Hardest Medical Schools To Get Into [Full Breakdown]

If you want to know the hardest medical schools to get into, read on!

I’m breaking down the average MCAT scores and GPA’s, as well as the acceptance rates for each school. Read until the end because I am also going to talk about how you can use all of this data to help you get into one of these medical schools.

But wait! If you want this post in a video format, you can check out my YouTube video below! If you find it helpful, subscribe for weekly content here!

Top 10 Hardest Medical Schools To Get Into

The data used in this list all come from the US News Report. We’re going to start from the bottom of the list and work our way up.

10. Harvard Medical School

And at number 10, we have Harvard. Now you probably weren’t expecting me to talk about Harvard right off the bat at number 10.

Harvard’s acceptance rate is at 3.2%. The average undergraduate GPA is 3.9, and the average MCAT score is 519.

And you’re probably now more curious than ever to hear about what schools went from number 9 to number 1. But it just goes to show you that there’s going to be a lot of variability in acceptance rates, MCAT scores, and GPAs.

Again at the very end, we’ll talk about why that’s important for you.

9. Wake Forest School Of Medicine

At number 9, we have Wake Forest University with an acceptance rate of 3%, an average GPA of 3.6, and an average MCAT score of 513.

8. George Washington School Of Medicine And Health Sciences

At number 8, we have George Washington University with an acceptance rate of 2.9%, average GPA of 3.6, and an average MCAT score of 512.

7. Warren Alpert Medical School Of Brown University

Now we’re back to a familiar name in the Ivy league industry at Brown University with an average acceptance rate of just 2.8%, average GPA of 3.8, and MCAT score of 515.

Now to avoid this article to just be a bunch of numbers, here are some other info. The average MCAT score for somebody who gets accepted at medical school is around 510 to 512. That number will always go up or down, depending on the year. The average GPA tends to sit around 3.7 to 3.8.

6. Howard University College Of Medicine

At number 6, we have Howard University medical school. It’s known to be one of the many historically black colleges that we have here in the United States.

In terms of acceptance rate, they currently are sitting at 2.5%. I wasn’t able to find a consistent MCAT score and GPA, so I just left it out. And hopefully, you guys can let me know the comment section down below in case you do know.

5. New York University (NYU) Grossman School Of Medicine

At number 5, we’re back to a familiar name. We’re talking about New York University with an average acceptance rate of also 2.5%, average GPA of 3.9, and an average MCAT score of 522. That MCAT score just blew my mind! I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t get into NYU today if I was to apply.

And many of you guys may be familiar with NYU being one of the many institutions that are now releasing this free med school tuition platform.

4. Mayo Clinic Alix School Of Medicine

To continue to wrap up this list, at number 4 we have Mayo with an acceptance rate of 2.4%, average GPA of 3.92, and another high MCAT score of 520.

3. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

And our final three medical schools in terms of hardest to get into are really just neck to neck in terms of their acceptance rates.

At number 3, we have UCLA with 2.4% acceptance rate, an average GPA of 3.85, and an average MCAT score of 517.

2. Stanford University School Of Medicine

At number 2, we have Stanford at 2.3% acceptance rate, an average GPA of 3.87, and an average MCAT score of 519.

1. Florida State University College Of Medicine

And so that leaves us with number 1. When I saw this institution on this list, I was pretty surprised. But with an average acceptance rate of 2.2%, average GPA of 3.7, and an average MCAT score of 506, we have Florida State University.

Here is a table to summarize the list of the hardest medical schools to get into based on their acceptance rates.

	Med School	Acceptance Rate (%)	Average GPA	Average MCAT Score
10	Harvard Medical School	3.2	3.9	519
9	Wake Forest School of Medicine	3	3.6	513
8	George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences	2.9	3.6	512
7	Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University	2.8	3.8	515
6	Howard University College of Medicine	2.5	–	–
5	New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine	2.5	3.9	522
4	Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine	2.4	3.92	520
3	The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)	2.4	3.85	517
2	Stanford University School of Medicine	2.3	3.87	519
1	Florida State University College of Medicine	2.2	3.7	506

Key Takeaways

The most important part about this list is not really where the schools are compared to each other. There are various lessons you can take away from this list. And I’ll tell you how you can use those lessons to ideally increase your chances of getting into whatever school you aspire to go into, whether it be one of these or something outside the top 10.

And so here are the various lessons that I was able to take away when investigating this list.

There’s A Lot Of Variability In The List

The definition of the hardest medical school to get into is extremely relative. As you guys can see, there are institutions that you expected to be higher on the list. Some schools that you saw on the list probably didn’t even cross your mind to be on top 10 or even 20.

Take Into Account The Number Of Applicants

There’s a lot that goes into the acceptance rate that a medical school reports. For example, it’s going to depend on how many people actually applied to that medical school. If a school has a really competitive Ivy League program, there’s going to be a lot of applicants, and understandably the acceptance rate is going to be pretty low.

But on the flip side, you will also see the same low acceptance rate if, for example, a school has a smaller medical school class.

So if you had a thousand people applying to two different medical schools, but one medical school could only take 100 people and the other medical school could take 200, they could have the almost the same acceptance rates.

So in this case, the acceptance rate is not a measure of competitiveness or quality of education.

Acceptance Rate Factors Can Vary

And finally, you have to understand that the acceptance rate doesn’t only take into account how many people apply to the school, but also the values that the institution has.

Keep in mind that there are institutions that have very specific requirements of what kind of student they want and what kind of future doctors they want to create.

For example, an institution that’s associated with a historically black college, like Howard University, is going to have a very particular candidate in mind.

On the flip side, you’re going to have institutions that are very driven towards creating researchers and people who can contribute to the scientific community as a whole.

And so when you have an institution that has a very specific mindset of who they want to take because of what they can offer that student, that can also dictate whether a student will be accepted or not.

So all in all, don’t use this list to determine which medical school you should be applying to, or where you don’t have a chance to get into. Really understand that there is a whole spectrum of what a medical school can offer you and what you can offer them back.

Medical Schools Will Train You Wherever You Plan To Go

And so it is important to start thinking about what type of things you value. Do you want to go into primary care? Do you want to go into surgery? Do you want to go into research? Do you want to go into public health?

There are going to be institutions that are very specific to the various goals that you may have as a future physician.

And if you don’t know, that’s completely okay. Ask yourself what parts of becoming a physician attract you the most, and then ask if the institutions you’re most curious about are offering that kind of experience for you.

You Can Be A Great Doctor Whichever School You Go

Remember that you don’t have to go to an Ivy League program or the hardest medical school that ever existed to become a great doctor.

All of the medical schools out there are going to be able to give you the proper training. They will definitely have different qualities. And so it’s important that you assess them based on your specific needs.

On that note, if you did enjoy this post, you might be interested in watching more pre-med related videos! Here’s one on what to know before applying to med school. Make sure to subscribe for weekly content if you enjoy this one!

Check out this video to see exactly how hard medical school is: Med School Is Too Hard! But Is It Too Hard!? – Should I Do It?

And also this video to see all the essential tools you’ll need as a future doctor: Med School Essentials – 7 Must Have Items [2021]

You may have failed after an application cycle or have a fear that after applying, you might not be able to get in. Check out this article where I shared tips on what to do if you don’t get accepted into med school?

Did you enjoy this article on the hardest medical schools to get into? If you did, then go ahead and check out these articles as well.

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Hopefully, I was a little help to you on your journey. Thanks for being a part of mine.

Until the next one my friend…