Medical Education US

Medical school requirements seems to be the most common topic for questions and issues on this website and my former website. So - here's the information most people sought:

Q. What classes do I need to take in college to go to medical schoool?

A. Most medical schools have the same basic requirements:

1 year physics
1 year general chemistry
1 year biology
1 year organic chemistry
1 year english

The above classes are sometimes referred to as the "pre-med requirements". Those students who are "pre-med" are going to take the above classes. See below about majors.

A few medical schools also require calculus. You can usually find out what the requirements are for any specific school by looking at that medical school's website. There is also a book, Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR), which gives the specific requirements for each medical school. I know that my college had a copy of it in the library, and my guess is that would be true for most colleges.

Q. What is the MCAT?

A. Medical College Admissions Test. For those that like the SAT's (at least from when I took it):

SAT : MCAT :: College : Medical School

For those who don't care for the SAT's, the MCAT is the test you take to get into medical school. Almost all medical schools require the MCAT. It is a multiple choice test (with an essay section) in the areas of biological sciences, physical sciences, verbal reasoning, and a writing sample. Each section (except the writing sample) is scored from 1 to 15, with 15 being best. The courses mentioned above are basically what the MCAT tests on. You can often find out what the average MCAT scores were for people who got into a specific medical school. Great MCAT scores alone will never get you into medical school (but they do help). Bad MCAT scores can probably keep you out of medical school.

Q. What should I major in? Do I major in 'pre-med'?

A. First off, there is no such major as 'pre-med'. Pre-med is a term which refers to students who are planning on going to medical school and therefore take the classes required for medical school. You can major in any field and be pre-med if you took the above classes and are planning on going to medical school. As to what any specific person should major in, the general advice I've heard is that you should major in what you find most interesting to you. Medical schools don't select applicants based on their majors. You will find more doctors that majored in the sciences, just by the nature of the people that become doctors. Also, if you take all of the pre-med courses, you will be close to having completed a major in biology or chemistry. Once you are in medical school, though, you will be taking all of the science courses that you could possibly want. Take advantage of the courses that are offered at your college that you won't have a chance to take again later in life. I've known doctors who major in just about every field imaginable - from philosophy to religion to music to physics. Take what is interesting, as long as you take all the pre-med requirements.

Q. What GPA do I need to get into medical school?

A. I have never heard of a particular GPA that will keep a person out of medical school, or any particular number of bad grades that will keep you out, but the more C's you get, the more unlikely it becomes you will get into a medical school. I'd say that the closer you get to a 3.0, the more difficult it becomes as well. Most people probably have GPA's around the 3.5 range or better. Generally, I'd say that the worse your MCAT scores are, the better your GPA would have to be. Better MCAT scores definitely seem to help lower GPA's.

Q. What MCAT score do I need to get into medical school?

A. Similar to the GPA question, there is no definite answer. I'd say most people have 10's to 12's but some people have 8's and 9's and may still get into medical school.

Just to give some more specific statistics, based on this page from University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign's website, in 2003 they give some of the averages for MCATs and GPAs for the Illinois schools.

Northwestern: 6800 applicants, 660 interviewed, 170 accepted. GPA avg=3.7, MCAT avg=11
Rush: 3700 applicants, 475 interviewed, 120 accepted. GPA avg=3.55, MCAT avg=10
Chicago Medical School: 6000 apps, 617 interviewed, 189 accepted. GPA=3.3, MCAT=28
Univ of Chicago: 3780 apps, 500 interviewed, 104 accepted. GPA=3.6, MCAT=10.8
Loyola: 6300 apps, 600 interviews, 130 accepted. GPA=3.61. MCAT=10
Southern Illinois: 1000 apps, 250 interviewed, 72 accepted. GPA=3.5, MCAT=30
Univ of Illinois: 4000 apps, 740 interviewed, 300 accepted. GPA=3.56, MCAT=30

Q. What other factors are there in getting accepted into medical school?

A. I'd have to say that GPA and MCAT scores account for a large majority of what admissions boards look into when deciding whether you would get an interview. Based on what I've heard, the other factors are - what school you went to for undergraduate (some schools have a reputation of having much more rigorous pre-med courses than others), extracurricular activities, research experience, letters of recommendation, volunteer experience, and just plain other factors. Additionally, if you have a problem on your transcript, you'd better have a good explanation as to why it happened and how you will make sure something like that doesn't happen again.

For the time being - that should be a start. Feel free to ask your questions and I'll do my best to answer.

Does the one year of biology mean Bio I and II, or can anatomy/physiology take the place of Bio II?

nikki9822 wrote:Does the one year of biology mean Bio I and II, or can anatomy/physiology take the place of Bio II?

Medical schools typically expect it to be Bio I and II - with a lab to go along with it. Same with General Chemistry I and II (with lab). At decent colleges, these are often "weed out" classes that tend to be fairly demanding.

I was just wondering if I will still be able to get into medical school if I received a letter grade of a D for physics II and organic I but took them over and received an A or B the second time around? I will really appreciate if you answered my question. Thank you.

Cristy,

Getting D's in the pre-med courses is definitely a problem. If you retook them and got A's, and your other grades are all decent (meaning your overall GPA is over 3.5), then I think you could potentially still get into a medical school. I would also think you would need to have a good explanation as to why your grades were so low. I think it also depends on what college you are attending, what your MCAT scores are, and how you did in your other classes.

doest it matter what school you go to for your undergraduate? i mean does it matter if you go to UC's or CSU's ? if you can please answer this thanks

Arzo,

I assume by UC you mean Univ of California, and by CSU you maybe mean Colorado State.

I would say the college you go to, assuming it is a full four year college, won't make that much difference to most medical school admission boards. It probably does make a difference if you are applying to one of the very elite medical schools, such as Harvard. You do want to make sure the college does have a pre-med track - their basic science courses need to be sufficient to meet the requirements of someone who is applying to medical school.

Thank you so much for the information

I am an RN. I have been a nurse for three years and I have decided to try to go to medical school. My current GPA is a 3.31. I had a D in pharmacology when I was in nursing school but I did retake it. I will be transferring to Mississippi State University this Fall from a community college. I have had an A in all of my classes since returning to school. Do you have any advice for me?

kdobbsrn,

I think it is very promising that you have gotten all A's since returning to school. You should be prepared to have a good explanation why you got a D in pharmacology the first time through. I think that you will have a much better idea of your chances of getting into medical school once you start taking the pre-med classes at a four year college. If you find that you do well in the pre-med science classes, then medical school may be the right fit for you. Those classes will be much more challenging than the classes you've taken at a community college. I wish you luck.

Hi. Just curious. I am currently enrolled at Ohio Northern University in the Pharmacy college which is a direct entry 0-6 year PharmD program and have a GPA of 3.15 and am involved in many extra cirriculars and also have lots of volunteer experience. However, several of my credit hours have been transferred into ONU from the post-secondary option in high school as well as a few others including OChem and religion. Is medical school a likely option for me?

Hey. Ok so, I have had a rough year. I went through a traumatic experience this year and it took a toll on my academic performance. I got a D in bio and then did a withdraw for the second bio course. I go to an ivy and its ridiculously hard for me so I was thinking about just doing my regular double major and then doing post back at a regular university. I think that that way I will have a higher GPA as an undergrad and then have a good science GPA doing the post back. Any input? I'm not sure if I should just follow through with the premed or take time off from it until postback and just take them all at once at an easier school?

hello, i was just wondering if honors classes at a community college would be worth taking to make my chances of getting into medical school better. and also do letters of recomendation and becoming a teachers assistant in community college matter?

mandarynka,

I think your plan is reasonable, although I don't have experience to know if post bacc programs are really going to be any easier than your pre-med courses at an IVY league school. The path you are suggesting makes sense if you can be fairly sure you will do well in a post-bacc program. Was the class hard because of your school, or because the material is hard to learn no matter what school you attend? Make sure you aren't just putting off finding out that medical school is not a good fit for you.

jamil,

I think doing extra things at a community college, while maybe helpful, are not nearly as important as doing well in pre-med level science classes. In my opinion, the two most important factors in getting into medical school are GPA (both science and non-science) and MCAT scores. I doubt the things you are suggesting will make a significant difference in getting into medical school or not.