PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION PROGRAMS

Graduate School Test Preparation: LSAT, GRE, GMAT, etc.


The mission of the McMurry University Pre-Professional Program is to provide the curricular advising and career guidance needed by our students as they prepare themselves for application to and successful completion of a professional school program.

Pre-professional programs are those which require additional specialized academic training unavailable in undergraduate programs at McMurry.  For instance, McMurry does not offer law or medical degrees, but we provide the foundational course work and preparation for students who plan on applying to law schools and medical schools. There are no pre-professional majors. Students of any major may attend a professional school, provided they take the prescribed required courses beforehand, meet other admissions requirements, and are selected from the pool of qualified applicants in a competitive process.

All pre-professional programs at McMurry fall under the oversight of the Pre-Professional Council, which is composed of the pre-professional program advisors and select practitioners from the professional fields.  Students are encouraged to contact the advisor for the program of interest early in their college career and remain in contact regularly thereafter to receive the advising necessary to prepare the student for professional school application.

Students of any major may apply for admission to the Pre-Professional (P2) Program. Continuance in the program is based on grades, motivation for the profession, character, and satisfactory progress in completing required pre-professional school course work. The P2 Program offers special activities, events, and opportunities designed to familiarize students with the expectations of professional programs, current trends in admissions, options within the profession, and exposure to the life of a practitioner. P2 Program students will receive personal annual diagnostic progress reports to help improve their competitiveness for professional school acceptance.

For more information on professional program preparation, please contact the advisor for the pre-professional program of interest.

PRE-ENGINEERING PROGRAM
Advisor: Dr. Wayne Keith

Students interested in pursuing a degree in Engineering should follow the curriculum of the Physics major. Options include either transferring to an engineering school after the junior year and working towards two Bachelor’s Degrees or following a Physics degree at McMurry University with graduate work in Engineering. The particular area of Engineering in which the student is interested may infl uence their choice of electives.  The Department of Physics offers a BS in physics with concentrations in Electrical Engineering and in Civil/Mechanical Engineering. Interested students should refer to the Degree Program under the Department of Physics for details. You may also contact one of the Physics professors.

PRE-HEALTH PROGRAMS
Pre-Allied Health
Advisor: Dr. Gary Wilson

There are many rewarding careers available in the health professions besides the commonly known dental, medical, physical therapy, veterinary medicine and other high-profile health professions. Such important fields as respiratory therapy, physician’s assistant, optometry, radiological imaging, and other health fields may be of interest to some students. As the coursework necessary for acceptance into these programs varies greatly, it is suggested that interested students contact the Pre-Allied Health Advisor for information and guidance.

Pre-Dentistry
Advisor: Dr. Gary Wilson

All dental schools in Texas participate in the common application made through the Texas Medical and Dental Student Application Service in Austin.  Students apply during the summer before their final year in college, with competitive applicants receiving invitations for on-campus interviews at the dental schools in the fall of the senior year. Announcement of admitted students is made in the spring of the senior year. To apply to dental programs, a student must complete the following prescribed coursework:  14 semester hours of Biology (2 hours lab), 8 semester hours of General Chemistry (2 hours lab), 8 semester hours of Organic Chemistry (2 hours lab), 8 semester hours of Physics (2 hours lab), and 6 semester hours of non-remedial English composition. Some schools require 3 hours of Biochemistry, which may be used to satisfy part of the Biology requirement.  All prerequisites must be passed with at least a “C” grade. Courses intended specifically for health career majors (nursing, pharmacy, allied health sciences) are not accepted. Schools vary slightly in requirements, with specifics posted at the TMDSAS web site:
http://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/EssentialsForApplying.htm#PrescribedCourses.

At least 90 undergraduate semester hours must be completed before enrollment into a dental program, but baccalaureate degrees are highly desirable. See the Pre-Dentistry Advisor for suggested coursework to prepare students for the Dental Admission Test. Information on the DAT may be obtained from the American Dental Association web site: http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/dat/index.asp.  Similar information is available for students wishing to apply to schools outside Texas from the American Dental Association (http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/programs/index.asp).

Please note that high-performing freshman students may apply for McMurry’s “3+4 Dental Early Acceptance Program”. This program allows Texas residents majoring in Biology to apply during their freshman year for early entry into dental school following their junior year and complete both their BS in Biology from McMurry and DDS degree from UTHSC-San Antonio School of Dentistry in a total of seven years. Acceptance decisions are made typically before the sophomore year. Thereafter, admitted students must take prescribed courses, maintain a competitive GPA, and achieve at least an average DAT score. For more information, see the Pre-Dentistry Advisor.

Pre-Medicine
Advisor: Dr. Gary Wilson

All medical schools in Texas (except Baylor College of Medicine) participate in the common application made through the Texas Medical and Dental Student Application Service in Austin. Students apply during the summer before their final year in college, with competitive applicants receiving invitations for on-campus interviews at the medical schools in the fall of the senior year. To apply, a student must complete the following prescribed coursework: 14 semester hours of Biology (2 hours lab), 8 semester hours of General Chemistry (2 hours lab), 8 semester hours of Organic Chemistry (2 hours lab), 8 semester hours of Physics (2 hours lab), 3 semester hours of Calculus or Statistics, and 6 semester hours of non-remedial English composition. Some schools require 3 hours of Biochemistry, which may be used to satisfy part of the Biology requirement.  All prerequisites must be passed with at least a “C” grade. Courses intended specifically for health career majors (nursing, pharmacy, allied health sciences) are not accepted. Schools vary slightly in requirements, with specifics posted at the TMDSAS web site:
http://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/EssentialsForApplying.htm#PrescribedCourses.  At least 90 undergraduate semester hours must be completed before the anticipated date of enrollment into a medical program, but baccalaureate degrees are highly desirable. See the Pre-Medicine Advisor for suggested coursework to prepare students for the Medical College Admission Test.  Information on the MCAT may be obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges web site: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/. Similar information is available for students wishing to apply to schools outside Texas from the American Medical College Application Service (http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/start.htm).

Pre-Occupational Therapy
Advisor: Dr. Paul Smith

Texas has five campuses that offer a BS degree and eight that offer a MS degree in Occupational Therapy. All of these schools offer a BS degree and at least two have a M.S. program. The undergraduate programs culminate in a BS in Occupational Therapy and have specific prerequisites for admission to the program. McMurry provides courses and opportunities to complete the prerequisite course work for these programs. All of the undergraduate programs require English, history, government, psychology, and two to three semesters of biology. Students generally are required to have at least one semester of chemistry, one semester of physics, one or two semesters of mathematics, and one or two semesters of sociology, among others. Since the individual professional schools differ somewhat in their requirements, the student is encouraged to meet with the occupational therapy advisor for information and guidance in selecting a plan of study.

Pre-Pharmacy
Advisor: Dr. Arlen Jeffery

McMurry provides courses that prepare students to apply to schools of pharmacy. The two-year sequence outlined below describes the requirements for most Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy programs still in existence. Most schools of pharmacy are transitioning to Doctor of Pharmacy degrees exclusively, and will require more prerequisites for their programs. For this reason, students are encouraged to investigate the requirements for specific pharmacy schools. It is advisable for students to pursue a degree in a McMurry major in case the pharmacy school application proves unsuccessful.
 

*Pre-pharmacy requirements vary depending upon the school of pharmacy.  The student should consult catalogs from schools of pharmacy about programs for the first two years.  The remaining three years of the prescribed curriculum leading to a Bachelor of Science degree will be completed in a school of pharmacy chosen by the student.

Pre-Physical Therapy
Advisor: Dr. Paul Smith

In Texas there are ten physical therapy programs, all requiring prior undergraduate education. Successful completion of all of these programs results in a Masters in Physical Therapy. Most require a BS or BA degree before admission. McMurry provides all of the prerequisite coursework to any of these programs. However, the prerequisites to the programs are not uniform. All of the programs require English, history, government, mathematics, psychology, one year of physics, one year of chemistry, and three to five semesters of biology. The schools vary in which biology courses are specified. More detailed information and guidance can be obtained from the physical therapy advisor.

Pre-Veterinary Medicine
Advisor: Dr. Clark Beasley

*The minimum preparation for application to the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine is 64 semester hours to include the following:
    English 1310, 3385 6 hrs
    Literature 3 hrs
    Communication 2330 or 3370 3 hrs
    Biology 1402,1403, 3410, 3460 16 hrs
    Chemistry 1410, 1420, 3410, 3420 16 hrs
    Biochemistry 3441, 3442 8 hrs
    Physics 1410, 1420 8 hrs
    Mathematics 2421 or 3351 3-4 hrs
    Animal Nutrition or Feeds and Feeding 3 hrs
    *The applicant is expected to have both animal and veterinary experience.

The course prerequisites can be incorporated into some majors and minors. The major should be chosen according to interest of the student and vocational plans in the event of non-acceptance. Applicants are evaluated on GPA, academic rigor, semester loads carried, animal and veterinary experience, leadership, extracurricular activities, evaluation from undergraduate faculty, and the score on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).  Students are encouraged to consult the College of Veterinary Medicine web site for the most current information.

PRE-LAW
Advisor: Dr. Paul Fabrizio

Students interested in a legal career after completion of a bachelor’s degree are encouraged to pursue any academic major that interests them. Law schools do not recommend specific courses of study or any particular major. What law schools want are students who can think, write, and speak well and who have an understanding of the human experience. The Law School Admission Council recommends a “broad liberal arts curriculum” as the preferred preparation for a legal career. Admission committees want to see law school applicants rise to intellectual challenges by choosing academically rigorous courses. They are most likely to reject students who select non-challenging or narrow fields of study.  Law schools encourage courses of study that demand strong reasoning and communication skills.

PRE-MINISTERIAL PROGRAM
Advisor: Dr. John Miller

This program prepares students for admission to graduate-level theological seminaries. Students preparing for Christian ministry are encouraged to major or minor in Religion and to complete two years of Greek. Pre-ministerial students should take other courses in liberal arts disciplines which prepare them to think, write, and speak clearly, and which provide them with a broad knowledge of human societies, past and present. Courses in Philosophy, English, History, and Psychology benefit every pre-ministerial student. Students intending to become Christian counselors should consider completing a major or minor in Psychology in addition to their studies in Religion.

Students exploring the possibility of entering ministry should take REL 2310, introduction to Christian Ministry, as early as possible in their student careers. It is very important that students consult their respective denominations to make sure that they are complying with the appropriate standards of ministerial preparation. Many pre-ministerial students complete internships in local churches or otherwise serve in part-time positions in ministry. Students are encouraged to participate in Kappa Delta Sigma, a student organization for pre-ministerial students, and in the programming of the Office of Religious Life.