University of Kansas

Johnson County Community College Transfer Program to the University of Kansas Pre-Health Outreach Coordinator
School of Medicine 913-945-9782
Premedicine collegeinfo@ku.edu
Academic Year 2025-2026 https://prehealth.ku.edu/medicine

Program Description

  • Most medical schools, including the KU School of Medicine, require a full bachelor’s degree before entering. Any bachelor’s degree (BA, BS, etc.) and any major is acceptable, as long as coursework includes two semesters each of English, Biology, General Chemistry I and II with labs, Organic Chemistry I and II with at least one lab, and Physics I and II with labs. All science prerequisites must be completed at the level of science majors. These courses should be completed by the end of a student’s junior year because they also cover content needed for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

Admission Requirements

  • A maximum of 75 hours may be transferred to KU from community colleges. Students should be aware that 45 junior/senior credit hours are required for completion of the bachelor’s degree; 30 of those hours must be at KU; and community college courses do not transfer as junior/senior hours. Some courses, like organic chemistry, would not count toward this requirement if taken at community college but would count toward the requirement if taken at a four-year college or university. Students need to work with their Bachelor’s degree granting institution to ensure appropriate upper division hour requirements are met.  Please refer to the Transfer Information Guide for transfer admission procedures and qualifications
  • Applicants are strongly encouraged to diversify their undergraduate education. While not required for admission to the School of Medicine, a number of courses and subject areas are recommended to medical school bound students. Suggested courses and disciplines include: Immunology (strongly encouraged) Biochemistry (strongly encouraged), Genetics (strongly encouraged), Physiology, Microbiology, other upper-level biology, natural sciences, behavior and social sciences, humanities, oral and written communications, social determinants of health (strongly encouraged; examples include cultural or social anthropology, public or population health, epidemiology, environmental health, health economics, health policy, history of medicine or public health, ethics related to health care).
  • Health care experience: Applicants are also expected to possess a general understanding of health care and medicine based upon employment, shadowing or volunteer experiences. Although we do not require specific hours, we do encourage you to invest the time you need to acquire knowledge of the roles of members of the health care team, as well as understanding of the meaning of working with patients and serving them as a physician.
  • Pass/Fail Coursework - Students required by their college or university to accept a Pass/Fail or Credit/No Credit grade will not be penalized by the School of Medicine. The School of Medicine does accept Pass/Fail and Credit/No Credit grades for course prerequisites, but prefers to see letter grades. Students with the option of accepting a letter grade or a Pass/Fail or Credit/No Credit grade may want to consider the impact on the overall science GPA and cumulative GPA if a course does not have a letter grade.
  • Online Coursework and Labs - Online coursework and labs are acceptable.
  • Letters of Evaluation - We do not specifically require a school committee letter. If your school is unable to provide one, please submit 3 to 5 letters of reference instead.
  • Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT): Currently includes four sections: 1. Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems, 2. Critical Analysis and Reasoning, 3. Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems, and 4. Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior.
  • Personal Interviews: When the proper credentials have been submitted to the University of Kansas School of Medicine, selected applicants are invited for interviews.
  • Residence: Qualified students who are residents of the State of Kansas are given priority in admission to the KU Medical School, after which, highly qualified candidates from other states are given consideration.

Program Prerequisites 

Courses KU Premedical Students take: 

JCCC
KU
Course CodeCourse TitleCourse HoursTransfer CodeTransfer TitleTransfer Hours
BIOL 135Principles of Cell and Molecular Biology 4 BIOL 150 Principles of Molecular Cellular Biology AND BIOL 154 Introductory Biology Lab for STEM Majors+
BIOL 150Biology of Organisms* 5BIOL 152Prin of Organismal Biology3
CHEM 124
CHEM 125
General Chemistry I Lecture* and General Chemistry I Lab* 5CHEM 130General Chemistry I5
CHEM 131
CHEM 132
General Chemistry II Lecture* and General Chemistry II Lab* 5CHEM 135General Chemistry II5
CHEM 220Organic Chemistry I* 5CHEM 330
& CHEM 331
Organic Chemistry I
and Organic Chemistry I Laboratory
5
CHEM 221Organic Chemistry II* 5CHEM 335
& CHEM 336
Organic Chemistry II
and Organic Chemistry II Lab
5
Select one of the following:
Composition I* 3 ENGL 101 Composition
College Composition I with Review* 5 ENGL 101 Composition
ENGL 122Composition II* 3ENGL 102Critical Reading and Writing3
PHYS 130College Physics I*5PHSX 114College Physics I4
PHYS 131College Physics II*5PHSX 115College Physics II4
PSYC 130Introduction to Psychology ^3PSYC 104General Psychology3
Select one of the following:
Introduction to Sociology 3SOC 104Elements of Sociology3
Social Problems ^3SOC 160Social Problems Amer Values3
CHEM 250Biochemistry* #4 BIOL 600 Introductory Biochemistry#
Recommended courses depending on intended medical school:
ANTH 160Medical Anthropology3GIST 210Culture and Health3
BIOL 132Introduction to Public Health3HSCI 340Introduction to Public Health3
BIOL 140Human Anatomy 4 BIOL 240 /241 Fundamentals of Human Anatomy/Lab
Select one of the following:
Statistics* 3 MATH 365 Elementary Statistics
Statistics in Psychological Research*3PSYC 210Statistics Psychological Rsrch3
MATH 231Business and Applied Calculus I*3MATH 115Calculus I3
MATH 241Calculus I* 5MATH 125Calculus I4

*

JCCC course has a prerequisite or corequisite. 

^

Strongly encouraged by KU.

#

This class covers the MCAT content but is NOT a direct equivalent to KU's BIOL 600. 

+

KU School of Medicine does not require BIOL 154 lab or CHEM 336 lab. If student decides to take them, they could help in preparation for future medical school curriculum. 

Last Approved Fri Aug 15 22:47:01 2025