Admission into Health-Professional Schools

Key Components 

• A good GPA: Your GPA indicates if you are academically capable of successfully completing professional school. Admissions personnel will examine your natural science GPA, overall GPA and trends in your performance. Different health-professional schools require different GPA ranges for admission, but typically a GPA of 3.5 or better is competitive.
   
• Good admissions test scores: Most professional schools require some sort of entrance exam, either the GRE or a specialized exam like the MCAT or DAT. Your scores on these exams will indicate whether you are capable of meeting the academic challenges of professional school and if you will be able to pass the national board exams in your field when the time comes. These exams will typically be taken late in the junior year or early in the senior year, after the core courses have been taken.
   
• Evidence of commitment to health care: Awareness and commitment to health care as a career may be shown through first-hand experience. It is imperative that you find summer jobs, research opportunities and internships in the health professions. In addition, you should read articles on current issues, both scientific and social, in the medical and health field.
   
• Attributes conducive to a career in the health professions: The health professions demand superior personal attributes. Integrity and responsibility are expected. Schools also look for traits such as leadership, maturity, perseverance, breadth of interests, ability to relate to people effectively and, perhaps above all, clear motivation. A pre-health student should be very sure of her reason for pursuing a career in the health professions.
   
• Extracurricular activities: It is important to be involved in activities; those that involve service to others and/or those in which you have a leadership role are important. The level of participation is more important than the number of activities. Be selective and get involved, don't just be a name on a membership list.
   
• Recommendations: A key component to a pre-health student’s application is his letters of recommendation. The Health Profession Advisory Committee (HPAC) provides a composite letter of recommendations and evaluations for all students in the program who are applying to health-professional school. This composite letter is based on your answers to the HPAC’s professional school candidate information form, meetings with the pre-health professions advisor, and letters of recommendation from professors, employers and personal references.
   
• Interview: If all application material is acceptable, you may be invited for an interview at a health-professional school. The interview is critical for your acceptance into the school. Be ready to answer questions about your motivation for a career in the health professions, academic performance, health-related experiences and questions relating to issues in the field. You will make a positive impression at the interview through your ability to communicate, develop rapport and demonstrate enthusiasm, poise and confidence. Mock interview sessions can be scheduled to assist students with the interviewing process.

Health-Professional Schools That Have Accepted MC Students

Manhattan College will set you up to get into the health-professional school of your choice. These are schools that have recently accepted Manhattan College graduates: