US MD Medical Schools — MCAT, GPA Profiles & AMCAS Guide

The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) accredits 155 MD-granting medical schools in the US. Our catalogue features a broad selection of the most prominent, covering a wide range of selectivity, geography, and mission. All AAMC-accredited MD programmes use AMCAS as their primary application service.

The national average MCAT for matriculants at AAMC member schools was 511.7 in the 2023–24 cycle. Highly selective programmes (Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Columbia) report median MCAT scores of 520–523. State flagship schools (University of Michigan, UCLA, UNC) typically report medians in the 514–518 range. Your target score depends on your school list: aim for at or above the median of your target schools.

The national average cumulative GPA for matriculants in 2023–24 was 3.77. Highly selective schools report average GPAs of 3.90–3.96. US medical schools report both cumulative GPA and BCPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics) science GPA separately. Most programmes weight the science GPA heavily alongside MCAT.

Most AAMC-member schools use holistic review — evaluating applicants across experiences, attributes, and academic metrics (the EAA framework). This means clinical experience, research, volunteering, leadership, and the 15 AAMC Core Competencies all contribute. Holistic review means a lower GPA can sometimes be offset by a compelling narrative, meaningful experiences and a strong MCAT — but it also means high-stat applicants without clinical experience are regularly screened out.

AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) is the centralised primary application service for AAMC-member MD schools. Applications open in May and can be submitted from June 1 each year. AMCAS transmits applications to schools starting around July 1. Most competitive applicants submit on June 1 — early submission is strongly associated with interview invitations. After AMCAS, schools send secondary applications (school-specific essays) to selected applicants, typically in July–September. Interviews follow in September–March, and acceptances are released from October 15 (AAMC Traffic Rules).

Many state-funded US medical schools have a legal or institutional obligation to prioritise residents of their home state. Schools with strong in-state preference (e.g. University of Virginia, University of North Carolina) may admit 80–90% of their class from in-state applicants. Private schools (Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Stanford) have no in-state preference and recruit nationally. When building your school list, filter by in-state preference to understand your realistic chances as an out-of-state applicant.