Guide for new students

Do you have questions for a pre-health advisor? We are available throughout the spring and summer to assist with fall course selection and any other pre-health questions. Please email pre-health@mtholyoke.edu.

Planning your pre-health courses

Every health profession and each individual school will have their own variation of prerequisite courses. Frequently required courses among health profession schools include biology and chemistry. If you are confident in your desire to pursue a career in a clinical profession such as nursing, physician assistant, dentistry, physical therapy and human and veterinary medicine, you will be well served by taking biology and chemistry early in your undergraduate years.

If you are interested in nonclinical professions such as global health, health education, environmental health or health administration, you might also look into biology and/or chemistry, or you may prefer to select first-semester courses from disciplines such as anthropology, international relations, environmental studies, statistics or a language.

Beyond your career interests, consider your specific academic interests, potential majors, and your high school preparation. Taking courses across a variety of academic disciplines during your time in college is recommended for pre-health students, so explore broadly! Balance lab sciences with courses in other areas. Using the suggestions below, work with your academic advisor and the pre-health office to create your first semester schedule.

Are you a transfer student or Francis Perkins Scholar? Please email pre-health@mtholyoke.edu or make an appointment to discuss your prior studies and upcoming courses.

Your first semester: for clinical professions

There are many academic pathways toward health profession school. While determining your first-semester schedule, carefully assess your academic background and your comfort level with each of the subjects you are considering.

These recommendations are based on the most common prerequisite courses for clinical professions (those that involve directly treating individual patients, whether human or animal).

Step 1: Complete the first-year seminar preference form that was sent to you by the Registrar.

Step 2: Assess your high school science and math background as it relates to your readiness to enter college-level science courses with labs. Consider which science courses you took, how many, at what level, and what grades you earned in the courses. While most students begin with the courses listed in Step 3, below, successful completion of advanced STEM coursework in high school (e.g., Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, A-levels, dual enrollment) may indicate that you should begin your Mount Holyoke College science courses at a more advanced level. You may wish to take a placement exam in math. It is wise to discuss your readiness with an advisor.

Step 3: Most students hoping to become a clinician will take biology or chemistry, or both, in their first semester. Consider the following six options for biology/chemistry course selections, and choose one that would be most appropriate for you. Speak with an advisor if you don't think you should take any of these courses. All of the courses listed here have associated laboratory sections that meet once a week for 3 hours.

Step 4: At this point, you should have selected two to three courses. Choose one to two additional courses of interest. You may wish to select something related to a potential major and/or something that fulfills Mount Holyoke College general distribution requirements. If you would like to study a language, and particularly if you hope to study abroad, you might select a language course.

Look widely across the curriculum! Some fall courses that are pre-health related and available to first-year students include:



*These courses have once-weekly, 3-hour labs, like the introductory biology, chemistry, and neuroscience courses do. We do not recommend taking more than two lab classes at a time. Therefore, if you are already planning to take two of biology/chemistry/neuroscience, we do not recommend selecting from these courses as an additional fall class.

Your first semester: for public health or non-clinical careers

There are many academic pathways toward health profession school. While determining your first-semester schedule, carefully assess your academic background and your comfort level with each of the subjects you are considering.

Schools of public health, health administration and other nonclinical health professions (i.e., those that do not involve the direct treatment of individual patients) typically do not have set lists of prerequisite courses. Instead, they look for background in the areas most relevant to their particular program. Because of this, our recommendation to first-year students interested in these professions is to plan your first semester around your first-year seminar and other particular areas of interest.

Look widely across the curriculum! You may wish to select courses related to a potential major and/or something that fulfills Mount Holyoke College general distribution requirements. If you would like to study a language, and particularly if you hope to study abroad, you might select a language course. 

Some fall courses that are pre-health related and available to first-year students include:

Tips and resources

Remember these other key academic planning resources: