Medical School Admission Requirements™ (MSAR®) for Applicants (2024)

FAQs

Does MSAR show acceptance rate? ›

The AAMC MSAR will give the out-of-state and in-state acceptance rates for each medical school. This is particularly important if applying to state schools, as these schools hold a preference for in-state applicants than out-of-state applicants (This predilection is not as strong in private medical schools).

MSAR stands for Medical School Admission Requirements. Basically, it's a super handy database of MD schools in the U.S. and Canada put together by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) that provides information on what different medical schools are looking for in applicants.

[00:53] What You'll Find on the MSAR

You can see what classes are required for each of the schools. You can check whether that medical school allows you to take online classes for your prereqs or not. It gives a breakdown of students interviewed and where they're from or whether they're international.

The Medical School Admission Requirements^™ (MSAR^®) is an online database that enables you to browse, search, sort, and compare information about U.S. and Canadian medical schools and more. Selecting a medical school will be one of your most significant decisions.

Average medical school acceptance rates are 5.5%. With an increasing number of medical school applicants every year, acceptance rates continue to decrease especially at very popular or competitive medical schools.

You can purchase a virtual one-year MSAR subscription for a cost of $28. Alternatively, you can buy a subscription lasting two years for $36.

You can then access the MSAR portal with your AAMC credentials. While the free database is available to everyone, to access the paid database, you'll have to use your AAMC credentials to purchase the paid version of MSAR on the AAMC store.

Choose DO, MSAR for DO schools, is a new resource that provides the same benefits that MSAR does. These benefits of Choose DO include information on each of the 35 DO schools of osteopathic medicine in the United States and their last three years of admission statistics.

For MD schools, the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) is a $28.00/year (or $36 for two years) service that contains information regarding GPA/MCAT distributions, coursework requirements, and many other immensely useful pieces of information. The cost of MSAR is 100% worth it.

In terms of what constitutes a good MCAT score, the top 10% of people score in the 514 to 528 range, and the top 25% are in the 508 to 513 range.

Do med schools require CASPer? ›

The CASPer test has been gaining traction in the admissions process. CASPer is now a required standardized test for many medical, dental, PA, and other graduate-level schools.

The MSAR doesn't provide admission rates but does provide detailed data on the number of students who applied to a program versus the number of students who were accepted.

But you don't have to subscribe right away: A significant amount of information is available for free to all users. We've compiled a list of the data and features that anyone can access free-of-charge, to help you make insightful, strategic decisions about where to apply.

So, how many medical schools should you apply to? We recommend that you initially apply to 15–25 carefully selected schools and devote your full effort to those applications. Then, depending on your availability, energy level, and finances, you can recycle your essays and apply to an additional 5–15 med schools.

Medical schools can see an applicant's selection (Plan or Commit) including if they selected another medical school or if no decision has been selected. Medical schools can also see if an applicant has been reported as matriculated by another medical school.

One of the benefits of using the MSAR is that it allows students to learn about the curriculum and research opportunities at their target schools. You can also view the school's resources page to learn about activities available outside the classroom.

Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine and Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine have two of the highest medical school acceptance rates at 25 and 16 percent, respectively.