How to Get Into UCLA Medical School: Requirements and Strategies
/Learn the UCLA Medical School acceptance rate and admissions strategies, plus sample UCLA secondary essays
LEARN HOW TO GET INTO UCLA MEDICAL SCHOOL
This original guide on how to get into UCLA Medical School has been published for informational purposes only. Shemmassian Academic Consulting is in no way affiliated with, endorsed, favored, or supported by the University of California or the David Geffen School of Medicine.
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: UCLA Medical School MD programs
Part 3: How hard is it to get into UCLA Medical School?
Part 4: UCLA secondary application essays (examples included)
Part 5: UCLA Medical School interview
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Part 1: Introduction
As one of the best-ranked and most prestigious medical schools in the United States, UCLA Medical School, also known as the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM at UCLA), is among the most competitive. With an acceptance rate under 3 percent, matriculating into UCLA Medical School has long been challenging for even the brightest applicants. That became even more true in 2019 when UCLA received a hefty scholarship-boosting gift from its namesake donor, David Geffen.
If you hope to be one of the lucky few to earn an MD from UCLA, read on to learn more about how to get into UCLA Medical School. In this guide, we’ll explain all the elements of the UCLA Medical School application, share with you the strategies our successful UCLA Med School applicants have employed, and give you expert advice on tackling the UCLA secondary application prompts.
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Part 2: UCLA Medical School MD programs
Since there are several different ways to get an MD through UCLA, let’s first go over what programs UCLA’s medical school offers:
The four-year, traditional MD program, which admits approximately 118 students each academic year.
The Medical Science Training Program (MSTP), an MD-PhD joint program with Caltech, which usually accepts 15 students each academic year and takes eight years to complete.
UCLA PRIME, a five-year program that accepts around 18 students each academic year and is designed for those interested in leadership and advocacy roles related to medical care for underserved communities. Students in UCLA PRIME earn an MD and a master’s degree in a complementary field, most commonly an MBA, MPH, or MPP.
The UCLA/Charles R. Drew Medical Education Program, a four-year, joint MD program that admits 24 students each academic year and focuses on community engagement and physician leadership in diverse and disadvantaged populations. Students spend the first two years at UCLA and then finish at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
What’s the difference between the regular UCLA MD and the UCLA/Charles R. Drew MD programs?
While both programs offer an MD, there is a crucial difference between them. As an officially designated minority-serving institution and Historically Black Graduate Institution, Charles Drew University is “dedicated to social justice and health equity for underserved populations.” As such, the UCLA/Charles R. Drew joint program aims to graduate physicians dedicated to fulfilling this mission.
Applicants are chosen based on their academic merits and commitments to service. Demonstrating a true commitment to working in disadvantaged communities is extremely important to be a good candidate for the UCLA/Charles R. Drew program, so keep that in mind when choosing which programs to apply to.
While all of UCLA’s MD programs are worth considering if you are interested in their parameters, in the remainder of this post, we’ll focus on how to get into the standalone MD program.
UCLA Medical School tuition and scholarships
For the 2023–2024 school year, UCLA Medical School tuition and fees run $43,843 for in-state students and $56,088 for out-of-state students. When factoring in other expenses such as room and board, books, and transportation, UCLA advertises their first-year cost of attendance as $84,125 and $96,370 for in-state and out-of-state students, respectively.
While these figures are undeniably expensive, UCLA does offer both need- and merit-based scholarships, including the David Geffen Medical Scholarships, which cover the entire cost of attendance for up to 20 percent of entering students each year. On top of this, there are over 100 other UCLA Philanthropic Scholarships available to medical students.
(Suggested reading: Medical Schools in California: How to Get In)
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Part 3: How hard is it to get into UCLA Medical School?
UCLA Medical School admissions statistics
With an acceptance rate of just 2.2 percent, getting into UCLA Medical School is incredibly competitive. For its 175 spots in each class, UCLA has received upwards of 14,000 applications in recent admissions cycles.
While UCLA has not published an average GPA or MCAT score for its most recent incoming class, given its low acceptance rate, most successful applicants will likely be academically impressive.
To get a sense of the academic caliber expected by UCLA, we can look at the fact that, in 2019, they announced that they would raise their GPA and MCAT cutoff scores to 3.4 and 512. [Interestingly, 2019 is also the last year they reported the average GPA (3.70) and MCAT scores (513.7) for med school matriculants.] This announcement was not without controversy, and it appears that these cutoffs were never officially instituted since, as of now (in 2024), their website specifically states, “[Our] holistic admissions process takes into account all the elements of your application. We do not put focus on any one factor. We do not have a minimum MCAT score or a minimum GPA in our medical school requirements.”
That said, we can see that the average student’s stats were well above the minimum they considered implementing. So, it’s probably safe to assume that the average accepted student will have stats well above these numbers.
UCLA Medical School admissions requirements
Since premed requirements can vary from school to school, let’s examine what UCLA Medical School expects from its applicants.
While UCLA doesn’t require applicants to complete specific coursework, they do recommend being able to demonstrate mastery of the following competencies:
Biological sciences and physiology: Cellular and molecular biology, genetics
Chemistry, biochemistry, and physical sciences: Inorganic and organic chemistry, biochemistry of intermediary metabolism, and associated labs
Humanities courses such as literature or art, history, philosophy, religion, ethics, economics, social behavior, and psychology
Math and statistics courses such as biomathematics, computer science, and matrix algebra
We have observed that our successful UCLA Med School applicants also demonstrate:
Good writing and interpersonal skills
Clinical experience
Some experience or familiarity with research
Knowledge of the challenges of health care delivery (i.e. the political, ethical, legal, scientific, or public health sides of medicine)
Awareness of the importance of diversity
Furthermore, you must have taken the MCAT no later than September of the year before your admission into UCLA. In the 2024–2025 application cycle (to start fall 2025), you must submit an MCAT score earned between January 2019 through September 1, 2024.
UCLA Medical School application timeline
To apply to UCLA’s MD program, you’ll submit your application via AMCAS. Here’s a timeline you can use to plan your application:
May 2, 2024: AMCAS application opens
May 30, 2024: AMCAS application can be submitted
July 2024–November 2024: Applications reviewed
August 2024–March 2025: Interviews conducted
October 2, 2024: AMCAS application deadline
October 15, 2024: Offers of admission begin to be made
UCLA employs rolling admissions, and its timeline has a few unique aspects that we’ll discuss here. As always, you should plan to submit your complete AMCAS application as early as possible for the greatest odds of admission.
Note that UCLA screens applicants before sending out their secondary applications. If you receive a secondary from UCLA, you’re required to complete it within two weeks.
As mentioned above, UCLA begins sending admissions offers as early as October 15th, continuing until the first-year class is full. However, if you receive an offer of admission from UCLA, you must respond within 15 days.
(Suggested reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline)
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Part 4: UCLA secondary application essays (examples included)
To complete UCLA’s secondary application, you’ll need to answer a number of short questions. Since you’ll have 800 characters—about a paragraph—to answer each of UCLA’s secondary prompts, brevity and clarity are crucial.
Below are the 2023–2024 UCLA Medical School secondary essay prompts, advice on how to nail each question, and examples of successful responses.
Question 1: At the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, students are provided with curriculum and experiences enabling them to become an "Outstanding Physician, AND...," dedicating themselves to important societal missions. What missions do you want to embrace? What have you done toward your missions? (800 characters)
In asking what societal missions you want to embrace, this prompt is essentially asking, “What is important to you? How do you want to make a difference as a physician?” You might think of this as a spin on prompts that ask you to envision yourself five or ten years into the future, which you’ve probably encountered in some of your other secondary applications.
A useful strategy for answering this prompt is to choose a specialty, medical condition, or public health issue that interests you (even if you aren’t really sure what you want to do yet, as this won’t commit you to anything) and describe how the experiences you’ve already had have prepared you to contribute to that field or issue. Try to also tie your response to UCLA and the reasons why UCLA will best prepare you for the future you are describing.
Example:
My goal is to become an OB/GYN. Majoring in Women’s and Gender Studies in college, I have long been aware that women in the U.S. face far worse health outcomes than women in other high-income countries. Specifically, I’m interested in working to decrease the maternal mortality rate among American women, which is the highest among wealthy nations. Other experiences that have led me down this path include shadowing an OB/GYN during my junior year, volunteering in a clinic at a women’s prison, and my current job as a services coordinator at a women’s shelter in San Francisco. A UCLA education will help me towards this goal, especially with resources like the Women’s Reproductive Health Research Program.
What makes this a good response?
This student gave clear examples of how and why she wants to pursue her specialty. She charts a path from her undergraduate studies to her medical interests and lists 3 related actions she has taken toward her “missions.” She also tied that into how UCLA will help further her goals by citing a specific program UCLA offers.
Question 2: Respond to the following and indicate how these areas of experience have impacted your progress toward your future career goals in relation to becoming an "Outstanding Physician, AND...".
A. Describe your most unique leadership, entrepreneurial, or creative activity. (800 characters)
B. Describe your most important volunteer work and why it was meaningful. (800 characters)
C. Describe your most scholarly project (thesis, research or field of study in basic or clinical science or in the humanities) and provide the total number of hours, dates and advisor. (800 characters)
Question 3: Describe how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your pathway to medical school. Include any academic, personal, financial or professional barriers, as well as other relevant information. (800 characters)
Question 4: Did you experience or are you anticipating time between graduating from college and matriculating into medical school? If yes, describe the activities in which you participated or are planning to participate. Examples include additional schooling, employment, or caring for a loved one. (800 characters)
Question 5: Do you identify as being part of a group that has been marginalized (examples include, but are not limited to, LGBTQIA, disabilities, federally recognized tribe) in terms of access to education or healthcare? If you answered “Yes” to the above, answer the following prompt: Describe how this inequity has impacted you or your community and how educational disparity, health disparity and/or marginalization has impacted you and your community. (800 characters)
Gain instant access to med school secondary essay examples for every single prompt required by every medical school in the United States and Canada. Subscribe today to lock in the current investments, which will be increasing in the future for new subscribers.
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Part 5: UCLA Medical School interview
Students who make it past the secondary application round will be invited to interview. In the 2023–2024 application cycle, all interviews were held virtually.
While UCLA has historically used the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI Interview) format, interviews in this application cycle were one-on-one, traditional interviews.
Since you won’t know precisely what you’ll be asked, you should first prepare by practicing thinking quickly on your feet. It’s also a good idea to make sure you’re familiar with the UCLA Medical School program, facilities, and mission statement and can speak fluently about why DGSOM is the right medical school for you.
We’ve curated a list of some common questions interviewers ask at UCLA to help you. These include the following:
What motivates you?
Tell me about your research projects
Why are you interested in medicine? Why UCLA?
I see you did X in your application. Tell me about it.
How do you feel about American healthcare? How would you fix it?
Have you read anything interesting lately?
What did you learn through your volunteering and shadowing experiences?
Why did you select your undergraduate institution?
Where do you see yourself 15 years from now?
Tell me about the most meaningful community service work that you have done.
What is something that you failed at and what did you learn?
What do you like to do for fun?
Do you have any questions for me?
Would you have an effective response to “What motivates you?” or “What is something that you failed at, and what did you learn?” These may seem like easy enough questions, but a truly effective response will weave in aspects of UCLA’s program to show the admissions committee that you’re well-informed and knowledgeable about your reasons for applying.
Additionally, though this year’s interviews will be traditional, the MMI will likely remain important to UCLA applicants for years to come. Consider, for example, that the former DGSOM Associate Dean for Admissions, Dr. Theodore R. Hall, discussed in 2015 how the admissions committee might use MMI responses to evaluate applicants’ emotional intelligence and other personal qualities (e.g., the ability to monitor affect and respond appropriately).
Therefore, while you should prepare as much as you can, you definitely don’t want to seem like you’re delivering an obviously-rehearsed response. Instead, our advice is to do your best to speak naturally and in a personable manner.
(Suggested reading: How to Ace Your Medical School Interviews)
Final thoughts
As one of the best and most selective medical schools in the country, applying to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA may seem like a reach for even the most qualified students. Since the majority of your fellow applicants will also have outstanding GPAs and MCAT scores, your secondary essays must be top-notch in order to stand out from the crowd. Though UCLA’s admissions statistics are admittedly daunting, applying the advice in this guide will provide you with a road map to ace your application.
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 nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.