Preparing for Pre-professional Fields

Preparing for a Health Career

Students who are interested in pursuing a health career find great opportunities at Cornell. In fact, nearly one out of every six Cornell undergraduates intend to pursue a career in medicine. Students may study in any of Cornell's undergraduate schools and colleges and graduate well-prepared for further medical career studies and options. 

Explore Pre-Health Advising

Admission to schools of human or veterinary medicine is based largely on three factors: your academic record; your scores on standardized admission tests; and your individual qualities, as seen in part through faculty evaluations and interviews.

Prerequisite courses for medical school
  • Biology (with lab) 8 semester credit hours
  • Inorganic Chemistry (with lab) 8 semester credit hours
  • Organic Chemistry (with lab) 8 semester credit hours
  • General or Intro Physics (with lab) 8 semester credit hours
  • English Composition 6 semester credit hours
  • Mathematics (required by some schools; recommended by others)
  • Advanced Biology (recommended by most)
Prerequisite courses for veterinary school
  • Biology or Zoology (with lab) 8 semester credit hours
  • Intro/Inorganic Chemistry (with lab) 8 semester credit hours
  • Organic Chemistry (with lab) 8 semester credit hours
  • Biochemistry 4 semester credit hours
  • Physics (with lab) 8 semester credit hours
  • General Microbiology (with lab) 3 semester credit hours
  • English Composition 6 semester credit hours
     

  • If you’re interested in a pre-health pathway from the start, you will be able to satisfy all of the required prerequisites for most health professions in all of the colleges or schools at Cornell.
  • You’ll be a more well-rounded applicant to health professions programs if, in addition to your science courses, you’ve taken courses in the social sciences and humanities. 
  • Cornell students with equivalent academic credentials from any of the colleges or schools at Cornell are equally successful in gaining admission to medical schools or other health professions programs.
  • Many pre-vet students opt to major in biology or animal science because of the overlap with their academic interests, but applicants to veterinary schools aren’t required to complete a specific undergraduate degree program or a designated pre-vet major.
  • All pre-health applicants should be prepared to present evidence of firsthand experience with patients and some understanding of the duties and responsibilities of as well as the scope of their intended profession.

Preparing for Law School

Cornell’s undergraduate colleges and schools offer you almost unlimited opportunities to explore different areas of the curriculum as you consider the direction of your future legal career.

Explore Pre-Law Advising

At Cornell we agree completely with the Association of American Law Schools and the American Bar Association — both of which state, as policy, that there’s no ideal prelaw curriculum. Of course, if you have your sights set on law school, attending Cornell as an undergraduate is a great way to get there. You’re even welcome to call yourself a prelaw student. But if you look for a description of a prelaw major in our course catalog, you won’t find one.

Law schools look for people with good minds. To be a strong candidate for law school, we recommend selecting a major that you’re genuinely interested in and that develops your intellectual skills — particularly your skills in writing, research, problem solving, and analysis. A Cornell student planning to attend law school might consider pursuing one or more of the following opportunities:

  • Taking language or international studies classes in international studies to prepare for a career in international law.
  • Working in environmental science if your goal is to practice environmental law.
  • Studying industrial and labor relations if you’re considering a future in labor law.
  • Pursuing coursework in human development if your interested in family or advocacy law.
  • Studying engineering as a first step toward becoming a patent lawyer. 
  • Participating in the six-week Prelaw Program in New York City during Summer Session, completing an internship while gaining an understanding of fundamental legal concepts and earning academic credits.