Academic Preparation

Your academic experiences and accomplishments are a critical component to your application to health professional school. It is important to create an academic plan with your don and/or with Dean Melinda Perlo Cohen, prehealth advisor, to take full advantage of the academic offerings at Sarah Lawrence College while also satisfying the pre-requisites for your desired health professional program. Please view our Coursework and Course Sequences pages for additional information and guidance.

Create a Course Map

Check out our Four Year Course Planner to help you map out the prerequisite courses required by health professional programs. While your plans my change, its always helpful to have an initial plan and modify it as needed to help you stay on track!

Want help mapping out your plan? Schedule an appointment with Dean Melinda Perlo Cohen, prehealth advisor and/or share your course map with Dean Cohen via email.

Course Classification and BCPM GPA:

When assessing your application, admissions committees look for evidence that you can manage the challenges of a health professional school science curriculum and will view your cumulative grade point average (GPA) and BCPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math) GPA as your way of demonstrating your ability to handle academic rigors. Other considerations include trends in your academic performance, the diversity and rigor of your courses, and other academic interests.

For pre-medical students, please refer to the AMCAS Course Classification Guide to help determine how your courses will be classified by AMCAS during application to medical school. We encourage you to calculate your BCPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Math) GPA in preparation for application to medical or dental school. To calculate your GPA, we encourage you to use a BCPM calculator. You may also wish to use the AMCAS Application Grade Conversion Guide.

Learning Commons (LC)

The mission of the Sarah Lawrence Learning Commons (LC) is to provide an online platform where students can easily access key academic support resources across the college. With assistance in research, academic coaching, online learning strategies, writing center, disability services, and more.

To access the Sarah Lawrence Learning Commons, click here.

Please direct any questions to learningcommons@sarahlawrence.edu

Study Abroad

It is possible to study abroad and be a pre-health student, but this will take advanced planning. We encourage you to discuss your options early on in your academic career with your don, the pre-health dean and the Office of Global Studies.