Table of Contents
As you complete your final years of pre-med, you need to understand the admissions process for medical schools. Understanding the whole process now gives you your best chance at being accepted to your medical school of choice.
To apply to medical school, you’ll first submit a primary application via the centralized application processing service applicable to the program type (or location, in some cases). Institutions who want to consider you further will then request you submit secondary applications (“secondaries”). Finally, you’ll completely any requested interviews before schools make their final decisions on the next year’s incoming class. I break down each of these steps in detail below.
With an acceptance rate of 44.6% of applicants in 2024 (up from ~41% in 2023), it will take you significant preparation and thoughtful work for a good chance at getting the “yes.” There are slightly fewer people applying for medical school each year than during the height of COVID, but that doesn’t significantly reduce the difficulty of the application process as a whole.
Let’s take a look at the process from start to finish.
Ready to take the next step? How to Stand Out on Your Med School Application
The Medical School Application Timeline
Here’s how the medical school application process works:
- Fill out your primary application early and submit by early June.
- Wait 1-6 weeks for verification, at which point schools moving you forward in the process will send you secondary applications.
- Complete your secondaries and submit by mid-July. Plan your secondary essay responses in advance since your secondaries may require a quick turnaround if your verification took a long time.
- Interview at each school that requests one, between September and March.
Await acceptance letters after your interview, which may arrive from a few weeks after your interview to the end of their interview cycle in March.
Step 1: Primary Applications
Online application cycles for medical school admissions typically open in May each year. The admissions cycle generally runs from May to March of the following year. However, you should prepare for your application before the application cycle begins. We recommend submitting by mid-June.
There are 3 primary applications for United States-based medical schools, as well as one for Ontario med schools. Let’s look at the 4 primary application services:
- AMCAS (opens May 2025): You’ll use the American Medical College Application Service to apply to MD or MD/PhD programs (allopathic medicine). The AMCAS system opens at the beginning of May but doesn’t accept submissions until the end of the month. Check the AAMC Fee Assistance Program page to see if you’re eligible for an application fee waiver.
- AACOMAS (opens May 2025): Use to apply to DO programs (osteopathic medicine).
- TMDSAS (opens May 2025): Most Texas medical schools use the TX application system, which differs slightly in some key areas. This application opens about two weeks before allowing submissions.
- OMSAS (opens July 2025): For most Ontario medical schools, you must use the Ontario Medical Schools Application System (OMSAS).
Our free Med School Explorer can help you choose the right schools for your academic and personal goals.
Application Sections
Here’s everything you’ll be putting on your med school application (depending on the service, these sections will have slightly different titles):
- Background information (including information about yourself, your family, socioeconomic details, military service, criminal history, etc.)
- Transcripts (contains GPA and BCPM GPA)
- Extracurriculars (AKA Work & Activities, Experiences & Achievements, Personal Biography & Activities, or Extracurricular Activities on the Autobiographical Sketch, Gap Year activities)
- Medical schools to receive your application (we recommend applying to 15-30 schools)
- Personal statement (personal comments essay; review examples here)
- MCAT score (Medical College Admission Test; aim for at least a 511 to be competitive. Make sure to take it at the right time)
- Casper exam or AAMC PREview results
- Letters of evaluation
When should I get letters of recommendation? You can collect letters of recommendation (AKA letters of evaluation) at any point before submitting your secondaries, but it’s best to collect and submit them along with your primary application. Request individual and committee letters well in advance so that the letter writers have time to provide thoughtful recommendations.
We can help you ace your application to enroll in the pre-med program of your choice. Students who work with MedSchoolCoach have DOUBLE the chance of getting accepted than the average applicant!
Step 2: Application Verification
Medical school application verification takes 1-6 weeks to complete after submission.
Once your application is submitted, it goes through a verification process to compare your information to transcripts from your undergraduate institution before being sent to the medical schools on your list.
Related: Applying to Med School as a Non-Traditional Applicant
The longer you wait to submit, the longer this verification will take. That’s one reason why submitting your primary application as soon as you can is key — the earlier you submit, the earlier your application will be reviewed. Another reason applying early is critical is that more interview spots are available earlier in the cycle, increasing your chances of getting accepted to your ideal school of medicine.
Do you apply to med school junior or senior year? Aspiring medical students used to often apply in the spring/summer of their junior year. However, gap years have become very common — and, in some cases, expected — so it’s not abnormal to apply during senior year or later.
Want your AMCAS application to stand out? Our Physician Advisors have worked with thousands of students to help them successfully secure an acceptance.
Step 3: Secondary Applications
Submit all secondary applications no later than by the end of July during the application cycle. Learn more about secondaries here.
DO and MD programs don’t typically review applications as soon as verification is complete, but they send over secondary applications to students who pass their minimum requirements.
Check out this prompts database to get started writing answers to common secondary questions right after submitting your primary application.
During this evaluation of your application materials, medical schools will drop you into one of 3 categories:
- Interview: You’ll get an interview invitation to meet with the medical school admissions committee, typically between September and March.
- On hold: In some cases, a school may not be immediately ready to move forward but not ready to reject your application. “On hold” is different from “waitlisted.”
- Rejection: When a school decides you aren’t the right fit for their program, you’ll get a message to let you know you’ve been rejected.
Read Next: The Principles of Biomedical Ethics & Medical Morality
Step 4: Medical School Interviews
Between September and March, you’ll attend medical school interviews with schools that are interested in you as a candidate.
Depending on the school, interviews may be in the MMI format (short, one-on-one interactions with several committee members) or a traditional interview format (one longer interaction with a few members of the admissions committee).
Interviews may be in-person or virtual. While virtual interviews became more common in 2020-2022 when meeting in person was more difficult, in-person interviews have made a comeback. In-person interviews are common today and provide an opportunity to get to know your interviewer on a more personal level.
Preparing for these interviews takes quite a bit of time because they’re such an important part of the process. That’s why we’ve put together several resources to help you along the way:
Step 5: Admissions Decisions
Depending on the school, acceptance decisions may be made at any point between September and March of your admissions cycle.
Some schools send acceptance letters within a few weeks of your interview day (known as rolling admissions). Others wait to make final decisions on accepted applicants until March, after all candidates have been interviewed. Even if you interview in September, schools in the latter category won’t get back to you for several months.
How long does it take schools to evaluate applications? Medical schools evaluate applications in mid-to-late July at the earliest. Some schools may have a more extended timeline — they may not even look at your application until August. Some schools want to get a batch of applications before they start looking at them.
Because your medical education is so important, admissions teams carefully comb through your application. They want to make sure you have your prerequisite coursework, good extracurricular activities, the support of mentors, as well as whether your goals, personality, and demeanor align with their organization.
Read Next: How to Successfully Reapply to Medical School and Get a “Yes!”
What About Early Decision Programs?
Early decision (ED) programs can position you for a faster acceptance with an offer by October 1st, but they also have some drawbacks. Primarily, you can’t apply anywhere else until a decision is made.
The application deadline for ED-participating schools this cycle is August 1st. ED programs may also have additional admission requirements. You can check out AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) participating schools’ admission requirements using the MSAR database.
If you apply to a school ED, you cannot apply to any other school until you’ve been formally released from the ED commitment, or after October 1st. That means if you aren’t accepted, you’ll have time to apply to other schools, but you’ll be applying late in the game, which may put you at a disadvantage for matriculation, particularly at schools offering admissions on a rolling basis.
In general, I don’t recommend early decision to most applicants.
Read Next: Is a 3-Year Medical School Right for You?
Bottom Line
If you’re looking to apply to medical school in 2025 and beyond, aim to have your ducks in a row by May. It’s almost a year-long process, so you’ve got to have some patience.
When you start filling out your application, keep in mind that you might not reap the benefits until March of next year. But the payoff of stepping closer to your dream of being a physician makes the wait well worth it!
Want one-on-one support as you prepare for your interviews? Students who have 3 or more practice interviews with a Physician Advisor enjoy a 96% med school acceptance rate!
Sahil Mehta MD
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.
