“Q:A” Non-traditional Students: Advice and Special Considerations

QofQuimica: Basically, all of the advice that applies to traditional-aged students about studying for the pre-health standardized exams applies to you as well. If you have no science background, or if you have otherwise not taken all four pre-requisite courses (physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biology), you ideally should take two semesters of each of these courses before attempting to take any of the pre-health exams. You may also need to take coursework in math, such as calculus. (Note that the PCAT *does* have calculus problems on the QR section of the exam. The other three exams do not have calculus on them, but you may still need to take calculus as a pre-requisite for school or to help you prepare for physics.) If you are a graduate student in the sciences or post-bac student taking pre-health coursework, and you have already taken all four pre-requisite courses, you can begin to study for your test whenever you are ready.

Non-traditional students who are planning their pre-health studies and preparing for their exams are invited to visit the Non-traditional Students Forum for more help with issues specific to older applicants. There are several threads there that are good resources for older applicants, including the Links to Pertinent Non-trad Threads Elsewhere thread and the Non-trad FAQ thread. In addition, several of the moderators in this Study Questions sub-forum are non-trads, including MoosePilot, jmugele, TheDarkSide, and myself, so feel free to ask us if you have any questions about preparing, studying, and applying as a non-trad.