M.D. Admissions Program FAQ

CESCM-Admissions will accept Pass/No Credit grades for courses taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently we consider courses impacted are those offered in Spring 2020 through Summer 2021(Quarter/Semester).

We strongly encourage classroom application for lectures and labs for science course requirements. We will accept online courses taken in Winter/Spring 2020 through Spring 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

*Online courses (including laboratory courses, for completion of some prerequisites) will be considered on a case-by-case basis and preference will be given to applicants who have done most of their preparation at the senior college level.

Please refer to our Academic Requirements section for a listing of prerequisite courses.

Letters of Recommendation for Traditional Applicants

The college requires one of the following options below: 

1. A composite letter of evaluation written by the premedical advisory committee at the applicant’s school (greatly preferred). If your premedical advising office provides a committee letter compiling feedback from multiple sources, this letter will suffice to satisfy your letters requirement.
2. A minimum of 3 individual letters from faculty members who have taught the applicant. At least two of your letters should be from a professor that has taught you in the natural sciences, and one from a non-science professor who has taught you, and can adequately speak to both your academic readiness and personal suitability for the pursuit and practice of medicine.
3. Applicants may submit up to five letters in total.

Letters of Recommendation for Nontraditional Applicants

Generally defined as those who have taken one or more years off between undergraduate studies and applying to medical school. If submitting Individual Letters , you will need to provide a minimum of three separate letters to meet the requirement. Letters may be obtained from any combination of the following sources: professors, academic advisors, clinical/shadowing or research coordinators and preceptors, volunteer supervisors, work supervisors, and mentors.

What if I cannot find (two) Science faculty for Letters of Recommendations (LOR)?

If you are not able to get any letters from faculty who have taught you in the natural sciences, we will accept LORs from professors, advisors, clinical research coordinators or preceptors, supervisors, mentors and coaches (if you’re a college level *student-athlete).

*The term “student athlete” means an individual who engages in, is eligible to engage in, or may be eligible in the future to engage in, any intercollegiate sport.

For more information about submitting letters of recommendation through AMCAS, see the instruction manual for completing the AMCAS application or visit: Preparing letters of evaluation for the AMCAS® application | AAMC.

At this time there are no accommodations being made for volunteer, shadowing or clinical experiences, as we believe this is an important part of the application process. Applicants should already have some volunteer, clinical and or shadowing experience that they've participated in. Virtual forms of shadowing experience are accepted.

Medical school admissions offices do not have advisors or counselors.

Please contact your undergraduate Pre-Health Advising Office, or Academic Advisor for guidance as to how to prepare to apply to Medical School. For more specific information, visit: students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school-amcas/applying-medical-school-amcas.

Letters of recommendation are ONLY accepted through AMCAS- no post mail or email to FAU will be accepted. The college requires either a composite letter of evaluation written by the premedical advisory committee at the applicant’s school (greatly preferred) or  a minimum of 3 individual letters  from faculty members who have taught the applicant.

Applicants who have been away from academics for at least 1 year since obtaining the initial bachelor’s degree can submit 3 individual faculty letters from the most recent degree program, if feasible. If this is not feasible, an applicant may substitute with letters from 3 upper-level supervisors 

Yes. The MCAT is required to complete your AMCAS application. No exceptions and/or substitutions are made for the MCAT requirement. Regardless of professional training, certifications, licenses, other exams taken, terminal degrees, and/or experiences, every applicant must submit an MCAT score to be considered for admissions. MCAT scores cannot be older than 3yrs from the date of matriculation to the Schmidt College of Medicine, which happens within the first week of August.

Click here to register for the MCAT exam: students-residents.aamc.org/register-mcat-exam/register-mcat-exam.

Our program does not have a separate fee waiver policy. Fee Waivers are given based on prior qualifications set by AAMC when an applicant completes their AMCAS. If the AAMC deems that an applicant qualifies for a fee waiver, our program receives a notification from the AAMC and the system automatically waives their secondary application fee.