How does the AMCAS go about unearthing courses taken more than 10 yrs ago?
AMCAS doesn’t unearth them, you tell them about it and submit your transcripts. 
Cheers,
Judy
LOL I like this answer, Judy! Tempo, if you took college courses while still in high school - some h.s. kids will take CC courses, for example, during their senior year - even those have to be reported on your AMCAS application. It is expected that you will be 100% forthcoming in your application.
Hi all.
I have taken many science classes as part of my BS in Computer Science education , but that was at least 8 years ago. I visited Columbia U. pre-med post-bac info session and they claimed that med. school admissions frown upon seeing classes taken more than 5 years ago. It would seem to me as such a waste of time and money to go back and take physics, statistics, and intro chemistry classes. Is it true that all required pre-med classes have to be less that 5 years old?
Any insight would be much appreciated.
I think a lot of it is school-dependant. I found that usually the harder sciences like physics and chemistry don’t really change all that much, but with the constant changes in biology, having a more recent class in that is very much preferred. The other advantage of taking your prereqs closer to matriculation is the influence it may have on your MCAT. If you’ve taken the chemistry and physics quite a while ago and haven’t used it, you may find it difficult to prepare for the PS section of the MCAT.
I know it is a drag, but you want to make sure that you can be as competitive as possible when applying for med school.
I was concerned about the same thing so I emailed the admissions offices of my target schools. I am surprised at how quickly they get back to you. One even did a double check to make sure my postbac classes were acceptable. UC Davis, UCSF and Stanford all said that it wasn’t a problem. (disclaimer - email your target schools, even if they are the same three I just listed)
Of course, I’m not in yet! So, we’ll see. I did retake Bio because of all the changes and I hadn’t taken OChem yet. But, my Physics and GenChem are 10 years old and I did fine on the PS section of the MCAT. Ok - I also work in Physics research, which helps.
Good Luck!