ACPHS/Albany Medical College Early Assurance Program

Albany Medical College will offer highly qualified students in the B.S. Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences the opportunity to apply to medical school at the end of their sophomore years. If accepted, the student is assured of admission to medical school upon completion of their undergraduate degree.

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.

ACPHS 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 year. 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.

To improve their chances for admittance in the program, interested students are strongly encouraged to investigate research opportunities in the summer between their freshman and sophomore years by applying for a Summer Research Fellowship through the Research Office.

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; the selection process is complete by September 1.