Frequently Asked Questions
The following questions are ones that are asked most frequently
by students considering careers in the health professions. Although
the questions below most often are asked by pre-medical students the
discussion applies to pre-dental, pre-veterinary students and other
pre-health profession students as well.
General Questions
For High School Students Primarily
For Pepperdine Students Primarily
What is the best major for a pre-med student at Pepperdine
University?
Medical schools do not require a specific major course of study
and Pepperdine does not offer a “pre-med” major. A student should
choose a major that is intellectually challenging and about which
one is passionate. Genuine interest in your chosen major should
motivate you to do well and will result in closer relationships with
your professors from whom you might later request letters of
recommendation. You may select any major offered at Seaver College
(catalog link), including non-science majors, and still be a
pre-med student. However, one advantage of majoring in science is
that most (if not all) of the pre-med curriculum will also be
required courses for your major. If you choose a non-science major,
you will have to complete the pre-med courses in addition to the
courses required for your major.
What courses do I take at Pepperdine to complete the pre-med
curriculum?
Medical, dental, and veterinary schools have a similar list of
undergraduate requirements. This list includes one year of general
chemistry, one year of organic chemistry, one year of physics, and
one year of biology. For more information about specific classes
available at Pepperdine and other recommended classes please refer
to the Medical School Course
Requirements.
A listing of specific course requirements for each medical school
as well as general information about each school is found
in the reference book published by the
American Association of
Medical Schools, “Medical
School Admission Requirements.” It is updated every year.
Pre-dental students should refer to “The
ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools, 44th Edition” which is available on the
American Dental Education Association
Website.
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What percent of our applicants are accepted into medical school?
For the past several years, the usual percent of accepted
applicants is between 60% to 70%. We have about 20 to 30 Pepperdine students that
apply to medical school each year. The acceptance rate
for those students who have high GPA’s and competitive MCAT scores
is almost100%. It is not difficult to understand what you need
to do to get into medical school, but it is difficult to do what you
need to do in order to get accepted.
The acceptance rate for applicants to dental school is close to
100% with only 0-5 applicants to dental
school each year.
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In the past, what medical schools have
our students frequently attended?
Frequently attended schools include the University of Southern
California, University of California Irvine, Northwestern, Tulane,
Emory, Loma Linda, Baylor, Georgetown, Ohio State, St. Louis as well
as various state schools especially when those schools are the
home-state schools of the student applicant (Washington, Oregon,
Arizona, Nevada, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado,
etc.).
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Can I attend an international program (overseas) while pursuing pre-med at Pepperdine?
Of course! We recommend that you do so both because of the
quality of the overseas programs and the invaluable experience it
affords. Many of our students attend one of our
International
Programs while at Pepperdine. You may elect to
spend an entire academic year, a semester, or a summer session
abroad. Most programs, with the exception of the Sports Medicine
major program in Australia, do not offer science classes while
overseas. Consequently, pre-med students going overseas during the
school year often take science classes in summer school or wait to
apply to medical school until their senior year.
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What are the drawbacks of being a California resident?
When selecting a first year medical school class, admissions
committees from state medical schools often consider only or mainly applicants who are residents of
that state. In California, however, there is not the same kind of home-state
advantage like there is in most other states. This is due to the large number of California
resident-applicants compared to the number of medical school seats
available in California. California has 36 million residents and
only 8 medicals schools. This is approximately the same number of
seats California had 30 years ago when the population was “only” 19
million. For example, each year there are approximately 4,000
applicants for 100 seats at UCLA while there may be just 400
applicants for 100 seats at the University of Arizona medical
school. Consequently, California is a major exporter of medical
school students to the rest of the nation. This means that if you
want to go to a California school you have to have as close to a 4.0
GPA as possible and comparably high MCAT scores as well as the other
factors listed below.
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What factors are important to the admission committees of
medical schools?
The two critically important factors are your grades (G.P.A.) and
MCAT scores. Both your GPA and MCAT scores are reliable predictors
of a student’s ability to succeed in medical school. Other factors
include, but are not limited to, clinical experience and/or
volunteer work, research experience, work experience,
extracurricular activities, and personal attributes such as
compassion, passion for medicine, and leadership ability.
Evidence of the ability to work with medically underserved
individuals and those from other cultures is also important.
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What kind of grades do I need to get into medical school?
You need A’s and B’s. The average undergraduate GPA for students
accepted to medical school is about 3.6, and about 3.7 for students
accepted to UC medical schools. You should also understand that
making A’s and B’s will not guarantee you admission to medical
school. Your GPA is only one of several criteria that admission
committees consider in making admissions decisions.
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What is the MCAT and what is an average score for students?
The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a standardized test
consisting of four parts: essays (one part) and three
multiple-choice tests (verbal reasoning, physical sciences, and
biological sciences) (one-part each). The multiple-choice tests are
scored on a scale of 1-15 in whole-number increments. The national
average for all students taking the MCAT is between 8 and 9 on each
of the three multiple-choice portions of the test. For students
admitted to medical school, the average test score is about 10 on
each part, for a combined score on the multiple-choice portions of
the exam of about 30. Starting in the year 2007 the MCAT was
changed in several ways. It is now computerized, takes less time and
is scheduled
many more times during the year. For more information, visit their Website
http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/.
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Where do Pepperdine students participate in clinical/volunteer
work?
All of our students accepted to medical school have had extensive
experience as volunteers or in paid work in one or more health care settings
involving contact with patients, e.g., working at a clinic, a
hospital, or a doctor’s office. Such experiences are usually gained
off campus, although there are a few opportunities on campus, e.g.,
the cold clinic. Such volunteer experiences serve a myriad of
purposes, not the least of which is your own exposure to what your
life might be like as a physician. Some of this work should be done
in an underserved and/or overseas community. Consult the
current handout (pdf)
outlining various opportunities for health care work in the greater
Los Angeles area.
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Where do Pepperdine students participate in research work?
A majority of our students accepted to medical school have
participated in research under faculty supervision either at
Pepperdine or at another college or research institute. Research may
be done during the academic year or during the summer. Although
research participation may be mandatory for certain medical schools
and career goals, e.g., entrance to a M.D. /PhD. program, it is not
always required. If you are interested in doing research at
Pepperdine talk to your Pepperdine professors about their
research and ask if they
have any positions available in their lab. In addition, there are
SURB and SURP
scholarships available every summer for research projects with
professors. Off campus research is available on most college
campuses during the summer and many organizations such as the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) and American Heart Association
(AHA) support summer research at various sites throughout the US.
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What are the benefits of going to Pepperdine University?
• Pepperdine offers a strong liberal arts education which,
especially if a student takes the Great Books sequence, provides
skills that are very helpful on the verbal section of the MCAT.
• Pepperdine has an excellent science faculty and rigorous
science courses that are excellent preparation for both the MCAT and
medical school.
• Our science professors normally do not grade on the curve
which creates a non-competitive atmosphere and promotes cooperation
among students and faculty.
• Pepperdine’s emphasis on undergraduate education and the
absence of graduate students results in many excellent research
opportunities being available for undergraduates with Natural
Science faculty. If you pursue this early in your career at
Pepperdine you may be able to present your work at scientific
meetings and may receive publication credit. Biology, chemistry and
sports medicine all have honors research programs.
• Pepperdine offers a summer research program in biology (SURB) as well as in other areas (SURP). There are scholarships
available to spend the summer at Pepperdine and participate in
research with Natural Science faculty.
• There are two courses specifically for pre-health professions
students: “Introduction to the Health Sciences” for freshmen or
sophomores and “The Application Process” for juniors or seniors who
are or will be applying to professional schools. Both are 1 unit
courses taught by the pre-med advisor.
• There are outside speakers from the health professions to help
guide you in your choice of career. Our graduates who are presently
in medical school also return to speak and mentor our
undergraduates.
• There is a volunteer coordinator who can aid you in finding
volunteer work in a clinical setting.
• There is a letter of recommendation service wherein we collect
your letters from various faculty and outside sources, create a file
for you and then send them electronically to medical schools as part
of the secondary application process.
• There are two pre-health clubs at Pepperdine: Phi Delta
Epsilon, for pre-medical students and another for pre-dental
students as well as biology, chemistry and sports medicine clubs.
• There are overseas programs through international programs and mission trips to Mexico
and other countries though the volunteer center. Through Project
Serve, held during Spring Break, students may travel to regions of
the United States, Mexico, or South America to serve underserved
populations.
• Pepperdine offers a Washington D.C. internship program for all
students. This is an excellent opportunity for pre-health students
to get experience at various agencies, hospitals, or clinics in the
D.C. area at the same time as they are able to take needed science
classes. As examples, students have worked at Healthy Baby, Healthy
Mothers, the National Multiple Sclerosis society, Amgen, and the
National Institutes of Health.
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For High School Students Primarily
What can I do in high school to prepare myself for pre-med in
college and medical school?
In the same way that the pre-med curriculum helps to prepare you
for the academic rigors of medical school, you can use high school
classes to prepare for college. You should take as much English,
math, physics, chemistry and biology as your high school offers, as
well as any courses that involve extensive reading and writing. You
need to be able to read with comprehension, and understand concepts
well enough to apply them. You also need to develop efficient study
habits and self-discipline. Courses should be taken at the highest
level available. As an example, advanced placement or AP courses should be taken
when available.
In addition to your academic preparation, there are other
activities that are helpful. It is a good idea,
for example, to develop the habit of reading the newspaper and/or a
weekly newsmagazine on a regular basis. Besides building your
vocabulary, it will also help keep you informed of what is going on
around the world, which is part of your education outside of the
classroom.
Clinical and volunteer work done in a medical setting during high
school is valuable in order to help you determine whether medicine
is the right career for you. In addition if you continue that same
volunteer work in college you can list it on your application to
medical school.
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Which AP (Advanced Placement) classes taken in high school
give me credit for pre-med classes at Pepperdine?
AP physics (for Physics 210) and calculus (for Math 210 and
possibly 211) will count for our pre-medical course requirements if
you achieve the appropriate scores. Other AP science classes count as
general education courses. We do recommend taking AP chemistry and
biology in high school because they will make first year science
classes at Pepperdine easier.
For details about the usefulness of AP scores refer to the
Pepperdine
Handout
on AP class credit.
Be forewarned that some medical schools will not give credit for
AP courses even though we do so at Pepperdine.
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For Pepperdine Students Primarily
What happens if my grades
are lower than they should be?
No one individual grade or even series of grades will keep you
out of medical school. Often freshman year grades are the lowest due
to the difficulty of adjusting to the college environment. It is
important for grades to improve over time.
If your GPA is too low at graduation you may go back to school as
a post baccalaureate student and take upper division or graduate
level science classes to demonstrate command of those subjects.
Other options include making application to off-shore, foreign or osteopathic
medical schools.
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Is it advisable to withdraw from a course?
Medical schools do not like to see a “W” on a
transcript. They assume that you were failing or receiving a D in
the class and that is why you had to drop it. Therefore, only drop
it if you are getting a D or an F and there is no way to bring your
grade up. Do not withdraw from a class because you no longer need
it for graduation or are changing your major. When you apply to
medical school you will have to explain why you dropped the class.
What a medical school would like to know is
that when faced with adverse circumstances (bad grades, troubled
relationships, crowded schedules, etc.) you were able to make the
adjustments necessary to succeed. If you are doing poorly in a
class, talk with the professor, get tutoring, seek help from your
classmates, or talk to the pre-med advisor.
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Is it advisable to repeat a pre-med course?
Not unless your grade is below a C- or you feel that you do not
understand the subject matter. If you do retake a class both grades
will appear on your transcript. Medical schools recommend that
instead of repeating a course you
take upper division science courses in the same area to increase
your knowledge and boost your G.P.A.
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If I am a non-science major will I have any extra problems?
Sometimes your major classes can conflict with your science
classes. However this is usually not a problem with the possible
exception of art classes.
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What classes count in the “science” G.P.A. on AMCAS, (the
application form for medical school)?
The science GPA on your application for medical
school (AMCAS) is called BCPM. The initials stand for biology,
chemistry, physics and math. However, many of our science classes fit
into their designation. Sports medicine and psychology classes that
have a lab and are hard science classes also count. Your major GPA
is very similar to your science GPA if you are a biology, chemistry,
or sports medicine major.
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