PHSRC Pulse

UMN Medical School Admissions: Insider Edition

On March 18, Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator for the University of Minnesota Medical School, Nedy Windham, held an MD Program Information Session for our Pre-Health course: AHS 1612: The Future Physician - Life & Work of a Physician. 

Oftentimes, thinking about everything that comes with the process of “preparing to apply” to medical school can be daunting. The stressors that can accompany your premedical chapters can be difficult to navigate, as aspiring physicians have numerous things on their plates, from preparing for the MCAT, challenging course loads, financial stressors and the pressure of relationship building to obtain solid letters of recommendation. 

In a 2021 study from the American Medical Association (AMA) that drew responses from a sample of 400 pre-med students, it was found that 26% said they experienced stress “pretty much always,” and 45% said they “experienced it frequently” during the application process. 

Yet, it’s vital to take a step back and to be proud of yourself. To imagine your younger self hugging you, because you started something that used to be just a dream. Yes, the process will inevitably bring you stress and some discomfort, but all things worthwhile often do. 

So, today, we provide you with a recap of Windham’s visit that takes the pressure off of yourself for this reading, putting the information into digestible paragraphs and sections that make the application process to the U of M Medical School hopefully a bit less intimidating. 

Meeting the Class of 2029

Understanding the demographic components of a class of pre-admitted students can help us to see ourselves and the broad range of admittedness, enabling a sense of pride in our unique identity. 

The U of M Medical School trains 70% of Minnesota physicians. Across all three campuses (we will dive into each campus a bit more later on), the most students (167) were admitted to the Twin Cities campus, with 65 on the Duluth campus and 24 residing at the St. Cloud campus. 

Across these, 54.5% identified as female, 39.4% identified as male, and 6.1% identified as non-disclosed/other. Additionally, the ages ranged from 21 to 45 years old, showcasing that “it’s never too late,” as Windham says. These students came from 80 different undergraduate institutions, representing 51 undergraduate majors, with 22 holding advanced degrees. 

Though the vast majority (85.6%) are Minnesota residents, 14.4% are non-residents, coming from states like California, Montana, South Dakota, and Washington. 

Requirements 

All medical schools differ in their requirements for application, so if you are planning on applying to the University of Minnesota Medical School, knowing the specifics is important. 

Academic and Status 

  • 4-year degree from an accredited institution 
  • MCAT minimum score of 500 taken within 3 years of applying 
  • PREview Score from within 3 years of applying 
  • U.S. citizenship or permanent residency 

Coursework

Application and Letters 

UMN Application Components 

At the University of Minnesota Medical School, applicants are first instructed to fill out an AMCAS, otherwise known as the primary application. This part of the application process asks for coursework taken, MCAT score, experiences, letters of evaluation (recommenders), and your personal statement. 

Although a competitive GPA hovers around a 3.7 average, Windham says that GPA is not everything, and that focusing on what you can improve (like mindset, finding new experiences, and crafting a meaningful personal statement) is important, rather than dwelling on something you as an applicant can’t change. 

If those standards are met in the primary application, applicants are asked to fill out a supplemental application, or secondary application. Here, applicants can select their mission of interest, as each campus serves a diverse set of populations. Once a mission is selected, applicants will then be able to see the appropriate campus selection options. 

The missions include:

  • General Mission (Twin-Cities) 
  • Rural Mission (Duluth or St. Cloud) 
  • Indigenous Mission (Duluth or Twin-Cities) 

Experiences

When it comes to writing about your experiences, Windham says to make your reflections about what you have accomplished and what you have learned, rather than metric-based retellings such as hours worked and job descriptions. 

Although we commonly think of experiences as volunteering, paid employment, research, and honors experiences, Windham says showcasing your uniqueness is vital to making yourself stand out, noting that she particularly loves line dancing outside of her role as recruitment coordinator. 

If you like to paint, draw, or participate in acting classes outside of medically related experiences, don’t hesitate to elaborate on what these hobbies have offered you socially, emotionally, and professionally! 

Confide in the fact that the MD evaluation committee conducts a holistic review of applications within a competency-based evaluation framework. If that seems like a complex view, don’t worry – it simply means that you are more than just your test scores and GPA in your application. 

Additionally, it’s important to note that the AAMC has evolved its holistic review framework to a mission-aligned selection framework. This change highlights the importance of aligning medical school applications with a program’s stated mission. 

Competencies for Evaluation 

Accompanying the holistic review approach are competencies for which the committee looks for evidence across the application, which include: academic readiness, critical thinking, cultural humility, empathy and compassion, ethical responsibility, growth mindset, intellectual inquiry, service orientation, and teamwork and leadership. 

During her visit, Windham highlights three of the core competencies, diving deeper into what they mean in practice: 

Cultural Humility

  • Seeks out and engages in diverse perspectives 
  • Understanding alternative viewpoints 
  • Reflects on values, beliefs, and identities 
  • Reflects on and addresses bias 
  • Fosters a supportive and inclusive environment 

Growth Mindset

  • Embraces challenges 
  • Values effort and commits to learning and growth 
  • Persists through obstacles, maintaining resilience and adaptability 
  • Learns from criticism and has the capacity for improvement 

Empathy and Compassion 

  • Recognizes, understands, and acknowledges others' experiences, feelings, and perspectives. 
  • Has sensitivity to others' needs and feelings 
  • Demonstrates a desire to help and alleviate distress 

In knowing that you are more than your scores, GPA, and extracurricular activities, find solace and excitement in getting to showcase what makes you, well, you. You are unique, and the experiences and actions you exemplify in your daily lives matter. 

As we begin to close this blog, we want to leave you all with some important dates and resources that will be helpful for your application journey. 

Important dates and deadlines (these stay consistent annually) 

  • MCAT: August 22
  • PREview: September 12/13 
  • AMCAS Primary Application: October 1
  • AMCAS Transcript sent: October 15
  • Supplemental Application: October 30 

For rolling admission decisions, offers begin on October 15, 2027, until the class is finalized, with no set decision dates. Windham says candidates greatly benefit from early submission and should plan to enroll by May 1, 2027. 

As we say goodbye, remember to take this one day at a time, and to take advantage of all of the wonderful attributes that make you special. Pay attention to the details, know your “why,” participate in academic diversity (it will only benefit you), know that decisions are made beyond strictly numbers, seek feedback throughout the process, and persist through it all, because it's okay to need to take a few tries. 

Check out the AAMC Resources page for additional information and guidance, or simply reach out to the PHSRC at [email protected] with any questions. We are here to help! 

With love and appreciation of all of your hard work, The PHSRC