*Applying before pre-reqs complete?

[Ian Wong]

Author:*Paul
Date:***9/11/2000 8:11 pm*PST
*
There is a couple medical schools that I am not really interested in that require statistics in addition to calculus 1 or one requires calculus based physics in addition to algebra based, but I hate the fact that the limits my choices by 2 or 3 less medical schools that I can not choose from. My question is if I apply to these schools without taking these courses will they possibly accept me if I was on the condition to finish those classes before I graduate? And if so does your application probably have to be better then most of the other people that got accepted because of this? Finally does a medical school treat a person going to a regular 4 year state regular university vs someone going to a above average special university any different in acceptance even if they have the same equivalent GPA(for example the one in the special top notch university got 3.3 but the one in state university got 3.7)?

[Ian Wong]

Author:*Ian Wong, MS2
Date:***9/11/2000 10:50 pm*PST
*
In the above scenario, the person with the 3.7 average actually has an advantage, because the initial screening is done via computer. The 3.3 might not receive an interview even, in which case school background doesn't come into effect. Now, if the GPA's were the same, or nearly the same, then I believe that in the interview, the harder academic background (particularly if it's a well-known college) might come into play.

However, there's usually so many other facets to an applicant's profile that "school attended" isn't a huge deal. If you have good grades, an okay MCAT score, and some other things to make you well-rounded, and you follow the application guidelines to the letter, you'll probably do just fine.

Regarding the other question. The med schools will judge you on whatever you have on your transcript at the time. If this is better than the rest of the applicant pool, that's to your advantage. Also, they may accept you, but that acceptance is probably conditional on you passing the course, and maintaining an acceptable average for that year. Don't register for a pre-requisite that you think you can bomb simply because you received an acceptance letter. They can take those things away until you're registered and sitting in their classrooms (and then it's called expulsion.) :)

Ian
Can, MS2