Medical Schools in Mississippi: How to Get In (2024)
/Discover your chances of getting into Mississippi medical schools with insights into average GPA and MCAT scores, detailed school profiles, and expert tips for success.
learn everything you need to know about getting into medical schools in mississippi
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: List of medical schools in Mississippi: 2024 rankings & admissions statistics
Part 3: Mississippi medical school profiles
Part 4: Mississippi medical school admissions strategies
Appendix A: Mississippi medical schools by degree type
Appendix B: Mississippi medical schools by institution type
Appendix C: Mississippi medical schools by region
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Part 1: Introduction
Mississippi, known as the “Birthplace of the Blues” and a bastion of Southern charm, offers more than just a rich musical history and mouthwatering cuisine. It’s also home to two highly regarded medical schools—the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and the William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Aspiring physicians will find a spirit of tradition mixed with modern innovation in Mississippi’s medical education—along with the comforting flavors of fried catfish and pecan pie. With both MD and DO degrees offered in the state, applicants can choose which medical philosophy they wish to pursue. And with both institutions focusing on providing care to the underserved, if your goal is to assist the residents of the Magnolia state who wouldn’t otherwise have access to quality healthcare, either school could be a fantastic fit for you.
But what does it actually take to gain admission to either medical school in Mississippi? In this guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know about medical schools in Mississippi, including admissions requirements, school profiles, and strategies to help you succeed.
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Part 2: List of medical schools in Mississippi: 2024 rankings & admissions statistics
Although Mississippi only has two medical schools, each one is distinct. One offers a path to a traditional MD, the other a DO degree. One’s located in the capital, the other in a secondary city. One emphasizes primary care, the other.
If your heart is set on studying medicine in Mississippi, the first step to entry is determining which school suits you best.
We can start by looking at statistics, and we’ve gathered the most notable data for each medical school in Mississippi in the table below. This should give you a general idea of your overall chances for entry to each school, as well as cost and ranking.
While we were researching this information, we thought a few data points stood out.
The William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine is ranked as Tier 2 for primary care. As a substantial portion of DO graduates go into this field, we thought this was a commendable achievement and signifies the quality of its educational model.
Both medical schools in Mississippi have lower-than-average tuition rates.
The University of Mississippi School of Medicine doesn’t accept students who don’t have significant ties to Mississippi, so if you want to earn an MD in Mississippi and you’re from out of state, you might be at a disadvantage.
(Note: We strongly advise you to sign up for MSAR for the most up-to-date and comprehensive data on individual MD programs and to sign up for Choose DO for DO program data.)
| Mississippi Medical Schools | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Mississippi School of Medicine | UR (Primary Care) (2024) |
$38,812 OOS |
3.7 (science) |
||||||
| William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine | Tier 2 (Primary Care) (2024) |
$48,000 OOS |
*Public medical schools in Mississippi | UR: Unranked | IS: In-state | OOS: Out-of-state | N/A: Not available
Note: ^ Indicates that out-of-state applicants either are not accepted or must demonstrate specific state ties.
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Part 3: Mississippi medical school profiles
The two medical schools in Mississippi each have similar goals but have different ways of achieving them. They both produce physicians who wish to serve the residents of this great state, but their curriculums and medical philosophies vary.
University of Mississippi School of Medicine
The University of Mississippi School of Medicine has been producing Mississippi doctors since 1955 and is nationally recognized as a leader in the medical field. Its mission of providing high-quality healthcare and eliminating healthcare disparities is something highly valued in this region.
As a medical student at UM SOM, the first two years are spent acquiring foundational knowledge about the human body. Your first year will focus mainly on aspects of a healthy body, while your second year transitions to abnormalities.
The third and fourth years consist of clinical clerkships, where you’ll apply the knowledge you’ve learned to real-world settings while rotating through various specialties like family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, and pediatrics.
The third year effectively introduces you to specialties, as you’ll only spend two to eight weeks with each, while in the fourth year you’ll narrow down your interests and spend a month in each specialty. You’ll have eight one-month clerkships, four of which are required and four that are elective.
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine
At the William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine, you’ll pursue a DO degree and learn medicine through the lens of that philosophy. Osteopathic manipulative medicine will become like second nature to you.
While William Carey is a more recent addition to the med school landscape in Mississippi, that doesn’t mean it’s any less vital or rigorous. Similarly to UM SOM, your curriculum is divided into pre-clerkship and clerkship years, with the first two years teaching foundational osteopathic skills like physical examination, doctor-patient interactions, and osteopathic principles.
During your third and fourth years at William Carey, you’ll engage with their 20-month long clerkship phase that emphasizes primary care. You’ll spend time at “hub sites” with clinical faculty around the south as you master the practice of osteopathic medicine. Once you reach the fourth year, you’ll start with an introductory course titled “Advanced Clinical Integration” that will prepare you for the increased responsibilities of more intensive clinical rotations. You’ll select a total of 36 weeks of rotations—with 16 of them in medical specialties like cardiology, endocrinology, and infectious diseases—and another 16 weeks in surgical specialties such as orthopedics and neurological surgery.
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Part 4: Mississippi medical school admissions strategies
Strategy 1: Focus on the unique characteristics of medical schools in Mississippi
You might think all medical schools, whether or not they’re in Mississippi, are essentially looking for the same things: high GPA and MCAT scores, a variety of key extracurriculars, and a desire to embark on a career in medicine.
While it’s true that med school adcoms want to see these things in your applications, what will get you in the door is acknowledgment of their school’s unique characteristics. What exactly about the schools you’re applying to resonates with you? What programs or opportunities exist there that you can’t find anywhere else? What experiences have you had that have led you not just to medicine, but to the conclusion that this school is the one for you?
You can highlight aspects of the schools you’re applying to in your personal statement and secondary essays. Perhaps a method of teaching in the curriculum distinguishes them from other institutions, or maybe you’re excited about engaging with the school’s mission.
For instance, the University of Mississippi School of Medicine states that it “committed to training skilled and compassionate physicians to provide high-quality and equitable health care particularly to the state's residents, including diverse and underserved populations.”
Consider your experiences and try to find anecdotes that target this idea. Can you answer the question of “Why Mississippi?” adequately? Make sure you detail your connections to the state and desire to serve underserved communities in your essays. Furthermore, carry those ideas with you throughout the application process, especially if you’re invited to an interview.
Looking for unique personal statement examples to accelerate your writing? We’ve got more than two hundred of them.
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Strategy 2: Plan your time around your secondary essays
Speaking of essays, most med school applicants are acutely aware of the importance of their personal statements. In fact, we’ve seen students agonize over how to create a hook that grabs the reader or become paralyzed with indecision over which anecdote from their shadowing experiences paints them in the best light.
While this is admirable, your secondary essays will truly be a place for you to shine. These essays come after your personal statement and are answers to prompts specific to each institution. The questions the adcom decides to ask you are ones they want to know the answers to, and they provide further clues as to what they’re looking for in a candidate.
For example, the University of Mississippi asks, “Please outline your motivation for pursuing a medical degree.” This may seem straightforward enough on the surface, but as we saw in the previous strategy, this is likely tied to their mission statement. Answering this prompt with an essay that portrays you as someone keen on working in a high-volume medical center in a big city is unlikely to secure you an interview invitation.
Furthermore, each school requires a different number of secondary essays with responses of different lengths. You will need time to think through your responses—creating and editing multiple drafts—to put forward the best application possible. Therefore, planning your writing in advance so that you don’t become overwhelmed with other responsibilities will help you stay clear-headed and communicate effectively.
To assist you with this task, we’ve noted the number of secondary essays for medical schools in Mississippi in the table below. Tackle this assignment in a way that best suits your working style. For example, you might want to write longer essays first or complete applications for schools that have a lot of prompts with shorter word counts. Either way, the choice is up to you—but it’s critical to have a plan of action.
| Mississippi Medical Schools | |
|---|---|
| University of Mississippi School of Medicine | |
| William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine |
Looking for medical school secondary essay examples? We have a sample essay in response to every prompt required by every medical school in the US and Canada. You can subscribe below.
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Strategy 3: Practice and prepare for interviews
We’ve all heard the adage, “Practice makes perfect,” but we’ve come across countless students who believe their interviews don’t require any preparation. A medical school interview is not the same as any job or volunteering interview you’ve had before. If you’ve made it to this stage, med school adcoms are trying to figure out if what you said on paper matches who they see in person. Not to mention, they’re accepting a student into their ranks for at least the next four years and hoping to transform you into a colleague, so there is a personal investment on their part as well.
Prepare for your interviews by first familiarizing yourself with the interview format. Make sure you’re aware of what a traditional interview or MMI interview entails, and look over the types of questions you’ll be asked.
The University of Mississippi School of Medicine utilizes the MMI format, where you’ll visit eight to ten stations and have to answer situational and ethical questions regarding medicine. William Carey, on the other hand, uses a traditional format. They will likely ask you questions such as, “Why DO?” or, “Why do you want to go to WCU COM specifically?"
Whichever style you encounter, make sure you’re prepared by looking over common questions and thinking through your answers in advance. Remember, you only have one chance to make a positive first impression—and when it comes to med school interviews, that first impression could be the only one you get to make.
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.
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Final Thoughts
Getting into medical schools in Mississippi requires careful planning and dedication. Demonstrating your dedication to improving healthcare within the state’s diverse and rural populations will go a long way toward making a positive impression with Mississippi med school adcoms.
By tailoring your applications to highlight your alignment with this mission, you can enhance your chances of acceptance as well as you white coat dreams.
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.
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Appendix A: Mississippi medical schools by degree type
Allopathic medical schools in Mississippi (MD)
University of Mississippi School of Medicine
Osteopathic medical schools in Mississippi (DO)
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Appendix B: Mississippi medical schools by institution type
Public medical schools in Mississippi
University of Mississippi School of Medicine
Private medical schools in Maine
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Appendix C: Mississippi medical schools by region
Medical Schools in Capital/River region
University of Mississippi School of Medicine
Medical Schools in the Coastal region
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine
