UGA Pre-Med Prerequisites: The Complete Course List and MCAT Prep Timeline

Pre-med at UGA is not a major. It’s a track, a set of prerequisite courses and extracurricular benchmarks you complete alongside whatever major you choose. This is one of the most common misconceptions incoming students have, and it matters because your major selection is more flexible than you think, but your prerequisite course performance is less forgiving than you’d hope.

Here’s exactly what you need to take, when to take it, and what competitive applicants actually look like.

Required Prerequisite Courses

Medical school prerequisites are set by individual programs, and they vary. But the following courses represent the standard set that satisfies the vast majority of M.D. and D.O. programs, as mapped to UGA’s catalog:

Biology (8 hours)
BIOL 1107/L and BIOL 1108/L (Principles of Biology I and II with labs)

General Chemistry (8 hours)
CHEM 1211/L and CHEM 1212/L (General Chemistry I and II with labs)

Organic Chemistry (8 hours)
CHEM 2211/L and CHEM 2212/L (Organic Chemistry I and II with labs)

Physics (8 hours)
PHYS 1111/L and PHYS 1112/L (Introductory Physics I and II with labs) or PHYS 1211/L and PHYS 1212/L (calculus-based, for students with the math background)

Biochemistry (3 to 4 hours)
BCMB 3100 (Introductory Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) or BCMB 4010 and 4020 (the two-semester advanced sequence)

Statistics (3 hours)
STAT 2000 or BIOS 2010. Note: the Medical College of Georgia specifically requires a statistics course, and PSYC 3990 does not count as a substitute.

English (6 hours)
ENGL 1101 and ENGL 1102. These are already required by UGA’s core curriculum, so they’re typically handled early.

Total: approximately 44 to 47 hours of prerequisite coursework.

Strongly Recommended Courses

These aren’t universally required, but they are frequently recommended by medical schools, tested on the MCAT, or both:

• PSYC 1101 (Introductory Psychology) — tested on the MCAT’s Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations section
• SOCI 1101 (Introductory Sociology) — also tested on the MCAT
• GENE 3200 (Genetics) — reinforces biology and biochemistry content
• VPHY 3100 (Elements of Physiology), CBIO 3710, or PMCY 3000 — physiology content relevant to the MCAT and clinical reasoning
• MATH 2250 (Calculus I) — some programs require it; useful for calculus-based physics
• CBIO 3400 (Cell Biology) — deepens understanding of cellular mechanisms

The AP Credit Question

This catches students every year. Many medical schools restrict the use of AP credit for fulfilling prerequisites, particularly in biology and chemistry. The Medical College of Georgia, for example, does not accept AP credit for biology or chemistry prerequisites. If you used AP credit to place out of BIOL 1107/1108 or CHEM 1211/1212, you may need to take additional upper-level courses in those disciplines to satisfy specific schools’ requirements.

Check the MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements database, maintained by the AAMC) for each school on your list. The safe strategy: take the courses at UGA even if you have AP credit, or take advanced courses in the same discipline to demonstrate mastery.

GPA Benchmarks: What’s Actually Competitive

The numbers from UGA’s Pre-Professional Advising Office are clear:

• Overall GPA target: 3.7 or higher
• Science GPA target: 3.7 or higher
• MCAT target: 513 or higher (approximately 85th percentile)

These are averages for accepted applicants nationally. They are not cutoffs, but falling significantly below them makes the rest of your application carry much more weight.

M.D. programs calculate a BCMP GPA (biology, chemistry, math, and physics). D.O. programs use a BCP GPA (biology, chemistry, and physics only). Every attempt at a course is included in these calculations. Retaking organic chemistry improves your knowledge but does not erase the original grade from your AMCAS or AACOMAS application.

Grade trends matter. A rough first semester followed by consistent improvement reads differently than a decline over time. Admissions committees are looking at trajectories, not just endpoints.

A Practical Four-Year Timeline

First Year

• Fall: CHEM 1211/L, BIOL 1107/L, ENGL 1101, MATH 1113 or MATH 2250
• Spring: CHEM 1212/L, BIOL 1108/L, ENGL 1102, PSYC 1101

Second Year

• Fall: CHEM 2211/L, PHYS 1111/L, SOCI 1101, major coursework
• Spring: CHEM 2212/L, PHYS 1112/L, STAT 2000, major coursework

Third Year

• Fall: BCMB 3100, GENE 3200, VPHY 3100, major coursework
• Spring: Additional recommended courses, begin MCAT preparation, major coursework
• Take the MCAT in spring or early summer of junior year

Fourth Year

• Submit AMCAS/AACOMAS applications (primary opens in late May/early June)
• Complete secondary applications and interviews
• Continue coursework and extracurriculars

This timeline assumes no AP credit substitutions and a standard course load. Adjust based on your placement scores, major requirements, and summer course availability.

Beyond Coursework: What Else You Need

Medical school admissions are holistic. Prerequisite courses and the MCAT get you through the initial screen. The rest of your application is built from:

Clinical experience: Shadowing physicians across multiple specialties (hands-off observation only). The Medical College of Georgia expects a minimum of 200 hours of clinical experience.

Research: Not universally required, but a majority of successful applicants have meaningful research experience. UGA’s undergraduate research programs and faculty labs offer substantial opportunities.

Volunteering: Depth of commitment matters more than breadth. Long-term involvement with one or two organizations is more compelling than a scattered list of one-time events.

Letters of evaluation: Most schools require at least three letters, with at least two from science faculty who taught you in a classroom setting. Building those relationships in large UGA lecture courses requires intentional effort: attend office hours, participate in discussion sections, and engage early.

The Courses That Derail Pre-Med Students

Organic chemistry (CHEM 2211/2212) is the course with the highest attrition rate among pre-med students at UGA. It’s conceptually different from general chemistry, more dependent on spatial reasoning and mechanism-based thinking than memorization.

General physics and biochemistry also present challenges, but organic chemistry is where students most often realize they need a different approach to studying. The students who succeed in orgo typically shift from passive review (rereading notes) to active problem-solving (working mechanisms repeatedly until the logic becomes automatic).