UCI Medical School Acceptance Rate

Last Updated on December 14, 2022

The School of Medicine at University of California–Irvine has an application deadline of Nov. 1. The application fee at University of California–Irvine is $120. Its tuition is full-time: $35,220 (in-state) and full-time: $47,465 (out-of-state). The faculty-student ratio at University of California–Irvine is 2:1. The School of Medicine has 822 full-time faculty on staff.

Overview

Average UGrad GPA3.74Average MCAT Score512Total Med School Enrollment414Acceptance Rate4%

Test Scores

Average MCAT Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems128

MCAT Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems (25th and 75th percentiles)127 – 130

Average MCAT Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems128

MCAT Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems (25th and 75th percentiles)127 – 130

Average MCAT Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior128

MCAT Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior (25th and 75th percentiles)127 – 130

Average MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills128

MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (25th and 75th percentiles)126 – 129

Deadlines

RegularNovember 1

Admissions Requirements

MCAT Scores- Required

Essay / Personal Statement- Required

Science GPA- Required

Non Science GPA- Required

Extracurricular Activities- Optional

Letters of Recommendation- Required

Interview- Required

State Residency- Optional

Admissions RequirementsThe following must be completed prior to matriculation: 2 years of Chemistry (courses must include Inorganic, Organic, and Biochemistry); 1 year of Physics; and 1.5 years of Biology, must include 1 upper-division Biology course. The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is required. The MCAT must be taken within three years of application and no later than October of the year prior to matriculation.

Other Admission Factors

Academic

MCAT Scores

Science GPA Non-Academic

Extracurricular Activities

Exposure to Medical Profession

University of California–Irvine 2022 Rankings

University of California–Irvine is ranked No. 48 (tie) in Best Medical Schools: Research and No. 41 (tie) in Best Medical Schools: Primary Care. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence.

Medical School Program Rankings

• #48inBest Medical Schools: Research (tie)
• #41inBest Medical Schools: Primary Care (tie)

Additional Medical School Rankings

• #133inMost Graduates Practicing in Medically Underserved Areas
• #71inMost Graduates Practicing in Primary Care Fields
• #147inMost Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas

University of California, Irvine School of Medicine Acceptance Rate and Admission Statistics

For academic year 2020-2021, total 6,286 students have applied to University of California, Irvine School of Medicine and 269 students have accepted to get into the school. Among the admitted students, 105 students have enrolled into the school. The acceptance rate is 4.28% and the yield, also known as enrollment rate, is 39.03% at University of California, Irvine School of Medicine.

Progression of Applications: 2018

Being Pre-Med At UC Irvine

I don’t know too much about Irvine and really only started looking into it during my own college search, so I can’t really add too much of my own input here. Only three students replied with their pre-med experiences at UC Irvine (well, four but one was a troll reply) but most of their responses included a good amount of information for us to take a look at. If you’re really interested in attending Irvine, I’d also check out some of the threads on r/UCI.

UC Irvine is a popular choice for lots of pre-med and pre-health students. The school has a high-ranking medical school and is located in a city convenient for pre-med opportunities. Rumor also has it that UC Irvine School of Medicine has somewhat of a bias towards its own undergraduates (however, there’s no actual verification of that so I’m not sure how valid that claim is). Let’s take a look at some of the experiences pre-meds at UC Irvine have had.

Getting Into Medical School

Because UC Irvine has it’s own medical school, it’s difficult to find information about their undergraduate medical admissions statistics without being bombarded with information about their medical school’s admissions profile. Although their post recent post-grad surveys don’t have too much information about post-grad MD pursuits, I was able to find one document from 2013-14 that shares some insight into pre-med success rates at Irvine. Of course, 2013 was quite a while ago, so a lot of this information may be very outdated, but it’s all we got so we’ll take a look at it anyway:

• On average, UCI students performed much higher on the OLD MCAT compared to the national average.
• Something I found interesting is the difference between the average applicant’s GPA from UCI, 3.38, and the average accepted applicant’s GPA from UCI, 3.69. That’s quite a large gap, not really a trend I saw in other schools.
• Irvine’s medical school acceptance rate in the 2013 cycle was 27%, which is lower than the national average acceptance rate of 44%. I would like to add here, though, that compared to other schools like Berkeley and UCLA who have a lot higher medical school acceptance rates, students with lower GPAs from UCI were more likely to apply than students with lower GPAs from other schools. In other words, it makes sense for Berkeley to have a higher acceptance rate if the only students applying are the ones with the highest GPAs. Meanwhile at Irvine, even those who aren’t at the top of their class are taking a shot at the cycle. Acceptance rates don’t always tell the full story.

There’s tons of other great information available in the 2013 Undergraduate Information so be sure to check it out yourself if you’re interested.

A Look At Being Pre-Med at UC Irvine From Actual Students

As much as a school can boast their highly-ranked academic programs and opportunities, only those who have actually experienced the pre-med process can actually share the truth about this brutal process. I received input on the Anteater experience from 3 students. Here’s what they had to say:

A High GPA Isn’t Easy

Most pre-meds know that your GPA is undeniably one of the most essential parts of a competitive medical school application. Most applicants would consider a 3.7 “competitive enough” for most top tier medical schools. Still, having a lower GPA doesn’t ultimately break your application–it just means you might have to work a little harder to stand out in other areas of your application.

Of the three students who replied, only one student shared their GPA; they had a 3.36 at a Junior level standing.

Now, that’s literally only one GPA out of thousands of students who have attended and been a pre-med at UCI, so we really can’t draw too many conclusions off that. I couldn’t find any current mass data for GPA by major on the UCSD website, but I was able to find that the average GPA OVERALL at Irvine is between a 2.9 and 3.4 (again, a very large range that we really can’t draw too much conclusion off of).

Besides numbers, though, here’s how pre-meds responded when asked if they think it is difficult to maintain a competitive GPA for medical school:

• “Yes, because most classes are graded on a curve.”
• “I study for hours everyday but still get below average on every single test. It’s really hard.”
• “Probably around the same as other universities, maybe a little harder.”

It’s Hard To Crush The Curve

The greatest challenge expressed by pre-meds at UC Irvine is the hard curve in traditional pre-med courses. According to one student, classes are “curved where only a certain amount of students can get an A, making it pretty competitive.” Another student agrees, explaining that usually, only “10% of the class gets an A” while everyone else is left with less than stellar grades. This can be incredibly stressful for those who aren’t the best test-takers or need more time to absorb content, given the fast pace of UCI’s quarter system. Of course, this could be a pretty great thing for you if you’re always on the positive side of the curve.

“Every Pre-Med Is In Biology”

At most schools, there’s typically one or two majors that house a majority of the pre-med students. Here, it seems like it’s the General Biology major. All three responses from pre-meds at UCI stated that they had declared the Biology major and one even shared that it seems like everyone who’s pre-med is in biology.

Why do more pre-meds at UC Irvine pick Biology? Well, here’s what the students had to say:

• Fulfills all of the medical school requirements
• Biology is the most “straightforward major for pre-med”

No other majors were discussed, so I think it’s safe to assume most pre-meds are attracted to General Biology.

Pick A Minor That Fits Your Interests

Two of the three Anteaters who responded shared that they are planning to minor in a subject that they are genuinely interested in and that they can apply to their future careers. One student, who is planning to minor in African American Studies, chose the minor “because I want to address racism within the healthcare system and hopefully make a change one day.” The other student is minoring in ethics.

Extracurricular Involvement

You can’t have a strong medical school application with some significant leadership and extracurricular involvement. Medical schools want to see your curiosity outside of the classroom and your ability to satisfy your ambition even while taking on a challenging courseload. Given it’s convenient location and accessible medical facilities, UCI has tons of opportunities for its undergraduate students.

Getting Involved Is Easy For Those Who Try

Because of the sheer number of students who are pre-med and pre-health at Irvine, some more popular activities can be difficult to get involved in. Irvine students have to have passion and persistence when trying new activities. Opportunities don’t just show up at their door step, but they’re always available for those who try to get them. In a non-pandemic year, there are also some mentorship and in-hospital volunteer opportunities as well as lots of openings for those looking for undergraduate research. Of the responses, it looks like Irvine students would agree that there is no lack in opportunities needed to create a strong medical school profile.

Most students would agree that they aren’t sure where to begin when presented with the hundreds of organizations available. It’s especially hard to find your niche when it looks like everyone around you is doing something bigger and better. Seasoned Irvine students suggest that new Anteaters “try everything” and “stick to the activities you actually love to do”. Luckily, there are tons of very welcoming on-campus pre-med organizations that are easy to join and very informative for students looking for some support.

Finding Balance Can Be Tricky

Finding a balance between academics, extracurriculars, and personal time is especially tricky for pre-meds, and that’s no different at a rigorous institution like UC Irvine. Three Anteaters share that their time at UCI has been a test of their time management and efficiency. Although life can get pretty hectic, they’d agree it’s time well spent in the end. Here’s what they had to say:

• “It’s hard balancing extracurriculars and pre-med courses, but it’s rewarding.”
• “Challenging but fun at the same time.”
• “Takes some time to adjust but you’ll get used to it.”

What Other Anteaters Are Doing

With the hundreds of opportunities available on campus (at least when we’re not in a global pandemic), it’s easy to become overwhelmed. In order to (hopefully) relieve your stress, here are some of the activities pre-meds at UCI are involved in:

• Independent Research Lab
• 2 Different PhD Research Studies
• HOSA
• General Service Projects
• On-Campus Pre-Med Society

Again, that’s only three students from the pre-med population at UCI. For new Anteaters looking to find the extra-curricular opportunities to build their pre-med application, try anything that seems even the slightest bit interesting– you never know what you may end up liking. There are not activities that are “good enough”. Find opportunities “that you feel that you are passionate for because it will show through to others.” In the end, “Your med school application is what you make of it. How you present these opportunities is what makes your application competitive or lackluster.”

The Truth About Pre-Med At UC Irvine

We’ve gone over the academic and extracurricular aspects of UCI and now it’s time to finally discuss probably the most important thing — the UCI culture. You’ll be living and breathing UCI for four years, so it’s essential that it is in fact the vibe you want to surround yourself with. Here’s some unedited opinions from actual Anteaters on their lives at UCI.

What They Love About It

• “The best part about being pre-med at UCI is having a big community of people to relate to, since there are a lot of pre-med Bio majors at UCI.”
• “My minor in ethics.”
• “The general community, the professors are great and even though it’s competitive people in bio are always looking out for each other.”

What They Don’t Love About It

• “The downside of being pre-med at UCI is that it’s very competitive and a very rigorous major.”
• “The fact that only a certain percentage will receive an A in most classes.”
• “There’s so many students good luck getting a letter of recommendation. Everyone and their mom is in Biology.”

Would They Choose Irvine Again?

Of the two responses I received for this question, both agree they would attend UCI if they could go back in time and choose again.

• “Yes, although being pre-med at UCI is very competitive it’s worth it and I wouldn’t want to go to any other school.”
• “Yeah, UCI is for sure great.”

The Takeaway For Potential Future Anteaters

First and foremost, remember to take all this with a grain of salt. Everyone has different opinions and different experiences and if I learned anything from reading through all these responses, it’s that no two people have nearly the same pre-med experience. This article is for you to see the brutally honest (hence my tagline) opinions of Anteaters who have been through the pre-med experience so you can make the best decision for yourself. There are downsides and upsides to every school so don’t let this article discourage you if you truly feel UCI is the place for you.