How to Get Into Brown Medical School: Requirements and Strategies
/How hard is it to get into Brown Medical School? Learn the acceptance rate, admissions requirements, and strategies for tackling Brown Medical School secondary application essays
Brown Medical School is ranked #35 by us news and world report for best medical schools
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Part 1: Introduction
Are you looking to attend a prestigious medical school with a forward-thinking curriculum? If so, Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School is likely on your list. Known for its flexible interdisciplinary curriculum, Brown begins its MD program with integrated science courses and a “Doctoring” sequence that teaches clinical skills and professional development. It also boasts the Scholarly Concentrations Program, which allows students to delve into independent scholarship as early as the first year.
Alpert Medical School is also highly selective and comes with Ivy League prestige to boot.
If you hope to graduate with an MD from Brown, we’re here to help. In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know in order to get into Brown’s medical school. Read on to learn how to put together your Alpert Medical School application, including input on how to ace your Brown secondary essays, including sample essays. We’ll also review statistics about Brown Medical School, Brown’s application requirements, and other information you’ll need in order to apply.
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Part 2: Brown Medical School MD programs
Brown offers a few different routes towards an MD:
The Primary Care Population Medicine Program, in which you can earn an MD and a Master of Science in Population Medicine
The Warren Alpert Physician-Scientist MD/PhD and Advanced Training Program
In this post, we’ll focus on how to get into Brown’s traditional, four-year MD program.
Suggested reading: (MD-PhD Programs: The Ultimate Guide)
Brown Medical School tuition and scholarships
As you might expect of a prestigious, private university like Brown, tuition at Alpert Medical School is on the more expensive end. As of the 2023–2024 school year, tuition runs $69,286 per year. When factoring in fees, books, living expenses, and other costs, Brown projects the total first-year cost of attendance to be $102,320.
Financial aid is of course available to medical students, and Alpert notes that 50 percent of aid recipients receive some amount of institutional scholarship funds, either need- or merit-based. In 2023, Brown reported that the average need-based scholarship award was $43,774. Furthermore, the average medical school debt for graduating seniors for 2022-2023 was $154,473, far less than the national average.
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Part 3: How hard is it to get into Brown Medical School?
Alpert Medical School admissions statistics
With an acceptance rate of 2.6%, Brown Medical School is one of the most competitive medical schools in the country. Let’s take a look at the admission statistics for Brown’s MD class of 2027:
Applications: 9,912
Interviews: 366*
Matriculants: 144
Median overall GPA: 3.83*
Average MCAT score: 515
*Note: class of 2025. Class of 2027 data not yet listed.
How to get into Brown Medical School
Brown offers several routes of admission to Alpert Medical School—more than your average medical school. Let’s review those here, as they’re relevant both to you, as a prospective Brown applicant, and to how we read the admissions statistics above.
Traditional AMCAS route: Brown reports that the majority of Alpert students apply this way; we can safely say that around 50–60% of each incoming class is made up of students who applied via AMCAS. In other words, AMCAS applicants to Alpert Medical School can expect to compete for approximately 75–90 spots per year. Among the class of 2026, 60% of students were admitted via AMCAS.
The BS/MD program, the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), which allows students to simultaneously gain acceptance to Brown’s undergraduate program and Alpert Medical School. As such, PLME students make up a significant portion of Alpert’s incoming class each year. Among the class of 2026, 32% of students gained entry to Alpert Medical School via PLME.
(Suggested reading: How to Get Into Brown PLME)
Students who came through Brown-affiliated post-baccalaureate programs: Brown, like some of its peers, maintains a connection to some post-baccs that help people who don’t have premed backgrounds find their way to medicine. If you’ve attended one of those programs—Bryn Mawr, Columbia, Goucher, or Johns Hopkins—you can seek a nomination from your advisor to get accepted into Brown. Among the class of 2026, 4% were admitted via a post-bacc program.
Rhode Island and Mississippi routes: Brown also offers an Early Identification Program for Rhode Islanders and one for graduates of Tougaloo College in Mississippi. 4% of the class of 2026 were accepted to Brown via this route.
Another thing these multiple routes should signal is that Brown is particularly committed to letting in a range of students from both traditional and nontraditional backgrounds, including future doctors who come from underserved places. This is a reflection of the culture you can expect to encounter at Alpert Medical School.
Brown Medical School admissions requirements
Here are the coursework prerequisites that applicants to Alpert Medical School must have fulfilled:
Quantitative Reasoning: One course in calculus or statistics (biostatistics preferred)
Biology: Two courses with a grade of B or higher, covering cell biology and genetics (lab experience is highly recommended)
Chemistry: Two courses in general (inorganic) chemistry, one course in organic chemistry and one course in biochemistry
Physics: A two-course sequence covering mechanics, heat, electricity, optics, and radiation physics
In addition, though there’s no specific prerequisite, Brown medical students are expected to have strong writing skills. As such, it’s recommended that you complete at least some coursework in which expository writing is heavily practiced, such as English or other humanities courses.
Furthermore, all applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0.
Beyond your transcripts, Alpert Medical School also notes that they look for students “who will become leaders and role models in the practice of medicine and the advancement of human health.” As such, they seek out the following characteristics among their applicants:
Intellectual curiosity
Research or clinical experience
A commitment to serving others
Integrity
Enthusiasm
(Suggested reading: Medical School Requirements: The Definitive Guide)
Actionable advice for demonstrating the qualities Brown is looking for
It’s one thing to list the qualities Brown seeks in its applicants, but it’s quite another to demonstrate them on your application. To do this, you’ll need to think ahead about the activities you should engage in that will highlight these qualities and give you the best chance of acceptance to the Alpert Medical School.
Some of the qualities listed above overlap a bit. For example, ‘intellectual curiosity’ and ‘research experience’ can be served by the same activity. However, to give you an idea of what you might do, we’ve given some suggestions from our years of helping students gain entry into Brown below.
Showcasing your intellectual curiosity
Fuel your research flame: Make sure to participate in research projects, even if not directly related to medicine. That’s not to say that it’s too typical for candidates to focus only on medicine, but you shouldn’t limit yourself. If a research opportunity comes up that sparks your interest, you should go for it. Intellectual curiosity should be well-rounded and this can give you interesting material for your essays and interviews. Additionally, you can use this line of thinking in regards to the classes you take as a premed. If a course outside of your major fascinates you, why not explore it?
Become a lifelong learner: Actively pursue knowledge beyond the classroom. This could include reading about cutting-edge medical advancements, attending guest lectures on intriguing topics, or even starting a personal project that delves into a specific area of medicine that fascinates you.
Demonstrating a commitment to serving others
Engage in volunteer experiences: Having some volunteer experience is crucial for any medical school application, but many students prioritize clinical volunteering over anything else. While clinical volunteering is certainly important and can also show your commitment to helping others, simply taking a bit of extra time to volunteer at a soup kitchen or help support your local church’s donation drive can add extra value to your application and help you stand out.
Leadership in service: Whatever type of volunteer experience you participate in, try to position yourself as a leader within the group or organization. For example, if you are the person in charge of organizing the donation drive mentioned above, your commitment to service will be all the more notable.
Demonstrating your integrity
Participate in Peer Reviews or Tutoring: One way to show your integrity is by being a model to others. Assisting peers in their studies or offering constructive feedback on their work requires honesty, fairness, and a commitment to their success.
Become a Mentor: Mentoring younger students or those in your community offers a chance to model ethical behavior, guide decision-making, and uphold a standard of trustworthiness.
Alpert Medical School application timeline
In this section, we’ll go over the timeline you’ll need to understand in order to apply to Alpert Medical School. Like most American medical schools, Brown uses AMCAS in its application process.
May 1, 2024: AMCAS application opens
May 28, 2024: AMCAS application can be submitted
July 2024: AMCAS applications released to Brown
July 2024: Brown secondary application sent to all applicants with verified AMCAS applications
September 2024–February 2025: Interviews conducted
October 7, 2024: AMCAS application deadline
November 1, 2024: Secondary application and letters of recommendation deadline
Early March 2025: All applicants will receive a notice of interview status by this date
Because Brown employs rolling admissions, plan to submit your AMCAS application as early as possible in order to receive your secondary application in July. Unlike some medical schools, Brown doesn’t pre-screen AMCAS applications, so everyone who applies and is verified will receive a secondary application.
At your interview, you’ll be given a timeframe in which you should expect to receive an admissions decision. Based on anecdotal evidence, the last round of decisions typically goes out sometime in March, after which the admissions committee turns to the wait list.
(Suggested reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline)
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Part 4: Brown Medical School secondary application essays (examples included)
To complete Brown’s secondary application, you’ll need to respond to the three questions below. Let’s dive into how to best handle them and take a look at some sample responses.
First Question: Do you have significant limitations on your interview availability for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle?
*NOTE: Interviews occur on Thursdays and/or Fridays beginning in mid-September and finishing in February. Please detail any significant limitations on your availability during this time, such as international travel, work or courses. You may use the text box below to explain your limited availability. (if none, leave blank)*
Question 1: Summarize your activities during the 2024-2025 academic year. Describe how your activities are preparing you for a medical career. (2000 characters)
To answer this question, start by gathering your CV and AMCAS Work and Activities list to use as references. You’ll want to include all of your extracurriculars from the specified timeframe, including ones that are upcoming, so long as you’re sure that you’ll complete them. Then simply describe how each activity has contributed to your future medical career. You can do this either in list form, as our student below did, or by writing in paragraphs to create an essay response.
Since there will undoubtedly be some overlap between this answer and what you’ve submitted for your AMCAS activity list, think of this as an opportunity to expand on your AMCAS experience descriptions.
Here’s an example of the “list of entries” approach:
Tagalog-to-English Volunteer Interpreter, Volunteer Healthcare Interpreters, UCLA, Sep. 2020–present: Through VHI, a student organization that provides free healthcare interpretation services to non-English speakers, I accompany patients to medical appointments in the Los Angeles area. This experience—plus the thorough training in interpreting ethics and Tagalog medical vocabulary that I received through VHI—has shown me how healthcare is not only about providing medical examinations and procedures; cultural sensitivity and clear communication are also musts. Volunteering for VHI has reinforced my belief that all people deserve thorough and empathetic healthcare, regardless of linguistic or other types of barriers.
Why does this work?
This student has expanded upon her AMCAS activities listed (in bold) and she provided a closer look at what that experience involved and what she learned. Most importantly, she showed how that experience would directly relate to her future work as a physician.
By being specific about her belief in the importance of communication in a medical setting, she is giving a concrete example of what she can bring to Brown.
Note that while this applicant offered summaries, she didn’t opt for bullet points or fragments. Those tend to signal a resumé rather than a short, thoughtful essay, and we always recommend writing in full sentences. Save space by writing with concision, not by chopping off your prose into bullet points.
Question 2: How will your unique attributes, life experiences, and interests add to the Alpert Medical School community? (2000 characters)
Question 3: Reflect on a non-academic situation when you had to change course, and how you did so. (3000 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: Brown Medical School interviews
If you’re one of the fortunate applicants selected to interview at Brown, you can rest assured that your application has placed you in the top tier of candidates.
In the 2024–2025 application cycle, all interviews will be held virtually. Your virtual interview day at Alpert Medical School will consist of the following:
A group information session detailing the admissions process, financial aid, and an overview of the medical school, including a virtual building tour
A session with current medical students
Two 30-minute, open file individual interviews with members of the MD Admissions Committee (students, faculty, and/or administrative staff)
For a top-tier school such as Brown, you’ll want to have thoroughly considered your responses to possible interview questions before the big day. Walking into such an important interview blind will only serve to increase your anxiety and increase your chances of clamming up when confronted with questions requiring an answer on the spot.
Over the years, our research has shown some questions tend to come up at Brown more often than others such as:
You did X for a long time - can you tell me more about that?
What is the thing you're most proud of?
Why do you want to move to Providence, RI?
Why do you want to be a physician rather than other positions in healthcare (NP, PA, RN, etc.)?
Tell me something about yourself that is not in your application.
Tell me about your research.
Anything you want to highlight for the admissions committee?
What kind of doctor do you want to be?
Do you see yourself doing primary care?
What did you learn from your previous degree?
Questions like “You did X for a long time. Can you tell me more about that?” may be relatively easy to answer, but others, such as “Why do you want to move to Providence, RI?” can be deceptively simple. If you’re coming from out of state, as many Brown applicants are, you may only want to move there to attend Brown. However, simply saying this is not an effective answer and may leave adcoms wondering if you really know what you’re committing to or if you will be a welcome addition to their community.
This is where preparation is key. You should strive to give a truly human dimension to your interview and to make your first-impression with adcoms a lasting one.
Suggested Reading: (How to Ace Medical School Interviews)
Invited to a med school interview? Congrats! There's no need to land in waitlist purgatory or the rejection pile. Learn how to craft memorable, acceptance-worthy responses using the resource below.
Gain instant access to the most common traditional and MMI interview questions, plus sample responses for each, to help you craft responses that lead to acceptances. Subscribe today to lock in the current investments, which will be increasing in the future for new subscribers.
Final thoughts
With its highly selective admissions rate and prestigious name, getting into Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School will be a challenge no matter who you are. That said, if you’re a strong student with your heart set on Brown’s flexible curriculum, first make sure to achieve the very best grades and MCAT scores you can. Then follow this advice in this guide to write superb secondary essays that will help you stand out from the crowd.
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.
THERE'S NO REASON TO STRUGGLE THROUGH THE MED SCHOOL ADMISSIONS PROCESS ALONE, ESPECIALLY WITH SO MUCH ON THE LINE. SCHEDULE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION TO ENSURE YOU LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE.