The University of California at Berkley boasts one the highest records for medical school acceptance. Their claim is that many students follow a bio-engineering major that equips them with a solid foundation for medical school. The course study for the bio-engineering major includes two years of chemistry, one year of physics, and one year of biology.
Duke University Medical School outlines courses that are required as a prerequisite to admissions. The list includes at least one semester in each; general chemistry, organic chemistry and bio-chemistry, biology, and physics. All science courses must include a lab. In addition to science courses calculus and statistics or bio-statistics are required. These are the major courses necessary for admission, leaving flexibility to fill the rest with non-science courses.
Harvard Medical School encourages a well rounded education that includes the humanities and social science. Course studies necessary for admissions include; one year of general biology, two years of chemistry, one year of physics, and one year of calculus. Students are encouraged to take 16 hours of humanities that can include literature, the arts, languages and social sciences.
The University School of Medicine at Pennsylvania student profile on new admissions showed greater than 30 percent were from non-science backgrounds. Other colleges that are looking for non-science majors are Wesleyan University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
It will take time for more humanities or social science majors to realize admissions to medical schools are a possibility. As it stands today medical schools admitted predominately science majors. Harvard Medical School that encourages more humanities still admits more science majors than any other. In 2008, 56 percent of admissions were biological science majors that included biology, microbiology and zoology. Admissions from the physical science and non-science majors were both 16 percent. Remaining majors were from mixed disciplines. In addition to course study, most colleges encourage community service and require above average grade point averages.