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DirectConnect Students

Pre-Health “DirectConnect” Transfer students include students at the following Central Florida state colleges:

  • Valencia College
  • Seminole State College
  • Eastern Florida State College
  • Lake-Sumter State College
  • Daytona State College
  • College of Central Florida

Services we provide for Pre-Health “DirectConnect” Students

If you are a “DirectConnect to UCF” student at one of these state colleges, you can take advantage of our following services while still a student at your state college:

Our PHPL Advisors can advise you in person if you can come to our office on the UCF campus or virtually via a Zoom or phone appointment. Please contact our office via phone (407-823-0101) or email (phpladvising@ucf.edu) to schedule an advising appointment. We are open Monday – Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm, and we are located in Trevor Colbourn Hall 133 (see campus map).

Finally, a few short words of advice for our current and future Pre-Health Transfer Students:

  • Meet with a PHPL Advisor early on to discuss your current progress and make a plan for moving forward along your Pre-Health journey
  • Keep your grades/GPA high!
  • Select a major you will enjoy and do well in (remember, you can be ANY major!)
  • Get involved in meaningful extracurricular activities even before transferring to UCF (ex. volunteering, community service, shadowing, leadership, etc.).

Common Advisement and Recommendations we provide to UCF Pre-Health Transfer Students

Q: Can Pre-Health Transfer Students take science courses at community/state colleges?

A: YES!* But be strategic!

If a Pre-Health student takes science courses while at a community/state college, after transferring to a four-year university like UCF, they must:

  • Continue to earn very good grades in science courses at the four-year university (i.e., don’t let grades dip after transferring)
  • Get a high score on their health professional school admissions test (ex. MCAT or DAT )
  • Stay at the four-year university for courses after transferring (i.e., don’t be transient to take courses back at a community/state college – esp. not to take more science courses)

Grades must be very strong at the community/state college and continue to be very strong at the four-year university to be a competitive applicant for health professional schools.

For more information, see the Pre-Health Students Transferring to UCF with an A.A. Degree from a Community/State College: Health Professional School Course Recommendations document created by PHPL Advising & Other UCF Stakeholders.

WATCH VIDEO – Pre-Health Transfer Student Panel

State Colleges – Pre-Health Advisor/Faculty Scholarly Publications or Presentations on Pre-Health Transfer Students by PHPL Advising Staff

  • Finley, K., & Myszkowski, E. (2022, June). Building relationships: Pre-health advisors at four-year universities and community colleges. Presentation at the biennial conference of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP), Denver, Colorado.
  • Finley, K., & Myszkowski, E. (2019, May). Building relationships: Pre-health advisors at four-year universities and community colleges. Presentation at the biennial conference of the Southern Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (SAAHP), Memphis, Tennessee.
  • Myszkowski, E. (2014, June). Advising pre-health students who complete prerequisite courses at community colleges. Presentation at bi-annual meeting of National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions. (NAAHP). San Francisco, California.
  • Myszkowski, E. (2014, June). Advising pre-health students who complete prerequisite courses at community colleges. Presentation to Community College Focus Group during the bi-annual meeting of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP). San Francisco, California.
  • Myszkowski, E. (2013, April). Medical school prerequisite courses completed at two-year colleges by medical school matriculants: An analysis at the University of Central Florida. Presentation at bi-annual meeting of Southern Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (SAAHP), Louisville, Kentucky.
  • Myszkowski, E., & Cintrón, R. (2013). Medical school prerequisite courses completed at two-year colleges by medical school matriculants: An analysis at the University of Central FloridaThe Advisor, 33(1), 28-33.
  • Myszkowski, E. (2013, February). Medical school prerequisite courses completed at community/state colleges by medical school matriculants: An analysis at the University of Central Florida. Presentation at annual meeting of Florida Pre-Health Advisors, Gainesville, Florida.
  • Medical School Prerequisite Courses Completed At Two-year Colleges By Medical School Matriculants: An Analysis At The University Of Central Florida – Dissertation by Erin Myszkowski, Director of PHPL Advising, University of Central Florida, Fall 2012

*Note: A small number of health professional schools may require that all courses be completed at a four-year university.