Admissions

The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) is a multiple-choice test administered by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). The MCAT assesses problem-solving, critical thinking, and knowledge of scientific concepts and principles prerequisite to the study of medicine. Scores are reported in Physical Sciences, Verbal Reasoning, and Biological Sciences.

We highly encourage you to prepare a study plan for the MCAT exam, specifically giving yourself adequate time to prepare.

For the 2023-2024 application cycle, the oldest MCAT we will accept is January 2020, and September 9, 2023, is the last exam in 2023 that will be considered for admission.

The College of Medicine – Tucson Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offers resources for MCAT prep.

Apply to the College of Medicine – Tucson through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS).

The University of Arizona has two colleges of medicine: the College of Medicine – Tucson and the College of Medicine – Phoenix. Both colleges offer an outstanding medical education. Make sure to designate the specific college you wish to attend.

If you need to update your contact information, please contact AMCAS.

There is no “ideal applicant” to the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. Our admissions committee looks for a well-rounded educational background, including: 

• an appreciation of the humanities
• respect for ethics in personal and professional life
• critical thinking and complex problem-solving skills
• a solid foundation in the sciences

Undergraduate Degrees

Before their expected matriculation date, all applicants must receive a bachelor’s degree. All prerequisite courses must be taken at an accredited college or university within the United States or Canada. If you completed a degree outside of the United States or Canada, you must complete a minimum number of hours of coursework at an accredited college or university within the United States or Canada before your expected matriculation date.

Applicants who are accepted into the Accelerated Pathway to Medical Education (APME) program are not required to obtain a bachelor’s degree before matriculation into the College of Medicine – Tucson.

Required hours of coursework for applicants who have completed a bachelor’s degree outside of the United States or Canada

If you completed a degree outside of the United States or Canada, you must complete a minimum of 60 hours of coursework on the semester system, or 90 hours of coursework on the quarter system, at an accredited college or university within the United States or Canada before your expected matriculation date.

Upper-division coursework counts toward the total number of required hours. You must complete a minimum of 30 hours of upper-division coursework on the semester system or 45 hours of upper-division coursework on the quarter system.

2023-2024 core academic prerequisites and recommended classes

The following courses are required starting in 2020. Regardless of your major, you must have completed the following prerequisites prior to your first day of medical school. Labs are recommended when applicable. Due to COVID-19, we will accept pass/fail grades for 2020-2021 courses.

• Physiology: two semesters/quarters
• Biochemistry: two semesters/quarters, or one semester/quarter of biochemistry and one semester/quarter of genetics
• Social and behavioral sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology, public health): one semester/quarter
• Statistics: one semester/quarter, biostatistics recommended
• Upper division courses: Choose at least one course from any two disciplines: molecular biology, cell biology, histology, microbiology, pharmacology, or immunobiology. You can apply a genetics course toward this requirement if you have taken at least two biochemistry courses (including lower-division biochemistry).
• English (or other writing-intensive course): two semesters/quarters

We also recommend attaining conversational proficiency in a second language.

Applicants will be asked to provide prerequisite courses when filling out their secondary application. Prerequisites will be verified if the applicant is selected to interview.

University of Arizona students can refer to courses that have been approved and listed by Pre-Health Professions Advising Center in Colleges of Letters, Arts, and Science.

Notes about core prerequisites:

• You can apply while in the process of completing these courses.
• We do not accept labs or research for the prerequisite courses.
• We do not allow double dipping. You cannot use one course to fulfill multiple prerequisites.
• Community college coursework is accepted.
• Core prerequisite courses must be graded with a “C” or better.
• College course credit awarded for AP science courses may fulfill the relevant core prerequisites. The admissions committee will also expect to see advanced-level undergraduate courses in the science disciplines for which the AP credit was awarded.
• CLEP, AP and IB credits are acceptable only if shown on a college transcript from an accredited undergraduate degree-granting institution. If they show as a grade of G on transcripts, we will ask for your scores.

Competencies
Our admissions process is designed to view you as a whole person — not just a collection of scores. We consider many factors, including the competencies defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Applicants to the College of Medicine – Tucson will be reviewed for eligibility to receive a secondary application from July to December during each application cycle. We will thoroughly evaluate your application in making this decision, so it may be some time before you are notified.

To earn a secondary application, you must have a 3.0 overall undergraduate GPA, 3.0 BCPM (biology, chemistry, physics, math) undergraduate GPA, and at least a 498 MCAT. Applicants who do not have a 3.0 undergraduate GPA, but who have taken at least 12 credits of either post-baccalaureate or graduate coursework in premedical hard sciences and earned at least a 3.0 GPA in that coursework, may be considered for a secondary application, though not guaranteed.

There is a $95 fee to complete the secondary application. AAMC Fee Assistance Program member exemptions are available upon request. Should you pay your fee with a check, you must wait to submit your secondary application until the check is received by the Admissions Office. We do not offer refunds if you are not admitted to the school or if you pay for the secondary application but do not complete it by the deadline.

Applicants to the College of Medicine – Tucson are required to obtain three letters of recommendation supporting their candidacy for admission, including at least one from a clinical setting.

Letters should be from individuals with whom applicants are well-acquainted. We’re looking for accurate, in-depth evaluations of qualities suitable for medical school, including motivation to attend medical school, maturity, character and commitment to the practice of medicine. Letters from family and friends are not recommended.

Letters should convey cogent information about your work. Obtaining a letter from the employer who you are working with during the application year is very important. Evidence of a successful engagement in a post-college experience will be a valuable addition to other letters that also may be part of your file.

Letters of recommendation must be submitted by December 15, 2023, for the 2023-2024 application cycle.

Letters of recommendation options:

Option 1

• 1 clinical letter from a person who has seen you interact with patients, family members, and other staff members (e.g., physician, volunteer coordinator, RN, nurse practitioner, or other health care provider)
• 2 letters from other professionals

Option 2

• 1 letter packet/committee packet
• 1 clinical letter from a person who has seen you interact with patients, family members, and other staff members (e.g., physician, volunteer coordinator, RN, nurse practitioner or other health care provider)

All letters of recommendation must be submitted through the AMCAS Letter of Evaluation/Recommendation service.

Unlike traditional tools such as the MCAT or GPA, the MMI is designed to measure abilities such as communication skills, professionalism and ethical decision-making. Research has shown it is a good predictor of future clinical performance among medical students. It can also be a more fair and just process for applicants, who will be rated by six interviewers instead of just one or two. This can help to minimize potential compatibility issues and unconscious bias that may be present in a traditional interview scoring system.

In the virtual MMI, applicants rotate through a series of timed mini-interviews. Before each interview, you will receive a “prompt” of the question, scenario or task to address and will have two minutes to gather your thoughts before you enter the virtual room. Some will be traditional interview questions (e.g., “Why do you want to become a physician?”) and others will ask for your viewpoint on a hypothetical situation. Typical questions or scenarios might focus on one or more of the following:

• Critical thinking skills
• Communication skills
• Ethical decision making

The MMI itself, including all the mini-interview stations, lasts approximately 60 minutes. However, all applicants invited to interview should expect to spend the better part of the day virtually as part of the official College of Medicine – Tucson Applicant Visit Day.

The purpose of the MMI is not to test your scientific or clinical knowledge. However, you may find it helpful to be familiar with current events and policies in health care. Because you will be rotating through several stations that will continually change, we do not recommend you attempt to rehearse answers to multiple questions. Instead, you may want to practice expressing yourself verbally so that you can provide thorough, logical answers within a short time frame. Have a family member or friend ask you questions and give you feedback, or use a webcam to record your own practice responses. This can be a helpful way to see how you might improve your interview performance.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, no qualified person will be denied access to, participation in, or the benefits of any program or activity operated by the university because of disability. The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson and the Disability Resource Center will work with you to provide reasonable accommodations during your application and matriculation process. Please contact 520-626-6214 or email admissions@medicine.arizona.edu with questions.

Once your interview is completed, our admissions committee will review all application materials.

Beginning in late October, the committee makes decisions approximately twice per month. Applicants are admitted on a semi-rolling basis from late October through March.

Applicants will be informed when:

• they have been accepted
• they have been placed on the wait list
• no position is available this year

The admissions committee may rescind an offer of acceptance if an applicant fails to maintain expectations upon which that acceptance was based. Examples include, but are not limited to, a significant decline in academic performance, failure to complete prerequisites, patterns of unprofessional behavior and incidents discovered in a criminal background check.