Universal symbol for medicine

Medicine has long been regarded as a highly rewarding profession, appealing to both the altruistic and the intellectual sides of our nature. The path to becoming a physician is often described as long and arduous. This is, in part, true. However, during that journey, you are studying and gaining experiences that are not just in preparation for the future, but are also fulfilling at the time you are undertaking them.

There is not one path to “getting there” either; people begin their journeys at different stages of their lives. Some students enter Carleton having had significant experiences with the healthcare world that have already convinced them that medicine is their calling. Others arrive knowing that they love science and they love helping people, and that medicine might be the perfect career to meld those two passions; they begin the more serious exploration during their undergraduate years. Still others decide midway through their Carleton career, or even a few years after graduation, that they want to pursue medicine. The important message here is that, wherever you are on this path, Carleton has the resources to help you to navigate your own individual path.

Competition for seats in the 149 U.S. medical schools is as strong as ever. There are more than two applicants for each seat, and on average the national acceptance rate to medical school is 40-45%. Carleton’s acceptance rate is considerably better than this national average, and is comparable to our peer institutions.

Carleton supports all of the students and alumni who decide to apply, regardless of GPA and MCAT score, and our acceptance rate for the past 5 year period is 82%. Approximately 77% of the accepted students/alumni are accepted on the first try. For those applicants who earned a GPA of 3.5 or better and an MCAT score at or above the 79th percentile (a 30 on the old MCAT or a 508 on the new MCAT), the acceptance rate for the same time period is 90%.

Of course, medical schools look for much more in their applicants than simply the GPA and MCAT score; applicants must have strong interpersonal skills, an understanding of the healthcare field as gained through experiences in hospitals and clinics, and a strong commitment to service. You can find a list of medical schools that Carleton students/alumni have been accepted to, as well as where they have attended below.

Medical Schools

Carls are accepted to medical schools across the country. Below is a list of allopathic medical schools (in alphabetical order) where Carls have been accepted in the last 6 years. Schools in bold are where Carls have chosen to attend.

AlbanyNew York UniversityUniversity of Iowa
Albert EinsteinOhio StateUniversity of Kentucky
BaylorOregon Health & SciencesUniversity of Louisville
Ben Gurion/ColumbiaPenn StateUniversity of Michigan
Boston UniversityRosalind Franklin (Chicago Medical School)University of Minnesota
BrownRushUniversity of Nebraska
Case Western ReserveRutgers, Robert Wood JohnsonUniversity of New Jersey
Central MichiganSaint LouisUniversity of New Mexico
ColumbiaStanfordUniversity of N. Carolina
Cornell (Weill)SUNY- Downstate (Brooklyn)University of Oklahoma
CreightonSUNY- Upstate (Syracuse)University of Pennsylvania
DartmouthTempleUniversity of Pittsburgh
DrexelTexas A & MUniversity of Rochester
Eastern VirginiaTexas TechUniversity of Southern California/Caltech
EmoryTexas Tech, FosterUniversity of Tennessee
Florida International UniversityTuftsUniversity of Texas, San Antonio
George WashingtonTulaneUniversity of Texas-Southwestern
GeorgetownUniformed ServicesUniversity of Toledo
HarvardUniversity at BuffaloUniversity of Vermont
HowardUniversity of ArizonaUniversity of Virginia
JeffersonUniversity of California, DavisUniversity of Washington
Johns HopkinsUniversity of California, IrvineUniversity of Wisconsin
Louisiana State UniversityUniversity of California, San DiegoWashington University
LoyolaUniversity of California, San FranciscoVanderbilt
MayoUniversity of Chicago (Pritzker)Virginia Tech Carilion
Medical College of WisconsinUniversity of CincinnatiWayne St.
MeharryUniversity of ColoradoWest Virginia
Mt. Sinai (Icahn School of Medicine)University of ConnecticutYale
NorthwesternUniversity of Hawaii 
New York Medical CollegeUniversity of Illinois-Chicago