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Course Requirements for Medical School

The courses required for application to medical school vary some from school to school, but most medical schools usually include the following St. Olaf courses:

• 1 year of General Biology (125 and 126)
• 1 year of General Chemistry (121, 123, 126 or 125 and 126)
• 1 year of Organic Chemistry (247/253 and 248/254)
• 1 year of General Physics (124 and 125)
• 1 semester of Calculus (Math 120)*
• 2 semesters of English (composition and literature)**

*Calculus/Math requirements vary from one year of calculus at research-oriented schools such as Washington University and Harvard to no calculus requirements at other schools.

**St. Olaf's General Education courses cover this requirement.

St. Olaf's General Education Requirements cover the required courses in humanities and social science. Students should check the requirements of the medical schools of interest early in their undergraduate studies. The MSAR, which is available in the Biomedical Studies resource space in the Hustad Science Library , is a current source of requirements of all U.S. and Canadian medical schools. Medical schools have variable requirements in regards to Advanced Placement (AP) courses in English and in some cases, science. Many medical schools, including the University of Minnesota , do not accept CLEP credits for the required premed courses and a few schools do not accept AP credits. Check the MSAR to acquire specific information regarding AP/CLEP courses. All required “pre-med” lecture courses must be taken graded.

The table below compiles course requirements for the Minnesota , Iowa , and Wisconsin medical schools for entrance in 2007-2008:

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