Medical School Requirements in 2024: The Definitive Guide
/Learn what medical school prerequisites to take and what extracurricular activities to pursue to meet your premed requirements and maximize your admission chances
Understanding medical school requirements is crucial as you map out your college courses
Introduction
Medical school degree requirement
Medical school course requirements
Medical school major requirements
Medical school GPA requirement
Medical school MCAT requirement
Medical school extracurricular activity requirements
Medical school letter of recommendation requirements
Medical school Casper requirement
Medical school application requirements
Frequently asked questions
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Introduction
As a premed student, you know that you have to work harder than all of your college peers—except, perhaps, engineering students.
In addition to acing notoriously difficult medical school prerequisites—often dubbed “weeder classes”—you have to pursue multi-year extracurricular activities like research, physician shadowing, clinical volunteering, and community service.
Beyond that, you have to develop close relationships with professors and mentors to eventually obtain strong letters of recommendation for medical school. Additionally, you have to do well on multiple exams like the dreaded MCAT and the newer Casper, as well as write amazing application essays.
While it’s tough to meet all of these medical school requirements, what’s worse is that schools’ expectations differ. What satisfies one med school might not satisfy another. Moreover, some expectations, like research, are not explicitly stated. Even MSAR—the best up-to-date, organized source for individual med schools’ requirements—can only list what a school officially provides.
It can all be very confusing and overwhelming. Perhaps if you knew the undergraduate requirements for medical school, you would appropriately plan ahead.
This resource, along with our guide on how to get into medical school, was created to demystify everything you need to complete for medical school. If you follow the listed guidelines, you’ll meet every med school’s requirements and be eligible to apply to the widest range of programs.
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Medical school degree requirement
What degree do you need to get into medical school?
Every U.S. medical school requires the completion of a four-year degree from an accredited college or university. It doesn’t matter whether your degree is a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.).
“Four-year” doesn’t mean that you have to be enrolled in school for four years. For instance, you can complete your degree sooner by taking more classes per term to graduate in three or three-and-a-half years. The degree requirement can also be satisfied through a BS/MD program.
In addition, your four-year degree must be obtained prior to matriculating into medical school. In other words, you can apply to medical school before you complete your degree. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to go straight through from undergrad.
Some students choose to pursue graduate degrees before matriculating into med school, such as a Master of Public Health (MPH) or Special Master’s program (SMP), but advanced degrees are not required.
(Suggested Reading: Getting into Medical School as a Nontraditional Applicant)
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Medical school course requirements
Medical school prerequisites are what vary most from school to school, which is why they’re so confusing. For instance, a certain set of courses might meet Harvard Medical School's requirements but not another program’s.
The AAMC website lists the general courses you will need to complete for medical schools, as follows:
One year of biology
One year of English
Two years of chemistry, through organic chemistry
This list clarifies little, because it’s vague and incomplete. Most medical schools will require more than this, including more specific courses.
Given how hard it is to get into medical school, you’re strongly encouraged to aim beyond the aforementioned minimum requirements. In fact, we recommend that you take courses that will satisfy requirements for every med school, so that you’ll have the option to apply anywhere. Completing the following list of courses will help you do just that:
Biology: Lecture: Two semesters or three quarters | Lab: One term
General chemistry: Lecture: One semester or two quarters | Lab: One term
Organic chemistry: Lecture: Two semesters or two quarters | Lab: One term
Biochemistry: Lecture: One term | Lab: Not required
Physics: Lecture: Two semesters or three quarters | Lab: One term
Math: Lecture: Two semesters or three quarters (must include calculus and statistics)
English: Lecture: Two semesters or three quarters (must include writing)
(Note: Certain science majors have additional course requirements.)
If you complete the courses above, you will meet every medical school’s requirements. The one other recommendation is that you take courses in arts, humanities, languages, literature, and social sciences, though there are no specific guidelines to follow. It’s not necessary that you take courses in all of these areas, but definitely aim to take courses in some.
As with your degree, you have to complete your prerequisites for medical school prior to matriculating to medical school. In other words, you can apply to medical school even if you have a few outstanding prerequisite courses to complete. So long as you get them all done before matriculation, you’ll be just fine.
Be aware that AP credits, even if accepted by your undergraduate institution, might not be permitted to satisfy certain medical schools’ requirements. Therefore, you should research the websites of schools you’re most interested in so that you’re not caught off guard by missing course work during your application cycle.
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Medical school major requirements
Your premed major does not matter when it comes to medical school admissions.
As long as you complete all the prerequisites for medical school, you can major in anthropology, biology, chemistry, English, history, or physics. Most colleges and universities do not offer a separate premed major; therefore, it is not expected nor required.
Moreover, there is no such thing as a best premed major. All else being equal, an English major with a 3.8 overall GPA and 3.7 science GPA will be just as competitive of an applicant as a biochemistry major with the same stats.
Therefore, you should prioritize majoring in an area of interest, one that you feel you could do very well in. Going back to the previous example, it would be preferable to have a 3.8 overall GPA and 3.7 science GPA as an English major rather than have a 3.6 overall GPA and 3.6 science GPA as a physics major.
This might not seem fair, since certain majors are generally tougher than others. You might believe that, had you chosen an easier major, your GPA would be higher. (Some students also lament having a slightly lower GPA as a result of attending a notoriously difficult institution.) That’s where the MCAT, a standardized test, comes in. More on the MCAT in a moment.
We often get asked whether a double major or a minor boosts your odds of getting into med school. While some admissions committee members will likely admire your diverse interests and pursuits, we have not observed the presence or absence of a double major or a minor as a significant factor in medical school admissions. Therefore, you should pursue a double major or minor if you would like, but it would not likely make or break your application.
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Medical school GPA requirement
Most medical schools will not post a minimum GPA requirement.
In addition, most medical schools will automatically send you their secondary application once your primary application is verified, regardless of your GPA and MCAT score.
Despite the routine mentioning of “holistic admissions” and no minimum GPA requirements, medical schools have high, yet variable grade expectations. The average overall GPA among successful applicants during the most recent cycle was 3.77 across MD programs.
It’s much tougher to get into medical school with a low GPA, so make sure to protect your grades at all times. Some students end up taking too many courses or participating in too many extracurriculars at the start of undergrad, and their grades suffer as a result. A few terms with lower grades early on will make the rest of college an uphill academic battle.
Students routinely ask whether their GPA is “too low” or “good enough” to get into medical school, and whether medical schools employ a cutoff when evaluating applications. Some do and some don’t, but what’s most important is that you do as well as possible and apply to a balance school list based on your stats.
When using MSAR, make sure that your GPA is at least at a given school’s 10th percentile mark. Below that, and your chances of getting into that school will be extremely slim. Of course, the higher your grades, the better.
(Suggested reading: Average GPA and MCAT Score for Every Medical School)
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Medical school MCAT requirement
Unless you’re enrolled in certain BS/MD programs or other early assurance programs, you will have to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Unfortunately, some BS/MD and early assurance programs require you to achieve a certain minimum MCAT score to remain eligible.
At the vast majority of medical schools, you will be required to submit an MCAT score from within the last three years. If you last took the MCAT over three years ago, you will probably have to retake the exam.
The earliest students typically take the MCAT is during the summer after their sophomore year. January of junior year is also a good idea for students who want to apply to med school straight through (i.e., without taking a gap year or two.) The latest we recommend taking the MCAT is in April of your application year, and even that’s pushing it. Regardless, in most instances you should give yourself 3–4 months of study time and develop a great MCAT study schedule to maximize your score.
(Suggested reading: When Should You Take the MCAT?)
Of course, you should aim to do as well as possible on the MCAT. If you’re looking to get into an MD program, your score target should be, at minimum, a 508. This is an incredibly conservative target, as many medical schools post a higher average MCAT score among matriculants. Moreover, the average MCAT score among matriculants during the 2023-2024 application cycle (i.e., students who started med school in fall 2023) was 511.7.
If you’re interested in applying to DO schools, your MCAT score does not need to be as high. But whether you’re applying to MD or DO programs (or both), the score you’ll want to aim for also depends on your GPA. The higher your GPA, the more you can withstand a slightly lower MCAT score.
Students often ask how close to a school’s median stats they need to be competitive for that school, incorrectly viewing average stats as a threshold for getting in. However, keep in mind that median means “middle score.” Therefore, a school with a median MCAT score of, say, 514 admitted half of its students with an MCAT score below a 514 and half of its students with an MCAT score above a 514.
(Suggested reading: What MCAT Score Do You Need to Get Into Medical School?)
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Medical school extracurricular activity requirements
Approaching your premed years the right way typically results in being extremely busy with studying and especially with extracurricular activities.
Competitive medical school applicants all have good-to-great grades and MCAT scores, which means that stats are not a useful differentiating factor; they simply tell admissions committees whether an applicant is academically ready. Therefore, med school admissions committee members (adcoms) evaluate how you’ve spent your time outside the classroom.
And while many medical schools state that they want to see the obtainment or demonstration of certain competencies and skills, they almost never provide any details about what specifically to pursue, or how much.
While we’ve covered specific recommendations in detail in a separate guide—How to Choose the Right Extracurricular Activities for Medical School—adcoms expect you to have obtained the following:
Shadowing experience: Shadowing refers to observing physicians in any care setting, whether an outpatient clinic, operating room, community clinic, etc. You should aim to observe physicians across two or three specialties, and ideally in multiple settings.
Clinical experience: This category is sometimes referred to as clinical volunteering or patient exposure. It’s different from shadowing in that you will have 1:1 patient contact, delivering some form of care. Popular clinical experiences include working as an emergency medical technician (EMT) or medical assistant (MA).
Community service: Otherwise known as non-clinical volunteering, this category is infinitely broad. Depending on your interests, you could tutor students from undeserved background, make an impact through a charitable organization, or anything else.
Research experience: Research experience can be obtained in “wet lab” or “dry lab” (often clinical) settings. The goal is to demonstrate an interest in academic medicine, especially if you’re interested in getting into MD programs. Many medical school websites do not explicitly mention requiring research experience. However, most competitive med school applicants, especially at top schools, have completed at least one year of research, preferably in the same lab. Moreover, while publications are not required and many successful applicants do not have publications, publications strengthen your research experiences in the eyes of adcoms.
However, it’s not simply the obtainment of a certain number of hours that medical schools are looking for, but rather the demonstration of the following:
Commitment to medicine
Knowledge of health care delivery
Leadership
Interest in serving diverse populations
Passion for science
Communication and interpersonal skills
Leadership is often thought to be its own extracurricular category, but it isn’t. It doesn’t matter whether you have served as an officer of a club or founded your own organization. What matters is that you have demonstrated leadership skills in various contexts, whether community service, research or elsewhere.
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Medical school letter of recommendation requirements
Like coursework and extracurricular activities, medical school letter of recommendation requirements can be quite confusing because they differ across schools.
There are so many layers to understanding med school recommendation letters; in fact, that we published a separate, comprehensive resource on the subject: Medical School Letters of Recommendation: The Definitive Guide.
However, the basics that you should aim to get are:
Two letters from a science professor
One letter from a non-science professor
Two to three letters from individuals who have supervised you in an extracurricular setting, such as the principal investigator (PI) of your research lab
(Note: Science and non-science letters could come from undergrad or grad school professors.)
Depending on which college you attend, your school might provide you with a committee letter that accompanies your other letters of recommendation. Plenty of top schools don’t provide committee letters, though, so you need not worry that not submitting one will harm your chances of medical school acceptance.
Some professors or other letter writers may also ask you to write your own letter that they will review, modify, and submit on your behalf. If you’re asked to do so, read this: How to Write Your Own Letter of Recommendation for Medical School.
However, it’s important to emphasize that the quality of your letters far outweighs quantity. For example, just because a school accepts up to six letters does not mean you should submit six letters. You should prioritize submitting glowing letters to maximize your chances.
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Medical school Casper requirement
While not a general requirement, allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) medical schools are increasingly requiring that applicants take the Casper test, which stands for Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics.
During the exam, you will be presented with various text- and video-based scenarios, followed by a series of questions related to each. You will have one minute to record each video response and five minutes to respond to the three questions for each scenario in the typed-response section. The five minutes per scenario go by quickly, so consider increasing your type speed to maximize your score.
Some people think that it’s unnecessary to prepare for Casper, but we disagree. You’ll want to brush up on medical ethics and go through various practice scenarios to familiarize yourself with the exam.
(Suggested reading: How to Prepare for the Casper Test to Get Into Medical School)
In 2021, the administrators of Casper introduced two new accompanying assessments, Snapshot and Duet. Not all schools that require Casper require you to also complete Snapshot and Duet, but some do. You can learn more in the following guide: Casper, Snapshot, and Duet: Everything You Need to Know.
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Medical school application requirements
After years of completing required courses and pursuing meaningful extracurricular activities, you’ll have to complete your medical school applications. These applications, which require months of work, are organized in the following phases:
Primary applications (AMCAS [MD] | AACOMAS [DO] | TMDSAS [Texas med schools])
Secondary applications (i.e., supplemental applications)
School-specific secondary essays
(Suggested reading: Medical School Secondary Essays: The Complete Guide)
(Suggested reading: Medical School Secondary Essay Prompts)
Interviews
Primary applications
Primary applications—AMCAS, AACOMAS, TMDSAS—are centralized application systems that collect your demographic information, academic history, and recommendation letters, along with your med school personal statement and Work and Activities section, which is essentially an expanded resume.
Primary applications typically open for submission in May of each year, but it’s best to get started early because med school operates on a rolling admissions basis. In other words, generally speaking, the earlier you submit, the better. Shortly after you submit your primary application, it will be sent to each medical school on your list.
Secondary applications
Secondary applications are school-specific applications that will be sent to you after your primary application is received. Writing secondary essays is perhaps the most busy you will be during your application process. You will likely have to produce more written work than at any other point during your academic career, so make sure to pre-write your essays using prompts from previous years. Otherwise, you might feel overwhelmed when you get flooded with so many applications at once.
Looking for secondary essay examples? Click below to access sample secondary essays for every prompt required by every MD and DO program in the United States and Canada. 1500+ essays and counting.
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.
Interviews
Medical schools that favorably review your application will invite you for an interview. Generally, the earlier you receive interview invitations, the higher your odds of getting into medical school.
Medical school interviews mostly come in three forms—traditional, MMI (multiple mini-interview) or a hybrid of the two. Your interview prep should cover general skills for each style of interview and take into account the types of questions you can expect at a given school, which is how we support our students.
After interviews
Waiting for interviews or admissions decisions is the toughest part. During this time, you’ll want to consider sending update letters—a letter of interest or letter of intent—to let medical schools know what you’ve been up to during the application cycle, and also that you continue to be interested in their program.
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.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I go to med school without premed?
Premed is a loosely defined term relating to the collection of prerequisites—classes, extracurriculars, etc.—for medical school mentioned in this guide. It’s important to remember that ‘premed’ does not refer to a particular major, minor or program at a university.
That said, getting into medical school without completing the prerequisites is not possible. If you’ve already graduated with a BS or BA and you’re realizing you still have ‘premed’ requirements outstanding, you may consider a post-bacc or special masters program (SMPs). These programs can help you meet these requirements even after you’ve graduated.
Can you get into medical school without the MCAT?
If you’re looking to practice medicine in the United States, you will typically need to take the MCAT before matriculation into a program. However, if you’re accepted into a BS/MD or early assurance program, the MCAT may not be required. Instead, you’ll need an exceptional GPA and extracurricular profile to get accepted and you’ll need to maintain that during your time in the program.
Should I go to med school at 30/35/40 years old?
Believe it or not, we often get this question from nontraditional applicants who are wondering about their chances for admission. Are they looked down upon for being an older applicant or is their extra life experience an asset?
There’s no hard cutoff in terms of your age for medical school but according to the AAMC, the average age of matriculants is 24. However, there have been students accepted to medical schools later in life, such as Shasta Theodore at UT McGovern Medical School and the AAMC even notes there are many such students matching later in life.
Suggested reading: (Am I Too Old for Medical School?)
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Final thoughts
While there are many medical school requirements to fulfill and it can feel daunting, we hope this resource will be valuable as you navigate your various academic, extracurricular, and application responsibilities. For a more in-depth discussion of how to get into great med schools, we encourage you to sign up for our comprehensive med school admissions ebook below.
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.
