Everything you need to know about premed at the University of Notre Dame, including premed requirements, the best extracurriculars, and the University of Notre Dame premed acceptance rate

A University of Notre Dame premed studying in the library with a laptop and coffee — Everything you need to know to succeed as a University of notre dame premed

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: University of Notre Dame premed requirements

Part 3: University of Notre Dame premed extracurriculars

Part 4: Getting into medical school as a University of Notre Dame premed

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Part 1: Introduction

As one of the top institutions of higher learning in the nation, the University of Notre Dame embodies a remarkable blend of faith-based and secular education. No stranger to scientific inquiry, research at Notre Dame has directly impacted breakthroughs such as the formulae of synthetic rubber and wireless communication. They continue to push ahead in the 21st century actively investigating tropical diseases, cancer, and nanoelectronics.

Yet the Catholic philosophy of its founder, Rev. Edward Sorin, still informs much of what they do. This unique approach to education has earned it a top spot among U.S. undergraduate institutions and produced many notable alumni—among them Regis Philbin, Nicholas Sparks, and Condoleeza Rice.

While media or politics may not be your ultimate goal as a premed, Notre Dame is well-known for sending many of its graduates to excellent medical schools across the nation. In 2022, it supplied a total of 298 applicants to medical school; only 10 schools in the nation provided more. With so many applicants coming through Notre Dame’s programs, there must be wide-ranging and robust support to get them through the application process.

In this guide, we’ll take a close look into exactly what it takes to add your name to the list of successful Notre Dame premeds and break down step-by-step what you’ll need to do to get there. We’ll detail all the premed requirements you’ll need to complete, discuss which extracurriculars are likely to help you stand out (and how to find them)—including volunteering, clinical, and shadowing opportunities. Finally, we’ll analyze the University of Notre Dame premed acceptance rate.

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Part 2: University of Notre Dame premed requirements

No matter where you go for undergrad, if you’re planning to continue to medical school, you’ll have certain requirements to meet to even be considered for a spot. Each medical school has its own list of courses they want you to have taken, but typically, they boil down to a host of STEM and humanities classes.

As a University of Notre Dame premed, you’ll have a variety of options for how you choose to satisfy these requirements. Although UND is known for its liberal arts programs, you’ll have no problem ticking off the boxes for your science courses. In fact, unlike most colleges, the University of Notre Dame has a pre-health supplemental major in the College of Arts and Sciences and a robust advising office to make your journey from freshman to medical school acceptee as smooth as possible. Keep in mind that any major at UND can apply to med school; by no means are you required to follow the pre-health supplemental major path.

To succeed, you’ll need to work out an actionable plan for your particular circumstances. Every student enters college with varying levels of knowledge about certain subjects and this can have a bearing on when you take certain courses as well as how much work they will entail for you. For example, perhaps you took AP Biology courses in high school, so while you’ll still need to take the same biology courses as every other premed at UND, the introductory courses may be easier for you to handle. This could leave you with more time to get other prerequisites out of the way, such as Math, English, or Sociology before you have to tackle more difficult courses like biochemistry while juggling extracurriculars and volunteering.

Whatever your situation, we’ve broken down exactly what you’ll need to do by listing the required courses for all premeds at UND in the table below.

University of Notre Dame Premed Requirements
Medical school requirement	Required courses	Optional courses
Biology: Two semesters (with lab)	BIOS 10171 & Lab BIOS 10172 & Lab	Three relevant upper-level natural science electives at the 30000 or 40000 level are required. UND strongly recommends Vertebrate Physiology (BIOS 30344) Other options include: Cell Biology (BIOS 30341) Embryology (BIOS 30301) Microbiology (BIOS 30401)
Chemistry: 1. General Chemistry: Two semesters (with lab) 2. Organic Chemistry: Two semesters (with lab) 3. Biochemistry: One semester	General Chemistry CHEM 10171 (includes lab and tutorial) CHEM 10172 (includes lab and tutorial) Organic Chemistry CHEM 20273 & Lab CHEM 20274 & Lab Biochemistry This counts as an upper-level science course. It is also strongly recommended: CHEM 40420
Calculus:One semester	It's recommended by Notre Dame to take two courses: Calculus A MATH 10350 Calculus B MATH 10360
Statistics:One semester	Elements of Statistics 17059
Physics: Two semesters (with lab)	PHYS 20210 & Lab PHYS 20220 & Lab
College-level English/writing:Two semesters	Writing and Rhetoric 13100 Community Based Writing and Rhetoric 13200	Humanities courses are generally covered in the Core Curriculum at Notre Dame. Multiple courses will fulfill the premed requirements. The courses listed here are recommendations for writing-intensive classes for premeds.
Psychology: One semester	PSY 10000 Introductory
Sociology: One semester	Introduction to Sociology 10002

As you can see, you’ll have a lot on your plate as a UND premed. Figuring out how to manage your time while planning appropriately for graduation and med school applications will take some effort and should be done in conversation with your advisor.

However, we can map out a possible path to give you an idea of how you might chart your course through your undergraduate years. To do this, we’ve created a table below showing how you can satisfy the prerequisites for medical school at the University of Notre Dame. This table assumes that you don’t plan to take a gap year and that you wish to take the MCAT during your junior year.

Sample University of Notre Dame Three-Year Course Plan
Semester	Courses
Freshman Fall	Writing and Rhetoric 13100 CHEM 10171 Calculus A MATH 10350
Freshman Spring	Community Based Writing and Rhetoric 13200 Calculus B MATH 10360 CHEM 10172
Freshman Summer	Introduction to Sociology 10002
Sophomore Fall	BIOS 10171 & Lab CHEM 20273 & Lab Elements of Statistics 17059
Sophomore Spring	BIOS 10172 & Lab CHEM 20274 & Lab
Sophomore Summer	PSY 10000 Introductory Psychology
Junior Fall	PHYS 20210 & Lab Biochemistry (CHEM 40420) Cell Biology (BIOS 30341)
Junior Spring	PHYS 20220 & Lab Vertebrate Physiology (BIOS 30344)

How to maintain a high GPA as a University of Notre Dame premed

As a student at a storied university whose alumni routinely go on to do great things, you will have your work cut out for you to keep your GPA up. The Notre Dame name carries a lot of weight for good reason. Its reputation for scholarly rigor and academic excellence stretches far and wide.

In an environment such as this, balancing your premed requirements along with your major is a daunting task for even the brightest premeds. Nevertheless, this balancing act must be deftly handled to have a chance at achieving your ultimate goal—entry into medical school. Remember that one of the first things adcoms see about you is your GPA.

That said, it’s entirely possible to navigate the GPA gauntlet and come out with stellar grades. We’ve listed a few top tips that we’ve gathered from helping students over the years for keeping your GPA up while at UND.

Plan early and thoroughly. It can’t be stressed enough that having a solid plan coupled with follow-through is a surefire avenue to success. Map out a plan for your classes early on and stick with it. Gather as much information as you can about course options and the workload. You can do this by working closely with the academic advising office. Additionally, checking what other students have said about a course on the UND Reddit forum can help.
Seek help when you need it. Even the best students struggle sometimes with a difficult subject. While focused study is important, if something is just not clicking, there’s no need to suffer in silence and hope for the best come test day. UND’s Learning Resource Center offers small group, drop-in, and even one-on-one tutoring sessions in a variety of subjects completely free. This is geared towards help with first-year courses, so if you’re looking for help with a more advanced course or skill, be sure to look on ATLAS (Academic Tutoring Landscape for Advising Students) where you’ll find assistance with writing, reading, math, languages, and more.
Spread out your commitments. Cramming a full course load including premed requirements into two semesters per year can be tough. To mitigate the heavy workload and to avoid spreading yourself too thin, explore options for summer courses. This is often a great way to knock out those prerequisites and give them your full attention to ensure you walk away with an A.
Familiarize yourself with new material beforehand. Have you ever considered pre-studying? There are a plethora of free or affordable online courses these days on sites such as Khan Academy or Udemy that do an excellent job of giving you a good idea of what to expect in your college course. If you’re a bit anxious about that upcoming biochemistry class, why not start to wrap your head around the fundamentals early?

What is the best University of Notre Dame premed major?

Those with dreams of med school matriculation often ask us what they think is a simple question, “Which major is best for medical school?” What they really mean, though, is “Which premed major has the highest acceptance rate?” This is viewed as a way to hack the system and if they can eke out even just a few percentage points of advantage over their peers, it’s well worth the effort.

Unfortunately, there is no cut and dry answer to this question. The truth is, med school adcoms view applications holistically and don’t rank students by their major. While it’s true that many premeds major in the sciences, this doesn’t translate into a higher acceptance rate at med schools. Adcoms are looking for aptitude and passion about a subject, so keeping your GPA up will help you more in the long run. At UND, you have just as much of a chance of getting into med school by majoring in Romance Languages as you do majoring in Civil Engineering.

When should you take the MCAT?

As you traverse your premed journey at UND, you’ll naturally begin to think about that all-important test for medical school admission, the MCAT. One of the most common considerations UND premeds have is the optimal time to sit the exam. You’ll want to ensure you have taken all the necessary courses to build the foundational knowledge required to obtain your highest score possible, but this can be tricky due to class scheduling issues, not wanting to overload yourself with coursework, or simply your plans for the future shifting—such as wanting to participate in a study abroad program.

We usually recommend students take the MCAT in their junior year, even in the fall semester if possible. This is based on the assumption that the student wishes to matriculate directly after graduation and not take a gap year. Furthermore, taking the MCAT within this timeframe allows for a retake before you apply just in case you’re not happy with your first result.

Premeds at the University of Notre Dame are encouraged to engage in study abroad programs, so it’s important to keep this in mind when planning your final years as an undergraduate. They recommend studying abroad in the fall of your junior year and taking the MCAT in the spring, but ultimately, this is up to personal preference and your own individual circumstances.

Looking for MCAT practice questions? Check out our proprietary MCAT Question Bank for 2000+ sample questions and eight practice tests covering every MCAT category.

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Part 3: University of Notre Dame premed extracurriculars

We’ve all heard horror stories about that one premed who had a 4.0 GPA and a perfect MCAT score only to get rejected by multiple medical schools. As mentioned earlier, medical schools practice a holistic admissions process, which means they’re seeking well-rounded and engaged candidates in addition to top-notch scores.

That said, the importance of extracurriculars cannot be overstated. Racking up those critical hours and experiences can make all the difference between an interview invitation and sending your application straight to the rejection pile.

So, if extracurriculars are so important, how should a University of Notre Dame premed go about engaging in them? Which extracurriculars should you focus on? Are some experiences and opportunities looked at more favorably by adcoms than others?

There are certain types of activities premeds typically engage in and that adcoms look for. These fall into three broad categories—Community and Clinical Volunteering, Research, and Shadowing.

Volunteering at the University of Notre Dame

Volunteering experiences as a premed can take many forms. For med school applications, you want to show that you have spent time engaging with the community, participating in a clinical setting, and/or following your passions or hobbies.

Keep in mind that there can be some overlap between these three and it’s not technically required that you do something that fits neatly into each box. For example, perhaps you’re passionate about gardening so you join a local gardening club that helps beautify and restore run-down areas of the city. This allows adcoms to see you as an individual with varied interests as well as a desire to serve.

Finding volunteering opportunities as a premed at Notre Dame is often just a matter of looking in the right place. The UND Center for Health Sciences Advising can help point you in the right direction. Here, you’ll find fantastic advice for how to gain those extracurricular hours and learn more about what med schools are seeking.

You can get involved by assisting with initiatives at the Center for Social Concerns, which explores a host of complex issues affecting society from just wages to poverty. And don’t forget there are over 500 student organizations at Notre Dame where you’ll find a group catering to almost any interest.

Some organizations of particular interest to premeds are the Pre-professional Society, which provides guidance and counseling to premed students, the American Medical Women’s Association of Notre Dame, the Biology Club, and the Biophysical Society Student Chapter at the University of Notre Dame. If you’re particularly interested in both traveling abroad and assisting underserved communities, the Global Medical Brigades student organization may be right up your alley.

Clinical Volunteering

Another important aspect of extracurriculars is showing you have some exposure to the daily work of a medical professional. Adcoms want to be certain that you know what you’re signing up for if they accept you. This is usually communicated in two ways, through clinical volunteering experiences and shadowing.

There are a number of opportunities for UND premeds that fit within the clinical volunteering category. The Center for Health Sciences Advising recommends the Health Career Connection summer internship where selected participants join full-time internships to gain mentoring and networking experience. Interns are paid and can work in many different types of settings from hospitals, community health centers and even government organizations. Keep in mind, though that these opportunities are located around the country, not necessarily close to UND.

In the South Bend area, there are multiple hospitals where you may be able to get these clinical hours. The Beacon Health System has volunteer opportunities at many of its hospitals as does the Saint Joseph Health System, which specifically takes on college students.

Keep in mind that clinical volunteering is more than just giving your time at hospitals. St. Mary’s College lists multiple types of opportunities from hospice care to the American Red Cross, to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Research at the University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame is known for its stellar research reputation and as such there are a plethora of opportunities for undergraduates to explore research interests that fascinate them. The Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement is a fantastic place to start on your research-finding journey. Here, you’ll find information about how to procure funding for your idea, how to meet with an advisor, and there are a number of fellowships that may interest you.

For example, many premeds may be intrigued by the College of Science Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships at UND. By participating in this, you’ll be expected to work at your research full-time (40hrs/week) and you’ll receive a stipend to support you with the costs. There are also other undergraduate fellowships geared toward different aspects of medical investigation, namely the Fellowship in Rare and Neglected Diseases and the Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

You can also use the findScience tool to search for research opportunities in a variety of disciplines all across the United States and internationally. If you know you’d like to engage in research, but you’re not sure exactly which topic to choose, try attending the Fall Undergraduate Research Fair (FURF) or the College of Science Joint Annual Meeting (COS-JAM) for inspiration.

Shadowing at the University of Notre Dame

Shadowing is probably the most anxiety-inducing aspect of extracurriculars for premeds at any institution. How do you go about finding opportunities? How should you approach a doctor to ask about shadowing them? What is the right number of shadowing hours that will help you stand out on your medical school applications?

One of the best ways to get started as a Notre Dame premed, is to email Notre Dame Medical Observers to learn about current opportunities. They keep abreast of the possibilities students have to shadow physicians in the area.

Working in tandem with the Center for Health Sciences Advising is also a great way to seek out possible shadowing roles. If you’re still having trouble landing a spot, it’s always worthwhile to cold email doctors in the area. If you take this route, here are a few tips to help it go more smoothly.

Make sure you include all the relevant information in your request. You’ll want to tell the physician what your interests are, how far along you are in your medical education, and how you found them. Then let them know why you would be an excellent candidate for shadowing.
Cold emailing doesn’t have to be frigid. Professional social networking sites such as LinkedIn are actually great places to reach out to doctors. You can often discover their alma mater this way and the shared connection to Notre Dame is one way to warm up the request. Remember, they were once in your shoes as well!

Suggested Reading: (How to Ask to Shadow a Doctor)

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Part 4: Getting into medical school as a University of Notre Dame premed

Once you’ve ticked all the prerequisite boxes, aced the MCAT, and gathered as many extracurricular hours as you can, it will be time to delve into the application process for medical school. This will involve your AMCAS application, an outstanding and thorough personal statement, high-quality secondary essays, and the composure and personability to leave a great first impression in the minds of your interviewers.

As a UND premed, you’re in luck as you navigate this process. You have the option of enlisting the guidance and support of the Center for Health Sciences and Advising (CHSA). The application process through CHSA starts every November and the forms you will need to fill out are released before winter break. Once you’ve turned in those forms, you’ll be scheduled for a pre-application interview, but make sure to send the forms in early as advisors’ available time for interviews fills up quickly.

The entire process takes about 15 months according to CHSA and for further help, a class is offered every spring for juniors and seniors applying to medical school called SCPP 40001-01 Preparing for Health Professions.

The CHSA recommends students apply to medical schools no later than July 1 of your expected matriculation year as this will give them time to complete your committee letter during the summer. This letter, highly valued by medical schools, will come as a complete packet including personal letters of recommendation. In addition to the committee letter itself, you will need two science letters, one non-science letter, a personal letter, and one additional letter.

University of Notre Dame premed acceptance rate and admissions statistics

The University of Notre Dame offers fantastic support for its premed students in the form of targeted courses and advising, but how many of them actually get into medical school?

According to Notre Dame, 84% of their medical school applicants are accepted, no less than twice the national average. With the average applicant from Notre Dame scoring higher on the MCAT and graduating with higher GPAs than most national applicants, there’s good reason for this. UND notes their students apply with an average of 3.71 GPA and a 513.8 MCAT.

While there isn’t solid data about where exactly Notre Dame premeds end up, they do have connections to many universities including the highly-ranked Indiana University School of Medicine which offers dual degrees in cooperation with the University of Notre Dame.

Final thoughts

Gaining acceptance to a school with a reputation and research credentials as far-reaching as Notre Dame is an amazing achievement and marks the beginning of your journey into medical school. The sheer numbers of med school applicants UND produces tells a compelling story of the quality of preparation each applicant receives and you can rest assured excellent resources are available to you should you choose to take advantage of them.

However, even with outstanding resources at your disposal, you’ll still need to focus, study hard, cultivate discipline, and manage your time wisely to receive that letter of acceptance to your dream school.