Skip to main content
NextGen MedPrep logoNextGenMedPrep
US Medicine · 2027 Entry

Penn State College of Medicine

2027 Entry Requirements & Interview Format

Penn State College of Medicine is a US MD program in Hershey, PA that takes 2027-entry applications through AMCAS. Its published class profile lists a median MCAT of 514 (range 509–519), a median GPA of 3.77, a 2.5% acceptance rate and a class of 149. The school holds a traditional interview: October 2026–February 2027. Decisions for 2027 entry: March 30, 2027 (AAMC standard).

Location
Hershey, PA, United States
Established
1963
Interviews (2027 entry)
October 2026–February 2027
Decisions (2027 entry)
March 30, 2027 (AAMC standard)
Book a mock interviewCompare side-by-sideOfficial course page ↗
Penn State College of Medicine (MD) — Exterior of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey

Photo: Penn State Health · CC BY 2.0 · cropped

Photo: Smallbones · CC0 · Photo: Smallbones · CC0 · Photo: J. Passepartout · CC BY-SA 4.0

Student life

Still deciding where to apply? Hear it from a student who's there

Student guides · Medicine

Honest student guides to US medical schools

Current medical students at US schools are filming their guides right now: what the course and teaching are really like, the city they live in, the social side, and whether they'd pick it again.

Coming soon

Not on sale yet — we'll open these up as soon as the first US videos land.

Filming now

Start here
Full guide

How to get into Penn State College of Medicine (MD) medicine

Step-by-step: entry requirements, MCAT prep, personal statement, interview format and the key deadlines.

Open the guide →
Interview guide

Prepare for the Penn State College of Medicine (MD) interview

Format breakdown, school-specific sample questions, FAQs and prep tips from tutors who interviewed here.

Read the guide →
Overview

About Penn State College of Medicine (MD)

Penn State College of Medicine was founded in 1963 and sits at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It is a public research medical school, and one of Central Pennsylvania's most important healthcare and academic institutions. The college offers a rigorous MD curriculum alongside one of Pennsylvania's strongest MD/PhD programs.

NIH-funded research covers cancer biology, neuroscience, and biomedical engineering. Penn State graduates match broadly across specialties, with strong placement in academic medicine and surgical subspecialties.

What makes Penn State College of Medicine (MD) different

Penn State College of Medicine is located in Hershey, Pennsylvania — a purpose-built academic medical community — and is the academic medicine and research hub for the Penn State Hershey Medical Center, one of the largest health systems in Central Pennsylvania. The college has a major MD/PhD (MSTP) program and consistently ranks among the top 50 research medical schools nationally.

Penn State has distinctive strengths in cancer biology (Penn State Cancer Institute), basic biomedical research, and rural Pennsylvania health. The medical humanities and arts program (MESH) is a nationally recognized interdisciplinary initiative.

Penn State College of Medicine (MD) course & teaching

Integrated curriculum. 4-year MD. Years 1–2: integrated curriculum at the Hershey campus with early patient contact through the standardized patient program. Years 3–4: core clerkships at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital (Lebanon), and regional community hospitals in Central Pennsylvania. MSTP MD/PhD track available. Medical Education for Stress and Healing (MESH) humanities program embedded throughout.

Penn State College of Medicine (MD) research strengths

Penn State College of Medicine (MD) is strong in these research areas:

  • Cancer biology and immunotherapy
  • Neuroscience and neurodegeneration
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Biomedical engineering
  • Rural health disparities

How the Penn State College of Medicine (MD) interview runs

Format: Virtual interview day: two faculty members, staff members and/or alumni interview each applicant at the same time

Penn State College of Medicine holds a virtual interview day, in a morning or afternoon group. Two faculty members, staff members and/or alumni of the College of Medicine interview each applicant at the same time.

Interviewers review the full application beforehand and focus on motivation for medicine, research interests aligned with Penn State Hershey's major NIH-funded programs, and commitment to Central Pennsylvania's rural and underserved communities. Penn State also uses a structured holistic review rubric aligned with the AAMC Premed Competencies.

Penn State College of Medicine (MD) intake

Approximately 145–150 students per year.

Where Penn State College of Medicine (MD) is

Penn State College of Medicine was founded in 1963 and is based in Hershey, PA.

Programmes offered:

  • Cancer Biology
  • Biomedical Research
  • Neuroscience
  • Surgery
  • Primary Care
Practise

Practise the Penn State College of Medicine (MD) interview with an AI interviewer

These are real recordings of the interviewers you would meet, from a panel of 21 photoreal faces. Speak your answers out loud, get pressed with follow-ups, and receive rubric-scored feedback about two minutes after you finish, with a replay of your answers.

Try the AI interviewer
Entry requirements

What you need to apply to Penn State College of Medicine (MD)

Penn State College of Medicine (MD) at a glance

Penn State College of Medicine Medicine — 2027 entry at a glance
MCAT / GPA (medians)514 · 3.77 (MCAT range 509–519)
Acceptance rate2.5%
Class size149
In-state matriculants36%
Interview formatTraditional interview
IntakeApproximately 145–150 students per year
Decisions (2027 entry)March 30, 2027 (AAMC standard)
Penn State College of Medicine Medicine admissions profile — 2027 entry
Admission overviewBachelor's degree and MCAT required. Applications via AMCAS. Penn State is a public school and gives preference to Pennsylvania residents but accepts a meaningful number of out-of-state applicants. Secondary application required. CASPer is not currently required.
MCAT median514 (range 509–519)
GPA median3.77 overall / 3.72 science (BCPM)
Acceptance rate2.5%
Class size149
In-state preferenceModerate — some OOS consideration
In-state matriculants36%
CASPerNot required
AAMC PREviewNot required
Holistic review emphasisResearch experience, academic excellence, Pennsylvania residency, and community service.
NotesChecked 2026-09-13 against the school's own published figures (class entering in 2024): class of 149; 36% in-state. Not confirmed from the school's own pages: MCAT, GPA, science GPA, acceptance rate. Interview format checked 2026-10-07 against https://med.psu.edu/education/degree-programs/md-doctor-medicine/apply/process.
Specialities offeredCancer Biology, Biomedical Research, Neuroscience, Surgery, Primary Care

MCAT, GPA, acceptance-rate and class-size figures are taken from Penn State College of Medicine's published admissions data. Class profiles are republished each year — confirm which entering class these numbers describe before you rely on them.

Working towards the MCAT score Penn State College of Medicine (MD) expects? Build a week-by-week plan from your test date — free for the first two weeks.

Open the MCAT planneror read the MCAT guide for Penn State College of Medicine (MD) applicants
Interview

How Penn State College of Medicine (MD) interviews applicants

Penn State College of Medicine Medicine interview — 2027 entry
FormatVirtual interview day: two faculty members, staff members and/or alumni interview each applicant at the same time
Interview window (2027 entry)October 2026–February 2027
Decision date (2027 entry)March 30, 2027 (AAMC standard)
Post-interview chancesEstimated post-interview acceptance rate approximately 20–25%; the interview pool is filtered for Pennsylvania residency and academic profile.
Tutor insight
Penn State Hershey is a research school first — if you have significant research experience, cite specific projects and align them with the Penn State Cancer Institute, neuroscience, or biomedical engineering programs. The MESH (Medical Education for Stress and Healing) humanities program is distinctive and beloved by students; mentioning it in your interview signals genuine research. Pennsylvania residency is an advantage but the school admits more out-of-state applicants than most PA public schools given its research reputation. The Hershey location is genuinely rural-adjacent — be prepared to speak to the Central Pennsylvania patient population and rural access context.
Practice

Practise for your Penn State College of Medicine (MD) interview

PrometheusQuestion Bank621 medicine questions inside

Interview questions matched to Penn State College of Medicine (MD)

Two questions from our US bank that match Penn State College of Medicine (MD)’s panel format. Try answering them out loud, then open Prometheus for the model answers and follow-up tips.

EasyPanelQ1

First-Generation Path to Medicine

As the first in your family to attend college, you navigated the path to medical school without parents who could advise you. How has that background shaped your understanding of access and opportunity, and what does it mean to you to be a physician from that perspective?

Likely follow-up · What barriers did you encounter in your pre-medical journey that you believe your peers from more resourced backgrounds did not face, and how did you navigate them?

3 expert tips in Prometheus
MediumMMI · PanelQ2

Food Insecurity as a Clinical Issue

You volunteer at a food bank that serves a predominantly low-income neighborhood. After several months, you notice that many of the food bank's clients are also patients at the community health clinic where you shadow, and you start to see food insecurity not as a charitable issue but as a clinical one.

How has this experience changed how you think about social determinants of health in medicine, and what would you do as a physician to screen for and address food insecurity in your practice?

Likely follow-up · What validated screening tools exist for identifying food insecurity in clinical settings, and how should a positive screen change the encounter?

3 expert tips in Prometheus
Open Prometheus for Penn State College of Medicine (MD)Free medicine interview question bank for Penn State College of Medicine (MD) applicants →
Get support

Apply to Penn State College of Medicine (MD) with confidence

We've helped students into Penn State College of Medicine (MD) and other US medicine schools — get tailored support for each stage of the application.

MCAT Strategy

Build an MCAT prep plan that hits the median score profile for Penn State College of Medicine (MD).

Learn more

Interview preparation

Practise the Traditional interview format with students who interviewed at Penn State College of Medicine (MD).

Learn more

Personal statement help

Get your personal statement reviewed by successful applicants.

Learn more
Sources

Where Penn State College of Medicine (MD)'s figures come from

Checked against Penn State College of Medicine's own website on 13 September 2026: our record for the school was reconciled with what it publishes there. For most US schools that is class size and interview format only, so MCAT, GPA and acceptance-rate figures remain unconfirmed.

Penn State College of Medicine (MD) — official course page →Entry requirements, interview format and deadlines published by the school itself. The primary source for everything on this page.Penn State College of Medicine (MD) — published admissions data →The class profile and admissions statistics this record's MCAT, GPA, acceptance-rate and class-size figures were taken from.
FAQ

Penn State College of Medicine (MD) — frequently asked questions

Penn State College of Medicine (MD) matriculants have a median MCAT of 514. The middle range of matriculants is 509–519. US schools publish medians rather than cut-offs, and committees review holistically — the MCAT is weighed alongside GPA, clinical and research experience, letters of recommendation and secondary essays.

Apply to Penn State College of Medicine (MD) with confidence

We've helped students turn their MCAT, personal statement and interview prep into offers from Penn State College of Medicine (MD) and other US medicine schools.

Book a Penn State College of Medicine (MD) mockCompare Penn State College of Medicine (MD)
See all us medical schools