How To Apply

Eligibility
To be eligible for admission to the Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program, students must:

• Hold a degree of Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science from an accredited college or university in the United States. Applicants with foreign credentials equivalent to a bachelor's degree from an American college or university may be admitted to the Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program. U.S. medical schools, however, prefer applicants who received their undergraduate training, especially in the premedical sciences, from institutions of higher education in the United States. In some cases it may be necessary for international students to complete a bachelor's degree in the United States before applying to medical school. All international students should be aware that they may need to repeat previous work in the sciences and that they must ordinarily complete at least one year of college English at Columbia.
  
• Show evidence that a student has developed the academic abilities to meet the demands of the premedical program.
  
• Successful applicants typically have an overall cumulative GPA above 3.0.

In making its decisions, the admissions committee considers the rigor and quality of the undergraduate curriculum a student has pursued and looks for evidence that the student has developed the academic abilities to meet the demands of the Premedical Program. At a minimum, successful applicants must possess an overall cumulative GPA of 3.0.

While no specific coursework is required for admission to the program, academic performance is expected to be outstanding. All applicants should be prepared to carry substantial course loads and plan to maintain GPAs of 3.0 or higher. Successful medical and veterinary school applicants have GPAs of 3.5 or higher.

Previously Completed Coursework, Application to Medical School, and the MCAT

Students are not eligible for admission if they have completed most or all of the required premedical courses, if they have applied to medical school within the past two years, or if they have taken the MCAT.

In some cases, however, Postbac Premed students may have completed one or two of the prerequisites required for medical school admission. Depending on when such coursework was completed, and the grades achieved, students may be advised to repeat the course or to take an advanced-level science course in order to be a more competitive applicant to medical school.

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Application Deadlines
Applications must be postmarked no later than the following deadlines:

• For fall term: June 15
• For spring term: November 1
• For summer term: April 1

Applications will be reviewed when complete, and decisions will be rendered on average within six to eight weeks.

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Admissions Checklist
The following items are required to complete an application for admission to the Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program:

• A completed application, using either of two methods:
  • Submitting an online application.
  • Submitting a paper application. You may Download the application (.pdf)
• The nonrefundable application fee of $65, in the form of a check or money order, payable to Columbia University.
  
• An official* copy of the high school transcript showing the date of graduation.
  
• An official* copy of the college transcript, showing the award of the bachelor's degree.
  
• Official* transcripts of work at all other colleges, professional schools, or universities attended, whether before earning the bachelor's degree or subsequently.
  
• Official* scores from any standard admission tests taken, such as the TOEFL, SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, or LSAT. Please note that you cannot send official score reports for graduate exams (LSAT, GRE, MCAT, GMAT) to the School of General Studies. Only undergraduate admissions exams can be sent directly to the School of General Studies. As a result, please request official score reports for any graduate exams be sent directly to you and then submit them in the sealed envelope to the Office of Admissions.
• An essay of approximately 500 words discussing your decision to pursue a career in medicine or an allied health profession. A successful essay will not only describe the factors that contributed to your decision, but also will give a sense of yourself as an individual by discussing why you want to pursue a medical career and how you feel you will contribute to this profession.
• Letters of recommendation, while not required, may be submitted with your application for admission.

*Official documents are those that arrive in a sealed envelope directly from the institution or testing service.

Tracking Your Application
Students who have already applied to the Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program can check the status of their application online.

Please note: this service does not provide acceptance information, and it will take approximately one week from the date an application is submitted for the system to reflect a student's application status.

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Deferrals
Students who defer their offers of admission and complete coursework at another institution between the date of their initial offer of admission and their matriculation at Columbia will be subject to a review of their admission status. In addition, students who undertake and complete coursework at another institution between the date of their initial offer of admission and their matriculation at Columbia, even if this is not during a deferral period, will be subject to a review of their admissions status. In both cases, the Office of Admissions reserves the right to rescind the offer of admission based on the results of this review.

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