Pre-Medical students typically obtain a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) or Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree while completing the requirements for admission to medical school. Medical schools do not require or prefer a particular undergraduate major. Admissions committees welcome students whose intellectual curiosity leads them to a wide variety of disciplines. Medical schools recognize the importance of a strong foundation in the natural sciences, social sciences, critical thinking, and the humanities. Applicants must complete course requirements and demonstrate proficiency in diverse disciplines as evidenced by the science GPA, overall GPA, and their performance on the MCAT.

Once you complete 13 or more credit hours in biology, chemistry, physics, and/or math (BCPM) courses at James Madison University, you will be subject to performance standard reviews twice a year. You must maintain a BCPM G.P.A. of 3.00 or above to retain the Pre-Medicine Program declaration. Since medical schools consider all course attempts during the admissions process, the G.P.A. calculations for the Pre-Medicine Program will include all course attempts. If your academic performance standards fall below a 3.00 BCPM G.P.A., you are at very high risk of not being admitted to medical school. Therefore, if you are unable to maintain a BCPM G.P.A. of 3.00 or above, then your Pre-Medicine Program will be administratively dropped.

Pre-Professional Health Advising has developed requirements for the Pre-Medicine Program based on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), successful medical applicant profiles, and regional scans of medical schools’ pre-requisites.

If you have credit for any of the following courses by earning Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge International Exam (CIE), community college credit, or departmental test credit, please read the Non-JMU Coursework for Pre-Requisite Coursework.

To review required coursework for the Pre-Medicine Minor, follow this link to the JMU Undergraduate Catalog.