are there medical schools that don’t require the mcat?

we tend to put a lot of emphasis on the mcat for being the gate-keeper for medical school admissions. wouldn’t it be great if we could just skip taking the mcat all together? you may be surprised to know that some medical schools that don’t require the mcat to get in.
 

there are schools that don’t require the mcat!? tell me more.

for traditional medical school admissions, students are required to complete a bachelors degree program, which includes the prerequisite courses of physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry, general biology, english, and usually your choice of humanities courses. at some point during a student’s matriculation, he or she will then take the mcat before applying to medical school.

however, ba/md programs and bs/md programs (as well as ba/do and bs/do programs) exist wherein students apply to joint degree programs while in high school and transition to medical school after completing a required number of hours towards their ba degrees. for many of these programs, the mcat requirement is waived. essentially, it’s like applying to medical school while still in high school. granted, these programs do require stellar sat or act scores, but they do save a lot of time and money by bypassing the mcat for students who are particularly ambitious.

so, the schools that don’t require the mcat require a joint degree?

b/md and b/do programs are basically fast-track/dual degree programs (often 6-8 years) that are cool because they guarantee admission to med school after successfully completing a bachelor’s degree, meaning there’s no reason to take the mcat.

here are the schools that offer b/md and b/do programs. take your pick!

program name	state	length (years)	minimum gpa
university of alabama/university of alabama school of medicine	alabama	8	3.5
university of south alabama	alabama	7 or 8	3.5
university of colorado denver/university of colorado school of medicine	colorado	8	3.5
university of connecticut at storrs/university of connecticut school of medicine	connecticut	8	3.5
george washington university	d.c.	7	3.6
florida atlantic university	florida	7 or 8	4.30 (weighted)
university of south florida honors college/usf morsani college of medicine	florida	7	4.0 (weighted)
university of illinois chicago	illinois	8	3.85 (“most competitive applicants”)
university of evansville/indiana university school of medicine – evansville	indiana	8	3.5
university of missouri kansas city	missouri	6	3.0
university of nevada, reno	nevada	8	3.65 (unweighted or top 10% of class)
caldwell university/rutgers new jersey medical school	new jersey	7 or 8	3.5 (top 10% of class)
caldwell university/st. george’s university	new jersey	7 or 8	3.5
college of new jersey/rutgers new jersey medical school	new jersey	7	unweighted 3.8 or 95% (must be in top 5% of class)
monmouth university/st. george’s university	new jersey	8	—
montclair state university/rutgers new jersey medical school	new jersey	8	b average (3.0) and top 10% of class
new jersey institute of technology/american university of antigua west indies (both)	new jersey	7	—
new jersey institute of technology/rutgers new jersey medical school (both)	new jersey	7	—
new jersey institute of technology/st. george’s university (grenada west indies) (both)	new jersey	7	—
rutgers university-newark/rutgers new jersey medical school	new jersey	7	—
suny upstate medical university	new york	8	—
hofstra university/lij school of medicine, hofstra university	new york	8	3.7, top 10%
rensselaer polytechnic institute/albany medical college	new york	7	—
siena college/albany medical college	new york	8	top 10%
sophie davis biomedical education/cuny school of medicine	new york	7	top 10%
stony brook university/stony brook university school of medicine	new york	8	95-99th percentile
union college/albany medical college	new york	8	rank “near the top of the class”
university of rochester/university of rochester school of medicine and dentistry	new york	8	—
case western/case western reserve university school of medicine	ohio	8	—
university of cincinnati/university of cincinnati college of medicine	ohio	8	—
youngstown state university/northeastern ohio medical university	ohio	7	—
penn state university/jefferson medical college	pennsylvania	7	“strong gpa”
temple university/ temple university of medicine	pennsylvania	7 or 8	3.8
university of the pittsburgh/ university of pittsburgh school of medicine	pennsylvania	8	highest gpa available at current high school
brown university/brown alpert medical school	rhode island	8	—
rice university/baylor college of medicine	texas	8	—
texas tech university/texas tech university health sciences center school of medicine	texas	8	top 10% of class
texas university medical branch (multiple routes)	texas	8	3.25
nova southeastern university college of osteopathic medicine	florida	7 or 8	3.5
chicago college of osteopathic medicine of midwestern university	illinois	8	3.5 and top 10% of class
a.t. still university of health sciences kirksville college of osteopathic medicine	missouri	8	—
new york institute of technology college of osteopathic medicine	new york	7	90%
philadelphia college of osteopathic medicine	pennsylvania	7 or 8	varies by school

early assurance programs (eaps)

another way to circumvent the mcat is to enroll in an early assurance program, or eap. eaps allow undergrads already in four-year institutions to apply to med school, without first completing their degree. students can pursue non-medical fields of interest and these programs often do not require the mcat before matriculating to med school. some of these are limited to students at certain universities.

if you think an eap might be a good fit for you, check out some of these programs:

• university of toledo medstart program
• icahn school of medicine flex med program
• university of florida junior honors program
• suny upstate eap
• suny buffalo eap
• wake forest eap
• georgetown eap
• tufts medical school
• maine track at tufts medical school eap
• drexel college of medicine eap
• university of rochester
• albany medical college eap
• brody school of medicine
• loyola stritch school of medicine eap
• boston university early medical school selection program
• boonshoft school of medicine (wright state university)
• geisel school of medicine early assurance program
• penn state college of medicine eap

but i don’t want to do either of those things…

if you can’t see yourself doing a joint b/md or b/do and eaps, you’re probably going to have to take the mcat. while there used to be one school out there that didn’t require an the mcat as part of its regular admissions process — dartmouth’s geisel school of medicine — the school has since updated their requirements, and that’s no longer the case.

the takeaway here is, while there are technically some schools that don’t require the mcat, most students decide to sit for the exam, since the alternatives aren’t exactly easier.

but at least you have options! 🙂