TL;DR: Medical school acceptance rates at the most selective US programs run from roughly 0.9% at Stanford to 2.5% at NYU Grossman. Only a handful publish an official rate – NYU Grossman (2.5%), Northwestern Feinberg (1.6%), and UCSF (1.6%) – while the rest publish partial funnels or nothing, leaving ratios to be computed from official profiles and AAMC MSAR reported data. The table below compiles verified numbers for twelve of the most selective programs. To discuss your medical school strategy, schedule a consultation with Oriel Admissions.
What Are the Acceptance Rates at Top Medical Schools?
| School | Applications | Interviewed | Matriculants | Rate or ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYU Grossman | 8,271 | 821 | 106 | 2.5% official |
| Harvard Medical School | 7,166 | 716 | 165 | 2.3% ratio |
| Columbia VP&S | 7,677 | 723 | 138 | 1.8% ratio |
| Northwestern Feinberg | 8,610 | 704 | 140 | 1.6% published |
| UCSF | 10,300 | 584 | 161 | 1.6% official |
| Johns Hopkins | About 8,100 | About 6.7% (reported) | 118 | About 1.5% ratio |
| Yale School of Medicine | About 7,350 | More than 620 | 104 to 105 | About 1.4% ratio |
| Georgetown | 14,953 | 1,112 | 203 | 1.4% ratio |
| Duke School of Medicine | 9,234 | 642 | About 120 to 125 | About 1.3% ratio |
| Weill Cornell | 9,000+ | 700 to 750 | 106 | About 1.2% ratio |
| Vanderbilt | 7,685 | Not reported | 95 | 1.2% ratio |
| Stanford Medicine | 9,793 | Not reported | 90 | About 0.9% ratio |
Sources: official school profiles (NYU Grossman, Harvard Medical School, Feinberg, UCSF, Weill Cornell, Georgetown) and AAMC MSAR reported data (Yale, Columbia, Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Johns Hopkins), most recent published cycles.
Two things stand out in the table. First, the range is narrow: every program on it enrolls between roughly 1 and 2.5 candidates per 100 applications, so the difference between schools is real but small compared with the gulf between this tier and the national norm. Second, the numbers measure different things – some are official acceptance rates, most are matriculant ratios – and that distinction, explained below, is why published figures for the same school disagree across the internet. The outliers reward a second look: Georgetown pairs the largest pool, 14,953 applications, with the most accessible score medians, while Stanford holds a 90 seat class against nearly 10,000 applications.
Which Medical Schools Publish an Official Acceptance Rate?
Only three of the twelve publish a rate at all. NYU Grossman goes furthest, disclosing the complete funnel including offers: 8,271 applied, 821 interviewed, 208 accepted, 106 matriculated – which is why its 2.5% is the only true acceptance rate in the table. Northwestern Feinberg publishes a rate it defines as entering class over applicant pool, with a five year history running from 2.0% in 2021 to 1.6% in 2025. UCSF publishes its funnel through matriculation. Harvard, Weill Cornell, and Georgetown publish applications, interviews, and class size but no offer counts, and Yale, Columbia, Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins publish no current funnel at all, leaving AAMC MSAR reported data as the only verifiable source. This disclosure gap is why third party figures for the same school routinely disagree – different sites mix cycles and conflate different measures.
What Do Medical School Acceptance Rates Actually Measure?
Three different numbers travel under the same name. The matriculant ratio divides the entering class by the applicant pool and is what most compiled figures show. The true acceptance rate divides offers by applications and is always higher, because admitted candidates hold competing offers: NYU Grossman extended 208 offers for 106 seats, a 51.0% yield, and reported offer counts at Harvard place its true rate near 3% against a 2.3% ratio. The interview rate – from 5.7% at UCSF to 10.0% at Harvard – is arguably the most strategically useful of the three, because it measures the screen your written file must clear. When comparing schools, compare like with like.
What GPA and MCAT Do Top Medical Schools Expect?
| School | GPA | MCAT |
|---|---|---|
| NYU Grossman | 3.98 median | 523 median |
| Vanderbilt | 3.96 median | 521 median |
| Yale School of Medicine | 3.96 median | 522 median |
| Columbia VP&S | 3.95 median | 522 median |
| Johns Hopkins | 3.94 average | 521 average |
| Northwestern Feinberg | 3.93 median | 521 median |
| Harvard Medical School | 3.9 average | 520.5 average |
| Duke School of Medicine | Near 3.9 reported | 520 median |
| Stanford Medicine | Near 3.9 reported | 518 to 520 reported |
| Weill Cornell | Near 3.9 reported | 518 median |
| Georgetown | 3.89 average reported | 513 average reported |
| UCSF | Not published | Near 517 reported |
Sources: official class profiles where published; AAMC MSAR reported data elsewhere.
The band is remarkably tight at the top: medians cluster between a 3.89 and a 3.98 GPA and between 513 and 523 on the MCAT, against national matriculant averages reported near a 3.8 GPA and an MCAT in the low 510s (AAMC reported data). Georgetown and UCSF sit lowest on scores yet among the lowest on admission odds – both trade a few MCAT points for mission depth – and no school on the list publishes a minimum except Duke, whose official 500 MCAT floor sits twenty points below its 520 median. Eligibility and competitiveness are different questions everywhere in this tier. The full school by school table lives in our medical school GPA and MCAT medians guide.
How Should Acceptance Rates Shape Your School List?
Nationally, AAMC reported data show that roughly four in ten applicants matriculate at some US MD program, so the single digit percentages in this tier are the outlier, not the norm – a strong candidate is not facing 2% odds overall, only at each individual elite program. The strategic reads follow from the table: treat the interview rate as the real screen and invest accordingly in the written file, weigh mission differences that the rates hide – UCSF and Georgetown read for mission the way Duke reads for a research year and Yale for a thesis – and build a list across selectivity bands rather than collecting names from the top of this table – our honest guide to the easiest medical schools maps the other end of that list, and our medical school requirements pillar covers what every application must contain before selectivity enters the picture. For the in state pattern applied close to home, see the Rutgers medical school acceptance rate breakdown of NJMS and RWJMS. Where the same university houses multiple graduate programs, the contrast is instructive: Columbia Business School shows a 13.1% enrollment ratio against 1.8% at Columbia VP&S, which is one way to see how much harder the MD door is than almost any other elite credential – see our M7 MBA acceptance rates and T14 law schools analyses for the parallel tables.
If you are earlier in the pipeline, the BS/MD versus traditional pre med comparison and the best colleges for pre med map the road that leads here.
Frequently Asked Questions About Medical School Acceptance Rates
At the twelve most selective programs compiled here, ratios run from 0.9 to 2.5 percent. Nationally, AAMC reported data show roughly four in ten applicants matriculate at some US MD program.
Stanford Medicine, with a reported matriculant ratio near 0.9 percent – a class of 90 against 9,793 verified applications. Among officially published rates, Northwestern Feinberg and UCSF both stand at 1.6 percent.
NYU Grossman (2.5 percent, including offer counts), Northwestern Feinberg (1.6 percent with a five year history), and UCSF (1.6 percent). Most elite peers publish partial funnels or nothing.
Because sites mix admissions cycles and conflate matriculant ratios with true offer rates. Only schools that publish offer counts, like NYU Grossman, support a true acceptance rate.
Medians and averages at the twelve schools here run from 513 at Georgetown to 523 at NYU Grossman. Only Duke publishes a minimum, at 500 – far below its 520 median.
Averages and medians cluster from 3.89 to 3.98. Vanderbilt publishes the honest range for its entering class – 3.5 to 4.0 – which shows outliers exist but the center is near perfect.
By ratio, decisively. Columbia Business School shows a 13.1 percent enrollment ratio against 1.8 percent at Columbia VP and S, and elite MD programs enroll 1 to 2.5 percent of applicants across the board.
The interview rate, which runs from 5.7 percent at UCSF to 10.0 percent at Harvard. It measures the screen your written application must clear before anything else matters.
Sources: NYU Grossman By the Numbers, Harvard Medical School Admissions at a Glance, Feinberg MD Student Body Profile, UCSF Admissions Data, Weill Cornell Admissions FAQs, Georgetown School of Medicine MD Program, Vanderbilt MD Admissions, Stanford Medicine MD Admissions, AAMC.
About Oriel Admissions
Oriel Admissions is a Princeton-based college admissions consulting firm advising families and candidates nationwide on elite university admissions strategy, from undergraduate through MBA and graduate programs. Our team pairs deep admissions expertise with a distinctive 360 approach spanning positioning, testing strategy, essays and application execution. To discuss your medical school strategy, schedule a consultation.
