Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine prerequisites

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Two semesters with lab. The single most universal prerequisite: essentially every MD and DO program asks for it, and it is the foundation the MCAT assumes.

1 semester · 4 credits · lab

Most medical schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.

BU counts chemistry as a two-year total rather than a fixed sequence, and one of its accepted combinations needs only a single semester of general chemistry with lab. That is the floor, not the plan: one semester will not get you into organic chemistry at most undergraduate institutions.

1 semester · 4 credits · lab

Most medical schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.

One of BU's accepted chemistry combinations needs only one semester of organic with lab, provided you have two semesters of general chemistry and a semester of biochemistry. Check the second semester against your other schools before dropping it.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester, and it appears in every chemistry combination BU accepts: there is no route through the chemistry requirement that skips it.

2 semesters · 8 credits

Most medical schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.

A full year of physics. BU's list attaches "with lab" to biological science and chemistry but not to physics, so the lab is not stated as required here. Take it anyway if any other school on your list wants it.

2 semesters · 6 credits

Two semesters of English or writing-intensive coursework. Many schools accept writing-intensive courses from any department, but a few name English specifically. If your writing credits come from elsewhere, confirm before you count them.

1 semester · 3 credits

Most medical schools ask for 1 semester · 3 credits and list it as required.

BU calls mathematics (particularly statistics) important rather than required. It sits with biochemistry, the social and behavioural sciences, genetics, and molecular biology on that list.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester. Required outright at a minority of schools (several of them highly selective) and accepted in place of statistics at most of the rest. Take it if calculus is already in your major's path.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester. A minority of schools require it, but a quarter of the MCAT is psychological and social foundations: this is the cheapest points on the exam.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester. Same reasoning as psychology: required by fewer schools, tested directly on the MCAT.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester. Required by a small number of schools and a common way to fill the upper-division science coursework that strengthens a science GPA.

1 semester · 3 credits

BU names genetics and molecular biology among the coursework it considers important beyond the required year of biological science.

2 semesters · 6 credits

A full year of humanities is required here, not merely recommended, one of the few schools that says so. Separately, BU calls coursework in the social and behavioural sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology) important, so the same block can do double duty.

150+ hours

Almost no school publishes a number, but admitted applicants typically report a few hundred hours. 150 is the point where you can speak about patient care from experience rather than in the abstract; sustained hours over years read better than a summer sprint.

50+ hours

Aim for 40-50 across more than one specialty, including primary care. DO programs weigh shadowing more heavily and several ask for hours with a DO specifically. If DO schools are on your list, get those hours and the letter early.

150+ hours

Service with no medical angle. Committees are reading for a habit, not a total, so one commitment held for two years beats five one-off events.

100+ hours

Effectively expected at research-heavy MD programs and genuinely optional at many DO and community-focused schools. If research is not your path, put those hours into clinical work and say so clearly rather than padding a semester in a lab.