In the US, Medical degrees are considered second entry degrees, meaning you cannot enrol directly in a Medicine Bachelor’s. You first need to do a Bachelor’s (undergraduate) degree in a related Science subject (popular choices are Biology and Chemistry) before you apply to a medical school. Then, you can enroll in a Medicine degree that usually lasts 4 years.
Requirements
- High school diploma.
- Extracurricular activities.
- Letters of recommendation.
- Minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0.
- Good TOEFL and IELTS(7.5 band) language scores.
- Undergraduate degree in the field of Sciences (3-4 years).
- Minimum MCAT exam result (set by each university individually).
Some American med schools have additional requirements.
- College Biology with laboratory, one year.
- General college Chemistry with laboratory, one year.
- Biology, Chemistry – minimum of 24 semester hours in areas of Humanities.
- Mathematics (Calculus and/or Statistics, one year (6-8 semester hours).
- General college Physics with laboratory, one year (8 semester hours).
List of Undergraduate Medical Schools in the America
| College/University | Location | Institution Type | Tuition (2015-2016)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Washington | Seattle, WA | 4-year, Public | $11,839 for in-state/$34,143 for out-of-state |
| University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | 4-year, Public | $8,591 for in-state/$33,673 for out-of-state |
| University of South Florida | Tampa, FL | 4-year, Public | $6,410 for in-state/$17,324 for out-of-state |
| University of Nebraska Medical Center | Omaha, NE | 4-year, Public | $8,897 for in-state/$26,477 for out-of-state |
| Oregon Health and Science University | Portland, OR | 4-year, Public | $18,159 for in-state/$28,779 for out-of-state |
| University of Michigan – Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor, MI | 4-year, Public | $13,856 for in-state/$43,476 for out-of-state |
| University of California – Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | 4-year, Public | $12,763 for in-state/$37,471 for out-of-state |
| University of Colorado | Denver, CO | 4-year, Public | $8,692 for in-state/$23,704 for out-of-state |
| New York University | New York, NY | 4-year, Private not-for-profit | $47,750 |
| University of Minnesota | Duluth, MN | 4-year, Public | $13,082 for in-state/$17,032 for out-of-state |
What is the MCAT?
The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a multi-choice exam created by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Almost all US medical schools require applicants to submit MCAT exam scores during their university application.
The MCAT exam takes approximately 7 hours and a half to complete and it is comprised of 4 main parts:
- Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
- Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
- Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behaviour
- Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
