Ucsd Premed

Participate in research only if it interests you. This is NOT a requirement, however exposure to research can help you understand the bigger picture of medicine.

Prepare for
Med School

The national average for accepted med school applicants is a 3.7 overall and a 3.64 for science. MCAT: 510 or 83rd percentile.

SERVICE

Demonstrate compassion for others by volunteering with underserved and disadvantaged communities.

PERSONAL ESSAY

Write a compelling narrative that outlines your true motivation and resiliency. What experiences have you had that make you determined to pursue this profession?

15 CORE COMPETENCIES

Ensure all of your experiences and knowledge meet the AAMC’s competencies for entering medical students.

HEALTHCARE/CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

Volunteer at a hospital or clinic. Aim for 200-300 hours of meaningful patient interactions.
Pre-Med/Pre-Health Experiential Opportunities Guidebook

LEADERSHIP

Show that you take initiative and can lead a team by sitting on a board, being an Undergrad Instructional Apprentice, or creating your own project. Leadership can take many forms.

LETTERS OF EVALUATION

Get to know faculty and other professionals: Try office hours, coffee with a prof, or become an Undergrad Instructional Apprentice. Look for mentors, not letter writers. Building relationships takes time so begin early!

RESEARCH

Participate in research only if it interests you. This is NOT a requirement, however exposure to research can help you understand the bigger picture of medicine.

Academic Pre-Requisites

Most medical schools have similar prerequisites, including the following:

• BILD 1, 2, 3, & any upper division Biology lab course (must be at least 4 quarter units)

• CHEM 6A, 6B, 6C, & 7L (lab)

• CHEM 40A, 40B, & 43A (lab),
• OR, Student who are Chem/Biochem, or Engineering majors will use: CHEM 41A, 41B, 41C, & 43A (lab)

Please consult your academic advisor on the most appropriate sequence before scheduling an appointment with Health Beat Advisor through Handshake to discuss Organic Chemistry.

• PHYS 1A, 1AL, 1B, 1BL, 1C, 1CL
• OR, 2A, 2B, 2BL, 2C, 2CL

• Two quarters of calculus (usually MATH 10 series or 20 series)
• One course in statistics (MATH 11, PSYC 60, BIEB 100, etc.)

• One of the following: BIBC 100, BIBC 102, CHEM 114A, or CHEM 114B

One year of English composition or writing

• college general education courses dependent on written material for grading should suffice

• One year of upper division biology such as:
  • Genetics (BICD 100)
  • Human Physiology (BIPN 100 and/or BIPN 102)
  • Cell biology (BICD 110)
  • Molecular Biology (BIMM 100)
  • Microbiology (BIMM 120)
  • One course in psychology and sociology (PSYC 1 and SOCI 70) helpful for the MCAT but not a prerequisite
  • Consider classes within the Global Health or Health Care-Social Issues programs

  **Students can review specific expectations for prerequisite courses on the AAMC listing of medical school course policy here . Please note that students should always check the admissions website of a medical school for the most up to date policies on courses.**

  AP Credit

  • Most medical schools accept some AP and IB credit for pre-requisites.
  • Some medical schools DO NOT ACCEPT AP credit. Additional upper division coursework may be needed to meet the pre-requisites for certain schools. Please plan accordingly. If you have concerns, please meet with your pre-med advisor. AP CREDIT POLICY
    According to the Academic Senate, UC San Diego students cannot duplicate courses for credit. Given this policy, any AP credit you receive for AP calculus, chemistry, biology, or physics means you cannot retake these courses at UC San Diego. Instead, Health Beat recommends:
    1. Only select schools that accept AP credit. Review this information on the MSAR Report(Medical School Admissions Requirements, located on the AAMC website) or on the individual medical school’s website. Here is a list from MSAR of admissions policies and information. This is subject to change each application cycle.
    2. Schools that list a requirement as “recommended” typically will accept AP course credit.
    3. If you are interested in attending schools who DO NOT ACCEPT AP credit, take the courses you received AP credit for in one of these ways (in descending order of preference):
    • Take upper-division coursework or honors courses at UC San Diego in the subjects you received AP credit for (biology, math, chemistry, physics). Keep in mind, these classes can be much more rigorous and are not prerequisites for medical school. If you feel this could affect your GPA negatively, consider the other options.
    • At a 4-year university’s extension program (UC San Diego, SDSU, etc.)
    • At a community college (Some medical schools may see community college course work as less rigorous than at a 4-year institution). *The only exception is if you transferred from a community college to UC San Diego

    Timeline to Medical School

    Gap Year (Recommended) and No Gap Year Plan
    4-Year Timeline (SAMPLE PLAN ONLY)

    Gap Year

    A Gap Year is the time between when you graduate and when you begin your health professional school. If you apply at the end of your senior year, you will be taking one gap year. If you apply at then end of your junior year, you will NOT have a gap year and will begin your health professional school a few months after you graduate.

    Taking a GAP year? Check out what you can do: Explore Options

    Gap Year vs No Gap Year Comparison

    Compare Timelines

    GAP YEAR	NO GAP YEAR
    4 years of your academic progress	3 years of your academic progress (only one year of upper division coursework on your application)
    more time to develop relationships with faculty	will not have the opportunity to submit letters from faculty during your senior year
    more time to gain clinical, service, research, and leadership experience	need to start getting experience ASAP (first year)
    more prep time to take the standardized test that is required	less time to prepare for the standardized test
    interviews will take place during your gap year when you have more free time	interviews can take place during fall, winter, and early spring quarter of your senior year

    Benefits of a Gap Year

    Most health professional schools can be another 4+ years of education and training. Additionally, many schools may require a residency component, which can be another few years. Given this lengthy commitment, it would be wise to consider taking a break and recalibrating so you can be prepared for the academic and mental rigor of a health professional school. Check out additional reasons to take a gap year.

    PRE-MED Student Organizations:

    A comprehensive list can be found at the Center for Student Involvement. Check under “Health Professions,” “Service,” and “Pre-Professional.”

    • Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED) Pre-Health Professional Honor Society
    • American Medical Student Association (AMSA) pre-med chapter
    • Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine
    • Health and Medical Professions Preparation Program (HMP3)
    • MAPS (Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students)
    • Pre-Medical APAMSA at UCSD

    Additional Preparation Information

    Learn more about gaining experience – clinical, service, leadership, and research.

    How to Succeed as a UCSD Premed

    Discover everything you need to know about premed at UC San Diego, including premed requirements, the best premed extracurriculars, and the UCSD premed acceptance rate

    

    Part 1: Introduction

    Part 2: UCSD premed requirements

    Part 3: UCSD premed extracurriculars

    Part 4: Getting into medical school as a UCSD premed

    Part 1: Introduction

    As an undergraduate at UCSD, it can feel easy to fall in love with medicine and science. Not only do you share a campus with the UCSD School of Medicine, currently ranked 20th in the 2023 U.S. News and World Report Rankings, but you also have an abundance of other biomedical research facilities nearby, including the La Jolla Institute of Immunology, Scripps Research, and Salk Institute for Biological Studies. This cluster creates one of the densest groupings of biomedical research anywhere in the world. These institutions have combined forces to create incredible discoveries, including eight current Nobel laureates at UCSD alone.

    It comes as no surprise then that many UCSD students ultimately end up applying to medical school. During the 2021–2022 application cycle, there were a total of 751 applicants from UCSD, making it the sixth-highest producer of applicants in the country, behind only UCLA and UC Berkeley within colleges in California.

    Despite this high number of applicants, being a premed at UCSD is often challenging. As a highly rated undergraduate institution, your peers are likely to have been top of their class in high school, creating a competitive student body. When you add to this the demanding nature of curved premed courses, maintaining the high GPA necessary for admission to medical school can be an obstacle. Some students also report that finding volunteer opportunities working with the less fortunate can be difficult given the relatively affluent environment around the campus. Plus, if you’re hoping to stay in-state, either because you love California or desire in-state tuition, you may also face the steep competition that comes with getting into a medical school in California.

    To succeed as a UCSD premed requires taking advantage of the powerful resources available to you, both at UCSD and at surrounding institutions, while also successfully navigating challenging courses and developing your extracurricular profile. To help you achieve this success, we created this guide, which combines our nearly 20 years of advising experience with first-hand insight from current UCSD students and alumni.

    We’ll cover how to complete your premed requirements, along with the study skills and scheduling insight necessary to do so with your GPA intact, as well as when to take the MCAT and how to use your UCSD courses to help you prepare. We’ll also discuss ways to shape your resume through volunteering, shadowing, research, and other extracurricular activities that will be both personally and professionally fulfilling. Finally, we’ll look at the published data on UCSD graduates applying to medical school to get a sense of what you may expect when you apply. Altogether, this guide will be an excellent resource as you go through your career at UCSD and, ultimately, on to medical school.