Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine prerequisites

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

At least eight of the thirty BCPM credits must be biology-based. Stritch counts physiology, cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, and biochemistry toward this, so upper-division work fills it as readily as the introductory sequence. At least one biology-related lab course is required.

2 semesters · 8 credits · lab

At least eight of the thirty credits must be chemistry-based: organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry all count. At least one chemistry-related lab course is required.

3 credits

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

Stritch asks for only three credits of organic chemistry, roughly one semester, stated separately from the eight chemistry-based credits. That is the lightest organic requirement you are likely to meet, but check it against the rest of your list before dropping the second semester.

1 semester · 3 credits

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

Biochemistry is not required on its own. Stritch names it only as one of the courses that can fill the eight biology-based credits.

1 semester · 4 credits

Most medical schools ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab and list it as required.

Physics is not required at Stritch. It appears only inside the ten flexible BCPM credits, which you may fill with any combination of biology, chemistry, physics, or maths. Nearly every other school does require it, so this is a permission to reorder your schedule, not to skip the course.

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

One semester. Most schools with a math requirement accept statistics or calculus; statistics is the more widely accepted of the two and the more useful for reading clinical research, so the baseline tracks it here. If a target school names calculus, its own requirements will say so.

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

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.

No published minimum

"A committee letter is preferred, but not required. If your school does not offer a committee letter, it is not a problem." Applicants "should submit at least 3 letters, but not more than 6." A packet counts only if complete: "a single committee letter without complete corresponding letters from faculty does not constitute a packet, but can be used as an individual letter toward your minimum."