Know how schools read your application

Your MCAT score as a percentile

Scores run from 472 to 528. The percentile is the share of test takers who scored at or below you. AAMC table in effect May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027; All scores from 2023 to 2025 testing; mean 500.6.

1. 500

   48th percentile

2. 503

   58th percentile

3. 505

   64th percentile

4. 506

   67th percentile

5. 508

   74th percentile

6. 510

   79th percentile

7. 512

   84th percentile

8. 514

   89th percentile

9. 515

   91st percentile

10. 516

    92nd percentile

11. 517

    94th percentile

12. 518

    95th percentile

13. 519

    96th percentile

14. 520

    97th percentile

15. 521

    98th percentile

16. 522

    99th percentile

17. 528

    100th percentile

Top research schools' entering classes typically report medians between about 516 and 523, roughly the 92nd to 99th percentile. Medians describe who enrolled, not a cutoff. AAMC percentile table

MCAT and DAT scores: planning targets, attempt limits and when to retake · Citizenship and eligibility checker

What US medical schools look at

Application services

MD schools use AMCAS, DO schools use AACOMAS, and Texas public schools use TMDSAS. Most schools then send a secondary application with their own essays and fee.

Prerequisites

The common core is a year each of biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics with labs, a semester of biochemistry, statistics or math, and writing. A growing number of schools list competencies instead of fixed courses, so check each one.

Clinical experience

Sustained, supervised time with patients, such as scribing, EMT work, medical assisting or hospital volunteering, shows you understand what the work involves.

Research

Valued everywhere and close to universal at research-intensive schools, where nearly every entering student reports research. Posters, publications or a thesis strengthen it.

Situational judgment tests

More than 70 US medical schools take part in AAMC PREview, and dozens use Casper (Acuity Insights), to look at judgment and professionalism. Some require it and some recommend it, so check each school every cycle.

Letters

A pre-health committee letter, or three to five individual letters, typically two science faculty, one non-science faculty and one or two research or clinical supervisors.

The Ivy League medical schools

Among the most selective programs anywhere, though not the only ones: several non-Ivy schools report equally high scores. Figures are each school's own, labelled median or average as the school publishes them.

How Canadian schools differ

Nineteen MD schools

Canada now has 19 faculties of medicine, after Toronto Metropolitan University opened in 2025 and Simon Fraser University in 2026. Ontario schools share one application through OMSAS; elsewhere each school runs its own.

Your province comes first

Most schools reserve most of their seats for residents of their own province or region, often 85% or more. Out-of-province applicants usually face higher thresholds.

The MCAT is used differently

Many schools use it as a pass-or-fail threshold and some weight only the CARS section. Seven do not require it at all: Ottawa, NOSM University, Toronto Metropolitan, McGill, Montréal, Laval and Sherbrooke.

Casper and interviews

Casper is widely used, and most schools interview with multiple mini-interviews (MMI). McMaster, for example, weights GPA, the CARS score and Casper equally, 32% each, when choosing whom to interview.

Language

Université de Montréal, Laval and Sherbrooke teach in French; Ottawa offers French and English streams.

School-by-school requirements, deadlines and portals for US and Canadian programs are in School search.