An acceptance rate is the ratio of the number of admitted or matriculated applicants to the total number of applicants. In general, the medical school acceptance rate is much lower than the rate in general college admission.
In 2026, the medical school acceptance rate is 3.81% over 160 LCME accredited medical school in United States. A total of 1,040,848 students applied to medical school(s) and 23,062 students enrolled in medical schools.
New York University Long Island School of Medicine has the lowest acceptance rate of 0.51%. Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine and George Washington University Medical School follow it with 0.74% and 0.76% acceptance rate respectively.
The following table lists the top 25 medical schools having the lowest acceptance rate. You can sort the table by a column by clicking/touching the column title.
Tightest Medical Schools To Admit with the Lowest Acceptance Rate Comparison Table
RankSchoolAcceptance RateApplicantsMatriculatedApplication FeeTuition & FeesMCAT ScoreGPA
1 New York University Long Island School of MedicinePrivate, Mineola, NY0.51%4,73824$100$66,6525153.84
2 Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of MedicinePrivate, Pasadena, CA0.74%6,59649$50$63,3395153.84
3 George Washington University Medical SchoolPrivate, Washington, DC0.76%17,194130$140$75,8805143.88
4 The University of Texas at Tyler School of MedicinePublic, Tyler, TX0.80%4,99040No Fee$38,3825053.84
5 Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research InstitutePublic, Roanoke, VA0.86%6,37055$70$63,7795123.67
6 Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at AustinPublic, Austin, TX0.88%5,68450No Fee$37,1385153.92
7 Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and SciencePrivate, Los Angeles, CA0.90%6,63960No Fee$69,0005113.65
8 Stanford University School of MedicinePrivate, Stanford, CA0.92%9,79390$100$69,6635203.95
9 Dartmouth College Geisel School of MedicinePrivate, Hanover, NH0.93%10,33096$130$74,8685163.82
10 Albany Medical CollegePrivate, Albany, NY1.00%14,157141$130$60,6755103.8
11 Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine at Quinnipiac UniversityPrivate, North Haven, CT1.01%9,42695$100$65,6905113.78
12 Albert Einstein College of MedicinePrivate, Bronx, NY1.05%14,035148$120$77,2325163.88
13 Emory University School of MedicinePrivate, Atlanta, GA1.07%12,671136$120$60,3825153.81
14 Rush Medical College at Rush UniversityPrivate, Chicago, IL1.09%13,237144$100$70,7525103.72
15 Nova Southeastern University Dr Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic MedicinePrivate, Davie, FL1.12%5,79065$50$74,9125133.78
16 University of Houston College of MedicinePublic, Houston, TX1.14%5,24760$60$37,3685053.75
17 University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of MedicinePublic, Edinburg, TX1.15%4,78955$75$34,6325073.79
18 University of Chicago Pritzker School of MedicinePrivate, Chicago, IL1.18%7,73891$85$64,3375213.94
18 New York University School of MedicinePrivate, New York, NY1.18%8,38599$110$68,6005233.98
18 University of Vermont College of MedicinePublic, Burlington, VT1.18%10,377122$127$72,4025123.75
21 Boston University School of MedicinePrivate, Boston, MA1.21%11,429138$110$73,1905173.84
22 Central Michigan University College of MedicinePublic, Mount Pleasant, MI1.22%8,513104$100$70,9685043.6
23 Weill Cornell Medical CollegePrivate, New York, NY1.23%8,599106$100$76,4865183.93
24 Vanderbilt University School of MedicinePrivate, Nashville, TN1.24%7,68595$95$72,8045213.95
25 Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern CaliforniaPrivate, Los Angeles, CA1.25%9,612120$100$78,4665173.85