pre-med and application timeline

Hi,


Just curious - do all the pre-reqs have to be completed prior to filing the application (DO and/or MD) or could one be enrolled in a course (or 2) during the time the application is being considered, say for example, the fall of the year prior to expected (hoped) entrance?


Thanks again.

AFAIK, pre-reqs need to be completed by the time of matriculation. Applying without all of them done isn’t a bad thing so long as it doesn’t hinder you on the MCAT or anything.

BUT–the rest of your application needs to be pretty strong. Nice grades, good MCAT, good letters, activities, etc. If you have anything else wrong, having TWO prereqs still in progress may make you too much of an unknown to be successful.

Adam and Denise are right. The only thing I could see schools doing is holding off before interviewing you so they can see your grades for the current semester.

Thanks everyone - this is really helpful.


Cheers.

Often students apply with a pre-req or two still to be taken (especially lab classes). As long as you have what you need in order to do well on the MCAT, you should be fine.


One caveat: some med schools want the pre-reqs completed by June prior to matriculating in med school, not just “any time before matriculating.”


Cheers,


Judy

Brilliant! That is really helpful. So, it sounds like I ought to investigate what schools require what and essentially plan to have things accomplished by june in year prior to hopefully matriculating.


This is so helpful! So many thing to think about -


Cheers,


SP