8 Best Pre Med Schools in Pennsylvania

Best Pre Med Schools in Pennsylvania: A lot of Pennsylvania’s finest universities give students a solid foundation on which to establish a medical profession.

Pre-med is not necessarily a major that students can choose, although it is frequently a track for advisors with extracurricular options.

This could imply that students have access to a facility designed to guide them through the pre-medicine process, or it could imply that they have access to various resources to aid in navigating their route, depending on the school.

These classes frequently benefit aspiring dentists, veterinarians, and even future medical doctors. In most colleges, students can often seek assistance from the beginning of their freshman year all the way up until graduation.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job prospects for physicians and surgeons are expected to grow at a rate of just 3% between 2020 and 2030, which is lower than the national average but still increasing.

According to the census, the industry employed 727,000 people in 2020 and is projected to grow by 24,800 jobs over the following ten years.

The eight best pre med schools in Pennsylvania are shown here, ranked by the institutions that send the most students to the state’s medical schools. The medical schools received at least 50 applicants from each of the schools on this list.

What Are Pre-Medical Schools?

A crucial component of any aspiring doctor’s education in order to practice medicine. It is a course that gets students ready for medical school, the next step on the path to becoming a doctor. Premed is a general name for any four-year college course an aspirant doctor takes before enrolling in medical school. Every course they choose is acceptable as long as it prepares students for the lessons they will learn in medical school.

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What sorts of Courses are Considered Pre-Medical Courses?

Science-focused courses are the ideal ones to enroll in if you want to pursue a medical degree. One can take premed classes in biology, organic chemistry, physics, and biochemistry, among other subjects. You can’t take a specialized course to get ready to be a doctor. Any college course that covers the topics you need to pass the requirements for medical school is labeled premedical.

To at least be given consideration for a spot in any medical school, you must pass the following college courses:

• Biochemistry
• Physics
• Statistics
• Calculus
• English
• Biology
• General chemistry
• Organic chemistry

For admission to some medical schools, you may need to complete more than simply these courses. Although they are merely the bare minimums, obtaining more will provide you a competitive advantage over other applicants. You should make sure that the premed school you attend and the premed courses you take will help you get in as med schools can be extremely selective in their admissions process.

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Best Pre Med Schools in Pennsylvania

The best pre med schools in Pennsylvania are listed below.

8. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, PA)

Due to its academic excellence and reputation, Swarthmore College, a small, elite university on the suburbs of Philadelphia, has earned a spot among the “Little Ivies.” And there are all the core classes that future doctors can take to get ready for their advanced training.

Although the college does not provide a pre-medicine undergraduate degree, students might opt to major in fields like biochemistry or physics. Swarthmore offers the range of prerequisite science, math, and humanities courses that medical schools look for when evaluating candidates, and it advises students to take two science subjects with lab work.

Although students with Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate credits can usually use those credits to satisfy their math requirements, they will probably still need to take scientific courses so that medical schools can evaluate how well they performed in college labs.

The college also advises its students to complete these requirements by the end of their junior year if they intend to enroll in medical school immediately following graduation. Swarthmore suggests that they take the MCAT, also known as the Medical College Admission Test, at that time.

7. Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA)

The multidisciplinary Health Professions Program at Carnegie Mellon University provides guidance to both graduates and current students who aspire to work in the medical field.

There is no degree in this program. Instead, participants receive a variety of advice, beginning with an examination of the kinds of medical vocations that are offered and the kinds of prerequisites they should complete to get ready for their selected career.

The program offers assistance to students beginning on their first day of classes, informs them of volunteer and research activities that may be beneficial to them, and connects them with alumni and other people in the health care industry for mentorship opportunities.

Participants can also go to the university’s information sessions to learn about the application procedure when it comes time to apply to medical school. Additionally, Carnegie Mellon holds committee interviews with participants and provides committee letters of reference that students can utilize when applying to graduate programs.

The university’s Mellon College of Science offers a number of majors, including biological sciences, that can give aspiring doctors a strong foundation. The college also offers bachelor’s degree programs in physics, mathematics, and chemistry.

6. Villanova University (Villanova, PA)

For students interested in pursuing various health care occupations, Villanova University maintains a number of affiliate programs with other neighboring schools.

For the affiliate program in osteopathic medicine offered by the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Villanova students can apply during their sophomore year; however, those who are interested in the programs offered by the University of Pennsylvania’s Kornberg School of Dentistry or the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University must submit an application as part of their Villanova application.

Villanova does not offer a bachelor’s degree in pre-medicine, but it does point out that many of its students interested in a career in medicine major in the sciences, including biochemistry, psychology, and cognitive and behavioral neuroscience.

To help these students become ready for their future employment, the university does provide a particular curriculum. Students are guided by the Health Professions Advising Office throughout their time at the university, starting with helping them choose the best classes and extracurricular activities to fit their goals and ending with helping them put together their graduate school applications.

Two advisers, one focused on academics and the other on health professions, are beneficial to students as well.

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5. Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA)

Through its School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies, Drexel University offers graduate-level pre-med and pre-health programs. The program, which was started in 1981, has expanded to include a number of flexible options for graduate study.

A post-baccalaureate pre-medical certificate and a variety of one- and two-year master’s degrees are available to students, and both are intended to aid in the transition into further medical study.

The 11-month Drexel Pathway to Medical School (DPMS) program, which grants students a master of science degree, is one of these options. This is intended for underserved students who have passed the standard MCAT and prerequisite courses for medical school, according to Drexel.

Students are accepted into the university’s M.D. program after successfully completing the DPMS program and meeting the necessary requirements.

The Intensive Medical Sciences (IMS) program is an additional choice for students interested in medical careers. Students in this fast-tracked “special master’s” program take the same classes they would have in their first year of medical school, like physiology and immunology. Advisors also assist students with their medical school applications.

4. Temple University (Philadelphia, PA)

After completing their undergraduate studies, individuals can enroll in Temple University’s medical college through the Pre-Med Health Scholar program.

In addition to their standard undergraduate application, prospective students who wish to participate in the Pre-Med Health Scholar Program must submit a supplementary application.

Additionally, applicants must fulfill a number of stringent conditions, such as having an unweighted high school GPA of at least 3.8 out of 4.0. Also, they ought to have taken four years of math and science in high school and volunteered a certain amount of time in the community and at a hospital.

Those who are accepted into the program are given conditional admission to Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

Unless they want to apply for the expedited three-year plus four-year (3+4) track, which they would have to do during their first undergraduate semester, they will follow a conventional four-year plus four-year (4+4) track.

Participants in the program are not, however, assured admission to the medical school. Students must also have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.6 in their scientific courses and overall by the second semester of their junior year in order for the medical school to consider them for admission. Also, they need to achieve a minimum MCAT composite score of 509.

3. University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)

The University of Pennsylvania’s Career Services office assists undergraduate students in becoming competitive medical school applicants in the future.

Although Penn recognizes that each medical college has its own prerequisites, it also observes that a number of fundamental courses will be helpful to students wherever they go and has created a list of those courses that are offered at the university.

The office also includes resources to assist students in locating extracurricular and research opportunities that will put them on a path toward enhancing their communities, just like they might do as doctors in the future.

The pre-health advising team and the faculty and staff of Penn’s Health Professions Advisory Board (HPAB) offer guidance to students interested in applying to dental and medical schools on how to complete their applications, ensure they have all they need, and meet deadlines. The majority of medical schools demand letters of recommendation, typically from a group of professors or a committee at the applicant’s undergraduate institution.

Students at Penn can obtain such a committee letter through the advisory board, which will give a thorough examination of the applicant and their background, skills, and other factors.

2. Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA)

The only university in Pennsylvania that grants a bachelor of science in pre-medicine is Penn State University. The program can be started at any of the university’s many campuses throughout the state, and students can choose to complete it at the main University Park campus.

The courses emphasize the life sciences and give students a foundational understanding of chemistry, biology, and related subjects in order to prepare them for further study in graduate or medical schools.

They will also take courses in statistics, calculus, and ethics, all of which are important for aspiring medical professionals. In addition to the 45 credits required for general education, students must complete 105 credits for the pre-medicine major.

Prospective Students at Penn State also have the choice to enroll in the accelerated, seven-year premedical-medical bachelor’s degree program, which results in the earning of both a B.S. and an M.D.

Students get their bachelor’s degree after their first year at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sydney Kimmel Medical College after spending three years studying at Penn State University Park.

1. University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA)

Despite the absence of a pre-medicine major at the University of Pittsburgh, students there can lay a solid basis for a career in healthcare.

The Interprofessional Center for Health Careers at Pitt is prepared to assist them. There, counselors work with students interested in careers in medicine on everything from choosing a major and classes to assisting them with their graduate school applications.

Through the Pitt Med Advisory Council, former Pitt undergraduate students who went on to pursue medical degrees offer additional advice to current undergraduates and share their unique perspectives.

The school reminds prospective doctors that they can actually choose any major as long as they still complete the prerequisites that will help them in medical school. The university offers several sciences as majors.

Along the process, Pitt advises students to get involved in a variety of extracurricular activities, such as research projects and community service.

Students can join the campus’ Coalition of Pre-Health Students or other possibilities to get various types of experience with the assistance of the Interprofessional Center.

Frequently Asked Questions

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