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Admissions committees (AdComs) evaluate your medical school application holistically. That is, they don’t just look at your GPA and MCAT scores — although those are critical to a competitive application. AdComs also consider your essays, extracurriculars, and interview performance.
Together, these factors create a way for AdComs to understand your academic achievements and also complete an in-depth review of your lived experiences, the impact you have made on your community, and the way you exemplify the pre-med core competencies outlined by the AAMC.
The whole application review process can take multiple months. Between verification of your primary application, pre-screening for secondaries, secondary essay evaluations, and interviews, the overall application timeline can sometimes extend to 9-10 months.
Med schools look over applications as they come in, although basic pre-screening generally assesses primary applications. Students with acceptable GPA and MCAT scores are typically sent secondary essay prompts, while those with lower-than-desired scores (which differs by school) are eliminated.
Finally, AdComs will review primary and secondary applications to determine the most promising students and schedule interviews.
Many medical programs accept students on a rolling basis — in other words, if you’ve interviewed there, you might be accepted within a few weeks after your interview. Others, mostly a select number of top-tier institutions, do not use a rolling admissions process and instead send acceptance letters after completing all interviews first.
Admissions officers are all different, but this article will explore the process of how they typically review and evaluate med school applications, as well as how you can stand out this application cycle.
Find out your odds of getting into your preferred medical program. Then you can strategically craft your school list and apply efficiently.
Pre-Screening And Secondaries
Some schools manually pre-screen applications before sending out secondary applications. Most send out secondaries to everyone who submits a primary application and qualifies for the program with at least acceptable metrics.
In the past, being asked to submit a secondary application was a sign that an admissions committee was seriously considering you. However, with the ease of computer pre-screening, it’s no longer as promising of a sign; it typically means that you meet the most baseline of all requirements.
Because it costs money to submit each secondary, you should carefully consider where to invest if you’re on a limited budget. If you’re unable to cover the costs of the application process in general (which can easily reach thousands of dollars), you may want to consider applying for AAMC’s fee assistance program (for MD school applications) or the AACOMAS application fee waiver (for DO school applications).
Although the waivers don’t cover secondary application fees, most schools will extend a fee waiver for your secondary if you already qualified for a primary fee assistance program.
One helpful thing to consider is the school’s out-of-state acceptance rate percentage. Schools that accept mostly in-state applicants may not be worth the additional fees and time investment for most students who reside out-of-state (except for the most stand-out candidates).
GPA (BCPM)
GPA is not all that matters. That said, it is one of the first things an admissions officer will know about you. A 3.5 GPA is considered okay, and a 3.8 or above is considered competitive for an MD program. DO programs tend to admit students with lower average GPAs than MD schools. And if you’re going for the Ivy League, you’re less likely to be considered with a GPA lower than 3.8.
Important: While these GPA standards are considered ‘typical,’ a holistic approach to application review has become far more common in recent years. In these cases, some applicants with lower-than-average scores (including GPA) who bring diversity or unique experiences may be considered, such as a nontraditional applicant who has served in the military for many years.
In the room where it happens, AdComs typically read the applicant’s name and undergraduate institution first, then their GPA, BCPM GPA, and MCAT scores before anything else. Even if it’s not all that counts, your grades impact your first impression.
What is the 32-hour rule in medical school? A handful of schools officially use the 32-hour rule, meaning they prioritize your GPA from your most recent 32 credit hours, and a few more schools may unofficially use it.
This “rule” is meant to reward students who have improved their grades and work ethic, and to allow students the opportunity to show growth and adaptation to college after adjusting to the transition from high school. However, despite some online claims, not many AdComs actually use the 32-hour rule — though an upward trend is always viewed positively.
All medical schools value BCPM GPA separately from overall GPA. (Reminder: BCPM stands for “Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math,” which includes the most important classes for a pre-med major.) Calculate your BCPM grade point average when determining how competitive you are as a candidate.
If you need to boost your GPA, consider a post-baccalaureate program before applying to med schools. Enrolling in a post-bacc can raise your GPA and indicate to an admissions committee that you’re willing to put in extra hard work to achieve your career goals.
MCAT Score
Similar to GPA, your MCAT scores aren’t everything — but they are a huge part of your AACOMAS or AMCAS application’s merit and first impression to an admissions committee.
The average MCAT score for acceptance to an MD program is close to 512, while DO programs accept a lower average MCAT score: around 506 on average. Below 500, you almost certainly can’t make it into med school. Above a 513, you are competitive at most schools. Above 520, you’re competitive at Ivy League schools.
A note on MCAT retakes: AdComs can see every MCAT score you’ve gotten, even in previous admissions cycles (since 2003). Some admissions officers value the most recent score above the others, while others favor the highest MCAT score you’ve received.
Spending additional months on further study and preparation before a retake is important. Flat or decreasing MCAT scores can be looked at negatively, but a significant improvement (generally of at least 6 or more points) will likely work in your favor.
Best MCAT Resources:
- Your Guide to Everything MCAT
- Most Helpful MCAT Practice Exams
- Should You Retake the MCAT?
- One-On-One MCAT Tutoring
Personal Statement
Your personal statement plays a huge part in how AdComs evaluate your med school application and determine whether to offer you a medical school interview invitation.
How each school handles personal statement reading, summary, and distribution among committee members varies significantly. Some committees split these up, offering each individual admissions officer the opportunity to read and summarize entire personal statements for the rest of the group.
Other committees may require each member to read the complete statements of each applicant who received a secondary application during the holistic application review process.
AdComs are looking for personal statements demonstrating a compelling backstory to show why you are choosing medicine, a proven commitment to healthcare, and a clear goal of where you want to end up after medical school.
The two most important factors that most committee members will look for are the integration of some of the pre-med core competencies and the opening hook to pull the reader in. That’s just one reason it’s a great idea to work with a seasoned editor who can help ensure your personal statement is in its most compelling state before you submit it with your application.
Letters of Recommendation
It’s critical that your letters of recommendation are submitted by trusted mentors. The best practice is for you to waive your right to read them, and an LoR can make or break your school of medicine application.
If your school offers a pre-health letter or packet, use it as part of collecting LoRs! Make sure you’re familiar with the process at your undergraduate institution — ask your pre-health advisor if you’re not sure how it works.
LoR Resources:
- All About LoRs (VIDEO)
- Who & How to Ask for Letters of Recommendation
- What Does Each MD School Require: LoRs
- What Does Each DO School Require: LoRs
Clinical Experience
Clinical experiences (such as working as a medical assistant, scribe, EMT, etc.) are probably the most important experience you can list in the Work & Activities section. AdComs evaluate your readiness to be a medical student partially based on how you’ve already demonstrated your commitment to clinical work and your performance in a clinical setting.
In pre-med, you’re generally not going to be doing complex medical procedures (though if you work as an EMS, MA, or CNA, you’ll do direct patient care). Admissions officers are looking more for examples of when you showed compassion, determination, sympathy, or dedication than for your ability to recount the specifics of medical practice.
Read Next: Medical School Acceptance Rates and Recent Trends (2025)
Research Experience
AdComs generally expect to see at least some research on your application.
Some medical schools (those with a primary care or community health focus) don’t require research experience to be accepted. Still, having some hours in a lab is generally a good idea for all medical school applicants.
You’ll need substantial research hours if you want to make it into the following types of programs:
- Research-centric medical programs, like Case Western Reserve or Mayo Clinic
- MD/PhD programs, like the University of Southern California or Duke (aim for at least 1,500 hours before applying for MD/PhD tracks)
- Prestigious medical schools, including Ivy League institutions, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, etc.
Research experience should be listed in your Work & Activities section. 400+ hours is a competitive number, and 1,000 hours (particularly with publications under your belt) is more competitive at top-tier schools.
Other Extracurriculars
In addition to clinical experience and research hours, AdComs are looking for robust extracurriculars, including volunteering work, shadowing, leadership experience, campus clubs, dedicated hobbies, and volunteer work.
Our advice to students is to show at least 200 service hours with a long-term, ongoing commitment — in other words, one or two engagements over a long time are more valuable than 10-15 very short-term roles.
Include leadership roles you held in undergrad. Medical schools want to see your success as a leader as well as a collaborator.
For shadowing, aim for at least 50 hours of shadowing across different specialties.
Put down a hobby that you’ve spent years developing. Med schools are looking for impressive individuals, not just in academics but also in creativity, generosity, and diverse interests.
Virtually shadow clinicians in over 25 specialties, download personalized Certificates of Completion for each module, and gain high-quality shadowing hours.
Core Competencies
Throughout the application, wherever possible, demonstrate the 17 core competencies that the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) has deemed necessary for pre-meds to exhibit.
The admissions committee will evaluate your application partially based on the following traits: the content of your personal statement, letters of recommendation, Work & Activities section, and secondary essays.
Here are the 17 core competencies for pre-meds, which the AAMC has broken up into three sections:
- Professional Competencies:
- Commitment to Learning and Growth
- Cultural Awareness
- Cultural Humility
- Empathy and Compassion
- Ethical Responsibility to Self and Others
- Interpersonal Skills
- Oral Communication
- Reliability and Dependability
- Resilience and Adaptability
- Service Orientation
- Teamwork and Collaboration
- Science Competencies:
- Human Behavior
- Living Systems
- Thinking and Reasoning Competencies:
- Critical Thinking
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Scientific Inquiry
- Written Communication
FAQs
No, it doesn’t typically matter what your major was in undergrad, as long as you meet the course prerequisites for a given medical school.
There is no “pre-med” major, but many pre-med majors in Biology or similar programs because the coursework aligns with typical med school admission requirements. However, many students who apply with nontraditional majors stand out in their own way, as they may offer something diverse to the medical community.
Many medical schools also require courses in writing, the humanities, and statistics.
A 3.7 GPA should be good enough to make you competitive for medical schools since it’s about the average GPA of med school matriculants.
For MD programs, you may need a slightly higher GPA on average to be competitive.
For DO programs and some MD programs, students will be considered with a lower GPA. The many students considered with lower-than-average GPAs often bring other experiences and strengths to the table.
For non-traditional med school applicants, it’s more important in your personal statement to explain why medicine now?
Your recent scores and coursework are more strongly considered than any long-ago grades. Your non-trad background can actually be an asset, adding to the diversity of thought and experiences that med schools are looking for in a student body.
If you’re a non-trad and don’t have all the prerequisites needed or recommended for admissions, consider a post-baccalaureate program. Post-bacc gives you the opportunity to boost your GPA or get the coursework you need to be eligible.
There are also many medical programs that tend to accept a higher-than-average number of non-traditional students (in other words, students who don’t go straight from college to med school). Review our list of the top 20 schools for non-traditional applicants to see if these might fit your goals.
Reapplicants Read This: Reapplying and Getting a Yes!
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Dr. Mehta is the founder of MedSchoolCoach and has guided thousands of successful medical school applicants. He is also a practicing physician in Boston where he specializes in vascular and interventional radiology.
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