Students considering apply to medical school generally must meet the following course requirements. Please keep in mind that these requirements can change depending upon which schools that you apply to, and these are general recommendations. It is imperative that you research the schools you are applying to in order to meet any additional requirements that school may have. 

Two semesters of Introductory Biology plus Lab
Required
  • BIOL 1010/1015 - Introduction to Biological Sciences with Lab
  • BIOL 2120/2125 - Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology with Lab
Two semesters of General Chemistry plus Lab
Required
  • CHEM 1110 or 1120 - Chemistry I with Advanced Lab or Honors Chemistry I (see Footnote 1 below)
  • CHEM 1200 - Chemistry II 
Two semesters of Organic Chemistry plus Lab
Required
  • CHEM 2250/2230 - Organic Chemistry I and Lab
  • CHEM 2260/2240 - Organic Chemistry II and Lab

 

 
Two semesters of Physics plus Lab  
Required
  • PHYS 1100 or 1150 - Physics I or Introductory Classical Dynamics
  • PHYS 1200 or 1250 - Physics II or Intro to Electromagnetic Theory

 

 
Two semesters of Writing
Required
  • Any two courses in LITR-, WRIT-, or COMM-

 
One semester of Biochemistry 

Highly Recommended

Any one of the following: 

  • BIOL-4760 - Molecular Biochemistry I 
  • CHEM-4760 - Molecular Biochemistry I 
  • BCBP-4760 - Molecular Biochemistry I 

 

 
One semester of Neurobiology
Highly Recommended
  • BIOL 4100 - From Neuron to Behavior

 

 
One semester of Human Physiology
Highly Recommended
  • BIOL-4270 - Human Physiology

 

 
One semester of General Psychology
Highly Recommended
  • PSYC 1200 - Introduction to Psychological Science

 

 
One semester of Sociology  
Highly Recommended
  • STSO 2520 - Introduction to Sociology

 

 
One semester of Ethics
Highly Recommended

Any one of the following (see Footnote 2 below): 

  • PHIL 2100 - Critical Thinking
  • STSO 4250 - Introduction to Bioethics

 

 
One semester of Statistics
Highly Recommended

Any one of the following (see Footnote 3 below): 

  • BIOL 4200 - Biostatistics
  • MGMT 2100 - Statistical Methods
  • PSYC 2310 - Research Methods and Statistics I

 

 

Footnotes:

Please note that the listed courses are given as examples and are not exhaustive. Some courses not listed may also fulfill the requirements listed. Please see the pre-health advisor for any questions. 

1: CHEM 1110 or 1120 are highly recommended for students planning to take CHEM 1200 or above. As the Pre-Health curriculum requires CHEM-1200, we highly recommend signing up for CHEM-1110 or 1120. If you have already taken it, CHEM-1100 is an acceptable course for medical schools.

2: Ethics courses are listed as the most popular options. Other options exist at RPI that cover this requirement. If you have questions if a course will work for this option, see the Pre-Health Advisor. 

3: Statistics course will depend upon your choice of major. For students whose curriculum does not require a statistics course, we recommend MGMT-2100.

AP & Transfer Credit

Many medical schools prefer that coursework taken to meet their requirements is done at RPI or another reputable, accredited institution. AP credits are often explicitly barred to meet academic requirements for many programs. With that said, if your plan of study includes additional coursework in a subject area you have AP credit in, and that coursework is largely of a similar quality, then you may apply AP credit to your RPI transcript and use the higher-level course for medical school pre-requisite purposes. For instance, if you are a Biological Sciences major and plan to use AP Credit for BIOL-1010 & 1015, you will have enough credit in Biological Sciences at the 4-year level; you can safely use the AP credit for your RPI requirements. 

Transfer credit is generally allowed. We recommend using transfer credits carefully; you do not necessarily want all of your core Pre-Health coursework to be at a different college than RPI. Most students who use transfer coursework will choose a couple of courses that best fit into their academic plan to take elsewhere during a summer term or during their Arch Away semester. If you have questions, please schedule an appointment with the Pre-Health advisor. 

The MCAT

The MCAT is an additional requirement for admission to Medical School. Unless you are admitted through a special program, almost all medical schools require the MCAT as a condition of entry. The MCAT consists of multiple subtests that lead to a composite score. More information on the MCAT and how to best prepare for it can be found at the official test website.

With that in mind, many students question the best time to take the MCAT examination. The answer depends upon your general level of preparedness, but most of the courses above will be covered by the MCAT, including those marked 'highly recommended'. It is recommended that you take those courses prior to taking the MCAT examination, which is usually scheduled for the Spring semester of the junior year for those not taking a gap year, and for the Spring semester of the senior year for those who are. If you have questions about the best time to apply for medical school, please consider scheduling an appointment with the Pre-Health advisor. 

Additional Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

Pre-Health Advisory Committee