Hi there, I'm looking for advice about something I'm considering doing regarding medical school prerequisites. There's a growing number of schools (19 MD programs that I know of) that don't require completion of any specific courses, just competency in core areas. Right now, I'm a Junior psychology undergrad with a minor in biology (3.9 GPA), but I haven't taken many courses in chemistry or physics. My thought is to complete the undergrad track I'm on, but study the chemistry and physics that's expected of medical students through other routes (probably tutoring). As for other relevant application details, I'm starting research with a cell biologist at my university this summer and will continue to with him until I graduate next year; I've also been TAing in the biology department all year, and have an opportunity to shadow a doctor this summer as well. I would apply only to medical schools that don't require prerequisites and see what happens. Any thoughts? More importantly, do you know anyone who has or plans to do something similar? And before you ask, the reason I'm not simply completing the prerequisites is because I dual-enrolled in high school before I had a clue what I wanted to do for a career, and by the time I figured it out in college, I had too many credits to change tracks. Thanks in advance!
Non traditional prerequisites
- Thread starter ranne13
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2011
- Messages
- 28,435
- Reaction score
- 54,191
I only have 15. Would you care to share?
East Tennessee State, The Medical University of South Carolina ( In Charleston not Columbia), USC, University of Virginia, Stanford, Tulane, UCSD, U of Cincinnati, SIU, Rush, Einstein, U of Chicago, NYU, U Conn, Hofstra.
As you can see, some of these have a strong preference for IS and many of the rest are pretty hard to crack at any score...
East Tennessee State, The Medical University of South Carolina ( In Charleston not Columbia), USC, University of Virginia, Stanford, Tulane, UCSD, U of Cincinnati, SIU, Rush, Einstein, U of Chicago, NYU, U Conn, Hofstra.
As you can see, some of these have a strong preference for IS and many of the rest are pretty hard to crack at any score...
Here's my list:
Wake Forest
Vanderbilt
USC Keck
Stanford
Rush Medical College
Southern Illinois
Tulane
Albert Einstein
Hofstra
NYU
University of Cincinnati
Drexel
University of Pennsylvania
Sydney Kimmel
University of South Carolina
University of Virginia
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
Duke
I'm aware that they're all pretty competitive!
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2011
- Messages
- 28,435
- Reaction score
- 54,191
That's 23. About a dozen of them could be within your reach with an MCAT of 517 or better.
Last edited by a moderator:
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2014
- Messages
- 2,140
- Reaction score
- 2,321
I really would advise against this route. While a school may not "require" an applicant to take all of the pre-med classes, the vast majority of your competition will. Additionally, the MCAT will be that much more significant for you; especially if you do not do well you won't have your sGPA (with o chem) to fall back on. If you were an ADCOM would you admit the student with a proven track record in all of the pre-med classes over several years of work or go with the student who performed well on one test?
Thanks for your opinion. My other thought is to do a post-bac program after I graduate but the only ones I've seen tend to be aimed at students with poor academic records and are also extremely expensive. Do you know of any that are more for career changers or something like that, particularly at an affordable school?
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2016
- Messages
- 384
- Reaction score
- 601
I would highly advise against this route as well, these are some VERY VERY strong programs. Those that are not public are still very highly ranked research universities (UVA + UM too). If you're able to get 1-2 high impact publications maybe go this way (+ all the other ECs to a very competitive level), otherwise it's pretty risky even with a high MCAT score. Maybe instead of post-bac find a cheap in-state public university close to home and in 1 year finish up the other core classes you cannot complete.
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2010
- Messages
- 72,621
- Reaction score
- 115,665
Post-bacs are a dime-a-dozen. Do you want to take one for academic enhancement, or to show that you can handle med school (the two are not always the same). For the latter, try an SMP.
Or do a DIY post-bac.
Or do a DIY post-bac.
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2014
- Messages
- 2,140
- Reaction score
- 2,321
My guess is you are looking at advertised post-bac programs that charge fairly high tuition. You can do a post bac at most universities (extension school, night classes, or enroll as a second degree/post bac student). Your best bet is to take a look at local universities in your area and find out how to take classes. For example, in my area there are 7 universities (4 offer night classes and 2 have weekend classes). In order to sign up for classes I brought it my transcripts and was registered in less than 20 minutes.
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2015
- Messages
- 93
- Reaction score
- 13
I'm confused about this thread. There are schools that require no specific science pre-reqs, just a college degree and mcat?
Not that I would want to do this, but am I reading this wrong?
Not that I would want to do this, but am I reading this wrong?
You're not reading it wrong; there actually are respected medical schools that aren't looking for specific courses, just competency in relevant areas. Look up any one of the schools mentioned above and you'll see what they expect of their applicants.
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2015
- Messages
- 93
- Reaction score
- 13
Does anyone actually get accepted without all the regular prereqs? Or is it for the dean's neice who doesn't feel like taking physics?
Ha, although I'm sure some of that happens, I emailed several of those schools and asked if they had accepted applicants this cycle who hadn't taken the prerequisites and they all said they had, but the applications/experiences/MCATs had been stellar. I think the admission committees are just acknowledging that it doesn't really matter if you take the prerequisites as long as you can demonstrate that you know the material and can do well academically.
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2015
- Messages
- 93
- Reaction score
- 13
OK, so it's more for the person who's maybe missing a couple, not for the 4.0 art history major.
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2009
- Messages
- 8,536
- Reaction score
- 7,760
somehow, one way or another, people still need to have mastery of the pre req content even if its just for MCAT purposes. I think the intent is probably to give people a bit more flexibility and diversify educational backgrounds somewhat.
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2011
- Messages
- 885
- Reaction score
- 361
These MD schools are very competitive and have high average MCAT scores with a bunch being top tier schools. you really can't perform well on the MCAT without a solid understanding of the pre-reqs. the 4.0 art history major probably wouldn't be able to score 90th+ percentile on the MCAT without ever having taken a science class..
I think that this is more of a move towards requiring competency but not specific pre-reqs and that's a good thing. Some schools are recognizing that having very strict rules about pre-reqs may not be necessary. for example, someone I know did awesome on the MCAT, has a strong science background and overall very strong app - got into multiple top 25 schools. he never took general physics, but did take other classes in the physics department. some schools he got into specifically required a year of general physics, whereas others were willing to accept the physics courses he did take. based on his MCAT alone he had competency in physics. it's kind of silly to make someone take an extra year of general physics but some of the schools with very strict pre-reqs will do that.
Last edited:
