Admissions FAQs

The School of Medicine is a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

To be considered, applicants must submit their application online through the American Medical Colleges Application Service (AMCAS).

The School of Medicine does not have its own application. We belong to the American Medical Colleges Application Service (AMCAS) and all applications are received through this service.

The application period opens June 1 and closes Nov. 1 of the year before you intend to enter medical school.

When submitting your AMCAS application, select the University of California, Irvine, among the schools you want to receive your application.

No. About 3,500 applicants receive a secondary application after a preliminary review by our admissions committee.

Applicants are notified by email that they have been granted a secondary application. Although applicants are also notified by e-mail when they are invited to submit a secondary application, on occasion emails are missed.

The secondary application fee is $120. The fee should be paid online, via the secondary application.

The secondary application fee is waived for applicants who have been granted the AMCAS fee waiver.

Applicants have one month from the date of the invitation email to complete the secondary application.

UCI participates in the AMCAS Letter Service. The UCI School of Medicine will not accept letters of recommendation sent directly to the school.

Our admissions committee reviews letters of recommendation only from applicants who received a secondary application.

Three to six current letters are suggested.

Applicants are advised to obtain letters of recommendation from individuals (e.g., attending MD, PI, Director, etc.) involved with their major activities.

The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) must have been taken within the three years preceding June 1 of the application year and no later than September 30 of the application year.

The UCI School of Medicine does not accept transfer students. The only exception to this policy would be due to rare and extenuating circumstances where an LCME-accredited medical school must find placement for a student due to an extreme situation, such as a natural disaster. For transfer policy and procedures, please refer to our Transfer Policy and Procedures page.

No. We seek candidates from a variety of majors, backgrounds and experiences.

We do select candidates who show mastery in the sciences and have met the prerequisites. As long as you can demonstrate those criteria, you can apply with any major.

No. However, all prerequisites must be completed and recorded on official transcripts by July 15 of the matriculation year.

Yes. We accept AP credit for chemistry and physics.

The AP credit and subject must appear on your college or university official transcript. If it does not and you are selected to be interviewed, you will need to submit your AP exam score from the College Board and you must have obtained a score > 3.

In some cases, the UCI School of Medicine does accept online courses for prerequisites. Applicants are encouraged to contact the Office of Admissions and Outreach at medadmit@hs.uci.edu with specific questions.

Applicants invited to interview will receive an email inviting them to select an interview date. This information will also appear on their applicant portal.

Transcripts are requested upon acceptance.

Yes. All applicants who are accepted to the UCI School of Medicine as well as selected alternates receive background checks.

UCI School of Medicine participates in the AAMC Background Check Service. As a result, ALL offers of acceptance are CONDITIONAL until our admissions committee has received and reviewed the background check report for each accepted applicant.

For more information, please visit AAMC Criminal Background Service.

We will accept coursework taken at an accredited U.S. community college to fulfill prerequisite requirements; however, the upper-division Biology requirement must be taken at an accredited four-year institution at the undergraduate level.  Please reference our Admissions Requirement page for the full list of course prerequisites.

Applicants must have received an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university by the time of matriculation.

No. The admissions committee uses the same criteria to evaluate applicants whether they are in-state or out-of-state residents.

Preference is given to applicants who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents with a green card or who are approved under DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).

In most cases, yes. Applicants who leave the state for educational purposes may still be considered California residents.

However, only the UCI Registrar can make a final decision about an applicant’s residency.

If you have specific questions or concerns about state residency, it is best to contact the UCI Registrar’s Office.

If you receive a secondary application, you can complete the PRIME LEAD-ABC application.

Note. To be considered for acceptance into PRIME LEAD-ABC, you must first be accepted into the School of Medicine.

If you receive a secondary application, you can complete the PRIME-LC application.

Note: To be considered for acceptance into PRIME-LC, you must first be accepted into the School of Medicine.

The AMCAS application allows you to indicate whether you want to be considered for the UCI School of Medicine MD/PhD program.

If you do wish to be considered, there are additional items you will need to complete on the AMCAS application.

There is no separate UCI School of Medicine application for the MD/PhD program.

Yes. UCI medical students can obtain an MD/MBA.

This is a five-year program that medical students apply for in their second year and begin the MBA portion of their education between their third and fourth years in medical school.

The UCI Paul Merage School of Business allows for candidates who have completed three years of medical school training in good standing and passage of USMLE Step 1 as a waiver for the GMAT.

It is very important that you report all changes in your contact information to AMCAS as well as to the individual medical schools to which you are applying.

In addition, please forward all changes to medadmit@hs.uci.edu.

UCI School of Medicine accepts students who are approved under DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).

Applicants will need to provide documentation of their DACA status when submitting their secondary application.

If you have a question that is not answered here, please email medadmit@hs.uci.edu.

Examples of acceptable biology courses are: cell biology, developmental biology, genetics, immunology, molecular biology, physiology and virology