Medical Schools for a 510 MCAT

A 510 MCAT is absolutely high enough to build a realistic U.S. MD medical school list, but it is also one of those scores where your school selection can make an enormous difference. According to the AAMC’s current percentile ranks for May 2026 through April 2027, a 510 is in the 79th percentile of MCAT test takers. The average MCAT among people applying to U.S. MD medical schools in 2025 was 506.3, while the average among students who actually matriculated was 512.1. A 510 therefore sits comfortably above the average MD applicant but a little below the average person entering an MD program.

That is a much better position than I think some applicants realize when they first see a 510. Current AAMC data show that applicants in the 510-513 MCAT range received at least one MD acceptance 62.4% of the time across the aggregated 2023-2024 through 2025-2026 cycles. Among applicants in that same MCAT band with undergraduate GPAs above 3.79, the historical acceptance rate was 70.5%. The percentage was 60.0% for applicants with GPAs from 3.60-3.79 and 48.7% for applicants between 3.40-3.59. Those numbers come from the AAMC’s current MCAT/GPA acceptance grid rather than a third-party admissions calculator.

I want to be careful with those percentages because the AAMC groups scores from 510 through 513 together. It does not publish a separate national acceptance rate for exactly 510, so telling someone that a 510 gives them precisely a 62.4% chance of acceptance would create more certainty than the data actually support. The 510 applicant also differs from the 513 applicant, and two people with identical scores can have completely different outcomes because of GPA, state residency, clinical experience, service, research, writing, school selection, timing, and mission fit.

That nuance is important enough that I would not build your list from one of the online calculators that labels forty schools “target,” “reach,” or “safety” after you enter only an MCAT and GPA. There really are medical schools where a 510 fits comfortably within the recent class profile, but there are also schools with similar MCAT numbers where state residency or mission makes the application much less realistic.

I went through current AAMC data, current medical-school admissions pages and Class of 2030 profiles, recent Reddit/r/premed discussions, Student Doctor Network threads, and admissions-officer guidance specifically for this article. I also compared the current search results for “medical schools for a 510 MCAT” because I wanted this guide to answer the parts of the question that a simple list of school names does not.

If you are building your entire application list right now, I would keep my broader Medical School Guide for Premeds and All About Medical Schools hub open alongside this article. A 510 gives you quite a few possibilities, but the best list still comes from combining the score with your GPA, state, experiences, mission fit, and where you would genuinely be willing to attend.

Is a 510 MCAT Good for Medical School?

Yes. A 510 is a good MCAT score for medical school, particularly when you compare it with the broader testing population and with the average score of people who actually apply to MD programs.

The current AAMC percentile table places a 510 at the 79th percentile, meaning approximately 79% of MCAT scores in the reference population were at or below 510. For comparison, a 509 is the 76th percentile, 511 is the 82nd, 512 is the 84th, and 513 is the 86th percentile. The AAMC updates these percentile ranks each May using the most recent three years of testing data, which is why you may occasionally see an older article assigning a slightly different percentile to the same score.

The more useful comparison for a premed is the applicant population. The AAMC reported an average MCAT of 506.3 among 2025 MD applicants and 512.1 among 2025 MD matriculants. A 510 is therefore 3.7 points above the average applicant score while sitting 2.1 points below the matriculant average.

I would describe that as a very workable position for an MD applicant rather than either extreme. You are not carrying an MCAT that should force you toward a DO-only application, but you also should not build a list as though your academic metrics make every MD program equally realistic.

When I was applying to medical school, one of the things I gradually learned was that matching the national averages does not actually tell you where to apply. I eventually applied to 25 schools, and the amount of school-specific research involved was much greater than I expected because residency preferences, mission, research emphasis, service expectations, and applicant volume could make two schools with almost identical MCAT statistics completely different opportunities.

What Percentile Is a 510 MCAT?

A 510 MCAT is currently the 79th percentile under the AAMC percentile ranks in effect from May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027. The current testing-population mean is 500.6, which places a 510 almost ten points above the average MCAT result.

Percentile is useful for understanding how well you performed on the exam, but I would not use it as the primary way to decide which medical schools belong on your list. Medical schools know the actual score, can see your individual section scores, and evaluate those results alongside your GPA and the rest of your application.

A 79th-percentile score can therefore be excellent for one program, close to the center of the class at another, and well below the usual distribution at a highly selective research program. The number has meaning only after you put it into the context of the school.

Can You Get Into Medical School With a 510 MCAT?

Yes. Applicants with scores around 510 earn MD acceptances every year, and the current AAMC data show that the 510-513 score band has historically produced a majority acceptance rate overall.

Across the combined 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025-2026 application cycles, the AAMC reports 26,292 applicants in the 510-513 MCAT band and 16,416 acceptees, which corresponds to 62.4% receiving at least one U.S. MD acceptance. The AAMC defines this table around applicants and acceptees, so this is not the common mistake of dividing matriculants by applicants and calling the result an acceptance rate.

That 62.4% should still be interpreted as historical context rather than your personal odds. It includes four different MCAT scores, several GPA ranges, applicants from every state, different school lists, and people with dramatically different experiences.

The bigger lesson is that a 510 should not automatically push a good applicant away from MD programs. Your task becomes identifying which MD programs make sense rather than deciding whether MD medical school is possible at all.

If you are comparing this with a lower score, I would also read my companion guide to Medical Schools for a 505 MCAT. The difference is larger than five points might initially sound because the AAMC acceptance patterns and the number of MD programs whose current classes center near your score both change noticeably by the time you reach 510.

What Is the Medical School Acceptance Rate With a 510 MCAT?

The best national estimate comes from the AAMC’s 510-513 MCAT group, not from exactly 510. Across the three most recent aggregated cycles, 62.4% of applicants in that group received at least one MD acceptance.

The GPA breakdown is considerably more informative:

Undergraduate GPA	AAMC MD acceptance rate for MCAT 510-513
Greater than 3.79	70.5%
3.60-3.79	60.0%
3.40-3.59	48.7%
3.20-3.39	42.3%
3.00-3.19	37.4%
All GPAs combined	62.4%

These figures are one of the reasons I do not like answering “Is a 510 good?” without asking what the rest of the academic record looks like. A 3.9/510 applicant and a 3.25/510 applicant share the same MCAT but appear in very different historical outcome groups.

There is another important limitation. Because 511, 512, and 513 are included in the same AAMC band, the exact historical percentage for applicants scoring precisely 510 is probably not identical to the 62.4% group figure. The AAMC does not provide the narrower breakdown publicly, so I would rather explain that limitation than pretend we have data that do not exist.

How Much Better Is a 510 MCAT Than a 505?

The difference is meaningful for MD admissions. A 505 is currently in the 64th percentile, while a 510 is in the 79th percentile, so five additional points move you about fifteen percentile points higher in the current testing population.

The AAMC acceptance grid shows a similar change in historical admissions outcomes. Applicants in the 502-505 score band had substantially lower MD acceptance percentages than applicants in the 510-513 group at comparable GPA levels. For applicants above a 3.79 GPA, for example, the historical acceptance percentage rises from 44.9% in the 502-505 group to 70.5% in the 510-513 group.

I would not interpret that as five MCAT points magically creating a twenty-five-point increase in one person’s chances. The groups contain different applicants and different score ranges. What the data do show is that 510 occupies a materially stronger position within the MD applicant pool.

It also changes how I would build the list. With a 505, I would usually place much more emphasis on mission-focused MD schools, home-state options, and a substantial DO list. With a 510 and an otherwise strong record, I would be comfortable building a much broader MD component while still considering DO schools if the applicant genuinely prefers to keep both pathways open.

Medical Schools to Consider With a 510 MCAT

I would not create a list by finding every medical school with an average MCAT between 508 and 512. That method looks objective but ignores some of the most important admissions variables.

Instead, I looked for programs where current official school data put a 510 within a plausible academic neighborhood, then examined the surrounding context. Some of these schools have current medians or averages from 509-512. Others explicitly say that successful applicants commonly score at least 510. A few have slightly higher averages but demonstrate a meaningful range around the median.

Use the table as a research starting point rather than an automatic application list:

Medical school	Current MCAT context	Why I would research it with a 510	Major consideration
Oakland University William Beaumont	Median 509	510 is slightly above the current median	Mission-aligned review and heavy applicant volume
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin	Successful applicants commonly 510+	510 matches the school’s published successful-applicant guidance	Experiences and holistic review still matter
Wake Forest University School of Medicine	Average 511	Only one point above 510	Very large national applicant pool
Quinnipiac Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine	Median 511	510 is close to the current class center	Small class and substantial applicant volume
Albany Medical College	Average 512	510 is close enough to warrant research	Look carefully at full academic and experiential fit
Creighton University School of Medicine	Average 512	510 is reasonably close to the current class profile	Jesuit mission and service fit matter
Wayne State University School of Medicine	Median 512; 10th-90th 503-519	510 sits comfortably inside the published distribution	Public-school context and overall fit
Eastern Virginia medical program at Old Dominion University	Mean 513	510 is below the mean but not far removed	Do not treat a three-point gap as a cutoff
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine	Mean 513	Plausible for applicants with strong mission fit	Service profile is particularly important

The reason I am comfortable including schools with 512 or 513 averages is that an average or median is not a minimum score. Roughly half of a class can sit below a median, and a school with a 512 median does not automatically reject everyone with a 510.

The reverse is equally important. Being one point above a school’s median does not make you a strong candidate by itself. Oakland currently reports a median MCAT of 509, but it also says that its admissions process is mission-aligned and that successful applicants demonstrate commitment to their communities and the medical profession.

If you want to widen the search beyond the schools I discuss here, use my U.S. Medical School GPA & MCAT Stats Explorer. I built that database so you can search MD and DO schools by current academic statistics rather than opening dozens of separate websites, although I still recommend verifying the final numbers through MSAR or the school’s current admissions page before you submit.

Oakland University William Beaumont With a 510 MCAT

Oakland is one of the cleanest current examples for this article because its Class of 2030 median MCAT is 509. A 510 therefore sits just above the current class median rather than several points below it.

That still does not make Oakland an easy admission. The school received more than 8,600 applications for the Class of 2030, and its admissions office describes the review as mission-aligned. The school specifically says that successful applicants demonstrate a commitment to serving their communities and the medical profession.

For someone with a 510, I would therefore move from the statistic to the experiences. If the GPA is strong, the application shows sustained clinical exposure and service, and the mission actually resonates with what you have done, Oakland is the kind of MD school I would research seriously.

Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin With a 510 MCAT

Chicago Medical School gives us something even more useful than a class average. Its current admissions FAQ says that most successful applicants have cumulative and science GPAs around 3.5 and an MCAT score of at least 510.

The school immediately follows that academic guidance with a description of holistic review. It considers medical and humanitarian experiences, research, employment, leadership, and diverse life experiences, which prevents the 510 number from functioning like a guaranteed interview threshold.

For a 510 applicant, this is exactly the kind of school profile I prefer to find. You do not have to explain away a large MCAT gap before the rest of the application is considered, so your energy can go toward deciding whether your experiences and interests fit what the school actually values.

Wake Forest With a 510 MCAT

Wake Forest’s Class of 2030 averaged a 511 MCAT and 3.82 GPA. The school received 14,403 applications, interviewed 724 applicants, and matriculated 193 students, including 147 students from outside North Carolina.

A 510 is therefore extremely close to the current academic center of the class. I would not call Wake Forest a “safety” or even assume that being one point below the average makes it a target, because the applicant volume is enormous and the program is selecting fewer than 200 students from more than 14,000 applications.

Wake also provides a useful example of why a published minimum should not be confused with competitiveness. Its current admissions requirements say that applicants need at least a 500 MCAT and 3.2 science GPA to be sent a secondary application. A 510 clears that floor easily, but clearing a screen and becoming one of the 724 interviewees are very different milestones.

Quinnipiac With a 510 MCAT

The Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine reports a median MCAT of 511 and median GPA of 3.7 for the Class of 2029. That class was selected from 9,426 applications for only 95 seats.

A 510 is therefore close to the current class median, and the GPA profile can be particularly useful for applicants whose undergraduate record is strong without sitting near a 3.9. The smaller class size and large applicant pool still make the admissions process selective.

This is another school where I would rather see a genuine reason to apply than simply say “my MCAT is close.” Your academic numbers may get you into a plausible range, while your experiences and school-specific writing help determine whether the application makes sense within a large national pool.

Albany Medical College With a 510 MCAT

Albany currently reports an average MCAT of 512 among students in its most recent incoming class. Its current section averages were 128 in Biological and Biochemical Foundations, 127 in CARS, 128 in Chemical and Physical Foundations, and 129 in Psychological and Social Foundations.

I would consider a two-point gap from the average completely reasonable to investigate rather than treating 512 as a cutoff. The better question is whether the GPA, academic trend, activities, and mission fit support the application.

This is where using actual class distributions through MSAR becomes helpful. A single mean tells you the center, but the 10th, 25th, 75th, and 90th percentile information tells you much more about where a 510 actually sits among accepted or matriculating students.

Creighton With a 510 MCAT

Creighton’s Class of 2030 had an average MCAT of 512 and median cumulative GPA of 3.88. The school received 7,253 applications, interviewed 999 applicants, and extended 251 acceptances.

The two-point MCAT difference would not automatically stop me from applying with a 510. I would pay considerably more attention to the overall academic profile and whether the applicant has a convincing connection with Creighton’s Jesuit identity and emphasis on service.

This is one reason I keep emphasizing mission. A 510 applicant with years of meaningful service may be much more interesting at one institution than another applicant with the same exact MCAT who selected the school only because an online list called it a target.

If you are having trouble figuring out what mission fit actually means beyond copying words from a school’s About page, my guide to finding and fitting a medical school’s mission goes through the process I used during my own application cycle.

Wayne State With a 510 MCAT

Wayne State’s current profile is particularly useful because the school publishes more than one number. For its 2025 accepted applicants, the median MCAT was 512 and the 10th-90th percentile range was 503-519. The school also states that it does not impose a minimum MCAT or GPA requirement.

A 510 is therefore two points below the median while sitting comfortably inside the actual accepted-applicant distribution. That is much more informative than seeing “512” on a ranking table and concluding that 510 is automatically too low.

This is the way I would interpret school statistics throughout your list. Look at the center of the class, but also ask whether your number still lies within a meaningful portion of the school’s distribution and whether the rest of your application gives the committee a reason to keep reading.

Eastern Virginia’s Medical Program With a 510 MCAT

The current admissions page for the medical program at Old Dominion University reports that recent matriculating students have had a mean GPA of 3.70 and mean MCAT of 513.

A 510 is three points below that mean, so I would not describe the school as a statistical match in the same way I would describe Oakland or Wake Forest. I also would not automatically exclude it when the applicant has a strong GPA, meaningful clinical work, service, and a convincing reason for the program.

This is a useful boundary case for a 510 list. You should have some schools where your score is near or above the recent center, some where it is a little below but still plausible, and perhaps a smaller number where you are stretching academically because another part of the fit is particularly strong.

Loyola With a 510 MCAT

Loyola Stritch’s Class of 2030 has a mean MCAT of 513, mean overall GPA of 3.86, and mean science GPA of 3.82. The class contains 171 students selected from more than 14,000 applicants.

The part I would pay attention to beyond the 513 is the experience profile. The school reports substantial service involvement among its entering students, including averages of 351 hours of medically based service and 368 hours of non-medical service.

That makes Loyola a good example of why a 510 school list cannot be created from MCAT statistics alone. A service-heavy applicant with a 510 may have a coherent reason to investigate Stritch, while an applicant with minimal service who selected the school because 513 seemed close enough could be missing a much larger mismatch.

State-Dependent MD Medical Schools to Consider With a 510 MCAT

Some of the most tempting schools for a 510 applicant are public programs with averages around 509-511. They are also where generic “medical schools for a 510 MCAT” lists can become misleading because the academic number may look ideal while state preference substantially changes the admissions opportunity.

These are several current examples:

Medical school	Current MCAT context	Residency or mission issue to investigate
University of Toledo	Average 510	62% of 2026 entering class were Ohio residents
University at Buffalo	Average 511	89% of Class of 2030 were New York residents
Wright State Boonshoft	Average highest MCAT 508.76	66% of reported class were Ohio residents
NEOMED	Overall average 511	Regular-decision middle 50% was 510-516
Florida State	Published regular MD minimum 500	Strong Florida and mission emphasis
University of Arizona Tucson	Minimum 498	Holistic review and state context still matter

This table is why I would never sort schools from lowest MCAT to highest and call everything below 510 a target. A 510 can be statistically excellent for a public medical school while the applicant’s residency makes the application much less attractive.

My Out-of-State-Friendly Public Medical Schools guide goes deeper into this problem. I would use it alongside MSAR whenever your list begins adding public programs outside your home state.

University of Toledo With a 510 MCAT

The University of Toledo’s 2026 entering class had an average MCAT of exactly 510, with an average overall GPA of 3.81 and science GPA of 3.75. The school received 7,051 applications and enrolled 175 students.

Residency changes the interpretation. Sixty-two percent of the entering class were Ohio residents even though nonresidents supplied most of the applications. A nonresident is certainly not excluded, since 38% of the class came from outside Ohio, but I would still incorporate geography into the decision.

For an Ohio resident with a 510 and a strong overall application, Toledo is the sort of program that deserves close research. For someone across the country, it may still make sense, but the rationale needs to extend beyond matching the average MCAT.

University at Buffalo With a 510 MCAT

Buffalo’s Class of 2030 has an average MCAT of 511 and average GPA of 3.8, which makes the academic comparison look excellent for a 510 applicant. The geographic distribution tells the other half of the story: 89% of the class are New York residents, with 40% coming from Western New York.

If you live in New York, that combination can make Buffalo considerably more interesting than it is for an applicant with identical academic numbers living somewhere else.

This does not mean every public school automatically rejects nonresidents. It means the same 510 needs to be interpreted through both an academic filter and a geographic filter before you decide that a school belongs on the list.

Wright State With a 510 MCAT

Wright State’s currently published Class of 2028 profile reports an average highest MCAT of 508.76 and average science GPA of 3.68. Sixty-six percent of matriculants were Ohio residents.

A 510 therefore sits above the reported MCAT average, which is useful if the rest of your profile is compatible. The resident distribution is still meaningful enough that I would not label Wright State a generic national safety.

This is the kind of school where a score-only calculator can overstate how favorable the application is. Your MCAT may be above average while your geography, experiences, or institutional fit still require careful thought.

NEOMED With a 510 MCAT

NEOMED provides unusually useful current data because it reports both the full entering class and the students entering through the competitive regular-decision pathway. For the July 2026 entering class, the overall middle 50% MCAT range was 508-514 with an average of 511.

Among regular-decision entrants specifically, the middle 50% was 510-516 with an average of 513. A 510 therefore sits at the lower boundary of that published middle 50% for the regular-decision group rather than near the average.

That additional detail changes how I would describe the school. Saying simply “NEOMED averages 511, so 510 is a target” would throw away information the school’s own admissions page provides.

Florida State With a 510 MCAT

Florida State generally does not consider regular MD applicants below a 500 MCAT and 3.5 undergraduate GPA except under special circumstances, so a 510 clears its published academic floor comfortably.

The school also explicitly says its holistic review considers coursework, service, volunteering, shadowing, research, GPA, MCAT, likelihood of practicing in Florida, and fit with its mission. That means the relevant question is not whether 510 exceeds 500. It is whether the applicant fits the kind of physician-training mission the program is designed to serve.

For a Florida applicant whose experiences fit that mission, this can be worth serious investigation. I would not turn the same published minimum into a generic recommendation for every 510 applicant nationwide.

University of Arizona Tucson With a 510 MCAT

Arizona Tucson currently publishes a 498 minimum MCAT, uses the applicant’s highest score while still considering all attempts, and describes its admissions process as holistic.

What I found more interesting for a 510 article is the school’s own retake advice. Its admissions FAQ specifically cautions applicants against assuming that improving the MCAT by only one or two points is always worthwhile. The school says applicants should consider strengthening the rest of the application instead when the existing score is not borderline low, while also noting that repeated attempts with scores moving up and down can be viewed negatively.

That is admissions-office guidance rather than generic test-prep advice, and I think it is particularly relevant to someone staring at a 510 and wondering whether 512 will transform the cycle.

Is a 510 MCAT Competitive for MD Medical Schools?

A 510 is competitive for a meaningful range of MD medical schools, especially when paired with a strong GPA and thoughtful school list. I would not call it competitive for every MD program, because recent entering-class MCAT medians vary dramatically across schools.

The national context is encouraging. You are above the 2025 MD applicant average of 506.3 and only modestly below the matriculant average of 512.1. The AAMC’s 510-513 group also shows a 62.4% aggregated acceptance rate, with substantially better historical outcomes among applicants with higher GPAs.

Where people get into trouble is converting “competitive for MD” into “competitive everywhere.” If your list contains twenty programs centered around 516-520 and only a few schools where 510 is near the current class distribution, the problem is no longer whether 510 is a respectable score. The problem is the construction of the list.

I would rather have a 510 applicant build around schools whose recent ranges make statistical sense, their own state programs, nationally accessible private programs, and genuine mission matches, then add a smaller number of higher-stat reaches that they would be excited to attend.

Is a 510 MCAT Too Low for MD Medical School?

No. The current national data do not support describing a 510 as categorically too low for MD admissions.

A 510 is above the mean among MD applicants, sits just below the current matriculant mean, and belongs to an AAMC score band in which most applicants historically received at least one MD acceptance. Those facts do not guarantee a successful application, but they make an MD application completely reasonable for many candidates.

I would become more cautious when the GPA is also low, the science record has significant unresolved weaknesses, the school list is concentrated among very high-stat programs, or the applicant has limited clinical or service experience. In those situations, the concern is the combined profile rather than the number 510 in isolation.

Is a 510 MCAT Competitive for DO Medical Schools?

Yes. A 510 is academically strong for a very large portion of the U.S. DO school landscape.

AACOM currently reports that the 2025 entering DO class had a mean MCAT of 502.95 and overall GPA of 3.62. A 510 is therefore more than seven points above the national DO matriculant mean.

Several established osteopathic programs illustrate the comparison:

Osteopathic medical school	Current AACOM mean MCAT
Des Moines University COM	507.1
Campbell University COM	504.6
NYITCOM	504.6
Kansas City University COM	504.5
University of the Incarnate Word SOM	504.8
A.T. Still University KCOM	502.9
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine	502.5

These figures come from current AACOM school profiles rather than estimates.

I still would not call any of those schools a safety. Medical-school admissions depend on far more than the MCAT, and several osteopathic programs have specific regional, service, or professional priorities.

A 510 does give you the luxury of evaluating many DO schools based less on whether your MCAT is high enough and more on whether you actually want their location, curriculum, clinical rotation network, cost, mission, and approach to osteopathic medicine.

If you would be completely happy earning either an MD or DO, that can be a valuable option. If you already know that you would reject every DO acceptance and reapply MD, I would not add DO programs simply because their MCAT averages are lower.

510 MCAT With a 3.8 or Higher GPA

A 3.8+ GPA paired with a 510 MCAT is a strong enough academic combination to support a substantial MD application when the rest of the application is appropriately developed.

The AAMC’s clearest category is GPA greater than 3.79. Applicants in that group with MCAT scores of 510-513 had a 70.5% aggregated MD acceptance rate across the three recent cycles included in the current table.

I would not interpret that as a personal 70.5% probability. I would interpret it as evidence that a 510 plus strong undergraduate performance is not an unusual academic profile among applicants who successfully earn MD acceptances.

With a 3.8-4.0 GPA, I would spend much more energy optimizing the school list and application quality than worrying that the 510 has made MD admission unrealistic.

510 MCAT With a 3.6-3.79 GPA

Applicants in the AAMC’s 3.60-3.79 GPA and 510-513 MCAT group had a 60.0% aggregated MD acceptance rate.

At this combination, the academic profile still supports a serious MD application, but I would be particularly careful about where both metrics sit relative to each school’s distribution. A 3.65/510 can make excellent sense at one medical school while leaving both metrics below the center at another.

Academic trend also deserves attention. A 3.65 after an early difficult year followed by several semesters of 3.8-4.0 science work tells the committee something different from the same cumulative GPA accompanied by declining recent performance.

510 MCAT With a 3.4-3.59 GPA

The AAMC reports a 48.7% aggregated acceptance rate for applicants with GPAs from 3.40-3.59 and MCAT scores of 510-513.

This is where I would place more weight on the direction of the academic record. Strong recent science coursework, an upward trend, or successful post-baccalaureate work can help explain why the cumulative GPA does not fully represent the applicant’s present academic ability.

I would also consider an MD/DO list more seriously at this combination if the applicant would genuinely attend a DO program. A 510 is well above the national DO matriculant MCAT average, so you can build that portion of the list from a strong MCAT position rather than treating osteopathic medicine as an afterthought.

510 MCAT With a GPA Below 3.4

A 510 helps, but it cannot erase a substantially weaker undergraduate record. In the AAMC’s current aggregated table, applicants with GPAs from 3.20-3.39 and MCATs from 510-513 had a 42.3% MD acceptance rate, while those from 3.00-3.19 were at 37.4%.

Those numbers are encouraging enough that I would not declare the applicant incapable of earning an MD acceptance, but I would investigate the transcript carefully. The reason for the GPA, the science GPA, recent academic performance, course rigor, and whether the record has already demonstrated improvement all become very important.

If the last several semesters remain weak, additional academic work may improve the application more meaningfully than squeezing another two points out of an already respectable MCAT.

Should You Retake a 510 MCAT?

I would not automatically retake a 510. Whether a retake makes sense depends much more on what you were scoring before the exam, what schools you are trying to reach, your section distribution, and whether preparing again will take time away from improving something else that matters.

A 510 already places you in the 79th percentile and in an AAMC admissions band where a majority of recent applicants earned at least one MD acceptance. Retaking therefore needs a reason beyond feeling disappointed that the score did not begin with 51 followed by a larger number.

I would lean toward keeping the 510 when your recent full-length practice scores were around 509-512, your sections are reasonably balanced, your target-school list centers around programs where 510 is within a plausible range, and the rest of the application is ready. Under those circumstances, a retake carries the possibility of spending weeks or months to land at essentially the same score.

I would take a retake much more seriously if your recent official AAMC full-length scores were consistently around 515-518, something unusual happened on exam day, a particular section fell far below your normal performance, or the programs you are genuinely targeting have MCAT distributions several points above 510.

The current University of Arizona Tucson admissions FAQ gives useful real-world context because it specifically addresses applicants wondering whether they should retake to gain one or two points. The school advises applicants not to focus excessively on a one- or two-point increase when the score is not borderline low and instead to improve the rest of the application, while noting that it can see all attempts even though it uses the highest score in evaluation.

That does not mean every admissions committee handles multiple scores identically. It does show why “512 is better than 510” is not enough by itself to justify another attempt.

Should You Retake a 510 for a 515?

That decision makes much more sense than retaking because you hope to turn 510 into 511 or 512. A genuine jump to 515 would move you from the current 79th percentile to the 91st percentile and place you much closer to the academic profile of schools where a 510 may sit near the bottom of the distribution.

The issue is whether 515 is realistically reproducible, not whether 515 would be advantageous. If your recent AAMC practice tests were consistently 515-518 and the 510 was a clear underperformance, I would think seriously about another attempt.

If your practice tests were 508, 510, 511, and 512, planning around an assumed 515 is much riskier. Your existing 510 already supports a viable application, and an unchanged or lower retake gives you less benefit than the theoretical five-point jump.

What If Your 510 MCAT Has an Uneven Section Score?

The section breakdown can matter even when the total is respectable. A balanced 127/127/128/128 tells a somewhat different academic story from a 132/122/128/128, even though both total 510.

There is no universal medical-school rule that every section must be at least 125. Individual programs can have their own screens or preferences, and policies can change, so I would check MSAR and current admissions pages if one of your sections is unusually low.

I would become especially careful with a section at 123 or below because the total score can hide a much weaker component. A 124 or 125 may be completely workable at many schools, but it is still worth checking each program instead of assuming the total is the only number an admissions committee sees.

The retake question also changes when the 510 came from one unexpectedly weak section while your practice performance was consistently stronger. In that situation, you have a more concrete reason to believe a future score could improve meaningfully.

Can You Get Into a Highly Selective Medical School With a 510?

It is possible, but I would treat highly selective programs whose recent MCAT distributions center well above 510 as reaches rather than the foundation of the list.

A median is not a cutoff, which means some students at schools with 516, 518, or even higher medians matriculate below that median. The farther your score falls below the typical range, however, the more you need another compelling reason for the application to make sense.

Research productivity, unusual life experience, extraordinary service or leadership, a strong institutional connection, or a very specific mission match can all contribute to the overall evaluation, but none turns the MCAT into irrelevant information.

I am comfortable including several ambitious applications when they are schools you genuinely care about. I would not allow those schools to crowd out the programs where your academics and experiences make much more sense.

Is There Such a Thing as a Safety Medical School With a 510?

I would not call any U.S. medical school a safety based on a 510 MCAT.

This is one place where I disagree with some online school-list tools. A calculator may call a program “safe” because your MCAT is three or four points above its median, but that label can ignore a 2% overall acceptance environment, resident preference, mission, a small class, or an applicant pool containing thousands of people with similarly strong numbers.

Your score being above a school’s median is still useful. I would call that favorable statistical fit, which is very different from assuming admission is safe.

That language also keeps the school-list process realistic. You can have programs where your academics are particularly well aligned without assuming any individual school owes you an interview.

How Many Medical Schools Should You Apply to With a 510 MCAT?

I would determine the number from the quality and balance of the list rather than from the MCAT alone. A 510 applicant living in a state with several realistic public options can build a different list from someone with the same score whose state offers few favorable resident opportunities.

When I applied, I submitted to 25 medical schools, and one thing I underestimated was how different twenty-five applications feel after the secondaries begin arriving. Every additional school can mean another fee, more research, several essays, deadlines to track, and another opportunity for your writing quality to decline because you are stretched too thin.

With a 510, I would rather see a carefully researched list of programs where you can explain the academic, geographic, and mission logic than an enormous list built because you are afraid the score is not good enough.

My How to Build a Medical School List guide goes through the full process, while my free medical school application tracker gives you a place to record the MCAT, GPA, mission, residency preference, secondary status, and why each program is actually on your list.

How I Would Build a Medical School List With a 510 MCAT

If I were building a list around a 510 today, I would use three separate filters rather than trying to classify every school from its median MCAT alone.

Filter	What I would check	Why it matters
Academic fit	MCAT distribution, cumulative GPA, science GPA, trend, section scores	Tells me whether my academic record is realistically within the school’s recent range
Access fit	State residency, regional preference, eligibility, applicant volume	Prevents a statistically attractive school from becoming a poor application because of geography or selectivity
Mission fit	Service, research, clinical experiences, rural or underserved interests, school priorities	Tells me whether there is an actual reason this admissions committee might prefer my application

I would start with academic fit because there is little value in building a list where nearly every school sits far above both your GPA and MCAT. A 510 gives you access to plenty of MD programs whose current classes center from roughly 509 through the low 510s, along with selected programs above that range.

Then I would apply the access filter. This is where I would remove public schools that appear perfect statistically but matriculate very few students from my state, programs for which I do not satisfy a residency or regional requirement, and schools whose enormous applicant pools make me want a stronger reason for applying.

Finally, I would use mission fit to choose among the remaining schools. If one program heavily emphasizes service and my application contains years of meaningful community work, that can be a much more sensible use of an application than a statistically identical school centered on a priority I have barely demonstrated.

That three-filter process is also how I would protect myself from overapplying. Instead of asking whether I can technically send an application, I am asking whether the combination of academics, access, and fit gives me a defensible reason to spend one of my applications there.

What Reddit and r/premed Say About Applying With a 510 MCAT

For this article, I searched recent Reddit and r/premed discussions involving applicants with a 510 MCAT and summarized the recurring findings here rather than treating individual comments as admissions facts.

One thing that stood out immediately was how different the advice became when the MCAT stayed the same but the rest of the profile changed. A recent Illinois reapplicant with a 3.6 GPA and 510 received comments focused heavily on removing state schools that were unfriendly to nonresidents and adding nationally accessible programs. A Colorado applicant with a 3.92 GPA and 510 had an entirely different list containing a mix of MD and DO programs, while a Utah applicant with a 4.0/510 was considering more than forty applications because of anxiety about having to reapply.

I found that reassuring in a way because it shows why there is no universal “510 school list.” Reddit users repeatedly redirected applicants away from schools where state preference made the application poor, even when the MCAT seemed reasonable, and toward programs where geography and statistics made more sense.

Another recurring theme was anxiety generated by admissions calculators. In one 2026 discussion, an applicant with a 3.9 GPA, 510 MCAT, strong research, substantial clinical experience, and hundreds of service hours became discouraged because a school-list tool classified many programs as reaches even though the applicant’s MCAT was within the schools’ published ranges. The responses pushed back against treating the calculator labels as definitive and encouraged a more thoughtful combination of state schools and accessible private MD programs.

The community discussion around DO programs was also revealing. Some applicants worry that a 510 may somehow be “too high” for DO programs or trigger yield protection, while others report successful DO cycles at that score. I would not make application decisions based on anonymous success stories, but the concern itself is a useful reminder that a 510 does not force you into one degree pathway.

My takeaway from r/premed is not that the community has discovered one perfect 510 list. It is that the strongest advice repeatedly becomes individualized once people know the applicant’s GPA, state, service, clinical exposure, research, and goals.

What Student Doctor Network Says About a 510 MCAT

For this article, I also searched Student Doctor Network WAMC and school-list discussions involving 510 MCAT applicants and summarized the recurring recommendations from verified physicians, faculty members, admissions advisers, and other contributors.

The most consistent warning was about filling the list with schools whose academic profiles sit significantly above 510. In a 2024 thread involving a 3.79 GPA and 510 MCAT, a verified physician contributor identified several higher-stat programs as unrealistic compared with the rest of the applicant’s list.

A 2025 thread involving a Michigan resident with a 3.83 GPA and 510 produced a different type of correction. Faculty and physician contributors focused not only on academics but also on the applicant’s state options, out-of-state public schools, and the amount of nonclinical service expected by particular mission-driven programs.

Another current SDN case involved a California applicant with a 3.90 GPA, 510 MCAT, extensive research, meaningful community engagement, clinical work, and ties to an underserved region. The school list contained both programs around the applicant’s academic range and much more selective schools, which illustrates how a 510 can support a broad list without making every program equally realistic.

I also found a retake thread involving a 3.9 GPA and 510 where the applicant was considering another MCAT after already submitting the primary. That type of discussion is useful because it reveals how easily applicants can become focused on the score after the rest of the application process has already begun.

I would use SDN for pattern recognition rather than current school policy. Some threads remain valuable years later because the school-list reasoning is sound, but residency policies, medians, screens, and institutional priorities can change. I verified the school statistics in this article against current official school pages instead of copying historical forum recommendations as though they were still admissions rules.

What Medical School Admissions Officers Say About a 510 MCAT

I also went beyond applicant forums because I wanted to know what actual admissions professionals say about the role of MCAT scores.

The AAMC’s guide to how medical schools review applications includes comments from admissions officers emphasizing both sides of the equation. Irene Tise from Wake Forest explains that performing well on the MCAT provides evidence that an applicant can handle medical-school coursework, while former admissions leaders describe initiative, leadership, creativity, research, community service, motivation, and life experiences as other qualities committees examine.

The AAMC also explicitly notes that outstanding grades and MCAT scores do not guarantee an interview. Schools consider whether applicants appear likely to thrive within the institution and whether their experiences, attributes, and goals align with its mission.

A separate AAMC article asks admissions officers what they wish premeds understood before applying. David Grier, an associate dean for admissions, emphasizes telling a coherent story rather than accumulating disconnected activities. Jorge Girotti emphasizes firsthand clinical experience, while Tanisha Price-Johnson advises applicants to research a school’s mission carefully and demonstrate through their application how their experiences align with it.

You can read the AAMC’s full explanation of how medical schools review applications, and I think it applies especially well to a 510 applicant. Your score has already given an admissions committee meaningful evidence of academic readiness. The job now is not to pretend the score does not matter or obsess over making it two points higher. It is to make sure the rest of the application gives the committee a reason to choose you from among many other academically capable applicants.

Oakland’s current admissions messaging illustrates this from the school side. Its Class of 2030 has a median MCAT of 509, but an associate dean described the admitted students’ character, compassion, and potential as qualities that could not be captured by numbers alone.

Those comments are much more useful to me than saying “510 is good enough.” They show how the score gets you into a meaningful academic conversation while the rest of the application determines what kind of candidate the committee actually sees.

Does Mission Fit Matter More With a 510 MCAT?

Mission fit matters at every score, but I think applicants around 510 can benefit especially from taking it seriously because there are many statistically plausible schools to choose from.

Imagine two programs both average around 511. One places enormous emphasis on longitudinal community service, while another prioritizes research and scientific inquiry. If your application contains three years of sustained work with underserved communities and almost no research, those schools are not equivalent opportunities simply because the MCAT columns match.

This is one reason the school list becomes more interesting at 510 than at scores where the academic options are much narrower. You have enough statistical flexibility to choose among programs based on the type of applicant you actually are.

I would therefore use mission as a filtering tool rather than merely as material for the secondary essay. My medical school mission-fit guide explains how I look at the mission statement, admissions language, curriculum, clinical sites, special programs, and secondary prompts together instead of pulling one attractive sentence from an About page.

Does State Residency Matter With a 510 MCAT?

Yes, and it can matter enough to outweigh a perfect statistical match.

The current numbers from Toledo and Buffalo make this obvious. Toledo’s entering class averages exactly 510, but 62% are Ohio residents. Buffalo averages 511, but 89% of its current class are New York residents.

If you live in the relevant state, a 510 can make those schools especially interesting. If you do not, you need to find out whether the nonresident portion of the class represents broad national recruitment or applicants with particular regional ties.

This is why I separate state fit from academic fit in the framework above. They answer two different questions, and you need satisfactory answers to both before assuming that a public medical school is a sensible application.

Is a 510 MCAT Good Enough if You Have No Research?

Potentially, yes. Research is not a universal requirement at every U.S. medical school, and a 510 remains a strong score even when your application is built more heavily around clinical experience, service, leadership, education, or another meaningful theme.

I would pay attention to which schools you choose. Applying to a research-intensive program whose entering class has a substantially higher MCAT and whose mission strongly emphasizes investigation creates more areas where your application has to overcome a mismatch.

At a service-oriented or clinically focused program where 510 is near the academic range and your experiences line up naturally with the mission, the absence of extensive research can be much less central.

The broader lesson is that the school list should reflect the application you actually have. You should not try to manufacture a research identity for a school that makes little sense when your strongest work has consistently been elsewhere.

Is a 510 MCAT Good Enough With Limited Clinical Experience?

The MCAT cannot substitute for demonstrating that you understand what caring for patients and working in healthcare actually involve.

The admissions officers interviewed by the AAMC specifically emphasize meaningful clinical exposure. Jorge Girotti notes that applicants should be able to speak from firsthand patient-care experience about how that exposure influenced their decision to pursue medicine.

If you have a 510 and almost no meaningful clinical experience, I would worry more about fixing that gap than retaking the MCAT for 512. A higher score does not answer the admissions committee’s separate question about whether you understand the profession you are choosing.

Is a 510 MCAT Good Enough With Limited Nonclinical Service?

That depends heavily on the schools. Some programs place much more emphasis on sustained community engagement than others, and the current Loyola class profile demonstrates how substantial the service background can be at a particularly service-oriented institution.

This is where generic school lists can cause trouble. They may recommend a program because its median MCAT is 512 while ignoring the fact that the applicant has almost none of the experiences the institution repeatedly emphasizes.

If service is a weaker part of your application, either strengthen it before applying or build more of the list around programs whose missions better reflect your existing experiences and goals.

Should You Apply Early With a 510 MCAT?

I would submit a strong application reasonably early rather than delay unnecessarily, especially at schools using rolling admissions. I would not rush a weak personal statement, incomplete activities section, or poor school list merely so AMCAS can be transmitted a few days sooner.

Several schools in this article use rolling processes, and Chicago Medical School’s current FAQ explicitly encourages early-cycle applications for that reason.

A 510 is already a viable score. If the application is otherwise ready, I would not spend months delaying solely because you think every MD applicant needs 515 before clicking submit.

Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Schools for a 510 MCAT

Is a 510 MCAT considered a good score?

Yes. A 510 is currently in the 79th percentile of MCAT examinees and is several points above the 2025 average among applicants to U.S. MD programs. It is slightly below the 512.1 mean among 2025 MD matriculants.

I would describe it as a strong score that supports a realistic MD application rather than as a score that makes every MD program realistic. Your GPA, state residency, experiences, and list still matter enormously.

Is a 510 MCAT enough for MD schools?

Yes. Current AAMC data show that applicants in the 510-513 group collectively received at least one MD acceptance 62.4% of the time across the three aggregated cycles included in the current data.

The outcome changes substantially with GPA, which is why a 510 should never be interpreted without the rest of your academic record.

Can I get into MD school with a 3.8 GPA and 510 MCAT?

Yes, that is a very reasonable academic profile from which to apply MD. Applicants above a 3.79 GPA with MCAT scores of 510-513 had a 70.5% aggregated MD acceptance rate in the current AAMC table.

That percentage is not a prediction for you personally, but it strongly argues against assuming that a 3.8/510 profile is academically incapable of earning an MD acceptance.

Can I get into MD school with a 3.5 GPA and 510 MCAT?

Yes, although school selection becomes more important. The AAMC’s 3.40-3.59 GPA and 510-513 MCAT group had a 48.7% aggregated acceptance rate.

I would pay close attention to science GPA and academic trend, then build a mix of realistic MD programs and appropriate DO options if you would genuinely consider both.

Is a 510 MCAT too low for medical school?

No. It is above the average score among MD applicants and well above the national mean among entering DO students.

The more useful question is whether 510 is appropriate for the specific medical schools on your list. A score can be excellent for one program and a significant reach at another.

Should I retake a 510 MCAT?

I would retake only when there is good evidence that you can improve meaningfully or when the score conflicts with the schools you genuinely want to target. Consistently scoring around 515 or higher on recent AAMC practice tests gives me a much stronger reason to consider a retake than hoping for an extra one or two points.

I would be more hesitant when your practice scores clustered around 510, your sections are balanced, and your current score already fits the schools you plan to apply to.

Is a 510 MCAT competitive for DO school?

Yes. AACOM reports a 2025 national mean MCAT of 502.95 among entering osteopathic medical students, so a 510 sits well above that benchmark.

You should still choose DO programs according to mission, geography, clinical rotations, curriculum, cost, and genuine interest rather than assuming that being above the mean makes admission automatic.

What medical schools have an average MCAT around 510?

Current examples include Oakland with a 509 median, Wake Forest and Quinnipiac at 511, Toledo at 510, Buffalo at 511, Albany and Creighton at 512, and several additional schools whose distributions make 510 worth investigating.

I would not convert that sentence into an application list without checking state residency, GPA, mission, applicant volume, and your individual section scores.

Is 510 close enough to a 512 medical school median?

Often, yes. A median is the middle of the distribution, not an admissions minimum.

Wayne State provides a useful real example: its accepted-applicant median is 512, but the published 10th-90th percentile MCAT range extends from 503 through 519. A 510 therefore lies below the center but comfortably within the current accepted range.

Is 510 close enough to a 513 medical school average?

Potentially, although I would treat those programs more selectively. Schools such as Loyola and the medical program at Old Dominion currently report means around 513, which puts a 510 somewhat below the center rather than wildly outside it.

Your GPA and mission fit become especially important when you are using some of the academic flexibility in your list to apply a few points above your score.

Final Thoughts on Medical Schools for a 510 MCAT

A 510 is one of the scores where I think premeds can become unnecessarily pessimistic. It is easy to open MSAR, see plenty of 512, 513, and 514 medians, compare yourself with applicants posting 518s and 520s online, and start believing that 510 somehow became a weak medical-school score.

The national data tell a more encouraging story. A 510 is in the 79th percentile, above the average score of U.S. MD applicants, and part of an AAMC score band in which 62.4% of recent applicants received at least one MD acceptance. Applicants in that band with GPAs above 3.79 had an aggregated acceptance rate above 70%.

I would not use those statistics to become overconfident. I would use them to stop treating the MCAT as a problem that automatically needs fixing.

There are current MD programs with medians or averages of 509, 510, 511, and 512. There are programs with averages around 513 where a 510 can still fall within a plausible distribution. There are public schools where 510 looks excellent statistically but residency makes the application much more complicated, and there are private programs where thousands of applicants with similar statistics compete for a relatively small class.

That is why I would build the list with academic fit, access fit, and mission fit as separate questions. A school belongs on your list when all three make enough sense together, not simply because an online database places its median within two points of your score.

I would also resist retaking automatically. If your practice performance shows that 515 or higher is realistically available, your goals may justify another attempt. If your practice tests were already centered near 510 and the rest of your application has meaningful room for improvement, your time may produce more value in your clinical work, service, school research, writing, or application preparation.

When I went through my own application cycle, I learned that a medical-school list becomes much more complicated once you stop viewing schools as rows of GPA and MCAT statistics. That extra work is useful, though, because you eventually arrive at a list where every application has a reason for being there.

With a 510, you have enough academic flexibility to build that kind of list. I would use it.