A Proven Track Record

As a prospective student or parent, you're probably comparing the success rates of different schools and programs. We'd like to take some time to familiarize you with the various ways success data is reported.

For example, some schools report the admission rates only for those students who are admitted into their pre-med programs. By counting only those students most likely to be admitted into medical school (and are therefore admitted into the pre-med program), artificially high acceptance rates can be generated. Because a particular institution is able to see the AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) admissions data only for its own students, it is impossible to know what methodology schools are using except by their own disclosure.

Our data for the past year is based on the information provided by AMCAS and includes all Honors College students who applied to one or more medical schools, including students who applied to graduate school, or other professional schools, or entered the workforce in addition to their medical school application.

• In Fall 2016, 72.6 percent of those Honors students who applied to at least one medical school were accepted at one or more medical schools. The schools included all three medical schools in the state (USC-Columbia, USC-Greenville, MUSC), as well as Vanderbilt, Drexel, UNC-Chapel Hill, West Virginia, East Carolina, Louisville, Baylor, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, and Mercer.
• The average MCAT score of all South Carolina Honors College students applying was 508. The current average GPA of all SCHC students is 3.81. Our highest medical school admissions rate for a particular year over the past decade, based on our internal data, has been 84 percent.

Why Our Students Succeed

We can't deny it ... it helps that we start with top tier students; our incoming students have SAT/ACT scores that are competitiive with Ivy League schools. But in the Honors College, those students receive personal attention and access to small classes — taught by research-active faculty — that they wouldn't find elsewhere.

Our students have other advantages over the competition, because we not only encourage, but require, learning beyond the classroom, giving our students an edge when it comes to experience and diversity of knowledge. Nearly 70 percent of our students study abroad, while many participate in service learning, student research or internships.

Those advantages, combined with a strong advising program, give our students a great chance for success.

What Classes Will I Take? 

Your advisor will help you choose a course of study that suits your goals. If you wish to attend a particular medical, dental or veterinary school, please check their specific requirements which can usually be found on their webpage. In general, you need a year of college-level biology with labs, a year of introductory chemistry, a year of organic chemistry and a year of physics. You'll meet with your advisor regularly to ensure you're on the right track.

Honors Programs

The South Carolina Honors College has two different pre-med/medical school programs available for Honors students.