Prerequisites
You do not need to have completed all the required coursework prior to submitting your application, but acceptance to medical school is dependent upon completion of the following prerequisites at the time of matriculation:
Course and Minimum Semester Hours
- Chemistry (with laboratory) - 16 credits total
(Inorganic and qualitative - 8 credits)
(Organic - 8 credits*) - Biology (with laboratory) - 8 credits
- Physics (with laboratory) - 8 credits
- Psychology/Sociology - 3 credits
- Language Arts (English, Speech, etc.) - 6 credits
- College Algebra (or calculus or statistics) - 3 credits
*A student may substitute a semester or quarter of Biochemistry for the final semester/quarter of Organic Chemistry.
Recommended Coursework
- Biochemistry
- Genetics
- Anatomy and/or Physiology
- Cell Biology
AP/CLEP and Courses taken several years ago
We accept AP/community college/CLEP courses on a case-by-case basis, and the decision depends on the context of the overall file. If you have some of these courses on your transcript, we would prefer to see some upper-level courses taken at the four-year university level. The goal of the prerequisites is to ensure that you are ready for the rigors of medical school. Contact the Student Affairs office as soon as possible if you are uncertain if your coursework meets our criteria.
Also, there is no timeline for when prerequisite courses must be taken. The goal of prerequisites is to prepare you for the MCAT and the rigors of medical school. Some applicants find that they need to retake some science courses before launching into a medical school curriculum.