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36 Ultimate Medical School Admission Statistics and Facts

All over the United States and the world, people spend years studying towards becoming physicians and surgeons. And that is difficult enough. But first, they have to get into medical school. What the following medical school admission statistics will tell you is that this is not easy.

First, you have to get a high enough GPA during your undergraduate studies and get a high enough score on your MCATS, and then you have to hope you impress the university of your choice in the interview (if you are even granted one). 

The thing is that it’s important that only the best of the best get into medical school as these people will go on to deal with life or death situations. They need to be great under pressure, be highly skilled, be able to handle stress, and have the focus to do things that will hopefully save a person’s life. 

The Top 10 Med School Stats

  • Harvard University has the best medical school for research in the United States. 
  • The University of Arizona in Tucson has the lowest acceptance rate of all medical schools in the United States, at only 1.9%. 
  • The two most important things that medical schools look at when considering an admission are the average GPA and average MCAT score of the student who is applying.
  • In 2019, there were 6,815 applicants to Harvard University, and 227 were admitted. 
  • According to med school admissions stats, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine had 7,856 applicants for the class of 2023. 
  • The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has 12,081 applications for their medical school. 
  • Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons reported that they had 7,537 applications for the class of 2022. 
  • There were 7,619 applicants to the Baylor College of Medicine, and 839 were invited for an interview.
  • Johns Hopkins is second in the ratings of the best medical schools in research and has an admissions rate of 5%.
  • The Mayo Clinic Medical School has an admissions rate of only 2%. 

General Medical School Statistics


These are a collection of statistics that relate to admissions to medical schools. Here, you will find out about the top medical schools in the United States, what they expect from prospective students, and more. 

1. Harvard University has the best medical school in the United States for research. 

(US News)

Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University take up second and third places. The rest of the top ten, in order, are the University of Pennsylvania (Perelman), University of California (San Francisco), Columbia University, University of California (Los Angeles), Washington University in St. Louis, Cornell University (Weill), and Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (Alix). This is all according to the medical school admission statistics and information.  

2. The University of Arizona in Tucson has the lowest acceptance rate of all medical schools in the United States at only 1.9%. 

(Accepted)

The University of Arizona in Tucson is rated 65 in the 2020 USN ranking for research and 62 in the 2020 USN ranking for primary. Following the University of Arizona is a tie between the University of California in Los Angeles (Geffen) and the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (Alix) at 2.1%. 

3. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, according to medical school acceptance statistics, has the highest rate of acceptance of all medical schools in the United States, at 15.6%. 

(Accepted)

Following that is Texas A&M Health Science Center at 13.6%, the Medical University of South Carolina at 13.1%, and East Carolina University (Brody) at 12.8%. 

4. The two most important things that medical schools look at when considering an admission are the average GPA and average MCAT scores of the student who is applying. 

(MedEdits)

The med school statistics show that they will also look at the medical school personal statement, secondary essays, AMCAS work and activities, and also any letters of recommendation that the student might have.

5. New York University (Langone), Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale University look at the top MCAT scores with a median of 521. 

(MedEdits)

Following that is Columbia University, Northwestern University (Feinberg), University of Chicago (Pritzker), University of Pennsylvania (Perelman), and Vanderbilt University, all with median MCAT scores of 520. 

Med School Admission Stats According to School


This grouping of information will go through some of the admissions stats and the requirements of some of the top medical schools in the United States. This is all the latest information that we currently have available.  

6. In 2019, there were 6,815 applicants to Harvard University, and 227 were admitted. 

(Harvard Medical School)

That’s an acceptance rate of 3.3%. There were 165 MD students entering the program in that year, and of those, 72 were men, and 92 were women. Furthermore, the Harvard medical school admissions statistics tell us that there were also 39 people who fall under the category of “underrepresented in medicine,” which includes people who are African American, Hispanic, Native American, and Mexican American. 

7. Stanford University School of Medicine receives an estimated amount of 7000 applications each year and only has around 500 full-time students. 

(Kaplan)

Their acceptance rate is around 2.5%, which is one of the lower acceptance rates of the universities. If you’re looking into applying for Stanford University, the tuition is around $58,197 per year. This is all listed as part of Stanford medical school admission statistics

8. The University of South Florida’s (USF) Morsani College of Medicine received 8,974 applications and sent out 1,006 acceptance letters.

(Peterson’s)

That’s an acceptance rate of 11%, which is relatively high. At the end of the day, only 567 students enrolled at Morsani College of Medicine. If you look at the demographics of their student body, it’s 45% male and 54% female. 

9. The highly regarded Yale medical school has an admission rate of 5%. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

The Yale medical school admissions statistics show that 4,968 hopeful medical students applied for a position, 687 were interviewed for a position, and 269 were admitted to the prestigious program. The average GPA they look at is 3.39, and they look at MCAT scores of around 521. 

10. There were 5,632 applications from hopeful students to Vanderbilt Medical School. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

302 students were accepted after 546 people were interviewed. They have an acceptance rate of 5%, according to the Vanderbilt medical school admissions statistics, the prestigious medical school looks at GPAs of around 3.9 and MCAT scores of around 519. 

11. The UCSF School of Medicine had 7,856 applicants for the class of 2023. 

(Kaplan)

Of those, only 468 made it to the interview phase, and in the end, 155 students were enrolled at the university to study medicine. The rate of enrollment was around 1.98%. 

12. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has 12,081 applications for their medical school. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

They interviewed a total of 936 potential medical students, and, if you look at UCLA medical school admissions statistics, they accepted 324 students. That’s an acceptance rate of 2%, which is relatively low, but understandable given the number of applications that they received. 

13. There were 3,035 applications to George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. 

(Peterson’s)

490 were accepted to the university, and 307 enrolled. That makes an acceptance rate of 16%. 

14. Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine received 10,883 applications for the class of 2021 (entering 2017). 

(Temple University)

Temple medical school admissions statistics say that the university interviewed 811 people and accepted 437 students to their program. Women made up 53% of the class, and 22% were categorized as people “underrepresented in medicine.”  

15. Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons reported that they had 7,537 applications for the class of 2022. 

(Columbia)

Of those 7,537, they invited 1,007 for interviews and made 258 offers of admission. At the end of the day, they had 140 new medical school students, according to the Columbia medical school admissions statistics.  

16. There were 7,619 applicants to the Baylor College of Medicine, and 839 were invited for an interview.

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

Of those 839 potential medical students, 308 were accepted. That is an acceptance rate of 4%. The average GPA they looked at was 3.92, and the average MCAT scores were 518. 

17. Emory University School of Medicine had an admission rate of 4%. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

6,946 potential medical students applied to the university, and, after 669 interviews, 310 received acceptance letters, which shows when you look at the Emory medical school admissions statistics. The average GPA they looked at was 3.70, and the average median MCAT score they looked at was 513. 

18. The McGovern Medical School received 5,501 applications from potential medical students. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

They invited 931 for interviews, and only 481 received acceptance letters from the university. Their admissions rate is 9%, which is quite high, given the rates of other schools. 

19. The acceptance rate of the Duke University School of Medicine is 3.2%, which is relatively low. 

(Kaplan)

In the class of 2019 matriculants, according to the Duke medical school admissions statistics, there were 129 students. Of these 129 students, 49.5% of them were minorities, while 54.7% were women. They had students from 29 states attend the medical school from 60 different undergraduate institutions.  

20. University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine had a total of nearly 7,000 applications from hopeful medical school students. 

(UNC Health)

190 students were chosen from this pool of candidates, and that makes the admission rate around 3%, which you will find aligns with the other UNC medical school admissions statistics.

21. The UC San Diego Medical School had 7,990 applications from prospective students and interviewed 743. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

Of those 743 people, 240 were accepted. This means that their overall admissions rate is 3%. The average GPA they looked at was 3.82, and the average median MCAT score was 517. 

22. The University of Michigan Medical School has an admission rate of 4%. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

They had 7,533 applicants and invited 445 of those applicants to an interview. According to the University of Michigan Medical School admission statistics, of the 445 interviewees, only 356 were chosen to be students at the university.  

23. The Tufts University School of Medicine accepted 539 medical students out of the 926 candidates that they interviewed. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

In total, there were 9,775 applicants to the medical program. This means that their admissions rate is around 5%. They looked at GPAs of around 3.65 and MCAT scores of around 512.

24. Johns Hopkins is second in the ratings of the best medical schools in research and has an admissions rate of 5%. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions) 

According to the Johns Hopkins medical school admissions statistics, 4,820 applied to the prestigious medical school, and 676 were interviewed. Out of all the candidates, 254 were chosen and sent acceptance letters. The average GPA they looked at was 3.93, and the average median MCAT score was 519. 

25. Howard University College of Medicine has an admission rate of 5%. 

(Peterson’s)

Out of the 5,319 potential students who applied, 249 were accepted to the university. 

26. Dartmouth Medical School has an admission rate of 4%. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

The Dartmouth medical school admissions statistics state that they had a total of 6,495 applications. Of those applications, they invited 707 for interviews and sent letters of acceptance to 278. They looked at an average GPA of 3.87 and a median MCAT score of 515. 

27. The State University of New York (SUNY) has a 14% admissions rate. 

(SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University)

The university doesn’t release any further information about how many students they accept or what the GPA and MCAT score requirements are for admissions. All we do know is that, according to the SUNY downstate medical school admissions statistics, for every 100 applicants there are 14 who are admitted to the medical program, which is a relatively high acceptance rate. 

28. NYU Medical School has an admission rate of 1.3%. 

(Shemmassian Academic Consulting)

This may be because the school is tuition-free, which means that the education doesn’t cost the students anything, so many people are applying. In the 2018–2019 cycle, there were 8,932 applications and only 120 positions available. 

29. Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine has an admissions rate of 5%, according to medical school admission statistics

(Peterson’s)

2,278 applied to the university, 117 received letters of acceptance, and 97 people enrolled as medical students in the institution. 

30. The Mayo Clinic Medical School has an admissions rate of only 2%. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

9,027 prosperous students applied. Of those, 825 were interviewed, and 187 were sent letters of acceptance. They looked at GPAs of around 3.91 and MCAT scores of around 520. 

31. The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has an enrollment rate of around 1.7%. 

(Kaplan) 

For the class of 2023, the University of Miami Medical School admission statistics say they had a total of 9,164 applications. They interviewed around 463 candidates and, in the end, 154 students enrolled in their medical program. 

32. The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Medical School has an admissions rate of 4%. 

(Cracking Med School Admissions)

8,138 prospective students applied, 577 were granted an interview, and 368 were accepted to the university’s medical program. The average GPAs they were looking at were 3.77, and the MCAT scores were around 512. 

33. Cornell University’s Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College has an acceptance rate of 5%. 

(The Princeton Review)

Their total enrollment of medical students, according to Cornell Medical School admissions statistics, was 405, and they looked at an undergraduate GPA of around 3.72. 

34. The acceptance rate of the University of Minnesota Medical School is 9%, which is reasonably high. 

(The Princeton Review)

They had a total medical school enrollment of 910 students, and the average GPA that they looked at was 3.71. 

35. Oregon Health & Science University’s School of Medicine has an acceptance rate of 3%. 

(The Princeton Review)

The total medical school enrollment is 578. The average GPAs they looked at were 3.65, as well as MCAT scores of around 509, which you can tell from the OHSU Medical School admissions statistics

36. The Florida State University College of Medicine has an acceptance rate of 8%. 

(The Princeton Review) 

There are 475 students enrolled in medical school. They looked at an average undergraduate GPA of around 3.70. 


Final Words

Medical school is incredibly difficult and requires focus, hard work, and vigilance. That is why you’ll find that it’s so hard to get into some of these university programs. The above medical school admission statistics should have given you an idea of what these institutions expect of potential students. The healthcare industry isn’t an easy one to thrive in, and every registered nurse, doctor, and healthcare professional knows that. However, you will likely find that they study and work so hard to be in the industry because they love their jobs.

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