Transfer Policy

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. UCI School of Medicine does not accept students for admission with advanced standing under any circumstances.

Transfer Procedures

Requesting party: Requests will only be considered if they originate with the Dean of an LCME-accredited medical school. Direct requests from students shall not be entertained.

Responsible parties: Requests must be made to the Senior Associate Dean for Students at UCI School of Medicine, who will gather student information for the Admissions Committee’s review.

The Admissions Committee shall review and approve or deny a transfer request. This review shall include consideration of the extenuating circumstance prompting the request for a transfer, comparability of the transfer student’s academic credentials with that of enrolled students, and sufficiency of educational resources to accommodate the transfer student. The decision of the Admissions Committee shall be considered final.

Extenuating circumstances: Transfer students shall only be considered if an LCME accredited medical school is unable to train their students due to an extreme situation, such as a natural disaster, and wherein accommodation of the student as a visiting student is insufficient to meet the student’s training requirements towards graduation.

Comparability to enrolled students: In order to ensure comparability of a transfer student’s academic credentials with that of enrolled students at the UCI School of Medicine, the Admissions Committee shall ensure that a transfer student meets the following academic requirements:

  • Undergraduate GPA: cumulative and science GPA at or above the average of enrolled students in the same class
  • MCAT Total Percentile: at or above the average of enrolled students in the same class
  • MS1/2 Curriculum: completion of the MS1/2 curriculum at an LCME-accredited school and without failures, warnings, or probation. A medical school transcript and letter of evaluation from the requesting school’s Dean or Associate Dean for Student Affairs must contain this information.
  • USMLE Step 1: passing the USMLE Step 1 on first attempt

Educational Resources: The Senior Associate Dean for Students will obtain a written statement from the Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Science Education confirming that there is sufficient clerkship capacity and resources to accommodate a transfer student. This information will be presented to the Admissions Committee. To further ensure that there is no significant impact on the educational resources for enrolled students, only MS3 students will be considered for a transfer, and the number of transfer students shall be limited to one at all times.

Final authority: All decisions of the Admissions Committee shall be considered final.

Notifications: Should a transfer request be approved, the guidelines set forth by the AAMC GSA for notification of the student, requesting school, and AAMC will be followed.

Definitions (from the LCME’s Glossary of Terms for LCME Accreditation Standards and Elements):

Transfer: The permanent withdrawal by a medical student from one medical school followed by that student’s enrollment (typically in the second or third year of the medical curriculum) in another medical school.

Admission with advanced standing: The acceptance by a medical school and enrollment in the medical curriculum of an applicant (e.g., a doctoral student), typically as a second or third-year medical student, when that applicant had not previously been enrolled in a medical education program.

 

Approved September 16, 2024