Admissions

A 4-year bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher (across all undergraduate coursework and/or institutions attended). A GPA of 3.3 is competitive. If your GPA is below 3.0, please consider our other physiology options .

The SMP requires the same prerequisite courses as most U.S. medical schools. Two semesters of each of the following courses (including labs) are required:

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Physics
• Biochemistry – one semester – highly recommended for application to the SMP and medical school (many medical schools now require it)

You may apply to the SMP while you are completing these courses. All prerequisite courses must be completed before the start of the SMP. 

List your postsecondary institutions in your application, and upload a transcript for each institution.

Follow the transcript instructions in Admissions FAQ  to ensure you upload proper documentation.

The Georgetown SMP is test optional. However, an MCAT score is preferred. Practice MCAT scores are also considered and can be sent to physio@georgetown.edu. Keep in mind a competitive MCAT score is necessary to apply to medical school during the SMP year, if you wish.

View instructions for submitting official MCAT or GRE test results

The SMP application requires three letters of recommendation (LORs), or you may use your undergraduate committee/composite letter. Letters written for application to medical school are acceptable. At least two of the three letters should be from professors in science courses. The third letter may be from an employer or other person who has overseen your extracurricular or volunteer activities.

If you have a composite/committee letter:

1. Click on the “composite recommendation or letter packet” option in the LOR Choice section of the online application.
2. Enter the name and email address of the person/office that will be uploading your letter/packet.
3. Our system will email that person/office and ask that they upload your packet. If they are unable to upload the packet (for example, attachment is too large), they should email the packet directly to BGEAdmissions@georgetown.edu.  

If you are using Interfolio to submit individual LORs: Click on “three individual recommendations” option. For each recommender, enter the letter writer’s name and the unique email address generated by Interflio. Interfolio will then process the request.

If you have a previous AMCAS/AACOMAS application: You do not need to write a new Academic Statement of Purpose. Upload a document that reads “see AMCAS/AACOMAS”. In the “LOR Choice for Physiology & Biophysics M.S.” section of the application, you will upload a PDF of your previous AMCAS/AACOMAS application.

If you do not have a previous AMCAS/AACOMAS application: Disregard the 500-word limit listed on the online application. The Academic Statement of Purpose should read like an AMCAS/AACOMAS personal statement, which traditionally would have a 5,300-character limit. Your statement should reflect you as an applicant to medical school and your motivations for medicine.

If you have a previous AMCAS/AACOMAS application: Upload a PDF of your previous AMCAS/AACOMAS application in the “LOR Choice for Physiology & Biophysics M.S.” section. If you have updates to your AMCAS/AACOMAS application, you may upload a document listing the new information in the “Background and Experience” section, under “Resume/CV.”

If you do not have a previous AMCAS/AACOMAS application: Upload a document in the “Background and Experience” section, under “Resume/CV,” listing all of the following information. Bullet point or resume format is acceptable.

• Overall GPA
• Science GPA
• Employment History (post-high school). Include position, responsibilities, dates of employment, total hours
• Clinical Experiences (post-high school – paid and unpaid). Include position, responsibilities, total hours
• Non-Clinical Community Service (post-high school). Include location, responsibilities, total hours
• Research Experience (post-high school). Include location, position, description, responsibilities, total hours
• Extracurricular/Leadership Activities
• Parent’s Education/Occupation. Include parent’s name, occupation(s) and highest level of education
• Institutional Actions on Academic Record/Misdemeanors/Felonies. Please state “None” or list any actions and explain. If you list anything, be sure to include what you learned from the experience. Moving traffic violations (speeding, accidents) are considered misdemeanors in many states. If you have a ticket(s), please check whether it is listed as a misdemeanor in the jurisdiction where you received the ticket. Also, if you have a pending court case, please indicate this, so we can advise you. (Note: if you have a court case during the year, and you are found guilty of a misdemeanor, you have to inform all the medical schools you applied to within 10 days of the judgment. Failure to do so can result in rescinding of acceptance.) If you have additional questions about institutional actions, etc., please contact an advisor at AMCAS.

Applicants to any Georgetown program may choose to submit an Optional Statement with their application that addresses diversity, personal background and contributions to community. A detailed prompt for the statement can be found in the application.

We encourage you to consider applying for the Hoyas for Science Scholarship , offered through Georgetown Biomedical Graduate Education. Please note that the scholarship has a similar prompt to the Optional Statement, and you can incorporate your Optional Statement text into your essay for this scholarship application.

All applicants are required to demonstrate a level of proficiency in the English language sufficient to meet the admission requirement of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Follow the TOEFL/IELTS instructions in Admissions FAQ  to determine whether you need to send us test scores to prove your English language proficiency.

If you apply to the SMP and are put on our waitlist, this is a good thing! Our applicant pool is highly competitive, and many of our accepted students are accepted to medical school before matriculating into our program. This opens up seats in the SMP, which we immediately fill from the waitlist. We do ask you to be patient – we will continually review waitlist applicants for acceptance up until the start of classes.

• Send us updates of your spring grades, and new MCAT scores if available, as these will help us with our decisions.
• We will be contacting you periodically with information. Please respond as quickly as possible.
• If you are accepted to medical school before coming to the SMP, congratulations! Please email physio@georgetown.edu and let us know that you wish to withdraw your application.
• If you are on the waitlist in late July/early August and are sure you will come if accepted, please email physio@georgetown.edu and let us know, as this will put you in our final select pool.