ADMISSIONS NUMBERS

• For the year 2000-2001, 37,092 people applied for medical school admission, and 17,538 (47.3%) were admitted.
• The number of applicants has fallen for the last three years from a high of 46,968 in 1996, while the number of positions in the medical school class has remained constant.
• Between 1991 and 2000, 182 Macalester students or alums applied for medical school admission, and 60% were admitted.
• Nationally, about 45% of those admitted majored in biology; about 18% majored in one of the physical sciences and about 37% did not major in science.
• Majoring in science did not give applicants an admissions advantage (44% of science majors were accepted while 49% of non-science majors were accepted.)
• Of the 17,445 entering students, 155 (0.9%) were international students.
• 45.2% of the applicants were women while women comprised 45.7% of the entering class. (Schools vary in the percentage of women in the entering class from 33% at the University of Arkansas to 63.8% at Meharry University.
• Percentages of underrepresented People of Color in the entering class were: Black American - 6.9%; American Indian - 0.6%; Mexican American/Chicano - 2.3%; Mainland Puerto Rican - 0.7%. People of Color were accepted at rates similar to White Americans.

Some medical schools will not consider your application if your scores fall below a certain cut-off. Others will consider your application regardless of your scores. Medical schools do take note of improvement. If you get off to a rocky start and then recover, they will weigh your later grades more heavily than your early ones. Bottom Line: Good scores are necessary but not sufficient to gain admission to medical school. The intangibles (commitment to medicine, interpersonal skills, genuine care for others) are harder to quantify, but just as important in the admissions process.

Information on Medical School Admission by GPA

Over the past 10 year period, from 1991-2000, 182 Macalester students and alums have applied to medical school. 109 of them, or 60%, have been admitted. Over the same period of time, the national acceptance rate was 43%. Thus, this places us 17 percentage points above the national average for all Macalester applicants, regardless of academic performance.

If we take the student's academic performance into consideration, the rates of admission are as follows:

Keep in mind that while GPA correlates with success in medical school admission, it is only one of the factors considered by medical schools in making their decisions. Thus, a good GPA combined with poor MCAT scores and/or lack of demonstrated interest in medicine will not be as attractive as a lower GPA combined with good MCAT scores and committed service to others in a health care environment.