Pre Reqs

[victorias]

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Do med schools look at how long ago pre reqs were completed?
I am a non trad student, so some of the first year pre reqs are from a few years ago.
Would I need to retake them?

 

[BatmanMD75]

From what I understand, if your prereqs are greater than 5 years old, they want you to bridge that gap with either a post-bacc program or a Masters. I'm in the same boat, and have researched it extensively.

 

[victorias]

From what I understand, if your prereqs are greater than 5 years old, they want you to bridge that gap with either a post-bacc program or a Masters. I'm in the same boat, and have researched it extensively.

I have completed my masters in 2014. Would that be okay?

 

[CyrilFiggis]

From what I understand, if your prereqs are greater than 5 years old, they want you to bridge that gap with either a post-bacc program or a Masters. I'm in the same boat, and have researched it extensively.

That's a little too absolute. What I would say that 5 years beyond your initial degree or other prereq mechanism, schools want to see some evidence of recent academic work in the sciences. That does not mean a full post-bacc or masters. However, that is by no means a hard and fast rule across schools. There are some that still say 10 years and most say nothing on the topic other than a vague recent work or academic ability. As one of favorite lines from Month Python says "Its all rather confusing really."

Agree with Gonnif. I was able to use AP credit from 2004 and Stats from 2007 for admissions when I applied in 2015. The problem is there are more exceptions than standards. This is true not only for grades but also EC's.

 

[victorias]

I think perhaps a better way to think about this is how prepared your existing and older coursework has made you for the MCAT? Is your general bio very out of date? are your rusty on your gen chem? do you remember your physics? Have you ever had Biochem. If you had solid prereq grades from sometime ago, and can prepare and, most importantly, do well on the MCAT, then your older coursework is likely to pass muster.

Thanks!

So this is an issue - I completed BIO 101 in 2006. I have since done many upper level biology courses and even a masters degree in biology. I took the MCAT in January 2017 and scored well on the bio section. However, when I contacted Boston University, I was told that I will need to retake my BIO 101 since they only consider courses upto 10 years old.

I am at a point in my academic career where I can go do a PhD in Biology, there is no way am I going back to do first year biology course at an undergrad level (bit of a rant here).

 

[liked]

That's a little too absolute. For the past 15-20 years, every time I seem to have some accepted pattern among the schools, something else comes up. What I would say that 5 years beyond your initial degree or other prereq mechanism, schools want to see some evidence of recent academic work in the sciences. That does not mean a full post-bacc or masters. However, that is by no means a hard and fast rule across schools. There are some that still say 10 years and most say nothing on the topic other than a vague recent work or academic ability. This is even muddled as schools are moving from specific prereqs to core competencies and thus the issue becomes even more diffuse. As one of favorite lines from Month Python says "Its all rather confusing really."

Makes sense thanks for the post