Outstanding Prerequisites

[scrawnyguy]

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This question is geared more towards those that have already been accepted to a program. Do admission boards frown on having outstanding prerequisites at the time of the deadline? I know most schools allow you to have two or three courses outstanding but is it a huge detriment? I'm looking at my schedule now and it will be difficult or even impossible to get all of my coursework done by the deadline (I'm applying next year by the way).

 

[Hillary2017]

When I submitted my application, I only had three of ten pre-requisites complete (with three in progress and four planned). They recommended that six of ten be complete. Other programs I looked into were very firm about requiring that X number of their pre-reqs be finished by the application deadlines.

I would suggest reading admissions information to see whether your programs require or recommend that so many pre-reqs be complete. If you're ever unsure, go to an information session if possible or call the admissions offices.

 

[abugslife123]

Some schools that I have looked at require that you have no more than X amount of prerequisites outstanding. Every school is different though so I would recommend getting into contact with admissions personal at the schools you're interested in and ask how many outstanding prerequisites you're allowed to have to apply/be considered. However, I'm really not sure as to whether this negatively impacts your application. I'm going to go ahead and assume that other factors are much more important (cGPA, sGPA, GRE, essay, etc.) than how many prerequisites you have yet to complete.

IMO, you shouldn't be too worried about it.

 

[hopefulapplicant]

At the time of the deadline I had 4 outstanding pre-reqs for majority of the schools I applied while one school I had 5 and another I had 6. I was accepted into both the schools that I had 5 and 6 outstanding. I was asked to interview at 4 schools while having 4 outstanding, and waitlisted at those. Although it's not looked highly upon, it won't deter you. Just check schools for their required number of outstanding classes. Also the academic update occurs after the fall semester so you will have those prereqs done for the grad schools to see. Best of luck to you!!

 

[scrawnyguy]

Thanks, everyone. That puts my mind at ease a bit. At this point I will probably have 2 courses outstanding when I apply, which is the max for my program. I might be able to fit in a night class next fall which would just leave one semester of Chem to complete next spring. Still a long way to go.

 

[Bambros]

Does anyone know if schools are ever flexible on X amount of courses outstanding. I am in the same boat and have contacted most of the programs that I plan to attend, but I know NYU requires more then I will have completed.

Also I plan to retake A&P because my courses did not include a lab (although I got very good grades in both courses). Do you think this will count as an outstanding course?