Pre-Professional Program Tracks

We recommend all pre-health track students register with the Pre-Health Professional Program during their first semester or as soon as they become interested in pursuing a health profession track by filling out the pre-professional declaration form. Specific admission requirements vary from one professional school to another. Therefore, we recommend all interested students make initial advisement appointments with the pre-health adviser to ensure they understand the track-specific requirements set by their intended professional schools. Afterward, students should work closely with the pre-health adviser and their academic adviser to discuss career goals and expectations, choose track-specific electives and plan extracurricular or supplemental academic experiences, including internships, research opportunities and volunteer activities. The pre-health adviser evaluates each student’s progress in the respective track to maintain their good standing status. 

The minimum GPA requirement for most health professional schools is 3.0. Students with a GPA lower than this should contact their academic adviser for academic assistance. Admission into professional schools is highly competitive, and higher GPAs are needed for most health professions, with many programs looking for a GPA of 3.5 or better.

In some programs, science GPAs are evaluated separately. For example, a GPA of 3.75 is considered a competitive science GPA for most medical schools. In addition to GPA, some schools require competitive scores on professional exams such as the MCAT, DAT, GRE, PCAT, OAT, etc., and evidence of the applicant’s professionalism, maturity, sound reasoning, integrity and commitment to helping others.

Some schools also require candidates to have shadowing experience with different health professionals over time, research experience in labs and various volunteer experiences. Our Pre-Health Professional Program will guide students to prepare for these qualifications as well.

Students in our Pre-Health Professional Program are generally interested in, and go on to pursue, careers in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry and veterinary medicine. Here at Hilbert, the curricula for students majoring in biology and forensic science generally complement most of the course requirements for our pre-health tracks, opening up career opportunities that range from geneticist, neurologist and molecular biologist to crime scene investigator, forensic medical examiner, DNA analyst and many more.

Each of Hilbert’s pre-professional programs, including the many pre-health programs, has its own coursework that is informed by recommendations from a relevant professional academic body. For example, the Pre-Medicine track and minor is designed to reflect the recommendations of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for coursework that fulfills students’ medical school requirements and prepares them for the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) exam.

For details on each program’s curriculum, view the pre-professional page for details on medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dental, optometry, veterinary medicine.

We recommend all pre-law students register with the Pre-Law Professional Program during their first semester or as soon as they become interested in pursuing a legal profession track by filling out the pre-professional declaration form. Specific admission requirements vary among law schools. Therefore, we recommend all interested students make initial advisement appointments with the pre-law adviser to ensure they understand the specific requirements set by their intended law school. Afterward, students should work closely with the pre-law adviser and their academic adviser to discuss career goals and expectations, choose track-specific electives and plan extracurricular or supplemental academic experiences, including internships, research opportunities and volunteer activities.

Additionally, the Pre-Law Professional Program provides individualized assistance in completing the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) application process required by all law schools. This process includes the extensive character and fitness portion required for admission to law school and forms the basis for the state bar application process.

The minimum GPA requirement for law schools varies between academic years, but generally UB School of Law targets a minimum of a 3.5 UGPA (undergraduate grade-point average) and a Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score of 155 as medians. 

Alternatively, some law schools accept a GRE score instead of an LSAT score. Some studies have found that your UGPA and LSAT score are correlated to success in law school and on the bar examination, which explains why law schools emphasize these two scores. Entry into law school is very competitive and based on quantitative and qualitative data. Students with a GPA lower than this should contact their academic adviser for academic assistance. 

In addition to your UGPA and LSAT score, law schools expect evidence of the applicant’s professionalism, maturity, sound reasoning, integrity and commitment to helping others. Hilbert’s Pre-Law Professional Program will guide students to prepare for these qualifications.

Pre-law students enjoy a wide range of potential career paths. Depending on your interests, you may decide to become a lawyer, legal assistant or mediator in a nearly endless variety of fields: civil law, criminal law, business law, consumer law, adoption law, family law, property law and tax law, to name just a few. In addition, law students can and do pursue diverse careers in business, criminal justice, politics and law enforcement.

The pre-law track and minor consist of three courses—LW 101, Introduction to Law; LW 103, Legal Research; and LW 303, Advanced Legal Writing—as well as an additional two or three upper-level electives depending on whether you wish to complete a track or a minor, respectively. View the Pre-Law curriculum.