Application Information and Deadlines

Submission Information

• Applicants to the UCR School of Medicine must submit their application through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) beginning May 28, 2025 and ending Oct. 15, 2025.
  • Before submitting your AMCAS application, you should review it carefully and thoroughly. Once your application is submitted, only certain changes will be allowable. Permitted changes can be found here.
• A complete set of official transcripts must be forwarded to AMCAS by the registrars of all the higher education institutions you have attended.

Letters of Recommendation

• At least three individual letters of recommendation, or a committee letter, are required.
  • The admissions committee will accept no more than five letters total and we ask that applicants abide by that limit.
  • Once your letters of evaluation are made available to the UCR SOM, no changes will be allowed.
  • Applicants submitting committee letters or letter packets that include at least three original letters in their entirety will meet the minimum letter requirement. Files are considered complete when the minimum letter requirement is met.
  • UCR participates in the AMCAS Letters Service. Letters must be original, signed documents on institutional letterhead, and be submitted by Nov. 1, 2025. Applicants may submit a maximum of five letters. These letters may be written by a premedical advisor, undergraduate faculty, mentors or any individual of your choice.

Review of Applications

• The School of Medicine Admissions Office will begin reviewing primary applications in mid-July.
• Applications are not necessarily reviewed in the order in which they are received. It may take several weeks for some applicants to receive an update from the admissions team.

Secondary Applications

• To submit a secondary application, a non-refundable fee of $120 will be required. Applicants who have been granted an AMCAS Fee Assistance Program (FAP) award will receive a non-refundable reduced secondary application fee of $50.
• All verified applicants meeting eligibility will be notified by e-mail to complete a secondary application. As part of our holistic review process, we do not place a cut-off on the number of secondary applications. Applicants will be able to access the secondary applications through the link on the status-check page on the AMCAS website.
• Applicants can submit one application update per cycle on their secondary application portal in the “Other Documents” section in PDF format. Letters should be no longer than one page in length. Update letters/letter of interest/letter of intent will not be accepted via email.
• If you complete an interview with our program, you may submit one additional update letter or letter of interest/letter of intent.
• Applicants with classes in progress can upload unofficial transcript/grades once their classes are completed. Submission of official transcripts is not required unless you accept an offer of admission and plan to matriculate into the program.

Interviews

• Following the secondary application, some students will be invited to participate in a Mini Medical Interview (MMI). Interviews will be held between September 2025 to March 2026. Learn more about the MMI process.
• Only those candidates who are invited to participate in an MMI will be considered for admission.

Application Review Process

The UCR School of Medicine Admissions Committee holistically reviews both the academic records and non-academic credentials of each applicant.

The committee considers each applicant's complete portfolio to identify students who are both academically qualified and have the breadth of volunteer/community and personal experiences that will help them become physicians who are prepared to care for the diverse population in our communities.

The committee also considers the "distance traveled" by each applicant to arrive at this stage of their career, acknowledging that applicants do not necessarily have equal access to resources, mentorship, and strong high school preparation prior to college.

Admission Guidelines

• Admission decisions are made on a rolling basis.
• Acceptances will continue until the class is full.
• Admission is provisional until cleared by the criminal background check process.
• Admission decisions are final and thus are not subject to appeal. A student not admitted as a result of the first application may reapply the following year.
• Application attempts are limited to three total, per applicant.
• Deferrals, for up to one year, may be requested by writing to the Admissions Office. The decision to grant the deferral is made on a case-by-case basis.
• If a deferral is granted, applicant must submit their deferral application through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) by the primary application deadline of the next entering class.