Why U.S. News Med School Rankings Are Losing Relevance

Former Ranking Methodologies

U.S. News used to rank medical schools based on easy-to-research metrics, such as GPA and MCAT scores of matriculants. This ranking, which was the most prominent, led schools to start accepting students with higher GPAs and MCAT scores, disincentivizing holistic admissions.

They would give schools a numerical rank, even if schools right next to each other were effectively the same quality of outcome. This practice gave an impression of a much larger disparity in quality than really existed.

A significant criticism of the old methodology was the lack of transparency in scoring schools. Another criticism was how money influenced the rankings.

Because the rankings also considered students’ average indebtedness, schools were incentivized to find students who were less likely to need financial aid. The dean of Harvard Medical School said that this sort of ranking led to “perverse incentives” and “unintended consequences.”

Even as some schools brazenly lied to boost their rankings, prospective students still relied heavily on these rankings. In 2022/2023, though, many schools started dropping out because of the way the U.S. News used to do these rankings.

How the Rankings Currently Work

Now, U.S. News ranks medical schools in America based on multiple (self-reported) measures of a program’s quality, such as:

• Student selectivity (e.g., GPA and MCAT scores of matriculants; this ranking has been de-emphasized in recent years)
• Primary care education
• Research activity
• Faculty resources
• Graduate success (a new metric to address 2022/2023 criticisms)

In 2024, the outlet tried a four-tier system instead of a numbered ranking to address criticisms. Eligible schools would fall under Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, or Tier 4. Schools are listed alphabetically under each tier.

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Still, more schools continue to pull their data in recent years. Programs that do not submit their data to U.S. News & World Report are marked as “Unranked.” As of 2025, at least 20% of medical schools in America no longer submit data for this report.

The Withdrawal Trend

Several of the most well-known and highly ranked medical schools have withdrawn from the annual med school rankings in U.S. News. This is due to criticisms of its methodology and unintended consequences, including disadvantaging underserved communities.

I think schools should be applauded for making this difficult decision. Programs are finally taking a stand against the lack of transparency for such an impactful outlet and the “perverse incentives” that rankings put on admissions committees.

As of last year, about 20% of the top 100 medical schools were unranked because they chose not to submit data in protest of the flawed methodology. Withdrawn schools include Columbia University School of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Stanford, Duke, and the University of Pennsylvania.

It seems that the schools that were going to withdraw have already done so, so the number of schools that submit will likely hold steady. However, withdrawn schools are unlikely to return.

So, Do Rankings Still Matter?

I believe that the new tiered approach gives a fairer picture of how medical schools compare in terms of general reputation and prestige. After all, is there really a meaningful prestige difference between a school ranked #4 and #5?

Probably not. They’re both Tier 1 programs.

However, I also think that “prestige” alone should not guide your decision on where to go to medical school. The reality is that you will receive similar education and training no matter which U.S.-accredited med school you choose to attend.

The “prestige” of your medical school probably won’t matter too much for your career either. It may play a marginal role in matching into certain competitive subspecialties. But for most residency programs, your USMLE scores, your research experience, and your letters of evaluation will matter a lot more for your chance of matching.

This is why I encourage students to think about other factors, besides “prestige”, when deciding which medical school to attend. Our MedSchoolExplorer uses holistic “ranking” methods to help students recognize what makes sense for them individually based on scores, potential specialty focus, location, tuition, and other factors. (All without a harmful numeric ranking.)