Pre-Med Requirements

To be eligible for admission to medical school, you must have completed the following college courses. The required "pre-med" classes are as follows:

• A year of Biology with laboratory
• A year of General Chemistry with laboratory
• A year of Organic Chemistry with laboratory
• A year of Physics with laboratory
• A year of Calculus or other advanced Math
• A year of English

In addition, many schools require a certain number of credits in non-science classes. Less common are the schools that have more specific requirements such as coursework in Behavioral Sciences (Psychology), Philosophy, etc. Consult particular medical schools to find out the specifics.

The MCAT:

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a standardized, multiple-choice examination designed to assist admission committees in predicting which of their applicants will perform adequately in the medical school curriculum. The test assesses problem solving, critical thinking, and writing skills in addition to the examinee's knowledge of science concepts and principles prerequisite to the study of medicine. The MCAT is scored in each of the following areas: Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, Writing Sample, and Biological Sciences.

The Verbal, Physical and Biological Sciences sections of the MCAT are all-multiple choice and each section is graded on a scale of 1-15. The maximum score you can get on all three sections therefore is 45. Few people get above 34 combined, so theoretically 11.5 should get you into top schools. Anything 10 and above in each section (for a total of 30) is a very competitive score. Average scores less than 9 per section (for a combined score of less than 27) makes your life much harder and even though people do get in--the odds are against you. There are exceptions to this rule and other factors such as GPA, research experience, hospital volunteering, etc. play role in admissions.

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