Even if attending medical school has been a longtime goal for you, the process of choosing which medical schools to apply to can be difficult to navigate. Among the range of different criteria you should be evaluating, which factors are most important?

In addition to considering things like admissions standards, residency placement success, and graduation rates, you might have factored medical school acceptance rates into your review process.

While you can gather some information about schools by looking into acceptance rates, you won’t get the full picture. These percentages aren’t always as straightforward as they seem.

Why you should think beyond med school acceptance rates

Reviewing acceptance rates can give you a good understanding of the general level of competitiveness of a medical school. However, it should not influence your application decisions too strongly. Here’s a few reasons why:

Acceptance rates don’t necessarily reflect your odds

One thing to keep in mind about medical school acceptance rates is that they make sweeping generalizations. For example, a program that has a 10 percent acceptance rate. Each applicant would have to possess the exact same qualifications for everyone to truly have a 10 percent chance of being admitted.

But the truth is that each student’s odds differ depending on several factors including:

• Student-specific test scores
• GPA metrics
• Extracurricular and volunteer activities
• Research experience

Every medical school will put an emphasis on a different combination of those elements. Some schools may receive a greater number of “stretch applicants” simply based on their name recognition, which skews the overall percentages.

All in all, it’s important to understand that medical school applicants are evaluated on many different elements, so a simple statistic cannot accurately represent the full picture.

You could pass over schools that would be a great fit
It’s important to keep things in perspective and examine the bigger picture before limiting your options to only the medical schools with the lowest acceptance rate. Just because a school is competitive, it doesn’t mean it’s the best institution for you.

Instead of using acceptance rates as your primary application criteria, you should be evaluating schools based on your personal interests and professional needs. For example, if you value diversity in healthcare or hope to participate in meaningful research, look for schools that emphasize those particular areas.

There are many factors that make up a great medical school. If you’re too focused on medical school acceptance rates, you could miss out on the ideal program for you.

What you should consider when evaluating schools

While there are numerous factors to consider, there are two overarching categories that can help guide your process of choosing medical schools. It is important to look at Accreditation and Curriculum.

How you compare to a program’s typical student

Since acceptance rate alone doesn’t reflect your personal odds of getting into any given med school, it can be more sensible to think about how you compare to admitted students.

You can start with your academic record. Medical schools’ websites include information about their average GPA and MCAT scores — some have minimums listed on their sites as well.
It’s also worth evaluating how your entire application compares to a given school’s students. Review the admissions pages for all the schools you’re interested in and see which align closest with your qualifications.

For example, if you have a lot of volunteer experience, it would be smart to see which schools seem to put more emphasis on those activities. Some schools are committed to holistic application reviews and place a lot of consideration on the things you’ve accomplished outside the classroom.

Quality standards

This might go without saying, but it’s also important to ensure each program you apply to meets some specific benchmarks. You should make sure the vast majority of any program’s students pass the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1. Keep in mind that 93 percent of US and Canadian allopathic students taking it for the first time in 2022 passed.

You should also seek information about residency placement rates — what percentage of a school’s students obtain postgraduate positions? A high number indicates that students receive a great education and are well prepared for life after medical school.

And be sure to dig into each institution’s accreditation status, especially if you’re considering any international medical schools. Beginning in 2024, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) will only certify international grads to practice in the US if they attended a program accredited by an agency the World Federation of Medical Education has approved. ECFMG certification is also required for all international graduates seeking a residency in the US.

Lastly, it can be wise to investigate what student support services are available at your target schools. MD programs are incredibly rigorous, even for the best students. It could be invaluable to have an extra layer of support should you find yourself struggling.

Plan your path toward medical school

Comparing medical school acceptance rates can certainly be useful, but it’s important to think about a range of different factors when determining which programs could be right for you. You’ll be better off if you maintain an open mind as you continue your research — you may even find that certain Caribbean schools align with your needs and interests.

Learn more about what this route toward earning an MD has to offer in our article “8 Common Questions About Caribbean Medical Universities.”

This article was originally published in January 2021. It has since been updated to include information relevant to 2024.