Learn how to research medical schools, compare GPA and MCAT stats, build a school list, use MSAR, evaluate costs, prepare for interviews, and communicate with admissions.
Researching medical schools was one of the parts of the application process that became much more complicated than I expected. When I first started thinking seriously about where I wanted to apply, I assumed I would mostly compare GPA and MCAT averages, choose schools where my numbers seemed reasonable, and submit applications to the programs I liked.
Once I actually went through the process, I realized how much more goes into choosing a medical school. State residency can completely change whether a public school is realistic, prerequisite requirements differ among programs, missions can favor particular communities or career paths, research and service opportunities vary dramatically, tuition can differ by more than $100,000 across four years, and two schools with similar academic averages can still be looking for very different applicants.
I applied to 25 medical schools during my 2023 application cycle, including both MD and MD/PhD programs, and I spent a tremendous amount of time researching individual schools before submitting. I eventually received multiple interviews and multiple medical school acceptances, then chose the MD path. I am now going through medical school and write about my past experiences here!
That experience changed the way I think about building a school list. I no longer think the goal is finding the largest number of schools where your GPA and MCAT technically qualify because the goal is finding programs where your academics, experiences, state residency, mission fit, career interests, finances, and personal preferences collectively make sense.
I also learned that researching a medical school does not end when you click submit on AMCAS. I researched schools while building my list, again while writing secondary essays, again before interviews, and again when comparing programs after receiving acceptances. Each stage required a slightly different type of information, which is why I built this Medical School Info section of AspiringMD to bring all of those resources together.
If you are just beginning, this page will help you understand how to research medical schools, compare admissions statistics, use MSAR, evaluate MD and DO programs, identify schools that fit your experiences, understand tuition and prerequisites, prepare for interviews, communicate with admissions offices, navigate waitlists, and eventually compare your options after acceptance.
Where Should You Start When Researching Medical Schools?
If you are still early in the process, I would start with your own application rather than immediately opening a ranking of every medical school in the country. Your GPA, science GPA, MCAT, state residency, clinical experience, service, research, career interests, and personal circumstances should shape the list you build.
My Medical School GPA and MCAT Guide is a good first step because it explains how I would interpret your academic profile without treating one number as your entire application. Once you understand your own profile, use my How to Build a Medical School List guide to combine academic fit with mission, state residency, prerequisites, MD versus DO considerations, cost, and other school-specific factors.
That order matters. If you begin with a list of famous medical schools and then try to convince yourself that your application fits them, you are doing the process backward.
I would rather identify the characteristics of schools where your application makes sense and then find programs that meet those criteria. You can still include carefully selected reaches, but the majority of the list should have a logical reason for being there.
How I Built My Own Medical School List
When I built my school list in 2023, I looked at much more than the school name. Academic statistics mattered because I needed to know whether my GPA and MCAT made the program realistic, but I also spent substantial time examining mission statements, research opportunities, geographic preferences, secondary prompts, and what each school seemed to value.
I applied to both MD and MD/PhD programs because research had become one of the largest parts of my undergraduate experience. By that point, I had spent years in laboratories, completed intensive summer research programs, received grants, presented research, and developed enough interest in academic medicine that MD/PhD training was something I seriously considered.
I ultimately decided that the MD path fit me better, but applying to both forced me to think carefully about what I actually wanted from medical school. A highly research-oriented program made more sense for my background than it would for somebody who had no interest in continuing research, while a school whose mission centered heavily on rural medicine might make much more sense for an applicant with years of rural service and clinical experience.
That is why I do not think there is one universally best medical school list. A school can be excellent and still be a poor fit for you.
Use GPA and MCAT as a Starting Point, Not the Entire Decision
Your GPA and MCAT are two of the easiest pieces of information to compare across medical schools, which is why applicants naturally begin there. They can tell you whether your academic profile falls within a plausible range for a program, but they cannot tell you whether the school actually has a reason to choose you.
My Medical School GPA and MCAT Guide goes deeply into cumulative GPA, science GPA, academic trends, MCAT scores, uneven academic profiles, retakes, MD versus DO considerations, and how to think about schools where you fall below a median. I would use that guide before deciding that one disappointing number automatically eliminates you from medicine.
If your academic record is a genuine concern, my Can You Get Into Medical School With a Low GPA? guide explains upward trends, additional coursework, postbaccalaureate programs, SMPs, MCAT strategy, and deciding whether you are ready to apply.
You can also use my Medical Schools for Low GPA and MCAT Applicants section when you are trying to identify programs that may be more statistically realistic. I would still verify current school-level information before submitting because admissions statistics and screening policies can change between cycles.
A Medical School Median Is Not a Minimum
This distinction causes a lot of unnecessary anxiety.
If a medical school reports a median MCAT of 515, that does not mean every accepted applicant scored at least 515. A median represents the middle of a distribution, so applicants can matriculate above and below that number.
At the same time, being technically above a school’s stated minimum does not necessarily make the program a realistic target. A school might state that it considers scores above 500 while its typical entering class is much closer to 514 or 515, which means eligibility and competitiveness are two different questions.
I learned to look at the broader profile instead. I wanted to know where my academic metrics sat relative to the school’s accepted or matriculating class, then determine whether my experiences and mission fit gave the school another reason to consider me.
That is a much more useful approach than sorting schools into two piles labeled “my MCAT is high enough” and “my MCAT is too low.”
MSAR Is One of the Most Useful Medical School Research Tools
For MD programs, the AAMC Medical School Admission Requirements database, usually called MSAR, is one of the first resources I would use while building a serious school list.
My MSAR for Premeds Guide explains what the tool contains, how I would use it, and where to find additional official reports. The value of MSAR is that it places a large amount of school-specific information in one place rather than forcing you to search dozens of admissions websites independently.
I would use MSAR to screen schools, but I would still visit the individual school’s official admissions website before submitting. Requirements, policies, tuition, secondary processes, and other details can change, and the school itself should always be your final source for an important eligibility question.
For osteopathic programs, I would use official AACOM and individual DO school resources in the same way. The underlying principle is to move from broad comparison tools toward the school’s current official information as your list becomes more serious.
Mission Fit Became Much More Important Than I Expected
One of the biggest lessons from my own application cycle was that a medical school’s mission is not decorative language sitting on its About page.
Some programs are deeply oriented toward research.
Others emphasize primary care.
Some were created specifically to address physician shortages within one state or region.
Others emphasize rural medicine, underserved populations, community service, public health, or another institutional priority.
When I researched schools, I tried to identify themes that appeared repeatedly rather than relying on one sentence from a mission statement. I looked at the school’s programs, research centers, clinical partnerships, special tracks, secondary questions, community initiatives, and what current students seemed to spend their time doing.
My How to Find and Fit a Medical School’s Mission guide explains the exact process I used. It also discusses an experience from my own interview cycle where part of a school’s true personality became much clearer during the interview than it had been from reading the website beforehand.
That is another reason mission research continues after submission. Sometimes you understand a school much better once faculty and students begin explaining what the institution actually values in practice.
Mission Fit Should Be Supported by Something You Have Actually Done
It is easy to find a medical school that emphasizes underserved communities and write that you are passionate about underserved medicine. The statement becomes much more convincing when your application already contains years of experiences showing that the interest existed before you read the school’s website.
The same principle applies to research. If you are applying to a heavily research-oriented institution, several years of laboratory or clinical research provides much stronger evidence than writing that you are suddenly excited about research because the school has an impressive cancer center.
My own research history gave me something real to connect with research-focused schools. My more than 2,000 clinical hours, service experiences, volunteer medical clinic work, leadership, and other experiences gave me different connections with other aspects of a school’s mission.
You do not need to fit every sentence in the mission statement. Look for the places where your existing experiences and the school’s priorities genuinely overlap.
State Residency Can Completely Change a School List
Public medical schools are where this becomes particularly important. A school may have academic averages that look perfect for you while still accepting relatively few applicants from outside its home state.
That does not mean you should avoid all public schools as a nonresident. Some public medical schools enroll substantial numbers of students from other states, while others have much stronger resident preferences or specific regional missions.
My Most Out-of-State-Friendly Public Medical Schools Guide is designed to help you identify public programs where a nonresident application may make more sense. You should still investigate each school’s current residency composition and whether there are particular expectations for applicants without ties to the state.
I would also prioritize your own in-state public programs when they fit your goals. They can provide a particularly valuable combination of geographic connection, admissions plausibility, clinical familiarity, and lower resident tuition.
Do Not Apply Out of State Just Because the School Has Lower Stats
This is one of the school-list mistakes I would avoid.
Suppose you find a public medical school where the median MCAT is several points below yours. It may initially look like an excellent statistical match, but if nearly every student in the class comes from that state and the institution has a strong mission to train physicians for its local communities, your numbers alone may not make the application realistic.
That is why I consider academic fit and geographic fit separately. Your GPA and MCAT answer one question, while your state residency and ties answer another.
A good school list needs both to make sense.
Medical School Prerequisites Are Not Identical Everywhere
Another reason you need to research individual schools is that prerequisite policies differ. One program may use a traditional list of required science courses, while another uses competency-based expectations or allows greater flexibility in how the preparation is completed.
AP credit, dual enrollment, community college coursework, online classes, laboratories, and upper-level substitutions can create additional complexity. A credit that your undergraduate university happily accepted does not automatically satisfy every medical school’s admissions policy.
I built my Medical Schools That Accept or Limit Community College and AP Credits guide specifically for students who have used these pathways and are worried about whether their coursework will count.
This is one of the requirements I would check before paying to apply. Discovering in secondary season that you cannot meet a school’s prerequisite policy is an expensive and frustrating mistake that can usually be prevented while building the list.
AP and Dual-Enrollment Students Should Plan Early
I personally used AP and dual-enrollment credit before college, so I understand why students want to use those credits strategically. They can save time, create flexibility in your undergraduate schedule, and potentially reduce educational costs.
The medical school side is where you need to be cautious because programs can treat those credits differently. If you used AP Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English, Calculus, or another subject to move ahead in college, check whether the medical schools you are interested in expect additional college coursework.
I would rather know that during freshman or sophomore year than discover it while preparing AMCAS as a senior. You can then intentionally add appropriate upper-level coursework instead of scrambling to fit an unexpected prerequisite into your final semester.
MD vs. DO Should Be an Intentional Decision
I do not think students should approach DO schools as a generic backup option added only because their GPA or MCAT is lower than they hoped.
MD and DO graduates both become physicians, but you should still understand the educational pathway you are applying to and be comfortable attending the individual schools on your list. If you would refuse every DO acceptance because you only want an MD degree, spending money on those applications does not make much sense.
You can browse my Full List of Accredited U.S. MD Medical Schools and my Full List of Accredited U.S. DO Medical Schools when you are beginning to explore the two pathways.
I would then research individual schools rather than deciding based solely on the letters after the degree. Curriculum, clinical rotations, geography, residency outcomes, tuition, mission, student support, research, and your personal goals all matter more once you are deciding where you would actually spend several years training.
Your School List Should Include Schools You Would Actually Attend
This sounds obvious until application anxiety takes over.
I understand why students add schools almost compulsively because every additional application feels like another possible acceptance. I applied to 25 programs myself, so I certainly believe in building enough breadth to give yourself realistic options.
However, every school creates more than another primary application fee. It can mean another secondary fee, several additional essays, more research, another portal to track, and potentially another interview.
During my own 2023 cycle, secondaries began arriving rapidly from late June through July. I finished my final secondary during the last week of July, and by then I understood why applying to dozens of programs you barely researched can quickly become counterproductive.
I would rather apply to a thoughtful list and submit strong school-specific secondaries than build an enormous random list because the application process made me nervous.
Compare Actual Medical Schools, Not Just Rankings
Rankings can be useful for understanding broad institutional reputation, but they are an incredibly incomplete way to choose where you want to train.
I would compare curriculum structure, clinical sites, research opportunities, service programs, location, student culture, grading, cost, support systems, specialty resources, and whether the institution’s mission aligns with what you have already demonstrated.
I have started building more detailed school-comparison articles for exactly this reason. My Which UC Medical School Is the Hardest to Get Into? guide compares the University of California medical schools, while my Texas Medical School Comparison and SUNY Medical School Comparison do the same for Texas and New York programs.
These guides can help you begin comparing schools, but I would still use the individual admissions pages when you are making an actual application decision.
Medical School Cost Should Be Part of Your Research
I did not appreciate how much medical school cost would matter until I was actually on the medical-student side of the process. When you are desperate to get accepted, it can feel premature to compare tuition because getting a seat anywhere is the immediate goal.
Once you have options, a difference of tens of thousands of dollars per year becomes very real.
My Medical School Tuition and Cost of Attendance Guide explains how I would compare tuition, fees, living expenses, public versus private schools, resident versus nonresident pricing, and financial aid. You can also use my Medical School Debt and Loan Repayment Simulator when you want to see what different borrowing scenarios could mean after graduation.
For the complete picture before and after medical school, my Premed-to-Attending Cost Roadmap follows expenses from undergraduate education and the MCAT through medical school and residency applications.
I would never tell you to choose a school based solely on price. I would tell you to know exactly how much the difference costs before deciding that price does not matter.
Early Assurance, BS/MD, and Pipeline Programs Change the Usual Path
Not everyone reaches medical school through the traditional four-year college followed by AMCAS route.
Students in high school or early college may be eligible for BS/MD programs, Early Assurance programs, pipeline programs, linkage opportunities, or other pathways that change when and how medical school admission occurs.
My Early Assurance, BS/MD, and Pipeline Programs Guide and Database explains the major program types and helps you compare opportunities.
These programs can reduce some of the uncertainty associated with the traditional application process, but they often come with academic requirements, program restrictions, early deadlines, or other conditions. I would evaluate the fine print as carefully as the benefit of potentially securing an earlier path into medical school.
Additional Admissions Tests Can Affect Your School List
The MCAT is not the only test that can affect your application.
Some medical schools also use situational judgment assessments such as CASPer or AAMC PREview, which means your school list can create additional registration requirements, dates, fees, and preparation.
My Medical School Situational Judgment Tests Guide and Requirements Database lets you compare CASPer, PREview, Duet, and school-level requirements. If you would prefer to minimize these additional exams, use my Medical Schools That Don’t Require CASPer or PREview guide while building the list.
I completed both situational judgment testing and the traditional medical school application process myself. My own results were not perfectly consistent across the tests, which was another reminder that one additional admissions metric is still only one component of a much larger application.
I would complete the requirements seriously without allowing one disappointing SJT result to convince you that the rest of your application suddenly does not matter.
Research the School Again When You Receive a Secondary
Once you receive a secondary application, the purpose of your school research changes.
You are no longer deciding only whether the program belongs on your list. You now need enough understanding of the school to explain why you belong there.
This is where my How to Find and Fit a Medical School’s Mission guide becomes particularly useful. Read the school’s mission, but then look deeper into specific programs, clinical sites, research centers, community work, curricula, longitudinal tracks, and opportunities that genuinely connect with something you have already done.
During my own cycle, I thought of a strong Why This School response almost like explaining why two people are a good match. I wanted to identify what the institution repeatedly valued, show where those values overlapped with experiences I had actually lived, and then explain why the match made sense in both directions.
That approach produced much stronger writing than listing three impressive programs from the school’s website.
Medical School Interviews Require Another Level of Research
When I started receiving interview invitations in 2023, I researched each medical school again because the interview required much more detail than the initial school list.
By interview day, I wanted to understand the mission, curriculum, clinical training, research opportunities, service programs, student culture, location, and anything particularly distinctive about the institution. I also reread the secondary essays I had submitted because I wanted my interview answers to be consistent with the reasons I had already given for applying.
My Complete Medical School Interview Guide brings the entire process together. For school-specific preparation, my How to Research a Medical School Before Your Interview guide shows exactly what I would investigate today.
I completed both traditional and MMI-style interviews during my own cycle. The conversations that usually felt strongest were the ones where I had prepared enough to know my experiences and the school well but had not memorized an artificial answer word for word.
Know Your Own Application Before the Interview
This sounds basic, but months can pass between writing AMCAS and sitting down for an interview.
I would reread my personal statement, activity descriptions, most meaningful experiences, secondary essays, and major updates before every interview. Anything you included can potentially become a question, and forgetting what you wrote about a particular research project or experience makes the conversation unnecessarily difficult.
My What to Study Before a Medical School Interview guide explains how I divided preparation among my own application, the school, common interview topics, ethics, and current healthcare issues.
You can then use my Common Medical School Interview Questions and How to Answer Them guide to practice the themes most likely to appear without memorizing complete scripts.
The Questions You Ask the School Matter Too
Almost every medical school interview I completed eventually reached some version of, “Do you have any questions for me?”
That part of the conversation is useful because you are evaluating the school too. I wanted to ask things that would help me understand the institution from someone actually teaching or studying there instead of asking something I could have found with thirty seconds on the homepage.
My Questions to Ask During a Medical School Interview guide includes separate ideas for faculty, students, admissions representatives, and interviewers.
I would write down useful things you learn afterward. Those details may become important when comparing acceptances, attending second-look events, writing a thank-you message, or deciding whether a particular school eventually becomes your first choice.
Receiving an Interview Does Not Mean Your GPA and MCAT Disappear
There is a common idea online that once you receive a medical school interview, everyone enters the interview on completely equal footing and nothing before that point matters anymore.
I would not assume that.
Different medical schools use different admissions systems, but your interview can become another piece of evidence added to the application the school already reviewed. Your academics, experiences, letters, essays, mission fit, and interview can all potentially contribute to the final decision.
My What Do Medical Schools Look For After Your Interview? guide goes much deeper into this stage. I wrote it from the perspective of someone who went through multiple interviews, waited through the post-interview period, and eventually received multiple acceptances.
Do Medical Schools Interview Their Best Applicants First?
Interview timing creates an enormous amount of anxiety because students naturally interpret silence as information.
I received an interview invitation in August during my own cycle, but I would not assume that an earlier invitation means the school has officially ranked you above every applicant interviewed later. Schools differ in how applications are reviewed, when files become complete, how interview dates are assigned, and which applicant groups receive priority at different points in the cycle.
My Do Medical Schools Interview Better Applicants First? guide explains why interview timing is not as simple as “better applicants first.”
If you are trying to understand what an interview may mean numerically, I also maintain a Medical School Post-Interview Acceptance Rates resource. I would treat school-specific historical percentages as context rather than believing they predict your individual outcome.
What Happens After Your Interview?
The post-interview stage can be one of the most uncomfortable parts of applying because there is suddenly much less you can control.
Before the interview, there was always something to work on. You could improve the application, write another secondary, research the school, or practice an answer.
Afterward, you may simply need to wait while the admissions committee reviews your file.
My What Medical Schools Look For After Your Interview guide explains how the interview may fit with the rest of your application and what you can still do while waiting.
I continued my clinical, research, and other commitments during my own cycle rather than treating the application submission as the end of my development. That gave me genuine updates to share later instead of sending schools messages simply because I was anxious about not hearing anything.
I Sent Update Letters During My Own Application Cycle
I sent update letters to schools where I had interviewed and to other programs I remained seriously interested in attending. I used those letters to explain meaningful developments in research, clinical work, presentations, awards, and other activities that occurred after the original application.
That experience is incorporated directly into my How to Write a Medical School Update Letter guide. It includes the strategy, structure, timing, and a polished version based on the kind of update communication I used myself.
The important lesson is that an update should contain an actual update. Sending a message whose only purpose is reminding admissions that you still exist usually does not add very much information.
Continue doing meaningful work after AMCAS and you are much more likely to eventually have something worth telling them.
Letter of Interest vs. Letter of Intent
These two letters sound similar but communicate very different levels of commitment.
A letter of interest tells a school that you remain highly interested and would seriously consider attending. You can sincerely have several medical schools you are very interested in, which means personalized letters of interest can potentially be sent to more than one program when their policies allow it.
A letter of intent tells one program that it is your clear first choice and that you intend to attend if accepted. That is an exclusive commitment, so I would send it to only one medical school.
I personally did not end up sending a letter of intent during my cycle. I had several schools I would have been excited to attend, but I never reached a situation where I felt comfortable promising one program that I would choose it over every other possible option.
My How to Write a Letter of Interest for Medical School and How to Write a Medical School Letter of Intent guides explain both approaches in detail.
My Broader Medical School Communication Strategy
Throughout the application process, I tried to treat admissions communication as professional correspondence rather than a strategy for constantly reminding schools about my application.
That means contacting a school when you have a legitimate question, following its instructions about updates, writing concise messages, and understanding what type of letter actually fits your situation.
My Complete Guide to Communicating With Medical School Admissions brings together update letters, interest letters, intent letters, general emails, post-interview communication, withdrawals, and other situations.
You can also browse the Communicating With Medical Schools Hub if you want to see the communication guides together rather than searching for each one individually.
I Sent Thank-You Messages After My Interviews
I personally sent a thank-you message after every medical school interview. I viewed it as professional courtesy rather than believing a thank-you email was secretly going to transform a rejection into an acceptance.
The exact process can depend on the school’s policy because some programs provide interviewer contact information while others route communication through admissions or discourage additional correspondence.
My Medical School MMI Thank-You Note Guide is particularly useful when you went through multiple stations and are wondering how to thank the program appropriately without trying to send eight artificial messages to interviewers you met for only a few minutes.
Keep it brief, specific where appropriate, and professional. The interview itself should have done the real work.
Medical School Waitlists Are Not the Same as Rejections
I experienced both sides of waitlist uncertainty during the application process. I had a situation where I eventually came off a waitlist and another where I did not, which taught me very quickly that movement can vary tremendously between schools.
My How Do Medical School Waitlists Work? guide explains ranked and unranked waitlists, movement, communication, and how I would think about your position while continuing to plan around the acceptances you already have.
Being waitlisted means the process is still active, but it does not guarantee an acceptance. I would follow the school’s rules, communicate strategically when allowed, and continue preparing for the options you currently hold instead of placing the rest of your life on pause.
Accepted Students Still Have Decisions to Make
Receiving an acceptance feels like the finish line when you have spent years trying to get one, but it actually begins a different set of decisions.
You may need to compare financial aid, tuition, location, curriculum, clinical sites, research opportunities, support systems, specialty interests, and how you felt about the culture during interview day or second look.
The AMCAS Choose Your Medical School Tool Tutorial can help you understand the enrollment side of the process once you begin holding acceptances.
You should also understand that medical school acceptances come with continuing expectations involving academic performance, professionalism, background checks, and completion of admissions requirements. My Can Medical Schools Rescind Acceptances? guide explains situations applicants commonly worry about after they finally receive the acceptance email.
The Summer Before Medical School Is Another Transition
Once I knew I was actually going to medical school, the focus shifted from trying to become an applicant to preparing to become a medical student.
There are financial, housing, technology, health-documentation, scheduling, and life logistics to handle, but I do not think the answer is spending the entire summer trying to study the first semester of medical school before it begins.
My What to Do the Summer Before Medical School guide explains how I think about balancing rest with practical preparation. Now that I am on the medical-student side, I appreciate much more how valuable it can be to begin the year rested instead of trying to prove that you can start studying several months early.
Complete AspiringMD Medical School Information Resource Library
If you are just beginning to research medical schools, start with my All About Medical Schools Hub, Medical School Database, and How to Build a Medical School List. Those three resources give you the broad framework before you begin researching individual programs.
For GPA, MCAT, and academic fit, use my Medical School GPA and MCAT Guide and Can You Get Into Medical School With a Low GPA?. You can then compare schools more intelligently rather than treating a published median as either an acceptance guarantee or an automatic rejection cutoff.
For official school research and admissions requirements, use my MSAR for Premeds Guide, Medical Schools That Accept or Limit Community College and AP Credits, Full List of Accredited U.S. MD Medical Schools, and Full List of Accredited U.S. DO Medical Schools.
For mission fit and choosing where to apply, read How to Find and Fit a Medical School’s Mission and Which Public Medical Schools Are the Most Out-of-State Friendly?. If you are researching particular state systems, use my UC Medical School Comparison, Texas Medical School Comparison, and SUNY Medical School Comparison.
For alternative and early-entry medical school pathways, use my Early Assurance, BS/MD, and Pipeline Programs Guide and Database. These programs can change the traditional premed timeline substantially, so I would research them before assuming every student needs to follow the same AMCAS pathway.
For situational judgment tests and school requirements, use my CASPer vs. PREview vs. Duet Guide and SJT School Database and Medical Schools That Don’t Require CASPer or PREview. These are useful when an additional test requirement could affect your application timeline or school list.
For cost and financial planning, read my Medical School Tuition and Cost of Attendance Guide, Medical School Debt and Loan Repayment Simulator, and How Much Does It Really Cost to Become a Doctor?. I would research cost while building the list and then return to it when actual financial aid packages arrive.
For medical school interview preparation, start with my Complete Medical School Interview Guide, then use How to Research a Medical School Before Your Interview, What to Study Before a Medical School Interview, Common Medical School Interview Questions, and Questions to Ask During a Medical School Interview.
For understanding interview timing and outcomes, read Do Medical Schools Interview Better Applicants First?, Medical School Post-Interview Acceptance Rates, and What Do Medical Schools Look For After Your Interview?. Those three resources help separate the things you can actually know from the speculation that tends to make interview season much more stressful.
For communication with admissions, start with my Complete Guide to Communicating With Medical School Admissions and the broader Communicating With Medical Schools Hub. You can then use my Medical School Update Letter Guide, Letter of Interest Guide, Letter of Intent Guide, and MMI Thank-You Note Guide for the specific situation you are dealing with.
Finally, for acceptances and the end of the cycle, use How Do Medical School Waitlists Work?, AMCAS Choose Your Medical School Tool Tutorial, Can Medical Schools Rescind Acceptances?, and What to Do the Summer Before Medical School. Those resources carry you from the uncomfortable post-interview waiting period into actually preparing to matriculate.
Frequently Asked Questions About Researching and Choosing Medical Schools
How do I build a medical school list?
Start with your cumulative GPA, science GPA, MCAT score, state residency, prerequisite history, and the major experiences that shape your application. Then identify schools where your academic profile is plausible and evaluate mission fit, state preferences, cost, curriculum, clinical opportunities, research, and any additional requirements.
I applied to 25 schools during my own cycle and learned that every additional program creates more work once secondaries arrive. I would build enough breadth to give yourself realistic options without adding schools you have no genuine reason to attend.
How many medical schools should I apply to?
There is no universal number because the right list depends on your academic profile, state residency, MD versus DO strategy, finances, and how many high-quality secondary applications you can realistically complete. A student applying with a highly competitive profile and strong in-state options may need a different list from someone whose academics require broader geographic or DO consideration.
I personally applied to 25 medical schools. That gave me meaningful breadth, but it also created a very busy secondary season, so I would not automatically use my number as your target.
How do I know whether my GPA and MCAT are good enough for a medical school?
Compare both numbers with the school’s recent accepted or matriculating student profile rather than looking only at a published minimum. Then consider your academic trend, science GPA, individual MCAT sections, state residency, and whether the rest of your application aligns with the school’s mission.
My Medical School GPA and MCAT Guide walks through this in much more detail. I would avoid treating one universal national cutoff as the line between competitive and uncompetitive.
Is being below a medical school’s median MCAT an automatic rejection?
No. A median is the middle of a distribution rather than an admissions minimum, so schools matriculate students above and below it.
Being slightly below one median can still be reasonable when the rest of your academic profile and mission fit are strong. Being substantially below both GPA and MCAT norms at most schools on your list is a different situation and may justify changing the list or strengthening your academics before applying.
What is MSAR and do I need it?
MSAR is the AAMC’s Medical School Admission Requirements resource for researching MD programs. It can help you compare school-specific academic profiles, requirements, residency information, curricula, and other admissions details.
I consider it one of the most useful school-list tools for MD applicants. My MSAR guide explains how I would use it alongside official medical school websites rather than relying on either one in isolation.
How important is medical school mission fit?
It can be very important because schools have different institutional priorities and are trying to build classes that support those goals. Mission fit becomes much more convincing when your previous experiences provide evidence that you actually care about the same things.
During my own cycle, I researched mission repeatedly while making my school list, writing secondary essays, and preparing for interviews. I found that understanding what a school valued also made Why This School answers much easier to personalize.
Should I apply to public medical schools out of state?
Yes, when the particular public medical school enrolls meaningful numbers of nonresidents and your application fits its mission. I would be more cautious with public programs that overwhelmingly reserve seats for residents or applicants with strong regional ties.
Do not assume a school is a good target simply because your MCAT exceeds its median. State residency can matter enough to make a statistically aligned applicant geographically misaligned.
Should I apply to both MD and DO medical schools?
You can when both pathways genuinely interest you and the programs make sense for your application. I would not add DO schools purely as emergency backups if you would refuse to attend them after acceptance.
Research the individual institutions, training model, clinical rotations, residency outcomes, cost, and location. Your ultimate goal is becoming a physician at a school where you can succeed, not accumulating as many different applications as possible.
Do medical schools accept AP credit?
Many do, but policies differ by school and sometimes by subject. Science AP credit may be treated differently from English, mathematics, or other credit, and some programs expect additional college-level coursework when AP was used to skip introductory sciences.
I used AP and dual enrollment myself, which is one reason I think students should investigate this early. My community college and AP credit guide can help you identify where school-specific verification is particularly important.
Do medical schools accept community college prerequisites?
Many medical schools consider community college coursework, but requirements and preferences vary. Some programs are more comfortable with community college prerequisites when the student later performs strongly in upper-level sciences at a four-year institution.
The safest approach is checking every school on your intended list rather than relying on one general rule. This is particularly important when a large portion of your core science sequence came from community college.
Does medical school cost matter when deciding where to apply?
I think it should matter, although it should not be your only criterion. The difference between two schools can become very large over four years once tuition, fees, housing, and borrowing are considered.
As a medical student, I appreciate that much more than I did early in premed. I would research cost before applying and then compare the actual financial aid packages carefully if you eventually have multiple acceptances.
How should I research a medical school before an interview?
Review the mission, curriculum, clinical sites, research, service opportunities, student organizations, location, distinctive programs, and the secondary essays you already submitted. You should know enough to explain why the institution makes sense for your own goals without memorizing every fact on its website.
I did this before each of my interviews and found the preparation most helpful when it gave me topics for genuine conversation. My dedicated medical school interview research guide provides a complete framework you can repeat for every program.
Does getting an interview mean my GPA and MCAT no longer matter?
I would not assume that. Schools use different post-interview admissions systems, and the interview can be considered alongside other parts of your application rather than universally replacing them.
Receiving an interview is still an encouraging sign because the school saw enough in your application to continue evaluating you. The next step is giving them additional evidence that you communicate well, understand medicine, and fit the program.
Do medical schools interview their best applicants first?
Not necessarily. Interview timing can be influenced by when an application became complete, the order of review, specific institutional priorities, interviewer availability, applicant groups, and many other factors.
I received an interview invitation in August during my own cycle, but I would not interpret that timing as evidence that every later interviewee was considered weaker. My separate interview timing guide goes deeper into why silence should not automatically be treated as a ranking.
Should I send an update letter to medical schools?
I would send one when the school allows updates and you have meaningful new information. During my own application cycle, I sent updates to schools where I had interviewed and other programs I remained seriously interested in attending.
A strong update might include significant research progress, publications, presentations, new responsibilities, grades, awards, or sustained clinical and service developments. The letter should provide information the school did not already have rather than simply reminding admissions that you are still waiting.
Should I send a letter of intent?
Only when one medical school is genuinely your clear first choice and you are comfortable telling that program you will attend if accepted. Because the commitment is exclusive, I would send a letter of intent to only one school.
I personally did not send one during my own cycle because I never reached a point where making that exclusive promise felt appropriate. That experience made me more cautious about recommending letters of intent simply because other applicants are sending them.
Should I send a thank-you note after a medical school interview?
I personally sent a thank-you after every interview and viewed it as professional courtesy. I would follow the individual medical school’s policy because some programs provide a preferred process while others discourage or restrict post-interview correspondence.
Keep the message brief and sincere. The goal is thanking people for their time rather than attempting to redo the interview by email.
What happens if I am waitlisted?
You remain under consideration, but the amount of movement varies dramatically by school and cycle. Some waitlists move substantially, while others move very little.
I personally experienced both coming off a waitlist and remaining on one without receiving the acceptance. I would continue following the school’s communication rules while planning realistically around any acceptance you already hold.
All about medical schools
Learn how to find & fit a school’s mission, how to find their admission requirements, and read my MCAT and GPA requirement guides for having the best chances
Medical School Database
Find a database of all MD and DO programs, the top service, research, international-friendly, rural medicine, primary care focused, stat friendly, and out of state friendly schools, and schools that give full ride scholarships
Communicating with medical schools
Learn how to communicate with medical school admissions departments using letters of intent, letters of interest, update letters, emailing admissions, and withdrawing from acceptances