Applying to medical schools without prerequisites

[ranne13]

Hi there,
I'm considering doing something risky and possibly just stupid, but I'd like other's informed opinions on it anyway. I'm a Junior psychology major minoring in biology, and I'm interested in attending medical school. However, I don't plan on completing most of the standard prerequisites. There is a group of about 15 medical schools (including Tulane, Vanderbilt, and Keck) that are now accepting applications without any specific undergrad course work. They obviously expect high GPAs and MCAT scores, good recommendations, etc. but they don't require specific classes. My plan is to finish my undergraduate degree without taking those courses, study chemistry, biochemistry, and physics on my own to prepare for the MCAT, then apply to all of these schools afterward. I'm totally aware that I might not get accepted anywhere. My questions are: do you know of anyone who has done this or anything similar? Do you think that these schools actually mean it, or are you still more likely to get in if you took the prerequisites, even if the rest of your application was great? Are standard prerequisite courses essential to doing well on the MCAT, or can you teach yourself enough information to do well? Thank you for your advice!

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[mw18]

I'm interested in what people have to say. It will be more difficult to compare you without having similar classes, but undergraduate courseloads and rigor all vary widely. And I feel like the mcat is intended to be a bit of an equalizer.

My only guidance would be something you're already aware of, and that's that the trick to getting into med school is casting a wide net. Those particular schools may have no interest in you. I had the opportunity to visit some great schools to interview, but Vanderbilt and Keck weren't among them (and I applied, obviously.) It's a crapshoot already, so limiting yourself may not be wise.

 

[TheRhymenocerous]

That sounds like a really bad idea. The schools with "no requirements" generally still require competency in those areas.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

I'm not an expert on this by any means. But I've always been under the impression that the switch to "core competencies" rather than specific required courses was more a reflection of the fact that many different types of courses (including more interdisciplinary courses) can satisfy the recommendations for what pre-meds should learn. Even if you're studying the material yourself, you're not being formally evaluated on it in the form of a course grade. So how can schools really know how well you understand Physics and Chemistry? (And furthermore, how can you really know?) Even if GPA alone isn't a great assessment of your knowledge, schools need SOMETHING to assess. I'm honestly not sure if a great MCAT alone will suffice.

I also wonder why you're thinking of going this route. (And I imagine schools will wonder, too. You should probably have a better reason than simply, "I didn't want to take those courses.") I understand that the required coursework can be tedious... But I'd be careful here. Being a reapplicant isn't easy either.

 

[bee17]

Even if you could prove competency in these areas, how are you going to self-study chemistry for the MCAT if you've never taken a chem class? There is a lot of material in 2 1/2 years worth of chemistry classes!

 

[Lannister]

You need chemistry, biochemistry, and physics for the MCAT. ESPECIALLY biochemistry. I would highly highly recommend NOT self-studying, unless you're some kind of genius.

 

[Glandzburg]

Trying to take the MCAT without taking most of the pre-requisites sounds like a terrible idea. It will take a very long time to start from zero in these subjects.

 

[medic86]

This is a horrible idea.

 

[Lawpy]

You need chemistry, biochemistry, and physics for the MCAT. ESPECIALLY biochemistry. I would highly highly recommend NOT self-studying, unless you're some kind of genius.

And here I was thinking anyone can self-study biochem just by reading through Lehninger's and doing online practice quizzes. Didn't know you needed an actual professor to teach you biochem

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Hi there,
I'm considering doing something risky and possibly just stupid, but I'd like other's informed opinions on it anyway. I'm a Junior psychology major minoring in biology, and I'm interested in attending medical school. However, I don't plan on completing most of the standard prerequisites. There is a group of about 15 medical schools (including Tulane, Vanderbilt, and Keck) that are now accepting applications without any specific undergrad course work. They obviously expect high GPAs and MCAT scores, good recommendations, etc. but they don't require specific classes. My plan is to finish my undergraduate degree without taking those courses, study chemistry, biochemistry, and physics on my own to prepare for the MCAT, then apply to all of these schools afterward. I'm totally aware that I might not get accepted anywhere. My questions are: do you know of anyone who has done this or anything similar? Do you think that these schools actually mean it, or are you still more likely to get in if you took the prerequisites, even if the rest of your application was great? Are standard prerequisite courses essential to doing well on the MCAT, or can you teach yourself enough information to do well? Thank you for your advice!

why...

 

[Lawpy]

I'm interested in what people have to say. It will be more difficult to compare you without having similar classes, but undergraduate courseloads and rigor all vary widely. And I feel like the mcat is intended to be a bit of an equalizer.

My only guidance would be something you're already aware of, and that's that the trick to getting into med school is casting a wide net. Those particular schools may have no interest in you. I had the opportunity to visit some great schools to interview, but Vanderbilt and Keck weren't among them (and I applied, obviously.) It's a crapshoot already, so limiting yourself may not be wise.

What's there to say? The verdict is unanimous. Taking the actual course is better than self-studying even when the professors teaching them are incompetent or brutal.

 

[Spinach Dip]

If you do this, you are extremely unlikely to score well on the MCAT.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

Also, the schools that don't have prerequisites tend to be higher tier schools. They'll have their pick of applicants who have great stats because they crushed all of the typical prereqs... Not sure what incentive they'd have to take a gamble on someone who didn't even take the courses.

 

[SOMBound13]

Very short-sighted.

Unless your psych degree requires a minor, I suggest you drop the minor.

Which Bio classes have you taken so far?

Once you drop the minor req'ts, you'll have some room in schedule for the prereqs. To create MORE room, then take some psych requirements or non-premed reqts during the summer at a local CC or local state uni. Create some space in the next 5 semesters for the premed prereqs.

 

[Law2Doc]

First prerequisite by definition is required. Yes "they really mean it".

Second, yes most are important for the MCAT and very few people are capable of reaching themselves college level science from scratch. The one or two you might see on SDN who managed it are freaks.

Third, the prereqs are not only important because of the material, but because they are a common set of courses everyone takes, and can provide some metric for comparison. An Adcom may not have a clue how to compare an A in dance to an A in art history to an A in civil engineering, but they can certainly compare how those same people each did in bio or orgo. And some argue this is a better metric than the MCAT as one bad or good day creates a lot more variability.

So in short this is a foolish plan. There are rules to this game, and no shortcuts.

 

[BluMist]

for the sake of the argument, please try and report back with your experience.

I personally think it is possible self-study, but most likely you should not.
It comes down to:
1. self-discipline
2. studying method efficiency
3. access to studying material

 

[johnnytest]

This is could end really well or really badly. One could argue it's pointless to take courses in undergrad when you will either never use them in your medical career or you will be re-taught the material. The other side of the argument is it's easier to learn new concepts that build on previous ones you have already learned. Like others have said based on your discipline the MCAT is one of your biggest hurdles. If you can ace that and your GPA is high then your chances will greatly increase. But, you are also limiting yourself to a few schools in a process where you want to apply to the MOST schools possible. You may be asked in your interviews why you haven't taken these courses even though they don't require any. Physics won't really be used in med school. Chemistry to an extent. Biochemistry will be re-taught and is used heavily to understand the molecular and cellular processes in our body. Not to mention pharmacogenetics/kinetics. Anyway, I can't really see why you want to go down this route... cause I feel it's a gamble in a process where the odds seem to never be in your favor.

 

[piii]

Sounds like you're just trying to take short cuts. Medicine is not a career for short cuts. It doesn't reward people for finding loopholes or taking the easy way out.

 

[Dr. Death]

Sounds like you're just trying to take short cuts. Medicine is not a career for short cuts. It doesn't reward people for finding loopholes or taking the easy way out.

Agreed. Without knowing the IS OOS splits MCAT and GPAs of all of them off the top of my head I would say the school list alone is probably a poor choice.

 

[gyngyn]

I met a student at a conference this year who had a very similar plan. His gpa was low and his MCAT was lower than the 10th% for any of the schools with no pre-req's. Nevertheless he applied to all of them, and got no interviews. He misinterpreted the lack of required courses to mean that they didn't care about his competency in the sciences.

My reading of this is that these schools are not going to spell out each component of the preparation for medical school. They expect you to tailor a plan that meets your specific needs and prepares you for the rigors of medicine.

 

[Spector1]

you will likely get a polite rejection

 

[md-2020]

OP its probably not a great idea but if you do in fact go thru with this plz report back on how it went. I'll kindly disagree with the avalanche of "you need biochemistry classes for the new MCAT" posts, as I personally found self study more than sufficient(as did many other who applied this cycle).

If in fact a high GPA + good MCAT with no traditional coursework got you interviews, that'd honestly be really really cool.

I don't think that it will, though, if only BC there's piles of applicants with better #'s who did take everything

 

[Glazedonutlove]

OP its probably not a great idea but if you do in fact go thru with this plz report back on how it went. I'll kindly disagree with the avalanche of "you need biochemistry classes for the new MCAT" posts, as I personally found self study more than sufficient(as did many other who applied this cycle).

If in fact a high GPA + good MCAT with no traditional coursework got you interviews, that'd honestly be really really cool.

I don't think that it will, though, if only BC there's piles of applicants with better #'s who did take everything

some schools recommend a semester of biochemistry--most people are saying why not just take it before mcat to get a solid understanding

 

[bee17]

OP its probably not a great idea but if you do in fact go thru with this plz report back on how it went. I'll kindly disagree with the avalanche of "you need biochemistry classes for the new MCAT" posts, as I personally found self study more than sufficient(as did many other who applied this cycle).

If in fact a high GPA + good MCAT with no traditional coursework got you interviews, that'd honestly be really really cool.

I don't think that it will, though, if only BC there's piles of applicants with better #'s who did take everything

OP is considering self-studying not just biochem, but gen chem, orgo, and physics as well. If she manages to successfully do that, kudos to her. I still think it is extremely inadvisable. I'm also curious about labs. Do these schools not require evidence of basic laboratory training?

 

[SOMBound13]

I'm considering doing something risky and possibly just stupid

Rule of thumb: whenever you hear yourself saying those words....don't, just don't.