What is an Early Assurance Program?
An Early Assurance (EA) program is a restricted program where pre-screened applicants are accepted while they are undergraduate students (typically during the first or second year), prior to their medical school entering class year. Unlike an Early Decision Program (EDP), EA is not intended as a program for unsolicited applicants. Usually, the undergraduate university will invite applicants to apply to the program. After reviewing applications, the EA program will grant select undergraduate students a guarantee (likely with specific conditions to be met such as minimum GPA or MCAT® score) of admission to attend their medical school. Similar to BS/MD programs, EA programs are highly selective, with just a few seats available designated for this program in each medical school entering class.
What are the advantages to an Early Assurance program?
There is no charge for applicants to apply to Early Assurance programs through the AMCAS® program, although for an applicant to view and select this program from the application, the undergraduate school must first pre-approve them. Students in these programs typically follow a specific curriculum, which could include mandatory classes, experiential learning, projects, and possibly summer courses. One of the biggest advantages for students is the assurance that they’ve already been accepted to medical school, and that they may save time and money typically spent in the application process. Although some schools may not require a specific MCAT score, they may require students to sit for the exam and receive a score. Others may require a minimum MCAT score and GPA to continue with the program.
Can I apply to other medical schools after I’ve been accepted to an Early Assurance program?
Generally, EA programs are binding, as the student has already established a relationship with the medical school, the medical school knows them, knows if or when they successfully complete the requirements, and has a place set aside for them to matriculate. Early assurance programs have a required pre-approval restriction, meaning the medical school must first grant approval for the student to apply to this program.
How can you apply?
First, interested applicants should view the medical school’s website for more details on the requirements of their EA program. Next, the student should meet with the health professions advisor at their undergraduate college to let them know about their interest in the EA program and discuss what the next steps are in the process. Once the student has met all the EA program’s requirements (coursework, testing, GPA, etc.), completes all the required steps for the EA program (application process and materials), and is accepted into the EA program, the next step is to complete the AMCAS application.
Medical schools with Early Assurance programs
Listed below are medical schools that accepted applicants to EA programs during the 2024 AMCAS application cycle. Check with each medical school’s website to see which undergraduate institutions they partner with on their programs.
Alabama
- University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine
Arizona
- University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix
- University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson
District of Columbia
- George Washington University School of Medicine at Health Sciences
- Georgetown University School of Medicine
Florida
- Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
- Florida State University College of Medicine
Georgia
- Mercer University School of Medicine
- Morehouse School of Medicine
Illinois
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
- University of Illinois College of Medicine
Kansas
- University of Kansas School of Medicine
Kentucky
- University of Kentucky College of Medicine
- University of Louisville School of Medicine
Louisiana
- Tulane University School of Medicine
Massachusetts
- Boston University Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine
- Tufts University School of Medicine
Michigan
- Central Michigan University College of Medicine
- Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
- Wayne State University School of Medicine
- Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
Mississippi
- University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine
Missouri
- Saint Louis University School of Medicine
- University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine
- University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine
Nevada
- University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine
New Hampshire
- Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
New Jersey
- Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
- Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
New York
- Albany Medical College
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- New York Medical College
- State University of New York Upstate Medical University Alan and Marlene Norton College of Medicine
- SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University College of Medicine
- University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
North Carolina
- Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
- Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Ohio
- Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
- Northeast Ohio Medical University
- University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences
Pennsylvania
- Drexel University College of Medicine
- Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
- Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
- Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
- University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Rhode Island
- Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
South Carolina
- University of South Carolina School of Medicine - Greenville
Texas
- Texas A&M University School of Medicine
Vermont
- Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
Washington
- Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
West Virginia
- Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine