3 years of undergraduate coursework required.

[businessguy]

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One of the requirements for med schools is that 3 years of undergraduate coursework be completed prior to matriculation. Are the chances of admission any better if you have completed your degree?

ie. Someone applying at the end of there 2nd year of undergrad and then matriculating after their 3rd year. vs. Someone applying after their 3rd year of undergrad and then matriculating after their 4th year.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Your best chance is to apply with the intentions of graduating(3rd year of course work) or having a bachelor's degree already. Your science GPA and overall GPA is what matters not whether you already completed your degree or are in your third year. If you graduated with honors then of course it is hard to beat that.

Some if not most schools require at least a bachelor's degree for admissions so you would be taking yourself out of the running for those schools if applying after 2nd year.

 

[Boxer1]

One of the requirements for med schools is that 3 years of undergraduate coursework be completed prior to matriculation. Are the chances of admission any better if you have completed your degree?

ie. Someone applying at the end of there 2nd year of undergrad and then matriculating after their 3rd year. vs. Someone applying after their 3rd year of undergrad and then matriculating after their 4th year.

This is strictly my opinion, I don't know of any solid data on the subject, but I think you would have a much better chance of getting accepted if you were on track to complete your degree. That being said, if you applied to the right places and your stats were good, you could probably get in somewhere.

The other question you need to ask yourself is about how prepared you are for med school. Succeeding in med school isn't rocket science, but it can be very challenging. In my experience, taking senior and graduate level courses my last year of undergrad was beneficial for me. I feel like it really helped me be ready for the rigors of my first year of medical school. That being said, if you're intelligent and hard working, you may be able to handle med school level courses just fine.

 

[ihopetobeado2]

I know of someone who applied to medical schools at the end of his sophomore year of college. He was summarily laughed at by the schools he applied to and was rejected by all pre-secondary. He had competitive statistics (3.9 GPA, 29 MCAT), but was told that the "only three years of college needed" guideline was archaic, dating back to the 1950's and 1960's. Because of the greater attainablity of bachelor's degrees today, he was told the only real reason why this guideline still remains is to allow a loophole for the now dwindling BS-MD combined programs. I think all of the early assurance programs at osteopathic schools require everyone in them to graduate with a minimum GPA and mimimum MCAT subscores before they are allowed to enter medical school