Bachelor’s degree with prerequisite courses: Complete required core sciences such as biology, general and organic chemistry, physics, biochemistry, and any school-specific prerequisites
Strong GPA: Maintain a competitive cumulative and science GPA to meet academic screening thresholds
MCAT score: Earn a standardized MCAT score that medical schools use to assess academic readiness and compare applicants
Extracurricular involvement: Demonstrate sustained clinical experience, volunteering, leadership, research, and service activities
Letters of recommendation: Secure strong letters, typically 2–3 academic (science and non-science) and 1–2 from clinical, research, or professional mentors
Personal statement: Write a central narrative essay explaining why you want to become a physician and how your experiences shaped that goal
Secondary applications: Complete school-specific essays sent after your primary application is submitted
Fully completed AMCAS application: Submit all required sections of the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), including coursework, transcripts, activities, and personal statement.
After completing your application, you choose which medical schools to apply to. AMCAS charges a base application fee of $175, plus $45 for each additional school.
Medical School Course Requirements
Med school course requirements are specific classes that schools want you to take before applying. Medical school admission requirements are unique to each school, so it’s important to check the prerequisites listed on each program’s website.
As you can see, both Baylor and Perelman require biology, chemistry, physics, and math before applying. Although they share several similarities, they do have some differences.
For example, Baylor requires psychology, whereas Perelman lists psychology as one of many options fulfilling the “Behavioral Disciplines” requirements. Although medical schools may have similar prerequisites, they have variations. So, it’s important to evaluate each school’s requirements before submitting your applications.
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Medical School Academic Requirements
Your academic record is one of the core components that med schools evaluate. Two key metrics are GPA and MCAT scores. Admissions committees use these to assess whether you’re academically prepared for the rigor of medical school.
Does Med School Require Your To Take a Specific Major in College to Be Accepted? Medical School Major Requirements
Your undergraduate major does not affect your medical school application directly. However, selecting a major that prepares you for the rigors of medical school can be helpful. Science-related majors may provide early exposure to concepts you will encounter in medical school and help you fulfill your science prerequisites easier.
As Dr. Aryaman Gupta, a former Duke University Med alumni interviewer and expert medical school admissions consultant at Inspira Advantage, explained during our How Admissions Officers Review Med School Applications webinar, admissions committees focus far more on how you performed than on what you studied:
“Less important is your background in undergraduate institution and your major that was chosen… it doesn’t really matter what major you did, it matters that you were able to complete the core courses that are needed for medical school…”
Ultimately, the best choice is a major that genuinely interests you. Passion for your coursework increases the likelihood of strong academic performance, which in turn strengthens your medical school application.
Submit All of Your Post-Secondary Transcripts
You must provide a copy of your transcript from every post-secondary school you’ve attended. You should request transcripts from your school(s) early to ensure they arrive before the application deadlines.
Medical School GPA Requirements
Your GPA is the average of all your college coursework and is a major factor in admissions decisions. Many schools look at both your cumulative GPA and your science GPA (biology, chemistry, physics, and math) to determine readiness.
Some programs also publish minimum thresholds you must meet to be considered. While minimums vary by school, matriculants tend to have strong GPAs; nationally, the mean GPA for matriculating MD students is around 3.81, higher than the average applicant GPA of 3.67.
Because GPA is something admissions committees see early in the review process, a lower GPA benefits from context. If parts of your record are weak, a clear explanation and strong performance in other areas (like the MCAT) can help admissions understand your trajectory.
Medical School MCAT Requirements
Most medical schools require MCAT scores to assess an applicant’s readiness for the academic rigor of medical training, particularly in the sciences and critical reasoning. In practice, schools often use MCAT scores as screening thresholds, not final decision tools.
Applicants who fall below a school’s internal score range may receive limited review, while those who meet or exceed the threshold move forward for holistic evaluation alongside GPA, experiences, and essays.
Nationally, the mean MCAT score for matriculants is approximately 512.1, compared with an average of 506.3 among all applicants. To do well on the MCAT, students typically prepare for months and simulate the test conditions using full-length practice tests.
It is also worth noting that not all medical schools require the MCAT. Some programs offer MCAT-optional or MCAT-free pathways, often with specific eligibility criteria or academic prerequisites.
GPA and MCAT Benchmarks to Aim For To Get Into Medical School
Tier 1 medical schools (highest research tier) typically have median cumulative GPAs around 3.90–3.97 and median MCAT scores around 518–523. These numbers reflect the most competitive, research‑intensive institutions in the country.
Tier 2 medical schools usually show median GPAs around 3.80–3.92 and MCATs roughly 514–517. These schools are strong academically and often have solid research reputations.
Tier 3 medical schools more often have median GPAs around 3.55–3.80 and MCAT scores roughly 506–514. These programs can still be reputable, especially regionally or in primary care emphasis, but they don’t carry the same research as Tier 1 and 2 schools.
Submit Casper Scores (If Required by Your Medical Schools)
Submit Casper test scores only if the medical schools on your application list require them. Many programs do not use Casper, and applicants do not need to take or submit the test unless a school explicitly lists it as part of its admissions requirements.
The Casper is a situational judgment test (SJT) designed to evaluate various “soft” skills. The test includes 11 scenarios, combining video and typed responses, and takes about 65–85 minutes. It assesses communication, empathy, ethics, professionalism, problem-solving, and self-awareness, giving schools a holistic view of applicants beyond grades and test scores.
Each scenario presents real-world situations with two open-ended questions to see how you respond under pressure.
Is Clinical Experience Required for Getting Into Med School?
No, medical schools do not formally require clinical experience, and most do not list a minimum number of clinical hours as an admissions requirement. However, clinical experience is strongly recommended and is one of the most influential factors in how admissions committees evaluate applicants.
In practice, applicants without meaningful clinical exposure face a significant disadvantage. Admissions officers expect candidates to demonstrate that they understand what it means to practice medicine and that their decision to pursue this path is informed by real-world exposure.
“People reading your application want to know if you know what it means to be a physician… readers will want to know that you know what you’re getting yourself into… schools will want a hands-on experience where you’re engaging with patients or healthcare teams.”
Admissions committees use clinical experience as evidence of informed commitment. They want to see that you have spent time in healthcare settings, interacted with patients or care teams, and understand the realities of medical work beyond the classroom.
While schools rarely reject applicants solely for lacking clinical hours, limited or purely observational experience often weakens an application. Strong clinical exposure gives credibility to your personal statement, activity descriptions, and interviews by showing that your motivation for medicine is grounded in firsthand experience rather than assumption.
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Is Community Service/Volunteering a Med School Admissions Requirement?
No, medical schools do not formally require community service or volunteering, and most do not publish a minimum number of service hours. However, community service is strongly recommended and plays a meaningful role in how admissions committees evaluate applicants.
Admissions officers use extracurriculars like community service to assess qualities that grades and test scores cannot capture, including empathy, social responsibility, and commitment to others. Service experiences help schools understand your values and how you engage with communities beyond academic or clinical settings.
Dr. Bima Hasjim, a medical school admissions expert at Inspira Advantage and a general surgery resident and former admissions committee member at UC Irvine Med, emphasizes the importance of sustained involvement on our Pre-Med 101: How to Get Accepted To Your Dream Med School webinar:
“Longitudinal commitment will look way better… if you can participate as soon as you can even as a freshman, and show that you’ve been committed for four or five years, that’d be great.”
Medical schools care more about consistency and impact than raw hour totals. Long-term involvement in one or two causes signals genuine commitment and reliability, while scattered, short-term volunteering often looks strategic rather than sincere.
Community service doesn’t need to be medically related to be valuable. Volunteering at food banks, shelters, advocacy organizations, or educational programs can be just as compelling as hospital-based service. What matters most is that the work reflects your values and demonstrates a sustained desire to serve others.
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Medical School Research Requirements
Although research isn’t the most important factor in the med school admissions process, it can strengthen your application. The University of Utah School of Medicine, for example, uses research experience to determine applicants’ “interest in continuous learning” and how it will contribute to their performance in medical school.
Some med schools require applicants to conduct research or academic projects. While research isn’t a universal requirement to get into medical school, it’s valued more at research-intensive schools than in primary care-focused programs.
As research isn’t necessarily a requirement, there’s no minimum number of required hours. However many hours you dedicate to research, ensure it’s relevant to you.
Get a custom application checklist for wherever you are in the process.
Why Medical Schools Require a Personal Statement in the Admissions Process
Medical schools require a personal statement to evaluate your motivation for medicine, readiness for the profession, and alignment with the values of the field. The personal statement gives admissions committees context they cannot capture through GPA, MCAT scores, or activity lists alone.
Admissions committees use the personal statement to assess whether you can:
Clearly explain why you want to attend medical school become a physician
Demonstrate core competencies such as empathy, resilience, ethical judgment, and self-reflection
Communicate thoughtfully and present a cohesive, authentic narrative
“[Your intro] attunes the reader that you're going to answer the prompt right away… and usually the prompts are ‘why medicine’ or ‘why do you want to pursue… becoming a physician’… once you are done with the hook in your introduction, you want to be organized and prep the reader—tell them, ‘these are the types of experiences that I'm going to talk about, A, B, and C, and then I'm going to conclude… why I want to become a doctor.’ The personal statement doesn't necessarily need to be awe inspiring, it really just needs to be genuine and organized.”
By breaking your statement into organized sections (A → B → C) and concluding with your motivation for pursuing medicine, you make it easier for reviewers to understand your story.
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Why Medical Schools Require Letters of Recommendation in the Admissions Process
Medical schools require letters of recommendation to gain third-party insight into your academic ability, professionalism, and readiness for medical training. These letters help admissions committees validate your self-reported achievements and assess how you perform in collaborative, evaluative, and high-responsibility environments.
Admissions committees use letters of recommendation to evaluate whether you:
Demonstrate academic readiness and intellectual curiosity
Show professionalism, reliability, and ethical behavior in clinical or research settings
Work effectively with supervisors, peers, and healthcare teams
Exhibit personal qualities such as integrity, maturity, and coachability
Common recommenders include faculty members, research supervisors, physicians you have worked or shadowed with, and mentors from sustained clinical or service roles.
Callie Ginapp, an MD student at Yale School of Medicine and admissions expert at Inspira Advantage, emphasized the importance of cultivating meaningful relationships over time in a recent webinar:
“When evaluating the quality of people’s letters of reference, the highest bar, and almost the expectation, is literally walking on water. That is, you want people who are going to sing your praises, not like, ‘oh I took one class with you and raised my hand twice—can I get a letter?’ They’re not going to be able to say much other than ‘has good grades’… you want to be developing these relationships over years so they really know you personally and can highlight you in ways other parts of your application might not or build on other strong points to further solidify them.”
Why Medical Schools Require Secondary Applications in the Admissions Process
Medical schools require secondary applications to evaluate school-specific fit after an initial academic and experiential screen. Secondary essays allow admissions committees to assess how well your goals, values, and experiences align with their mission, curriculum, and patient populations.
Admissions committees use secondary applications to determine whether you:
Understand the school’s mission, priorities, and training model
Can clearly explain why you are applying to that specific program
Demonstrate reflection, maturity, and consistency across your application
Address school-specific prompts such as diversity, service, adversity, or ties to the region
Schools send secondary applications after reviewing your primary application, and most applicants receive multiple secondaries.
While the prompts vary by school, admissions committees expect timely, thoughtful responses that reinforce your readiness for their program rather than generic or recycled essays.
Why Medical Schools Use Interviews in the Admissions Process
Medical schools use interviews to evaluate interpersonal skills, professionalism, and readiness for medical training after an initial application review. Interviews allow admissions committees to assess how applicants communicate, think under pressure, and reflect on their experiences in real-time.
Admissions committees use interviews to determine whether applicants:
Clearly articulate their motivation for pursuing medicine
Demonstrate empathy, maturity, and ethical reasoning
Communicate effectively with faculty, students, and clinicians
Align with the school’s mission, culture, and learning environment
Interview invitations typically indicate that an applicant has met academic and experiential thresholds. While not all applicants receive interviews, interview performance often plays a decisive role in final admissions decisions.
Interview formats include:
One-on-one: A single interviewer asks a range of questions for 30–60 minutes.
Panel: Multiple interviewers meet with you at once.
Multiple Mini Interview (MMI): Rotate through stations with different interviewers and scenarios; review prompts for 2 minutes and discuss for 5–8 minutes. MMIs assess interpersonal skills and allow multiple first impressions.
Knowing the format helps you prepare. Mock interviews with friends or by yourself will help you do well on these. Ensure you practice with a variety of questions (personal, academic, extracurricular-based, and about your goals/motivations). You can use our question generator to streamline the process!
After interviews, schools notify you of acceptance, waitlist, or rejection. You may also send a letter of intent to your top-choice school.
What Are Medical School Admission Requirements?
Medical school admission requirements are the criteria schools use to evaluate applicants. They include completed prerequisite courses, minimum GPA and MCAT scores, as well as extracurricular experiences and interpersonal skills.
How to Prepare for Medical School
To prepare for medical school, students should begin building their academic and experiential foundation as early as possible. This includes maintaining a high GPA, particularly in science courses; completing all prerequisite coursework, such as biology, chemistry, physics, and biochemistry; and gaining meaningful clinical, volunteer, and research experience to demonstrate commitment to medicine.
Students should also engage in leadership roles and extracurricular activities aligned with their interests, cultivate relationships with professors and mentors for strong letters of recommendation, and plan their MCAT strategically, usually in the sophomore or junior year, to allow adequate preparation and flexibility for retakes if needed.
Application timing is critical. Dr. Katherine Munoz, a plastic & reconstructive surgery resident at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Inspira Advantage admissions expert, emphasized the following in our “AMA With a Former Medical School Admissions Officer”:
“The time starts now right. If you’re asking when should I have started preparing for med school, the answer was yesterday.”
She explains that early preparation truly pays off:
“The earlier you start and start putting things in will actually pay dividends. This is not an application that can be built in a night or a day. It truly does take years. Every choice you make adds to your story. Pick the things you like to do … passion comes through in writing and in interviews.”
Starting early allows students to steadily build a competitive GPA, accumulate substantial clinical and research experience, assume leadership roles, and secure strong recommendation letters. Following this approach ensures that every academic and extracurricular decision contributes meaningfully to a cohesive, compelling application, demonstrating both achievement and authentic passion.
FAQs
1. Do all Medical Schools Have Prerequisite Course Requirements?
No, not all medical schools require specific courses. For example, Stanford University School of Medicine recommends coursework across multiple subjects but has no strict prerequisites. Even without formal requirements, taking a balanced mix of sciences and humanities can strengthen your application.
2. What Experiences Do Medical School Admissions Committees Like to See?
Medical schools look for meaningful experiences in volunteer work, clinical exposure, research, and extracurricular activities where students have been leaders and have shown long-term commitment. While there’s rarely a required number of hours, these experiences help differentiate your application and demonstrate your commitment and skills.
3. Do all Med Schools Require the MCAT?
Most MD programs require the MCAT, but some Early Assurance or BS/MD programs may waive it. For regular MD admissions, your MCAT score is a key factor. Here are the general MCAT scores to aim for based on the schools you apply to:
Tier 1: 518–523
Tier 2: 514–517
Tier 3: 506–514
4. What GPA is Good Enough for Med School?
A GPA above 3.5 is typically good enough to get into medical school, but it depends on the school you’re applying to. If a school has a minimum cutoff, meeting it is sufficient; if not, compare your GPA to past admitted students’ averages. Here are the general median MCAT scores of US medical schools:
Tier 1: 3.90–3.97
Tier 2: 3.80–3.92
Tier 3: 3.55–3.80
5. Do all Medical Schools Have Minimum MCAT and GPA Requirements?
No, not all schools have strict cutoffs. Some consider your full academic and experiential profile. Always check each school’s admissions website for specific benchmarks.
6. Where Can I Find Medical School Admissions Support?
Many universities offer resources like advising, workshops, and application guidance. You can also work with admissions experts, such as the former adcom members at Inspira Advantage, for comprehensive support, including MCAT prep, personal statements, interview coaching, and full application guidance.
Dr. Jonathan Preminger was the original author of this article. Snippets of his work may remain.
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