About the Tufts Post-bacc Premed Program
The Tufts program is uniquely positioned to accommodate a variety of health-related career goals. Students work with a health professions advisor to develop an individualized program of study chosen from a wide range of course offerings. This flexibility allows our students to pursue careers in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, osteopathic medicine, optometry, podiatry, or as a physician assistant or nurse practitioner.
Tufts also provides a variety of workshops specifically for Post-bacc Premed students — applying and interviewing for graduate programs, mock interviews, options for financing your education, and strategies for studying science. Students are totally integrated into the undergraduate campus and have access to all resources and programs. In addition, they may attend public lectures at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy (all located in Boston), and at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine (on our Grafton campus).
Once a student completes the prerequisite courses at Tufts, the Tufts Health Professions Recommendation Committee will prepare a composite letter of recommendation for their application. A certificate is also awarded to all who complete the program. In addition, post-bacc students who choose to apply to Tufts University School of Medicine are automatically considered for review, with the strongest consideration given to post-bacc applicants with a competitive GPA of 3.7 or above.
Who are Tufts Post-bacc Premed Students?
The program is designed for premed students as well as students interested in other health professions who need to complete prerequisite coursework.
Many of our students did not intend to pursue a career in health care as undergraduates, and now wish to take pre-health coursework for the first time. Others may have begun the sciences but moved in a different career direction.
However, this program is not for the student who wishes to enhance an existing undergraduate GPA or who completed all their pre-health requirements.
The "typical student" is between 23-40, had at least a "B+" undergraduate average, scored at or above the 80th percentile in standardized tests and has demonstrated, through volunteer or employment experience, a strong motivation for a career in health care.
Tufts University and the health care community believe that older students make particularly good candidates for schools in the health professions. This belief is supported by the high percentage — over 90% — who matriculate into medical school and other health care professional programs.
This program is not a remedial or enhancement program. It is for those who have not yet taken most of the prerequisite science courses for their intended health career.
For college graduates who completed all of their undergraduate prerequisites and need to strengthen an existing science record, Tufts offers a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (MBS) Degree Program. This program is based at the School of Medicine on the Boston Health Sciences Campus. Students take first year medical school courses, as well as some unique graduate-level science courses.