Stanford University, School of Medicine Admission
Stanford University, School of Medicine Undergraduate Program
Stanford University, School of Medicine Application

The Facts

Stanford University is a rather large, private institution located in the town of Stanford, California, and has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 15,000 students. The university's School of Medicine, however, is significantly smaller, and is home to about 462 graduate medical students. The average age of enrollment is around 23, and it is rare for any of the students to enter the school directly from their undergraduate education. The school is perhaps best known for its terrific research programs, as well as for its emphasis on individual study. Aside from the basic MD degree, the school also offers joint degrees in the MD/MS, and the MD/PhD in the areas of biochemistry, developmental biology, genetics, microbiology and immunology, molecular and cellular physiology, molecular pharmacology, as well as structural biology.

Admission to Stanford University's School of Medicine is extremely competitive among the many students who apply; last year, over 5,445 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 185 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 88 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had average MCAT scores of about 11.8 in Biology, 11.6 in Physics, and 10.2 in Verbal, as well as an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.8. Students are notified of their admissions status on a rolling basis, and are able to take advantage of the school's early application status if they so choose.

The School of Medicine has about 710 faculty members, all of whom come from very diverse academic and medical backgrounds. The school also boasts a very manageable student to faculty ratio of about 1:1, and the small classes allow for plenty of discussion and interaction between students and their professors.

Graduates of the School of Medicine often are accepted to some of the most prestigious residency programs in the nation, and most frequently specialize in the areas of primary care as well as academic medicine.

Clinical Programs

Students are required to complete extensive clinical programs including 15 months of clinical clerkships, as well as 15 months of core clerkships in the areas of medicine, surgery, pediatrics, ob/gyn, psychiatry, and family medicine.

What's Good

"Students are less cutthroat here, because the curriculum is flexible and there is less pressure."

"The professors here are very supportive, and they'll talk to you about things not having to do with medicine."

"The clinical clerkships are wonderful, and you have plenty of opportunities to get hands-on action."

What's Bad

"You get a huge amount of work here; it can be fairly overwhelming."

"Sometimes it can be difficult to get involved in some of the more high profile research projects."

"The tuition is absolutely ridiculous here."

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