Medical Schools in North Carolina: How to Get In (2024)
/A complete list of North Carolina medical schools, plus strategies to get admitted to your top-choice program
there are currently five medical schools in north carolina
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: List of medical schools in North Carolina: 2023 rankings & admissions statistics
Part 3: North Carolina medical school profiles
Part 4: North Carolina medical school admissions strategies
Part 5: Frequently asked questions
Appendix A: North Carolina medical schools by degree type
Appendix B: North Carolina medical schools by institution type
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Part 1: Introduction
Home to the barbecue capital of the United States (Lexington), the most visited national park in the U.S. (the Great Smoky Mountains), and basketball legend Michael Jordan, North Carolina has many claims to fame. Equally noteworthy is the abundance of well-known medical school programs that thousands of premeds hope to gain admission to each year.
If you’re interested in applying to medical schools in North Carolina, read on to uncover admissions statistics for each school and strategies to help you maximize your odds of getting into your top-choice program.
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Part 2: List of medical schools in North Carolina: 2023 rankings & admissions statistics
First, take a moment to learn about the admissions landscape among North Carolina medical schools. In putting together the statistics below, we observed the following trends:
Of the five medical schools in North Carolina, four appear in the 2023 U.S. News Best Medical Schools (Research) rankings, with three in the top 50, two in the top 30, and one in the top 10.
In-state applicants enjoy higher interview rates than out-of-state applicants at North Carolina medical schools. (Note: Interview rates were not found for one school.)
Tuition and fees at most North Carolina medical schools are on par with national averages for both public and private medical schools. However, tuition and fees at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine, which only accepts in-state applicants, are well below average.
(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.)
| North Carolina Medical Schools | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke University School of Medicine | $75,026 OOS |
7.3% OOS |
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| University of North Carolina School of Medicine* | $60,706 OOS |
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| Wake Forest School of Medicine | $64,947 OOS |
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| Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University* | NA OOS |
NA OOS |
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| Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine | $61,220 OOS |
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Part 3: North Carolina medical school profiles
Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University prioritizes graduating physicians who practice in North Carolina, who practice primary care medicine, and who practice in underserved areas. In fact, Brody graduates the most family medicine physicians in North Carolina and the second-most family medicine physicians nationwide. Moreover, Brody has a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion; it is in the top 10% of United States medical schools when it comes to graduating doctors who identify as Black or African American.
Students will participate in three phases of the curriculum: the foundational phase, which incorporates lessons in basic science and organ systems; the clinical phase, which is characterized by core rotations; and the differentiation phase, which enables students to personalize their learning through advanced clerkships and electives. Moreover, students can participate in integrated scholarly concentrations known as Distinction Tracks, which culminate with a scholarly project and distinction at graduation. The four Distinction Tracks are health system transformation and leadership, medical education and training, research, and service learning.
Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine
Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine medical students will learn clinical skills on a sprawling medical school campus, which includes a simulation lab, an osteopathic manipulative medicine lab, and several student study spaces. Moreover, students will pursue a traditional two-year preclinical and two-year clinical curriculum. The curriculum has integrated lessons in osteopathic principles, medical ethics, global health, and professionalism over the four years. In the third and fourth years of medical school, students will rotate at regional clinical sites in North Carolina and South Carolina that are known for providing primary care to individual in underserved areas.
Additionally, the school promotes active student involvement in the Carolinas community; thus, many Campbell students participate in medical missions, mobile health and education clinics, and the Community Care Clinic.
Duke University School of Medicine
The mission of the Duke University School of Medicine is to prepare medical students to be clinical and research leaders on both the community and global level. The medical school curriculum reflects this goal—Duke medical students will pursue an accelerated, one-year, pre-clerkship basic science curriculum. Next, they will complete their core clerkships in their second year of medical school. This condensed curriculum allows students to dedicate their third year to an in-depth research project or to pursue a dual degree. The fourth year of medical school at Duke is characterized by elective and extracurricular activities independently selected by each learner.
Longitudinal curricular experiences are integrated throughout the four years; these include but are not limited to the cultural determinants of health and health disparities course, the leadership education and development curriculum, and the innovations sciences thread.
(Suggested reading: How to Get Into Duke Medical School)
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
The goal of the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine is to educate individuals to provide empathetic and expert care to patients in North Carolina. Students will pursue the newly revised Translational Education at Carolina (TEC) curriculum that is composed of three phases: the foundation phase, the application phase, and the individualization phase. During the 18-month foundation phase, students will explore subjects organized by organ system in addition to having integrated patient care experiences and lessons on the social and health system. This is followed by the application phase, in which students will pursue their core clinical rotations at sites in Central, Asheville, Charlotte, and Wilmington, North Carolina. Students will complete medical school with the individualization phase, in which they pursue rotations and electives geared towards their unique interests.
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Students at the Wake Forest School of Medicine will study at the newly constructed Bowman Gray Center for Medical Education, which hosts a student resource center, library, anatomy lab, and study spaces. Wake Forest revised its medical school curriculum in 2017; it is now known as the Wake Ready! Curriculum and aims to provide students with a more individualized approach to their education.
Students will progress through three phases of learning: the 18-month pre-clinical Foundations phase, the 12-month core clinical rotation Immersion phase, and the 18-month Individualization phase. Moreover, medical students can sit on medical education curriculum committees to help innovate the school’s offerings in order to ensure they meet the evolving needs of current students. Students will also be organized into Learning Communities or “Houses” upon joining the Wake Forest community. Through these communities, they will interface regularly with clinical preceptors and specialty mentors.
(Suggested reading: How to Get Into the Wake Forest School of Medicine)
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Part 4: North Carolina medical school admissions strategies
Strategy 1: Take a data-driven approach to building your school list
Not all North Carolina medical schools are created equal. For example, a student with a 514 and a 3.7 will likely be competitive for Wake Forest Medical School, but would need to have a truly exceptional extracurricular profile to have a chance at Duke.
It’s important to note, however, that high stats alone won’t make you a shoo-in—as noted above, many North Carolina medical schools show a strong preference for in-state applicants. For example, the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University has only accepted in-state students for the past few decades. And, at the UNC School of Medicine, a whopping 88.2% of matriculants classified as in-state. If you don’t have strong ties to the state and your stats fall below the averages, why waste effort on an application that won’t get much traction?
Applying to medical schools takes an enormous amount of effort to do well. If you spend valuable time applying to schools where you have low admissions odds, you risk compromising your odds at schools where you actually have a shot.
Strategy 2: Review each North Carolina medical school’s mission statement and communicate fit in your application materials
While all medical schools dedicate resources to making advancements in key areas like research, patient care, and medical education, some areas of each program may be emphasized more than others. For example, the University of North Carolina holds the #7 ranking for the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Medical Schools in Primary Care and according to their website, they seek to “promote health and provide superb clinical care while maintaining our strong tradition of reaching underserved populations and reducing health disparities across North Carolina and beyond.”
Therefore, if you’ve demonstrated a commitment to serving underserved populations through your extracurricular activities, it’s advantageous to highlight this in your secondary essays and interviews. By doing so, you’ll prove to admissions committees that you’re the perfect fit for their program.
Take some time to research online and chat with alumni, current students, and admissions representatives to get a true feel for each program. Then, make sure to describe how your experiences and interests align closely with their program objectives in your application.
(Suggested reading: How Many Medical Schools Should I Apply To? Which Ones?)
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Strategy 3: Organize your time around your secondary essays
Crafting exceptional secondary essays requires brainstorming, multiple drafts and revisions, even a second pair of eyes, if possible. Remember that all of this takes time. Communicating your suitability for medical school effectively is not something that can be rushed.
Therefore, it’s important to organize your application schedule around the tasks you already have on your plate, planning accordingly. One of the best ways to do this is to make sure you know how many essays you’ll have to write and roughly how long each school will take to complete.
For example, some medical schools in North Carolina require only a few essays, such as Campbell University while others require many more, like Duke. Furthermore, the word and/or character counts of these essays may vary quite a bit. One school could ask for 500-word answers to their prompts while another only 500 characters. All of this should be factored in to how you approach your writing and the time you spend working on your applications.
To help you with this, we’ve created a table below noting the number of secondary essay prompts for each North Carolina medical school. This can help you get an idea of how long each application will take. With most premeds applying to around 16 schools, (we recommend adding 5 to 10 more) your planning and organization will be key to getting all of them submitted on time.
Whether your style is to tackle the school with the most essays or the least essays first is up to you, but having a solid plan suited to your working style can make all the difference. For a list of secondary prompts for every medical school in the US and Canada, go here.
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| North Carolina Medical Schools | |
|---|---|
| Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University | |
| Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine | |
| Duke University School of Medicine | |
| University of North Carolina School of Medicine - Chapel Hill | |
| Wake Forest School of Medicine |
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Part 5: Frequently asked questions
What college in NC has the best medical program?
Each medical program in North Carolina has its strengths and weaknesses, and one way to answer what college in NC has the best medical program is to look at their national rankings. However, this may not answer the question of which college in North Carolina has the best medical program for you.
While Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Wake Forest are all highly regarded, there may be aspects of their curriculum that don’t appeal to you, or their current research projects that don’t align with your goals. Furthermore, if you’re determined to study osteopathic medicine within North Carolina, there is currently only one option available to you, the Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine.
What is the minimum GPA for UNC medical school?
The minimum GPA for consideration for UNC School of Medicine at Chapel Hill is a cumulative GPA of 3.20 for in-state applicants, while out-of-state applicants must achieve a minimum of 3.59.
What is the cheapest medical school in NC?
From the information we’ve gathered above, the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University is the cheapest medical school in North Carolina. However, keep in mind that this institution only accepts in-state students.
If you aren’t a resident of North Carolina, but want to save money on your medical school education here, your best bet may be the University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill. Although, make sure you factor in cost-of-living expenses in each city as these could ultimately affect your bottom line.
How many UNC students get into med school?
Unfortunately, UNC does not publish information regarding how many of its graduates get into medical school each year. However, according to the AAMC, UNC-Chapel Hill produced 502 applicants to MD-granting med schools in the 2023-2024 application cycle. This places UNC within the top-10 institutions producing medical school applicants nationally.
Suggested reading: (How to Succeed as a UNC Premed)
Final thoughts
There are many excellent medical schools in North Carolina and, therefore, lots of information to sift through as you decide which schools to add to your list. By following the recommendations in this guide, you’ll put yourself in a strong position to receive an acceptance from your top choice program.
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: North Carolina medical schools by degree type
Allopathic medical schools in North Carolina (MD)
Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
Duke University School of Medicine
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Osteopathic medical schools in North Carolina (DO)
Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine
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Appendix B: North Carolina medical schools by institution type
Public medical schools in North Carolina
Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Private medical schools in North Carolina
Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine
Wake Forest School of Medicine
