Academic Preparation for Medical, Dental, & Veterinary School
Undergraduate Course Requirements & Academic Advice
To be competitive for the health professional school you are considering, applicants should demonstrate an ability to handle a science-intensive curriculum and a love of learning through in-depth study of a particular area or areas of interest. Besides avoiding overloading on courses and engaging in too many extracurricular activities, health professions students should avoid dropping below the expected four courses per semester (at least 4 credits). All science courses should be completed with a grade of C or higher. Students should repeat any pre-requisite course with a grade of C- or lower.
Talking over your course selections with both your Academic Advisor and the Health Professions and Life Sciences Career Advisor can help you to pace yourself well and develop a flexible four-year timeline with which you may complete the relevant admission requirements.
While at Wesleyan, it’s a good idea to plan your courses well in advance so that you have an opportunity to:
- explore healthcare as a classroom topic
- take courses that are required by medical schools at a comfortable pace
- make the most of what Wesleyan offers by meeting educational expectations
- maximize your chances for doing well academically each semester
Use the QuickLinks below to navigate this page more easily:
General Academic Advice
Notes on Majors
Medical schools in particular do not require a specific major, preferring to attract students from many disciplines. However, many health professional graduate programs do require that applicants take specific courses (primarily in the sciences) in order to demonstrate the requisite foundational knowledge to apply.
Your choice of major should be based on a variety of factors—ideally your preferred area of study, and what you do well in, rather than merely what you think health professional schools want to see.
Regardless of career, you will always need to work at balancing the personal and the professional aspects of your life. Many health professionals find pursuits in the arts especially rewarding. It is fine to take courses for no other reason than the fact that they intrinsically appeal to you. You should choose your courses with these considerations in mind, and give yourself the opportunity to develop as a whole person.
As a physician, you may want to work in a Spanish-speaking community; if so, a Spanish major or minor could be a great advantage. Perhaps you will want to prepare yourself for some of the tougher ethical questions that physicians face, and therefore choose Philosophy, Religion, or Science in Society as your major. An Economics major can help you when you confront the variety of market forces that affect health care practice and research.
Notes on Timing
In order to attend a health professional program immediately after graduation, you must complete the admission requirements by the spring semester of your junior year. This aggressive timeline is not always advised, and in the current professional climate, the majority of our applicants opt instead to take at least one or more Growth Years after completing their undergraduate degree. In fact, many people who now have very successful and personally rewarding careers practicing medicine began medical school in their mid-20s or early 30s.
Having all four undergraduate years and then taking additional time to explore and prepare offers many advantages. One advantage is that you are able to complete the required courses at a pace that will allow you to make the most of Wesleyan’s liberal arts curriculum.
In addition, you are likely to be a stronger candidate because of your additional clinical, volunteer, employment, or academic experience, and be more sure of your choice in a healthcare field.
Many graduates use their Growth Years to work in consulting firms, biotech companies, academic, clinical, or public health research, patient care (often certified as an EMT, CNA, or medical assistant), medical scribes, or teaching and learning with non-profits such as Teach for America or Americorps.
Information About Course Requirements
If you are considering applying to medical, dental, or veterinary programs, you can also refer to the Health Professions Portfolios (Requirements Tab) for a checklist of the most common pre-requisites for your chosen discipline.
Keep in mind the most reliable information comes directly from each profession’s official resources—for example, MSAR (MD programs), ADEA (dental), VMCAS (veterinary), and other centralized services.
Check the course requirements of every school that interests you by visiting their websites and by checking the MSAR Course Requirements Document (Medical School) or the relevant document for your chosen health profession.
At most medical schools, Advanced Placement or departmental exemption will not excuse you from course requirements. For example, if a student places out of the first introductory science course of a two-part series, and the department at Wesleyan allows the student to enroll directly in the Part 2 course, medical schools will often still expect the student to take at least one additional higher level course in that discipline.
On primary applications, applicants must designate each of their courses based on the primary content of the material covered. Familiarize yourself with the AAMC Course Classification guide, and ensure you are meeting program guidelines and requirements as you progress at Wesleyan.
In addition to the subjects listed below, many schools have other specific requirements, such as Biochemistry or Social and Behavioral courses like Psychology.
Be aware that there are many myths about requirements. If you are unsure, or hear something unusual about a particular school that you are interested in, talk to the Health Professions & Life Sciences Career Advisor or contact the medical school admissions office directly.
Check the Health Studies Cluster to find interesting courses to supplement your pre-health professional career
Subject Area Requirements
Chemistry
Starting in Fall 2026, CHEM 141L and 142L will serve as a years’ worth of general chemistry lab, and CHEM 251L and 252L labs will serve as a years’ worth of organic chemistry laboratory.
Together, these laboratory courses will meet the typical chemistry laboratory requirements for medical, dental, and veterinary schools.
Prior to Fall 2026, Wesleyan’s engaged in a three-semester lab sequence, of General, Intermediate, and Organic Chemistry Laboratories (CHEM 152, 257, & 258) which was considered to be equivalent to two years of chemistry laboratory.
Medical, Dental, and Veterinary schools are made aware of these laboratory details through the Institutional Letter of Recommendation Process.
Honors Chemistry (CHEM 145) is a one-semester, accelerated course option that can replace the General Chemistry sequence (CHEM 141 & 142) based on advanced high school preparation.
Visit the Chemistry Department’s website to view their recommendations on choosing the correct chemistry courses based on your high school background.
Mathematics
The math requirement varies widely from school to school; many schools require no math at all, while a few require a full year of calculus, and others require statistics.
In order to keep all options open, we recommend one semester of statistics and one of calculus. The semester of calculus can generally be substituted for linear algebra, multivariate calculus, vectors and matrices, or another more advanced math class.
Regarding the statistics requirements, students may take Math 132, Psych 200, or QAC 201.
If you took AP Calculus in high school and scored a 4 or 5 on the AP exam, you may opt to advance to “Vectors and Matrices,” or an even higher level math class. If your AP calculus credits are on your Wesleyan transcript, they should be accepted by medical schools requiring calculus that accept AP credits towards pre-requisite course work.
When starting at Wesleyan having completed AP credits, visit the academic department that matches the AP courses you are hoping to include on your transcript. Please see the relevant pages on the Registrar’s website.
English
One year of English is required at almost all U.S. medical schools.
In order to be classified as English on your applications, the primary content of the course must be either Literature, Creative Writing, or Composition and Rhetoric, besides being taught in the English language.
At Wesleyan, there are some courses that do not have the ENGL prefix that can still be designated as English based on this criteria, including some courses in AMST, COL, or WRCT.
The course must include discussion and/or persuasive presentations in English (demonstrating your ability to use language effectively and communicate ideas clearly), and entail significant writing assignments, consisting of at least three or more essays, short papers, critiques, weekly reaction papers and/or blogs. Not all writing-intensive courses will fulfill the English requirement.
Please view the Guide to the English Requirement resource to help inform your decisions.
Some medical schools are more flexible with this requirement, and may accept another humanities or writing-intensive course as a substitute, but this varies, and should be investigated on a case-by-case basis.
Pre-Requisites not offered at Wesleyan
Depending on your career trajectory, particularly dental and veterinary as opposed to medical, there may be some courses that are not currently offered at Wesleyan that are required at some of the schools you plan to apply to.
Dental:
The ADEA specifically names Anatomy and Physiology and Microbiology with Lab as examples of upper-level biology courses that some dental schools require. Additionally, while less universal, some dental schools may recommend a Communication or Public Speaking course. The latter are a school-specific item to watch, not necessarily considered standard dental pre-requisites.
Veterinary:
For veterinary, these gaps can be a bit more stark and have greater consequences on overly narrowing an applicant’s school list. In particular, Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology with Lab, Genetics, Animal Nutrition, Zoology/Animal Biology, and Public Speaking are all fairly common required courses at U.S. veterinary schools. Our general recommendation is to begin by building a list of potential schools, and supplementing your Wesleyan coursework with the classes they require either at a community college, another 4-year institution, or online if and when allowed. This can typically done over the summers or during a Growth Year.
Grades & Competition
Academic Benchmarks
Competition for admission is keen at all U.S. medical schools. The national overall average GPA for applicants accepted to medical schools is a 3.8 and the national average of the science GPA (BCPM) falls around 3.7. To obtain an idea of your BCPM GPA you may use the Science GPA Calculator. Please note that AMCAS, AACOMAS, and AADSAS use their own algorithms to calculate science and cumulative GPA across all colleges and universities.
Academic achievement is weighed heavily by the admissions committee. Unless you have no choice, we highly recommend that you choose grades over a pass/fail designation in all of the pre-requisite courses. Keep in mind, though, that grades by themselves do not tell the full story. Faculty recommendations are essential in helping admissions committee members assess your abilities.
At present, approximately three out of five candidates to allopathic medical schools (MD) will not be admitted, even though they may be qualified. You should apply only when you are personally ready and confident that you are a strong candidate.
We suggest students consider taking a Growth Year (or more!) between graduation and matriculation. Many applicants use Growth Years to enroll in additional upper level science courses, and/or work in a laboratory or clinical research setting, while also volunteering in a clinical or hospital setting.
These experiences will enable you to develop greater understanding of medicine, acquire valuable new skills, and further strengthen your health professional school application.
Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Health Programs
Some applicants do not complete all required premedical courses during their time at Wesleyan, such as those who began seriously considering a health profession career later in their undergraduate education.
For those who complete their Wesleyan degree without fulfilling all of the science pre-requisites, one option is to take the courses individually post-grad during Growth Year(s). Many required courses may be fulfilled as a non-degree student at another four-year U.S. institution.
Another option is to enroll part- or full-time in a post-baccalaureate premedical or pre-dental program, which is a more concentrated program of study. There are many post-baccalaureate programs around the country, and they typically take 1-2 years to complete. If you decide to go this route, do your research and choose a program that best serves your goals. For example, some candidates explore post-bacc programs which have an explicit connection with or pathway to a med school.
For applicants who feel that their academic performance makes them less competitive, there are also post-baccalaureate programs specifically structured to help individuals enhance their academic record.
A listing of post-baccalaureate programs can be found at the AAMC Post-baccalaureate Premedical Programs Listing, and applications are done through the Post-Bacc Programs Common Application.
Standardized Testing
For information about Standardized Testing for Medical, Dental, and Veterinary graduate degrees, including Wesleyan benchmarks, please visit the Standardized Testing resource page.
