Description of Prerequisite Courses - Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine

Applicants occasionally have questions about alternative ways to complete certain pre-veterinary course requirements. The Admissions Committee has approved various alternatives to certain required courses. The list of required courses represents minimum requirements; many applicants will have taken more course work in these topics than is minimally required. The Committee recognizes advanced and extra-credit course work in these topics in granting bonus points for quality of academic program.

Prerequisite Substitution Request Form

Completing Veterinary Pre-Requisite Courses through Distance Education
Cornell prefers pre-requisite science courses to be completed in real classroom and laboratory setting. A few Distance Education courses are acceptable although laboratories must be completed in a real laboratory, not a virtual laboratory. Since a Distance Education course may not have a real laboratory associated with it, our two pre-requisites that do not require a laboratory (Biochemistry and English Composition - or Literature) are good candidates for Distance Education. If you have questions about completing pre-requisites through Distance Education, please contact us at vet_admissions@cornell.edu.

Though six semester credits are required in English composition, the Committee has stated that three of those credits may be fulfilled by a course in public speaking (that is, a course in which the student must write and present a number of speeches). A course in Communications (that is, a course in the theory of interpersonal communications) will not ordinarily meet this requirement, because such a course does not focus on the organization of verbal content in proper English style. If your college does not teach English composition, you may fulfill this requirement by any course in which a majority of your grade depended on your ability to write in proper style, as documented by a letter sent to the Admissions Office from the instructor. Many colleges offer writing intensive courses in lieu of English composition. A writing-intensive course will be accepted for English composition if documentation, for example, a photocopy of a catalog description, indicates that it is writing-intensive. Some college transcripts note if a course is writing-intensive, and that note on the transcript is acceptable as documentation.

Most applicants enroll in a full-year of general biology with laboratory to fulfill this requirement. If you have received Advanced Placement (AP) credit for general biology, you should enroll in two higher-level biology courses with laboratory. The Admissions Committee will note in judging the quality of your academic program that you have fulfilled the biology requirement at a level higher than the minimum requirement.

AP credit is accepted for General/Inorganic Chemistry. If higher-level chemistry is taken due to AP credit, it will be noted on quality of academic program.

In general, the Admissions Committee expects you to complete a full-year course in organic chemistry with laboratory. Some colleges offer a laboratory with each term of lecture; others offer a more extensive laboratory experience for only one of the two semesters (if on the semester system). Both systems are acceptable. Although the minimum credit requirement for organic chemistry is stated as six semester credits, most colleges teach this course for 8-10 semester credits. Two quarters of a three-quarter course will not satisfy this requirement.

This course, usually offered with laboratory for four semester credits, provides a general review of microbial cell types as well as the groups, cell structure and reproduction of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. Courses in cell or molecular biology do not usually cover the same topics as a course in general microbiology.

This course (which can also be offered under the title of physiological chemistry or biological chemistry) should be taken at the upper-division level with the prerequisite of organic chemistry. Major topics usually covered in a course in biochemistry are: proteins (amino acids and protein analysis), enzymes (kinetics, mechanism of action, and coenzymes), nucleic acids (nucleosides, nucleotides, and polynucleotides), carbohydrates, lipids, and metabolism (glycolysis, citric acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, urea cycle, etc.), and biosynthesis. A laboratory is not required with this lecture course. Most colleges teach a complete course in biochemistry in one semester. If you attend a college where biochemistry is offered as a full-year course, you should take the complete course, and your extra credits will be noted for the bonus for quality of academic program.

This should be a full-year course in college physics with laboratory, not necessarily requiring calculus as a prerequisite. The Admissions Committee will accept Advanced Placement credits in lieu of this requirement.