School of Medicine - Before You Apply
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New York Medical College selects and educates future physicians who have the potential to develop the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes required to practice medicine in the 21st century. Successful candidates for admission to the College must have a broad educational background and possess the intelligence, integrity, and personal and emotional characteristics necessary to become effective physicians. Additionally, they must show evidence of the capacity to successfully complete the rigorous course of study in medical school.
The application process is competitive and each applicant is subject to an individual, flexible review. A candidate will not be denied admission on the basis of any legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, or disability. Strongly motivated students from educationally deprived and historically-underrepresented backgrounds are actively sought and encouraged to apply. The College seeks to admit a diverse class, including diversity of gender, race, ethnicity, cultural and economic background and life experience
It is strongly recommended that the applicant successfully complete undergraduate college work leading to a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college of arts and sciences in the United States or Canada. The Admissions Committee has no preference for a major field of undergraduate study, but any college work submitted must include two semesters credit in: inorganic or general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology and English. All science courses require a substantial laboratory component.
It is strongly recommended that applicants successfully complete undergraduate college work leading to a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college of arts and sciences in the United States or Canada. All courses offered in satisfaction of the requirements for admission must be taken in, or accepted as transfer credits by, an accredited college in the United States or Canada and must be acceptable to that institution toward a baccalaureate degree in arts or sciences. This includes Advanced Placement courses taken in high school. The Admissions Committee has no preference for a major field of undergraduate study, but any college work submitted must include specified credits in chemistry, physics, biology and English. Science courses must include substantial laboratory work.
General Biology, 2 semesters or equivalent, with labs
Inorganic or General Chemistry, 2 semesters or equivalent, with labs
Organic Chemistry, 2 semesters or equivalent, with labs
Physics, 2 semesters or equivalent, with labs
English, 2 semesters or equivalent (or successful completion of the English requirements of your undergraduate institution’s requirement for graduation).
MCAT
All candidates are required to take the Medical College Admissions Test. This test is viewed by the Admissions Committee as evidence of minimal academic competence and as an achievement test which allows appropriate comparisons. If there are more than one set of MCAT scores for an applicant, the most recent one is given greater consideration. See Secondary Application instructions for specific dates of acceptable MCAT Scores.
We would like to give you some advice here.
What do we mean by professional development and what does that have to do with you as a medical school applicant?
Applicants often ask what they should do before they apply to medical school. Perhaps you have asked. Perhaps what you really meant was -- what should you do to help you get into medical school? Is volunteering in an emergency room a good thing to do? How about research? How much? What kind?
Those questions suggest a "recipe" approach -- one semester of research plus a stint in an ER plus a visit to a soup kitchen equals a successful medical school applicant.
We disagree. There is no checklist of approved activities and there is no formula for getting into medical school.
So what do we want? We want you to be convinced -- and then to convince us -- that you have the aptitudes, interests, and motivation to be a good physician. We want you to be convinced -- and then to convince us -- that you've tested the waters and know that it's right for you. To do that you need to actually have done some things -- research, hospital volunteer, tutoring, shadowing, AIDS education, VISTA, Peace Corp, whatever -- and that you have:
- Learned more about yourself
- Learned more about medicine
- Learned more about people
- Learned more about science
and had fun doing it. We want you to be convinced -- and then to convince us -- that your goal is your own professional development and not simply getting into medical school.