Q: I have fulfilled the basic premed requirements with AP credit and a few Princeton classes. I'm not planning to major in science. Is this enough?

A: It would be helpful if you came in so that we could talk about your specific situation. It’ll depend on a number of factors: exactly how many science courses you took here and which ones, how well you did in them, how you’re doing overall, your MCAT score if you’ve taken it, and your state of residence, among others. Also keep in mind that you’ll need at least two letters of recommendation that comment on your ability in sciences – many students take smaller science courses in order to have better opportunities to get to know faculty who can then write for them.  Medical schools are interested in candidates who have both a well-rounded, liberal arts preparation and ample science background to be able to succeed in an intensive science curriculum – you want to find a balance of both. It might be helpful to read through the pre-requisite requirements and recommendations offered by schools of interest. We have compiled a list of some popular schools on our website.

There is no agreed-upon minimum stated by medical schools, though any medical school would tell you that they’ll want to see evidence that you will be able to succeed in the rigorous, science-based curriculum in medical school. Our rule of thumb is generally that you should have at least 11-12 science classes (which is the equivalent of 48 credit hours); this corresponds to the number of classes you’d take to meet minimum requirements with no AP credit (4 semesters chem, 2 bio, 2 physics, biochem, math and stats). But, it’ll also depend on which courses you’ve taken, how well you do in them, whether you take any over the summer, how strong your science letters of recommendation are, whether you’ve done science-based work in the summers – all of these factors will be important in providing the evidence that schools are looking for. Looking at our recent applicants, the average number of BCPM credits of successful applicants is 70 (17-18 classes); looking only at non-science majors, the average was about 52 (13 classes).  A couple of students have been accepted with as few as 40 credits (10 classes), but they tended to have very high MCAT scores and GPAs. We’re happy to talk with you about your specific situation!

Technically yes, but it’s more complicated than that. Many medical schools recognize that undergraduate schools teach introductory science content in unique ways. Med schools are trying to be sensitive to models that don’t include the traditional two-semester sequences. Additionally, some medical schools acknowledge that students can gain competency in knowledge and skills in places other than traditional classroom settings. The movement from pre-requisites to competencies is driven in part by two reports: Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians and Behavioral and Social Sciences Foundations for Future Physicians – both outline the kinds of competencies—observable abilities related to a specific activity that integrates knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes— that physicians should gain throughout their training. In turn, the medical schools seek to enroll students who already have a basic grasp of these competencies, and who are going to be interested and able to continue to develop them throughout their medical training.

For specific school examples, read the explanations for the medical schools at Vanderbilt, Stanford, and Penn, all schools that have shifted from specific course requirements.

Does this mean that you could take zero science courses and still gain entry to these schools? No – you’ll need to demonstrate ability in the sciences, and provide evidence that you’ll be able to navigate the rigorous medical school curriculum – but it does provide some flexibility.

Not all schools have moved away from discrete requirements, though – be sure to fulfill the prerequisites for your public state medical schools, since they are among your best chances of gaining entrance to medical school and stop by HPA any time to look into requirements for other specific schools – we have a list of requirements for schools popular with our applicants in our office (also published in our Majors and Prehealth handout on our website). You can also access to this list yourself by buying a subscription to the AAMC Medical Schools Admissions Requirements website or check individual websites for medical schools (we have compiled links to many of them on the Prerequisite Web Links page of our HPA website).

We recommend a minimum of 11-12 Princeton BCPM courses by the time of application (the equivalent of 44-48 credit hours). Medical schools are looking for evidence of readiness for the rigorous science curriculum, and the evidence they’ll seek is a solid foundation of science work (complemented by science research if it’s of interest), plus MCAT scores and letters of recommendation. Outside of our career changer postbac applicants, in the past five years, we’ve only had two applicants accepted with fewer than 40 science credits. Both of those applicants had supplementary science-based glide year work. We’ve had a handful more who were accepted with 40-50 credit hours of science, but they’re still outliers within our applicant pool, especially those who were accepted direct entry. The summer courses could help, but won’t provide the same evidence of ability as courses taken during a full-time semester. There’s also the issue of the lack of access to clinical experience during the pandemic—having adequate exposure to medicine is as important as having adequate science foundation, and trying to work on both this summer may spread you too thinly.
 
As for SPIA vs STEM, we’d encourage you to let your intellectual passions guide you more than trying to fit yourself into a certain application timeline. If your highest priority is to try to get to medical school as quickly as possible, then a STEM major could be an option … but we’d hate to see you sacrifice something you love when you could extend your timeline a little bit and pursue the undergraduate path you’re most interested in. We’d encourage you to talk with some of our current applicants and students who have chosen to take glide years—many of them were very set on a direct entry timeline as sophomores, made sacrifices toward that goal, but then ultimately chose to take extra time and are glad for that decision. As advisers, it would help to talk with you more about your goals, science-based activities, and other aspects of your candidacy before giving you a more definitive answer.

With interdisciplinary classes, it’s so difficult to try to box them into one category or the other. Plus, depending on who’s teaching the course and how they present the material, the classification could change from term to term. It’s up to you to categorize it based on where you felt the majority of the course content resided – if the course was primarily biology content with some policy and environmental studies, then you would classify it as Biology. Talk it over with peers in your class and even with the professor if you’d like other opinions on the subject, but ultimately, you just want to place it where you feel it best belongs. Students have had the same question about some CBE and PSY courses, among others—it always comes down to your own judgment.

Any course in any department where the course materials was at least 50% biology, chemistry, physics, or math, can be classified on the medical school application under that discipline.

The AMCAS Course Classification guide provides general guidance. EEB, MOL, and NEU would typically fall under Biology, for example, and CBE, ORF, and other BSE department courses would typicallyfall under Engineering (except COS, which has its own category).

But you can designate based on course content rather than discipline. So ORF 245, which is a statistics course, can be classified under MATH instead of Engineering.

Texas is unique in this respect. You’re right, all the Texas schools (save Baylor) ask for 4 semesters, or two years’ worth, of biology.  This is included in the information you were given as a first-year, in our handout “Preparing for a Career in the Health Professions” (and online).  For those of you with no intention of applying to medical school in Texas, your EEB 211 and MOL 214 sequence meets the requirement, don’t worry.  However, this Texan’s question does bring up a larger point: It is always wise to check the Medical School Admissions Requirements, or MSAR, available in our office. This is the most centralized and reliable source for reviewing the requirements at the medical schools you dream of attending and making certain that they do not have any unusual, school-specific requirements beyond the basic ones.  Websites for individual med schools will give you that information as well, although they tend to be more confusing, in our experience, and it can get frustrating trying to navigate through various sites. As we all know, more schools every year require Biochemistry, and that number may be rising in the near future. Also, schools have changed their math requirement in recent years, saying that one term of Calculus plus one of Statistics is acceptable. Most of you will be fine if you stick to the basics: one year of biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, math, and English.  We’ll certainly let you know if anything changes on a grand scale. Nevertheless, when the new MSAR comes out this spring, take a look—at least at the public medical school(s) in your home state. 

Your medical school requirements should be taken the old-fashioned way--in a classroom with preceptors and professors present. Most medical schools would not accept prerequisites such as Physics taken purely online (with exceptions made during the pandemic when classes were only offered online). 

Some health professions are more lenient about courses taken online. Check with individual programs of interest to gauge the acceptability.

In most cases, PDF’ing sciences should be avoided. If you PDF a prehealth prerequisite, you’ll receive credit toward graduation but you’ll need to retake the course to fulfill the prerequisite (prereqs only “count” if you have a C or better). Since you can’t repeat a Princeton course that you’ve passed for credit, you’d have to take the course elsewhere or overload your schedule, which tends to lead to more academic difficulty. In terms of advanced sciences, the spirit behind a PDF is to encourage exploration and experimentation in curricular areas in which you have little previous experience. If you’ve already taken a lot of sciences, then you’re not exploring new areas by taking advanced science courses. If you’re making a decision to drop or PDF by today’s deadline, we have drop-ins today from 1-4 pm and we can help you think through the options.

There are some schools that no longer have specific course requirements, so no matter what courses you take at Princeton, you could be eligible for these schools (presuming you meet any other requirements they have, such as state residency, taking MCAT, etc.); we have a list of these schools on our website (netID login required).
 
Beyond those schools, you can apply to any school without having completed its prerequisites. Some may reject applicants who do not have a plan to complete the requirements pre-interview, but most will wait until they have decided to extend an offer of admission and make that offer contingent upon completing any remaining requirements. If you only have one or two courses left and your top choice school accepts you and requires that you take those courses, you could do so in the summer before matriculation.
 
That said, given how competitive it is to gain any admissions offers, we tend to recommend staying in line with requirements, especially for your state schools and any schools of specific interest to you, so that you have broad options in where you might be eligible to matriculate. Meeting the traditional course recommendations will also reduce ambiguity when you’re applying, which can make you feel more secure as an applicant during a time of ambiguity and stress.
 
Finally, decisions on whether or not you meet requirements are always in the hands of the admissions committees. Some are more willing to make exceptions than others. If there is a specific school that you’re particularly interested in and you’re not sure if you’d meet their requirements, you can always reach out directly to the admissions office and explain your situation and see if they can provide insight.