The Committee on Admissions looks for evidence of emotional maturity, motivation, achievement, character, and academic excellence. A premium is placed on the breadth, depth and rigor of the academic program, life experiences, and clinical and research exposure. Applicants should be liberally educated men and women who have studied in some depth subjects beyond the conventional required premedical courses.  The medical school maintains the richest possible educational environment through the enrollment of a diverse student body, one that represents applicants from underrepresented populations, applicants with work experience, and applicants from the smallest to the largest of our nation’s colleges and universities. The Feinberg School attracts students from all areas of the United States and from around the world.
The equivalent of three years of college (135 quarter hours/90 semester hours) is the minimum required for entrance into the medical school. While a bachelor’s degree is not required, it is expected. (Students who have been successful in the Feinberg application process have attained their Bachelors degree, at a minimum, prior to matriculation.) Students who are successful in the application process generally exceed the required and recommended coursework. Two semesters of the following coursework are required (lecture and lab): Biology, Physics, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry. Two semesters of the following coursework are recommended: English, Humanities, Psychology, Statistics. The Committee on Admissions considers all coursework completed at the undergraduate, the postbaccalaureate, and the graduate levels. Science AP courses for which an applicant has received course credit at his or her undergraduate degree-granting institution will be considered as fulfilling the pre-medical science course requirements cited above. Applicants should keep in mind, however, that the Committee will expect to see advanced level undergraduate courses in the science disciplines for which the AP credit was awarded. is required of all applicants. Only scores from tests administered within the last three years will be accepted by the Feinberg School. If you are applying for the 2009 admissions year this means that MCAT scores prior to 2007 will not be considered. Students are encouraged to take the MCAT exam or any retests no later than June of the application year. The latest MCAT scores considered will be from the September 2009 test dates. Applicants are required to indicate any upcoming MCAT test taking dates when submitting the Feinberg supplemental application. Information concerning the test may be obtained from www.aamc.org/students/mcat. submitted electronically, is required from all Feinberg applicants. Visit www.aamc.org/students/amcas for submission details. The AMCAS application is to be submitted no earlier than June 2 and no later than 12 midnight (EDT) Novermber 1, 2009, for 2010 matriculation consideration. AMCAS requires that all applicants submit an email address. Feinberg applicants are required to maintain their AMCAS submitted email address for receipt of individual and group communications. Applicants are advised to remove any qualifiers or blocks on their email addresses. Applicants should notify both AMCAS and the Feinberg School of changes to their email or other contact information. Application Deadline Extensions for the AMCAS application are not available. The Feinberg Committee on Admissions is not able to consider applications submitted after November 1, 2009. Applicants are advised to complete and submit their AMCAS application to AMCAS at least 4 weeks prior to November 1, 2009 to allow time for AMCAS to determine if additional information or materials for final application submission are required. are required. All applicants are invited via email to complete the supplemental application and pay the processing fee at the applicant secure web site, accessible about July 15 of each year. Once you submit your AMCAS application and it is verified by AMCAS (a process that takes about 5 weeks), you should check your email daily (after July 15) for an invitation to complete and submit the Feinberg supplemental application. If your college's pre-health advisory office participates in an electronic submission service for letters of recommendation, then you should ask them to transmit your letters as soon as possible. If your school does not participate in electronic service, then your letters of recommendation must be written on letterhead stationery and mailed directly to AMCAS by the school's pre-medical advising office or the author(s). Your letters may be written by your college's pre-medical advisory committee, or they may come from three faculty members, at least two of whom are science faculty members, who have taught you. If you have multiple individual letters submitted for your application the first 3 individual letters submitted will be used to complete your application requirement. Applicants are advised to send no more than a Committee packet or the 3 required letters prior to interview invitation. Once you receive an interview invitation, you are welcome to submit additional letters on interview day, by electronic submission or by mail to AMCAS. Non-traditional applicants, those who completed undergraduate study at least 2 years ago, may submit the 3rd (non-science) letter from a supervisor directly involved in their current (or recent) professional activities. The Feinberg supplemental application, letters of recommendation and processing fee must be transmitted to our Offices no later than November 15, 2009. are issued by email solely upon the recommendation of the Feinberg Committee on Admissions. Interviews are held from September through February, on selected Tuesdays and Fridays, at the Feinberg School of Medicine on the Chicago campus of Northwestern University. An applicant is expected to schedule an interview as soon as the invitation is received. are finalized solely upon the recommendation of the Feinberg Committee on Admissions. Acceptance decisions are provisional, pending the required state of Illinois Criminal Background Check (see below). Interview decisions occur throughout the admissions season and are sent via email to the applicant. Post-interview decisions are usually sent through email to applicants no later than late February of the matriculation year. All admissions decisions are final and cannot be appealed. are required by the state of Illinois. The State of Illinois has joined a growing national trend in requiring background checks on students, employees and other persons having direct contact with patients. The objective of these checks, in large part, is to enhance patient health and safety, facilitate student access to affiliated clinical facilities, and ensure eligibility for licensure. The Illinois Medical School Matriculant Criminal History Records Act took effect in February 2006, requiring background checks on all students matriculating in Illinois medical schools beginning in 2006. Specifically, the law requires Feinberg and all other Illinois medical schools to require each matriculant to submit to a criminal history records check for violent felony convictions and any adjudication as a sex offender. Further, the law provides that a medical school’s required consideration of a matriculant’s criminal history check information may preclude a matriculant with a violent felony conviction or adjudication as a sex offender from gaining official admission to the medical school. To comply with the new law, background checks will be conducted once conditionally admitted students arrive on campus. Applicants will be asked to evaluate themselves according to the technical standards established by the faculty. The Feinberg School willingly works to accommodate students with disabilities. Upon submission of the Feinberg supplemental application, applicants attest that they meet published technical standards. The stated standards, set out in the Feinberg supplemental application, were developed by the Feinberg faculty to ensure that students gain maximum benefit from the educational program. Technical standards include unimpaired observation and communication skills, reasoning abilities, and motor skills necessary for the performance of laboratory tests and diagnostic procedures. Also, an applicant's emotional health and personal qualities relating to compassion, integrity, interest, and motivation are assessed during the application process. An applicant may request to defer matriculation for a year after acceptance of a Feinberg admission offer. Requests must be submitted in writing to the Admissions Office and are considered on a case-by-case basis. Only applications for transfer into the third year of medical studies, based on hardship, are considered. Medical students from domestic allopathic medical schools are given preference in application consideration. Openings are rare; the possibility and/or the number of openings varies from year to year. Potential transfer students are advised to write a letter of interest directed to the Office of Admissions during their second year of studies. Consideration of applications is completed by late spring of each year. All applicants are required to have completed at least three years of course work at an accredited U.S. or Canadian college or university, through study at the undergraduate or graduate level or a combination of both degree levels. This policy applies to all applicants, regardless of their citizenship status. Applications from international students who meet this requirement are welcome. Northwestern is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educator, and employer. Northwestern University reserves the right to change without notice any statement on this Web site concerning, but not limited to, rules, policies, tuition, fees, curricula, and courses. It is the policy of Northwestern University not to discriminate against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, or veteran status in matters of admissions, employment, housing, or services or in the educational programs or activities it operates, in accordance with civil rights legislation and University commitment. Any alleged violations of this policy or questions regarding the law with respect to nondiscrimination should be directed to the: Director of Equal Employment Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and Disability Services
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nu-provost@northwestern.edu It is Northwestern University policy to ensure that no qualified student with a disability is denied the benefits of, excluded from participation in, or otherwise subjected to discrimination in any University program or activity. In response to a request made by a qualified student with a disability, the University will arrange, at no cost to the student, for the provision of educational auxiliary aids, including sign language interpreters, determined by the University to be necessary to afford such student the opportunity for full participation in University programs. | 
