Application Process

The first step in the application process is the completion of the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) common application, which consists of your complete academic record, biographic information, personal statement, experiences, and letters of evaluation. You will designate the University of Minnesota Medical School as a recipient of your application. 

AMCAS has an Applicant Guide that will be helpful to you as well as a hotline number (202-828-0600) for real-time assistance with your application. 

The AMCAS application deadline to the University of Minnesota Medical School MD programs on both the Twin Cities and Duluth campuses is October 1. The MSTP (MD/PhD) program AMCAS application deadline is November 1.

We encourage applicants to begin their AMCAS application as soon as the new application cycle opens in May so that they will be ready to submit by early June, when the AMCAS application becomes available for submission.

We strongly recommend applying as early as possible even if you are waiting on one or more components of your application to be completed. For example, you might be taking the MCAT in July, but all other parts of your application can be prepared and submitted. Please keep in mind that we will still wait to review your file until a verified MCAT score is received or if you indicate that you are retaking the MCAT.

If an applicant does not fulfill the requirements of the MD/PhD program, there is no transfer of the application to the regular MD program on the Twin Cities or Duluth campuses.

Updating Your Application

Once your application has been verified by AMCAS, you cannot add or delete information from it, nor can the University of Minnesota Medical School. If you have further questions regarding your AMCAS application, review the AMCAS FAQ or contact AMCAS at amcas@aamc.org or 202-828-0600.

All letters of evaluation must be available in your American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) application. The University of Minnesota Medical School is unable to accept letters outside of the AMCAS application system.

Evaluations should be requested from people who know you well and can evaluate you based on your demonstration of our Competencies for Entering Medical Students as well as your intellectual capacity, personal qualities, and performance. Letters do not need to be from specific academic faculty, though these can be particularly valuable to the Admissions Committee. Letters from employers and research/volunteer supervisors are also useful. The Admissions Committee does not accept letters from individuals writing in their capacity as friends or family acquaintances. 

Number of Letters 

The Twin Cities and Duluth MD programs will only accept a total of three letters. Additional letters will not be accepted as three letters is the maximum.

If you have already submitted your AMCAS application and did not identify the three letters you want us to receive, instructions on how to correct this are included in the AMCAS Applicant Guide on page 49. AMCAS has also provided an instructional video. This change can be made even if you've previously submitted your application. If your application has been verified by AMCAS, you'll no longer be able to make changes and we'll receive all of your letters. We've instructed our reviewers to select three letters to read at their discretion.

AMCAS accepts three different types of letters. Each letter type is equivalent to one letter entry.

• Committee Letter: A letter authored by a prehealth committee or prehealth advisor and intended to represent your institution’s evaluation of you. If the Committee Letter includes additional letters written in support of your application, this would fulfill the 3 letter requirement. If the packet only includes one letter of evaluation, this would count as one letter.
• Letter Packet: A packet or set of letters assembled and distributed by your institution, often by the institution’s career center. A Letter Packet may include a cover sheet from your prehealth committee or advisor. However, unlike the Committee Letter, a Letter Packet does not include an evaluative letter from your prehealth committee or advisor. If the letter packet contains 3 letters of recommendation, this fulfills our requirement.
• Individual Letter: A letter written by, and representing, a single letter author. If you have already included an Individual Letter within either a Committee Letter or a Letter Packet, do not add a separate entry for that letter.

We encourage you and your letter writers to review the AMCAS Letter Service for Advisors and Other Letter Authors and the Guidelines for Writing a Letter of Evaluation. Present these guidelines to your letter writers to help them focus their comments on the AAMC Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students and our Competencies for Entering Medical Students.

Letters of evaluation are not needed for your application to be verified by AMCAS but we will need them to review with your supplemental application, therefore, we recommend asking your letter writers to submit their letters within the two weeks following the submission of your AMCAS application.

The University of Minnesota Medical School is one school with two campuses: Twin Cities and Duluth. Once your application has been verified by the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), you will receive an automatic email message from us via medadmis@umn.edu instructing you to rank your campus preference. 

You must complete the campus preference rank before your application can be considered. Please note that applicants can apply to either the MD or the MSTP (MD/PhD) program, but not both. 

In order to receive a supplemental application, your primary application will be reviewed for the following criteria:

1. A minimum MCAT score of 495*

2. Residency status - applicants must be U.S. citizens, hold a permanent resident visa, or be a Minnesota resident with DACA designation

3. Status of baccalaureate degree

4. All prerequisite courses must be completed at an accredited U.S. or Canadian institution by July 1 of the year they matriculate

*If an applicant indicates on their primary AMCAS application that they are retaking the MCAT at a future date, we will wait to screen this application until the scores are verified and released to our office.

Twin Cities:

After this review, eligible applicants are offered a supplemental application. This could take up to 3 weeks after we have received your verified application from AMCAS.

Duluth:

After this review, eligible applicants are offered a supplemental application. This could take up to 3 business days after we have received your verified application from AMCAS.

​​​Upon receipt and verification of the AMCAS application, the University of Minnesota Medical School will email eligible applicants the link to our supplemental application in the applicant dashboard. 

The supplemental application is an institution-specific application consisting of questions that are important to the University of Minnesota Medical School community. The Twin Cities and Duluth campuses have one shared supplemental application. Please keep in mind that receiving a supplemental application does not guarantee an interview.

It is strongly recommended that applicants complete the supplemental application within two weeks of receiving the invitation. The final submission deadline is October 30. The MSTP (MD/PhD) program’s final submission date is November 15.

Your responses to these questions will provide detailed information to the Admissions Committee as they look to understand you as a medical school applicant. Your responses should include reasoned descriptions of meaningful life experiences and challenges, unique qualities, skills, accomplishments, problems or successes. Please do not restate or simply refer to your primary AMCAS essay. Your responses should be limited to the word counts indicated and you must provide a response to each question, unless noted otherwise, before you can finalize and submit your application. 

The Cycle 2024 supplemental application will be released to applicants after their initial AMCAS application is reviewed. The supplemental application has 3 required questions and 1 optional question. If you are an applicant who has an interest in rural or indigenous health, you will be required to complete 1-2 additional questions. 

All applicants are required to submit a $100 processing fee. This fee is non-refundable once submitted to our office and it will not be returned to those applicants whose file remains incomplete at the end of the admissions cycle. However, the processing fee will be waived for those applicants approved for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program (FAP). If you qualify for the FAP, please forward your email confirmation from AMCAS to our office at medadmis@umn.edu.

After you submit your fee, you will receive an automated receipt of the payment from our third-party vendor (Authorize.Net). Once the vendor has reported the payment to our office and we have confirmed that it has been processed, we will update the application fee status in the applicant dashboard. If you have received the automated receipt but your fee status has not updated within 3 business days of submitting the payment, please contact our office at medadmis@umn.edu.

Updating Your Application

Once you have submitted your secondary application, you cannot add or delete information, nor can the University of Minnesota Medical School.

If you are invited to interview with us, you will receive instructions on how to provide an update letter. We cannot otherwise update your application once submitted. Please do not send additional information to the Office of Admissions unless you have been instructed to do so.

Every applicant wishing to be considered for admission to the University of Minnesota Medical School is required to submit 3 items in addition to their primary AMCAS application:

1. Supplemental Application

2. Letters of Evaluation

3. $100 Application Processing Fee

Your application will continue for review only after it is fully completed. A complete application is one where the primary AMCAS application has been verified, any pending MCAT scores have been received, all letters of evaluation and a supplemental application have been submitted, and the $100 application fee has been paid or a fee waiver has been applied. 

Applicant Dashboard

The applicant dashboard tracks each applicant’s supplemental materials. The status page will indicate what materials are missing from your supplemental application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to monitor their status page and to contact the Office of Admissions to address any issues with their supplemental application.

Once all required application materials are compiled, the entire file will proceed for review.

During the pre-screen, each application is evaluated for evidence of University of Minnesota Medical School Admissions Competencies for Entering Medical Students.

During this phase, there are two outcomes:

1. Your application will be forwarded for further review for an interview.

2. Your application will not be considered further.

During this phase of the review process, each application is evaluated for evidence of University of Minnesota Medical School Admissions Competencies for Entering Medical Students.

During this phase, there are two outcomes:

1. Your application will receive an invitation for an interview.

2. Your application will not be considered further.

Interviews are offered on a rolling basis until all slots are filled throughout the cycle from September through March. Once slots have filled we will stop making interview offers.

Qualified candidates will be invited for a virtual interview after a thorough review by our Admissions Committees. Interview invitations will be sent via email between September and March.

The interview program consists of one half day event typically from 9:45 AM - 1:00 PM that is conducted over Zoom Video Conferencing. You will be interviewing under the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) Program. The MMI is a circuit exercise, where applicants are presented scenarios that will measure non-cognitive characteristics such as communication skills, professionalism, ethical decision making and moral behavior, etc.

Prior to beginning the MMI, each applicant will have a 20-minute freeform conversation, which is a condensed version of the traditional one-on-one interview. This evaluated interaction allows you to meet with a member of our medical school community, where you will be asked some open-ended structured questions and you will also have the opportunity to learn more about the medical school community.

Qualified candidates who also answered the Rural Minnesota and/or Indigenous Health and Community questions on their supplemental application may be invited for an additional 30 minute panel interview which will take place at the end of the Interview Day. This portion of the interview is to specifically explore your interest in the Rural Minnesota and/or Indigenous Health missions.

Please reach out to us if you have questions about interviewing in the virtual environment. We would be glad to support you and discuss alternative options or reasonable accommodations should you identify any barriers to your participation in a virtual Zoom interview. You can contact us at medadmis@umn.edu if you have questions and/or to request accommodations. If you prefer to work directly with the Disability Resource Center at the University of Minnesota, please contact Barbara Blacklock at black005@umn.edu.

Following your interview, each application is evaluated holistically for all University of Minnesota Medical School Admissions Competencies for Entering Medical Students. The reviewers will consider comments from the pre-screen, first review and interview in addition to all of your other application materials including the academic profile, experiences, and letters of evaluation.

Applications will go to the corresponding Admissions Committee - Twin Cities MD, Duluth MD and MSTP (MD/PhD) - for them to review and discuss applicants as needed. The Committee will vote on each applicant and render the following decisions: accept, waitlist, or deny.

The Medical Student Admissions Committee (MSAC) is the final approval body for recommendations made by the Twin Cities MD, Duluth MD and MSTP (MD/PhD) Admissions Committees. Once the MSAC approves the recommendations by the aforementioned admissions programs, candidates will receive a final decision on their application. All decisions made by the MSAC are final.

There are three final decisions post interview: accept, waitlist, and deny. All decisions will be sent to the email address indicated in your AMCAS application. 

Accept - We will make official offers to applicants accepted to the University of Minnesota Medical School on December 8, 2023 and February 16, 2024. All remaining decisions will go out periodically through May. You’ll need to accept your offer(s) within two weeks. 

Once the class is full, new acceptances will not be made until after May 1. By May 1, applicants with multiple acceptances must confirm their intent to matriculate to one school and give up all other acceptance offers.

Please communicate your intent to withdraw your acceptance via the applicant dashboard. Once you have decided to withdraw your acceptance offer, it cannot be reinstated.

Waitlist - If an applicant is placed on the waitlist, beginning in May, one of three things will happen:

1. You will be accepted off of the waitlist.

2. You will be placed on the ranked alternate list for possible admission later. You will receive notification via email of your position on the ranked list in June.

3. You will be released from the waitlist and will not receive further consideration.

Deny - Candidates who are denied after interview will not receive further consideration.

Delayed Matriculation

You may request delayed matriculation. Generally deferrals are granted to students who present unique personal or professional opportunities. The deferral period is limited to one year, and you are restricted from applying to other medical schools. Accepted applicants must submit a letter requesting a deferment by April 15. Any applicant accepted after April 30 who requests a deferment will be considered if spots are available.

If you choose to reapply to our program, the Admissions Committee will hope to see updates to your reflections and experiences throughout your application. We also strongly recommend that you provide at least one updated letter of evaluation from a new or previous recommender. Please note that the Admissions Committee will not have access to your previous applications.

Additionally, we have created an Applicant Self-Assessment Guide that you may find helpful. Evaluate the components of your application as objectively as you can. You will likely be able to identify areas of your application that need to be strengthened for future applications to be successful. Any suggestions provided cannot assure you of acceptance, as it is impossible to predict the eventual outcome of any application.

For future Admissions events, including Reapplicant Workshops, please refer to our Prepare to Apply page.

Please visit the accepted student websites:

• Twin Cities accepted students 
• Duluth accepted students