What once began in the 1830s as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory is better known today as one of the nation’s most elite private research universities. Emory University sits in Atlanta, Georgia, and is broken up into nine academic divisions, one of which is the School of Medicine.
Emory Healthcare is the largest healthcare system in Georgia, and it includes Emory University Hospital along with six other facilities. With an abundance of healthcare facilities surrounding the school, Emory premed students are at a distinct advantage, especially when it comes to engaging in extracurricular activities such as research and physician shadowing (more on those later). Currently (for 2022-2023), Emory is ranked #22 among National Universities by U.S. News.
Physicians play an important role in shaping the healthcare of their communities, and for the greater Atlanta area, Emory University is well-positioned to prepare its premed students for a career in medicine. Whether students dream of continuing their educational journey at Emory University School of Medicine or another institution, there’s no denying that Emory University will put students on the right track. In this guide, we’ll talk about the course requirements for Emory premed students (including a sample plan you may want to follow), extracurricular activity ideas, and what students can expect when trying to gain acceptance into medical school. We’ll also discuss how you can maintain a high GPA as an Emory premed and what that will look like, as well as when you should consider taking the MCAT.
If you’ve decided to attend Emory—or even if you’re just considering it—it’s important to be aware of what the school requires of its premed students so you’ll have a good idea of what you can expect to take. In addition, knowing the requirements will help you prepare for those specific courses, and it’ll enable you to do further research into specific courses.
If you have questions about any courses in particular, it can be helpful to reach out to the Pre-Health Advising department at Emory. There, you’ll find a group of individuals who can connect you with resources and contacts they know will assist you on your journey. They’re also available to help you chart your career plans, support you as you begin the med school application process, and lend a helping hand when it comes time to apply to med schools.
To begin, you’ll need to enroll in the following courses:
| Emory Premed Requirements | ||||||
| Medical school requirement | Required courses | |||||
| Introductory Biology: Two semesters with lab | BIOL 141 and 142 with labs | |||||
| Chemistry: 1. General chemistry: Two semesters with lab 2. Organic chemistry: Two semesters with lab 3. Biochemistry: One semester | One of the following sequences: CHEM 150, 202, 203, and 204 (with labs), then BIOL 301 CHEM 150, 202, 203, and 204 (with labs), then CHEM 370 | |||||
| Calculus: One semester | MATH 111 (or higher level) | |||||
| Statistics: One semester | QTM 100 or ECON 220 | |||||
| Physics: Two semesters with lab | PHYS 141 and 142 (with labs) PHYS 151 and 152 (with labs) | |||||
| College-level English/writing: Two semesters | Courses that fulfill the requirement for this subject: | |||||
Keep in mind that the majority of these courses will be required for any medical school while some of the courses are only required for a few medical schools. Specifically, introductory Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and English/Writing courses are required for any medical school, whereas Biochemistry and Statistics are required for many medical schools. We seem to be seeing fewer schools actually requiring Calculus, and Human Physiology may be unique to Emory.
It’s also important to remember that AP and IB credits might count toward helping you fulfill gen ed requirements for your undergraduate degree, but they don’t typically eliminate the number of prerequisite courses required for med school. For instance, if you scored a 4 or a 5 on the AP Bio exam, you can likely bypass an introductory Biology course in college. However, if you’re a premed student, you’ll still need to take two semesters of Biology. This means your AP credit might enable you to skip BIOL 141 (Foundations of Modern Biology I) but since you’ll still need two semesters of Biology with a lab component, you might start college with BIOL 142 instead and still take another Biology course (with a lab). At Emory, you’d also still need to take BIOL 141L (the lab component for BIOL 141)—even if you use AP or IB credit for BIOL 141. Ultimately, different medical schools have different policies with regard to how they treat AP and IB credit, so it’s best to check with the school(s) you’re interested in attending to see how they would view it.
By now, you may be wondering how you might fit all of this together in a course plan. As you think through the classes you’d like to take, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind:
While this may seem like a lot to take in, the Pre-Health Advising department is very experienced at helping students come up with a game plan for all four years of college, so you’ll be in good hands if you turn to them! Additionally, we’ve put together a sample three-year plan to get you started. Remember, this plan is just one way to fit in all of the premed requirements at Emory.
