Freshmen Offered Assured Admission to Grad Health Programs

East Carolina University officials today (Sept. 3) announced a new plan to offer a select number of incoming freshmen assured admission to graduate programs in medicine, physical therapy and occupational therapy.

The new program will assure students who are selected – if they maintain an appropriate level of performance as ECU undergraduates – admission to medical school or the therapy programs. The students will be exempt from usual requirements that they take standardized tests such as the Graduate Record Exam or the Medical College Admissions Test.

Dr. Thomas Powell, director of admissions, said these are the first such programs at a public university in North Carolina. They are designed to make ECU even more attractive to outstanding high school students who want to pursue a health-care profession, he said.

“These programs will be advantageous for both students and the university,” Powell said. “The students will be freed from the pressures of seeking admission to graduate programs, and the university will gain more truly top-notch students. We are looking forward to accepting the first participants in the fall of 2000.”

Up to four students a year will be offered places in the medical school program; five students per year will be accepted into the occupational therapy program; and four per year into the physical therapy program.

Admission to the programs will be based on traditional factors such as high school grades, essays, extracurricular activities, teacher recommendations and standardized test scores, Powell said. In addition, he said, finalists will be interviewed by the admissions committees of the respective graduate programs. The School of Medicine accepts a total of 72 entering students each year. Occupational therapy has 36 slots in its incoming class and physical therapy has 48.