How to Get Into Mayo Medical School: The Definitive Guide (2026)

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine (MCASOM), still widely called Mayo Medical School, is the private MD program of Mayo Clinic. It is one national school with three campuses: Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona; Rochester, Minnesota; and Jacksonville, Florida. You apply once through AMCAS, then rank up to four campus tracks on the secondary application. This guide covers the 2026-2027 application cycle, which leads to an entering class that begins orientation on July 12, 2027. Facts were checked against the school’s own pages on October 18, 2026.

The school opened in 1972 with 40 students and is now among the most selective MD programs in the country. For 2026 it received 6,061 applications to its MD and MD-PhD programs and offered acceptance to 215 applicants. The first-year class had a median MCAT of 521 and a median GPA of 3.97. Tuition for 2026-2027 is $70,280, and the total first-year budget is $110,400.

Mayo’s admissions process asks for something specific. You need strong academics, but you also need to show that you put the needs of the patient first, that you can learn in a small, close class, and that you have thought about where medicine is going, including digital tools and artificial intelligence. The sections below explain the mission, campuses and tracks, curriculum, requirements, costs, people, class statistics, every current secondary prompt with a worked example, the virtual interview and the questions applicants ask most.

Key Takeaways

• Eligibility comes first. You must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, noncitizen national, asylee, refugee or DACA recipient, or show FAFSA or Canadian financial aid eligibility. You also need a bachelor’s or Pharm.D. degree from an accredited U.S. or Canadian school.
• There is an MCAT floor. The minimum score is 510, and the exam must be taken between January 2024 and September 2026 for this cycle. The 2026 first-year class median was 521, with a median GPA of 3.97.
• No course prerequisites are required. Mayo recommends biology, microbiology, biochemistry, chemistry and physics, and judges preparation through the MCAT and your transcript.
• Pick tracks with care. Arizona 4-Year, Minnesota 4-Year, Arizona/Florida and Minnesota/Florida are separate tracks. Your first choice routes your file, and you interview with one campus.
• Deadlines are tight. AMCAS closes October 1. Your MCAT, transcripts, secondary, letters and $120 fee are due October 15. There is no rolling admission; initial offers go out in February.
• Tuition is not free. Tuition is $70,280 for 2026-2027. Scholarships are awarded on merit and need, and 96% of the class of 2025 received one.
• The mission is patient first. The school develops “servant physician leaders,” and its secondary prompts ask about patients, collaboration and AI-driven innovation.
• Next step: check your eligibility and MCAT window now, then plan your secondary essays before AMCAS opens so you can return the secondary well before October 15.

Key Statistics About Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine

These numbers give you a quick view of the class, the competition and the cost. The graphic and the table come from the same verified fact record, and each figure names its year and population.

Two notes help you read these figures. The 3.5% acceptance rate is the school’s own figure and counts offers against all applications to the MD and MD-PhD programs together. For the MD program alone, the school lists 5,499 applications and 180 acceptances, and 681 applicants, about 12% of MD applications, were interviewed. Second, the MCAT figure of 510 is a minimum to be considered, not a typical score. The class median is 521. You can compare Mayo’s numbers with other schools in our list of average GPA and MCAT scores by medical school. The rows for the 2025 entering class describe the previous cycle. They count verified applications and all accepted applicants, so read them as a second year of data alongside the 2026 figures.

Mayo does not give every student a full-tuition scholarship. Tuition is billed in two halves, and scholarships are awarded to accepted students based on academic performance and financial need. The cost section below explains the numbers.

Mission and Educational Priorities

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine states its vision as: “Transform healthcare through excellence in education, innovation, and leadership.”

Its mission reads: “Develop a diverse community of servant physician leaders by providing excellence in education, fostering a culture of patient-centered care, and stimulating scientific discovery. We aim to promote health equity and improve clinical care through innovation and collaboration.”

Underneath both sits Mayo Clinic’s primary value: the needs of the patient come first. You will see that phrase in the first secondary prompt, in the dean’s message and in student comments about the school. Mayo is serving a national patient base with serious and complex conditions, and it wants students who will be shaped by that setting.

What the mission means in practice

The school lists core principles under the heading “Lead, transform and heal.” It aims to enroll a diverse student body with “a strong foundation in the sciences and a demonstrated commitment to service and continuous learning,” and to graduate physicians who will:

• Provide service and leadership within health care systems and the community
• Lead change to improve health care delivery
• Advance basic, clinical and translational research
• Act as educators and mentors and keep learning throughout their careers
• Build resilience and wellness in themselves and others
• Make career choices based on their skills “without the burden of excessive educational debt”
• Practice evidence-based medicine and shared decision-making
• Work within multidisciplinary teams
• Contribute to a diverse and culturally competent workforce

Mayo Clinic’s broader values, which faculty cite at commencement, are Respect, Integrity, Compassion, Healing, Teamwork, Innovation, Excellence and Stewardship. At the 2026 Arizona ceremony, Dr. Jewel Kling reminded graduates that “these are not just aspirational words, they are lived commitments.”

How to use the mission in your application

Three themes from the mission show up throughout the admissions process.

Service before self. “Servant physician leaders” is a specific phrase. It means leadership that grows out of care for patients and teams, not title-seeking. Experiences where you took responsibility for someone else’s outcome, such as patient care, tutoring, caregiving or crisis work, fit this better than a list of offices held.

Patient-centered care in a complex setting. Mayo patients often travel for care and arrive with difficult diagnoses. The school says it has “the highest ratio of patients to medical students anywhere in the world.” Applicants who can talk about listening to patients, coordinating care and staying with uncertainty will connect with that environment.

Discovery and innovation. More than 80% of students graduate with a published, peer-reviewed research article, and the curriculum includes required instruction in artificial intelligence in health care. You do not need to be a programmer, but you should be able to explain how you think about new tools, evidence and patient safety.

Mayo’s previous mission statement spoke of an inspired and diverse workforce and of alleviating human suffering. Those ideas carry into the current wording: diversity, service and better clinical care still sit at the center.

Accreditation and Institutional Identity

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine’s MD program is fully accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). Its last full LCME survey and reaccreditation took place in 2019, and that accreditation is valid through 2027. The 2019 survey visited the Rochester campus from April 28 to May 1, and the school reported that it met 99.9% of LCME requirements. LCME reaccreditation occurs every eight years, so the school is due for its next full review in this period. You can confirm current status in the school’s accreditation page.

The parent institution, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Its last comprehensive reaffirmation was in 2018-2019, and the next is scheduled for 2028-2029.

Name and history

• 1972: Mayo Medical School opens with 40 students in Rochester, Minnesota.
• 1983: The first class enters the Mayo Clinic Medical Scientist Training Program (MD-PhD), run with Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
• 2015: The school announces a national expansion: a four-year MD program on a new Arizona campus and a 2+2 program in which students study two years in Rochester and finish in Florida. The Science of Health Care Delivery curriculum launches the same year.
• 2017: The Arizona campus building opens in Scottsdale, with a 1,600-square-foot gross anatomy lab.
• 2018: Jay Alix, founder of AlixPartners, gives Mayo Clinic $200 million, the largest gift in its history, to expand scholarships and support curriculum innovation. The school is renamed Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine.
• January 2026: Nneka I. Comfere, M.D., an alumna of the school, becomes dean and Juanita Kious Waugh Executive Dean of Education, succeeding Fredric Meyer, M.D.

One school, five sister schools

MCASOM is one of five schools inside Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. The others are Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education (residencies and fellowships), Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences (allied health and the physician assistant program), Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Ph.D. and master’s degrees) and Mayo Clinic School of Continuous Professional Development. This matters for applicants. Many people you read about as “Mayo alumni” trained in a residency or fellowship rather than in the MD program, and the PA program is a separate application in a separate school.

Accreditation is a baseline, not a ranking. In April 2026, U.S. News & World Report again placed Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in its top tier of research medical schools, and Mayo Clinic ranks first in more specialties than any other U.S. hospital in the 2026-27 U.S. News hospital ratings. These are useful context, but your decision should rest on the training model, the campus fit and the cost.

Medical Programs and Affiliations

Doctor of Medicine (MD): one application, four campus tracks

All MD applicants use a single AMCAS application for all three campuses. If you are invited to the secondary, you select and rank between one and four tracks:

In the 2026 first-year class, 43 students were on the Arizona 4-Year track, 41 on the Minnesota 4-Year track, 6 on Arizona/Florida and 6 on Minnesota/Florida. Your first-choice track decides which campus reviews and interviews you. At the offer stage, though, you can be accepted to any track you selected, regardless of where you interviewed.

Arizona. Mayo Clinic in Arizona focuses on adult specialty and surgical care in more than 65 disciplines and serves a diverse patient population in one of the largest U.S. metro areas. The campus spans Scottsdale (Mayo Clinic Building, the medical school, research buildings) and north Phoenix (Mayo Clinic Hospital, the Multidisciplinary Simulation Center and the Integrated Education and Research Building). Mayo Clinic in Arizona has performed more lifesaving organ transplants each year than any other U.S. transplant center since 2021. The Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care gives students access to ASU dual degrees and service learning through ASU’s student-led REACT Clinic.

Minnesota. Rochester is where Mayo began more than 150 years ago, and the campus offers expertise in virtually every specialty. Mayo Clinic Hospital, Saint Marys Campus, and the downtown buildings sit within walking distance or a short shuttle ride. Rochester is about 75 minutes from the Twin Cities.

Florida. Students on the two Florida tracks finish their clinical years in Jacksonville. Mayo Clinic in Florida is recognized for its liver transplant program and for neurosciences, transplant and cancer care. In 2026, 19 MD and Ph.D. graduates crossed the stage in Jacksonville.

MD-PhD (Medical Scientist Training Program)

The Mayo Clinic MD-PhD Program trains physician-scientists with Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Students enroll in Minnesota (up to nine admitted each year) or Arizona (two each year), and can use Florida resources. Funding comes through a guaranteed internal fellowship for up to eight years, and the average time to both degrees is 8.06 years. Applicants mark MD-PhD within AMCAS and complete a separate MD-PhD secondary that includes campus selection. Two rules matter: applicants who are not selected for MD-PhD are not moved to the MD-only pool, and the MD-PhD program asks for a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0.

Dual degrees and certificates

Students who have finished two or three years of the MD program in good standing can apply, after matriculation, for a degree-granting academic enrichment. The school’s current list of dual degree options includes:

• Health System Science (M.S.), a longitudinal degree in the systems, processes, leadership and management that drive safe, cost-effective care
• Health Care Administration and Policy (M.S.)
• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, for leadership in health care institutions and health policy
• Master of Advanced Study in Health Informatics through the ASU Department of Biomedical Informatics, on the use of information technology, data science and knowledge representation in health care
• Master of Mass Communication through ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with professional immersion programs
• Artificial Intelligence in Health Care master’s degree
• M.D./M.S. degrees through Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Clinical and Translational Science, Immunology, Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and Virology and Gene Therapy

The school says students may also complete degree programs at institutions outside Mayo Clinic, so degrees such as an MBA or MPH can be pursued that way. The MD/MBA with ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business and the MD/MS in Biomedical Diagnostics are not on the school’s current enrichment list, so confirm availability before you build an essay around them. A Clark Family Scholarship supports a Mayo medical student pursuing a Master of Public Health.

Clinical affiliations

Beyond the three main campuses, Mayo Clinic Health System includes more than 70 smaller regional practices in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The school also has affiliations near its campuses, including Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Maricopa Integrated Health System and the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Phoenix. In Florida, pediatric electives use Nemours Children’s Clinic and Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville. Students can complete selectives and electives on any campus.

Physician Assistant studies at Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic’s Physician Assistant program is part of Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences in Rochester, not the medical school. It began in 2020, and its first class of 22 graduated on July 22, 2022 with a Master of Health Sciences in PA studies. Check the program’s current ARC-PA accreditation status on the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences pages before you apply. If you are weighing the PA route, hands-on pre-PA internships can help you test that path.

Considering a medical career at Mayo Clinic?

If Mayo is on your list, a few resources help:

• Pre-medical pathway programs: explore programs offered through Mayo Clinic’s Office of Education Engagement and Outreach or at other institutions to strengthen your preparation.
• Virtual visits: the school runs free virtual information sessions and one-on-one Zoom meetings with its graduate admissions recruiters.
• Other schools and states: compare Mayo with the other MD programs in its three states using our guides to medical schools in Minnesota, medical schools in Arizona and medical schools in Florida. A full list of our school guides appears near the end of this article.

Curriculum Overview

Mayo’s four-year curriculum is divided into three phases: Pre-Clerkship (18 months), Clerkship (18 months) and Post-Clerkship (12 months). Starting the eight core clerkships about halfway through the second year gives students extra clinical time before residency applications. The school describes its curriculum as “patient-centered and science-driven,” with research woven through all four years and teaching on individualized health care, genomics, regenerative medicine and artificial intelligence.

Teaching is close and hands-on. The school reports more than 800 full-time faculty and a 3:1 full-time faculty-to-student ratio, with 271 scientific faculty. Every first-year student is paired with a specialty career adviser who stays with them through all four years.

Pre-Clerkship phase (first 18 months)

The first six blocks focus on the foundational sciences, taught through lectures and active learning:

• Anatomy, taught with team-based active learning on a hybrid platform of live remote, prerecorded and in-lab guided sessions
• Biochemistry and genetics
• Histology, using virtual microscopy
• Immunology, with micro-lectures, board question sessions and worksheets
• Microbiology, including special topics such as immunization and infections in immunocompromised hosts
• Pathology, built around structure-function relationships and clinical case histories
• Pharmacology

Students then move to organ-system courses that integrate anatomy, physiology and pathology:

• Nervous system and neurosciences, including a neuro-focused history and physical on a standardized patient
• Psychiatry, with patient interviews in small groups
• Renal system, which also covers health care economics, public and global health and ethics
• Cardiovascular system
• Respiratory system
• Hematology
• Musculoskeletal system and rheumatology
• Reproductive and urinary systems
• Endocrine system
• Gastrointestinal system and nutrition

Alongside these courses, every student completes Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare. It covers core AI concepts, how AI tools are evaluated (performance metrics, validation, data quality and generalizability), clinical uses in imaging, digital pathology and decision support, and ethical issues such as bias, transparency, privacy and appropriate clinical oversight. It also addresses responsible use of generative AI in education and research.

Clinical integration starts at matriculation. Longitudinal clinical skills courses teach interviewing, history taking and physical examination. Students see patients with preceptors in internal medicine and pediatrics, and clinical experiences are tied to the blocks, for example seeing dialysis patients during the renal block or practicing cardiac assessment on the Harvey manikin at the Mayo Clinic Multidisciplinary Simulation Centers during the circulation block. Students also study health equity, policy and economics, population health, bioethics and health care delivery.

Dedicated enrichment weeks in this phase can be used for career exploration, scholarship or additional degree and certificate work. Dedicated study time for USMLE Step 1 comes in the final six months of the second year. Mayo reports a 99% pass rate on USMLE Step 2 for 2025.

Clerkship phase (next 18 months)

The Clerkship phase begins during the last six months of the second year. A Transition to Clerkship course prepares students with hospital survival skills, specialty presentations, musculoskeletal examination, evidence-based medicine, innovation in medicine, procedural and communication skills and teamwork. The eight required clerkships are:

In internal medicine, students move from “reporter” to “interpreter” of data and learn to manage patients with multiple conditions. In surgery, they interview and examine patients, join daily care and scrub into operations for their own patients. Clerkships run on the student’s home campus, with the clinical sites and affiliates described in the rotations section below.

Post-Clerkship phase (final 12 months)

The final year includes:

• A four-week subinternship
• Four four-week clinical electives (16 weeks in all)
• A one-week virtual Social Medicine rotation
• A three-week Transition to Residency course
• A two-week Health Systems Science Integration course
• A one-week Internship Boot Camp at the Simulation Center

Time is also set aside for residency interviews and vacation. Electives can be taken on any Mayo campus or at national and international sites, and many students complete an international or underserved-population elective in the fourth year.

Academic enrichments, selectives and distinction tracks

Mayo offers nearly 200 academic enrichment opportunities, and its online search tool lists more than 300 entries across certificates, distinction tracks, dual degrees, global health, research, selectives and professional development. Selectives are 1-4 week immersive experiences offered across all four years. Students use them for career exploration, service in underserved communities, research and clinical skills, on any campus, in Mayo Clinic Health System or at outside centers. Examples from the school’s catalog include:

• Street Medicine, a longitudinal selective in Minnesota focused on care for unsheltered people
• Medical Spanish, a longitudinal global health selective in Arizona or Minnesota
• Abdominal Transplant Surgery in Arizona, inside one of the largest U.S. transplant programs
• Advanced Hematology and Oncology in Florida
• Hazelden Betty Ford addiction medicine, a week-long program students describe as highly formative
• Narrative medicine, radiology and psychiatry selectives that alumni credit with shaping their specialty choice

Certificates build depth in a theme, and distinction tracks, such as the Distinction in Biomedical Ethics, add a concentration on top of the standard curriculum. Dr. Hafsa Cantwell, now a Mayo dermatologist, says early selectives exposed her to dermatology, “a specialty I may not have considered without this early clinical exposure.”

Admissions Requirements and Application Process

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine looks for students “committed to improving lives, advancing healthcare, and shaping the future of medicine.” Its process is holistic, but it begins with firm eligibility rules. The full requirements are on the school’s Prerequisites and Requirements page.

Citizenship, residency and DACA

At the time of application you must be one of the following:

• A U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident
• A noncitizen national of the United States
• An asylee
• A refugee

DACA recipients are also eligible. Other foreign nationals are eligible only if, at the time of application, they can show either eligibility to file the FAFSA or eligibility for Canadian provincial or federal financial aid. In practice this opens the door to many Canadian applicants but not to most international students. Mayo has no state residency preference: tuition is the same for everyone, and the 2026 first-year class came from 31 states.

Degree and course requirements

You need a bachelor’s or Pharm.D. degree from an accredited college or university in the United States or Canada. A higher degree cannot replace it, and all degrees must be finished before orientation.

Mayo does not require specific prerequisite courses. The school says successful applicants “typically demonstrate a broad and strong academic foundation across the life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities,” as reflected in their MCAT performance. It recommends coursework in biology, microbiology, biochemistry, chemistry and physics. If you are still planning your schedule, our medical school prerequisites checklist shows how these subjects line up with what other schools require.

MCAT

For this cycle, your MCAT must be taken between January 2024 and September 2026, and your score must be at least 510. Scores are due by October 15. The 2026 first-year class had a median of 521, so a 510 keeps you eligible but is well below the typical admitted score.

PREview, CASPer and other tests

Mayo recommends the AAMC PREview professional readiness exam “to gain insight into key professional competencies,” but scores are not currently used in admissions decisions. CASPer is not part of Mayo’s requirements. GRE scores are not required, even for MD-PhD.

Experience

The school weighs “community and volunteer service, leadership, research, exposure to and exploration of medicine, artistic and athletic endeavors, and work experiences.” There is no published hour minimum for clinical work, research or shadowing, but strong applicants show sustained patient contact. Because the interview and essays ask how you will support patients and colleagues, hands-on roles where you work directly with patients, such as medical assisting, EMT work, hospice volunteering or clinical internships for pre-med students, give you more to draw on than passive hours.

Letters of recommendation

• Submit at least three individual letters or one premedical committee letter, up to a maximum of 10.
• Letters must go through the AMCAS Letter Service by October 15. Letters sent straight to the school are not accepted.
• Writers should know you well; examples include science faculty, research mentors, employers, physicians and supervisors.
• At least one letter from a life or physical science faculty member is recommended.
• Letters from family or friends are not accepted.
• Letters should be on official letterhead and signed.

MD-PhD applicants also need at least three letters, and research mentors are especially important. MD-PhD letters may also be emailed or mailed directly to the MD-PhD program office.

Primary application through AMCAS

Mayo uses one AMCAS application for all three campuses. AMCAS opens in early May, and you may submit between June 1 and October 1, with early submission “strongly encouraged.” Send all transcripts to AMCAS by October 15. AMCAS verification can take several weeks in busy periods, so submit early. Our AMCAS application guide walks through each section, and these AMCAS personal statement examples show how a clear narrative reads. Keep your contact information current in AMCAS and make sure your email allows messages from Mayo, because nearly all communication happens by email and through the admissions portal.

Secondary application

Applicants who meet the prerequisites and requirements receive a secondary invitation. To complete it you must:

1. Select and rank one to four campus tracks.
2. Answer three essay prompts, each limited to 500 words.
3. Complete the “Mayo Clinic Experiences” page, listing any prior experiences with Mayo Clinic, if applicable.
4. Pay the $120 secondary fee, which is waived for applicants approved through the AMCAS Fee Assistance Program.
5. Submit everything by October 15.

The full prompts, worked examples and analysis are in the secondary section below. MD-PhD applicants receive a separate MD-PhD secondary that includes campus selection.

How applications are reviewed

Applications are routed by your first track choice and go through a standardized review aligned with the mission. The school considers:

• Academic performance, including cumulative undergraduate GPA and graduate GPA trajectory where relevant
• MCAT score
• Experiences, including service, leadership, research, exploration of medicine, arts, athletics and work
• Written materials, including the personal statement and secondary essays
• Letters of recommendation

Each file then moves to one of three outcomes: an interview invitation, a hold for further consideration, or discontinuation from active review. Your application counts as complete once the primary, secondary and letters have arrived.

Interviews

All MD interviews are virtual. Invitations go out from August through November, and interviews run from September through December. If you selected several tracks, you interview with one campus only, chosen by your ranked preferences, and that interview counts for all of your tracks. The interview format is covered in its own section below.

Decisions, alternate list and deposits

Mayo has no early decision program and no rolling admissions. Decisions are made after all interviews are done.

• February: initial acceptance offers, alternate list notices and rejections are communicated. Every offer starts with a phone call.
• April to June: offers may be made from the alternate list.
• Final notices to alternate-list applicants come at the end of the cycle.
• Alternate list size: the list is not ranked and typically holds about 400 positions across the MD and MD-PhD programs and all three campuses. About 50 acceptance offers go to alternate-list applicants in a typical cycle.

After interviewing, you may upload update letters, letters of interest or letters of intent to the admissions portal as PDFs. Transcript and grade updates are not required and will not be reviewed. Accepted applicants are invited to a virtual second look with an option to visit campus in person in the spring.

Mayo follows the AAMC Choose Your Medical School protocols:

• February: the Choose Your Medical School tool opens.
• April 15: accepted applicants narrow to three offers.
• April 30: applicants planning to attend Mayo select Plan to Enroll; Commit to Enroll becomes available.
• May 31, 2027: applicants who plan to matriculate at Mayo must select Commit to Enroll.

Mayo does not require an acceptance deposit. Once you hold an offer, you have 10 business days to respond before April 30, five business days after April 30, and two business days within one month of orientation. These windows can change.

Deferral requests are possible. Submit a written request with your reason and plans to the Office of Admissions by May 1. Deferrals are not guaranteed and, if approved, last one to two years. Requests are reviewed case by case; two admitted applicants deferred entry in the 2025 entering class.

Transfer and international notes

Mayo does not accept transfer applications from students enrolled, now or before, at another medical school. Everyone applies through AMCAS as a first-year student. Accepted students must meet immunization requirements, a Minnesota Department of Human Services background study and a drug screen before starting.

2026-2027 admissions timeline

MD-PhD timeline

The MD-PhD program uses the same June 1 to October 1 AMCAS window and an October 15 deadline for a complete application (verified AMCAS, secondary, $120 processing fee unless waived by AMCAS, and letters). Interview invitations start in early to mid-September, interviews run from October through January, virtually or in person, and initial and alternate list offers begin in early November. MD-PhD review is rolling once a file is complete.

Tuition, Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid

Mayo publishes one first-year budget for all students, with no difference by state of residence. The school’s Tuition and Aid page lists these 2026-2027 figures for a 12-month first year.

2026-2027 first-year budget

Tuition is the only item billed directly in the first year. Personal and miscellaneous costs include clothing, laundry, personal care, recreation, renter’s insurance, student health insurance and disability insurance. Transportation covers gas, oil, maintenance and insurance. Dependent care and other expenses can be added case by case with documentation. Federal rules do not allow car payments or credit card payments in the budget.

Students are offered low-cost comprehensive medical insurance with a prescription plan, plus dental and vision coverage, along with subsidized gym memberships and counseling services.

Billing and disbursement

Tuition is billed in two equal parts, and financial aid pays the tuition bill first:

• July 15, 2026: $35,140 billed; first half of financial aid disbursed
• January 15, 2027: $35,140 billed; second half disbursed

Aid above the tuition bill is refunded by direct deposit (allow five business days) or by paper check (allow 10 business days).

Scholarships

Mayo does not give every student a full-tuition scholarship. The 2018 Jay Alix gift was designated to expand scholarship opportunities, and today scholarships “offset a sizable portion of tuition expenses for eligible students.”

• Who is considered: every accepted student. There is no separate scholarship essay.
• How awards are set: prior academic performance and financial need.
• Parent information: Mayo uses parental income and asset data to award institutional scholarships, as most medical schools do.
• Timing: awards are communicated in the spring, after an offer of admission.
• Renewal: awards are renewable with continued meritorious performance, and may be adjusted if outside funding covers 100% of the cost of attendance.

For the class of 2025, 96% of students received scholarships, 71% borrowed student loans, and 49% graduated with less than $100,000 in student loan debt. Those numbers show that most students receive real help, and that many still borrow.

For the 2024-2025 academic year, 94% of Mayo medical students received financial aid, and graduates who borrowed left with an average medical school debt of $131,334. That average covers only graduates with debt, so it is not the average for the whole class.

Federal and private loans

• Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan: not based on need; interest accrues but payments can be deferred until graduation. The school lists an annual limit of $50,000 and a cumulative limit of $257,500, at least two disbursements a year and a 10-year standard repayment term.
• Alternative (private) loans: can cover the gap between aid and the full cost of attendance. Mayo’s financial aid office points students to the FASTChoice comparison site.

Applying for aid

1. File the FAFSA and list Mayo Clinic’s Title IV school code, 017114, in step 5.
2. Provide parent data so you can be considered for institutional scholarships.
3. Review your aid offer through the student portal once you are admitted.
4. Watch the billing dates of July 15 and January 15.

Questions go to the Office of Student Financial Aid and Registrar at 507-284-4839 or [email protected].

External scholarships and financial wellness

Many students add outside funding, such as national scholarships for medical students and fellowships like the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, which Mayo medical and MD-PhD students have won. The mission’s goal of careers chosen “without the burden of excessive educational debt” is backed by the scholarship program described above.

Budget planning tips

• Compare the $110,400 budget with your expected scholarship, not with tuition alone. Living costs are about $40,000 a year even with full tuition coverage.
• Housing differs by campus. There is no on-campus housing in Rochester, though rents are moderate and most commutes take 15 to 20 minutes. Phoenix/Scottsdale and Jacksonville are large metro areas with wider price ranges.
• MD-PhD students are funded through the program’s internal fellowship rather than this budget.

Campus Facilities and Student Life

Mayo’s small class sizes shape student life. Students say they know their classmates well, and the school builds mentoring and wellness into the curriculum.

Facilities by campus

• Rochester, Minnesota: Mayo Clinic’s downtown buildings cover about 30 city blocks, and Mayo Clinic Hospital, Saint Marys Campus, is 10 blocks west. Students study in Mayo’s student center and libraries and train in the Multidisciplinary Simulation Center. A free intercampus shuttle connects downtown, Saint Marys and parking lots, and all students get free Rochester Public Transit passes. Parking on campus is limited.
• Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona: the medical school building in Scottsdale, opened in 2017, has a 1,600-square-foot gross anatomy lab, breakout rooms, a student lounge, study space, academic success counselors and mental health clinicians. The five-story Mayo Clinic Building in Scottsdale holds 240 exam and procedure rooms and the Edmond Research Library. Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix has 268 beds and 21 operating rooms and houses the Multidisciplinary Simulation Center.
• Jacksonville, Florida: students on the Florida tracks join a campus known for liver transplant, neurosciences and cancer care in Florida’s largest city.

Wellness and support

• Mental health: all learners can see licensed Mayo Clinic counselors through the Office of Wellness and Academic Support and can use WellConnect, a 24/7 external assistance program.
• Physical well-being: discounted gym memberships through PerkSpot and Mayo Clinic Well-Being fitness classes.
• Academic support: an Academic Learning Specialist on each campus and peer tutoring.
• Disability Access Services: reasonable academic accommodations for learners with disabilities.
• Wellness grants: the Student-initiated Wellness Activity grant funds student-run events; students have used it for a kickball league and a painting night.

Survey numbers posted by the school are strong: 97% of students were satisfied with student health services in 2025, compared with 81% at other medical schools, and 91% were satisfied with programs that support stress management and well-being.

Mentorship families

During the first week, each new student joins a MedSib family: one medical student from each class year plus a faculty member. Students rely on these groups for study advice, course tips, time management and, as the school puts it, “where to go for pizza.” Students consistently call MedSib families one of the best parts of the program.

Student groups and activities

Student groups are student-led and supported by faculty and staff. Current students point to:

• Interest groups in nearly every medical specialty
• Local chapters of national organizations
• Mentorship programs
• The Mixed Bag Talent Showcase
• Picnics, potlucks and other socials
• Organized wellness events

Organizations and specialty interest groups open to all students include the American Medical Student Association, American Medical Women’s Association, Asian and South Asian Student Association, Association of Native American Medical Students, Latino Medical Student Association, Student National Medical Association, Muslim Medical Student Association, Christian Medical & Dental Associations, LGBTQ+ Medicine Interest Group, Women in Surgery, Disability Advocacy and Education Interest Group, Bioethics Interest Group, Entrepreneurship in Medicine, Global Health Interest Group, Lifestyle Medicine, Street Medicine Interest Group, Surgery Interest Group and Wilderness Medicine Interest Group. A Student-initiated Wellness Activity grant pays for events that students organize themselves; past grants started a kickball league and a painting night.

Service and volunteering

Community service is built into the curriculum. First-year students are introduced to local community organizations, and second-year students work in community health clinics. Outside the curriculum, Arizona students volunteer with Street Medicine Phoenix, walking with physicians on street runs to check blood pressure and blood glucose, provide wound care and hand out hygiene kits. More than 25 students joined street runs in the first months after the opportunity opened. In Minnesota, the Street Medicine selective offers similar work for credit, and the ASU-run REACT Clinic offers service learning in Arizona.

Life in each city

• Rochester is Minnesota’s third-largest city, with four true seasons, more than 85 miles of paved bike trails and a 75-minute drive to the Twin Cities.
• Phoenix/Scottsdale offers more than 300 sunny days a year, outdoor activities, music and dining in a major metro area.
• Jacksonville has 22 miles of beaches, more than 270 days of sunshine and a young population, with a median age of 36.

Veterans, parents and career changers say they feel at home. A veteran in the class of 2027 put it this way: “Thousands of people apply for 50 seats here, and what I appreciate about Mayo is that they understand what veterans bring to the table.”

Clinical Rotations and Research Opportunities

Where rotations happen

Clerkships run on the student’s home campus: Rochester for Minnesota 4-Year students, Phoenix/Scottsdale for Arizona 4-Year students and Jacksonville for students on the two Florida tracks. The school’s curriculum is designed for off-campus experiences too. Students “have the unique opportunity to choose where they want to complete certain aspects of their curriculum,” including selectives, electives and research on other Mayo campuses.

Clinical settings include:

• Mayo Clinic in Rochester, with expertise in virtually every specialty and patients from around the world
• Mayo Clinic in Arizona, ranked first in Arizona and focused on adult specialty and surgical care
• Mayo Clinic in Florida, the nation’s leading liver transplant program, with strengths in neurosciences and cancer
• Mayo Clinic Health System, more than 70 regional practices in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin
• Affiliated sites such as Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Maricopa Integrated Health System and the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix, and Nemours Children’s Clinic and Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville
• Other affiliated hospitals, including Valleywise, Mercy, Tucson Medical and St. Vincent de Paul in Arizona, and Baptist and Naval Hospital Jacksonville in Florida

Students are satisfied with this access. In the school’s 2024 Student Pulse Survey of all learners, 93% were satisfied with access to patients during required clerkships and 94% with the supervision they received in clinical settings.

Rural and community training

The Community Physician Apprenticeship Program (CPAP) is an optional 12-week fourth-year elective for students interested in rural primary care. Students live and work at a Mayo Clinic Health System site with a physician mentor, follow patients across outpatient and hospital care and complete a community health project. CPAP fulfills 12 of the 16 required elective weeks.

Global health

Mayo is committed to global health opportunities, described on its Academic Enrichments page, through foreign and domestic medical schools with faculty ties. Examples include:

• The Mayo Clinic Global Health Scholars program, which supports mentored elective rotations with underserved international populations
• Global Surgery: Part I, a longitudinal selective on surgery in resource-poor settings and sustainable partnerships
• Paracelsus Medical University in Austria, a one- to three-month research or clinical option

Many students complete an international or underserved-population elective in their fourth year. If you want to see patient care in low-resource settings before medical school, pre-med internships abroad let you work with clinical teams outside the United States.

Research

Research is woven into the MD program, and more than 80% of students graduate with a published peer-reviewed article. Research is a graduation requirement, and students are expected to have one publication by the fourth year. Students have access to “more than 6 million medical histories,” well-staffed research core facilities and mentors in every medical and surgical subspecialty. Mayo reports total research funding of $1,075.4 million. Direct federal research grants and contracts totaled $332.1 million in fiscal year 2024. The research process the school teaches includes:

• The discipline of hypothesis-driven research
• Common statistical methods, through the FunCaTS module (Fundamentals of Clinical and Translational Science)
• Reviewing the literature and writing a research proposal
• Completing the project under an experienced Mayo investigator
• Presenting at a local or national meeting
• Writing a paper for publication

Featured research options include the Statistics and Research Education selective, which uses online ECATS and JMP modules and offers time with a Mayo statistician, and the Distinction in Biomedical Ethics track.

Research centers and specialized labs

Mayo organizes research into centers and programs that set priorities and mentor new scientists. Centers that medical students encounter include:

• Mayo Clinic’s national comprehensive cancer center, including the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Phoenix
• Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, which studies care models and systems and runs the Kern Scholars research program
• Mayo’s work in individualized medicine, genomics and regenerative medicine, which the curriculum highlights

Mayo Clinic also runs many specialized laboratories and research core facilities. With access to 271 scientific faculty and mentors from every subspecialty, the practical step is to use the Mayo Clinic research lab directory to find faculty whose work matches yours, then ask your specialty career adviser how to reach them.

Match outcomes

Mayo reports a 99% NRMP placement rate for 2026. On Match Day, March 20, 2026, 95 students in the class of 2026 matched to 24 states, and 40% matched to a program on a Mayo Clinic campus. For 2026, 28% matched into primary care residencies and 33% into surgical subspecialties. In earlier years, 97 students matched in both 2023 and 2024, to 25 states each year, and 31% matched at Mayo in 2024. In graduating students’ reported specialty plans, internal medicine was the most common choice in two of the three most recent reported years (25.6% and 17.6%), and anesthesiology led in the other (11.9%), followed closely by internal medicine (10.4%).

Notable Alumni, Faculty, Leadership and Admissions Staff

Mayo’s people matter to applicants because faculty mentor students closely, and because several current leaders are graduates of the school. The profiles below come from the school’s leadership directory, news releases and Mayo Clinic biographies. Roles were checked in October 2026.

School leadership

Nneka I. Comfere, M.D., Dean. Dr. Comfere became Dean of Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Juanita Kious Waugh Executive Dean of Education in early January 2026. She earned her MD at Mayo Medical School and completed her dermatology residency and dermatopathology fellowship at Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education. She is a professor of Dermatology and of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, chairs the Division of Dermatopathology and Cutaneous Immunopathology in Rochester, and treats cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. She is a Kern Scholar alumna and medical director of the Digital Health, Artificial Intelligence and Innovations program in Dermatology, which explains why AI and innovation feature in the current secondary. Her message to applicants: “you’ll be challenged to think differently and lead boldly.”

Jewel Kling, M.D., M.P.H., Arizona. Dr. Kling is the Suzanne Hanson Poole Dean for the Arizona campus and Vice Dean of the school in Arizona. She is a professor of medicine and a consultant in Women’s Health. At the 2026 Arizona commencement she urged graduates to live Mayo’s values as “lived commitments.” Arizona 4-Year and Arizona/Florida applicants will train under her campus leadership.

Abba Zubair, M.D., Ph.D., Florida. Dr. Zubair is Vice Dean of the school in Florida and a professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. His research covers transfusion medicine and stem cell therapy, including mesenchymal stem cells and extracellular vesicles for regenerative medicine. Florida-track students finish their clinical years on his campus.

Fredric B. Meyer, M.D., former dean. Dr. Meyer, a neurosurgeon, served for nearly 10 years as Juanita Kious Waugh Executive Dean of Education before Dr. Comfere succeeded him. He trained at Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education and was the keynote speaker at the 2026 Arizona commencement, where he told graduates that “the needs of the patient come first” and added humility as a key value.

Admissions deans and staff

Megha M. Tollefson, M.D., Senior Associate Dean for Admissions. Dr. Tollefson leads admissions. She is a pediatric dermatologist, board certified in pediatrics, dermatology and pediatric dermatology, and a professor of Dermatology and Pediatrics. She is also a Mayo Medical School graduate who completed pediatrics and dermatology residencies at Mayo and a pediatric dermatology fellowship at Stanford. Her clinical focus includes infantile hemangiomas, vascular anomalies and pediatric psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

Emily Leasure, M.D., Associate Dean for Admissions. Dr. Leasure is an assistant professor of medicine and a consultant in Community Internal Medicine.

Michele Lewis, M.D., Associate Dean for Admissions. Dr. Lewis is an associate professor of medicine and a consultant in Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Lopa Misra, D.O., Associate Dean for Admissions. Dr. Misra is an assistant professor of anesthesiology and a consultant in Anesthesiology. An osteopathic physician in an admissions role, she reflects the range of training backgrounds on Mayo’s faculty.

Courtney Thoreson, M.S., and Carlos Bravo, M.Ed., Graduate Admissions Recruiters. The recruiters run the school’s virtual information sessions and one-on-one Zoom meetings for college students and graduates. They are the right contacts for questions about eligibility, tracks and the application process.

These titles show who runs the process, not how any one person votes. The school does not publish individual decision roles, and you should not aim an essay at a specific dean.

Faculty and student affairs deans

Joseph Maleszewski, M.D., Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Dr. Maleszewski is a professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and of Medicine, with consulting roles in anatomic pathology, cardiovascular medicine, clinical biochemistry and clinical genomics. He oversees the academic program students experience.

Chris Fox, M.D., Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Dr. Fox is a professor of neurosurgery and a consultant in Neurologic Surgery. Student affairs covers advising, wellness and professional development.

Jesse Bracamonte, M.D., George M. and Kristen L. Lund Associate Dean. Dr. Bracamonte is an assistant professor of family medicine and a consultant in Family Medicine on the student affairs team.

Gerardo Colon-Otero, M.D., Florida. Dr. Colon-Otero is a hematologist-oncologist in Jacksonville who trained in internal medicine and hematology at Mayo after earning his MD at the University of Puerto Rico. He has received a Faculty Recognition Award from Mayo Medical School and the school’s Distinguished Service Award, and he has chaired the American Association for Cancer Research’s Minorities in Cancer Research Council. He has also helped lead AACR’s cancer health disparities conference, work that fits the mission’s focus on health equity.

Alumni of the medical school

Ronald C. Petersen, M.D., Ph.D. (MD 1980). Dr. Petersen earned his MD at Mayo Medical School and completed his neurology residency at Mayo in 1984. He is an internationally known Alzheimer’s disease researcher in Rochester, holds the Cora Kanow Professorship in Alzheimer’s Disease Research, and has chaired national advisory bodies, including the federal Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care and Services. He received a Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumni Award in 2023. For applicants interested in neurology or aging research, he is an example of a Mayo MD graduate who built a research career at Mayo.

Kerry Olsen, M.D. (MD 1976). Dr. Olsen graduated from Mayo Medical School in 1976 and trained in otolaryngology at Mayo. He is an emeritus professor of Otolaryngology and a global expert in head and neck cancer surgery. He has served on the Mayo Clinic Board of Governors and Board of Trustees and as elected president of the Mayo staff in Rochester. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2024.

Bryce Binstadt, M.D., Ph.D. (MD-PhD 1999). Dr. Binstadt graduated from Mayo Medical School’s MD-PhD program in 1999. He is a professor of pediatrics and directs the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology at the University of Minnesota. He won the American College of Rheumatology’s Excellence in Investigative Mentoring Award in 2021 and gave the 2024 Minnesota commencement address.

Jordan Dutcher, M.D. (MD 2022). Dr. Dutcher was one of the first students in the Florida 2+2 program and finished medical school in 2022. She went on to an anesthesiology residency at Mayo Clinic in Florida, teaches at the school and spoke at the 2024 Florida commencement about humility and imposter feelings. Her path shows what the Florida tracks can lead to.

Sunny Patel, M.D. A graduate of Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Dr. Patel is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and public health physician. He was named to the 2021-2022 class of White House Fellows and placed at the Department of Homeland Security, and he has worked with refugees and asylum seekers for a decade.

Hafsa Cantwell, M.D. A Mayo medical school graduate, Dr. Cantwell is an assistant professor of dermatology and senior associate consultant in Dermatology at Mayo Clinic. She credits an early selective with drawing her to complex medical dermatology.

Distinguished Alumni Awards

The Mayo Clinic Alumni Association has honored alumni with the Distinguished Alumni Award since 1981, recognizing national and international contributions to practice, research, education and administration. The award covers everyone who trained at Mayo, so most honorees completed residencies or fellowships rather than the MD program. The 2023 honorees were:

• Stephen S. Burkhart, M.D., orthopedic surgery (1981), Boerne, Texas
• Mary F. Burritt, M.D., pathology (1978), Fountain Hills, Arizona
• Gerald J. Gleich, M.D., immunology (1965), Salt Lake City, Utah
• Morey W. Haymond, M.D., pediatrics (1978), Eden, Utah
• Celestia S. Higano, M.D., internal medicine (1982), Seattle, Washington
• Ronald C. Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., medical school (1980) and neurology (1984), Rochester, Minnesota

Dr. Petersen is the only 2023 honoree who is also an MD alumnus of the medical school. The others trained at Mayo in residencies or fellowships and went on to national careers in their fields.

The 2024 honorees included Kerry Olsen, M.D., an MD alumnus, and Clifford Jack Jr., M.D., whose imaging biomarker research laid groundwork for amyloid-lowering Alzheimer’s therapies.

Admissions Statistics and Class Profile

Mayo publishes its own admissions funnel and class profile each year on its Class Profile page. The figures below are for 2026 admissions and the 2026 first-year class, the newest available.

The 2026 funnel

The school reports an overall acceptance rate of 3.5%, meaning 215 offers out of 6,061 applications across both programs. About 12% of MD applicants were interviewed, and roughly one in four MD interviewees received an offer. These ratios show how much the interview matters once you reach it.

The 2025 entering class

The previous cycle gives a second year of data, counted by residency.

In that cycle, 756 of 5,920 verified applicants, about 13%, were interviewed. Residency in this table follows the AAMC classification; Mayo does not distinguish in-state from out-of-state applicants and charges one tuition rate. Nine of the matriculants entered the MD-PhD program and five came through early assurance. There is no early decision program. Mayo had 503 medical students enrolled in October 2025, and it plans about 105 new entrants for 2027: 90 MD, 4 early assurance and 11 MD-PhD.

Mayo enrolls “approximately 94 M.D. students and 11 M.D.-Ph.D. students” a year, a number that can change. The 2026 first-year class had 105 students: 50 in Phoenix/Scottsdale and 55 in Rochester, with 12 of them moving to Jacksonville after 18 months.

Academic profile

• Median MCAT: 521, which the school places at the 98th percentile
• Median cumulative GPA: 3.97
• Minimum MCAT to apply: 510

Medians tell you where the middle of the class sits. They do not set a cutoff, and applicants below the median are admitted every year. They also say nothing about the range, which the school does not publish. For all accepted applicants in the 2025 entering class, the median MCAT was 521 and the mean 520.6 (standard deviation 4.2). Section medians were 131 in Chemical and Physical Foundations, 129 in Critical Analysis and Reasoning, 131 in Biological and Biochemical Foundations and 131 in Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations. The median total GPA of those accepted applicants was 3.95 (mean 3.91), and the median science GPA was also 3.95 (mean 3.89).

Who is in the class

• Gender: 61 women and 44 men
• Underrepresented in medicine: 16% of the 2026 class (24% of the 2025 matriculants)
• Race and ethnicity (self-identified): Asian 39%, White 28%, multiple races 11%, Black or African American 8%, unknown or other 7%, Hispanic or Latino 5%, Middle Eastern or North African 2%, American Indian or Alaska Native 1%
• Gap years: 77 students graduated before July 2025
• Geography: students from 31 states, with roots in Canada, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria and Togo
• First-generation college graduates: 8
• Age range: 20 to 38
• Common majors: biochemistry, neuroscience, biology, molecular and cellular biology, biomedical engineering, biological sciences and psychology
• Non-science majors: economics, mechanical engineering, anthropology, computer science, political science, classics and English

Experiences and background of the 2025 entering class

• Research or lab work: 96% of matriculants
• Physician shadowing or clinical observation: 95%
• Community service or volunteering: 89%
• Medical or clinical volunteering: 86%
• Paid medical or clinical work: 62%
• Military service: 3%
• Graduate degree before entry: 10%
• Science or math majors: 68%
• Entered from postbaccalaureate programs: 12 students
• Self-reported disadvantaged status: 33%
• Ages: 71 students aged 19 to 23, 33 aged 24 to 29 and 5 aged 30 to 39

Nearly every matriculant brought research and shadowing, and most also had clinical volunteering. Paid clinical work is common but not universal, so a strong file can come from either route.

The gap-year number stands out. Most of the class took at least one year between college and medical school, often for research, clinical jobs or service. If you need more patient contact before applying, pre-med gap year programs are one way to build it.

How to read these numbers

• The funnel is by program. MD and MD-PhD are reviewed separately, and MD-PhD applicants are not considered for MD-only seats.
• Class size varies by campus. Rochester and Arizona each accept up to 50 students a year, and the Florida tracks accept up to 12.
• Cost and stats come from different years. Class data are for 2026 entry; costs are for the 2026-2027 academic year.
• Older figures describe older cycles. A class of 108 or an acceptance rate near 4.5% describe earlier years, and a 3.95 GPA median belongs to the 2025 accepted applicants, not the 2026 first-year class.

Tips and Strategies for Admission

Mayo admits only a few percent of applicants, and nearly everyone who applies has strong grades and scores. What separates files is how clearly they show a patient-first mindset, readiness for a small and demanding class, and a reason to train at a specific Mayo campus. These strategies come from the school’s stated criteria, its mission and the shape of its secondary.

1. Clear the eligibility and MCAT gates early

Check citizenship eligibility, your degree’s U.S. or Canadian accreditation and your MCAT date before you pay any fees. A score below 510, or an exam taken before January 2024, makes you ineligible this cycle. Mayo, like many top schools, accepts MCAT scores only from within about three years of matriculation, so if your score is older or you have not tested yet, register for an upcoming test date promptly.

2. Build patient contact you can describe in detail

Mayo’s first prompt asks about putting the patient first, and its second asks how you will support patients and colleagues. Both reward specific stories. Roles where you took vitals, roomed patients, interpreted, scribed or helped with care give you that material. Look for pre-med internships and jobs where you work directly with patients, and keep notes on individual encounters as they happen.

3. Treat research as a habit, not a line item

More than 80% of Mayo students publish before graduating, and the MD-PhD program weighs research above almost everything else. For MD applicants, depth matters more than the number of projects. Be ready to explain your question, your role, what went wrong and what you would do next.

4. Have a real view on innovation and AI

The third essay is unusual. It asks what role you will play in Mayo’s Bold. Forward. strategy and what skills or aspirations in artificial intelligence and innovation prepare you. You do not need coding experience, but you do need an honest, informed position. Read about how clinical AI tools are validated and where they fail. If you have touched data, quality improvement or digital health, reflect on the patient effect, not the technology.

5. Choose and rank tracks for reasons you can defend

Your first track routes your file and decides your interview campus. Rank only tracks you would happily attend, and be ready to explain each choice. Ties to a region, a patient population, a clinical strength such as transplant or neurosciences, or a family reason all count if they are true. If you are open to more than one, ranking several can increase your options at the offer stage, since you can be accepted to any track you selected.

6. Show service that fits “servant leadership”

Mayo wants “servant physician leaders.” Sustained service where you were accountable to other people, such as a shelter clinic, tutoring program, hospice or caregiving, fits that phrase better than short trips or titles. Consistency over years tells the story for you.

7. Use the gap year wisely

Most of the 2026 first-year class took time off before medical school. A gap year spent in clinical work, research or service can turn a good file into a strong one. Summers count too: pre-med summer internships and clinical jobs can fill gaps in patient contact before you apply.

8. Plan letters around the people who watched you work

You need at least three letters or a committee letter, and Mayo recommends one from a science faculty member. Add a physician or supervisor who saw you with patients and a research mentor if you did research. Every letter must go through AMCAS by October 15.

9. Return the secondary early

The secondary deadline is October 15, and review cannot begin until your file is complete. Because interview invitations run from August through November, an early, complete file gives you the most chances. Draft your three essays in early summer so you can submit within about two weeks of the invitation.

10. Prepare for a conversational interview

Mayo uses two one-on-one, 30-minute virtual interviews and adds a meeting with an alumni community member. Practice telling your stories naturally and answering follow-ups. Our guide to medical school interview questions and the interview section below help you prepare.

Strengthen your experiences before you apply

A competitive application combines academic strength with real clinical and service work. Hands-on international programs are one option. Medical internships for undergraduates through International Medical Aid place students with clinical teams in Kenya and other sites, where interns take vitals, help with patient intake and triage and assist with direct care under supervision. If Spanish-language care interests you, as it does many Arizona applicants considering Mayo’s Medical Spanish selective, a medical internship in Peru adds clinical Spanish practice. These experiences do not guarantee admission anywhere, but they give you concrete patient stories and a clearer understanding of health care in limited-resource settings.

If you want help at any stage, IMA’s medical school admissions consulting team reviews primary and secondary applications and prepares applicants for interviews.

Useful guides from International Medical Aid

• How to Get Into Medical School: The Definitive Guide covers every step of the process, from MCAT planning to choosing schools.
• Medical School Personal Statement Examples compares strong and average statements so you can see the difference.
• Medical School Interview Questions: 320 Commonly Asked Questions lists the questions you are most likely to hear and how to approach them.
• 20 Tips on How to Make Your Medical School Application Stand Out gives practical advice on writing and presenting your application.
• Our medical school secondary essay prompts database lets you compare Mayo’s prompts with other schools’ questions.

Secondary Application Questions, Example Responses and Analysis

Mayo publishes its secondary prompts on its admissions and application process page. For the 2026-2027 cycle, every MD applicant invited to the secondary must:

• Rank one to four campus tracks
• Answer three essays, each limited to 500 words
• Complete the “Mayo Clinic Experiences” page, if applicable
• Pay the $120 fee (waived for AMCAS Fee Assistance Program applicants)
• Submit by October 15

All three essays are required for every MD applicant, regardless of track. There are no optional or reapplicant essays listed. MD-PhD applicants receive a separate MD-PhD secondary that includes campus selection; its essay prompts are not published on the school’s site for this cycle, so answer them as they appear in your portal.

Each example below is original. Use it to study structure and depth, not as text to copy. Your essays must come from your own experiences.

Essay 1: Why Mayo and your top campus track

“At Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, we seek students whose values align with our mission to put the needs of the patient first. Please share why you would like to study medicine at our school, including specifically why at the top campus track you selected.”

Limit: 500 words. Who answers: every MD applicant invited to the secondary. Track condition: the essay must name and explain your first-ranked track.

What it asks. This prompt has three parts: show that your values match “put the needs of the patient first,” explain why Mayo, and explain why your top campus track specifically. The track part is where most applicants are weakest. Arizona 4-Year, Minnesota 4-Year, Arizona/Florida and Minnesota/Florida are different experiences, and your file is reviewed by the campus of your first choice.

How to approach it. Open with a short patient moment that shows the value in action. Then connect Mayo’s real features (early clinical skills, clerkships starting mid-second year, 3:1 faculty ratio, career advisers, research culture) to what you need as a learner. Spend at least a third of the essay on your top track: the patients, the city, the clinical strengths and the specific opportunities on that campus.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (Arizona 4-Year Track, 485 words):

The patient I think about most when I picture Mayo is a man I met as a scribe in a Phoenix emergency department. He had driven four hours from a reservation town with chest pain he had ignored for a week. The physician I worked for slowed down, asked his daughter to stay, and explained the plan in plain words before she ordered a single test. Later the man’s daughter told me, “Nobody has ever explained it to us like that.” That moment showed me what it means to put the needs of the patient first, and it is the reason Mayo’s primary value reads to me as a practice rather than a slogan.

I want to study medicine at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine because the school builds that practice into every year. Clinical skills start at matriculation, with preceptor time in internal medicine and pediatrics, and clerkships begin halfway through the second year. As a scribe I learned how much happens between a symptom and a diagnosis; I want to be trained where students carry that responsibility early, with faculty close enough to correct them. A 3:1 faculty-to-student ratio and a specialty career adviser from the first year matter to me because I learn best when someone watches my work and tells me the truth about it.

My top choice is the Arizona 4-Year Track. Phoenix is where I learned what medicine is, and its patients are the ones I want to serve: older adults who winter here, families who drive in from rural and tribal communities, and a large Spanish-speaking population. Mayo Clinic in Arizona’s focus on adult specialty and surgical care, including one of the busiest transplant programs in the country, would let me see complex disease up close, while affiliates such as the Carl T. Hayden VA and Maricopa Integrated Health System would keep me grounded in community care. I also want to keep serving people outside hospital walls. For two years I have volunteered at a Phoenix shelter clinic, and the chance to join Street Medicine Phoenix runs and the longitudinal Medical Spanish selective would let me grow skills I already use. My Spanish is conversational; I want it to be clinical.

I am also drawn to how Mayo connects the classroom to its practice. The Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare course, the Health System Science degree option and the research culture, in which most students publish before graduating, fit my interest in why good care fails to reach some patients. I hope to study discharge follow-up for patients who travel long distances, a problem I saw every week as a scribe.

Most of all, I want to train in a small class where I am known. The man from my emergency department shift did not need a brilliant stranger. He needed a physician who saw him. Mayo is where I believe I can learn to be that physician.

Why this example works.

• Values: the opening scene shows patient-first care through behavior (slowing down, including family, plain language) rather than claiming it.
• Why Mayo: it cites verified features, including clinical skills from matriculation, early clerkships, the 3:1 ratio, specialty career advisers, the AI course, the Health System Science degree and the publication culture, and ties each to a learning need.
• Why the track: about 40% of the essay explains Arizona, naming the patient population, adult specialty and surgical care, transplant volume, affiliates such as the Carl T. Hayden VA and Maricopa, Street Medicine Phoenix and Medical Spanish.
• Fit with experience: each Mayo opportunity links to something the writer has already done (scribing, shelter clinic, conversational Spanish), which makes the interest credible.
• Close: it returns to the opening patient, so the essay feels whole.

A second short pattern for a Florida track. Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (Minnesota/Florida Track, 259 words):

I learned what “the needs of the patient come first” looks like from my grandmother’s oncologist. When chemotherapy left her too weak to travel, he called her at home and stayed on the phone until she understood each change. I want to study medicine at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine because that kind of care is the standard there, not the exception.

My top choice is the Minnesota/Florida Track. I grew up in southern Minnesota and spent two summers as a research assistant studying rural cancer screening. Starting in Rochester would let me build my scientific foundation on the campus where Mayo began, with access to the Multidisciplinary Simulation Center and early preceptor time in internal medicine and pediatrics. I would then complete my clerkships and final year in Jacksonville, a campus known for liver transplant, neurosciences and cancer care, in Florida’s largest city. My grandmother was treated far from home, and I want to understand cancer care across two very different communities: a rural region where patients drive hours for treatment, and a large, diverse metro area.

The track’s small size also matters to me. With only a dozen students finishing in Florida each year, I expect close supervision, honest feedback and the chance to know my faculty. I hope to use selective time for the Advanced Hematology and Oncology experience in Florida and to join a research project on access to cancer trials.

I am ready to learn wherever patients need me, and this track would teach me to do that in two places at once.

This version shows how to handle a two-campus track. It explains both halves: why Rochester for the Pre-Clerkship phase and why Jacksonville for clinical training, then adds a reason the small Florida cohort matters.

Mistakes to avoid.

• Praising Mayo’s reputation or rankings without saying what you would do there.
• Writing a general “why medicine” essay and adding one line about the campus.
• Choosing a track for weather or prestige alone. Those reasons are fine to mention, but not as the core.
• Naming programs you have not checked. Confirm every selective, degree or affiliate on the school’s current pages.
• Ranking tracks you would not attend. You can be offered any track you selected.

Essay 2: Professional and lived experiences, identity and contribution

“Reflect on how your professional and lived experiences have shaped your identity. Tell us how these experiences will help you contribute to a collaborative learning environment, support your patients and colleagues, and advance Mayo Clinic’s commitment to excellence.”

Limit: 500 words. Who answers: every MD applicant invited to the secondary.

What it asks. This is Mayo’s version of a diversity and contribution essay, but it is broader. It wants (1) how professional and lived experiences shaped who you are, and how those experiences will help you (2) contribute to a collaborative learning environment, (3) support patients and colleagues and (4) advance Mayo’s commitment to excellence. Four parts in 500 words means each needs a clear sentence or paragraph.

How to approach it. Pick one or two formative experiences, one lived and one professional if you can. Describe them briefly, then spend most of the essay on what you will do differently because of them. Mayo’s small classes, team-based learning and MedSib mentoring families make “collaborative learning” concrete; refer to how you work in groups.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (412 words):

At fourteen, I became my family’s interpreter. My parents had moved from Vietnam two years earlier, and when my father developed diabetes, I sat in every appointment translating words I did not yet understand myself. I learned to ask the doctor to slow down, to repeat instructions in my own words before I translated them, and to notice when my father nodded only to be polite. Those visits shaped my identity more than any title I have held: I became someone who stands between two people and makes sure neither is lost.

That role followed me into work. For three years I have been a pharmacy technician on evening shifts at a community pharmacy. Many of our customers are older adults on six or more medications, and some speak little English. I created a simple picture-based schedule for patients on complex regimens, and my pharmacist began handing it out to anyone starting insulin. The lesson I took from that project was not that I had a good idea. It was that the idea worked only because the pharmacist trusted me enough to try it, and because patients told us honestly what confused them.

These experiences shape how I learn with others. In my organic chemistry study group, I was the one who kept asking “why” until the explanation made sense to everyone, not just to the fastest student. I am comfortable admitting what I do not know, and I have learned that a question asked out loud usually helps three other people. In a small class where students learn anatomy in teams and lean on MedSib families for advice, I would bring patience, steady preparation and the habit of checking that the whole group understands before we move on.

For patients, I will bring the skills of an interpreter even when we share a language: listening for what is not said, confirming understanding, and respecting family members who carry the burden of care. For colleagues, I will bring the humility I learned behind the pharmacy counter, where a technician’s observation could prevent a dangerous interaction only if someone listened.

Mayo Clinic’s commitment to excellence, as I understand it, depends on teams in which every member’s knowledge counts. I have spent my life making sure information reaches the people who need it. I want to keep doing that as a physician, and to help build the kind of learning environment where everyone, including the quiet person asking the obvious question, gets better together.

Why this example works.

• Identity: it shows how a lived experience (family interpreter) and a professional one (pharmacy technician) shaped a specific identity: “someone who stands between two people and makes sure neither is lost.”
• Collaborative learning: the study group example gives a concrete behavior, and it links to Mayo’s team-based anatomy and MedSib families.
• Patients and colleagues: it handles both, with a separate sentence for each.
• Excellence: it defines excellence as a team property and shows how the writer would contribute, which answers the last clause directly.
• Humility: it credits the pharmacist and patients for the success of the medication schedule, which reads as mature rather than self-promoting.

Mistakes to avoid.

• Listing identities or backgrounds without showing how they changed your behavior.
• Spending 400 words on the story and 100 on contribution. The second half is what the prompt asks for most.
• Skipping a clause. Collaborative learning, patients, colleagues and excellence each need an answer.
• Recycling a generic diversity essay from another school without adapting it to Mayo’s wording.

Essay 3: Bold. Forward., artificial intelligence and innovation

“Mayo Clinic’s Bold. Forward. strategy integrates digital innovation with a deeply humanistic approach to transform healthcare. What role do you see yourself playing in shaping this future? Describe the skills, experiences, or aspirations in artificial intelligence and innovation that prepare you to contribute meaningfully to this transformation.”

Limit: 500 words. Who answers: every MD applicant invited to the secondary.

What it asks. Two questions: the role you see yourself playing in a future that combines digital innovation with humanistic care, and the skills, experiences or aspirations in AI and innovation that prepare you. Note the word “or.” You can answer with aspirations if you lack technical experience, as long as they are informed.

How to approach it. Start with one concrete experience with data, technology or process improvement, even a small one. Show that you understand both the promise and the risks (bias, validation, privacy, oversight). Then define your future role in a sentence. Connect it to Mayo’s required Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare course, its research resources or a dual degree option, without overstating your expertise.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (406 words):

During my junior year, I helped a community health clinic build a model to predict which patients would miss appointments, so staff could call them ahead of time. The model performed well on paper. When I looked closer, I found that it flagged patients without stable addresses far more often, and the clinic’s plan was to double-book their slots. A tool built to improve access would have quietly reduced it for the people who needed it most. We changed the plan: flagged patients now get a reminder call and a bus pass offer instead of a double-booked slot. Missed visits fell, and no one lost their place in line.

That project taught me what I think innovation in medicine requires. Technology can see patterns that people miss, but it inherits the gaps in its data and the assumptions of the people who deploy it. The humanistic half of Mayo’s Bold. Forward. strategy is not decoration. It is the safety check.

I see my role as a physician who can stand between the tool and the patient. I want to understand AI well enough to ask how a model was validated, on whom, and what happens when it is wrong, and to explain those answers to a patient in plain language. My preparation is modest but real: I completed coursework in statistics and Python, I learned to evaluate model performance across subgroups, and I spent a year as a clinic volunteer, where I saw that a reminder call works only when the person making it is kind.

Mayo’s curriculum fits this aim. The Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare course teaches how AI tools are evaluated, including validation, data quality, bias and appropriate clinical oversight, which are the exact questions my project forced me to confront. I hope to build on it through research mentored by Mayo investigators with access to millions of patient histories, and possibly through the Artificial Intelligence in Health Care or Health System Science degree options later in training.

My aspiration is not to write the next algorithm. It is to be the clinician in the room who makes sure new tools serve every patient, especially those who are easiest to overlook. In ten years, I hope to help a care team adopt a digital tool and then measure whether it closed a gap or widened one. Mayo’s scale makes that question urgent, and its patient-first value gives me the right standard for answering it.

Why this example works.

• Experience: a small, believable project (no-show prediction) shows real skill without exaggeration.
• Humanistic half: it finds a bias, changes the plan and measures the patient effect, which shows the “deeply humanistic approach” the prompt names.
• Role: “a physician who can stand between the tool and the patient” is a clear answer to “what role do you see yourself playing.”
• Mayo fit: it names the AI in Healthcare course content accurately, plus research resources and the AI in Health Care and Health System Science degree options.
• Honest scope: “my preparation is modest but real” builds trust. The writer does not claim to be an AI expert.

Mistakes to avoid.

• Writing about AI in general terms (“AI will revolutionize medicine”) with no personal experience or position.
• Overclaiming technical skills you cannot discuss in an interview.
• Ignoring the humanistic half of the strategy. The prompt pairs innovation with care for people.
• Treating AI as a replacement for physicians. Mayo’s course stresses appropriate clinical oversight.
• Using an AI tool to write the essay. Your voice and judgment are what the prompt is testing.

The “Mayo Clinic Experiences” page

“Complete the “Mayo Clinic Experiences” page, indicating any prior experiences you have had with Mayo Clinic, if applicable.”

Limit: none stated; this is a factual page, not an essay. Who answers: every MD applicant invited to the secondary, with entries only if they apply.

What it asks. List any previous contact with Mayo Clinic: research positions, summer programs, shadowing, employment, volunteering, clinical care you or your family received, or past applications.

Worked response pattern (illustrative, not an actual applicant’s entries):

Summer undergraduate research program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, June to August 2025. Laboratory research in cardiovascular physiology under a Mayo investigator; presented a poster at the program’s closing symposium.

Volunteer, Mayo Clinic Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona, September 2024 to present. About four hours per week escorting patients and families.

Tips. Keep entries factual, dated and specific. If you have no prior Mayo experience, leave the page blank or follow the portal’s instruction; having no connection does not count against you. Do not inflate a single campus tour into a “Mayo experience.”

Secondary timing and fees

• Fee: $120, waived for AMCAS Fee Assistance Program applicants.
• Deadline: October 15, along with MCAT scores, transcripts and letters.
• Turnaround: the school sets no turnaround target beyond October 15, but submitting within about two weeks keeps your file moving while interview invitations are going out.

Interview Format and Preparation

What is confirmed for 2026-2027

• Format: all MD interviews are virtual.
• Timing: invitations go out from August through November; interviews take place from September through December. The school notes these windows can change.
• One campus: you interview with one campus, chosen by your ranked track preferences, and that interview counts for every track you selected.
• Before the day: you receive campus-specific information to help you prepare.

On interview day you take part in:

• A welcome session
• Two one-on-one, 30-minute virtual interviews
• A virtual campus tour
• Time with current students
• Question-and-answer sessions

Every applicant also meets with a member of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine alumni community during the interview process. After interviews, you may upload update letters, letters of interest or letters of intent to the admissions portal.

The published interview day is built around these two one-on-one conversations; the school lists no multiple mini interview (MMI) stations or group activities in its MD interview day.

MD-PhD interviews are held in October, November, December and January, virtually or in person, with members of the MD-PhD Admissions Committee. Candidates get an in-depth orientation, can meet faculty of their choice and spend time with students. Admitted MD-PhD applicants may be invited for an in-person visit, with travel support up to a set limit.

How to prepare

The following advice is general practice guidance, not a description of Mayo’s private scoring.

1. Know your file cold. In one-on-one interviews, interviewers often work from your application. Be ready to discuss every activity, your three secondary essays and your track ranking.
2. Prepare patient stories. Expect questions about putting the patient first, working on teams and handling mistakes. Have three or four specific encounters ready, each with what you did, what you learned and what you would do differently.
3. Explain your track choice. If you interview with the Arizona campus, expect questions about why Phoenix and Scottsdale; for Rochester, why Minnesota; for a Florida track, why the two-campus path.
4. Think through innovation and ethics. Because the secondary asks about AI and the Bold. Forward. strategy, you may be asked about technology, data privacy or how you would handle a tool that gives a wrong answer. Ethics questions are common at many schools; our guide to ethical challenge questions in medical school interviews helps you practice.
5. Practice the virtual setting. Test your camera, lighting, sound and internet. Use a quiet room and a neutral background. Look at the camera when you speak.
6. Prepare questions. Ask students about MedSib families, selectives, research mentoring or life on the campus you ranked first. Ask the alumni interviewer how Mayo shaped their career.
7. Rehearse with feedback. Mock interviews with an adviser or IMA’s medical school admissions consulting services help you tighten answers. Our list of the most common medical school interview questions is a good place to start.

After the interview

Decisions come after all interviews end. Initial offers, alternate list notices and rejections go out in February, and alternate list offers can come from April through June. If you interviewed in September, expect a long wait. A short, specific update letter about a new publication, award or role can help; frequent messages do not.

Frequently Asked Questions

These answers cover the questions applicants ask most about Mayo. For general topics, see our guides on how long is medical school, what does DO mean and the most common medical school interview questions.

How competitive is the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine acceptance rate?

Very competitive. The school reports a 3.5% acceptance rate for 2026: 215 offers from 6,061 applications to its MD and MD-PhD programs combined. For the MD program alone, 5,499 people applied, 681 were interviewed and 180 received acceptances. Admitted students also have very strong academics, with a median MCAT of 521 and a median GPA of 3.97 in the 2026 first-year class. Grades and scores get you considered, but the essays, letters, experiences and interview decide most outcomes. Apply early, write specific secondaries and choose tracks you can explain.

What is the academic calendar for the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine?

The MD program runs on a 12-month first-year schedule. For the entering class of 2027, orientation begins July 12, 2027, and tuition is billed in two halves on July 15 and January 15. The curriculum has three phases: Pre-Clerkship for the first 18 months, Clerkship for the next 18 months and Post-Clerkship for the final 12 months. Dedicated USMLE Step 1 study comes in the last six months of year two. The school posts separate academic calendars for each year (M1 to M4) for enrolled students.

How long is medical school at MCASOM?

The MD program takes four years, split into 18 months of Pre-Clerkship, 18 months of Clerkship and 12 months of Post-Clerkship. Students who add a dual degree may take longer, since many degrees use an academic leave of absence. The MD-PhD program averages 8.06 years. After medical school, residency lasts three to seven years depending on specialty. In 2026, 40% of Mayo graduates matched to a residency on a Mayo Clinic campus.

What does DO mean?

DO stands for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. DOs are fully licensed physicians who practice in every specialty. They receive extra training in osteopathic manipulative treatment, a hands-on approach to diagnosis and treatment, and their training stresses whole-person care. Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine grants the MD, not the DO, but DO physicians serve on its faculty. One of its associate deans for admissions, Lopa Misra, D.O., is an osteopathic physician.

How can I get into the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine?

Start with eligibility: citizenship or qualifying status, a U.S. or Canadian bachelor’s or Pharm.D. degree and an MCAT of at least 510 taken in the allowed window. Then build a competitive file: the 2026 class had a median MCAT of 521 and a median GPA of 3.97. Add sustained patient contact, research, service and leadership. Submit AMCAS early, return the secondary with three specific 500-word essays and a thoughtful track ranking well before October 15, and prepare for two one-on-one virtual interviews.

What are the Mayo Clinic Selectives?

Selectives are short, immersive experiences of one to four weeks, offered throughout all four years. Students use them to explore specialties early, serve in underserved communities, do research, build clinical skills or take on a project the core curriculum does not cover. They can take place on any Mayo campus, in Mayo Clinic Health System or at other U.S. and international centers. Examples include Street Medicine, Medical Spanish, transplant surgery and an addiction medicine week. Several graduates say a first-year selective led them to their specialty.

How is the Mayo Clinic Medical School ranking determined?

U.S. News & World Report places medical schools into tiers based on academic and institutional measures from school-submitted data and outside verification. In April 2026, Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine was again placed in Tier 1, the highest tier, for research. Separately, Mayo Clinic ranks first in more specialties than any other U.S. hospital in the 2026-27 hospital ratings. Rankings are only one signal. Compare curriculum, campus, cost and outcomes such as Mayo’s 99% 2026 Match placement rate.

What is the average MCAT score for Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine?

The school reports a median, not an average. The median MCAT for the 2026 first-year class was 521, which the school places at the 98th percentile. For all accepted applicants in the 2025 entering class, the mean was 520.6 and the median 521. The minimum to apply this cycle is 510. A median means half the class scored at or below 521, so a score in the 510s can still be competitive with a strong overall file. If your score is below 510, you are not eligible this cycle.

How long is medical school in the US?

MD and DO programs in the United States usually take four years. Traditionally the first two years focus on basic science and the last two on clinical rotations, though many schools, including Mayo, now start clerkships earlier. Mayo begins its eight core clerkships halfway through year two. Residency follows and lasts three to seven years, depending on the specialty. Combined MD-PhD programs usually take seven to nine years.

What is the residency acceptance rate for Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine graduates?

Mayo reports a 99% NRMP placement rate for 2026. On Match Day 2026, 95 students in the class of 2026 matched to programs in 24 states, and 40% matched to a program on a Mayo Clinic campus. In 2026, 28% matched into primary care and 33% into surgical subspecialties. The school also reports a 99% pass rate on USMLE Step 2 for 2025.

What tracks are available at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine?

Mayo’s tracks are campus tracks: Arizona 4-Year, Minnesota 4-Year, Arizona/Florida and Minnesota/Florida. You rank one to four on the secondary. Within any track, you customize training through nearly 200 academic enrichment opportunities, including research, global health, selectives, certificates, distinction tracks such as Biomedical Ethics and dual degrees. Applicants who want to become physician-scientists apply separately to the MD-PhD program on the Minnesota or Arizona campus.

How can I find the Mayo Clinic secondary essays?

Mayo posts its secondary requirements on its admissions and application process page. For 2026-2027 there are three required essays of up to 500 words each: why Mayo and your top campus track; how your professional and lived experiences shaped your identity and will help you contribute; and your role in Mayo’s Bold. Forward. strategy and AI-driven innovation. You also complete a Mayo Clinic Experiences page. All prompts, examples and analysis are in the secondary section of this guide.

What is MCASOM?

MCASOM stands for Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, the MD-granting school of Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. It opened as Mayo Medical School in 1972 and took its current name in 2018 after a $200 million gift from Jay Alix. The school trains students on three Mayo Clinic campuses in Arizona, Minnesota and Florida.

What is the Rochester School of Medicine?

The phrase can mean two different schools. Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine’s Minnesota campus is in Rochester, Minnesota, and many people call it “Mayo in Rochester.” The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry is a separate school in Rochester, New York, with its own application. If you are researching the New York school, see our guide to the University of Rochester Medical School.

What resources does Mayo University offer for medical students?

There is no “Mayo University.” The parent institution is Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, which runs five schools, including the medical school. Medical students get a 3:1 full-time faculty-to-student ratio, a specialty career adviser, MedSib mentoring families, academic learning specialists, peer tutoring, licensed counselors, a 24/7 assistance program, disability access services, Mayo’s libraries and simulation centers, and access to more than 6 million medical histories for research.

Is Mayo Clinic Alix really free?

No. Mayo does not give every student a full-tuition scholarship. First-year tuition for 2026-2027 is $70,280, and the total single student budget is $110,400. Scholarships are awarded to accepted students based on academic performance and financial need, using parent income and asset data. In the class of 2025, 96% received scholarships, 71% borrowed and 49% graduated with less than $100,000 in student loans. The 2018 Alix gift expanded scholarships but did not make tuition free for all. Graduates who borrowed in 2024-2025 left with an average medical school debt of $131,334.

How many campuses does Mayo have?

Three: Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona; Rochester, Minnesota; and Jacksonville, Florida. Arizona and Rochester each accept up to 50 students a year for four-year tracks. Jacksonville accepts up to 12 students, who complete their first 18 months in Arizona or Minnesota and then move to Florida. You rank your track preferences on the secondary.

Does Mayo use AMCAS?

Yes. Mayo uses a single AMCAS application for all three campuses and for the MD-PhD program. The AMCAS window is June 1 to October 1, and letters must go through the AMCAS Letter Service.

Does Mayo require CASPer or PREview?

Neither is required. Mayo recommends the AAMC PREview exam for insight into professional competencies, but PREview scores are not currently used in admissions decisions. CASPer is not part of Mayo’s requirements.

What is the median MCAT and GPA at Mayo?

For the 2026 first-year class, the median MCAT was 521 and the median cumulative GPA was 3.97. The minimum MCAT to apply is 510. The school does not publish a minimum GPA for the MD program; the MD-PhD program lists a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0. Among all accepted applicants in the 2025 entering class, the median MCAT was also 521 and the median GPA was 3.95.

Does Mayo accept out-of-state, Canadian, or international applicants?

Out-of-state: yes, with no state preference and one tuition rate for all. Canadian: Canadians can qualify if they show eligibility for Canadian provincial or federal financial aid, and degrees from accredited Canadian schools are accepted. International: other foreign nationals are eligible only if they can show FAFSA eligibility or Canadian aid eligibility, which excludes most international applicants. In the 2025 entering class, 99 of the 109 matriculants were classified as out-of-state and 3 as international.

Does Mayo accept DACA applicants?

Yes. DACA recipients are eligible to apply to the MD program, and the MD-PhD requirements page lists the same eligibility.

Does Mayo accept transfer students?

No. Mayo does not accept transfer applications from students currently or previously enrolled at another medical school, in the MD or the MD-PhD program. Everyone applies through AMCAS as a first-year student.

What is the minimum MCAT score for Mayo?

1. The exam must be taken within three years of matriculation, which means between January 2024 and September 2026 for this cycle, and scores are due by October 15. Meeting the minimum makes you eligible; the class median of 521 shows where most admitted students score.

Can I interview at more than one Mayo campus?

No. If you rank several tracks, you interview with one campus chosen by your preferences, and that interview covers all your selected tracks. At the offer stage, Mayo can accept you to any track you selected, regardless of where you interviewed.

Does Mayo have early decision or rolling admissions?

No. Mayo has neither. Decisions are made after all interviews finish, with initial offers in February and alternate list offers from April to June. Early submission still helps because interview invitations run from August through November.

If I apply MD-PhD and am not selected, will Mayo consider me for the MD program?

No. Mayo asks applicants to choose one program based on their career plans. MD-PhD applicants who are not selected are not moved into MD-only review. If you are unsure whether you want a research career, think carefully before choosing MD-PhD.

How much clinical experience do I need for Mayo?

Mayo does not publish an hour minimum. It considers “exposure to and exploration of medicine” alongside service, research and leadership, and its essays ask how you will support patients. Aim for sustained, hands-on patient contact you can describe in detail. Paid clinical jobs, volunteering and internships for pre-med students that involve direct work with patients all count.

Can I defer my acceptance?

Yes, by request. Submit a written request to the Office of Admissions by May 1 that explains your reason and plans for the deferral period. Deferrals are not guaranteed, and approved deferrals last one to two years.

Does Mayo require a deposit after acceptance?

No. Mayo does not require an acceptance deposit. You do have to respond to an offer on time: within 10 business days before April 30, within five business days after April 30, and within two business days if the offer comes within a month of orientation. Use the Choose Your Medical School tool to select Plan to Enroll by April 30 and Commit to Enroll by May 31, 2027.

How big is the Mayo alternate list?

The alternate list typically holds about 400 positions across the MD and MD-PhD programs and all three campuses, and it is not ranked. About 50 acceptance offers go to applicants on the list in a typical cycle, mostly between April and June. If you are placed on it, send a short update or a letter of intent through the admissions portal when you have real news.

Related Medical School Guides

If Mayo is on your list, these guides cover schools that share one of its three states. They are geographic and applicant-pool comparisons, not claims of equal selectivity.

• University of Minnesota Medical School: Minnesota’s public MD program, with campuses in the Twin Cities, Duluth and St. Cloud, is the natural comparison for Minnesota 4-Year applicants and for Minnesota residents seeking in-state tuition.
• University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix: a public MD program in the same metro area as Mayo’s Arizona campus, useful for Arizona 4-Year applicants who want to compare urban Phoenix training.
• University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson: Arizona’s original public MD school, in Tucson, an option for Arizona residents who want in-state tuition.
• Creighton University School of Medicine: a private Jesuit MD program with a Phoenix regional campus, another way to train in Arizona.
• FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine: a community-focused public MD program in Miami, a contrast for applicants drawn to Mayo’s Florida tracks.
• Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine: a smaller public MD program in Boca Raton, another Florida option with a close-knit class.

For statewide comparisons, see our guides to medical schools in Minnesota, medical schools in Arizona and medical schools in Florida. If you are applying to the most selective programs, our article on whether to apply to the hardest medical schools to get into helps you balance your list.

Explore other medical schools

Mayo is one of many strong programs. Explore other MD and DO schools, PA schools at Mayo Clinic or programs in other states to broaden your options. Our school guides include:

• Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine
• University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine
• Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
• Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Tufts University School of Medicine
• University of Louisville School of Medicine
• Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
• University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine
• University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
• Carle Illinois College of Medicine
• Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
• Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University
• Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
• Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
• Central Michigan University College of Medicine
• Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
• Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
• Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
• Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
• Georgetown University Medical School
• Yale School of Medicine
• West Virginia University School of Medicine
• West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
• Indiana University School of Medicine
• Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
• Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Meharry Medical College
• Howard University College of Medicine
• University of Kansas School of Medicine (KUMC)
• Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science College of Medicine
• Loma Linda University School of Medicine
• John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM)
• Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (KansasCOM)
• UC Irvine School of Medicine
• Nova Southeastern University College of Allopathic Medicine
• Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine
• University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
• Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (ARCOM)
• University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)
• Tulane University School of Medicine
• LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine
• LSU Shreveport Medical School
• Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV
• University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine
• Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM)
• The University of New Mexico School of Medicine
• Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM)
• University of South Alabama College of Medicine
• University of Alabama School of Medicine
• UCF College of Medicine
• USF Morsani College of Medicine
• Florida State University College of Medicine
• Morehouse School of Medicine
• Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
• Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM)
• Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine (CUSOM)
• ECU Brody School of Medicine
• Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM)
• University of South Carolina Medical School
• Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
• Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM)
• Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM)
• Penn State Medical School
• CUNY School of Medicine
• SUNY Downstate Medical School
• NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine
• NYU Long Island School of Medicine
• TOURO College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Albany Medical College
• Norton College of Medicine at Upstate Medical University
• Jacobs School of Medicine at the University at Buffalo
• Hofstra Zucker School of Medicine
• Weill Medical College of Cornell University
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED)
• University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
• University of Toledo College of Medicine
• Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
• Ohio State University College of Medicine
• Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine
• Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (HMSOM)
• Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)
• Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU)
• A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Saint Louis University School of Medicine
• University of Missouri Medical School
• Kansas City University (KCU)
• UMKC School of Medicine
• New York Medical College
• University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
• University of Wisconsin Medical School
• VCU School of Medicine
• University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Case Western Medical School
• University of North Carolina Medical School
• University of Florida Medical School
• Emory University School of Medicine
• Boston University College of Medicine
• California University of Science and Medicine
• UC San Diego Medical School
• California Northstate University College of Medicine
• Touro University of California
• CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine
• UC Davis School of Medicine
• Harvard Medical School
• UC Riverside School of Medicine
• USC Keck School of Medicine
• UT Southwestern Medical School
• Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio
• University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine
• UT Austin’s Dell Medical School
• UTMB School of Medicine
• McGovern Medical School at UT Health
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
• UNT Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
• University of Houston College of Medicine
• Texas A&M College of Medicine
• Baylor College of Medicine
• George Washington University School of Medicine
• Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
• St. George’s University School of Medicine
• Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (in Pennsylvania)
• Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
• Wake Forest University School of Medicine
• Western University of Health Sciences (in California)
• Drexel University College of Medicine
• Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago
• Perelman School of Medicine
• UCLA Medical School
• NYU Medical School
• Washington University School of Medicine

How International Medical Aid Can Help

International Medical Aid (IMA) offers medical internships abroad for students preparing for careers in medicine and other health professions. Our programs share several values with Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine: patient-centered care, service to communities with limited access to care and a commitment to global health. IMA is not affiliated with Mayo Clinic, and participation does not affect admission decisions.

Global health initiatives

IMA’s global health initiatives and healthcare internships abroad place pre-health students in clinical settings in Kenya and other sites. Interns work with local health care teams, take vitals, do patient intake and triage, and help with direct patient care under supervision. That work gives applicants concrete stories about patients, teamwork and resource-limited care, which are the kinds of experiences Mayo’s first two secondary essays ask about.

Pre-med study abroad programs and clinical experience

Through IMA’s pre-med study abroad programs, students build hands-on clinical experience and learn how culture, income and access shape care. Our pre-health internships suit students who need more patient contact before applying, including gap-year applicants. Many participants say the experience changed how they think about health care and strengthened their motivation for medicine.

Admissions consulting

IMA’s medical school admissions consulting supports applicants at every step: school selection, the AMCAS personal statement, secondary essays such as Mayo’s three 500-word prompts, track strategy and interview preparation. Advisers help you turn clinical, research and global health experiences into specific, reflective writing.

Next step: if you need more hands-on patient experience before you apply to Mayo, explore IMA’s pre-med internships, then use what you learn to answer Mayo’s patient-first and contribution essays with real examples.

Final Thoughts and Sources

Final thoughts

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine offers something few schools can: medical training inside one of the world’s leading clinical and research institutions, with small classes, a 3:1 faculty ratio and three distinct campuses. Since 1972 it has grown from a single Rochester class of 40 into a national school with Arizona, Minnesota and Florida tracks, and its graduates match across the country, with many staying at Mayo for residency.

Admission is highly selective, and the cost is real: tuition of $70,280 and a total budget of $110,400 for 2026-2027, offset for most students by merit- and need-based scholarships. The applicants who stand out show patient-first values in action, explain clearly why their chosen campus track fits, and bring an informed view of how innovation and AI should serve patients.

Your next step is concrete. Confirm your eligibility and MCAT window, decide how you will rank the four tracks, and draft your three secondary essays before the invitation arrives. Then submit everything well before October 15. Whether your interests lie in primary care, a specialty or research, a well-prepared application gives you the best chance at Mayo or at any program that fits your goals.

Sources

Facts in this guide were checked on October 18, 2026. Statistics are labeled with their cohort or academic year in the body and tables.

• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Admissions and Application Process (2026-2027 cycle: timeline, secondary prompts, fee, letters, factors considered, interviews, decisions, deferral, Choose Your Medical School dates).
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Prerequisites and Requirements (citizenship, foreign nationals, courses, degree, MCAT window and minimum, PREview, transfers, technical standards, pre-matriculation requirements).
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Class Profile (2026 admissions and acceptance statistics; 2026 first-year class).
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Tuition and Aid (2026-2027 cost of attendance budget, billing, scholarships, loans, class of 2025 aid figures).
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Statistics and Facts; school home page quick facts; MD Program overview.
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Curriculum, Pre-Clerkship, Clerkship, Post-Clerkship, Academic Enrichments and Academic Enrichment Opportunities search.
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Student Life; Faculty (college leadership and deans); Contact; Visit.
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Accreditation; Dean’s Message; Vision and Mission; About Mr. Jay Alix; Training Locations; Match Day.
• Mayo Clinic M.D.-Ph.D. Program, overview, Admissions and Application Process, and Prerequisites and Requirements.
• Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, History; Higher Learning Commission Accreditation; Choosing Mayo Clinic; Arizona, Minnesota and Florida campus pages; Health Sciences Education.
• Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science news: Comfere named Executive Dean of Education (December 15, 2025); 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients (November 14, 2024); alumni commencement keynotes (May 16, 2024); MD graduate named White House Fellow (November 10, 2021); U.S. News recognition (April 9, 2026); 2026 Arizona and Florida commencements (May 19 and 21, 2026); Street Medicine Phoenix (June 21, 2022); reaccreditation through 2027 (November 17, 2019).
• Mayo Clinic Alumni Association, Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumni Award recipients by year.
• AAMC Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR), Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine profile, 2026 edition, accessed October 18, 2026 (2025 entering class applications, interviews, matriculants, residency split, accepted-applicant MCAT and GPA, matriculant experiences and background; total enrollment October 2025; LCME 2024-2025 aid and debt; specialty intentions; affiliated hospitals; student organizations; 2026-2027 deposit, offer response, alternate list and deferral policies).
• Mayo Clinic biographies (archived copies) for Nneka I. Comfere, Megha M. Tollefson, Abba C. Zubair, Ronald C. Petersen and Gerardo Colon-Otero.