Can I start to take med school prerequisites in the last two years of my college?

Hi,
I am a sophomore at a community college and I am recently considering applying med school. I haven’t taken any med school required classes yet and I am planning to take them after I transfer to a 4-year university, which means I will only have two years to finish the prerequisites. I wonder if 2 years will be enough for me to do so (I’m a psych major)? Or should I stay at community college longer and take more med school required classes before I transfer? Thanks!

@murphy777

  1. Though it is possible to do all your pre-req in last 2 years with careful planning, you should be open to apply to MD with gap year, at least 1 year. Because pre-reqs are not just for application but they also enables you to gain knowledge to take MCAT which should be done before you apply to MD which is 1 year ahead.
  2. It is recommended you do your pre-req in 4 year college. So transferring to 4 years is the right choice, but be open to take a gap year.

Possible but difficult. The required chemistry sequence takes 5 semesters (2 semesters gen chem, 2 semesters ochem, 1 semester biochem).

At a minimum, you will need to take summer classes in order to complete your pre-reqs and graduate in 2 years post-transfer.

Also fitting in all the premed classes will be difficult while trying to fulfill your UL required coursework for a psych degree.

I would suggest planning on 1 extra year at your 4 year college OR planning on taking some of your pre-reqs post-graduation as a part-time, non-degree seeking student.

You are already going to need to take a gap year after graduation. (You won’t have your pre-reqs finished by the end of junior year which is when traditional applicants apply to med school if they are planning on matriculating directly into med school from undergrad.) Plan on taking 2-3 gap years, both to complete your pre-reqs and get the expected pre-med ECs done.

It’s very strongly recommended that you do all your pre-reqs at a 4 year college. Using CC credits for pre-reqs makes you a less competitive applicant.

There are a number of med med school that will NOT accept CC credits for pre-reqs. The rest expect any CC credits to be supplemented with additional UL science credits in the same department taken at a 4 year college

IOW, if you take intro bio 1 & 2 at a CC, you would still need to take 8 credits/2 semesters/3 quarters of UL biology electives after you transfer to your 4 year college to be a credible applicant for medical school.

So taking your pre-reqs at a CC prior to transferring really won’t free up any space in your schedule at the 4 year college unless you are planning on majoring in a physical science.

Don’t stay at the community college longer than two years. If you are a sophomore there now…transfer to a four year school to complete your degree after this year.

It’s possible you won’t be able to complete all the required courses in two years. But you might be able to if you can attend in the summers too.