How High School Students Can Start A LECOM Medical Path

Medical school can feel like a maze when you’re still in high school. The deadlines are unclear, the costs sound intimidating, and it’s hard to know what matters most: grades, tests, interviews, or picking the “right” college. We wanted to strip all of that down to a simple plan, so I’m joined by Dustin Cassell, Director of Pre-Professional Program Admissions at LECOM, to explain a practical early acceptance pathway that families can act on right away. 

We talk through the LECOM Early Acceptance Program step by step, including when students can apply (as soon as they finish junior year of high school), what happens after you submit the online application, and what to expect from the information session and interview. We also dig into the real-world mechanics of the pipeline: selecting an affiliate college or university, tracking required coursework and GPA milestones, and why this structured matrix helps students move forward with less guesswork. 

If you’re worried about affordability or standardized tests, you’ll want to hear the details: it’s free to apply, free to participate, and students in this pathway do not need to take the MCAT to gain entry into LECOM. For Missouri students, we highlight the opportunity to come back home for clinical rotations at Mercy Jefferson Hospital, with the broader goal of building a path toward residency and practice in Missouri communities, including rural areas. 

Subscribe for more clear guidance, share this with a student or parent who needs a plan, and leave a review to help others find the show. What part of the medical school path feels most confusing right now?

Transcript

Meet LECOM Early Entry Admissions

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I'm joined by Dustin Castle, who is the director of pre-professional program admissions at Leecom. And the process we're going to share with you as parents and kids is a lot simpler than that title. Because if your child has an interest in the medical field, they're a sophomore junior, senior in high school, the simplest thing to do is to contact you.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Yes, that's right. And they can contact us. There'll be a QR code on the video, or you can also email us at eap at lecom.edu, and we can set up a meeting with uh uh interested students, parents, so on and so forth.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

And really the reason I bring this up, because I think that's so critical if um parents are not quite sure of the process, the school isn't quite sure of the process. The simplest thing you can do for your child is to at minimum contact LECOM and talk about their early entry program. And early entry means after your junior year, you could apply. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Yes, that's correct. So students can apply as soon as they complete their junior year of high school up until they complete their junior year of college. Obviously, applying uh in high school is the best route to go.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Right. And the rates aren't only reasonable, they're one of the most affordable in the entire country. And plus, you could also kind of talk about that path if you would, at if you get into early entry in high school, kind of check out some of our other videos about the matrix that's involved. It's a really intricate process, but very intelligent process. Once you graduate high school, what could that path look like for a student who graduates from, say, southeast Missouri?

How The Application And Interview Work

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Yeah, yeah. So that's a great question. So the first thing is it's it's free to apply to the program. It's free to participate in the program. And the application process is very simple. They'll go to our website, leecom.edu, they'll fill out an application, we'll invite them to an information session, we'll cover the program in depth. Uh it lasts about an hour, hour and a half. After that, we invite the student to interview. Interview goes well. We invite the student to join the program, and at that point, they have to find an affiliate college or university to attend. And we work with over 200 colleges and universities across the U.S. Here in Missouri, we work with uh Jefferson College, St. Louis University, uh Missouri Baptist University, Maryville University, um, Southeast Missouri University, and then also Avilla University and Rockhurst over in uh Kansas City. So there's a lot of local places that students can attend. So what they'll do is they'll compete the undergraduate portion at the affiliate school. And then in a couple years, once they're done, they'll come to LECOM to finish the graduate degree.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

And while they're at the four-year university, there's a certain sort, I guess a certain degree they have to attain, a certain GPA, sort of that matrix keeps moving forward. And then that's how kind of the MCATs, they don't have to take the MCATS to get into LECOM. So they go to LECOM for a couple years, and then that's where Mercy comes in, I think, is what's exciting. So if you're from Missouri and you want to get back to Missouri, get back to your rural area, that's now expanded into Festus and Cape Girardeau, kind of kind of review that.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Yeah, yeah. So so students, uh, once they finish the undergraduate portion, um depending on the program, they may need a degree, they may not need a degree to get into the whichever medical, dental, pharmacy, or podiatry school they're going into. Um, but what they'll do is they'll come to LECOM for two years for the academic portion, and then they'll come back here to Missouri at uh Mercy Jefferson Hospital to do the clinical rotations for the next two years. And after that, uh they'll find a place, hopefully locally, to do their residency.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

So and Leecom isn't just one campus. There's like five campuses across the country, is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Yes, that's correct. So the main campus is in the Erie, Pennsylvania. We have a campus up in New York and O'Marr, one down in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Brayton, Florida, and then also our newest one opening next year, Jacksonville, Florida.

Cost Concerns And Clear Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Okay. I think the simplest takeaway from this, if your child is interested or you're a student yourself that's interested in the medical field, but maybe doesn't have uh some of the knowledge or some the confidence or the worry about expense, you you need to contact LeeCom. That's the simplest way we can make it. We have information as part of this podcast, we will have sheets we'll hand to your counselors as well. Quick QR code, quick email. You know, open those paths for yourself. Thanks for joining me on this.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Yes, thanks for having me. Thank you.