Each year, U.S. News & World Report ranks the best medical schools in the country based on variables such as peer assessments, amount of National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants funds awarded and faculty-to-student ratio.
This year, the top-ranked schools include prestigious private institutions as well as public universities. The list also makes clear just how hard it is to get into medical school today — 13 of the top 15 medical schools admit less than 6 percent of applicants.
"Medical schools set up a great number of hoops for applicants to jump through: a prescribed undergraduate curriculum with numerous prerequisites, the MCAT exam, a complex and multi-part application, traveling to interviews, exhaustive days interviewing and a constant requirement for professionalism throughout," Dr. McGreggor Crowley, an admissions counselor at admissions consulting firm IvyWise, tells U.S. News.
Here are the 15 best medical schools — and what it takes to get in — according to U.S. News:
13. Duke University School of Medicine (tie)
Overall score: 66
Peer assessment score: 4.5
Recruiter assessment score: 4.3
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.83
Median MCAT score: 518
Acceptance rate: 3.20 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $412.50
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $277.20
Faculty-to-student ratio: 3
Tuition and fees: $98,810
Total medical school enrollment: 503
13. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (tie)
Overall score: 66
Peer assessment score: 4.2
Recruiter assessment score: 4.3
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.81
Median MCAT score: 517
Acceptance rate: 5.30 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $528.80
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $227.30
Faculty-to-student ratio: 4
Tuition and fees: $59,078
Total medical school enrollment: 579
13. Yale School of Medicine (tie)
Overall score: 66
Peer assessment score: 4.4
Recruiter assessment score: 4.2
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.89
Median MCAT score: 521
Acceptance rate: 5.40 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $393.60
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $238.50
Faculty-to-student ratio: 4.2
Tuition and fees: $62,155
Total medical school enrollment: 391
12. University of Washington School of Medicine
Overall score: 67
Peer assessment score: 4.3
Recruiter assessment score: 4.2
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.68
Median MCAT score: 509
Acceptance rate: 3.70 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $728.00
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $247.70
Faculty-to-student ratio: 2.7
Tuition and fees: $66,899
Total medical school enrollment: 1,090
9. Cornell University | Weill Cornell Medical College (tie)
Overall score: 69
Peer assessment score: 4.2
Recruiter assessment score: 4.2
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.85
Median MCAT score: 518
Acceptance rate: 5.80 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $524.80
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $303.20
Faculty-to-student ratio: 4.2
Tuition and fees: $60,832
Total medical school enrollment: 414
9. Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (tie)
Overall score: 69
Peer assessment score: 4
Recruiter assessment score: 4.2
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.91
Median MCAT score: 520
Acceptance rate: 2.10 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $333.80
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $400.20
Faculty-to-student ratio: 2.7
Tuition and fees: $55,500
Total medical school enrollment: 307
9. New York University | Langone School of Medicine (tie)
Overall score: 69
Peer assessment score: 3.9
Recruiter assessment score: 4.1
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.93
Median MCAT score: 522
Acceptance rate: 4.90 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $451.20
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $426.10
Faculty-to-student ratio: 2.2
Tuition and fees: $3,450
Total medical school enrollment: 481
8. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Overall score: 70
Peer assessment score: 4.6
Recruiter assessment score: 4.5
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.85
Median MCAT score: 521
Acceptance rate: 10.20 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $514.20
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $237.60
Faculty-to-student ratio: 4.4
Tuition and fees: $65,044
Total medical school enrollment: 492
6. Columbia University | Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (tie)
Overall score: 71
Peer assessment score: 4.5
Recruiter assessment score: 4.4
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.85
Median MCAT score: 520
Acceptance rate: 3.40 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $568.90
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $272.60
Faculty-to-student ratio: 3.4
Tuition and fees: $67,810
Total medical school enrollment: 620
6. University of California, Los Angeles | David Geffen School of Medicine (tie)
Overall score: 71
Peer assessment score: 4.3
Recruiter assessment score: 4.3
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.82
Median MCAT score: 517
Acceptance rate: 2.10 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $673.50
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $247.30
Faculty-to-student ratio: 3.8
Tuition and fees: $52,899
Total medical school enrollment: 713
5. University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Overall score: 72
Peer assessment score: 4.8
Recruiter assessment score: 4.6
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.85
Median MCAT score: 517
Acceptance rate: 3.40 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $597.50
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $233.00
Faculty-to-student ratio: 4
Tuition and fees: $52,689
Total medical school enrollment: 645
3. Stanford Medical School (tie)
Overall score: 73
Peer assessment score: 4.7
Recruiter assessment score: 4.5
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.83
Median MCAT score: 519
Acceptance rate: 2.50 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $437.40
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $418.10
Faculty-to-student ratio: 2.1
Tuition and fees: $59,139
Total medical school enrollment: 494
3. University of Pennsylvania | Perelman School of Medicine(tie)
Overall score: 73
Peer assessment score: 4.6
Recruiter assessment score: 4.6
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.9
Median MCAT score: 521
Acceptance rate: 4.00 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $598.30$227.90
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands):
Faculty-to-student ratio: 4.5
Tuition and fees: $63,137
Total medical school enrollment: 587
2. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Overall score: 76
Peer assessment score: 4.8
Recruiter assessment score: 4.6
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.94
Median MCAT score: 520
Acceptance rate: 6.10 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $595.60
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $259.00
Faculty-to-student ratio: 4.8
Tuition and fees: $58,949
Total medical school enrollment: 476
1. Harvard Medical School
Overall score: 100
Peer assessment score: 4.8
Recruiter assessment score: 4.6
Median undergraduate GPA: 3.93
Median MCAT score: 519
Acceptance rate: 3.40 percent
NIH research grants (in millions): $1,641.80
NIH research grants per faculty member (in thousands): $176.60
Faculty-to-student ratio: 13.1
Tuition and fees: $63,371
Total medical school enrollment: 712
Harvard University came in first on U.S. News' list of the best medical schools in the country. The school's acceptance rate is just 3.4 percent, and admitted students report median GPAs of 3.93 and MCAT scores of 519.
The schools with the lowest acceptance rates on the list are the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, which each accept just 2.1 percent of applicants.
The average cost of tuition and fees at these top 15 programs is about $59,317 per year, but the NYU Langone School of Medicine stands out for having the lowest costs by far. In 2018, Billionaire Ken Langone made a $100 million gift to the university that has allowed the school to eliminate tuition, and U.S. News estimates that students at NYU Langone pay just $3,450 a year in fees.
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