Program Overview

Pre-Med Program

There is no specific Pre-Med program or course of study at Syracuse University. Instead, students choose to major in a field of study that is interesting and can allow for the demonstration of excellence. The medical school pre-requisite courses can be taken alongside any major with careful planning.

Admission Trends and Benchmarks

• Mean age of a first year MD student is 24.
• Mean GPA: 3.77 (3.71 science GPA)
• Mean MCAT: 511.7 (highest possible 528)
• Acceptance Rate: roughly 40%

Commonly Required Courses

• INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY I/II (BIO 121 and 122/ BIO 123 and 124 OR 224)
• INORGANIC CHEMISTRY I/II (CHE 106/107/ 116/ 117)
• ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I/II (CHE 275/ 276/ 325/ 326)
• PHYSICS I/II (PHY 101/ 102 OR PHY 211/ 221/ 212/ 222)
• BIOCHEMISTRY (BCM 475)
• ONE SEMESTER OF CALCULUS OR STATISTICS (MAT 285 OR 295 OR MAT 121 OR 221)

Preparing for Professional School

Preparing for professional school is a developmental process, which is why the admissions review is so holistic. Therefore, during their undergraduate careers, we encourage all Pre-Health students to:

• Demonstrate intellectual aptitude and curiosity
• Demonstrate a commitment to healthcare
• Contribute to the community
• Build

Clinical Experience

Clinical awareness is extremely important to professional schools. If you have not been “inside the walls” where you were able to witness and participate in healthcare delivery, professional schools may hesitate, and feel skepticism that you understand the career path you aspire to. Shadowing and volunteering, obtaining training and potential certifications, and actively participating in clinical opportunities—where you are directly interfacing with the patient population—are imperative to your development.

Campus and Community Involvement

Not all volunteer endeavors need to be clinical. Students benefit immensely from dedicating their time to community agencies and being of service to others. Students have gained immeasurable skills by volunteering for local non-profits that serve constituent needs in public health, education, refugee resettlement, and youth mentorship and recreational services.

Research Opportunities

Research is everywhere. It exists in public health, sociology, anthropology, English literature, psychology, science, linguistics—in other words, if you are interested in research, find a position in a research project that studies something you intimately care about. At Syracuse, there are multiple avenues to research—for Pre-Health, these are most popularly in the sciences, psychology, and neuroscience—but there is a myriad of current research projects related to health policy, public health initiatives, socio-economic healthcare disparities, drug delivery, bioengineering, and post-traumatic stress syndrome.