The University of California San Francisco is among the leading institutions to pursue graduate-level Life Sciences and medical education in the country. Not to brag, the institution offers remarkable courses, but it’s very selective about shortlisting applicants.
What’s the UCSF acceptance rate for medical school? If you are looking for a definitive answer to this, along with admission requirements and more, then this guide is for you. This guide has everything to assist you in getting into UCSF. Now, let’s start with a brief introduction to UCSF and more essential information about getting admitted to this institution.
The University of California San Fransisco
The University of California San Francisco, or UCSF School of Medicine, is one of the best graduate schools in the United States. Moreover, this school offers the best-in-class programs for medical students to rank among the country’s top 5 in both primary care and research.
Are you curious about UCSF admission requirements and rates? This university secondary application provides its applicants with the chance to answer 3 essay prompts. Thus, it becomes very difficult for applicants to stand out and be selected by UCSF.
Reportedly, only a few students get the golden opportunity to crack essay questions and pave their way to dental school. However, UCSF is the only medical studies-related public university in the University of California system. Additionally, over 70% of students at UCSF are from California.
This means that the university prefers in-state students more compared to international and out-of-state students. So, your chances of getting accepted by UCSF are higher if you are a resident of California.
UCSF Medical School Admission Requirements
The University of California San Fransisco employs a strict perspective while reviewing applications and shortlisting applicants. In addition, the university utilises both cognitive and non-cognitive factors for that. Here are the major UCSF admission requirements that you have to consider:
Grade Point Average
Your GPA or Grade Point Average plays an important role in determining your selection at UCSF. However, every medical-oriented school at UCSF has its own GPA policies and requirements.
Hence, you should check out the particular school’s requirements regarding GPA to figure out whether you are eligible or not. Generally, UCSF doesn’t consider students with a GPA less than 3.2.
So, you must have a GPA of more than 3.2 to secure a seat at UCSF. In addition, you can take a few AP classes to enhance your overall GPA. However, your GPA should be verified on your college transcript.
Academic Prerequisites
The University of California San Fransisco requires you to complete all your academic prerequisites before you apply to any of its graduate programs. For instance, pre-medical students should get a baccalaureate degree before trying to get into the UCSF medical school.
Apart from this, students must complete their prerequisites before July 1 of the year of admission into the medical program at UCSF. Moreover, only 105 acceptable quarter units are able to be transferred from a community or junior college.
Here are some essential coursework requirements for UCSF medical school:
- Chemistry – One-year coursework that must have at least a semester of organic chemistry along with lab experience is a must. However, you can consider biochemistry as well.
- Physics – You must have completed one semester of Physics coursework.
- Biology – One year of lab experience is a must for applicants. On a related note, students may continue with the same coursework in biochemistry.
- Biochemistry – The University of California San Francisco requires at least 1 course in biochemistry.
Specific Admission Tests
Among all other UCSF admission requirements, appearing in the Medical College Admission Test or MCAT is a must for all students applying to UCSF. On the other hand, the dental school demands students to appear in the DAT or Dental Admission Test.
In addition, pharmacy students must qualify through the PCAT or Pharmacy College Admission Test to get into pharmacy school. However, your score will determine whether you will get a chance at UCSF or not. On a related note, you can’t get into UCSF with test scores older than 3 years.
Interview Process
After succeeding in the entrance tests, applicants have to attend 2 interviews that last more or less 40 minutes. In fact, only 500 students get the opportunity to appear for interviews at UCSF per year. Generally, faculty members or medical students are the interviewers.
At UCSF pharmacy school, you will find the interview process a bit difficult. The school invites 250 applicants annually for interviews. Nowadays, the interviews are conducted via Zoom calls and declining them can automatically discard your application.
Besides attending the interview online, the school provides a topic to build up an essay within 45 minutes online. Not to mention, this can be the hardest part for most applicants. Hence, as an applicant, you have to prepare really well by improving your writing and communication skills, researching your field of expertise, and discussing with UCSF students.
Proof of Residency
As an applicant, you must mention your current state or area of residence in your application. However, the UCSF acceptance rate is higher for legal residents and students of California. In fact, they have to pay lower tuition fees at UCSF.
If you are an out-of-state resident, then you can obtain legal residency in California 12 months prior to applying for admission at UCSF. Though international students get fewer chances at UCSF, they must submit all the required official documentation, proof of funds, transcripts, and other mandatory documents.
Letter of Recommendation
Some universities consider letters of recommendation an unskippable component to shortlist applicants. The University of California San Francisco is one of them. After all, recommendation letters identify your contribution, verify your claims, and point out your potential.
Hence, recommendation letters from someone you have worked with will earn you secure admission at UCSF. On a related note, UCSF admission requirements tell applicants to submit around 3 to 5 letters of recommendation online. Make sure that you have issued them from someone who is renowned in your field of research and clinical skills.
Clinical Experience
Up to 500 hours of clinical experience is considered brilliant enough to meet up the requirements at UCSF. However, a handful of students opt for gap years to extend their research or clinical experience hours.
Is it Hard to Get into The University of California San Fransisco?
Overall, the University of California San Francisco has an acceptance rate of 14.8%. Hence, almost 15 students can get into UCSF if 100 students apply for its programs. However, the UCSF acceptance rate for medical school is really very low.
Here’s what we have found out about the particular acceptance rates at different schools of UCSF:
- Medical school – 2.6%
- Dental school – 6.4%
- Nursing school – 24.7%
- Pharmacy school – 25.4%
Here’s what the admission statistics for the class of 2026 will look like:
- Around 9090 applicants
- 544 interviews
- 187 matriculants (71% of them are from in-state)
- An average GPA of 3.87
- On average, the MCAT score should be 90th percentile or around 515
Surprisingly, the UCSF medical school acceptance rate stays below 3%. Hence, applicants have to participate in a highly competitive race.
UCSF Tuition Fees
Since you are interested in the application procedure at UCSF, you must be looking for an estimate of UCSF tuition and fees. According to the UCSF 202-23 tuition fee structure, non-California residents had to pay $59,825 for the academic year, whereas California residents needed to pay only $47,580 for the same academic year.
On the other hand, the living cost in the city is the highest in the nation. In fact, the total cost of attendance for the first year can be $92,420 for out-of-state students, including housing, transportation, books, and other essential personal expenses.
On the other hand, the same cost of attendance for first-year in-state students will be around $80,175, including books, transportation, housing, and everything. However, students can apply for scholarships if they can secure more than 50 per cent of the decided academics.
In addition, out-of-students can apply for the residentship of California after living there for at least a year. This will lower your tuition fees at UCSF. Additionally, you can look out for ways to UCSF tuition reimbursement.
Widely-Recognised MD Programs at UCSF Medical School
If you want to earn your MD, then UCSF medical school can be your one-stop destination. Here are some top-priority UCSF medical school MD programs that you can apply for:
- 4-year MD program
- 5-year Medical Education for the Urban Underserved (PRIME-US)
- Medical Scientist Training Programs
- The MD/PhD in History of Health Sciences
- 5-year UCSF San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (SJV PRIME)
- UC Berkley/ UCSF Joint Medical Program
- MD or Master in Advanced Studies in Clinical Research
- MD or MPH, a joint program of UCSF with UC Berkley’s School of Public Health
UCSF School of Medicine: Application Timeline
UCSF application deadline, along with admission requirements, keeps interested applicants on their toes. It’s wiser to start early if you want to get a chance at UCSF. Here’s what you have to keep in mind about the UCSF application cycle if you want to apply for the school of medicine:
- The AMCAS applications portal opens in early June of every year.
- UCSF Admissions Committee initiated the application review procedure in early July.
- Next, the committee invites the applicants to complete the secondary application process after 3 to 10 weeks of receiving the AMCAS application.
- Applicants can move on to the next interview process once they clear the secondary application process.
- The application process has a deadline of October 15 of every year.
- From December 15 to April 30, the committee delivers its decision about final admission and selected applicants.
Reasons to Get into the UCSF School of Medicine
The UCSF School of Medicine is among the best schools for pursuing medical-related graduate programs. In fact, this school has contributed a lot to numerous notable discoveries, accomplishments, and innovations. Here are some of the achievements of the UCSF School of Medicine so far:
- Discovery of Vitamin E (1923)
- First successful DNA splicing (1973)
- Identification of oral lesions as an AIDS marker (1984)
- Prime insights into how the human body experiences pain (2002)
- First successful genome editing inside the body (2018)
There are more contributions from the UCSF School of Medicine. Hence, this can be your school of dreams if you want to make a difference in society and mankind.
Final Words…
To be honest, the odds are difficult when it comes to UCSF admission requirements, acceptance rate, and much more. However, we guess it’s worth the hype and try if you want to boost your medical education. A strategic outline of how you should prepare for entrance tests, interviews, essay questions, etc., can help you a lot. All the best for your future!
