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(57.6%) of veteran applicants to medical school from 2018 FIGURE 1 Average undergraduate GPA.
to 2020 took at least part of the coursework at a commu-
nity college, with increased community college hours asso-
11
ciated with lower overall GPAs. Even after controlling for
other variables, applicants with any background of academic
coursework at community college had a lower likelihood of
being accepted to medical school. 11

These financial and academic barriers likely contribute to
5
why so few veterans apply to medical school. Data from the
AAMC shows that, in 2022, only 154 of the 22,712 matric-
ulants to MD programs (0.7%) were military veterans. 12,13
Despite these substantial hurdles, some veterans still feel com-
pelled to become doctors. To better inform military applicants
to medical school, we sought to compare the average under-
graduate GPAs, average MCAT scores, and acceptance rates of FIGURE 2 Average MCAT score.
military applicants to those of all applicants to MD programs.
We hypothesized, based on the value of military experience to
admissions committees, that veteran applicants to MD pro-
grams are accepted at a higher rate than the typical applicant
with the same GPA and MCAT score.

Methods
We conducted a retrospective study on data obtained from the
A AMC on all military applicants to U.S. MD-granting pro-
grams from 2018 to 2024. Data included general demograph-
ics (age, gender, and race) as well as average GPA, average
MCAT score, and overall acceptance rate for each application FIGURE 3 Acceptance rate in %.
year.

The military population, referred to as “military applicant,” is
defined as an applicant who reported any of the following U.S.
military statuses at the time of application to medical school:
active duty, veteran, U.S. Reserves or National Guard, or other
on their AMCAS) application.

The all-applicant population is composed of everyone who ap-
plied to U.S. MD-granting programs during each given appli-
cation cycle. We obtained this from AAMC’s publicly available
data on MD program applicants.

accepted to medical school. In this study, lower average GPAs
Results
and lower average MCAT scores did not affect the military ac-
From 2018 to 2024, the average GPA of military applicants ceptance rate to MD programs. From this finding, we conclude
was 0.16 points lower than the average GPA of all applicants that military veterans should not be deterred by below average
(3.44 vs. 3.60, respectively). Average MCAT scores of the two scores when seeking to become doctors, as they have a higher
populations followed a similar trend, as the military applicant acceptance rate than other applicants when stratified by GPA
average was 3.4 points lower than the all-applicant average and MCAT score.
(502.7 vs. 506.1, respectively). Despite these lower scores,
the military applicant acceptance rate to MD programs was When evaluating applicants, some admissions committees
41.7% compared to 40.6% for all applicants. appear to take a holistic approach, which has been shown to
increase diversity in medical school classes. 14,15 Although the
Based on our analysis, for the 2018–2024 application cycles AAMC identifies incorporating holistic review of applicants
to U.S. MD-granting programs, military applicants had lower as normal practice, some admissions committees still operate
16
average undergraduate GPAs (Figure 1) and lower average through alternative evaluation processes. Whatever process
MCAT scores (Figure 2) but did not experience a significant they use when selecting applicants, our findings suggest that
difference in acceptance rates to MD programs (Figure 3). admissions committees look favorably on military applicants.
Military applicants are intelligent, hardworking, and resil-
ient, qualities that serve them well both in overcoming the
Discussion
challenges of applying into the medical field and succeeding
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To our knowledge, no study has previously examined the av- in a challenging medical career. Moreover, veterans pursuing
erage undergraduate GPA and MCAT scores of military ap- higher education have formal training and real-world experi-
plicants and how these scores affect their chances of being ence in leadership, ethics, and team dynamics, which facilitate

Veterans’ Success Applying to Medical School | 75