Once you've completed the application process with American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), you are invited to submit materials to complete your application files at KU. The KU supplemental application provides a tracking tool to follow the status of your application.

We establish application folders for all Kansas residents and non-Kansas residents who complete the online KU supplemental application and pay the supplemental application fee.

Once an applicant's file is completed, we review and consider the file for interview of Kansas resident applicants and applicants with strong Kansas ties first. Because of the large number of nonresident files to review and a limited number of interview positions available to nonresidents, we don't extend interview invitations until January.

The Admissions Committee reviews each interviewed applicant. KU uses a conservative rolling admissions process, offering admission to a few applicants each month of regular decision interviews. Notification of admission decisions (acceptance, alternate list, or rejection) is by email. Most interviewees will learn their final application status in mid-March.

Interview Criteria

The University of Kansas is a state-supported institution that gives primary consideration to Kansas residents and those with strong ties to Kansas.

The KU School of Medicine Admissions Committee has defined a “Kansas tie” as a nonresident applicant who meets one or more of the following criteria:

• currently resides and works in Kansas
• parent currently resides in Kansas
• graduate of a Kansas high school
• graduate of a Kansas four-year college
• parent is a graduate of the KU School of Medicine or
• parent is a member of the faculty of the KU School of Medicine

Applicants who are Kansas residents or who meet one of the above “Kansas tie” designations will be given priority review for an interview invitation. Those who have a minimum of a score of 500 on the MCAT and a 3.2 BCPM GPA and no red flags on the remainder of their application will be offered an interview.

Applicants who are Kansas residents or have a Kansas tie but do NOT meet the above minimum scores and/or GPA will have their application reviewed by a member of the Admissions Committee for a recommendation on whether to extend an interview invitation.

An offer of an interview is not an offer of admission. Applicants should show some connection or understanding of the state of healthcare in Kansas, how they plan on serving the Kansas community, and demonstrate a service mindset, regardless of residency or tie status.

It is rare that we interview applicants with an MCAT of 494 or below.

Holistic Review

The KU School of Medicine utilizes a holistic review process as recommended by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges). Holistic review is an admissions process that considers each applicant individually by balancing their academic metrics with experiences and attributes. These factors are viewed in combination to consider how an individual might contribute value not only as a medical student, but also as a future physician.

We recommend applicants and future applicants review the “Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students” from the AAMC. This site provides a list of areas that applicants should be balanced and well-versed in to be considered competitive.

Mission-Driven

KU School of Medicine Vision Statement

To improve lives and communities in Kansas through innovation in education, research, and health care.

Note to Out-of-State Applicants

Our focus on out-of-state applicants is to select those who will contribute to the depth and breadth of backgrounds and life experiences of the entering class.

We seek applicants who have a sound awareness of issues in medicine and who have demonstrated their commitment to serve others and who possess the personal characteristics necessary to develop into a highly competent and compassionate physician.

For the 2023 entering class, the School of Medicine received over 3,200 applications. We interviewed 527 applicants, and of those 311 were Kansas residents, 85 were non-residents with a Kansas “tie” as defined above, and 131 were non-residents with no tie.

We matriculated 211 applicants. 55 were reapplicants. 157 of the 211 were Kansas residents, 22 were non-residents with a Kansas “tie,” and 32 were nonresidents with no tie.