Best Premed Major (Backed By Med School Acceptance Data)

What is the best premed major? We get asked this question a lot—by hundreds of students and their parents—but there are several variables and personal preferences to consider when answering. The journey of every premed is different, and that’s a good thing. Admissions committees are looking for diverse students to make up their student body.

But we get it: making big decisions like this is tough, and choosing your premed major is a decision that will set your doctor journey in motion. When making any tough or big life decision, the first step is doing your research and understanding the data—and we’ve done just that.

In this post, we’ll take a look at the numbers, analyze the data, and give you actionable advice to optimize your chances of a medical school acceptance.

The “Premed Major” Myth

First, it’s important to understand that at most schools, there is no such thing as a “premed major.” Premed isn’t a major itself, but a term to describe your path before medical school. As a premed, you will choose a major from a range of suitable options, most commonly in the sciences.

To get into medical school, you can technically choose any major you’d like, so long as you also complete the medical school prerequisites.

Each medical school has slightly different prerequisites you need to fulfill to apply. However, there is a shared core of requirements, which are as follows:

• 1 year of Biology with lab
• 1 year of General Chemistry with lab
• 1 year of Organic Chemistry with lab
• 1 year of Physics with lab
• 1 year of English

Many other schools require a few additional courses. For that reason, we also suggest you take the following:

• Mathematics
• Biochemistry
• Psychology and Sociology

Aim to take as many of these courses as possible before taking the MCAT, though taking every single one is not always necessary. For example, I didn’t take biochemistry until after my MCAT, and I still achieved a 99.9th percentile score, or “100th” percentile.

Many students and advisors alike say that you can choose any major and it shouldn’t matter, so long as you complete your prerequisites. I don’t necessarily agree with that in all cases, and I’d say that not all majors are created equal. There are many variables to consider, and each student’s ideal path is different. To see what I mean, let’s jump into the data.

The Data on Premed Majors

First, let’s get to the bottom of this question. When people ask, “What is the best premed major?” they’re usually asking, “What is the major that will maximize my chances of getting into a good medical school?”

Well, here’s the data.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) publishes annual data on the medical school application process. For the latest application cycle, we can group applicants by the major they applied to.

Out of the 54,699 applicants in the 2025-2026 cycle, 32,038 majored in biological sciences, including molecular biology, cell biology, and neuroscience. That’s 58.6% of all applicants. (Note: while precise percentages might differ slightly from cycle to cycle, we’ve been tracking this data for over a decade, and we’ve seen little change in these breakdowns.)

Rounding to even numbers, the other majors work out as follows:

• 9% majored in social sciences, including economics, government, and related fields.
• 8% majored in physical sciences, such as physics and chemistry.
• 5% majored in specialized health sciences, including nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and public health.
• 3% majored in humanities, such as history, English, and literature.
• 0.6% majored in math and statistics.
• 17% studied other majors not falling into the aforementioned categories.

It’s clear that the biological sciences are the most popular premed major, and we’ll discuss why shortly. But more interestingly, the average MCAT score and even acceptance rate vary significantly between these majors.

On average, math and statistics majors topped the list with an MCAT score of 511.6. Let’s go over how each of the majors fares when it comes to the MCAT.

• Math and statistics – 511.6
• Physical sciences – 509.6
• Humanities – 508.8
• Biological sciences – 506.3
• Social sciences – 505.8
• Other majors – 505.3
• Health sciences – 504.0

There is a considerable difference in average MCAT scores across these majors, with over 7 points separating math and statistics from health sciences. Keep in mind this is MCAT score data based on applicants, not matriculants, but as a premed, your goal is to get accepted into medical school.

In terms of acceptance rates, math and statistics top the list at 57.3%, followed by the humanities, and then the physical sciences.

• Biological sciences – 42.0
• Humanities – 51.9
• Math and statistics – 57.3
• Other majors – 40.7
• Physical sciences – 51.3
• Social sciences – 42.3
• Health sciences –  40.3

Interestingly, biological sciences is in the middle of the road in terms of acceptance despite being by far the most popular major for premeds. Does this mean simply choosing the humanities or the physical sciences will increase your chances of acceptance? Not exactly.

So, how should we interpret this data when choosing a premed major?

Which Is the Best Premed Major to Get Into Medical School?

First, correlation does not equal causation. Just because students in certain majors scored higher on the MCAT or were accepted more often doesn’t mean their major was what made the difference. There’s a great deal going on behind the scenes.

Theory 1: Certain Majors Prepare You Better

It’s sometimes suggested that students majoring in the humanities may have higher MCAT scores because they’re better prepared for the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS) section, which is arguably the most difficult to improve rapidly.

But when you look at the data, this explanation falls short. Math and statistics majors actually scored highest on CARS, but humanities majors were only 0.1 points behind—quite a minuscule margin.

Following this logic, you’d expect biological science majors to score highest on the bio section of the MCAT. But that’s not the case. In fact, bio majors score right on average with everyone else, and it’s actually math and statistics majors who score highest. Do physical sciences majors score the highest on the chemical and physical section? Nope, it’s once again the math majors who take the lead.

Taking a step back, we can notice two interesting trends. First, students majoring in humanities, math, and physical sciences dominated multiple MCAT sections and had the highest medical school acceptance rates by a significant margin. Second, students majoring in health sciences, social sciences, and other majors scored lower on the MCAT and had the lowest acceptance rates.

Theory 2: Survivorship Bias

I’d argue that the reason we see these trends has little to do with the major itself. Rather, across the large pool of medical school applicants, we’re seeing a survivorship bias toward highly ambitious and driven students.

Biological sciences are the default premed major because it’s the most straightforward path. Most medical school prerequisites overlap well with the courses required for a biological science major. For that reason, over 50% of premeds default to biology. And that’s where things get interesting.

On average, it’s an easier route. If a premed chooses a biological science major, they’re more likely to apply to medical school because there are fewer obstacles to achieving that goal.

On the other hand, the less than 1% of premeds who major in mathematics or statistics are working an uphill battle. You need to not only complete your full course requirements for math, but also fulfill two years’ worth of medical school prerequisites on top of that. For this reason, those who choose this path and actually apply to medical school must really want it.

Remember, this path is more difficult, so a higher percentage of those who choose it will likely fall short. They’ll simply never get to the point of applying to medical school. That’s the survivorship bias in action. We only see the successful fraction that made it all the way through—those who were truly committed.

This also explains why students in specialized health sciences fare worse. They’re essentially the opposite of the math majors. Some students who choose nursing or physical therapy may view medicine as a more challenging goal. They’d like to do it, but they aren’t fully committed. After all, they have a solid backup option in the healthcare industry.

How to Choose the Best Major for You

So even after looking at the data, we still don’t have a clear answer to the question: What is the best premed major? Let’s consider other factors and actionable advice to help you choose the best path for you.

Consideration 1: A Straightforward & Streamlined Path

If your top priority is getting into medical school, I recommend pursuing a major in biological sciences, particularly one that interests you. The requirements for your major will overlap nicely with your medical school prerequisite courses, and you’ll hopefully be studying something that is of interest to you. After all, you want to be a doctor and study the human body.

Consideration 2: Prioritize Something You’re Interested In

If you want to be a doctor, there should be at least one biological science major that is of interest to you. If you despise all bio majors, then it’s time to seriously consider why you want to be a doctor.

That said, some students still prefer to pursue something else. After all, you have the rest of your career to study biology and the human body. For those students with a burning interest in political science, the humanities, art, or Asian history, by all means follow that passion.

Simply understand that it’ll be a bit more of an uphill battle for you, but it’s definitely not impossible. In fact, some medical schools prefer that you have a unique background and interests outside of medicine that you pursued. Your application will stand out, and you’ll have unique experiences to speak about in your application, personal statement, and interviews.

Consideration 3: Preparation for Medical School

Medical school is the toughest, most rigorous schooling in the world. Preparing for that process will only make the transition easier. For that reason, I suggest you consider majors that will prepare you in either subject matter or rigor. Or do what I did and choose a major that prepares you for both.

As a premed at UCLA, I chose neuroscience as my major. The brain, after all, is the sexiest organ in the human body and one of life’s greatest mysteries—it was something I was and still am deeply interested in. It was a biological science major, so the overlap with my prerequisites was nice. And finally, it was tough. In fact, during my time, neuroscience and bioengineering were considered the two most challenging premed majors.

By choosing a difficult path, I was able to hone my work ethic and learn a great deal about the nervous system, to far greater depth in some areas than what I would later cover in medical school. I learned so much about the brain and its anatomy as a neuroscience major that in medical school, setting the curve in my neuro and psych block came easily.

Choosing a Premed Major

Utilizing a combination of these strategies will help you choose the path that’s best for you. The data can only take you so far, and you may have unique interests and circumstances that lead you down a different path to medical school.

Remember, statistics apply to populations, not to individuals. Just because you’re a math major doesn’t mean you’ll do spectacularly, and just because you’re a bio major doesn’t mean you’re bound to be mediocre. Despite choosing neuroscience, a biological science, I ended up with a killer MCAT score and my pick of multiple top medical schools—several of which offered merit-based scholarships.

We go into more detail in our article: How to Choose a Premed Major in 5 Steps. The guide discusses different paths you might take, the benefits of an unconventional premed major, and additional factors that may help you make your final decision.