Does Taking Prerequisites Online Look Bad to Medical Schools?
/Do top-tier US medical schools accept online classes—and does taking medical school prerequisites online affect your odds of getting in?
Introduction
Online classes and online degrees are becoming more popular in the typical college curriculum—but how do medical schools evaluate online coursework?
Let’s say you’re a competitive medical school applicant with excellent MCAT scores, a high GPA, impressive extracurricular activities, and glowing letters of recommendation. As part of completing your medical school requirements, you might be considering taking an online course or two. You might even have read dire warnings against the strategy.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, taking online courses—especially prerequisites—was largely frowned upon. However, when most colleges and universities went fully remote or partially remote, medical schools essentially had no choice but to accept online courses, even with prerequisite courses. Whether that trend will hold or for how many future application cycles is unknown as of 2022. Signs are pointing to yes, as the NRMP Director’s Survey, released in September of 2022 revealed that 67 percent of programs anticipate continuing either part or all of their interview process in a virtual environment in the future, even as COVID fears begin to dissipate.
We’ll continue to monitor these trends. In this guide, we’ll discuss the circumstances under which taking online courses have historically been a good idea, and how it could affect your chances of getting into medical school.
Why does it matter to medical schools if I took prerequisite courses online?
Prerequisite courses like organic chemistry are where students are put through the gauntlet of tough material in the sciences, which will form the basis of your clinical years in medical school. Admissions committees want to be sure you’re prepared for the intensity of that period. The reason they’re skeptical of online coursework is the same reason many don’t allow applicants to substitute AP classes for prerequisites: rigor.
Online courses introduce a bevy of questions. For instance, did you do your own work, or did you have someone else do it for you? Without a classroom environment, it’s hard for admissions officers to know. Admissions teams trust the stringent accountability of a classroom setting monitored by a professor, TAs, and peers.
In addition, much prerequisite coursework for med school involves a laboratory section. Your success in lab work shows your aptitude for practical application and helps confirm to med schools that you are a successful team player who works and communicates well with others. Both of these traits are integral to your success as a doctor, especially as high emotional intelligence is increasingly seen as a hot commodity personality trait for MD candidates among the most prestigious programs.
You might also lose out on the chance to request letters of recommendation by taking coursework online. A letter from a professor in a science class can go a long way in your admissions process.
(Suggested reading: The Best Premed Majors to Get Into Medical School)
Which programs allow online coursework for medical school prerequisites?
Most U.S. medical schools have specific policies regarding whether they accept required coursework taken at community colleges, in laboratory environments, at institutions abroad, and online.
As we mentioned earlier, many medical schools have changed their policies on online coursework due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the following schools historically did not accept online courses but, as a result of the pandemic, currently do:
Whether these changes are temporary or permanent remains to be seen, although many medical schools have already begun to roll back their online course policies to pre-COVID standards. Many medical schools are still accepting online courses, so be sure to check your preferred school’s policies before signing up for any online prerequisites.
Nevertheless, here is a roundup of some med schools’ pre-pandemic policies on online classes, offered as a sample of the varying ways that online prerequisites have traditionally been viewed:
Schools that don’t accept online coursework or coursework for med school prerequisites at all:
Schools that allow online coursework on a case-by-case basis, or in exceptional circumstances:
Harvard Medical School: Laboratory Sciences can’t be taken online. Other online classes must be individually evaluated by the Admissions Office.
University of California–Irvine: In some cases
Weill Cornell Medical College: In some cases, but applicants must, “provide evidence of rigorous coursework.”
Schools that permit (rigorous) online coursework from accredited universities:
Can I take non-prerequisite or non-science courses online?
Med schools tend to offer less explicit guidance on online coursework outside the premed prerequisites. Some distinguish between science and non-science prerequisites. For instance, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, Morehouse School of Medicine is fine with online math classes but not science classes.
Our advice is to only seek online classes that you know will be rigorous and which you could defend in an interview. It might be totally fine to enroll in a MOOC to learn computer programming, for instance, because much of the best coding instruction can be found on the Internet.
When in doubt, remember the reasoning: med school is hard. Online coursework isn’t always as hard. Med schools don’t want to let in students who will burn out or feel unprepared for the intensity—so focus on proving, through your academic record, that you’re prepared for that intensity.
Will online classes impact my chances of admission?
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Maybe.
You might have educational circumstances that qualify you as an exception, especially if you are a non-traditional medical school applicant, or if you attended an under-resourced school. If you’re worried about conveying those circumstances, consider including a narrative of your educational background in one or several of your essays.
Final thoughts
If you want to be competitive for a top-tier med school, it’s best to plan to take all of your prerequisite coursework in a classroom rather than online whenever possible. Less than 40 percent of med school applicants matriculate into med school every year, and, under normal circumstances, the vast majority of those successful applicants are learning in a classroom environment. That said, if you are going the online route, be prepared to articulate why that was a part of your educational journey.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.
