Medical Doctor Early Assurance Pathway

University of Mount Union (BA or BS) to Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) Medical Doctor (MD)

The NEOMED College of Medicine has offered early assurance of two future seats in medical school each year to currently enrolled students at the University of Mount Union. Early assurance is not admission to the College of Medicine. Early assurance reserves a future seat in medical school should a candidate meet certain NEOMED admission standards at the time of application. The NEOMED Compass provides updated information on the pathway.

There is a two-step process to admission at NEOMED in the College of Medicine as an M1 student as part of this pathway. Students from any major are eligible, as long as they complete necessary prerequisite coursework for NEOMED and the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test).

STEP 1 (Typically Fall Semester of Second Year)

Applying for Early Assurance – Interested candidates must consult with UMU’s pre-medicine advisor (Dr. Robert Woodward, Department of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Physics) and review the NEOMED admission website for important procedures and deadlines during their first year of college enrollment well in advance of the application cycle.

Students must meet all of the following application eligibility guidelines:

• Complete at least one year of full-time coursework in a degree granting program of study in academic residence at UMU (any combination of fall and spring prior to application).
• Be enrolled at UMU throughout the period of application consideration.
• Show successful completion of a minimum of 20 semester hours of coursework in the subject areas of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and/or Math (BCPM) at the time of early assurance consideration. All graded courses must be completed with grades of “C-” or higher to count toward the 20 semester hour minimum.
  • BCPM coursework completed at another institution may count toward the 20 semester hours if posted as transfer credit to your Mount Union transcripts.
  • Advanced Placement and CLEP (testing by exam) credit earned may count toward the 20 semester hours if posted as BCPM course equivalent credit to your Mount Union transcripts.
• Possess a minimum overall/cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher for all post-secondary coursework at the time of early assurance consideration. All GPA’s are calculated using AAMC practices which includes all graded course attempts. Any institutional academic forgiveness policies are not included in early assurance GPA calculations.
• Possess a minimum overall/cumulative BCPM GPA of 3.4 or higher for all post-secondary coursework in the subject areas of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math at the time of early assurance consideration. All BCPM GPA’s are calculated using AAMC practices which includes all graded course attempts. Any institutional academic forgiveness policies are not included in early assurance BCPM GPA calculations.
• Possess an ACT Composite score of 26 or be enrolled in good standing in Mount Union’s Honors Program in lieu of that minimum ACT score.
  • SAT results may be substituted according to the current ACT/SAT score concordance table.
  • The only eligible honors program at UMU is our institution-wide program.
  • Candidates that did not earn an ACT Composite score of 26 while in high school may re-take the ACT provided that a new score is submitted by the official transcript deadline for early assurance consideration.

 
4.) Complete the CASPer test with scores made available to NEOMED at the time of the official transcript deadline for early assurance consideration. Completed applications without CASPer results shall not be eligible for interview consideration for the Early Assurance Undergraduate Program. CASPer is an online test which assesses non-cognitive skills and interpersonal characteristics that we believe are important for successful students and graduates of our program and will complement the other tools that we use for applicant screening. No exceptions will be provided for applicants unable to take CASPer online due to being located at sites where internet is not dependable 233 due to technical or political factors. The associated fees for taking the CASPer test are the responsibility of the student applicant.
 

5.) Interested candidates must apply using the NEOMED early assurance application which may be located through www.neomed.edu. Applicants must complete the entire application and submit all required credentials by the deadline for verification (including test results and official transcripts from all previously attended colleges.) Currently (Summer 2021), the application fee is $ 95.00 payable at the time of application.

• Interviews will be granted by invitation-only following application review. A successful in-person interview at NEOMED is required prior to offer of early assurance.
• Selection into the Early Assurance Undergraduate pathway is via an annual selective process. Early assurance offers will be made in April with a student response due in early May. Students should view additional application information, including application deadlines, by visiting www.neomed.edu.

STEP 2 – Summer prior to final undergraduate year

1). The second step allows a student who has been granted early assurance to medical school the opportunity to apply for admission to claim that reserved seat. This second step is the actual process of obtaining admission to the College of Medicine at NEOMED. All Early Assurance pathways at NEOMED are binding and enforced through AMCAS. Candidates who apply to other AAMC medical schools in addition to NEOMED at the time of Early Assurance application in AMCAS are subject to forfeiture of their early assurance reservation.

All students enrolling in early assurance pathways should do so with the clear understanding that they must possess a baccalaureate degree prior and meet all pre-requisite requirements prior to matriculation into the Doctor of Medicine degree program.

Students granted acceptance into the Early Assurance Undergraduate Pathway may elect to utilize their status of early assurance to apply for admission to NEOMED for up to two years following their acceptance of the early assurance offer in the spring. The two years of eligibility is defined as the two immediately subsequent admission cycles following acceptance of early assurance. At the conclusion of two academic cycles the offer of early assurance is null and void if either unused or the candidate did not meet admission standards.
 

2.) Candidates granted early assurance through the Early Assurance Undergraduate pathway are required to complete the following in order to receive admission to the College of Medicine as M1 students:

• Students must follow all AMCAS Early Assurance plan application procedures and deadlines.
• Students must receive their baccalaureate degrees from the same undergraduate partner college/university where they were awarded early assurance. Early assurance is non-transferrable between institutions.
• Early Assurance Undergraduate students must attempt the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) at least once prior to July 31 of the preceding year to be eligible for admission to NEOMED. E.g. – If a student is applying for fall 2022 admission, he or she must sit for the MCAT at least once by July 31, 2021.
• As with all candidates for medical school regardless of admission plan, it is solely the student’s responsibility to be aware of all MCAT testing and score release dates, and to meet all admission dates and deadlines. Early assurance is a privilege of the opportunity to secure a seat in medical school and not a right to matriculate to medical school.
• Early Assurance Undergraduate students must apply for admission through AMCAS using the Early Assurance admission plan prior to September 1 of the preceding year to be eligible for final admission to NEOMED. E.g. – If a student is applying for fall 2021 admission, he or she must apply for admission through AMCAS using the Early Assurance plan by September 1, 2020.
• Early Assurance students must be on track to successfully complete all required pre-requisite courses with a grade of “C-” or better to apply for admission to NEOMED. 234
• Grade Point Average (GPA) and BCPM GPA data used for admission decisions will reflect applicable course work through the spring semester available in October. Candidates denied admission due to failing to reach GPA and BCPM GPA minimum requirements in October will be re-reviewed for admission consideration using fall semester grades available in January. Once a candidate meets the GPA thresholds at the time of admission, the GPA and BCPM GPA will not be re-reviewed for a rescission of admission unless there is a significant decline or failure to complete prerequisite requirements.
• Early Assurance students neither re-take the CASPer test nor do they interview at the time of application for admission to NEOMED.
• Early Assurance Undergraduate admission decisions will be made by the NEOMED College of Medicine Admissions Committee in the October meeting using grades and MCAT scores officially recorded in AMCAS at the time of review. Candidates will receive an admission decision within two weeks.
• Candidates that do not meet their early assurance admission requirements in October review will have the following two options from which to choose:
  • Withdraw from binding NEOMED early assurance and forfeit their reserved seat in the NEOMED College of Medicine for the current admission cycle. Candidates may then select the option themselves using AMCAS to change their admission decision plan to Regular Decision. Their applications should then move into the AMCAS Regular Decision pool for consideration by other AAMC allopathic medical schools prior to the November 1 RD deadline. Or;
  • Take no action and maintain their binding NEOMED early assurance status, and a second review of their application credentials will occur in January by the NEOMED College of Medicine Admissions Committee. This timeline allows candidates the opportunity to submit fall semester grades and any new MCAT scores available at the time of review. All January review admission decisions are final for the admission cycle and candidates that do not meet admission standards will be denied admission for that admission cycle. Denied candidates shall not be reviewed again.
• Early Assurance Undergraduate pathway candidates that choose to apply during year one of early assurance who are denied due to not meeting admission criteria may reapply for admission in year two of early assurance without penalty.
• Early Assurance Undergraduate admission criteria are as follows: Complete all required pre-requisite courses with a grade of “C -” or better to matriculate to NEOMED. These required pre-requisite courses include:
  1. Two semesters of Organic Chemistry & Labs
  2. Two semesters of Physics & Labs
  3. Two semesters of Biology & Labs
  4. One semester of Biochemistry

 
Meet or exceed the following grade point average, BCPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math courses) grade point average, and minimum MCAT scores as follows for admission to NEOMED.
 

Important Notes:

1. “The Organic Chemistry/Pre-Requisite Requirements” pertains to any and all Organic Chemistry grades earned in courses or labs. Courses that AMCAS classifies as Organic Chemistry during the verification process shall comprise the Organic Chemistry category. These may include Organic Chemistry I, Organic Chemistry I Lab if a separate course, Organic Chemistry II, and Organic Chemistry II Lab if a separate course. For this purpose, in no case are grades forgiven or expunged if the course is re-taken and a higher grade is earned regardless of any undergraduate institutional academic forgiveness policies.
2. All grade point averages and BCPM grade point averages are calculated using AMCAS policies and practices. Essentially, in no case are grades forgiven or expunged if the course is re-taken and a higher grade is earned regardless of any undergraduate institution’s academic forgiveness policies. AMCAS data is considered official for all GPA decisions.
3. “CI” in the “Required MCAT Score” section refers to “Confidence Interval”. NEOMED will recognize the AAMC Confidence Intervals in effect at the time of AMCAS Early Assurance Application for Admission. At present, the MCAT Confidence Interval is plus or minus two points. This means that while the minimum required admission score is a 502 for any single sitting of the MCAT, NEOMED will recognize that a score of 500 is sufficient to meet NEOMED’s Early Assurance Admission standards. The same pattern is in effect where a score of 505 will be interpreted as meeting the 507 minimum and a score of 512 will be recognized as meeting the 514 minimum score.
4. All MCAT scores will consist of the best total score of all four sub-test scores summed from a single test date sitting. A candidate’s AMCAS Early Assurance Application for Admission dataset will be the official source of MCAT data. NEOMED does not require EAP candidates to meet minimum MCAT sub-score thresholds.
5. Grade point averages and BCPM grade point averages will be evaluated at the time of an Offer of Admission. Once a candidate meets the threshold at the time of admission, the GPA/BCPM GPA will not be re-reviewed unless there is a significant decline.
6. Candidates that receive a grade in a course that results in a “Do Not Admit/Denial” condition are advised to proactively initiate a withdrawal from early assurance and pursue other alternative paths to medical school rather than delay enforcement of this condition when discovered in the AMCAS Early Assurance Admission process. All offers of admission are contingent upon the successful completion of remaining prerequisite coursework.
7. Candidates are solely responsible for understanding and adhering to all procedures and deadlines based upon this document published by NEOMED. Do not rely on any abridged materials and/or re-publications from other institutions.