Pre-Professional Programs
Here at Hilbert, our Pre-Professional Programs aim to support and guide students interested in careers in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, optometry, veterinary medicine, or law in fulfilling the professional school admission requirements through Hilbert’s robust curricula, unmatched academic advisement, and valuable hands-on experiences.
What Is a Pre-Professional Program?
A pre-professional program is an academic support program to help students who wish to pursue admission to professional schools after earning their undergraduate degrees. Based on the specific admission requirements of each professional school, the program guides students to choose track-specific coursework that better prepares them for professional exams, such as MCAT for medical schools, PCAT for pharmacy schools, etc., and helps fulfill other admission-related requirements.
Admission to professional schools is highly competitive, so completing a pre-professional program can help you stand out from the crowd.
Hilbert offers pre-professional programs in health (
medicine,
nursing,
pharmacy,
dental,
optometry and
veterinary medicine) and
law.
Benefits of Pre-Professional Programs
Admission into professional programs is highly competitive. Pre-professional programs at Hilbert give you access to a team of advisers who can help you choose courses and extracurricular activities that may increase your chances of being accepted into your professional program of choice.
In addition to individualized advisement, pre-professional programs at Hilbert offer pre-health and pre-law students access to special events and opportunities. For example, students have the opportunity to attend specialized workshops, information sessions and academic seminars to learn about different career options and professional schools
In partnership with other Hilbert College offices, our programs also assist pre-professional students with:
- Interview preparation
- Cover letter, resume and personal statement creation
- Experience opportunities
- Financial literacy
Declare Your Track
Fill out the form to declare your pre-professional track and submit the form to Student Records.
Pre-Professional Form (PDF)
Meet Your Pre-Professional Advisors
Pre-Health
Habibul B. Bakht, PhD.
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
Coordinator of the Pre-Professional Sciences Program
Pre-Health Track Advisor
Office: Bogel Hall 140A
Phone: 716-926-8953
Email hbakht
Pre-Law
Laura Dannebohm
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice
Pre-Law Advisor
Office: Bogel Hall 172
Phone: 716-926-8821
Email ldannebohm
Specialize Your Pre-Professional Program With Two Options
Pre-Health Professional Programs
A career in the health professions is a challenging and rewarding goal for any student. If you are interested in careers in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry or veterinary medicine, our Pre-Health Professional Program will help you prepare for these highly competitive career tracks through strong curricula and academic and professional advisement.
Although students from various academic majors are eligible to pursue most of these pre-health tracks, the curricula for Hilbert students majoring in biology and forensic science generally complement most of the course requirements for these tracks. Pre-health advisers assist in advising students for graduate study that can lead to MS or PhD degrees in the biological sciences and related fields such as genetics, cell biology, molecular biology, biotechnology, biomedical engineering and neuroscience.
Advisement
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.
Requirements
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.
Pre-Law Professional Program
A career in the legal profession is an ambitious and rewarding goal for any student. If you are interested in a postgraduate legal education, our Pre-Law Professional Program at Hilbert College will help you prepare for a legal career through strong curricula and academic and professional advisement.
The Pre-Law Professional Program can also provide additional knowledge and skills to students majoring in Hilbert programs such as English, business and criminal justice. The Pre-Law Professional Program is a support program and not an academic major. The program guides all students interested in a legal track and further assists in advising those students who are interested in graduate study leading to a JD or SJD (also known as a JSD) degree.
Advisement
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.
Requirements
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-Professional Program Career Opportunities
Pre-Health
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.
Pre-Law
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.
Why Choose Hilbert College for a Pre-Professional Program?
We're a four-year liberal arts college built on the Catholic Franciscan values of service and compassion. Our inclusive community is warm, friendly and supportive. And that’s only the start of the list of reasons to choose Hilbert for a pre-professional program.
At Hilbert, you will enjoy:
- A variety of pre-professional programs and tracks to choose from
- Robust, up-to-date curricula designed to help you reach your goals
- Academic and pre-professional advisement to help you choose courses and extracurricular activities that may increase your chances of acceptance into a professional program
- Access to special events and opportunities—from information sessions and seminars to hands-on workshops—only available to pre-health and pre-law students
- Assistance with interview preparation, resume writing and personal statement creation
- And much more!
Pre-Professional Program Curriculum
Pre-Health
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, see the pre-professional page for the program that interests you:
Pre-Law
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. See our Pre-Law page for details.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the pre-professional program specialization options?
Hilbert offers pre-professional programs in two specialized areas: health (including tracks in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dental, optometry and veterinary medicine) and law.
How long are the pre-health/pre-law professional programs?
Our pre-health and pre-law professional programs are a support service with no standard time length to complete the program. It may vary from program to program, student to student. We strongly recommend that interested students contact our pre-health or pre-law advisers as soon as possible to devise a course plan to fulfill all the professional school admission-related requirements.
What are the benefits of pursuing a pre-professional program?
Choosing a pre-professional program can not only put you on a fast track to your desired career, it can also give you an edge when applying to graduate programs. Competition for acceptance into professional programs is usually fierce, so you will want to do everything possible to meet qualifications and distinguish yourself from other applicants to your chosen graduate school.
Apply to a Pre-Professional Program at Hilbert College