11. Stanford University

Stanford, CA
Acceptance rate: 4%
Avg ACT score: 34-35
Avg SAT score: 1510-1580
Application deadline: Jan 5rd
Application fee: $90
Tuition: $65,127
Acceptance Rate for Undergrads/Alumni Applying to Medical School: Not Published
The Stanford Pre-Medical Association ensures that pre-med students have the resources and opportunities they need for success. Pre-med advisors are available to help you plan coursework, discuss options, set goals, and find internships.
12. University of Washington

Seattle, WA
Acceptance rate: 43%
Avg ACT score: 30-34
Avg SAT score: 1260-1510
Application deadline: Nov 15th
Application fee: $80
Tuition: $12,973 in-state, $43,209 out-of-state
Acceptance Rate for Undergrads/Alumni Applying to Medical School: Not published
UW is one of the best state universities for pre-medical education. Career coaches are available to help students navigate course selection, shadowing, and research opportunities.
Premed students at UW collaborate with UW Medicine and have ample research and volunteer opportunities.
13. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL
Acceptance rate: 7%
Avg ACT score: 33-35
Avg SAT score: 1490-1580
Application deadline: Jan 1nd
Application fee: $75
Tuition: $67,158
Acceptance Rate for Undergrads/Alumni Applying to Medical School: Not Published
Northwestern’s Health Professions Advising Office provides many resources for pre-med students of multiple disciplines. Not only will they help students with coursework and extracurriculars, but they also host workshops and events.
Northwestern also boasts an impressive medical school to boot.
14. University of Chicago

Chicago, IL
Acceptance rate: 5%
Avg ACT score: 34-35
Avg SAT score: 1510-1570
Application deadline: Jan 6rd
Application fee: $75
Tuition: $67,446
Acceptance Rate for Undergrads/Alumni Applying to Medical School: 75.2%
The University of Chicago offers unique cohort-based programs for students to explore career options and gain first-hand experience early on in their education. Programs vary from 5 weeks to a full year and are available independently or in addition to typical coursework.
15. University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN
Acceptance rate: 12%
Avg ACT score: 33-35
Avg SAT score: 1440-1540
Application deadline: Jan 3rd
Application fee: $75
Tuition: 65,025
Acceptance Rate for Undergrads/Alumni Applying to Medical School: 84%
Notre Dame offers the unique Arts and Letters pre-health supplementary major. Students are encouraged to study arts and humanities in conjunction with the typical pre-med science courses.
This is a refreshing approach to the pre-med tracks often geared towards math and science-heavy majors like biology or engineering.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Pre-Med Program
We’ve listed some top-notch schools for pre-med studies, but know that plenty of other great pre-med programs are available. At the end of the day, choose the institution that works best for you. Here are the primary factors to consider when choosing your pre-med program:
- Faculty-to-student ratio: When you need letters of recommendation to get into medical school, a low faculty-student ratio helps you. If class sizes exceed 80-100, you may end up with generic, fill-in-the-blank letters from professors who hardly know you.
- Financial aid: Almost 84% of undergrad students get financial aid — be it federal, state, or institutional. If you need assistance, see if the school offers it. For instance, Yale is dedicated to covering 100% of a student’s “Demonstrated Financial Need” without loans.
- Student body satisfaction: Check college review pages. With minimal effort, you can see how happy previous students were with their experience. Lots of bad reviews should send up a red flag.
- Study abroad opportunities: Studying abroad and global internships, such as Global Medical Brigades, are great ways to gain experience, improve your application, and become a better future physician. Look for these opportunities in pre-med programs.
- MCAT preparation: Every pre-med knows the MCAT is a vital part of the medical school application process. Some schools can help students by having MCAT preparation partnerships. (Check out our free MCAT study schedule here.)
- Extracurriculars, especially research and clinical opportunities: Just like the right high school extracurricular activity looks great on a college application, you want great pre-med extracurricular activities on your med school application. These might include research opportunities, shadowing health professionals, or internships in the health science field.
About Medical School Acceptance Rates
Should you look at published acceptance rates? It doesn’t hurt to look at published acceptance rates into medical school, but they can be misleading. You want a school that promises its pre-med track will usher you into medical school, but you should not enroll in an undergraduate program based on its self-reported success rate alone.
Many schools publish their students’ acceptance rates but don’t paint a full picture with these numbers. There may be students who weren’t supported through the medical school admissions process because of their grades or MCAT scores, and the school won’t count these students in their numbers.
Bottom line: You want to ensure you know the whole story. Look up news articles, alumni reviews, and subreddits dedicated to the school.
Pre-Med Courses
You can be a pre-med from any undergraduate school in the country. While the term “pre-med” gives you a clear idea of where you want to end up, there’s plenty of wiggle room with your undergrad coursework. Pre-med is not a major, but rather a set of prerequisite courses for med school.
Undergraduate students can choose any major if they meet pre-med requirements and maintain an exemplary GPA. That said, some schools, like the ones above, have well-defined paths for pre-professionals, particularly pre-med students.
What is the best pre-med major? The best pre-med major is the one you’re passionate about. While many pre-med students opt for medicine-adjacent majors — biology, chemistry, neuroscience — you can be a pre-med liberal arts major if you desire, as long as you take the necessary prerequisites.
Required courses vary by medical school, but these pre-medicine courses are a good starting point:
- Biology with lab
- Chemistry with lab
- Organic chemistry with lab
- Physics with lab
- Biochemistry
- Calculus
- Statistics
- College English
- Behavioral science (psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.)
This is a standard set of requirements. Your pre-med advisor will help you plan your courses and offer mentorship to fit your unique needs. The good news is, provided the school has a strong biological science department, you can take the courses you need just about anywhere.
Get Help From the Experts
You need to get into a good pre-med college to improve your chances of getting into the medical school of your dreams. Don’t leave anything to chance. Get help from people who have done it before and who’ve helped hundreds more achieve the same and more.
Our college admissions experts can curate your school list and optimize your application to boost your odds of earning a white coat down the road.