by Cydney Foote
Top Med School Application Strategies Based on GPA and MCAT Score
When deciding where to apply to medical school, too many of our clients submit as many applications as possible in hopes of increasing their odds of acceptance. Unfortunately, this strategy is rarely effective. More often, it results in wasted time completing secondaries, wasted money spent on application fees, and frustration at the end of the application cycle.
During my 20 years as an admissions consultant, I’ve refined a more productive way to approach school choices. The focus in this process is on outcomes. By using a strategic approach, you can bring about a positive outcome for your application. This starts with a realistic evaluation of your numbers – and an appreciation of the fact that your medical education is a marathon, not a sprint.
How to Evaluate Your Med School Stats
You might be applying with a near-perfect GPA and a 520 MCAT score. If so, congratulations! You should be competitive at medical schools across the country.
But not everybody is in this situation. Some have a near-perfect GPA but only a 506 on their MCAT; others might feel they’re in the middle of the pack, with a decent MCAT and average grades. If this is the case, don’t be discouraged. Instead, focus on maximizing your other strengths and then decide if you’re ready to apply during this cycle. If so, most importantly, you should apply to programs where you will have the best chance of getting in.
Step #1: Calculate your stats and be kind to yourself.
Without judgment or berating yourself, calculate your cumulative and science GPAs. It is important that you not get discouraged by your numbers, but you must review them objectively. The more honestly and accurately you can assess your stats in relation to the schools’ acceptance data, the more realistic and successful your application decisions will be.
Step #2: Examine the trends in your GPA.
Look at the trends in your GPA term by term. Many people struggle to adjust when they first start college, and earning poor grades as a freshman is not unusual. That’s why medical schools look for an upward trend in applicants’ grades. They want to see that students have adjusted and developed the tools that helped them succeed even as they took on more challenging courses.
On the other hand, a strong decreasing trend in a GPA is one of the main reasons applicants are rejected from medical schools. If this is the case for you, consider postponing your med school application and look into completing postbac coursework or a postbac program to show your potential for handling a rigorous medical school curriculum.
Step #3: Understand your MCAT score and its effect on your candidacy.
If you have maintained a competitive GPA or have a strong increasing trend, review your MCAT scores. If you are applying to allopathic medical schools and have earned a 125 or higher on each section of the exam (total score of 510 or higher), consider moving ahead with your application. If you scored less than 125 on any section, your application might go through an additional review step (known as the “academic committee” on some campuses), and some applicants with low GPAs or lower MCAT scores don’t make the cut. The members of these committees debate whether each applicant in question has other significant qualities that could justify keeping their application under consideration.
Step #4: Decide whether you need to retake the MCAT or complete additional coursework.
If you have a lower GPA, you should work to achieve a higher MCAT score to compensate, and vice versa. If your numbers are too low in any area, consider retaking the MCAT or completing additional coursework.
Of course, this is news that nobody wants to hear. Applicants often worry about delaying their application or feel anxious about how they will spend an additional gap year, and these are all valid concerns. As you think about these questions, take some time to process any strong emotions you’re feeling about them to ensure that you are ready to make wise decisions.
How to Choose a Medical School Based on Your Numbers
After you have completed the steps above to analyze your GPA and MCAT score, it is time to use these numbers as a tool to help you get from Point A (being a premed applicant) to Point B (getting accepted to medical school).
When choosing allopathic medical schools, the most reliable source of information is the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) website, offered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The statistics in this database can be extremely valuable in helping you decide where to apply.
Follow these steps to help select your target schools:
1. Review the medical schools in your state.
Statistically, you are more likely to be accepted to a school in a state where you are a resident. Medical schools – even private ones – tend to accept greater numbers of in-state residents, assuming these applicants have stronger connections to the local community and greater potential to address the needs of the community in the longer term. Additionally, many public medical schools are funded by state taxpayers and have limits on the number of out-of-state applicants who can be enrolled. Therefore, your state’s medical schools should be your first choices to increase your odds of acceptance.
2. Identify which out-of-state medical schools accept a higher percentage of out-of-state students.
While publicly funded medical schools accept more in-state applicants, others – such as the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and Mercer University School of Medicine – do not accept any applicants from out of state. Many other public medical schools accept out-of-state applicants (and their application fees), but an examination of the MSAR data shows that they interview only a very small percentage of these candidates – and matriculate even fewer. This kind of information will help prevent you from selecting schools where your chances of acceptance are especially low simply because you are an out-of-state applicant. This tactic should narrow your list considerably.
3. Using your modified list of schools, begin comparing your scores.
As long as your application is strong in all other sections, you can choose schools at which you meet or exceed either the mean MCAT score or the mean GPA, if not both. For example, if your GPA is higher than a school’s average but your MCAT score is just below the school’s average yet still within the range of scores that they have accepted, you can include the school in your list.
When I am curating a school list for my clients, I divide schools into three categories:
- In-Range: In-Range programs are those at which the applicant is at or above the mean GPA and MCAT scores. Assuming that acceptance rates at these schools are decent, they should be good choices for this type of applicant.
- Reach: But what if you have a lower GPA but a higher MCAT score, or vice versa? Fortunately, the MSAR reports matriculant scores from the 10th to the 90th percentiles as well as the mean scores. When checking these score ranges, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn how low the scores for some accepted students actually are. If one of your quantitative scores meets the school’s mean and another falls above the lowest accepted score, you could consider that a Reach school. If you are applying with years of exceptional service and activities, you might be just the kind of candidate that school is looking for.
- Far Reach: Far Reach schools are those at which an applicant’s numbers are within the lowest numbers accepted but not near the mean. I don’t recommend applying to medical schools in this group unless you have a very strong connection to it.
4. Taking your list of schools, begin evaluating each program with respect to your personal interests.
Determine how well your target schools align with your background, goals, and other considerations:
- Your age: Are you an older student (generally someone over the age of 24)? The 2025-2026 MSAR shows that in the past four years, Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University matriculated 35 students over age 30, while the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine matriculated four. Are you seeking a program that will look kindly on your postbaccalaureate studies? Of the 2024 entering class at Boston University’s medical school, 26% had a graduate degree.
- Your background and goals: Your personal interests could also include your ethnicity, need for financial aid, previous graduate degrees, and desired research opportunities. The MSAR reports, in broad strokes, the race and ethnicity of the members of each program’s most recent incoming class. More details about class makeup can usually be found on the individual schools’ websites. Some medical schools have special programs geared toward serving communities that are medically underserved.
For example, the UC Davis School of Medicine hosts a Rural PRIME Program for students from rural areas who want to return to their communities as doctors. The strongest predictors of whether you will meet the criteria for these types of special programs include the following:- Your personal connection to the community
- How much volunteer and clinical experience you have serving this particular group of people
Take these factors into account when deciding whether to apply to any programs that might represent your target community.
- Your target schools’ financial aid and program offerings: Finally, the availability of financial aid is always an important consideration. Some schools have an abundance of private funding and scholarships available, while others offer more basic packages. Looking at a school in terms of its specialties and how it can support your career goals is also important in the long term.
5. To further refine your list, double-check that you meet all the prerequisites for each school.
Unfortunately, many applicants forget to complete this step. If you are missing even a single required class, you could be disqualified from serious consideration. It’s an expensive mistake to apply to a school for which you simply don’t meet the basic requirements. (Note that most schools will allow you to complete your requirements before matriculation.)
The Importance of Considering Your Stats and Your Personal Interests in Choosing Medical Schools
Yes, your numbers are important criteria in the medical school application process, but they are not the only element you should consider when deciding where to apply. Still, using them to objectively select the schools where you have the best chance of acceptance will set you up for success.
Do you need help decoding your numbers and determining which med schools would be ideal picks for you? We can help! Work one-on-one with an expert admissions advisor to choose the best schools for you, and increase your chances of acceptance. Schedule your free consultation today!
Since 2001, Cydney Foote has advised hundreds of successful applicants for medical and dental education, residency and fellowship training, and other health-related degrees. Admissions consulting combines her many years of creating marketing content with five years on fellowship and research selection committees at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She’s also shared her strategy for impressing interviewers in a popular webinar and written three books and numerous articles on the admissions process.
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