Albany Medical College Early Assurance Program with Albany College of Pharmacy

Albany Medical College will offer highly qualified students in the Bachelor of Science degree program in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Albany College of Pharmacy the opportunity to apply to medical school at the end of their sophomore year. If accepted, they are assured of admission upon completion of their undergraduate degree.

Early Assurance Admission will allow accepted students to focus on substantive research to be done in collaboration with the faculty at Albany College of Pharmacy. In addition, opportunities for research may exist with faculty from Albany Medical College or the New York State Department of Health Wadsworth Center.

To be eligible for this program, a student must have achieved a GPA of 3.4 or above and have completed one year of biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics by the end of the sophomore year. Accepted students must carry a full course load during their junior and senior years. The MCAT is waived for students accepted through the Early Assurance Program.

Albany College of Pharmacy students who wish to investigate this opportunity should express interest to the Faculty Advisor and the Program Advisor by the first semester of the their sophomore years. (Interested students are strongly encouraged to investigate research opportunities in the summer between freshman and sophomore year by applying for a Summer Research Fellowship through the Research Office.)

The Program Advisor will discuss with the student the expectations of the program and the process for application. Students are expected to have given significant thought to their motivations for pursuing a career in medicine as well as their commitment to completion of their research within their college career.

Working with the Program Advisor and the Director of Research, students will explore research opportunities and identify a Research Mentor. Students then will begin the development of a research proposal for studies to be performed in the remaining two years of the undergraduate program. This proposal must be approved by the Research Mentor and the Program Advisor and will be part of the application to Albany Medical College.

In the spring of the sophomore year, the Program Advisor will forward the names of applicants to Albany Medical College. A letter of instruction and application materials will be sent to the applicants by Albany Medical College. Formal application is due to the Albany Medical College by June 15 of each year and selection process is complete by September 1.

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