A Guide to Medical School Admission Requirements

Although there are no universal medical school admission requirements for every one of the medical schools in the United States, there are some basic requirements that almost all schools will look at for acceptance into their program. Each medical school is going to focus on different requirements for entry into their program. Some medical schools may concentrate more on coursework while others may focus more on MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) scores. Before filling out any medical school application it is wise to look into the school's specific requirements to be sure that you meet all of them.

One of the most common medical school admission requirements that one may find for any U.S. medical college is the requirement for certain coursework. Often the basic requirements for coursework involve:

• 1 year of biology
• 1 year of English
• 1 year of physics
• 2 years of chemistry (including organic chemistry)
• Calculus class

These courses can be taken at any accredited 4-year college and most medical schools will accept credit for them.

To even be considered by medical schools, you must take the MCATs. If you are looking to get accepted by any U.S. medical school you must take this test very seriously. Your scores on the MCAT can definitely determine if you will be accepted into medical school or not. The MCATs consist of test on chemistry and biology as well as a verbal section and writing sample. It is recommended that people who are serious about being accepted into medical school should take some sort of MCAT test prep course.

An above average grade point average (GPA) is also another one of the basic medical school admission requirements. Most medical colleges will look for students that have a 3.5 GPA or higher. Any lower than a 3.5 GPA and a person may have difficulty getting accepted by the medical college. This is why it is very important that if you want to get into a medical school, you need to keep your grades up in every class you take whether it pertains to your major or not.

Every medical school requires a bachelor's college degree, but it does not have to be in the field of science. You can have a communications degree and decide to pursue a career as a doctor and may still have a good chance at getting accepted into medical school. If you only attended a 2-year community college, you will need to attend a 4-year college and get your bachelor's degree before you can apply for medical school.

There are also some other optional medical school admission requirements that the more well-renowned schools like John Hopkins have in place. Volunteer service, especially in regards to the medical field can look quite impressive on any medical school application. A 6 month volunteer project is going to look much better than a 6 day project. This shows a medical school that you are committed to helping others and you are going to be willing to put forth effort into your schoolwork. No medical school wants to waste time and money on potential students who are not going to be serious about learning and doing something productive with what they learn.

Even though there are no precise medical school admission requirements for each and every one of the U.S. medical schools, the above mentioned items are definitely things that you want to concentrate on if you ever plan on being accepted to medical school.

Source: http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/msar.htm