Prospective Post-Bac FAQs

Yes, most medical schools require prerequisite coursework to be completed in an accredited university in the U.S. Therefore you would qualify to apply to our program and may need to repeat all of your science prerequisite courses (if already taken abroad).

Many medical schools prefer that prerequisite coursework is not older then 5 or 10 years old. Please contact your medical schools of interest if you fall in this category. If you need to repeat old coursework for this reason, then you qualify for this program.

Most of our post-bac students come from non-science majors and/or careers. We are typically looking for students who have completed fewer than half of the undergraduate requirements for medical, dental, or veterinary school. If admitted, you must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours to receive a certificate and review by the Georgetown Pre-Health Recommendation committee. Post-bac students are also expected to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.2 while completing the requisite coursework.

The ability to complete 30 or more credits is required to qualify for program admission. That generally means that you should not have already completed three science/math sequences in the last five years. You may not repeat courses in our program that you completed in the last five years and received a “C” or above. You may see this course offerings page and calculate how many credits you can take in the program to see if you qualify.

If you completed all or most of the required undergraduate pre-medical courses in the last five years at a U.S. institution, you are better served by other programs at Georgetown. Generally speaking, it is not recommended that a you retake undergraduate pre-med courses, but rather, that you take advanced courses to demonstrate competency. If you are missing only a few required courses, you may be able to complete them as a continuing education student at a state or local university, rather then completing a full program. Another option are enhancer postbac programs listed on the AAMC database: https://students-residents.aamc.org/postbacc/

We do not advise repeating individual courses if completed in the last five years at a U.S. institution and the grade is above a “C-“. A student will be better served by taking advanced courses to demonstrate competency.

We have admitted students with a 3.1 or lower undergraduate GPA, but this is not common. Exceptions have been made in some limited instances under these circumstances:
-Overall GPA is low but grades in any biology, math, chemistry, or physics courses are good.
-Overall GPA is low, student did not take any biology, chemistry, physics, or math courses, AND student has been away from undergraduate studies for at least two or more years.
-Student has a record of improving grades and demonstrates that they have developed academic proficiency over time.
-Student has additional academic credentials that demonstrate more recent robust academic proficiency.
-You may provide an explanation if there are any blemishes in your academic record as a separate document in your application.

We are not able to “pre-review” a student’s transcript to comment on the likelihood of success with an application. A full application must be submitted for review.

Generally speaking, the program expects undergraduate math and science grades to be at 3.2 or above. When you apply to medical school, the application will report your grade point average in several ways: your overall undergraduate GPA, your undergraduate “science” GPA (all courses in biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics), your undergraduate non-science GPA, and your postbac GPA in all of those categories. Post baccalaureate coursework is included in the “undergraduate total” GPA as well as in a separate “Post baccalaureate” GPA. Therefore, while it is the case that a PBPM program will provide an opportunity to take the pre-med courses and demonstrate proficiency and competency in science courses, it is not completely independent of your undergraduate GPA.

We do not admit students seeking to improve their undergraduate gpa, our program is for “career changers.”

We are not accepting international students into the program at this time, this includes Canadian citizens. Foreign applicants are cautioned to do significant research on the likelihood of their success applying to US medical schools before applying to any program.
Foreign citizens and future medical school applicants without an undergraduate degree from a US institution may face formidable challenges. It is very difficult for students who are not permanent residents at the time of application to secure a place in a United States medical school and no federal financial aid is available for students who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States either for post-baccalaureate or medical school costs. Additionally, most U.S. medical schools prefer applicants who received their undergraduate training, especially in the pre-medical sciences, from institutions of higher education in the United States. Some medical schools may only require the pre-medical science requirements be completed in the United States, but others may require additional credits from a US institution or a bachelor’s degree earned in the United States.

As long as your transcript has a detailed explanation about the grading or scoring system at your institution, you do not need to provide a WES evaluation of your coursework. You may ask your Registrar or similar office to provide the explanation. It can be included in the official transcript or emailed to us at postbacapp@georgetown.edu. If the explanation is deemed inadequate by our office, we may ask for an unofficial or an official WES evaluation.

We do not provide student contact information to applicants. Once a student is admitted current students are available to answer questions by individual request.

Unfortunately, we cannot offer advising appointments to students prior to acceptance. If you have any questions about the program please email us at postbacapp@georgetown.edu.

We do not offer campus tours to applicants. However, the Undergraduate Admissions office offers tours or a self-guided tour of the campus. These can be found at this link: https://uadmissions.georgetown.edu/visiting/

Classes are only offered during the day. Students take undergraduate courses together with undergraduate students.

We have linkages with Georgetown, George Washington University, New York University, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and University of Pittsburgh.

The Admissions Committee looks for examples of activities that demonstrate your interest in helping others and other traits of character important for a healthcare provider. While clinical experiences are preferred, they are not required. Clinical experience opportunities will be available during the postbac program.

If you would like to enroll into one course please see the following program: https://uadmissions.georgetown.edu/applying/visiting-students/#

We strongly recommend that students do not work while taking science coursework, at least for the first one or two semesters. The science courses are extremely rigorous and in order to do well it’s best to focus on studying and adjusting to academic life at Georgetown. Once the student feels they have a good handle on coursework and has demonstrated the ability to master the sciences, the student can then balance classes with other activities.

If you don’t have the scores for SAT/ACT, then just leave that section blank. Your candidacy for the program will be determined by your undergraduate grades, activities, essays and letter of recommendation. If you already have a GRE exam score then please report it on the application. There will be a space to input that score. You do not need to take the GRE instead of the SAT/ACT to apply to our program.

Post-bac students live off campus because we are located in the middle of an urban area with limited space allocated to dormitories. Dormitories are reserved for undergraduates and some graduate students. The Office of Neighborhood Life at Georgetown helps students find off-campus housing and provides support and resources.

If you have already taken any medical school prerequisites within the last five years, you would not need to repeat them in the program. Courses are not “transferable” for the 30 credits requirement we have to receive a Certificate and Committee letter. If a student already completed some prerequisites, then they will have to take upper level science courses to complete the 30 credits.

Postbac students take classes together with undergraduates. Because course section seats are reserved for the postbac students, most postbacs will be in the same section(s). The exception to this is if a postbac student has a schedule that constrains them to be in a different class section.
The postbac community is very tight knit and postbacs will usually organize study groups and choose to study together. During the pandemic the students are studying together virtually.

The program organizes reserved seating for postbacs. If the reserved seats run out or a student wants a seat in an unreserved section we work with the professor to get the student into the class. Postbacs have never had an issue with getting into a course.

Each department has tutoring services. Additionally, the Academic Resource Center (ARC) provides tutoring and academic workshops. Students can also receive support from the Pre-health Advising office to improve their study skills.

Postbac students apply in the same cohort as undergraduates to medical school. We do not keep separate statistics for postbac students at this time due to a small number of postbacs applying during each cycle (less than 10). Postbacs complete the same prerequisite courses and obtain similar relevant extracurricular experiences as undergraduates. The overall number of applicants range from 95-160 applicants each year. The overall acceptance rate of students at Georgetown university ranges from 75-85%. The five year acceptance rate for 2019-2023 is 79.6%. The previous cycle 2022-2023 acceptance rate was 84.4%. This is more then double the national average.

Each Linkage program has specific requirements and timeline. Generally they require 3.6 or above gpa in all classes ever taken and/or in the postbac program, completion of prerequisites and extracurricular activities including clinical experiences, shadowing, community service and research and at least 511 MCAT score (85th percentile). Some require no lower than a certain grade in any course ever taken or just in the postbac program (usually B grade). These requirements are determined by the medical schools each year. Additionally, medical schools require the applicant to complete a standard medical school application which includes an essay, resume and letters of recommendation. Applicants apply in the fall and undergo an interview process in the spring.