It doesnt list the MCAT, but it does the LSAT, GRE, GMAT and GMAC.
posted by strixus at 1:32 AM on May 11, 2009


Your major doesn't matter as much as you think it does to succeed on the MCAT. Preparation, however, does.
posted by BearPaws at 4:35 AM on May 11, 2009


I think it's probably a spurious correlation, both the scores and the majors are caused by being smart and having particular skills. I.e., the kind of people who like obscure words but are also comfortable with mathematical logic would be more likely to chose and stick with philosophy coursework AND to do well on many grad school tests (not that such people aren't in other programs, but philosophy might be particular appealing and narrow).
posted by parkerjackson at 4:46 AM on May 11, 2009


I would imagine that it is because the only people who are going to apply to medical school with a humanities degree are those who are unusually talented. It's self-selecting, you see.

Bingo. Also, think of it this way. Say you're philosophy major, and you decide you want to go to Med School. That means you have to go back to school and pick up those requisite classes (Physics, Calc, Molecular Biology, Chemistry). So maybe you're a couple of years older than the average student who takes the MCAT. And also, you're more serious about it, because you went back to school, made a commitment to yourself to go to Med School. In turn, you're going to study the hell out of the MCAT and try to get the best possible score.

Let's compare that to a person who has said they're going to be a doctor since they were 13. Dad's a doctor. All that jazz. They go to college, major in "Pre-Med," take all the required classes. But really, they spent all their time at the frat house and travelling with the lacrosse team. They figure that since they took all the classes, they'll do well enough on the MCAT. Then they take it and they do they poorly.
posted by billysumday at 4:52 AM on May 11, 2009


Let's compare that to a person who has said they're going to be a doctor since they were 13. Dad's a doctor. All that jazz. They go to college, major in "Pre-Med," take all the required classes. But really, they spent all their time at the frat house and travelling with the lacrosse team. They figure that since they took all the classes, they'll do well enough on the MCAT. Then they take it and they do they poorly.

Yeah, it does happen.

My wife's OB/GYN did his undergrad degree in Literature, then decided he wanted to go to med school. He did. And he's actually one of the finest MD's we've ever had.
posted by spirit72 at 6:29 AM on May 11, 2009



I basically agree about the self-selection stuff, but, contra billysunday, it's not always true that the philosophy majors who take the MCAT are going back to school, and applying to med school when a few years older than average.

Lots of people double major, and filling the pre-med requirements doesn't itself require majoring in, say, biology or chemistry. Of course, if you don't just major in one of the obvious sciences-- if you double major, or major in philosophy alone -- you will have a complicated schedule to juggle, and maybe a few extra classes to take. Hence the self-selection.

I'm not just making this up, and it's not all that uncommon. I've taught a number of students, at two different universities, that went to med school with a philosophy major.
posted by kestrel251 at 8:19 AM on May 11, 2009


As a physics major, I found most of the MCAT laughably easy--my score was 99th percentile. But that's just me, and that was over 20 years ago.
posted by neuron at 11:39 AM on May 11, 2009


I'll posit another hypothesis: a philosophy degree requires a TON of reading, in just about every field imaginable, and since you are virtually assured of never getting a real job with the degree, the major is probably chosen by people who just like to learn. And thusly may do better on some tests, or be motivated to study more, etc etc. My opinion may be biased.

M.A. Philosophy 1990. Archaeologist now.
posted by elendil71 at 1:07 PM on May 11, 2009


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