Admissions Criteria

The Dell Medical School admissions process incorporates unique features intended to consider each applicant as a person and a leader — not as a set of numbers on a page. The admissions committee looks for notable characteristics and experiences in leadership; innovation and creativity; teamwork; and community engagement.

Mission Contribution

Dell Med was created through an unprecedented partnership with its community. This partnership continues as faculty, students, trainees and staff maintain a focus on improving health for everyone in Central Texas and beyond. Through innovative, Leading EDGE approaches to medical education that cultivate a culture of curiosity, collaboration and continuous learning, we educate physician leaders — and the workforce of the future.

Personal Attributes

Aligned with Dell Med’s mission and vision, applicants should demonstrate:

Life Experiences

We value applicants from geographically diverse areas whose experiences outside the classroom include:

Each student’s array of experiences helps shape their approach to their medical education and future medical practice. Successful applicants commonly demonstrate resilience, motivation for medicine, an understanding of technology, multilingual proficiency, and unique experiences that can enrich our learning community and the broader community we serve.

Academic Ability

By creating a curriculum from scratch, Dell Med leaders had the freedom to incorporate leading-edge methods and develop a model that uses student time as efficiently as possible. It includes accelerating the pre-clinical basic science curriculum to 12 months — two years is typical — with a greater focus on team-based learning and self-paced study. Students with a strong academic record will excel in this accelerated curriculum, although the admissions team also reviews each applicant’s history for other evidence of academic aptitude and stamina. GPAs, transcripts and MCAT scores inform this assessment, but the team considers them in the context of other qualifications for holistic evaluation.

MCAT & GPA

Dell Med does not set a minimum MCAT score. The MCAT score is evaluated as one indicator among many others and must be considered in light of those other factors. The admissions team accepts MCAT scores received up to five years prior to the expected date of matriculation.

The school does not set a minimum GPA. An applicant’s GPA is one indicator among many that are considered in the application evaluation. The team reviews GPAs in prerequisite courses, rigor of advanced coursework, trends in the context of the applicant’s experiences and nonacademic obligations.

Prerequisite Courses

Medical education fosters core competencies required of modern physicians — but a strong foundation in these is required of applicants. Competency is demonstrated by completing the following courses designated as “for science majors” at a regionally accredited U.S. college or university: