Professional School Preparation
Preparation for professional school begins with your undergraduate education. Terms such as pre-med or pre-dental are descriptive labels. To academically prepare, students may choose a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts in any area of study, but also complete admission and prerequisite course requirements for the professional school of interest.
Starting with the end in mind...
Review University of Minnesota system program application and prerequisite guides when considering professional or allied health programs such as Dentistry, Genetic Counseling, Medicine, Mortuary Science, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Veterinary Medicine (DVM).
Students with a goal of the School of Nursing should review how courses completed at UMD transfer toward prerequisites needed for Nursing preparation.
- Bachelor Science in Nursing: (freshman beginning at UMTC and Transfer students entering the Rochester program)
- Undergraduate preparation for the Master in Nursing program offered at the U of MN Twin Cities campus
- Nursing Prerequisite Guide - UMN System
- Early decision for admission to the Master of Nursing program
Consider professional school desired qualifications/criteria, prerequisite courses, and admission information:
- Pharmacy School information and admission prerequisites (UMD and UMTC)
- 3+4 Accelerated Pharm D/ SCSE program
- Medical School information and admission prerequisites (UMD and UMTC)
Aspiring Docs provides resources and inspiration to help you get started on your path to medicine
- College of Veterinary Medicine information and admission prerequisites (UMTC)
- School of Dentistry information and prerequisites (UMTC)
Prerequisite course requirements vary from profession to profession and from school to school. It is best to review and recheck prerequisite courses at each school.
Most professional schools of medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, optometry, physical therapy, occupational therapy, public health, and dentistry require or recommend a combination of the following courses:
Professional School Prerequisite | UMD Courses |
| One year of Biology with lab | General Biology I (BIOL 1011 OR BIOL 1013) General Biology II (BIOL 1012) |
| One year of General Chemistry with lab | General Chemistry I (CHEM 1153/1154 or CHEM 1173/1174) General Chemistry II (CHEM 1155/1156 or CHEM 1175/1176) |
| One semester or year of Organic Chemistry with lab | Organic Chemistry I & II (CHEM 2541/2543) and (CHEM 2542/2544) |
| Four semesters Life Sciences (biology, botany, biochemistry, chemistry, genetics, parasitology, physics & zoology) | Also recommended: (two courses upper division) Biochemistry, ethics, genetics, microbiology/immunology, physics, psychology, seminar-type courses/small group discourse |
| College level Math and Statistics | Calculus I (MATH 1290 or 1296) Statistics (STAT 1411, 2411, 3411, 3611, ECON 2030, PSY 2020, or 3020) |
| One year of English | College Writing (WRIT 1120), Advanced Writing: Science (WRIT 3150) or English courses |
| Behavioral Sciences, Humanities, and Social Sciences | Courses from anthropology, arts, history, philosophy, psychology, sociology, etc. |
| Often recommended courses depending upon professional school | Anatomy, Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Genetics, Microbiology, Physiology |