Buying and Using the Medical School Admission Requirements™ FAQ

The Medical School Admission Requirements website includes the most recent information about medical schools in the United States and Canada that are MD-granting and accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education® (LCME®).

• AAMC Data Warehouse (including the MCAT^® exam and AMCAS^®) 
  Data is from the current first year class or applicants who applied to the current first year class.

• Graduation Questionnaire (GQ)
  Data is from the most recent graduating class.
• AAMC Student Records System (SRS) 
  Data is from the current first year class.
• Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) surveys
  Data is two years prior to publication (most current data available).
• AAMC Tuition and Student Fees Survey 
  Data is from the previous year (most current data available).

Oftentimes, you may see a slight variation in data because of the context. For example, the MSAR publishes the median MCAT score for accepted students, but a school web site may be showing the mean or median MCAT score for matriculated students. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the MSAR team at msar@aamc.org. 

While viewing the search results, you can select the compare check box beside the school listing. When you have selected the schools you want to compare (you can select up to 10 at a time), click the purple “Compare” button which will appear along the bottom of the screen. You’ll see at-a-glance details for each school so you can compare them side-by-side. From the compare screen, you can add or remove schools from your Favorites list as well.

On the search results page, click on the dropdown box at the top of the page to sort by school name, application deadline, MCAT score, GPA, and more. Use the search box on the left to filter by location, class size, campus type, and more.

MCAT national and applicant data is currently available in the MSAR guide. As of April 2020, this includes school-specific and national accepted applicant data for the MCAT exam. Use the drop-down categories above each chart to view acceptance, matriculant, and national data.

The MCAT data in the MSAR guide reflects the current version of the exam, which was launched in April 2015.

Please note: Due to privacy concerns, scores reflecting a cohort of fewer than 10 applicants will not be displayed.

MSAR subscribers now have the option to enter their overall GPA and total MCAT score and view their school on each school’s charts. There are two ways to do this. You can click on the ID coursework icon at the top right corner of any page. This will take you to the screen where you can enter your three-digit total MCAT score (from 472-528) or overall GPA (2.00-4.00 can be entered). Click “Save MCAT and GPA” to be able to view your score on medical school charts. This is also the area where you can enter in your coursework and labs to have them appear on the premedical coursework charts.

To enter in your school while viewing a medical school’s profile, scroll down the Acceptance Data section, then click on the green link titled “Enter your MCAT Score” or “Enter your GPA Score” beneath the dropdowns. You will be taken to the screen to enter your data. Once you enter data, a button will appear that says, “View on School Profile.” Clicking this button will take you back to the school’s profile you were previously on.

It's common for scores to increase in the first couple of years after the introduction of the new exam. Test-takers become more familiar with what is tested and improve their preparation strategies accordingly. 

Let’s walk through two examples. In MSAR MCAT Chart 1, we see sample a MCAT total score distribution for a given medical school. You will typically see five numbers on each graphic that represent, from left to right, the 10^th, 25^th, 50^th (median), 75^th and 90^th percentiles. If you put your cursor within the image, a tool tip will appear to tell you which percentile you are viewing. As you’ll see from the legend, the 10^th-90^th percentile range is represented in teal, the 25th-75^th percentile range is represented in dark blue, and 50^th (median) percentile is centered in a gray circle.

In MSAR MCAT Chart 2, we see fewer than five numbers in the score distributions for two sections: the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills section as well as the Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section. For the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills section score distribution, the 25^th and 50^th percentiles for this example are the same. To illustrate this, only one number appears and the dark blue band and grey circle overlap. In the Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section score distribution, the 10^th and 25^th percentiles are the same. Here the teal and dark blue bands overlap, with just the one number displayed. The tool tip in each case will show the same score for the two percentiles.

To save a school to your Favorites, click on the star icon that says “Add to Favorites” to the right of each school. The star will be activated and save the school or program in your Favorites until you remove it. To remove a listing from Favorites, simply click the star icon until it is deactivated. To view all Favorites, click on the “My Favorites” star icon at the top of the page. From there you can reorder your favorites list and email the list of favorite schools to yourself and/or your prehealth advisor or mentor using the green "Email Favorites" button.

Access the Favorites list by clicking on the star icon in the upper right corner of your screen. From there, click on the pencil icon to the right in the column under “Why I’m Interested in this School.” you can use the drop-down menu to indicate if you are “applying” or “considering” each school. You can add a comment to explain why you’re interested in the school by clicking on the pencil icon to edit and then the green checkmark to save your comments, or the red “X” to delete. Note: There is a 1,000 character maximum for each comment box. You can also use the drop-down menu to indicate if you are “applying” or “considering” each school.

Yes, please contact us at msar@aamc.org for details.