Do Medical Schools Accept Pass/Fail Grades for Prerequisite Classes?

The Pre-Med Fatal Error

You are a Pre-Med student. Medical schools require you to take 1 year of Physics. You are terrible at Physics. You take Physics 101, struggle mightily, and switch the grading option to Pass/Fail so the 'C' doesn't ruin your 3.8 GPA.

You finish the class with a 'Pass'. Three years later, you submit your application to Medical School. It is instantly rejected.

Why? Because you broke the golden rule of Pre-Med prerequisites.

The 'No P' Rule for Prerequisites

Medical schools (and Dental/PA schools) have strict prerequisite requirements: Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, and Biochem.

They require a Letter Grade (A, B, or C) for every single prerequisite. If you take Physics Pass/Fail, medical schools explicitly state: "We do not accept this credit." To their admissions committee, a 'P' means you took the easy way out and didn't actually master the science.

If you have a 'P' in Physics, you literally have to re-enroll in a university, pay tuition, and re-take Physics for a letter grade before they will even read your application.

The Exception (The COVID Era)

The only time medical schools universally accepted Pass/Fail grades for prerequisites was during the Spring 2020 semester when universities forcibly shut down due to COVID-19 and mandated Pass/Fail for everyone.

If you chose Pass/Fail anytime after 2021, you are out of luck.

What You Should Have Done

If you were failing Physics, you should not have taken it Pass/Fail. You should have taken a 'W' (Withdrawal), dropped the class entirely, protected your GPA, and re-taken the class over the summer at an easier community college to secure an 'A'.

The Rule: You can use Pass/Fail for Art History. You can use it for Sociology. Never use Pass/Fail for a math or science class if you plan on going to a STEM graduate school.