Admissions

Interview Program

We will begin interviews in October 2020 to allow for more candidates to complete their applications and submit them for review.  We will also host virtual interviews only and will provide more information on this later.

 

Decisions

We are prepared to delay sending out post interview decisions of Accept, Waitlist and Deny in order to allow for more candidates to complete the evaluation process before rendering final decisions.  

 

Prerequisites

The University of Minnesota Medical School will accept S/N (commonly referred to as Pass/Fail) grades for courses taken in the Spring and Summer of 2020. We conduct a holistic review of all applications and the academic profile is reviewed in terms of courses taken, grade trends, and final outcomes. We also look at the academic profile in relation to the MCAT total and sub-scores.

 

Letters of Recommendation

We will continue to take both committee and individual letters. We do not place a greater weight on one over the other.

 

MCAT

The TC MD, Duluth MD and MD/PhD programs have made the decision to make the MCAT optional for Cycle 2021. This specifically applies to candidates who have attempted to take the MCAT examination during the COVID-19 pandemic, March 14 - September 30, 2020.

We made this decision because many students nationwide have expressed concerns about taking the MCAT. In summary, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, applicants are finding it challenging to prepare for the test with limited to no access to quiet study spaces, concerns about sitting for the test in a closed space with others given personal or family health challenges, difficulty securing testing accommodations, and difficulty with rescheduling their test date due to cancellations. The mental distress has been exacerbated by recent national events related to racism and police brutality. We encourage you to review the details regarding this new aspect of the MCAT application component and make your decision to apply to any of the three aforementioned programs accordingly.

For all three programs, all completed applications will be absent of MCAT data during pre interview evaluations. At the point of interview and/or after, during the final decision making phase, the MCAT will be considered for those applicants who have submitted a score to AMCAS or indicate they will be submitting a score. Scores will be considered holistically in the context of all other aspects of the candidate’s application. We recognize that making the MCAT optional and removing it from initial evaluation creates a certain level of flexibility for some candidates. We also recognize that the evaluation process may place greater emphasis on the GPA when evaluating candidates' academic readiness.

If a candidate intends to take the MCAT exam, the period for acceptable MCAT scores has been extended to September 30, 2020.

Special Note:

The TC MD program historically has required a 499 MCAT to apply. For this cycle we are waiving that requirement. Please note that the AVG MCAT and GPA for applicants accepted to the Class of 2020 are 513 and 3.7 respectively. The ranges for both metrics are 500-527 and 2.9-4.0.

The Duluth MD program, slated to begin with the 2020-21 admissions cycle, requires a 498 MCAT to apply.  For this cycle, we are waiving that requirement.  Please note that the AVG MCAT and GPA for applicants accepted to the Class of 2020 are 508 and 3.7, respectively.

 

Application Deadlines

We have extended our application submission deadlines to November 15 (Primary) and December 15 (Supplemental) respectively.  

 

Coursework

We will accept S/N (commonly referred to as Pass/Fall) grades for courses taken in the Spring and Summer of 2020 including prerequisites. Please keep in mind the AMCAS calculated CUM and BCPM GPAs do not account for S/NS grades.  We conduct a holistic review of all applications and the academic profile is reviewed in terms of courses taken, grade trends, and final outcomes. 

 

Experiences

We recognize that for many applicants Spring and Summer research, service, employment and other opportunities have been cancelled, shortened or adjusted.  We will take the impact of COVID-19 into consideration and remain flexible when reviewing this and other aspects of the applicant file.