Understanding the requirements of medical schools is crucial when planning your college courses. As a pre-medical student, you know that you have to work harder than all of your university peers, except, perhaps, engineering students. In addition to meeting the notoriously difficult medical school prerequisites, often referred to as “weeding classes”, you must pursue multi-year extracurricular activities, such as research, medical monitoring, clinical volunteering, and community service. Beyond that, you should develop close relationships with teachers and mentors to eventually get strong letters of recommendation for medical school.
In addition, you have to get good results in several exams, such as the dreaded MCAT and the new Casper, as well as write incredible application essays. While it's difficult to meet all of these medical school requirements, the worst part is that the schools' expectations are different. What satisfies one medical school may not satisfy another. In addition, some expectations, such as research, are not explicitly stated.
Even the Macao SAR, the best-organized and up-to-date source of individual medical school requirements, can only list what a school officially offers. Everything can be very confusing and overwhelming. Maybe if you knew the undergraduate requirements for medical school, you would plan properly in advance. This resource, along with our guide on how to get into medical school, was created to demystify everything you need to complete medical school. If you follow the guidelines listed below, you will meet the requirements of all medical schools and be eligible to apply to the widest range of programs:
- What degree do you need to enter medical school? Every EE.
UU., Medical school requires the completion of a four-year degree from an accredited college or university.
- It doesn't matter if your degree is a Bachelor of Arts (B. A.).
- In addition, you must earn your four-year degree before enrolling in medical school.
- Some students choose to pursue graduate degrees before enrolling in medical school, such as a Master of Public Health (MPH) or a Special Master's program (SMP), but no advanced degrees are required.
- Medical school prerequisites vary the most from school to school.
- Two years of chemistry through organic chemistry.
- One year of biology with laboratory.
- One year of general chemistry with laboratory.
- One year of organic chemistry with laboratory.
- One semester of biochemistry.
- One year of physics with laboratory.
- One year of English.
As with your degree, you must complete your medical school prerequisites before enrolling in medical school. In other words, you can apply to medical school even if you have some pending prior courses to complete. As long as you finish them all before enrolling, you'll be fine. Keep in mind that AP credits, even if accepted by your undergraduate institution, may not meet the requirements of certain medical schools.
Therefore, you should research the websites of the schools that interest you most so that you don't get caught off guard if you miss courses during the application cycle. When it comes to medical school requirements, your exact schedule is irrelevant. However, for the best chance of successfully enrolling and getting your white coat, you'll want to follow a carefully planned schedule. There are two main reasons to pay close attention to your schedule:
- The premedical path is extremely challenging compared to high school.
- The best time to take the MCAT is between the second and third year.
Unless you're planning to take a sabbatical year, it's a good idea to organize your course schedule around the MCAT. Your pre-medical specialty doesn't matter when it comes to medical school admissions. As long as you complete all the prerequisites for medical school, you can specialize in anthropology, biology, chemistry, English, history or physics. Most colleges and universities don't offer a separate pre-medical specialization; therefore it's not expected or required.
In addition there is no such thing as the best pre-medicine specialty; all else being equal a major in English with an overall GPA of 3.8 and a GPA in science of 3.7 will be just as competitive for an applicant as a major in biochemistry with the same statistics. Therefore prioritize specialization in an area of interest one in which you feel you could get good results.
