Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine prerequisites

3 semesters · 12 credits · lab

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

Twelve semester hours of general biological sciences including laboratory, roughly three semesters. If KCU is on your list, plan the extra biology early; it is the hardest line here to add late.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Two semesters with lab. Take it early: organic chemistry, biochemistry, and most upper-division biology all sit behind it, so a late start pushes the whole sequence past your MCAT date.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Two semesters with lab at most schools. A meaningful and growing minority accept one semester of organic plus one of biochemistry. Do not drop the second semester on that assumption until you have checked the schools you actually want.

1 semester · 3 credits

One semester, lab rarely required. Roughly two thirds of schools require it outright and the MCAT tests it heavily, so treat it as required even where it technically is not, and take it before you sit the exam.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

Two semesters with lab. Algebra-based is accepted almost everywhere; take the calculus-based sequence only if your major needs it or a target school names it.

1 semester · 3 credits

Most medical schools ask for 2 semesters · 6 credits.

Three semester hours, half what most schools ask for.

KCU's prerequisite list covers biological sciences, biochemistry, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and English. No mathematics or statistics course appears on it.

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.

150+ hours

Most medical schools ask for 150+ hours and list it as recommended.

KCU lists 'experience in the healthcare field (shadowing, volunteer, work, etc.)' as a numbered admission requirement in its own right, alongside the transcripts and the MCAT, not as a nice-to-have. No hours figure is attached, and shadowing, volunteering, and paid work all count toward it.

50+ hours

No separate shadowing minimum: KCU folds shadowing into its healthcare-experience requirement. What is fixed is the letter: one of your required letters must come from a physician, DO or MD, and letters must be dated no earlier than about two years before matriculation (for July 2027 entry, no earlier than May 2025).

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.

No published minimum

"One from a pre-med advisor or committee; may substitute a science faculty member." Additional letters beyond the two required may be submitted.

No published minimum

The stated substitute for KCU's pre-med advisor or committee letter.

No published minimum

KCU requires two letters and "one from a physician (DO or MD)." Shadowing is folded into KCU's healthcare-experience requirement rather than given an hours minimum, so this letter is the firm part. Letters "must be dated within two years of matriculation year (i.e., if starting classes at KCU in July 2027, letters must be dated no earlier than May 2025)."