Medical Schools With No Supplemental Application Fee

Post By

Ryan Brownlee

– Founder of AspiringMD

Which medical schools have no secondary application fee? See a current, verified list of $0 MD and DO secondaries, no-secondary schools, and fee waivers.

Yes, there are medical schools with no supplemental application fee, although the list is much shorter than you might expect. Some schools require a full secondary application but charge $0 to submit it, while a few schools do not use a traditional secondary application at all. There is also a much larger group of medical schools that normally charge a secondary fee but waive it for qualifying applicants.

I went through the current AAMC 2027 Secondary Application Policies report, individual medical-school admissions pages, TMDSAS information, and current AACOM data rather than relying on one of the older secondary-fee lists that still appear in Google. Application fees change between cycles, so I would treat the schools below as a 2026–2027 application-cycle snapshot for 2027 entry, not as a permanent list.

The distinction between a free secondary and a free application is also important. You may still have paid to send your primary application to the school through AMCAS, TMDSAS, or AACOMAS, and you may have other application expenses even when the medical school’s own supplemental fee is $0. For the 2027 AMCAS cycle, the AAMC charges $180 for the first school and $48 for each additional designation, so a “free secondary” does not undo the money you already spent at the primary stage.

If you are currently working through secondaries, my Medical School Secondary Applications: Essays, Timing & Strategy guide is the main pillar for this part of the application process. You can also use my broader Medical School Essays Guide if you are trying to keep your primary essays, secondary essays, and the rest of the writing process organized in one place.

Which Medical Schools Have No Supplemental Application Fee?

For the current 2026–2027 application cycle, I found several MD and DO medical schools where authoritative current sources either explicitly state that the secondary costs $0 or the current AAMC report lists a required secondary without a fee amount.

I am deliberately separating those two levels of verification. When a medical school or application service explicitly says “$0” or “no fee,” I feel comfortable calling it confirmed. When the AAMC’s 2027 report leaves the fee column blank but the school’s own current website does not expressly say “free,” I would still flag it as a likely no-fee secondary but verify your invitation or portal before assuming the cost is $0.

I would bookmark this page if you are applying in a later cycle, but I would still recheck the school before you submit. Secondary fees are exactly the kind of detail that can change quietly from one application year to the next, which is also why I would be cautious with older Reddit spreadsheets and fee lists that rank well in Google.

Medical Schools With a Free Secondary Application

The clearest examples are schools whose own admissions sources explicitly identify the secondary as free.

Carle Illinois College of Medicine requires AMCAS and then performs an initial screen before sending its unconventional secondary application to eligible applicants. Carle’s admissions FAQ specifically says the secondary is sent at no cost. The free application is still substantial because its secondary process includes a portfolio and video response, so “free” definitely does not mean “nothing to complete.”

Uniformed Services University is another especially clear example. Its current admissions information lists the application fee as $0 and explicitly says there is no fee for processing its supplemental application. Applicants still complete secondary essays and are applying to a medical school with a unique military and federal-service pathway, so I would only apply if that career structure genuinely fits what you want from medicine.

UT Southwestern Medical School also has a required secondary without a fee. TMDSAS’s current application guidance says applicants receive the secondary after the school receives their primary application and expressly states that there is no fee for this secondary application.

For osteopathic applicants, Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine and William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine both currently show a $0 supplemental application fee in AACOM’s 2026–2027 school profiles. Both still screen applicants before or as part of their secondary process, which is another useful reminder that eliminating the fee does not eliminate admissions screening.

Medical Schools With No Secondary Application at All

A school with no secondary application is different from a school with a $0 secondary application. In the first situation, you eliminate another application step entirely; in the second, you still complete the school-specific application but do not pay an additional fee for submitting it.

Long School of Medicine is one of the clearest current examples. Its official admissions page states that the school does not have a secondary application in any step of the process. Applicants still have other admissions requirements, including assessments for candidates who progress through the process, so the lack of a traditional secondary does not mean the entire application is free or automatic.

There is another wrinkle worth knowing. Some schools can lack a conventional secondary essay application while still charging another school-specific processing or graduate-application fee later. Indiana University School of Medicine, for example, sends supplemental instructions only to applicants invited to interview, and those applicants currently have to complete an IU graduate application and pay a $70 fee before the interview is scheduled. I would therefore not put every school without traditional secondary essays onto a “free medical schools to apply to” list.

The same distinction can appear in DO admissions. PCOM currently says there are no separate supplemental application requirements for 2027 admission because its school-specific questions are embedded in AACOMAS, but applicants still owe a $75 institutional application fee for the relevant location. “No supplemental application” and “no supplemental or institutional fee” are not interchangeable.

What Does “No Supplemental Application Fee” Mean?

A no supplemental application fee usually means you do not have to pay the medical school an additional fee to submit its school-specific secondary application. You may still need to write essays, upload information, answer demographic or institutional questions, submit photographs or forms, and meet a separate deadline.

The school can also screen applicants before offering the free secondary. Carle, for example, performs an initial screen before eligible applicants receive its no-cost application, while the two DO schools above describe screened supplemental processes as well.

That makes the phrase “free secondary” a statement about the price, not about the amount of work involved or your probability of receiving an interview.

If you are not sure why one school sent you a secondary while another has not, my guide to whether medical schools send secondaries to everyone explains automatic versus screened secondary applications in much more detail.

Is a Secondary Application the Same as a Supplemental Application?

Usually, yes. In medical school admissions, secondary application and supplemental application are generally used for the school-specific application that follows the centralized primary application.

Different medical schools use different terminology. One admissions page may call it a secondary application, another may call it a supplemental application, and another may place its additional questions inside an applicant portal without emphasizing either term.

What matters more than the label is whether the school requires additional information, essays, documents, or payment after the centralized application. That is why I looked at both “secondary application fee” and “supplemental application fee” while researching this article rather than treating them as separate categories.

Does a $0 Secondary Mean the Medical School Is Free to Apply To?

No. A $0 secondary means only that the school-specific supplemental fee is $0.

For applicants using AMCAS, the 2027 primary currently costs $180 for the first medical school and $48 for each additional school. That means you have already paid to designate the school unless Fee Assistance covers your AMCAS fees.

There can also be other costs elsewhere in the cycle. Depending on the schools on your list, you may encounter assessments, interview expenses, travel, transcripts or other application-related costs, and eventually acceptance deposits.

This is exactly why I built my 2027 AMCAS Application Checklist and Medical School Cost Calculator. Secondary fees tend to arrive as a long series of individual charges, which makes them easier to underestimate than one large bill.

How Much Do Medical School Secondary Applications Cost?

There is no universal medical school secondary fee. The AAMC says most medical schools require secondary applications and that the fees vary by school. Its current 2027 Secondary Application Policies report shows how wide that variation can be, with some schools charging nothing while others charge well over $100.

This is another area where older internet lists can become misleading quickly. A fee that was correct in 2022 or 2023 may not be the fee an applicant sees in a 2026 portal.

I would therefore record the current fee beside every school on your list rather than budgeting from one national estimate. My free Medical School Secondary Essay Organizer and Application Tracker includes a fee field alongside prompts, deadlines, submission status, and payment status because the writing and the financial side of secondary season are happening at the same time.

Why I Would Not Trust Old Medical School Secondary Fee Lists

Secondary-fee articles have a particularly short shelf life because schools can change the amount without changing much else about their application process.

I found this directly while researching this article. Some search-visible fee lists are several years old, and current AAMC data no longer match every amount that older resources report. The AAMC’s current report is especially useful because it states that the information comes directly from individual medical schools.

Arizona State is a good example of why that care matters. The current AAMC report does not show a secondary fee amount for the school, but ASU’s own FAQ discusses requesting relief from a “secondary fee” in extenuating circumstances. I would rather tell you to verify that portal than give you a confident $0 that could cost you money later.

Do Medical Schools Waive Secondary Fees With AAMC Fee Assistance?

Many medical schools waive their secondary application fees for applicants who qualify for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program, but you should verify the policy at each medical school rather than assume that every secondary is automatically free.

The AAMC’s current cost guidance specifically says that some medical schools waive secondary fees for Fee Assistance recipients and tells applicants to check the individual school’s policy. The AAMC Fee Assistance benefit also waives AMCAS fees for one submission covering up to 20 medical-school designations, provided you receive the award before submitting because those benefits are not retroactive.

If there is any reasonable chance you qualify, I would investigate Fee Assistance before you begin paying application expenses rather than after the bills start arriving. My AAMC Fee Assistance Program guide walks through the current benefits and timing, while my guide to free and paid AAMC resources helps separate the other AAMC expenses you may encounter.

Does AAMC Fee Assistance Cover Every Secondary Application?

No. An AAMC Fee Assistance award does not create one universal rule requiring every medical school to waive its secondary fee.

The AAMC tells applicants that secondary-fee waiver policies are school-specific, which matters particularly when you are applying outside the standard AMCAS structure.

This is one reason I would keep the school’s actual portal instructions or admissions page open before paying. If the portal recognizes your Fee Assistance status automatically, great. If it still requests payment despite a published waiver policy, contact the admissions office before assuming you need to pay immediately.

I would also investigate Fee Assistance before submitting AMCAS whenever possible. The AAMC explicitly says the AMCAS portion of the benefit is not retroactive, so waiting until after you have already paid can eliminate a major part of the potential savings.

Can You Ask a Medical School for a Secondary Fee Waiver?

Sometimes. A school may consider an individual hardship request even when you do not have an AAMC Fee Assistance award, but that is entirely school-specific.

ASU’s current admissions FAQ provides a useful example. It says applicants who were not approved for FAP but experienced extenuating financial circumstances may contact admissions about the secondary fee, with requests considered individually.

I would not send identical waiver requests to dozens of schools without checking their policies first. If a school explicitly says it does not offer individual waivers, repeatedly asking probably will not change the policy. If it publishes a hardship process or the instructions are unclear, a short, professional email asking whether assistance is available is reasonable.

Does a Free Secondary Mean the Medical School Sends It to Everyone?

No. Fee policy and secondary screening policy are separate questions.

Carle sends its free secondary only after initial screening. Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine similarly says its $0 secondary goes to applicants it considers well suited to its mission, and William Carey says applicants are screened on academic and nonacademic credentials before receiving its $0 supplemental application.

A medical school could therefore charge $0 and be highly selective about who receives the secondary, while another school could charge more than $100 and send its application to almost every eligible primary applicant.

If you are trying to decide whether receiving a secondary itself means anything about your chances, read my automatic vs. screened secondary application guide. That distinction is more informative than the fee when you are interpreting what the invitation actually means.

Does No Supplemental Fee Mean the Medical School Is Easier to Get Into?

No. There is no reason to assume that a medical school becomes easier to enter because its secondary application is free.

Carle still performs an initial screen. UT Tyler’s published admissions research describes a no-fee secondary containing four required mission-focused essays plus an optional essay, followed by another evaluation before applicants were selected for interviews.

That UT Tyler example is particularly helpful because it shows what a no-fee application can look like from inside an actual admissions process. Removing the fee did not remove applicant screening, mission evaluation, essays, or interview selection.

I would therefore treat a free secondary as a financial benefit rather than an admissions signal.

Should You Apply to a Medical School Just Because the Secondary Is Free?

I would not add a medical school to my list only because its supplemental application is free. Saving a secondary fee is useful, but you still paid for the primary designation in many application systems and still have to spend time preparing a thoughtful school-specific application.

A free secondary at a school that does not fit your academics, geography, mission, curriculum preferences, or career goals is not actually much of a bargain. It can still consume several hours of research and writing that would have been better spent improving an application to a school you genuinely want to attend.

I would instead use the fee as one small part of your school-list decision. If two schools both make sense for you and one has no secondary fee, that saving is nice. I would not allow $75 or $100 to transform a poor-fit medical school into a good one.

The same principle applies when the free secondary arrives. You do not have to submit an application simply because a school made it inexpensive to do so.

When Do Free Medical School Secondaries Come Out?

A free secondary generally follows the same timing rules as a paid secondary. Some schools release them automatically after receiving a primary application, while others screen first and invite selected applicants later.

UT Southwestern says its secondary becomes available after the school receives the TMDSAS primary, while Carle performs initial screening before eligible applicants receive its no-cost secondary. UT Tyler’s current admissions calendar says 2026–2027 secondary invitations begin going to eligible applicants in June.

My When Do Medical School Secondaries Come Out? guide goes through the broader timeline from June through the fall. The important point here is that a $0 application does not need to be treated differently from the rest of your secondary queue simply because there is no payment step.

How Fast Should You Submit a Free Secondary Application?

I would give a free secondary the same attention I would give a paid one. The absence of a fee should not make you rush a mediocre essay, but it also should not make the application feel less important.

My general target during secondary season is to keep applications moving efficiently, with roughly a one- to two-week turnaround as a useful organizational goal when the school has not imposed a different deadline. That is a goal rather than a universal admissions law, and the medical school’s actual instructions always take priority.

My guide to how fast you should submit medical school secondaries goes deeper into the two-week rule and why I would prioritize quality and timeliness together rather than sacrificing one for the other.

Are There DO Medical Schools With No Supplemental Application Fee?

Yes. The current AACOM school profiles give us at least two clear 2026–2027 examples.

Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine currently requires a screened secondary but lists its supplemental application fee as $0. William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine also requires a screened secondary and currently lists its supplemental fee as $0.

I would still check the current AACOM profile for every DO program you are considering rather than assuming that the MD list applies. AACOMAS is a separate application system, and individual osteopathic schools have their own supplemental requirements, fees, and waiver policies.

There is also a good terminology trap on the DO side. PCOM currently has no separate supplemental application requirement for 2027, but it still charges a $75 institutional application fee. That is why I am much more comfortable labeling individual programs based on what the current source actually says than publishing a massive list called “medical schools with no secondaries” and implying every one is free.

What Reddit and r/premed Say About Medical School Secondary Fees

For this article, I specifically searched Reddit and r/premed for current discussions about secondary application fees, $0 secondaries, Fee Assistance, fee waivers, and applicants trying to budget during secondary season. I summarized the recurring themes rather than treating anonymous Reddit comments as official school policy.

The biggest theme was simply how quickly the costs accumulate. Applicants repeatedly described the frustration of receiving many school-specific payment requests in a short period, particularly when a school sends secondaries broadly rather than screening applicants first. A current August 2026 discussion centered specifically on applicants questioning why schools that do not screen before sending secondaries still charge another school-specific fee.

Applicants also clearly notice and appreciate schools that remove the secondary fee. That matches something I think gets lost when application costs are discussed only as totals: secondary season does not feel like one $2,000 transaction. It feels like paying another fee, and then another fee, and then another while you are simultaneously trying to finish essays.

Fee Assistance was another recurring topic, but the Reddit discussions also showed why I would not use the subreddit as the final authority on waiver rules. In a July 2026 discussion, applicants gave conflicting explanations about whether FAP automatically covered every secondary, while the actual policy varies by school. The AAMC’s own current guidance is much safer: some medical schools waive secondary fees for FAP recipients, and applicants should verify each school’s policy.

I also found applicants who had missed FAP wondering whether an individual school might still waive its secondary because of financial hardship. The community frequently suggested asking admissions directly, which can be reasonable when a school’s policy allows discretionary waivers, but I would check the official school instructions before relying on that advice.

The Reddit takeaway I would actually use is therefore less dramatic: budget before secondary season begins, appreciate a $0 secondary when you find one, investigate FAP early, and verify every individual school’s current fee rather than trusting an old spreadsheet.

What Student Doctor Network Says About Medical School Secondary Fees

For this article, I also searched Student Doctor Network for secondary-fee discussions, schools reported to have free secondaries, Fee Assistance questions, and comments from verified physician or admissions contributors.

SDN has been discussing secondary costs for years, which makes it useful for seeing how persistent this problem is but dangerous as a source for current dollar amounts. Old threads with detailed fee lists continue appearing in search results long after many of the listed prices have changed.

One useful example involves UT Southwestern. SDN contributors had previously noted that its secondary did not carry a fee, and the important part for this article is that I could independently confirm that claim against current TMDSAS instructions, which still say there is no secondary fee. That is how I would use SDN when researching application costs: let the forum point you toward something worth checking, then verify it using the current school or application-service source.

The same logic applies to Fee Assistance discussions. Applicants and advisers on SDN regularly emphasize that timing matters, but I would base the final decision on current AAMC policy. For 2027 AMCAS, Fee Assistance benefits covering the primary application are not retroactive once you have already paid.

I would be particularly suspicious of any SDN comment saying, “School X has always been free.” Even if the person was completely correct during their cycle, application fees are one of the easiest admissions details to change without making that older post disappear from Google.

What Admissions Officers and Admissions Research Say About Free Secondary Applications

For this article, I also looked for information coming from medical-school admissions offices, official application services, and people studying the admissions process itself, rather than relying only on applicant discussions.

The most useful evidence came from UT Tyler because its admissions process has actually been described in Academic Medicine. In the school’s initial admissions model, applicants meeting its screening parameters became eligible for a no-fee secondary application containing four required essays centered on the school’s mission, vision, and values, plus an optional essay. The admissions office then used additional mission-related indicators before determining who would interview.

I think that example tells applicants something more useful than simply knowing that one school saved them a fee. A no-fee secondary can be part of a deliberate admissions structure designed to reduce one financial barrier while still performing substantial mission-based screening.

Carle’s current admissions office communicates something similar in practice. The school screens first, then sends eligible students its secondary at no cost.

The AAMC’s broader guidance puts cost into the applicant’s responsibility as well. It advises students to account for application expenses, including secondary fees, and makes clear that individual schools set their own secondary-fee and waiver policies.

What I would take from the admissions side is that price tells you almost nothing about selectivity. A school can intentionally remove the secondary fee while still carefully screening who receives the application and who ultimately receives an interview.

How I Would Budget for Medical School Secondary Fees

I would build the secondary budget before AMCAS transmission, not once ten payment portals are already sitting in your inbox.

Start with your actual school list and record the current secondary fee beside each school. For any school showing $0, confirm the current-cycle policy. For any school where the amount is unclear, leave yourself a buffer rather than assuming it will be free.

Then keep the money side of the application separate from your decision about whether the school belongs on your list. You do not want a $0 fee convincing you to apply somewhere that makes no sense, but you also do not want an unexpected $120 secondary arriving during a busy week and forcing you to reconsider a school you deliberately chose months earlier.

My 2027 AMCAS Application Checklist and Cost Calculator is better for projecting the entire application budget, while the Secondary Essay Organizer and Tracker is what I would use once secondaries begin arriving because it lets you keep each school’s fee, payment status, prompts, deadline, drafts, and submission date together.

I would also investigate the AAMC Fee Assistance Program well before submission if finances are a meaningful concern. The application process is expensive enough that finding out you qualified after paying everything is a particularly frustrating way to learn about the program.

Are Medical School Secondary Application Fees Refundable?

Usually, you should assume that a secondary application fee is nonrefundable once submitted unless the school explicitly states otherwise.

That makes it worth doing a final school-list check before paying. By secondary season, you have had additional time to research the program, and sometimes applicants realize that a school they casually added to AMCAS is no longer somewhere they would realistically attend.

Receiving a secondary does not obligate you to complete it. If you learn that the school has a geographic restriction you overlooked, does not fit your goals, or is somewhere you would not attend even with an acceptance, saving both the fee and the writing time can be reasonable.

Can You Skip a Secondary Application Because the Fee Is Too Expensive?

Yes. You are not required to complete every secondary you receive.

I would first check whether the school offers an AAMC Fee Assistance waiver or another hardship option, particularly if finances are the only reason you are considering abandoning an otherwise strong-fit school.

If no assistance exists, you have to make the same prioritization decision that applies to the rest of your list. Your financial constraints are real, and sending another $100 to a school where you have little interest or little realistic fit is not automatically a better strategy than concentrating those resources elsewhere.

If you do plan to submit, though, I would not delay indefinitely because of the payment decision. My secondary turnaround-time guide explains how I would prioritize applications when several are competing for your time at once.

How to Keep Track of Secondary Application Fees

I would track the expected fee, actual fee, whether a waiver applies, payment status, secondary receipt date, submission date, and application-complete status separately.

Those last two are especially easy to confuse. Paying and submitting your secondary does not necessarily mean the medical school has marked your application complete because it may still be waiting for letters, assessments, or another required component.

My free secondary application organizer was designed around exactly this problem. During secondary season, the financial tracking and essay tracking really belong in the same workflow because every school has its own combination of prompts, fees, deadlines, and portal requirements.

If you are preparing before the first major wave arrives, you can also read my guide to when medical school secondaries come out so you have the budget and writing system ready before July becomes busy.

Medical Schools With No Supplemental Application Fee: My Bottom Line

There are medical schools with no supplemental application fee, but I would be careful with any article claiming to provide a permanent list. For the current 2026–2027 application cycle, Carle Illinois, Uniformed Services University, UT Southwestern, Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, and William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine all have especially clear authoritative documentation supporting a $0 secondary. Current AAMC data also identify additional programs with required secondary applications but no fee amount listed, including UT Tyler, where published admissions research specifically describes a no-fee secondary.

There are also schools such as Long School of Medicine that eliminate the traditional secondary application altogether, although “no secondary” should never automatically be translated into “no other school-specific application expenses.”

I would use a no-fee secondary as a nice financial benefit, not as a reason to add the school to your list or as evidence that the program is easier to enter. Make your school list based on where you are academically competitive, where your experiences fit the mission, and where you could genuinely see yourself attending. Then appreciate the rare moment during application season when you reach the end of a secondary and the amount due really does say $0.

Most importantly, verify the current cycle before you pay or plan your budget. I checked these policies against 2026–2027 sources for this article, but the same article needs to be rechecked when the next application cycle opens. That small maintenance step is much better than letting a once-useful fee list sit online for five years while applicants continue finding it through Google.