This really begins during your freshman year of college, and sometimes earlier. It is important to work closely with your undergraduate and pre-med advisors. They can help you understand academic requirements and provide suggestions for structuring your academic program. Taking the proper courses in the proper sequence should prepare you to take the MCAT at the earliest possible time. Optimally, students will prepare to take the MCAT during the spring of their junior year in college.

No. LSU Health Shreveport does not give preference to applicants based on undergraduate academic institution.

Last year, LSU Health Shreveport received over 5,600 applications. Of that applicant pool, approximately 370 were interviewed. The final matriculating class was 150. Nearly 15% of the accepted applicants were from out-of-state.

We do not maintain a minimum standard, however, in recent years, the average GPA, in Science and overall, has been 3.7 and the average MCAT score has been 506. 

No, we do not require the CASPer (now known as, TakeAltus!) Test.

The Admissions Committee reviews and evaluates completed applications from both residents and non-residents of the State of Louisiana. Qualified non-Louisiana residents may be invited to interview. However, as a state-supported institution, LSU Health Shreveport has a responsibility to insure that a substantial majority of each matriculating class is comprised of Louisiana residents.

The Official Residency Regulations are detailed here. Questions about the regulations or your specific situation should be directed to the Registrar at shvreg@lsuhsc.edu or (318) 675-5205.

No. The preferred state of legal residence that you specify in your AMCAS application is the one we will use.

LSU Health Shreveport will only consider applicants who are U.S. Citizens, Permanent Resident Aliens or Asylees as designated by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Permanent Resident Aliens or Asylees must possess a final INS documentation (green card) before the application will be considered.

In recent years, incoming freshmen have averaged a 3.7 GPA in both science and math coursework and overall. Learn more about our Student Achievement.

LSU Health Shreveport does not require any specific bachelor’s degree major. We suggest that you major in an area that is of interest to you. If it is not a science-related major, we strongly suggest that you use your non-major electives to take as many science-related courses as possible. This will help to show the Admissions Committee that you do have an aptitude for the sciences, and will help to prepare you for the MCAT and future academic success in medical school. Regardless of your major, you must complete all required coursework prior to matriculation.

The required hours must be taken in, or through, a college or university located in North America and accredited by a Regional Accrediting Organization. Credits earned at foreign institutions (except study-abroad courses taken while attending a qualified institution) satisfy none of our requirements. It is expected that the required science courses be taken at the senior college level. Applicants whose academic work (especially science coursework) was done predominantly at the junior college level may be at a competitive disadvantage.

Most admissions committees feel that there are differences between junior college and senior college courses. LSU Health Shreveport will accept junior college courses but much prefers that the pre-med courses be taken at the senior college level. Perhaps a more important question to ask yourself is how well courses completed at the junior college level are going to prepare you for medical school.

It is far more important how you did in your studies than where you went to school. Attending a well-known, big-name school does not confer any significant advantage.

Yes. We will accept them, but this is something that any admissions committee is going to look at very carefully when making a decision. Better questions to ask yourself are: 1) Will those 10-year old courses give me the current foundation in the sciences that I will need to survive medical school? and 2) Am I prepared to take the MCAT with knowledge that is 10 years old?

Yes. Everybody understands that unpleasant roommates, adjustment to college life, girlfriend/boyfriend problems, problems at home, and a myriad of other things can diminish academic performance. Hopefully, it's a temporary problem. Be prepared to discuss any poor academic performance in your personal statement or in an interview.

GPAs and MCAT scores do not offset one another. Both have predictive value for success in medical school, particularly in the first two years, which everyone seems to agree are the hardest. Therefore, the Admissions Committee generally prefers students who have both good GPAs and good MCAT scores.

If you have completed a Master’s Degree or less at a non-U.S. institution you need to complete, at a minimum, a second Bachelor’s Degree or a Master’s Degree, in-person, at a regionally-accredited U.S. institution. All prerequisites must be completed in the United States. Additionally, foreign graduates would need to demonstrate medical motivation through medical volunteering and shadowing. As with all applicants, the Committee will also look for community service, teamwork/leadership activities and research. Additionally, all applicants must take the MCAT by the application deadline. In order to be eligible to apply you must be a U.S. Citizen, “Final” Resident Alien or have INS approved Asylum in the U.S. 

Credits earned at foreign institutions while the applicant was studying abroad under the auspices of an accredited college or university located in North America are accepted.

Residential is strongly encouraged, but not required; online courses are acceptable. While the COVID-19 crisis is ongoing, required science courses may be taken online and Pass/Fail. Other courses, including non-science courses, may be taken online and Pass/Fail.
 
CLEP and AP are given the same consideration as online courses.

No.

Though not required, most applicants have completed required courses when they apply.

You can apply, interview and be offered provisional acceptance without having completed all requirements. However, all requirements must be completed before registration.

Humanities includes the following as well as many other courses: History, Foreign Languages, Economics, Linguistics, Theater Arts, Fine Arts, Philosophy, Anthropology, Geology, Religious Studies.

Last cycle, the average MCAT score for accepted applicants was 506. Learn more about our Student Achievement.

Yes. All applicants must take the MCAT exam.

The best answer is to take it when you're ready to take it. Taking it just to see what it is like is pretty wasteful. In any case, you must take the MCAT no later than September, 10 months before you hope to start medical school.

No. Scores from the September test usually reach us in mid-October, when we are just beginning the interview process. If you are going to take the MCAT in September, the best thing to do is to send in everything else needed to complete your application way before October. That way, when your MCAT scores arrive in October your application will become instantly complete.

For sure.

Yes and no. September is the last MCAT we will consider in deciding who will be interviewed. However, if you are on the Wait List and your MCAT is thin, an improved score could possibly move the needle for you.

No. You must have an MCAT score from some time in the 3 years prior to registration. To begin school in July 2022, the oldest MCAT we will consider is September 2019.

Yes. The new AMCAS application will show your Testing History and include the date of every MCAT you have taken since 1991. It will also show your scores, if you released them.
 

It depends on your scores and the size of the decrease. For small point decrease, highly unlikely; if your score decreases by several points, the opposite. Be prepared to discuss why your score went down, either in your personal statement or in an interview.

November 2 is the deadline for submitting your AMCAS application.

No. Deadline extensions are not granted.

No. We will begin the application process and make decisions on electronically-transmitted, AMCAS-verified files only. The best thing you can do is stay in touch with AMCAS and make sure your file is verified in a timely fashion.

You should definitely let AMCAS know when your phone number, e-mail or physical address changes. Feel free to contact our office to let us know you have made changes and to ensure that we can see those changes. However, all updates should be made to your AMCAS. This is the database we use in all correspondence.
 

The Personal Statement is incredibly important because it is the first place you have a chance to look like a human being to the Admissions Committee. Never leave the space blank! Follow the AMCAS instructions for writing a Personal Statement. Do not write irrelevant short stories that you would submit for a creative writing class. Write about yourself and why you want to study medicine, the experiences on which your decision is based, and why you think you'd be good if entrusted with the privilege of taking care of people.
 

The photograph is your introduction to the Office of Admissions and the Admissions Committee. Of course, your goal is to project a professional, polished, and mature image. We suggest a current and appropriate photograph. 
 

The Admissions Office cannot see your AMCAS until late June. We will begin our preliminary review process with Early Decision Program applications in early July. On the other hand, if it is early August and you still do not have access to our Secondary Application, please contact our office.

Yes. All AMCAS-verified applicants are provided a link to and may submit a Secondary Application.

When we are notified by AMCAS that your application is verified, you will be given access to our Secondary Application.

Yes. Your file will not be complete nor under review by the Admissions Committee until you submit a Secondary Application.

The deadline for submitting the Secondary Application is midnight, December 15, 2020.

On or before August 2, we must have on file the following:

• Verified AMCAS application;
• Completed Secondary application;
• Non-refundable application fee of $50 (unless you received a fee waiver from AMCAS);
• Letters of Recommendation.

Soon after August 2, EDP applicants with incomplete files will be notified that they have become regular applicants, and that their non-admission through EDP does not prejudice their outcome in the regular process.

Very likely. It takes days or weeks for AMCAS to verify an application. Best to complete and submit the AMCAS application as soon as possible, have Letters of Recommendation sent, and pay your application fee well ahead of the deadline.

These are held in September. Just like regular admission, only selected applicants (not all) are invited by e-mail to interview.

All EDP applicants will be sent a letter informing them of the Committee's decision by October 1.

We use the AMCAS Letters Service exclusively.

Please refer to the AAMC Letter Service webpage for instructions concerning letters.

Letters should be signed and dated. Letters must be current.

While not required, we strongly prefer a letter from the Pre-professional Advisory Committee or its equivalent. It’s the one we really want and the only one you need. If your school does not have a committee, letters from three individual professors will suffice. Science professors are preferred.

The best letters are from faculty members (and others) who know you well enough to comment in some depth not only on your academic performance, but also on your personal qualities for a career in medicine. Both things are equally important! They should mention how long they have known you and in what capacity, and how well they know you. They should also put their remarks about you into some kind of comparative context with others for whom they have written letters.

Letters from elected officials who do not know you personally can prove embarrassing. It might look as if you're trying to substitute influence for excellence, connections for achievement, privilege for accomplishment, and the Admissions Committee generally does not like that. Letters from physicians you have shadowed have a tendency to be uniformly positive and tend to offer committees little help in distinguishing between applicants.

Military commanders (for military personnel) and immediate supervisors (for applicants with a long employment history) may be good people to write such letters. Still, we want to hear from science professors, if at all possible.

A very important part of our medical center is the Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport Academic Center, which is a major residency training institution with 18 residency training programs and 15 fellowships accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Currently, there are 464 and residents and 91 fellows training in LSU Health Shreveport residency programs. Learn more about our residency programs.

In response to COVID-19 protocol, all interviews in the 2022 cycle will be virtual. These begin in October and usually conclude by early April. Interviews for Early Decision applicants occur in September.

At LSU Health Shreveport, applicants are interviewed by members of the Admissions Committee. The format is relaxed and is meant to be a forum for information exchange.

Applicants will have two one-on-one interviews, lasting approximately 30 minutes each. These interviews are “blind,” meaning that while your interviewer will have access to your Personal Statement and biographical data, he or she will not have access your grades, MCAT scores or Letters of Recommendation. “Blind” does not mean that your interviewers know nothing about you when you arrive.

Basically, they are trying to assess those things that are almost impossible to quantify: interpersonal skill level, maturity, depth and source of motivation, soundness of decision-making, experiences, and the like. In general, they are trying to find out what kind of person you are and how motivated you are to study medicine.

Ask ten people, and you may get twelve answers. Consider the following: Since the interviewer is interested in You, the best preparation is to know yourself. Know yourself so well that you can articulate clearly your motivation to become a physician. Be able to detail how your activities support your claim of wanting to be a doctor. Go to mock interviews if you can. Evidence of motivation is a key thing.

Perhaps your interviewers had different experiences? Perhaps you were ill or overly nervous? Bottom line, the Admissions Committee felt your chances of admission would improve significantly with more input from additional interviews.

Different days, different interviewers, different times, maybe different duration.

We want you to interview with people who have never heard of you and were not present when your application was reviewed by the Admissions Committee. Re-interviews are scheduled an hour apart when possible, so time is less likely to be a factor. Again, the best thing you can do, is be yourself.

Attempting to detail explicitly “why” leads into treacherous waters, and we will not go there. But, by reviewing the information for Re-Applicants most people can figure out why. A better question is “How can I improve my competitive standing in next year’s application cycle?”

Unfortunately, Dr. Thomas does not have sufficient time to offer individual file reviews. This is best pursued with your pre-professional advisors.

Again, Dr. Thomas receives an overwhelming number of requests for such. There is just not enough time in the day for her to adequately address each request.

This question sends a message you probably would rather not send. If you have availed yourself of advice from this website, your pre-professional advisors, information available from AMCAS, the MSAR (“Medical School Admissions Requirements”) and numerous other sources, and do not know if you are heading in the right direction, then it is doubtful that such an appointment will meet your needs.

Advice and suggestions are just that, no more. Applicants should realize that all one can hope for is guidance in identifying possible ways by which an applicant might improve his or her competitive standing in a future applicant pool.

One can think of many similar scenarios, but a true example is the person who was advised to get a Masters degree in order to address a low GPA. He got his degree, was invited to interview, but then performed so poorly in the interview that he never made the Acceptable List.

Note: Addressing one shortcoming does not negate any others. All available information is reviewed in making any decision. This is discussed in more detail in the section for Re-Applicants.

Advice and suggestions are just that, no more. Applicants should realize that all one can hope for is guidance in identifying possible ways by which an applicant might improve his or her competitive standing in a future applicant pool.

One can think of many similar scenarios, but a true example is the person who was advised to get a Masters degree in order to address a low GPA. He got his degree, was invited to interview, but then performed so poorly in the interview that he never made the Acceptable List.

Note: Addressing one shortcoming does not negate any others. All available information is reviewed in making any decision. This is discussed in more detail in the section for Re-Applicants.