Admissions statistics, application mistakes, and strategies to get into medical school despite increasing competition
How hard is it to get into medical school?
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What You'll Learn
Medical School Acceptance Rates (2026)
Why rising applicant volume continues to outpace available seats despite growing physician shortages and new school openings.
Why Is It So Hard to Get Into Medical School?
How historic upward trends in applicant grade point averages and standardized test scores elevate overall admissions competition.
What Are the Hardest Medical Schools to Get Into?
Why selectivity extends beyond elite institutions due to strict screening thresholds, yield protection, and regional preferences.
11 Medical School Application Mistakes That Lower Your Odds
How qualified candidates lower their acceptance odds through missteps in school selection, timing, and essay quality.
How Hard Is It to Get Into Medical School as a Nontraditional Applicant?
How non-science backgrounds or gap years are evaluated and how unique life experience can offset academic trajectory gaps.
Is It Hard to Get Into Medical School in Canada?
The specific admissions barriers created by limited medical institutions, lower overall matriculation rates, and strong in-province favoritism.
How hard is it to get into medical school? The short answer
Medical school acceptance rates (2026)
Why is it so hard to get into medical school?
What are the hardest medical schools to get into?
11 medical school application mistakes that lower your odds
How hard is it to get into medical school as a nontraditional applicant?
Is it hard to get into medical school in Canada?
Frequently asked questions
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How hard is it to get into medical school? The short answer
Getting into medical school is very hard: In the 2025–2026 cycle, only 44.42% of the 54,699 applicants to U.S. MD programs were accepted, and those who got in averaged a 3.81 GPA and a 512.1 MCAT score. That said, many rejections stem from avoidable mistakes, so strong applicants who apply strategically can beat those odds.
If you’re like most premed students, you’ve heard horror stories about qualified applicants who didn’t get into medical school—the first, second, or even third time they applied. Heck, you yourself may even be reapplying to medical school.
Regardless, you may be confused about how you could possibly get in after going to great lengths to “do everything right”—achieving a strong GPA and MCAT score, satisfying your extracurricular requirements, obtaining meaningful medical school letters of recommendation, and so on.
Before you lose hope about your chances of getting into your dream med schools—or, worse, give up completely—we’d like to dig into the details about the current state of medical school admissions so you can understand what you’re actually up against. Then, we’ll list mistakes applicants routinely make and offer high-level strategies to help you get one step closer to becoming a physician.
Learn everything you need to know to get into medical school.
Get our free 102-page guide: Get Into Medical School: 6 Practical Lessons to Stand Out and Earn Your White Coat
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Medical school acceptance rates (2026)
The news is flooded with reports on doctor shortages in the United States, especially in low-income and rural areas, as well as in fields like primary care, family medicine, and psychiatry. On top of that, new medical schools are opening up each year to train new doctors and address some of our country’s healthcare access issues.
In combination, you would think that these factors would make it easier to get into med school.
As our healthcare needs are growing and we’re producing more physicians than ever, interest in health careers has grown to an all-time high. Of course, this means that more students are applying to medical school than ever. As a result, the number of annual applicants has fluctuated faster than the number of available medical school seats, which certainly lags behind our growing physician demand.
Data published by the AAMC shows that between the 2016–2017 and 2025–2026 academic years (i.e., the last 10 years), the total number of medical school applicants increased from 53,042 to 54,699, a 1.15 percent increase.
Of those applicants, only 21,030 matriculated during the 2016–2017 academic year (39.6 percent), and 23,440 matriculated during the 2025–2026 academic year (42.85%).
In summary, you’re facing increased competition and lower admissions odds, making getting into medical school that much more challenging.
What percent of medical school applicants get in?
In the 2025–2026 cycle, 24,300 of the 54,699 applicants to U.S. MD programs were accepted (acceptance rate of 44.42%) and 23,440 matriculated (matriculation rate of 42.85%), meaning more than half of all applicants didn't start medical school that year.
Over the past decade, the overall rate has stayed in a fairly narrow band, from about 40–43%. Admissions hasn't become dramatically harder in percentage terms. Instead, it has stayed consistently selective while the academic profile of successful applicants keeps climbing.
MD vs. DO matriculation rates
DO (osteopathic) programs admit a slightly higher share of applicants compared with MD programs. In 2025, 44.55% of the 23,114 applicants to osteopathic medical schools matriculated, compared with 42.85% for MD programs.
A slightly higher rate doesn't make DO school a "backup," though. Osteopathic programs look for applicants who understand and genuinely want osteopathic medicine's whole-person approach. Many expect shadowing with a DO and a clear explanation of why you're applying. Applying to a balanced mix of MD and DO programs is often one of the most effective ways to improve your overall odds of becoming a physician.
Acceptance rates by GPA and MCAT score
Your chances of getting into medical school rise sharply with your GPA and MCAT score. Applicants with GPAs above 3.8 and MCAT scores above 517 are accepted at rates 83.3%. For applicants with a lower GPA below 3.2 and MCAT scores below 502, acceptance rates fall below 16%.
The table below shows acceptance rates by stat range, drawn from AAMC data on MD applicants:
U.S. medical school acceptance rates, 2023–2024 through 2025–2026
| Total MCAT Score | |||||||||||
| Total GPA | 472–485 | 486–489 | 490–493 | 494–497 | 498–501 | 502–505 | 506–509 | 510–513 | 514–517 | 518–528 | All Applicants |
| 3.80–4.00 | 2.8% | 3.4% | 8.0% | 18.5% | 30.6% | 44.9% | 57.1% | 70.5% | 77.2% | 83.3% | 63.7% |
| 3.60–3.79 | 1.6% | 2.8% | 4.4% | 11.8% | 22.3% | 34.7% | 45.4% | 60.0% | 66.7% | 71.3% | 42.4% |
| 3.40–3.59 | 0.5% | 0.8% | 4.4% | 9.7% | 20.0% | 30.3% | 36.7% | 48.7% | 56.5% | 66.4% | 29.7% |
| 3.20–3.39 | 0.3% | 1.7% | 2.8% | 7.8% | 17.5% | 24.7% | 31.8% | 42.3% | 45.5% | 60.7% | 20.8% |
| 3.00–3.19 | 0.4% | 1.7% | 2.3% | 6.5% | 15.4% | 23.2% | 28.4% | 37.4% | 43.3% | 46.5% | 15.9% |
| 2.80–2.99 | 0.3% | 1.3% | 1.6% | 5.6% | 10.8% | 23.3% | 27.7% | 39.0% | 36.4% | 41.7% | 11.5% |
| 2.60–2.79 | 0.2% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 4.5% | 10.4% | 17.9% | 22.1% | 33.8% | 32.0% | 35.7% | 8.4% |
| 2.40–2.59 | 0.5% | 0.0% | 1.8% | 1.6% | 12.5% | 17.9% | 21.4% | 37.5% | 53.8% | - | 6.1% |
| 2.20–2.39 | 0.0% | 3.4% | 1.6% | 4.5% | 3.7% | 5.3% | 14.3% | 9.1% | - | - | 2.6% |
| 2.00–2.19 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 5.0% | 11.8% | 21.4% | - | - | - | - | 4.8% |
| 0.00–1.99 | 0.0% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.3% |
| All Applicants | 0.6% | 1.8% | 4.0% | 11.1% | 22.2% | 35.4% | 47.1% | 62.4% | 71.2% | 79.9% | 45.1% |
In-state vs. out-of-state acceptance rates
At many medical schools, especially public ones, in-state applicants are far more likely to be accepted than out-of-state applicants. State-funded schools are often required or expected to train doctors for their own state. As a result, many accept in-state applicants at two to five times the rate of non-residents, and some admit very few out-of-state students at all.
Texas is the most extreme example: state law requires public medical schools to fill at least 90% of their seats with Texas residents. Schools in states such as California and Florida also strongly favor residents, while many private schools show little or no in-state preference.
This makes your state of residence one of the most underrated factors in how hard it will be for you to get into medical school. Before building your school list, check each school's in-state and out-of-state applicant and matriculant numbers, available in the AAMC's Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) database. Apply to every public school in your home state where you're competitive, and be selective about out-of-state public schools that rarely admit non-residents.
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Why is it so hard to get into medical school?
Getting into medical school is hard because far more qualified students apply than there are seats, and the students who get in have higher stats than ever. On top of that, schools evaluate much more than grades and scores, and the application process itself is long, expensive, and unforgiving of mistakes.
Why are medical school acceptance rates so low?
Medical school seats are limited by faculty, funding, and clinical training sites, so schools can't simply expand to meet demand. Even with new schools opening to address doctor shortages, the number of applicants each year still far outpaces available spots. The result is that more than half of applicants don't get in.
Rising GPA and MCAT averages
The bar for academic performance keeps rising. 2025–2026 matriculants averaged a 3.81 GPA and a 512.1 MCAT, up from 3.77 and 511.7 for the 2023–2024 entering class. Meanwhile, the average applicant has a 3.67 GPA and 506.3 MCAT. That gap means "average" stats are no longer competitive at most MD programs.
Holistic review: why great stats aren't enough
Strong numbers get your application read, but they don't get you admitted on their own. Schools use holistic review, weighing your extracurriculars (clinical experience, shadowing, service, and research), personal statement, secondary essays, letters of recommendation, and interview performance alongside your stats. Applicants with excellent grades are still rejected every year because they can't show sustained patient exposure or a clear, compelling reason for pursuing medicine.
The cost and length of the application cycle
Applying to medical school takes more than a year. It runs from primary applications in late spring through dozens of secondary essays, interviews, and rolling decisions that can stretch into the following summer. Because most schools use rolling admissions, applying late or rushing secondaries can quietly hurt your chances. Applying to the 15–25 schools most applicants need also can cost several thousand dollars, making each cycle a significant investment.
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What are the hardest medical schools to get into?
The hardest medical schools to get into, such as Stanford, Georgetown, NYU Grossman, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins, accept roughly 2–3% of applicants, and their matriculants typically have median MCAT scores of 518 or higher and GPAs near 3.9.
| Medical School | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford University School of Medicine | |||
| Georgetown University School of Medicine | |||
| NYU Grossman School of Medicine | |||
| Harvard Medical School | |||
| Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
Low acceptance rates don't always mean the same thing, though. At top research schools like Harvard, the challenge is extremely high stats and an expectation of exceptional research or leadership. Schools like Georgetown have low acceptance rates largely because they receive an enormous number of applications for a small class, and many of those schools prioritize applicants who fit a specific mission or come from their state.
That's why the "hardest" school for you depends on your profile. A school with a 2% acceptance rate may be a realistic target if your experiences align with its mission, while a school with a higher rate may be out of reach if you're an out-of-state applicant at a public school that rarely admits non-residents.
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11 medical school application mistakes that lower your odds
Our goal for this guide is not to discourage you. Rather, we want to shed light on what you’re up against and offer strategies to maximize your odds of getting in.
It’s true that many students apply to medical school each year and that your competition is fierce. It’s also true that many applicants: a) are borderline qualified or unqualified; b) make serious application mistakes; or c) both.
Therefore, if you have solid stats and apply the right way, your odds of getting into medical school will be higher than the roughly 40 percent overall acceptance rate.
We’ll now highlight various medical school application mistakes that students routinely make—and what you should do instead to stand out to admissions committees.
(Note: The rest of this guide assumes that you have competitive or somewhat competitive stats and that you’ve completed or are in the process of completing your medical school requirements, including the right extracurricular activities for medical school, including gaining sufficient physician shadowing, patient exposure, community service, and volunteer hours.)
Mistake #1: Applying to too many reach schools
We’ve observed a significant number of applicants who apply to too many reach schools—25–50 percent or even higher—that they have little to no chance of getting into.
In other words, what some applicants consider to be “target” or “safety” schools are often much tougher than they think to get accepted to.
If you apply to too many reach schools, your number of competitive applications will be far fewer than you think. For instance, if you apply to 30 schools but 15 of them are realistically out of reach for you, you’re only really applying to 15 schools, which is a low number.
A lot of students feel they should apply to the Stanfords and Harvards of the world, thinking, “Why not? What if something crazy happens and I get accepted? Can’t hurt to apply!”
Except it can hurt. Not only is it expensive to apply to medical school, it’s also very strenuous. Almost every school you apply to will ask you to complete a secondary application (i.e., more essays), which often leads to what some refer to as “secondary fatigue.” When secondary fatigue kicks in, effort and work quality decline, along with your chances of success.
What you should do instead
You’ll want to be incredibly thoughtful about which schools you apply to—and how many.
Because school selection is one of the most important—and underrated—components of successful medical school admissions, we put in significant effort to help our students choose the right schools.
Depending on your stats, our recommendation is to initially apply to somewhere between 15 and 25 carefully selected schools, with the following rough breakdown for the typical applicant:
3–5 “reach” schools
7–8 “target” schools
6–7 “undershoot” schools
Bonus: 3–5 “far undershoot” schools
Less than 15, and you risk not achieving the right balance of competitiveness. More than 25, and you risk even greater secondary fatigue.
Once you’ve gotten close to submitting applications to your initial list, you can look to add more schools, recycling or modifying the secondary essays you’ve already written. It’s not crazy to apply to 35 or even 40 schools using this approach.
(Further reading: How Many Medical Schools Should I Apply To? Which Ones? and Average GPA and MCAT Score for Every Medical School)
Mistake #2: Ignoring a school's mission and geographic preferences
While GPA and MCAT scores are the baseline for determining which schools are within your reach, two often-overlooked factors can dramatically impact your chances of success, namely mission fit and a school’s geographic preferences. Taking a moment to consider these factors can save you a lot of time when applying.
Understanding mission fit
Every medical school has a specific mission that shapes their admissions decisions. Some schools prioritize training primary care physicians for underserved communities, while others focus on research excellence or serving specific populations. Applying to schools whose mission aligns with your experiences and goals can significantly boost your chances.
Start by looking through each school's website, particularly their "About" and "Mission" pages. Look for recurring themes in their curriculum or community partnerships. If a school emphasizes serving rural communities and you grew up in a small town with limited healthcare access, that's certainly worth highlighting in your secondary essays.
You should also pay attention to special tracks and programs the school offers. Global health programs, dual degrees, or even public healthcare initiatives are signals of what they value.
And of course, you can also check up on faculty research interests. For instance, if you’ve engaged in cancer research and the school has a cancer center with research opportunities, noting this connection can strengthen your application.
Geographic preferences at medical schools
Sometimes, location matters more in medical school admissions than many applicants realize. Some schools heavily favor in-state applicants or at least applicants with strong connections to the communities they serve. Other schools have regional programs tailored to students from those areas. Understanding a school’s geographic preferences can help you apply more strategically and save you time in applying to schools where your chances may be slim.
Public medical schools tend to favor in-state residents. Some schools accept 80-90% or more of their class from in-state, with very limited out-of-state spots. Examples include the University of Washington (WWAMI region priority), the University of North Carolina, and most Texas schools.
If you’re an out-of-state applicant to schools like this, your stats often need to be significantly higher than the averages to be competitive.
Private schools are more open to out-of-state and international applicants, though many still show regional preferences. Schools like Northwestern, Georgetown, and Emory accept students from across the country but may still favor applicants with regional ties.
Many schools prefer applicants with connections to their region because these students are more likely to practice locally after graduation. If you grew up in the Midwest, attended college there, or have family in the region, you’ll want to mention this when applying to Midwestern schools.
Schools in rural states or underserved areas look for applicants who've demonstrated commitment to those communities. If you're from New York City but want to attend a rural medicine program like the one at the University of Alabama Heersink School of Medicine, you may need to articulate a compelling reason why.
What you should do instead
Avoid schools where there's a clear mismatch between your experiences and the school’s mission. If you have no research experience, applying to research-heavy institutions like Washington University or Vanderbilt is probably not a good idea. Similarly, if you're committed to practicing in urban areas, schools with strong rural medicine programs will question your fit for their program.
One strategy is to concentrate applications in regions where you have legitimate ties. For schools in your home state or region, explicitly mention your ties in secondary essays. Phrases like "having grown up in [region]" or "with family nearby" signal you're likely to stay.
Mistake #3: Neglecting secondary essays for the personal statement
I often ask premed students about their #1 struggle or worry when it comes to medical school applications.
Their #1 response? How to write their medical school personal statement.
It’s a valid concern; the personal statement is incredibly important, yet difficult to get just right. However, many students spend weeks, even months on their personal statement, but fail to give enough attention to acing the AMCAS Work and Activities section and medical school secondary essays.
Medical schools practice holistic admissions, meaning they evaluate every part of your application together in hopes of understanding your readiness for medicine.
Medical school admissions is hard. Want proven strategies to help you with your essays and improve your applications?
Get our free 102-page guide to help you with every step: Get Into Medical School: 6 Practical Lessons to Stand Out and Earn Your White Coat
What you should do instead
Each aspect of your application tells a different part of your story.
For example, your personal statement provides a bird’s-eye view of who you are and your road to medicine, but the AMCAS Work and Activities section offers a detailed look into how you’ve spent your time to understand what it means to be a physician, as well as your accomplishments and growth along the way. Moreover, your secondary essays provide an opportunity to tell medical schools why you’ll be a strong fit for their institution specifically.
Applications that are weak outside of the personal statement are akin to incomplete stories. They leave the reader with more questions and hesitations.
Therefore, I encourage you to devote similar levels of effort to every part of your application, working to ensure that different sections work cohesively to demonstrate to admissions committees why you want to be a physician, why you would be an excellent physician, and why you would be a great fit at their school.
Mistake #4: Chasing “perfect” essay topics
Another very common question we receive about personal statements and secondary essays is, “Would it be a good idea to write about [X/Y/Z] topic?” And most of the time, the answer is the same: “Every topic can lead to a strong or weak essay depending on how compellingly it’s written.”
In other words, there’s rarely such a thing as a “good” or “bad” essay topic, only strong or weak execution.
Oftentimes, students have great personal stories to share that demonstrate their unique qualities, but they don’t think admissions committees will be interested in reading about them. For example, they might say, “But that’s not directly related to medicine,” “I don’t think med schools want to hear about that,” or “Don’t adcoms expect students to write about [topic]?”
What you should do instead:
We discourage students from this type of mind reading because, guess what? The essay topics most students “think” will impress admissions committees are often incredibly similar, leading them to write clichéd essays.
Therefore, we recommend that you first think of the qualities you want to demonstrate in your essay and then consider when in your life you’ve demonstrated those qualities.
That way, you’re much more likely to come up with a topic that reflects who you uniquely are and is much easier to write about.
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Mistake #5: Asking too many people for essay feedback
Like many things in life, more feedback on your essay isn’t necessarily better.
Recently, one of our students rewrote an entire essay despite loving their original idea because their undergraduate advisor suggested another topic. Unfortunately, their second essay wasn’t as strong as their original one, nor did it convey the ideas they’d hoped to.
Anyone you send your essays to will have an opinion on how to change it. While everyone means well, know that each additional set of eyes can dilute your voice and weaken the points you're hoping to make.
What you should do instead
We're not saying that you shouldn't show your work to anyone else, but we encourage you to run your essays by no more than two people who know you—and the medical school admissions process—well.
Moreover, if your work accurately captures what you're hoping to convey, is grammatically correct, and engagingly written, you should confidently move on to the next essay.
Mistake #6: Submitting applications too late
Most medical schools practice rolling admissions, which means that they’ll invite and accept students on a rolling basis, until all seats are filled.
You’ll have more seats available to you the earlier you apply. Conversely, submitting applications too late will lead to competing against a larger applicant pool for fewer spots.
Medical schools post application deadlines on their website, but these are quite misleading. Specifically, the closer you submit to posted deadlines, the lower your overall admissions odds.
What you should do instead:
You should submit high-quality applications as early as possible. AMCAS tends to open at the very beginning of June each year, and secondaries are sent to students whose primary applications are verified as early as early July.
However, be careful not to rush to submit your applications if your essays are subpar. Submitting lower quality materials can hurt you more than submitting early can help you.
It's much better to submit a fantastic application several days to weeks later than you'd hoped rather than submit a so-so application ASAP.
(Further reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline & When Should You Take the MCAT?)
Mistake #7: Preparing for interviews the wrong way
Receiving medical school interview invitations is one of the most exciting parts of the application process, second only to receiving acceptances.
After their initial celebrations, applicants tend to get anxious about how they’re going to respond to various questions and prompts. (e.g., “Tell me about yourself” and “What are your thoughts on the Affordable Care Act?”)
Applicants often over-worry about the wrong things (e.g., questions about things like healthcare policy rarely come up, and there are time-tested approaches to answering them well without intimate knowledge of the subject) and under-worry about critically important aspects of the interview. (e.g., focusing on sociability and answer delivery in addition to the content of responses)
What you should do instead:
While it’s important to practice common questions like “Why do you want to be a doctor?,” you should also look up and practice school-specific questions, develop strategies to tackle any MMI question, and go through mock interviews with folks knowledgeable about the med school interview process.
When you have practice interviews, ask your interviewer to give you feedback on response content and how you presented. If your official interviewer likes you, they’re far more likely to appraise you favorably.
(Further reading: How to Ace Your Medical School Interviews & MMI Interview: The Ultimate Guide)
Mistake #8: Focusing on grades at the expense of clinical experience
We all know that extracurricular activities are a huge part of the med school application process. You’ve probably also heard of 4.0 and 520 candidates being rejected. Often, the reason for this is the belief that, above all else, scores are primary.
While it’s true that GPA and MCAT scores are extremely important, focusing on them too much at the expense of gaining experience in a clinical setting or by shadowing can sap your application of competitiveness.
What you should do instead
Focus on your grades and work hard, but make sure you take the time to volunteer, shadow a doctor and participate in student groups. Adcoms want to see you as a person, not just as a score.
If your GPA falls slightly below the 4.0 you strived for because you were busy volunteering at a community clinic, that’s okay. If you apply with a 4.0 and you never volunteered at that clinic, adcoms won’t see that you’ve demonstrated your interest in medicine. A score won’t show you as an individual and they will be looking for a candidate that will not only be a high achiever but a contributor to their medical community.
Mistake #9: Addressing grade slumps incorrectly
Sometimes, life happens. Things get in the way, responsibilities pile up or enthusiasm dwindles. If you’ve experienced a hiccup in your near-perfect GPA, there’s no reason to panic and there’s no reason to make excuses.
We’ve seen many premeds suffer small setbacks in grades thinking they must explain it in their personal statement or secondary essays. Drawing attention to a grade slump isn’t a problem by itself, but making excuses for it can hurt your chances of getting into medical school.
What you should do instead
Some medical schools will offer space to explain this in optional secondary essays, but keep in mind it’s not necessary for you to use that space. Writing about lower scores only works for adcoms if they see some rehabilitation.
Adcoms know that interests and circumstances change, so when explaining a dip in grades, do so with a story that shows how you came out stronger at the other end. You should approach this problem with a three-fold strategy.
What happened Whatever your reason for the slump, you will initially need to address the circumstances surrounding it. Whether that’s the death of a family member or just a desire to change course academically, you’ll need to discuss that.
What you learned This experience taught you something about yourself and about life. Adcoms will want to know what took away from it.
How you’ve improved This part of the explanation is crucial. How have you come back stronger as a result of this experience? Perhaps the adversity cemented your determination to become a doctor or perhaps a change in major led you to a desire to become a physician-scientist rather than a primary care doctor. Whatever your reasons, make it clear that you’ve taken actionable steps to put that episode behind you.
Mistake #10: Not attending to the details
As is commonly said, the devil is in the details but when it comes to med school applications, the devil is in the lack of attention to the details. When writing your personal statement and secondary essays make sure you cross every T and dot every I.
Adcoms are looking for eloquent, well-read communicators as much as they are stellar stats. Your ability to write fully formed, grammatically correct sentences and express your thoughts clearly paints a picture of you that adcoms see when deciding to offer you an interview.
Medical school applicants are generally very thorough, but even the best of us make mistakes. Spelling errors, grammatical mistakes and even formatting issues portray a candidate that’s less careful than they may like.
What you should do instead
Before submitting any essays, make sure you’ve checked them for accuracy multiple times. This will help ensure you’re putting your best foot forward and is one reason why it’s important to have a second pair of eyes go over your writing.
Applicants should also take full advantage of grammar and spell-checking tools in applications such as Microsoft Word to help. There is even a free version of the popular app Grammarly that can give suggestions and catch errors you may not have noticed.
Mistake #11: Comparing yourself too much to others
Your premed colleagues will inevitably have different stats than you. They’ll also have different ideas about where to apply and what makes a great application, different ideas about what to write about in their personal statements or secondary essays, and different ideas about how to prepare for interviews.
While we encourage you to get feedback from mentors, writing advisors, and family members, be wary of too closely comparing your application to your peers’ applications.
This kind of comparison leads to unnecessary doubts about the quality of your application which can hinder your ability to focus on crafting one that speaks to your strengths. You may end up rethinking (or overthinking) parts of your application that already highlight what you do well, substituting them for anecdotes that come off sounding forced or inauthentic. In short, you risk your doubts becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What you should do instead
As difficult as it may be, have confidence in yourself! Your achievements and experiences are impressive in their own right. A crisis of confidence in how you measure up to a few people in your network will do you no favors on your overall application.
Remember that your application and experiences are unique to you and should showcase that uniqueness. Adding or subtracting information based on someone else’s experiences that you think adcoms want to hear will be viewed as disingenuous. Adcoms read hundreds (if not thousands) of essays every year and they can tell if you’re misrepresenting yourself.
Besides, you should maintain perspective and remember that if a fellow premed’s application seems stronger than yours, that’s only an infinitesimally small portion of the total applicant pool.
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How hard is getting into medical school as a nontraditional applicant?
Getting into medical school can be particularly challenging for nontraditional applicants, who often face unique hurdles compared to their traditional counterparts. Nontraditional students often believe their med school chances are diminished due to their situation. This could include a significant gap between their undergraduate years and decision to apply to med school, career changes, life circumstances, or even familial responsibilities.
Having been away from a rigorous academic environment can make re-engaging with difficult coursework an issue. Aside from the challenges of returning to school, nontraditional applicants may also need to juggle responsibilities such as jobs or caring for loved ones. These extra tasks can eat into time they would otherwise have for polishing essays, taking classes to raise a GPA, or participating in extracurriculars necessary for med school like volunteering at a clinic or shadowing a doctor.
Despite these challenges, nontraditional applicants bring valuable life experiences and perspectives to their applications. Their maturity, resilience, and often well-developed communication skills can enhance their interactions with patients, doctors, and adcoms. Many nontraditional students have honed skills in teamwork and problem-solving through previous careers, making them well-suited for the collaborative nature of medical practice and increasing their chances of becoming a doctor. These communication and problem-solving advantages can particularly come in handy during med school interviews. For instance, they might have a better grasp of the nuances of ethical questions during an MMI interview.
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Is it hard to get into medical school in Canada?
Getting into medical school in Canada is generally even harder than in the U.S. Canada has only 18 medical schools, and each school typically accepts less than 15% of applicants, compared with 44.42% for U.S. MD programs.
Several factors make Canadian admissions especially competitive:
Few seats. Canadian medical schools have small class sizes and far fewer schools per capita than the U.S.
Provincial preference. Most schools reserve the majority of their seats for residents of their own province. Some, like Memorial University, the University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Manitoba, admit very few out-of-province applicants. That makes your home province one of the biggest factors in your odds.
High academic expectations. Successful applicants often have GPAs around 3.8–3.9 or higher.
Varied requirements. Admissions criteria differ widely by school. Some schools, like the University of Ottawa, don't require the MCAT, and others weigh only certain sections. Many also use the CASPer situational judgment test or MMI-style interviews.
Language is another consideration. Most Quebec medical schools teach in French and expect French proficiency.
Because spots are so limited, many Canadian applicants also apply to U.S. medical schools. However, be strategic if you do. Many U.S. schools, especially public ones, accept few or no international applicants, while some private schools consider Canadians alongside U.S. applicants. Check each school's international applicant policy in MSAR before building your list.
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Frequently asked questions
Is it hard to get into med school?
Yes, getting into medical school is very competitive. Only 42.85% of the 54,699 applicants to U.S. MD programs matriculated in the 2025–2026 cycle. Successful applicants averaged a 3.81 GPA and 512 MCAT, along with substantial clinical experience, strong essays, and a well-balanced school list.
How competitive is medical school?
Medical school is one of the most competitive graduate programs in the U.S. More than half of applicants don't get in, and many individual MD programs accept fewer than 10% of applicants. The most selective schools, such as Stanford and Harvard, admit only about 2–3%.
What percent of med school applicants get accepted?
Only 44.42% of the 54,699 applicants to U.S. MD programs during the 2025–2026 cycle were accepted, and 42.85% applicants matriculated. DO programs had a slightly higher matriculation rate of 44.55%.
Is it easier to get into DO or MD school?
DO programs are generally slightly easier to get into than MD programs. According to the most recent available data, 44.55% of DO applicants matriculate, compared with 42.85% for MD applicants. Still, DO schools expect a genuine interest in osteopathic medicine, often shown through shadowing a DO.
How many people apply to medical school each year?
There were 54,699 applicants to U.S. MD programs for the 2025–2026 entering class, according to the AAMC. That number has stayed fairly steady over the past decade, ranging from 51,680 to 62,443. In 2025–2026, DO applicants rose to 23,114, up 4.6% from 2024–2025.
Final thoughts
How hard is it to get into med school? Very! But not as difficult as you might think, especially if you put in the necessary effort. By building strong stats, giving yourself ample application preparation, and avoiding common mistakes, you can be a top applicant at almost any school. While it certainly isn't an easy journey, becoming a doctor is a realistic goal that you can achieve.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For over 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.
Over 90% of our students get into med school—the first time.
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