» Pre-Health 4-Year Plan
Regardless of your degree program, it is wise to prepare yourself for admission into a health professional program by following a "timetable" that might include the following activities:
- Freshman Year
- Sophomore Year
- Junior Year
- Senior Year
- Pay attention to what you enjoy and what you are good at.
- Visit the explorehealthcareers.org website and gather information on health-care professions that sound interesting to you.
- Think about what degree program you might enjoy.
- Begin pre-professional core science courses.
- Begin professional observations and job-shadowing experiences, if your schedule permits.
- Establish good study skills and focus on academics.
- Take advantage of academic resources available in the Tutoring, Testing and Learning Center.
- Get involved in a study group and surround yourself with people that are serious about their studies.
- Get to know faculty - they are a great resource for major/career information and for future references and letters of recommendation.
- Meet new people and enjoy what college has to offer.
- Attend faculty research symposia and consider doing research with a faculty member.
- Commit to a major that will help you prepare for a career in the health profession and choose a faculty advisor that can help you reach your goals.
- Continue health-related volunteer opportunities and start to engage in co- and/or extra-curricular activities that involve community service and develop desirable personality traits.
- Research health professional schools you may want to apply to and learn about specific requirements.
- Work on study habits and time-management skills that will allow you to improve your grades, or keep your grades at a high level in increasingly rigorous courses.
- Volunteer as a tutor for freshman level science classes. Not only will this allow you to review foundational material but you will learn it in deeper ways.
- Continue - involvement in school clubs.
- December through February apply for a summer research internship with various organizations such as the National Institute of Health (NIH) or the American Heart Association.
- Get involved in a faculty sponsored research project.
- Request application materials from the health professional schools to which you plan to apply. Visit or talk with admissions representatives at these schools.
- Register for pre-professional exams (i.e. MCAT, DAT, OAT, GRE, PCAT, etc.)
- Complete pre-professional exam.
- Early summer: Complete primary application (provided through standardized service where application information is dispersed to schools of choice.
- Late summer: Complete secondary applications, send letters of reference.
- Continue and/or expand your involvement with student clubs/organizations and community activities/volunteer programs. Think about becoming an officer in a student club.
- Begin to write your personal statement and refine interviewing skills.
- Refine your interviewing skills and set up a mock interview(s).
- Early fall term/winter term: Go to interviews.
- Graduate!