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Required Pre-Requisite Courses For Medical School Ten-Year Summary of Previous Applicants Veterinary Application Process
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Frequently
Asked Questions Must I become a science major in order to apply to medical or other health professional schools? What is the typical profile of a successful medical school candidate? How do I become a "premed" student? What courses should I take as a freshman? Are AP courses considered? Can I still become a "premed" if I decide after my freshman year? What should I take in the spring if I'm pre-med and did my first semester in London? Can I take some of my requirements in summer school? If I do not receive A’s and B’s in my science courses, can I still get into medical school? I am planning to transfer at the end of my sophomore year. Will this cause any problems? What statistics course should I take if I am pre-vet? What factors will medical schools consider for admission? How can I get "experience which familiarizes me with medicine?" Are there MCAT and AMCAS-type services for other health professions? What is the difference between Osteopathic and Allopathic Medicine? If I don’t get into an American medical school, should I apply to a foreign medical school? How do medical schools define "minority" status? Where can I obtain additional information about medical schools? Are there any Early Assurance/Acceptance Programs available? Can I complete the pre-med curriculum and also spend a semester studying abroad? What are the pros and cons of post-baccalaureate programs for the health professions? When should I apply to medical school and how do I go about it? What type of letter should I select on the AMCAS application? What is a "Multiple Mini Interview?" Are there scholarships available for medical school? Who are the Health Profession Advisors? Must I become a science major in order to apply to medical or other health professional schools? NO. You may major in any subject you wish. However, it is essential that you complete at least the minimum required science courses before you apply, and before you take the admissions exam based on those courses. At Skidmore the minimum required courses include two years of chemistry through organic (CH 105, CH 106 or CH 107, CH 207 [Honors Track], CH 221 and CH 222), one year of biology with lab (BI 105, BI 106), a year of physics with lab (PY 207, PY 208), a year of calculus (MA 111, MA 113), and a year of English (EN 105 plus another English or writing intensive course). In addition, the admissions exam may presuppose additional courses. The AAMC specifies that the science and mathematics courses "should be rigorous and, in general, acceptable for students majoring in those areas." There is no official, required, or recommended pre-med major. This is clearly stated in the Medical School Admissions Requirements Guide published by the American Medical Colleges: "No medical school requires a specific major of its applicants or matriculants. Admissions committee members are aware that medical students can develop the essential skills of acquiring, synthesizing, applying and communicating information through a wide variety of academic disciplines. Nevertheless, many premedical students choose to major in a scientific disciipline. Ideally, they do so because they are fascinated by science and perceive that such a major can be the foundation for a variety of career options. Choosing science based primarily on enhancing one's chances for admission to medical school is not in a student's long-term best interest. Medical school admission committees seek students whose intellectual curiosity leads them to a variety of disciplines and whose intellectual maturity assures that their efforts are persistent and disciplined." (American Association of Medical College's Medical School Admissions Requirements for 2008-2009, page 11). Skidmore's pre-med students' choices of majors reflect the national averages. At Skidmore and nationally, about 80% of pre-meds are science majors. At Skidmore, the others represent majors in 14 different disciplines. A student's major makes very little difference in their chance of getting into medical school. Nationally the acceptance rate to medical school is higher for non-science majors than for science majors. (GPA (3.5+) and MCAT are the main criteria, plus interviews, letters of recommendation, extra-co-curricular activities, and research experience. At Skidmore, over the past ten years, almost every pre-med student with a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and MCAT scores of 27 or higher, was admitted to medical school regardless of their major. The MCAT is largely content based, and includes only first and second year biology, chemistry and physics. Additional course work in the sciences is useful for the MCATs and medical school preparation, but not required. Most useful would probably be biochemistry and courses in molecular biology, physiology, microbiology and genetics. The most common recommendations beyond the required courses listed by medical schools when they specify any at all, include biochemistry, physiology, genetics, molecular biology, statistics, courses in the humanities and social sciences, any additional science courses, additional English, depending on the school. Many list none and many state that the area of concentration is not as important as demonstrating academic excellence in the area chosen. [top]
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Ideally, you should select BI 105, CH 105 or CH 107, (Honors Track), MA 111 and First-Year Seminar during the fall semester. Follow these with BI 106, CH 106 (or CH 207 Honors Track), MA 113 and an English course during the spring semester. These are the recommended courses to take in preparation for medical, veterinary, dental and physicians' assistant schools and most other health professions. You should meet with a member of the Health Professions Advisory Committee before registration each semester to determine the most appropriate courses for you depending on your objectives and level of preparation. AP courses may count as generic credit toward the 120 credits you need to graduate, but they can't replace Skidmore courses. Our experience is that High School AP courses, while excellent preparation, are not the equivalent of college courses in many important ways, even if you've covered many of the same topics. The best way to describe the difference is level of academic maturity as opposed to simply the topics covered. AP courses are also not recommended for fulfilling medical school requirements, for the same reasons, plus some medical schools don't accept them. [top]
You can, however, it is crucial that you discuss your program with a health profession advisor as soon as possible. You may need an extra year or more of study after college before applying to medical schools in either graduate school or a post baccalaureate premedical program. [top] What should I take in the spring if I'm pre-med and did my first semester in London? If you are pre-med/potential pre-med planning your spring semester of your first year after spending your first semester in our London program, please consult with a pre-med committee advisor before classes start in the spring to make sure you have a strategy for completing the pre-med requirement along with a major and the core curriculum. The pre-med requirements are a year of Biology (BI 105 and BI 106 at Skidmore), two years of Chemistry (CH 105-106 (or CH 107-207, Honors Track) and CH 221-222 at Skidmore), a year of Physics (PY 207-208), a year of Calculus (MA 111-113) and a year of English (EN 105 plus another English course or a writing intensive course). CH 105 is sometimes offered in the spring and BI 105 is not. Probably the best pre-med strategy is to take MA 111, EN 105 and any other core or major/minor exploration courses you can, and then continue with BI 105 and CH 105 or CH 106 in the fall. Rather than feel like you're behind, it's better to view this as an alternative strategy, trading off a semester in London against the first semester of pre-med courses, and then proceeding from there. Many pre-meds do the same thing in the junior year in order to go abroad, or in order to accommodate a double major or minor, or because they decide to be pre-med later in their college career, or even after they graduate from college. You should (if you haven't yet) register with the Health Professions Committee (from the form in our HPAC Handbook). Make sure you meet with an HPAC advisor before spring classes start to map out a strategy and check on your spring schedule to make sure it's the best one for you. If you don't have a regular advisor on the pre-med committee make sure you meet with an HPAC advisor each registration period, at least. [top]
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It is possible. However, there is no question that your chances are reduced for every C or D that you receive. Poor grades are most easily forgiven during the freshman year. You will have to explain any poor grade in order to be considered. If you have a great deal of difficulty with your basic science courses, you should consider some alternative careers. [top]
There is hope. Meet with a health profession advisor. You may need a longer time to prepare for medical school admission or have to take a specially arranged program, but it is possible. The required sequence of premed courses is difficult largely because understanding in these fields is cumulative. If you fail to grasp the fundamental concepts, you won't succeed in courses later in the sequence. Also, college courses are much quicker than high school courses, with more information presented (more analysis, more calculation, less description) and higher expectations of how much will be retained. You should, therefore, still look at alternative careers. [top]
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If you are pre-vet, you should take MS104 as your statistics course. We have learned that some veterinary schools do not accept PS217, the psychology statistics course. Some schools require a math or biometry statistics course, and MS104 will meet this requirement. [top]
Admissions Committees generally give the most weight to the MCAT and science GPA followed by the cumulative GPA. [A strong MCAT score can offset a modest GPA, but not the reverse.] Applicants who score high on all three usually make the first cut. Letters of recommendation, especially the undergraduate institutional recommendation is very important, particularly for the student whose record may be marginal. Additionally they will consider extracurricular activities, difficulty of course load, clinical experience that familiarizes you with medicine and research. Interviewers look for positive attributes such as self-motivation, compassion, social responsibility, intellectual honesty, optimism, maturity and verbal communication ability. Be well prepared for the interview where you are likely to be asked about your opinions, values and goals rather than questions with "right or wrong" answers.
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[top] MCAT is the acronym for Medical College Admission Test which is required of all medical school applicants. The MCAT exam will be offered at 22 different times throughout the year during the months of January, April, May, June, July, August and September. The exam will be approximately one-half day long, and students can choose between a morning versus an afternoon session on weekdays and Saturdays. The test may be taken up to three times per year, and scores should be available in 30 days or less. Information on test dates, test centers and registration is available at www.aamc.org/mcat . The MCAT application form may be downloaded directly from the MCAT web site: www.aamc.org . The test consists of four sections: Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, Writing Sample and Biological Sciences. See Page 30 of this Handbook for information about tests for other health professional schools. A few organic chemistry questions have been replaced by questions on DNA and genetics. The Verbal Reasoning (VR) changes include shortening it by five questions (with the same number of passages and time limit), re-instituting scores of 14 and 15, and making it the second section of the test (after Physical Sciences). All MCAT scores become part of the examinee's MCAT Testing History and will be routinely included, i.e., they will be automatically "released to AMCAS." Therefore, examinees should not take the MCAT until they are well prepared.
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Most schools that subscribe to AMCAS will send secondary application forms if you appear to meet their admission criteria. You can access an AMCAS application by downloading the AMCAS-E application form from the AAMC web site. [top]
Yes. The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Application Service, AADSAS, has an all-new web-based application – “AADSAS on the Web,” available on the AADS home page at: www.adea.org . If you are interested in osteopathy, veterinary medicine, or some other health profession, see the Application Services page of this website or speak to a health profession advisor. Reference materials are available in Dana 384 if you would like to research medical schools and other health profession careers and programs. Web searches are most productive in providing up-to-date information on the application process for individual medical schools. [top] What is the difference between Osteopathic and Allopathic Medicine? Allopathic and osteopathic medicine represent two different, but overlapping philosophies for practicing medicine. The "traditional" medical schools in the U.S. are "Allopathic" which means that causes of disease are, for the most part, considered to be extrinsic (e.g. accident, pathogen, mutation etc.) and as a result, treatment relies heavily on pharmacology and surgery, as well as prevention. "Osteopathic" medicine assumes that causes of disease are, for the most part, intrinsic, and therefore there is much greater emphasis on prevention, diet, lifestyle, and non-pharmacological and non-surgical treatment. In practice, these two philosophies are becoming more similar in recent history. Allopathic physicians are more receptive to osteopathic approaches than they used to be, and osteopaths have always been fully licensed and trained to use pharmaceutical and surgical treatments. It's becoming more common for medical practices to include both types of physicians and for osteopaths and allopaths to work together. Admission to osteopathic schools is slightly less competitive, statistically, but their criteria for admission include a genuine commitment to osteopathic principles of medicine. [top]
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[top] How do medical schools define "minority" status? Medical schools are eager to recruit students who represent federally defined minority groups that are under-represented among practicing physicians. These groups include Native-American, African-American and Hispanic-American. The AMCAS form also has a check-off for Disadvantaged status. You might consider yourself, for example, to be economically disadvantaged. Applicants may identify themselves as minority or disadvanted on the AMCAS form, and then individual schools may request additional information that they take into consideration during the admissions process. [top] Are there any Early Assurance/Acceptance Programs available? Skidmore does maintain an agreement with Albany Medical College for an Early Assurance Program for Under-represented students. Qualified American students who are members of minority groups under-represented in the medical profession (African-American, Hispanic American and American Indian) can apply for early admission to Albany Medical College in their sophomore year. Your HPAC advisor can tell you more about this program. SUNY Upstate Medical University College of Medicine in Syracuse, NY has an Early Acceptance Program which is open to all students. Students apply at the end of their sophomore year and are notified of their status by late September of their junior year. If accepted, students do not have to take the MCATs. Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.5, minimum SAT and ACT scores, as well as a high level of academic performance. They also need to complete three of the four required science course sequences by the time they apply. Applications are due July 1 st . More information is available on their website: www.upstate.edu/students . Skidmore also has an agreement with the New York University Nursing Program. Skidmore students who fulfill the requirements of this agreement are assured entrance into the NYU nursing program. Your HPAC advisor can tell you more about this program if you are interested.
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[top] What are the pros and cons of post-baccalaureate programs for the health professions? It's becoming increasingly common for pre-med students to complete some, or all of their pre-requisite courses in post-baccalaureate programs. This means that the pre-med courses are completed after graduating from college, either on an ad-hoc basis by taking the courses on your own at any college or university, or in a formal program structured for this purpose. The former is typically more economical and flexible, but you are pretty much on your own (except for our advising, which is available to alumni); the later is geared toward completing the courses, and usually includes intense preparation for the MCATs and advising through the application process. Typically, the formal full-time programs have competitive admission and tend to be very expensive (many are comparable to Skidmore tuition levels) but these programs may have very high success rates. If you enter such a program, you may find it more useful to apply through that program's pre-med committee rather than Skidmore's, depending on how much of the pre-med preparation you've done at each institution. We can forward our file with letters of recommendation to a new program is you wish. There are usually two reasons for doing a post-baccalaureate program. One is that you decided to become pre-med late in your college career, or had other interests or objectives in college (e.g. double major, going abroad, non-science academic objectives) and simply didn't have time to complete all the pre-med courses in four years of college. This is not unusual (average age of first-year medical students is about 25). The second reason is that you want to go to medical school but after four years of college you have not yet earned grades or MCAT scores that are competitive for admission. You may, in this case, want to take further relevant courses to improve your GPA and your MCAT scores. Several things to consider here, in consultation with HPAC advisors, are whether or not you would be better off in another health profession or career; to develop a long-range strategy for defining and achieving your objectives before you start post-graduate courses; whether you might be better off in a degree program that will also prepare you for medical school but, in addition, provide you with another degree that may be more useful than additional courses with nothing else to show for it (e.g. a masters in one of the biomedical sciences; public health; bioethics; business and pre-med combinations); completing the remaining work on your own versus a formal post-baccalaureate program; spending one or more years preparing for, or re-applying to American medical schools versus considering one of the foreign medical schools. Union College in Schenectady, New York has a unique post-baccalaureate alternative for future physicians that can be completed in an accelerated 13-month curriculum. They offer an MS Clinical Leadership in Health Management degree. The curriculum focuses on helping future physicians acquire management skills that will differentiate them in the medical school application process and, ultimately, help them succeed in the "business" of medicine. They also receive a committee letter to supplement their applications to medical school, can enroll in an on-campus MCAT review course and may participate in a clinical practicum. [top] When should I apply to medical school and how do I go about it? Most important, do not apply until you are certain that it is what you want, and that you are ready to go and make the commitment to at least seven years of medical school and residency, and a career and lifestyle as a health professional. More proximately, you should have the following things taken care of before you apply:
Once you are ready to apply, it is to your advantage to apply as early as possible. Eighty percent of applicants to medical school have submitted their AMCAS application by July 1st. The later you apply, the lower your chances of being admitted since many schools have rolling admissions and begin admitting students before the deadline for applications is passed. Medical schools begin accepting AMCAS applications on or near June 1st. Ideally, you should complete the application process before the end of the summer, preferably by the end of July. Also, the earlier you apply, the sooner we can begin writing your letter of recommendation. We will not begin writing your letter until you have submitted your AMCAS (or other) application and also provided the HPAC office with a list of all the schools that require recommendations and are NOT part of the AMCAS electronic Letters Service with the complete mailing address for each of them. Once you request your letter of recommendation from HPAC, it takes several weeks for us to write, revise and mail out the letters (the committee letter, plus copies of each letter in your file). Once you've submitted your AMCAS application and requested your HPAC letter, you can then look forward to completing secondary applications from the schools you've applied to, as well as invitations for interviews and offers of admission. Some schools may not want us to send letters of recommendation until you receive a secondary application. If that is the case, please let us know that and we will hold those letters until we hear from you that you've received your secondary application requesting letters of recommendation. You may apply to medical school as early as the summer after your junior year of college, or as an alumnus at any time after graduation. [top]
You should select "Committee Letter." "A committee letter is a letter authored by a pre-health committee or pre-health advisor and intended to represent your institution's evaluation of you. A committee letter may or may not include additional letters written in support of your application." The HPAC committee letter will include a letter from the HPAC, plus copies of all the individual letters in your file. The author for the HPAC committee letter is the chair of the HPAC, currently Bernard Possidente. The chair should be listed as the primary contact for the letter. [top]
More and more medical schools are switching from a traditional interview format to "Multiple Mini Interviews." Although it's a bit like "speed dating" because you move from "station to station" every few minutes, it's much more structured. Each station is designed to test a different characteristic of the applicant (e.g. interest in medicine, general knowledge, problem solving, ethical perspectives, empathy etc.) by presenting a standard question or task to all the applicants in a session in the same manner. The applicants are ranked against each other within each session (e.g. one to ten without assigning the same score more than once among ten applicants). As experience and evaluation of these method of interviewing increases, the evidence indicates that it is more objective, predictive and forgiving than the traditional interview format. Each applicant, for example, is evaluated by multiple interviewers, impressions formed in the first few minutes of an interview rarely change as the interview goes on, and in this format weak performance in one area can be compensated for by strong performances in other areas. This method of interviewing is becoming more common and if you have several interviews you are likely to encounter it. Search the internet for more information and examples, find out ahead of time if a school you are interviewing at uses this method if possible, and be prepared for this or more traditional formats (e.g. one on one, one applicant several interviewers, more than one traditional interview, multiple applicants in a group interview, stress interview). [top]
Individual medical schools may have some financial aid available for selected students. Once accepted to a medical school you may apply to the U.S. Army for a Health Professions Scholarship in many areas of study. They offer 1, 2, 3, and 4 year full-tuition scholarships, plus a monthly allowance. As a scholarship graduate you will be an Army doctor for at least three years, working in one of the largest comprehensive systems of health care in the country. This would be a good beginning for someone who is interested in the military. More information is available in the Health Professions Office, Dana 384. [top]
See the complete listing on this site's home page. [top]
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