Information for Prospective Transfer Premeds 

Students who transfer to Xavier and who are interested in applying to medical, dental, and other types of health professions schools (except pharmacy) are encouraged to sign-up for advising in the Premedical Office during their first Xavier registration and to be actively engaged in Premedical Office advising activities throughout enrollment. After signing in, you will be able to obtain guidance with the process of preparing your application to health professions school AND to receive important emails about premed meetings, recruitment visits, summer programs, etc. Premedical advising at Xavier is based on the student’s intended professional school entry year; as such, it is very important that the student carefully assesses readiness to take the required entrance exam (e.g. MCAT, DAT, etc.) and to apply to medical, dental, or another type of health professions school. Transfer students who need assistance with determining their professional school year of entry should consult with the Premedical Office before or during their first Xavier registration.

The Premedical Office complements the support provided by academic advisors within a student’s major department. Be advised that the Premedical Program is not an academic major, and the Premedical Office is not an academic department. As such, the Premedical Office is not responsible for determining which courses will transfer into the University or registering students for classes. If you have questions about transfer credit, please contact the Office of Admissions and/or the respective academic departments.

All transfer premeds are encouraged to complete the Biomedical Honor Corps meetings, regardless of classification based on credit hours. These meetings are designed to introduce new premeds (freshman and transfer) to premedical advising at Xavier and the process of preparing competitive applications to medical, dental, and other types of health professions schools. Transfer students should also engage in advising activities that are specific to their proposed professional school entry years.

Students who wish to enroll as non-degree-seeking students at Xavier, to complete required and/or recommended courses for specific health professions schools are welcome to sign in with the Premedical Office for pre-professional guidance.  

Prospective transfer premeds are encouraged to consider the following:

1. Entry Year/Application Timeline: Typically, students begin the application process for health professions schools approximately 15 months before they hope to enter professional school. Readiness to apply to health professions school should be guided by the degree completion date and some very important additional factors. They include (but are not limited to):
   • Completion of required courses for specific medical, dental, etc., schools.
   • Completion of courses that are listed as content areas on entrance exams such as the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Dental Admission Test (DAT), Optometry Admission Test (OAT), and Graduate Record Exam (GRE). 
   • Completion of recommended upper-level courses that build more of a foundation for the basic medical sciences in health professions school.
   • Ability to adequately prepare for the MCAT, DAT, etc. FYI, XU students are encouraged to take these tests by May (definitely no later than June) of the year they plan on submitting their medical, dental, etc. school applications; formal test preparation should begin no later than the spring semester, with students enrolling in NO MORE THAN 14 SEMESTER HOURS to balance earning competitive grades and preparing for required entrance exams.
   • Competitiveness based on grades (science—Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math GPA and overall GPA), entrance exam scores, and post-secondary experience. A student should strongly consider competitiveness in ALL of these areas when deciding upon the appropriate professional school entry year. If an applicant determines that he/she needs more time and/or resources to enhance one or more of these areas, it is highly recommended that the proposed entry year (and perhaps the entrance exam year) be modified accordingly.
2. Performance at Other Colleges/Universities: When you apply to medical, dental, etc. schools, you are required to send official transcripts from every college or university attended. As such, your previous undergraduate/graduate academic performance (and behavioral, if any disciplinary actions were taken) will be considered as a part of the application process, along with your performance at Xavier. If any of your courses are accepted as transfer credit at XU, be advised that the grade on your XU transcript will be listed as “TR.” Since grades from other institutions do NOT appear on the XU transcript, applicants are required to send official transcripts directly from each college/university attended during the application process for medical, dental, etc. school.
3. Premedical Office Advising Activities: Engagement in premedical advising activities at XU is self-selected and should begin when the student first enrolls at XU and continue, in a comprehensive and strategic manner, throughout enrollment. As such, it is up to YOU whether or not you commit to engaging in advising activities that are designed to help you cultivate a competitive application for medical, dental, or another type of health profession school. You do not earn college credit for attending group and individual premed meetings, reading DAILY premed emails, submitting your personal statement multiple times for critique, or applying to summer enrichment or research programs, for example; however, the investment you make by doing these things, in a well-timed manner, can reap major returns in the form of being a contender for admission into health professions school! NOTE: The Premedical Office is NOT an academic department and therefore does not conduct academic advising. Academic advising takes place within major departments (e.g. Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, Neuroscience, Public Health Sciences, etc.). It is highly recommended that in addition to Premedical Office advising, you regularly take advantage of academic advising within your major department and other resources on campus that can help advance your academic and career goals (e.g. Student Academic Success Office, Career Services, Center for Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity, etc.).
4. What’s Your G.E.E.S.T.?: This document, available here, outlines the dynamic factors that contribute to cultivating a competitive application for medical, dental, or another type health professions school.  Read it carefully and determine how competitive you currently are in all areas, outlining plans and an appropriate timeline to become more competitive, if necessary.

A final message for transfer students: Although XU students have successfully gained admission into medical, dental, and other types of health professions schools and related graduate programs for many years, enrolling at Xavier University of Louisiana does NOT guarantee acceptance into professional or graduate school. Students must consistently commit themselves to perform competitively in rigorous coursework and on required entrance exams, in addition to engaging in meaningful experiences, all to convince admissions committees that they 1) are capable of handling the academic load of health professions school AND b) would be good health professionals. We encourage all students, regardless of major and post-XU educational or career path, to proactively and realistically assess their interests and abilities, making sure to utilize all reliable resources both on and off campus to ensure success. By way of the advising activities conducted by the Premedical Office, XU students are constantly reminded that all semesters and summers before applying to medical, dental, etc. school should be devoted to developing their professional school applications in the following ways:  pre-professionally (e.g. academic performance, entrance exam performance, extracurricular activities, etc.) and personally (e.g. soft skills such as attitude, communication, work ethic, time management, teamwork, etc.). The Premedical Office and other support and academic offices at Xavier stand ready to assist you as you pursue excellence at Xavier and beyond.