Mercer University offers five guaranteed admissions programs, in which a student will be guaranteed admission to Mercer's professional school in the specified field, should they fulfill the program eligibility requirements at the time of application. Summaries of each program's requirements are offered below. 

Guaranteed Admission Program for Medicine

Through a partnership with the College of Liberal Arts, the Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) offers a Guaranteed Acceptance Program (GAP) for their Doctor of Medicine degree. High school students must apply in the fall of their senior year in order to complete the admission process by February or March of their senior year. Incoming freshmen who have not gone through the application process before registering for freshman year are no longer eligible for this program.

Requirements for acceptance into this program include, but are not limited to:

1.   A score of at least 1300 (math, verbal) on the SAT or a score of at least 29 on the ACT, and a high school grade point average (GPA) of 3.7 or higher on a 4-point scale;

2.    Letters of recommendation (two letters of character reference, plus letters of recommendation from the student's high school science and mathematics teachers and from their high school guidance counselor); and

3.   A successful interview at the medical school.

Requirements for maintenance of GAP eligibility include, but are not limited to:

1.    Completion of all medical school admission requirements within the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) at Mercer University;

2.    Completion of all medical school pre-requisite courses by the time of admission to MUSM (consult the list of pre-requisites for admission to MUSM here;

3.    Eligibility to graduate with a bachelor's degree within four years of matriculation;

4.    Maintenance of undergraduate GPA's (both cumulative and BCPM) of 3.5 or higher (checked August 1^st following year 3);

5.    Achievement of a score of 28 or higher on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) in time to meet the Early Decision Program deadline (currently June), with a score in the biological sciences component of at least 8;

6.   Attendance of at least 80% of the program meetings;

7.   Completion and documentation of at least 100 hours of community service and/or shadowing experience during the first three years of undergraduate work;

9.    Application to the Early Decision program at MUSM (interview waived);

10.  Passage of a background check upon application to MUSM; and

11.  Possession of no institutional or legal actions against them.

For additional details, please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. 

Guaranteed Admission Program for Nursing

Mercer University offers a Guaranteed Admission Program for Pre-Nursing students for first-year students in the College of Liberal Arts who intend to apply to the nursing program at Mercer's Georgia Baptist College of Nursing. 

Requirements for GAP-Nursing eligibility include but are not limited to:

1.   Declaration of participation by November 15 of year 1;

2.   Completion of all pre-nursing coursework within the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) at Mercer University;

3.   Maintenance of GPA's (cumulative and math-science) of 3.0 or higher;

4.   Achievement of the minimum score on the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) by the time of application to the GBCN; and

5.   Application to the GBCN by January 15 of year 2.

Guaranteed Admission Plus Degree Program (GAPDP) for Pharmacy

Mercer University offers a Guaranteed Admission Plus Degree Program for Pre-Pharmacy for first-year students in the College of Liberal Arts who intend to apply to the pharmacy program at Mercer's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

** Students planning on participating in this program should take as much mathematics coursework as possible in high school.  To maintain program eligibility, students must enter college ready to take calculus or already have credit for calculus via AP, IB, or dual enrollment.  Students who must take algebra or pre-calculus during their first semester will lose GAPDP eligibility unless they take summer coursework at Mercer to catch up. 

Current Requirements for GAPDP eligibility include but are not limited to:

1.  Declare participation in the GAPD program by October 31st of year 1.

2.  Complete the required courses in residence at the College of Liberal Arts (see the list in the Student Handbook for the Pre-Pharmacy Tracks - see link above).  CLA coursework must total 90 credit hr and be completed by May of year 3. No transfer hours allowed.

3.  Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and a math-science GPA of 3.0 or higher. (First GPA check is August 1st following completion of year 2.)

4.  Attend Macon campus visits by representatives from the PharmD program at the COPHS.

5.  Obtain 250 hours of documented pharmacy experience by August 1 following year 2.

6.  Apply to COPHS no later than August 1 following completion of year 2. (Note that this requires a primary application through PharmCAS and a secondary application sent directly to the COPHS; letters of recommendation and a PCAT score must be included with the application.)

7.  Earn a PCAT score of 60th percentile composite or greater and submit it to PharmCAS by mid-March of year 3 (if minimum score was not earned by application).

8.  Complete a successful interview with representatives of the COPHS PharmD program.

9.  Apply for May graduation from the CLA during the fall of year 4 to claim the B.S. in Health Sciences.

Guaranteed Admission Plus Degree Program (GAPDP) for Physician Assistant

Mercer University offers a Guaranteed Admission Plus Degree Program for Pre-Physician Assistant for first-year students in the College of Liberal Arts who intend to apply to the Master of Medical Sciences program at Mercer's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

** Students planning on participating in this program should take as much mathematics coursework as possible in high school.  To maintain program eligibility, students must enter college ready to take calculus or already have credit for calculus via AP, IB, or dual enrollment.  Students who must take algebra or pre-calculus during their first semester will lose GAPDP eligibility unless they take summer coursework at Mercer to catch up.  

Current* Requirements for GAPDP -PA Eligibility include but are not limited to:

1. Declare participation in the GAPD program by October 31st of year 1.

2. Complete the required courses in residence at the College of Liberal Arts (see the list in the Student Handbook for the Pre-PA Tracks - see link above).  CLA coursework must total 90 credit hr and be completed by May of year 3. No transfer hours allowed.

3. Maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and a math-science GPA of 3.0 or higher. (First GPA check is August 1st following completion of year 2.)

4. Attend Macon campus visits by representatives from the MMSc program at the COPHS.

5. Obtain 500 hours of documented direct patient care experience by January 1 of year 3 and 500 more hours (to total 1,000 hr) by the time of enrollment (January of year 4). See the COPHS Web site for a list of acceptable experiences).

6. Apply to COPHS no later than January 1 of year 3. (Note that this requires a primary application through CASPA and a secondary application sent directly to the COPHS; letters of recommendation and a GRE score must be included with the application.)

7. Earn a combined Verbal and Quantitative GRE score of 300 or higher (with a minimum Verbal score of 143, a minimum Quantitative score of 141, and a minimum Analytical Writing score of 3.0) and submit it to CASPA by mid-March of year 3 (if minimum score was not earned by application). 

8. Complete a successful interview with representatives of the COPHS MMSc program.

9. Apply for graduation from the CLA during the fall of year 4 to claim the B.S. in Health Sciences. 

* This program is currently under review.  Watch this site for information about the 2013-14 program reuierments and guidelines coming in late spring/ early summer.