How to Get Into the University of Wisconsin Medical School: The Definitive Guide (2026-2027)

Are you looking for a modern, community-focused medical school in Wisconsin? The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW SMPH) in Madison is the nation’s first integrated school of medicine and public health, and that pairing shapes almost everything about its Doctor of Medicine (MD) program. Guided by a commitment to serving communities across the state, the school offers a contemporary curriculum, early clinical work, statewide rotations and deep resources for research and hands-on training.

This guide covers the 2026-2027 application cycle for students who plan to start medical school in mid-August 2027. The AMCAS deadline for this cycle is October 1, 2026, the last MCAT date the school considers is August 22, 2026, and the secondary application is due November 1, 2026 (November 20, 2026 for the rural WARM program). All facts in this guide were checked on October 21, 2026.

Getting into the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is no easy feat. The school received 7,968 applications for its 2026 entering class and enrolled 171 students. In this definitive guide, we cover everything you need to know about UW medical school admissions: the class profile, the 3.0 GPA and 500 MCAT minimums, prerequisites, the ForWard Curriculum, the rural (WARM) and urban (TRIUMPH) programs, the MD-PhD and MD-MPH options, 2026-27 tuition, all five current secondary essays with examples, and the virtual interview.

Wisconsin medical schools, like all medical schools, have their own admissions guidelines and requirements. Understanding the school’s identity, programs and selection criteria will help you focus your application and put your best foot forward. If you are considering applying, bookmark this page for easy reference. And should you have questions about the medical school application process, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. International Medical Aid has helped thousands of students prepare for medical school through our admissions consulting and healthcare internship programs.

Key Takeaways

• Wisconsin residents fill most of the class. As a public school guided by the Wisconsin Idea, UW trains physicians to serve Wisconsin, and a majority of every class is made up of Wisconsin residents. In the 2026 entering class, 113 of 171 students were Wisconsin residents and 58 came from out of state. Non-resident admission is more competitive, but strong applicants from across the country are encouraged to apply.
• Academic context. The 2026 entering class averaged a 511 MCAT, a 3.81 cumulative GPA and a 3.74 science GPA. Accepted applicants for the 2025 entering class had a median MCAT of 512 and a median GPA of 3.87. These are averages and medians, not cutoffs. The firm minimums are a 3.0 cumulative undergraduate GPA and a 500 MCAT, with one post-baccalaureate exception.
• Who can apply. You must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, refugee, asylee or DACA recipient to receive a secondary application. UW does not accept transfer students.
• Key dates. Submit AMCAS by October 1, 2026, take the MCAT by August 22, 2026 and return the secondary by November 1, 2026. WARM applicants have until November 20, 2026 for the secondary and all six letters.
• Costs. For 2026-27, tuition and segregated fees are $22,749.89 per semester for Wisconsin residents and $32,037.89 per semester for non-residents. The full first-year cost of attendance for 2025-26 was $78,665 for residents and $97,464 for non-residents. UW requires no deposit and has no Early Decision Program.
• Distinctive training. The ForWard Curriculum puts patients in front of you from the first week, weaves public health through all three phases, pairs every student with a Longitudinal Teacher/Coach and sends students to clinical sites in more than 30 Wisconsin communities.
• Separate tracks. Choose Regular MD, Rural MD (WARM) or MD-PhD (MSTP) in AMCAS. The urban TRIUMPH program is chosen after you enroll, during the first year.
• Next step. If you are in the 2026-2027 cycle, return your secondary well before November 1 and prepare for a virtual interview. If you are planning for 2027-2028, build sustained patient-facing experience in Wisconsin or your home community and plan your MCAT for no later than August 22, 2027.

Key Statistics About the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

The snapshot and table below gather UW’s key numbers. Each figure carries its cohort or academic year, because the class profile, the tuition schedule and the residency match each cover a different year. The newest class profile is for the Entering Class of 2026, the students who began in August 2026. Medians for accepted applicants, interviews by residency, the full cost of attendance and graduate debt come from the national 2025 entering class and 2024-25 data sets, so those rows carry their own years.

A few notes on reading these numbers. The 511 MCAT and 3.81 GPA are averages for students who enrolled in 2026, and the 512 MCAT and 3.87 GPA are medians for accepted applicants in 2025. Neither is a minimum, so many students were above and below them. The interview figure shows how many applicants were invited to interview, which is a different measure from how many were offered admission. The school does not publish the number of offers, so there is no true acceptance rate to report. Tuition is billed per semester, and two semesters at the 2026-27 rate come to $45,499.78 for a Wisconsin resident and $64,075.78 for a non-resident before living costs. And because most seats go to Wisconsin residents, a resident and an out-of-state applicant with the same scores face different odds.

What Are UW School of Medicine and Public Health’s Average MCAT and GPA?

Students who entered the UW School of Medicine and Public Health in 2026 averaged a 511 MCAT, a 3.81 cumulative GPA and a 3.74 science GPA (UW SMPH Entering Class Statistics, 2026). For the 2025 entering class, accepted applicants had a median MCAT of 512 and a median GPA of 3.87. These are class averages and medians, not cutoffs. The school’s firm minimums are a 3.0 GPA and a 500 MCAT.

To compare these numbers with other programs, see our list of the average GPA and MCAT score for every medical school in the US.

Mission and Educational Priorities

The University of Wisconsin’s medical school was the first school to integrate medicine and public health, and its official name, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, says so. That combination shows up throughout the institution. Its urban medicine program, for instance, was developed in response to health inequities and chronic physician shortages in Wisconsin’s cities. Its rural medicine program trains students committed to improving the health of rural communities, where physician shortages are most severe.

The school’s mission, vision and values were written through a collaborative process with hundreds of learners, staff and faculty members:

Mission: “Together, we are advancing health and health equity through remarkable service to patients and communities, outstanding education, and innovative research.”

Vision: “Healthy people. Healthy communities.”

Values: “Integrity and Accountability – Every person, every action, every time.” “Compassion – Treat all with kindness, understanding, and empathy.” “Social Impact and Belonging – Advance health and health equity by respecting the rights, dignity, and differences of all.” “Excellence – Strive for the very best in all we do.”

The Wisconsin Idea

The guiding principle behind UW’s medical school is the Wisconsin Idea, a concept from the early 1900s that the university’s work should improve lives beyond the campus. Charles Van Hise, president of the University of Wisconsin in those years, is credited with the line most often used to describe it: “I shall never be content until the beneficent influence of the University reaches every family of the state.” The medical school still describes its impact in those terms, saying it is “improving lives beyond the boundaries of the university by advancing health and health equity through education, service and research.”

For applicants, the Wisconsin Idea is more than history. It explains three concrete features of the MD program:

• Residency priority. As a public institution, “consistent with the school’s mission and the Wisconsin Idea, the MD program focuses on training physicians to serve the health needs of Wisconsin.” A majority of each class are Wisconsin residents.
• Statewide training. Hundreds of community physicians teach students in hospitals and clinics across the state, and the school’s Statewide Campus offers clinical rotations and acting internships in more than 30 Wisconsin communities.
• Service. About 80% of UW medical students volunteer in the community, including in MEDiC, the student-led network of free clinics in Madison.

What the mission means for your application

The Admissions Committee “seeks applicants whose aspirations are consistent with the school’s mission and who articulate how training at UW will further their goals.” That sentence is the core of the first secondary essay, and it should guide your whole application. In practice, mission alignment means three things:

1. Health equity is the frame. The mission begins with “advancing health and health equity.” Experiences with underserved patients, public health work and community service carry more weight when you explain what they taught you about why some people stay healthy and others do not.
2. Public health is part of medicine here. Every student learns public health in all three phases of the curriculum. Applicants who can describe a population-level problem they care about, and a role they hope to play in it, fit the school well.
3. Wisconsin matters. If you are a resident, show what you know about the health needs of your part of the state. If you are not, explain your interest in UW specifically, whether that is the integrated public health curriculum, WARM (if you live in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan or Minnesota), TRIUMPH or a research area.

The school also lists “Social Impact and Belonging” as a value and says it strives “to graduate a student body that reflects the varied experiences, viewpoints and backgrounds found in communities near and far.” The Office of Multicultural Affairs for Health Professions Learners and the Native American Center for Health Professions support students throughout their training.

Accreditation and Institutional Identity

The MD program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is fully accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit programs leading to the MD degree. In 2018, after more than two years of self-study, the LCME continued the school’s full accreditation for the maximum eight-year term. The school prepared for its next reaccreditation through 2024 and 2025, and the LCME survey visit took place April 13-15, 2026. LCME accreditation is what allows graduates to take the USMLE and enter ACGME-accredited residencies.

A few points help with the school’s identity:

• Name. The official name is the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. You will also see UW SMPH, UW-Madison medical school and “University of Wisconsin Medical School” (its name before the public health integration). It is part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• History. Charles Russell Bardeen, a Johns Hopkins graduate, came to Madison in 1904 to build a two-year medical program. The program enrolled its first students within three years, Wisconsin General Hospital opened in 1924, and the school began a four-year curriculum the next year. Bardeen’s statewide preceptorship, started in 1926, became a national model.
• Campus. Students study in the Health Sciences Learning Center at 750 Highland Avenue on UW-Madison’s west campus, connected to University Hospital. University Hospital, a primary teaching hospital for the school, has been ranked the best hospital in Wisconsin for 15 years in a row (2026 U.S. News & World Report).
• Other UW SMPH programs. The school also offers a Doctor of Physical Therapy, a Master of Genetic Counselor Studies, a Master of Physician Assistant Studies and a Master of Public Health, each with its own accreditor (CAPTE, ACGC, ARC-PA and CEPH). These are separate programs with separate applications. If you are weighing physician assistant school, our pre-PA internships page describes hands-on clinical experience for that path.

University of Wisconsin Medical School Ranking

U.S. News & World Report now groups medical schools into tiers instead of numbered ranks. In the 2026 rankings, the UW MD program was:

• Tier 1 for primary care, for the first time. Only 16 schools reached Tier 1. The ranking is based on the share of 2017 to 2019 graduates practicing primary care as of 2025, along with selectivity and faculty-student ratio.
• Tier 2 for research, which the school describes as the 50th to 84th percentile of medical schools for research performance.
• 18th for MD graduates practicing in rural areas.

The school’s biostatistics program ranked 11th in the same year. Rankings are a starting point at most. What should matter more is whether the school’s mission, programs and location fit your goals.

Medical Programs and Affiliations

Before applying, research the different medical programs at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. This will help you decide whether the school is a good fit and help you focus your application. Admission to the Regular MD program is the foundation for every program and path, and in AMCAS you choose one of three application routes: Regular MD, Rural MD (WARM, listed under “Other Special Programs”) or MD-PhD (listed as “Combined Medical Degree/PhD”). You cannot switch between these tracks after you submit your secondary. For the 2027 entering class, UW expects about 176 new students: 141 in the Regular MD program, 26 in the Rural MD (WARM) program and 9 in the MD-PhD program.

Four-Year MD Program

The Regular MD program uses the ForWard Curriculum, a three-phase model described in the next section. Students train first in Madison and then across Wisconsin. Research is encouraged for every student, and about 90% of MD students engage in research.

Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM)

WARM, the school’s Rural MD program, admits and trains students committed to improving the health of rural communities. Its purpose is to address physician shortages in rural Wisconsin, where 28% of residents live but only 11% of physicians practice. WARM students relocate to one of three statewide academic campuses for 28 months of their training: Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay, Gundersen Health System in La Crosse or Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield. A ranked-choice lottery assigns students to sites.

Key WARM facts for applicants:

• Eligibility. Admission is limited to legal residents of Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan or Minnesota.
• How to apply. In AMCAS, indicate legal residence in one of those states and select the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine MD program under “Other Special Program.” The WARM Admissions Subcommittee reviews your application first. If you are not selected and you are a Wisconsin resident, you are also considered for the Regular MD program.
• What WARM looks for. A rural background, or an urban background with rural connections, plus a demonstrated commitment to practicing in a rural setting; a strong desire to fill an unmet need in a rural community; a preference to live in a rural area; a strong record of community involvement; family and social support for a rural lifestyle; and strong motivation for a rural medicine career.
• Extra requirements. Six letters (the four regular letters plus two WARM letters from people who can speak to your “rural potential”), a secondary submitted by November 20, and a WARM interview.
• Outcomes. 82% of WARM graduates practice in Wisconsin, 56% go into primary care and 64% are in residencies in Wisconsin and bordering states.

Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH)

TRIUMPH is an urban training track within the MD program, created “in response to health inequities and chronic physician shortages in Wisconsin’s urban areas.” Students spend 2.5 years in Milwaukee in clinical, community and public health, and advocacy and leadership training. TRIUMPH partners with over 50 hospitals and community organizations in the Milwaukee area, and each student completes a 2.5-year community health improvement project with a community partner.

TRIUMPH is not chosen in AMCAS. Enrolled UW medical students apply in late fall of the first year, through a written application, a letter of recommendation and an in-person interview, and learn the result by early spring. The program has enrolled more than 245 students since 2008. Its graduates report that 99% select urban residencies, 56% choose primary care residencies and 34% return to practice in urban Wisconsin after training, and 23% of TRIUMPH students complete an MPH.

MD-PhD: Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP)

The Medical Scientist Training Program provides integrated training in research and clinical medicine leading to a combined MD-PhD degree. It usually takes seven to eight years, and the average time to graduation for recent classes is about eight years. The program was established in 1986, has been funded by an NIH training grant since 1997, receives about 360 applications a year and enrolls a steady eight to 10 students a year, for a total program size of about 80.

• Funding. MSTP students are guaranteed funding for both stages, including tuition, insurance and an annual stipend. For 2026-2027, the stipend is $38,000 during the MD stage.
• Residency status. Residency is not a factor in MSTP admissions. The program recruits nationwide.
• Eligibility. Open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, refugees, asylees and DACA recipients. International students are not eligible, and candidates who already hold a doctoral or professional degree cannot apply.
• Research. There is no minimum number of research hours, but competitive applicants typically have at least 1.5 years of cumulative research experience. Letters from research mentors are weighed heavily, and you may submit up to seven letters.
• Interviewed applicants. MSTP applicants invited to interview in 2023-2024 averaged a 3.87 GPA and a 516 MCAT.

MD-MPH Dual Degree

The MD-MPH program lets students complete both degrees in five years, with the MPH year either before medical school or between the third and fourth years. You can indicate interest on the secondary application (MD Admissions then asks for an extra personal statement about your public health interest and experience), or apply during your first three years of medical school through the standard MPH application. The MPH program reviews MD-MPH applicants only after they are admitted to the MD program. Scholarships for the MPH year include the $20,000 Shapiro Farrell Scholarship, the $15,000 Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association Sam Perlson MD-MPH Dual Degree Scholarship and a student support fund that typically awards $2,500 to $5,000.

Dual Degrees and Concentrations: Paths of Distinction

Students can add one of five Paths of Distinction, which award recognition at graduation:

• Public Health: extra public health coursework (PHS 712 Integrating Medicine and Public Health), a mentored summer project after the first year and a learning community. It also serves as a foundation for the MD-MPH.
• Medical Education: online modules, a Phase 3 teaching elective and a medical education project with a faculty mentor.
• Research: at least 16 weeks of mentored research, one or more manuscripts or a thesis, and local and regional presentations.
• Bioethics: two bioethics courses, a Phase 3 selective, a supervised research paper and the Bioethics Learning Community.
• Interprofessional Practice and Education: a two-year longitudinal program shared with other health professions students.

Clinical affiliations

UW’s clinical training is anchored in Madison at University Hospital, American Family Children’s Hospital and the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, and extends across the state through three academic campuses:

• Advocate Aurora Health/Eastern Academic Campus (Milwaukee and Green Bay), with more than 300 teaching faculty and sites for underserved patients such as Bread of Healing Clinic and Aurora Walker’s Point Community Clinic. Aurora is a partner in both TRIUMPH and WARM.
• Marshfield Clinic/Northern Academic Campus, the largest private group medical practice in Wisconsin, with more than 700 physicians in more than 80 specialties. It became WARM’s first host site in 2009.
• Gundersen Health System/Western Academic Campus in La Crosse, anchored by a 325-bed hospital with a Level II trauma and emergency center, offering electives in about 20 specialties.

Premed pathway: RUSCH

Rural and Urban Scholars in Community Health (RUSCH) is a two-year premedical pathway program launched in 2009 for undergraduates at any Universities of Wisconsin campus who want to serve rural, urban and tribal communities in the state. It includes research and community summer experiences, health equity seminars, MD admissions workshops and MCAT preparation support, and it prepares students for WARM and TRIUMPH. If you are a UW System undergraduate, it is one of the most direct ways to learn what this school values.

Curriculum Overview

The University of Wisconsin’s MD program uses its ForWard Curriculum, launched in 2016. The school’s summary of the curriculum states: “The ForWard Curriculum replaces the traditional model of medical education – two years of basic science followed by two years of clinical experiences – with a three-phase model that fully integrates basic, public health and clinical sciences throughout our medical students’ education.”

Key features of the curriculum include:

• A competency-based curriculum requiring collaboration of medical educators across all years
• Ten critical “threads” woven throughout the program: ethics, evidence-based medicine, health information technology, interpersonal and communication skills, interprofessional health and team-based care, patient care, professionalism and lifelong learning, public health, quality improvement and patient safety, and scientific inquiry
• Intensive longitudinal coaching by some of the school’s best teaching faculty
• Team-based and interprofessional learning, including small-group Patient-Centered Education (PaCE) Cases
• Longitudinal, hands-on training in applying public health knowledge in clinical and community settings
• Earlier entry into clinical clerkships to encourage career exploration and competitiveness for residency

Phase 1: the first three semesters (18 months)

Phase 1 focuses on basic science while fully integrating clinical science and all ten threads. It is organized into thematic blocks:

• Patients, Professionalism and Public Health, which opens with “Faces of Patients,” introduces patient-centered care through real and standardized patient interviews, and covers health equity, the social history and the first encounter with human anatomy.
• Body in Balance, which follows the path of a red blood cell through blood, heart, lungs and kidneys.
• Food, Fasting and Fitness, on nutrition, digestion, metabolism and exercise.
• Human Family Tree, which follows a young couple and their family through fertility, pregnancy, childhood, adolescence, cancer and end of life.
• Invaders and Defense, on microbiology, immunology, infectious disease and dermatology.
• Mind and Motion, on musculoskeletal, neurologic, ophthalmologic and psychiatric medicine.

A centerpiece of Phase 1 is the weekly PaCE Case: students meet in small groups to work through a patient case that connects basic science with the threads. The sessions are student-centered and inquiry-based. Facilitators are not content experts. Their job is to keep the group on topic and give feedback, so students do most of the talking. During Phase 1, students also build doctoring skills in a three-semester outpatient preceptorship in Madison and surrounding counties, where most preceptors practice primary care. During the weeks students learn the cardiac exam in class, for example, they practice it at their preceptor’s clinic.

Phase 2: one year of clinical blocks

Phase 2 consists of four 12-week thematic blocks that can be completed in any order:

• Specialized Care of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Pediatric Patients, in pediatric primary care, labor and delivery, and obstetrics and gynecology.
• Chronic and Preventive Care, in primary care, behavioral health and community settings, with a 12-week community health engagement project.
• Acute Care, in emergency and inpatient ward settings, including following one patient from urgent admission through discharge.
• Surgical and Procedural Care, across the surgical specialties, anesthesia and procedural fields, including following one patient through the entire operative experience.

Each block lists required clinical experiences, from performing a bimanual pelvic exam to placing an intravenous catheter at least three times.

Phase 3: the last 16 months

Phase 3 is dedicated to specialty-specific competency development and preparation for residency. Students complete required inpatient and ambulatory acting internships, choose basic science and public health selectives, and build individualized elective plans. The fourth-year statewide preceptorship that Dean Bardeen started in 1926 remains part of UW medical education.

Coaching, houses and grading

Every student is paired with a Longitudinal Teacher/Coach (LTC), one of 35 practicing physician-faculty members who facilitate PaCE groups, lead clinical skills sessions with standardized patients and coach students across all phases. Students also belong to one of five houses in “the Neighborhood”: Bamforth, Bardeen, Gundersen, Middleton and McPherson. Each house has a practicing physician mentor who meets students at eight required touch points for academic and career advising, beginning in the fall of the first year. Current students describe pass/fail grading as one reason the environment feels collaborative.

How WARM, TRIUMPH and MSTP students move through the curriculum

• WARM students take Phase 1 in Madison with rural enrichment (rural preceptors, a rural health elective, summer externships and a one-week WARM Welcome), then move to their assigned site for Phases 2 and 3. They complete a community health project and rural “core days” that build skills such as suturing, laceration repair, casting and cardiac stress testing.
• TRIUMPH students start with a two-week Community and Public Health Enrichment Experience in Milwaukee in August before the second year, complete Phase 2 in Milwaukee beginning in January of the second year, and do most Phase 3 work there.
• MSTP students complete Phase 1 (18 months) and Phase 2 (12 months), then 3.5 to 4.5 years of graduate research with continuing clinic time, and finish with Phase 3 (12 to 16 months).

Key 2026-2027 calendar dates

For the current year, first-year classes began August 17, 2026, with the White Coat Ceremony on August 21, 2026. Match Day falls on March 19, 2027. Expect a similar mid-August start for the class entering in 2027.

Admissions Requirements and Application Process

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health has specific admissions requirements that applicants must meet to be considered. Applicants who do not meet the academic minimums or the citizenship rule will not receive a secondary application.

GPA and MCAT Requirements for UW School of Medicine

• GPA. The minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA is 3.0. Applicants below 3.0 may still receive a secondary if they have completed at least 12 credits of post-baccalaureate coursework in natural sciences (for example biology, biochemistry or physiology) with at least a 3.0 GPA in that coursework.
• MCAT. The lowest MCAT score accepted is 500. The last test date considered is August 22 of the year before you start, and the test must have been taken after January 1, four years before you start. For students entering in 2027, that means an MCAT taken after January 1, 2023 and no later than August 22, 2026.
• All scores count. The Admissions Committee considers all MCAT scores, but only one score needs to meet the minimum for you to receive a secondary.
• Pending scores. If you submit AMCAS before a score is released, list your future test dates. UW holds your application until the scores arrive. Once the committee reaches a decision, it will not consider additional MCAT scores that cycle, so decide whether you will retake before you apply.

Bachelor’s degree, citizenship and transfers

You must earn a bachelor’s degree in any discipline from an accredited college or university before starting the MD program. In rare cases, an admitted applicant who has completed another degree (such as a PharmD) may start without a bachelor’s degree. To receive a secondary, you must be a U.S. citizen, legal permanent resident, or have refugee, asylee or DACA status. Because the curriculum is integrated, UW does not accept transfer students. Everyone applies as a first-year student.

Required Coursework for UW School of Medicine

All prerequisites must be completed by the first day of class. You can apply while courses are in progress. The school’s guidance is that biology, chemistry and physics courses “should be taught at a level required for students majoring in science or engineering.”

A few course policies matter:

• Statistics. The requirement “may be satisfied through a wide variety of courses that include statistics topics and/or experiences that include implementation of statistics by the applicant.” Such courses and experiences must be documented and approved by the MD Admissions Office. Email [email protected] to ask whether a course or experience qualifies.
• Writing requirement. Strong written communication is critical to medicine, so UW requires an intensive writing course in a humanities or social science field. The course must be in those fields (no “science writing” courses), and a course where most of the grade came from written work rather than tests counts as writing-intensive. AP credit, foreign language courses, group writing projects and creative writing courses do not satisfy it, and the school may request a syllabus.
• AP, IB and CLEP. These exams may satisfy general biology, general chemistry, physics and statistics if your transcript clearly states the subject for which credit was granted.
• Pass/fail. UW accepts pass/fail grades for coursework completed during the pandemic, but encourages graded coursework, especially for prerequisites and all biology, chemistry, physics and math courses.
• Non-U.S. coursework. Coursework from non-U.S. institutions is accepted with a NACES-approved credential evaluation. The school strongly recommends at least two semesters of premedical courses at a U.S. college or university.

Volunteer Service and Clinical Experience

Patient-facing clinical experience and a record of service matter here. The selection criteria ask you to describe “opportunities that have provided experiential knowledge of medical practice, such as volunteering or working in clinical, patient-facing contexts.” The school’s own examples are:

• Working as a certified nursing assistant or emergency medical technician (EMT)
• Physician shadowing
• Volunteering in an assisted-living facility or a free clinic for underserved populations
• Medical scribing

Candidates who have worked in healthcare are well placed, because paid patient care shows you understand the daily work. For those without patient-facing employment, physician shadowing, clinical volunteering and supervised internships are practical ways to gain experience. Clinical internships for pre-med students that include hands-on tasks such as taking vitals can add depth to steady local work, but they should add to that work, not replace it.

Volunteer experience should be oriented around a cause you care about. Service that does not involve healthcare shows the admissions committee a commitment to others, not just to getting into medical school. Soup kitchens, literacy tutoring and environmental cleanup are all good examples. UW also lists leadership, laboratory, clinical or public health research, student and community organizations, and awards as evidence of the AAMC Premed Competencies.

University of Wisconsin Medical School Letters of Recommendation

To be competitive, you need letters from people who know you well and can speak to your integrity, interest in medicine, interpersonal skills, resilience and academic ability. All letters must be submitted through the AMCAS Letter Service, and your application is not complete until every letter arrives. UW accepts three formats and gives no preference among them. Choose only one:

• One committee letter and one individual letter from a nonacademic source. A committee letter is written by a pre-health committee or advisor to present an institution’s evaluation of you.
• One letter packet that includes letters from three faculty members and one letter from a nonacademic source. A packet is a set of letters assembled and sent by an institution, often its career center.
• Four individual letters: three academic or professional letters from faculty members or supervisors in a professional setting, and a fourth nonacademic letter from a mentor. This option is often chosen by nontraditional applicants who have been out of school for many years.

Academic or professional letters may come from faculty or supervisors in any discipline. Nonacademic letters may come from anyone you consider a mentor who can speak to your personal qualities. In the past, admitted applicants have used employers, volunteer coordinators, physicians they shadowed and community leaders. Letters should not come from family members or peers. A research lab supervisor can count as either academic or nonacademic. Recommenders should reference the AAMC’s Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students. If you are new to them, read our explainer on the AAMC Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students.

Program rules differ. WARM applicants need six letters (the four above plus two WARM letters from people who can attest to their rural potential), all received by November 20. MSTP applicants should include at least one letter from a research mentor and may submit up to seven letters, including a committee letter. Reapplicants should submit at least two new letters, one academic and one non-academic.

Does UW Medical School Require the CASPer Exam?

No. UW’s requirements pages do not list Casper, the AAMC PREview exam or any other situational judgment test for the MD program. Casper is an online test used by some medical schools to assess interpersonal and professional characteristics. UW is exploring PREview for future use, but PREview will not be used in 2026-2027 admissions decisions, and no additional assessment is required for admission. Check your secondary instructions each cycle in case this changes. The school does have technical standards for admission and graduation (observation, communication, motor function, intellectual abilities, and behavioral and social attributes), and applicants who expect to need accommodations are encouraged to contact the McBurney Disability Resource Center or the Technical Standards Director early.

AMCAS Primary Application and UW-M Medical School Secondary Application

The AMCAS is your primary application for almost every MD school, and the same primary goes to every school you choose. Our guide to applying to medical school with AMCAS covers it step by step. Once AMCAS receives your application and transcripts, it takes approximately four to six weeks before your application reaches UW. After verification, neither you nor UW can add or delete information.

Your application is complete when the application fee and all letters of recommendation have arrived. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of the Registrar confirms whether you are a Wisconsin resident or a non-resident, and it is your responsibility to monitor your status in the application portal.

After receiving your primary, UW sends a secondary application to applicants who meet the minimums. Secondary applications are school-specific and include questions the school believes help it judge fit. About 90% of applicants who apply through AMCAS receive one. The application fee is $75, and a fee waiver is available. The essays are covered in full in the secondary section below. If you’d like more clarification, check out our article on understanding the differences between primary and secondary applications.

While early applications are encouraged, the school says it is more important to submit the strongest application possible. That might mean waiting for more grades, starting or continuing activities that prepare you for medicine, and refining your personal statement. The school also states that “all applications received by the deadline receive equal consideration to earn an offer of admission.” WARM is different: applications are “reviewed by date of completion until the class is filled,” so early WARM applications are strongly encouraged.

Interviews, decisions and the alternate list

Interview notifications arrive by email and in the admissions portal. Interviews are virtual, and the format is described in the interview section below. After the interview there are three possible outcomes:

• Accepted. Complete the Acknowledgment of Acceptance form, finish any outstanding prerequisites and watch for an invitation to the spring Admitted Student Event.
• Alternate list. You receive a ranked alternate list position in early May.
• Denied. Your application receives no further consideration that cycle, and you are encouraged to reapply.

Acceptance notices go out from November 17, 2026 through July 30, 2027. UW has no Early Decision Program and does not charge a deposit. Instead, applicants offered admission must acknowledge the offer within 10 business days of receipt. Letters of intent, letters of interest and update letters may be submitted, but they have no bearing on the committee’s decisions at any stage of the cycle, including the alternate list.

Accepted applicants may choose “Plan to Enroll” from February 19 and are asked to narrow to three or fewer acceptances by April 15. “Commit to Enroll” opens April 30, and UW may rescind an offer if you still hold other acceptances after that date. The MD Admissions Office finalizes the class on June 1. Admitted students then confirm pending coursework by June 15, submit a background check and immunization records by July 1 and send official transcripts by July 15.

UW allows students to request one- or two-year deferrals, reviewed case by case, but only a limited number are approved each year, based on the rationale and goals in a letter to the MD Admissions Office. If you accept a deferral, you must withdraw from other schools.

2026-2027 timeline

If you are building experience for a future cycle, pre-med summer internships fit best in the summers before your application year, so that you can reflect on them in your AMCAS activities and the UW secondary.

Tuition, Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid

In addition to tuition and fees, UW medical students should budget for books, supplies, housing, food, transportation, health insurance and other living costs. The school describes its tuition as “one of the most cost-effective tuition rates in the United States” and says it ensures that “all accepted medical students who are eligible for federal financial aid can afford the MD program.”

Tuition and fees for 2026-27

UW-Madison bills medical school tuition by semester. The Universities of Wisconsin 2026-27 tuition schedule lists these rates for the first four years of medical school:

Non-residents pay $9,288 more in tuition per semester than Wisconsin residents. The schedule also notes that UW-Madison is eliminating blended tuition rates starting in fall 2026. The $75 application fee in the same schedule is the fee you pay with the secondary.

Cost of attendance

The full budget, including estimated living expenses, insurance and other costs, is published by the UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Aid on its Cost of Attendance page. Select “Medicine” in the cost of attendance breakdowns for the current estimates. Living costs in Madison are the same for residents and non-residents, so the difference between the two budgets comes almost entirely from tuition. Students in WARM and TRIUMPH should also plan for relocation to Green Bay, La Crosse, Marshfield or Milwaukee for the later phases.

These are first-year estimates for 2025-26, a year before the tuition rates above, so expect the 2026-27 budget to run somewhat higher. For a resident, living costs make up close to half of the first-year budget.

Financial wellness and loans

UW’s Financial Aid and Wellness advisors offer one-on-one phone and virtual appointments, small-group sessions in the first year, year-round webinars on budgeting, credit, loans and retirement, credit report reviews with UW Credit Union and a Physician Financial Wellness elective for fourth-year students. All financial aid that UW SMPH allocates is awarded on the basis of need. In 2024-25, 94% of enrolled and graduated students received financial aid, and indebted graduates left with an average medical school debt of $198,773. All financial aid applicants must file the FAFSA, ideally by March 1. Medical students do not need to provide parental information. Student loans are administered through the Office of Student Financial Aid.

Scholarships

• UW SMPH scholarships. All admitted Regular MD and WARM applicants are automatically considered. There is no separate application. The Admissions Scholarship Subcommittee meets throughout the cycle, and most awards go out in late winter and early spring. These scholarships are not included in the federal aid package.
• Donor scholarships after the first year. Students may apply for additional scholarships beginning in the spring semester of the first year, funded by medical alumni, friends and family. Some departments offer their own awards.
• WARM and TRIUMPH scholarships, mostly awarded to third- and fourth-year students for leadership, humanitarian instincts and public health activities.
• Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation loans and scholarships for students after the first year. The loans are interest-free during medical school.
• Wisconsin Tribal Educational Promise Program, which guarantees scholarships and grants to meet the full cost of in-state tuition and fees for Wisconsin residents who are enrolled members of federally recognized Wisconsin American Indian tribes and are pursuing a medical or law degree.
• MSTP: full tuition plus a stipend ($38,000 in the MD stage for 2026-2027).
• Research funding: the Shapiro Summer Research Program funds research after the first year, and the year-long SMPH research fellowship pays a stipend.
• Service scholarships: the National Health Service Corps and the U.S. Army and Navy Health Professions Scholarship programs often cover full tuition in exchange for service. Veterans may qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and Wisconsin veterans for the Wisconsin GI Bill.

Loan repayment

Several programs repay part or all of medical school loans after residency: the Wisconsin Health Professions Loan Assistance program, the Rural Physician Loan Assistance program (managed by the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health), the National Health Service Corps (including its Students to Service program), NIH Loan Repayment programs and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Campus Facilities and Student Life

UW’s health sciences campus sits on the west side of UW-Madison, with the Health Sciences Learning Center connected to University Hospital. One student describes liking that the health sciences buildings are “on one side of the expansive campus, directly connected to the hospital,” with easy access to the university’s libraries, student unions and athletics.

Facilities

On the west campus, students use the Clinical Science Center and University Hospital, the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, Ebling Library for the Health Sciences, American Family Children’s Hospital, the UW Medical Foundation Centennial Building, the Waisman Center and the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital. Central campus research buildings include the Medical Sciences Center, the DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Complex and the Genetics-Biotechnology Center. The school also runs a Clinical Simulation Program and a Clinical Teaching and Assessment Center.

Living in Madison

Madison is a lakeside state capital. The school calls it “a city for all seasons (yes, even winter),” and students mention the Memorial Union Terrace, the UW Arboretum, bike trails, the farmers market, live music and intramural sports. The school advises admitted students to settle in Madison well before classes begin in mid-August. Housing options include campus-area apartments, downtown living and UW Family and Graduate Housing. Plan for transportation, too: travel to clinical sites starts in the first year, so every student needs a valid U.S. driver’s license and access to transportation, and a vehicle is recommended.

Student support

• Student Academic Success Services (SASS): learning specialists for study skills, test anxiety, tutoring, exam review and USMLE preparation, plus the Med*STAR orientation before the first year.
• Academic and Career Advising Program: organized through the five houses, with one-on-one mentor meetings from the first week.
• Mental health: University Health Services counseling is covered by the student health fee with no cap on sessions, and dedicated psychologists work with health professions students.
• Student Services Office for academic success, career advising and involvement, led by the associate dean for students.
• Financial wellness advising and a Health Professions Student Emergency Support Fund.

Service opportunities

Service is part of the culture. MEDiC, founded in 1991 and an official program of the school since 2010, is a student-led organization that runs four free health clinics and partners with three others in the Madison area. Its clinics bring together medical, pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy and physician assistant students, which makes it one of the school’s most visible interprofessional experiences. Students can also join Doctors Ought to Care, which promotes healthy lifestyles among school-age children, and many other volunteering and mentoring programs through the Office of Community Service Programs. One 2026 graduate volunteered with Madison Street Medicine, a local nonprofit that fills gaps in health care and housing access.

Alumni network

As an MD student you can network with more than 8,000 alumni through the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association (WMAA), which also funds scholarships and student events such as Match Day.

Clinical Rotations and Research Opportunities

Where students train

Clinical training starts in Phase 1, with a three-semester outpatient preceptorship in Madison and surrounding counties. In Phases 2 and 3, students rotate at Madison sites and in La Crosse, Marshfield, Milwaukee and other Wisconsin communities. Hundreds of community physicians volunteer as faculty and mentors. At Gundersen in La Crosse, students in the traditional MD program complete third-year clerkships and fourth-year electives, and about half of each graduating class has spent a month or longer there. Fourth-year students may elect to spend an entire year at the Western Academic Campus.

Rural and urban sites

• WARM students do most of their clinical rotations, including the required inpatient and ambulatory acting internships, within the WARM network. Aurora BayCare students work in clinics in Sturgeon Bay, De Pere, New Franken, Two Rivers, Howards Grove, Sheboygan and Plymouth. Gundersen students may work in rural clinics in Viroqua, Sparta, Tomah, Whitehall and Decorah, Iowa, serving Plain People, Latinx migrant workers, Native American and Hmong communities. Marshfield students train from the specialty center in Marshfield to smaller sites such as Minocqua and Chippewa Falls. One WARM graduate describes “an incredible amount of one-on-one time with attending physicians,” including counseling patients and acting as first assist in the operating room.
• TRIUMPH students train at Advocate Aurora Health hospitals and clinics, community health centers, public health agencies and community organizations in Milwaukee. Community project partners have included Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers, the City of Milwaukee Health Department, Bread of Healing Clinic, Walnut Way, the Urban Ecology Center and Vivent Health.

Research for MD students

Research is “a vital component” of the school’s educational mission, and about 90% of students engage in it:

• Shapiro Summer Research Program: about 100 students spend eight to 10 weeks on mentored research between the first and second year, with any department, center or institute. Most projects do not require prior research experience.
• Department programs: the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health’s Summer Research and Clinical Assistantship Program (10 students, primary care research with clinical shadowing) and the Department of Surgery’s NIDDK-funded summer program (eight students).
• Medical Student Research Forum each November, before Thanksgiving.
• Research travel awards for more than 50 students a year.
• Year-long fellowships, including the SMPH Yearlong Medical Student Research Fellowship (typically one award each March, usually taken after Phase 2) and national programs from NIH, HHMI, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Sarnoff Foundation and the CDC.
• Path of Distinction in Research for students who build a substantial research portfolio.

Research strengths are broad. The school has the largest research commitment of any school or college at UW-Madison, with $226,483,977 in direct federal research grants and contracts in fiscal year 2024. It counts nine Nobel Prize awardees in physiology or medicine. James Thomson derived the first human embryonic stem cell lines here in 1998, Howard Temin discovered reverse transcriptase, and Folkert Belzer and James Southard developed the “UW Solution” for organ preservation. The school also hosts the Neighborhood Atlas, which maps socioeconomic disadvantage, a factor that can affect health outcomes.

Residency match

For the Class of 2026, 164 students matched to 24 specialties in 28 states, with 99% matched. Nearly 40% entered family medicine, internal medicine or pediatrics, and pediatrics rose from 5.3% of the class in 2022 to 10.4% in 2026. Sixteen students matched into anesthesiology. About one-third stayed in Wisconsin, in programs in Madison, Milwaukee, Waukesha and La Crosse.

Global health is a smaller part of the experience: 9% of graduating seniors on the 2025 AAMC Graduation Questionnaire reported a global health experience during medical school, as an elective or as a volunteer.

Notable Alumni, Faculty, Leadership and Admissions Staff

The people below are listed on the school’s own leadership, staff and program pages. Knowing who leads the school, who runs admissions and what its graduates have done helps you understand what UW values and gives you real examples to reference in your essays and interviews.

Leadership

Nita Ahuja, MD, MBA, Dean. Dr. Ahuja became dean of the School of Medicine and Public Health in 2025 and is also UW-Madison’s vice chancellor for medical affairs and the Robert Turell Distinguished Chair in Medical Leadership. A surgical oncologist and surgeon-scientist, she chaired Yale University’s Department of Surgery from 2018, the first woman to do so in its 200-year history. In announcing the school’s 2026 Tier 1 primary care ranking, she tied it to Wisconsin’s workforce needs, noting that about half of the state’s 72 counties contain primary care shortage areas. That is a useful frame for applicants writing about why they want to train here.

Elizabeth Petty, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Dr. Petty oversees the school’s health professions degree programs and guides graduate medical education, continuing medical education, global health and learner support. A board-certified geneticist and professor of pediatrics, she is also medical director of the genetic counselor training program. She earned her MD at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, trained in pediatrics at UW Health and was a professor at the University of Michigan before returning. She co-led the school’s 2026 LCME reaccreditation.

Gwen McIntosh, MD, MPH, Associate Dean for Students. Dr. McIntosh leads student services, including academic success, visiting students, technical standards and accommodations, the house mentor system, career advising and wellness. A general pediatrician and professor of pediatrics, she earned her MD at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and joined the faculty in 2000. She has described primary care physicians as “the first stop for patients in the health care system.”

Admissions

David Tillman, MD, Associate Dean for Admissions. Dr. Tillman leads the MD program’s Office of Admissions, including pathway programs, recruitment, enrollment management and strategic planning. He has been on the faculty of the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine since 2016 and still works as an emergency physician and UW Health Med Flight physician. He earned his undergraduate degree in neurobiology at UW-Madison, attended The Ohio State University College of Medicine and completed his residency and a medical education fellowship at UW. Before joining admissions he directed medical student education for emergency medicine.

Erin Myszkowski, EdD, Director of MD Admissions. Dr. Myszkowski is responsible for admissions processes and policies. The MD Admissions Office also includes an application and interview coordinator, a recruitment coordinator who runs admissions events and an Admissions Committee coordinator. The school notes that admissions staff support the committee but do not vote: “all decisions are made by the Admissions Committee.”

Faculty

Shobhina G. Chheda, MD, MPH, Associate Dean for Medical Education. Dr. Chheda is responsible for the medical student curriculum and assessment. Her office launched the ForWard Curriculum in 2016, including the development of the faculty who serve as Longitudinal Teacher/Coaches. A professor of medicine and pediatrics who practices general internal medicine at UW Health West Clinic, she was named the 2025 American College of Physicians Wisconsin Internist of the Year. If you want to understand why the curriculum looks the way it does, she is the person behind it.

Jeniel Nett, MD, PhD, Interim Director of the MSTP. Dr. Nett is a physician-scientist in infectious diseases whose lab studies host-pathogen interactions and biofilm formation in the fungal pathogens Candida auris and Candida albicans. She completed her PhD at UW-Madison in 2009 and her clinical training at UW, and became an MSTP associate director in 2021. MD-PhD applicants will meet the program she now leads.

Kelly Herold, MD, Director of the Longitudinal Teacher/Coach Program. Dr. Herold practices general internal medicine at UW West Clinic and directs the LTC program that pairs each student with a physician coach. She says she loves “seeing students grow in their patient care skills, medical knowledge, and as people over the four years of medical school.”

Alumni

Jonathan Temte, MD, PhD, MS. Dr. Temte earned his medical degree from the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and a PhD in zoology from UW-Madison. He is now the school’s associate dean for public health and community engagement, a professor of family medicine and community health and a family physician at Access Community Health Centers. An expert in vaccine policy, he was the first family physician to chair the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (2012 to 2015). He chairs the Wisconsin Council on Immunization Practices and serves as medical director for Public Health Madison & Dane County. His career is a clear example of the medicine-and-public-health model in practice.

Amy J.H. Kind, MD, PhD. Dr. Kind earned her MD at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health in 2001 and a PhD in population health sciences there in 2011. She is the associate dean for social health sciences and programs, founding director of the Center for Health Disparities Research and faculty executive director of the Wisconsin Partnership Program. A geriatrician focused on Alzheimer’s disease, she is an international leader in health disparities research and has received the NIH Beeson Award.

Alice McPherson, MD (Class of 1951). Dr. McPherson, who died in 2023, was a world-renowned retina specialist. She pioneered treatments for retinal disease, including laser photocoagulation, helped develop vitrectomy procedures, founded the Retina Research Foundation in 1969 and co-founded the McPherson Eye Research Institute at UW-Madison in 2005. She received the Gonin Medal in 2014, the most prestigious award in her field. One of the school’s five houses carries her name.

Recent graduates. TRIUMPH alumni include DeMarco Bowen, MD, MPH, whose community project was with a special-needs nursery, and KaHoua Yang, MD, whose research on a Milwaukee farmers market program that doubles FoodShare dollars helped earn a grant to extend it. Kenyana Tyiska, MD ’26, put the program’s lesson simply: “medical care alone is not enough. Even with the right diagnosis, treatment and follow-up plan, it’s factors like stable housing and access to food that often determine whether a patient gets better.”

Admissions Statistics and Class Profile

The University of Wisconsin publishes a short profile of each entering class. For the Entering Class of 2026:

Accepted-applicant and interview data for the 2025 entering class fill in what the school’s short profile leaves out:

How to read these numbers

• Denominators. The 7,968 figure counts applications. Interviews were 586, so about 7.4% of applications led to an interview. That is an interview ratio. The school does not publish how many applicants received offers, so no true acceptance rate can be calculated, and matriculants divided by applicants is not an acceptance rate.
• Residency mix. About 66% of the class (113 of 171) were Wisconsin residents. For the 2025 entering class, 322 Wisconsin residents and 270 out-of-state applicants were interviewed, and no international applicants. Because most applications come from outside Wisconsin while most seats go to residents, out-of-state applicants face steeper odds at the interview stage and after it.
• Averages and medians. The 511 MCAT and 3.81 GPA are averages for students who enrolled in 2026. Averages can be pulled up or down by a few very high or very low scores, so the medians for 2025 accepted applicants (512 MCAT, 3.87 GPA) are a steadier picture of the middle of the admitted group. Treat both as a rough center of the class, not a target. Applicants below these figures are admitted every year, and applicants above them are turned down.
• Experience. Nearly every 2025 matriculant reported physician shadowing (94%) and research (93%), and more than four in five reported paid clinical work (82%). UW sets no minimum shadowing hours, but it values shadowing and direct patient care roles such as CNA, EMT, scribe or medical interpreter work.
• Age. A range of 21 to 42 shows that the class includes many students who came to medicine after other work.

MSTP numbers

The MSTP publishes the averages of applicants it invited to interview. For 2023-2024 they were a 3.87 GPA (plus or minus 0.14) and a 516 MCAT (plus or minus 6.7), similar to the 3.85 to 3.88 GPAs and 516 to 517 MCATs of the previous four cycles. The program receives about 360 applications a year for eight to 10 seats.

What the profile does not show

Neither the school’s profile nor the national data set reports applications by residency, acceptance offers or waitlist movement, and the alternate list size varies from year to year. Use the averages to judge whether your record is in the range of recent classes, and use the residency split to judge how competitive your seat will be. Then put most of your effort into the parts of the application the numbers cannot capture: mission fit, sustained patient-facing work and the secondary essays.

Tips and Strategies for Admission

Grades, MCAT scores, internships: what exactly does the UW School of Medicine and Public Health look at? Like most medical schools, UW uses a holistic review, an evaluation of your entire application that tries to see who you are, your strengths and weaknesses, and how you will perform in medical school. The AAMC’s Premed Competencies for Entering Medical Students frame the review, and the school uses them explicitly in its secondary. Here is how to translate UW’s stated criteria into an application.

1. Lead with mission alignment

UW looks for applicants “whose aspirations are consistent with the school’s mission and who articulate how training at UW will further their goals.” Read the mission, vision and values, then pick two or three specific features of the school that connect to your goals: the public health thread, PaCE Cases, the LTC program, MEDiC, the Shapiro program, a Path of Distinction, WARM or TRIUMPH. Generic praise for “a great reputation” does not show alignment. A sentence explaining why the public health thread matters for the patients you want to serve does.

2. Show Wisconsin connections, or explain why UW

A majority of every class are Wisconsin residents. If you are a resident, show what you know about health in your region, whether that is a rural county with a long drive to care or a Milwaukee neighborhood with a gap in health outcomes. If you are not, the school still encourages “strong applicants from throughout the United States,” so explain your specific reasons. Residents of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota should also look closely at WARM.

3. Build sustained patient-facing experience

UW’s own examples of motivation are CNA or EMT work, shadowing, assisted-living or free-clinic volunteering, and scribing. These are steady, hands-on roles. A year as a CNA or EMT will usually say more about your motivation than a long list of short activities. While essays help explain why you chose medicine, your experiences will speak louder. Supervised care in pre-med internships abroad can add perspective on care with limited resources, but it should add to, not replace, local experience.

4. Make the competencies visible

The secondary asks you to describe growth in one of 11 professional competencies. Before you write it, map your experiences against the list: commitment to growth and learning, empathy and compassion, ethical responsibility to self and others, interpersonal skills, oral communication, reliability and dependability, resilience and adaptability, self-awareness, service orientation, teamwork and collaboration, and understanding others. Tell your letter writers which competencies they have seen in you, since UW asks recommenders to reference them.

5. Have a population-level interest

The fourth secondary essay asks about a broader issue or policy that affects health outcomes and the role you hope to play as a physician. Applicants who have worked in public health, policy, community organizing or research on social conditions have an advantage here, but you do not need a public health degree. You need one issue you understand well and an honest view of what a physician can do about it.

6. Plan your timing around the rules

Take the MCAT early enough to have your score before you apply, since UW holds your file until scores arrive and will not consider new scores after a decision. Choose your track before you submit the secondary, because you cannot switch afterward. If you are applying to WARM, finish early: WARM reviews applications by completion date.

7. Use letters strategically

Pick one of the three letter formats and make sure your nonacademic writer is a true mentor, not a family member or friend. If you are applying to WARM, line up two additional writers who have seen you in a rural context, such as a rural physician you shadowed, a coach or a community leader.

8. If you are reapplying

UW’s committee does not see your previous application, and it will ask what has changed. Most reapplicants need to improve GPA, MCAT or medical exposure. Meet with a pre-health advisor or UW’s admissions advisor (by emailing [email protected]), commit to a real improvement plan and submit at least two new letters. A structured year of clinical work, research or service, including pre-med gap year programs that add supervised clinical experience, can give you concrete changes to report.

If you want help with any step, our medical school admissions consulting team works with applicants on strategy, essays and interviews.

Secondary Application Questions, Example Responses and Analysis

The secondary application is a critical opportunity. It is where you express your character, motivation and fit for UW specifically. Here is what to expect for 2026-2027.

The UW secondary at a glance:

• Who receives it: applicants who meet the 3.0 GPA and 500 MCAT minimums (or the post-baccalaureate exception) and the citizenship rule. About 90% of AMCAS applicants receive one.
• Fee: $75, with a fee waiver available.
• Deadline: November 1, 2026 for Regular MD and MSTP; November 20, 2026 for WARM.
• Essays for 2026-2027: four essays for all applicants (one of 500 words and three of 250 words), plus a 500-word statement for reapplicants.
• Also in the secondary: an optional explanation field for institutional actions or criminal offenses, a question about MD-MPH interest, and, for MSTP applicants, MSTP-specific questions about research interests and UW graduate programs. The MSTP essay set and its limits are not published for this cycle, so write to the limits shown in your portal. MSTP applicants may also upload published papers.

The 2026-2027 essays keep the mission-fit, competency and failure questions from last year. The fourth essay was reworded: it now begins with how individual and population health “flow from the intersections” of outcomes and systemic factors. The reapplicant statement asks you to explain any change of pathway, such as moving from Regular MD to WARM.

Here are some tips for submitting a strong secondary:

• Pay close attention to each prompt and answer every part of it.
• Use concrete examples from your academic, extracurricular and professional experiences.
• Do not repeat your AMCAS. Include relevant experiences that were not mentioned or not fully explained there.
• Proofread and edit thoroughly. Cut any sentence that does not add to your message. Use your space wisely.
• Return the secondary within about two weeks of receiving it.

Every example below is an Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay. Each was written from scratch to show structure and reflection, and the applicant details are invented for teaching. Do not copy them. Your answers must describe your own experiences. Whether you need help with one question or the whole secondary, essay review is part of our medical school admissions consulting. Our medical school secondary essay prompts database collects prompts from other schools if you are writing several secondaries at once.

Essay #1: Mission fit

“The Admissions Committee is committed to comprehensive, mission-aligned evaluation of all applicants. Review our institution’s mission. Using specific examples, discuss how and why you believe you are a good fit for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. (500 words max.)”

Limit: 500 words. Who answers: all applicants.

What it asks. Two things: how you fit and why you fit, both supported by specific examples. The prompt tells you to review the mission first, so the committee expects you to engage with its actual language: health and health equity, service to patients and communities, education and research. This is the essay that replaced the older open “tell us anything” prompt, and it is now directly tied to UW’s mission.

How to approach it. Pick two or three experiences that show the mission in action in your own life, then connect each to a specific part of UW. Spend roughly half the essay on your experiences and half on what you will do at UW and after. Name real programs, but only ones you can explain. If you are not a Wisconsin resident, this is the natural place to say why UW.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (459 words):

The first patient I ever transported at our hospital in Wausau asked me to slow down. She was eighty-one, on her way to imaging, and she wanted to know whether her husband had been told where she was going. I did not know. I pushed her chair back to the nurses’ station, found out, and called him from the hall phone. It took six minutes. It was also the first time I understood that good care depends on small decisions made by people who are paying attention.

I have worked as a patient transporter for two years while finishing my degree. The job taught me how a hospital runs from the hallway: who waits, who gets lost and who leaves without understanding their discharge papers. Many of our patients drive more than an hour from Lincoln, Marathon and Langlade counties. When I started volunteering at a free clinic in Wausau, I met the same people again, often because they could not afford a follow-up visit or did not have a ride.

UW’s mission names health and health equity together, and that is the reason I am applying. At the clinic I helped a nurse build a ride list of volunteer drivers. In six months, missed appointments among our diabetes patients fell from about one in four to one in eight. The change came from a schedule, a spreadsheet and eleven retirees with cars, not from a new medication. I want to train where that kind of problem is treated as part of medicine.

The ForWard Curriculum’s public health thread would give me the tools I lacked. I could tell that rides mattered, but I could not design a study to prove it or explain it to the clinic board in terms they could fund. Through the Path of Distinction in Public Health and a summer project after my first year, I hope to learn how to evaluate an intervention like ours properly. I also want to volunteer with MEDiC, because working beside pharmacy, nursing and physician assistant students in a free clinic is the closest thing to the team I hope to lead someday.

I am drawn to PaCE Cases for a more personal reason. I learn best by talking problems through, and my best moments at the clinic happened when a nurse asked me what I had noticed before telling me what she saw. A small group where students do most of the talking, with a coach who knows me for four years, fits the way I grow.

I plan to practice in central Wisconsin. I want to be the physician who knows that a missed appointment can be a transportation problem, and who has the training to fix it for more than one patient at a time.

Why it works. It answers both halves of the prompt. The “how” is shown through two connected experiences (transport work and the free clinic) with a measurable result the applicant helped create. The “why” ties those experiences to specific, verified UW features: the mission’s pairing of health and health equity, the public health thread, the Path of Distinction in Public Health, MEDiC’s interprofessional clinics, PaCE Cases and the Longitudinal Teacher/Coach. The ending connects the applicant’s goals to Wisconsin without flattering the school.

Mistakes to avoid. Copying the mission statement back without examples. Listing every UW program you have heard of. Writing about why medicine in general instead of why UW. Describing an experience with no reflection on what it taught you. Claiming a commitment to Wisconsin you cannot support with your history or plans.

Essay #2: Premed competency growth

“UW SMPH uses the AAMC’s Premed Competencies for Entering Medical Students as an applicant evaluation framework. Choose one of the professional competencies from the drop-down list where you have experienced growth. Using specific examples, describe your development in this competency. (250 words max.)”

Limit: 250 words. Who answers: all applicants. Drop-down options: commitment to growth and learning; empathy and compassion; ethical responsibility to self and others; interpersonal skills; oral communication; reliability and dependability; resilience and adaptability; self-awareness; service orientation; teamwork and collaboration; understanding others.

What it asks. The key word is “growth.” The committee is not asking for the competency you are best at. It wants to see where you started, what changed and the evidence that you developed. “Using specific examples” means at least one concrete scene, ideally two that show before and after.

How to approach it. Choose a competency where you can honestly describe a weaker starting point. Open with a moment that shows that starting point, explain what prompted change, then show a later moment where you acted differently. With 250 words, one short story with a clear turn is enough.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (Teamwork and collaboration, 222 words):

As an EMT on a volunteer ambulance service in Sauk County, I thought teamwork meant doing my own job fast. On one of my first calls, a fall at a farmhouse, I started a full assessment while my partner was still setting up the cot. I asked the patient the same questions she had already answered. Later my crew chief told me, kindly, that the patient had looked from one of us to the other trying to figure out who was in charge.

After that call I asked to run through our roles out loud on the drive to every scene: who talks to the patient, who takes vitals, who handles the family. It felt awkward at first. Within a few months our crew was doing it without being asked, and our handoffs at the hospital became shorter and clearer because we had already agreed who would give the report.

The real test came last winter, on a cardiac arrest with a first responder from the fire department who had never worked with us. I took thirty seconds to assign compressions, airway and the monitor before we started. The patient regained a pulse before we reached the hospital. I no longer think of teamwork as speed. I think of it as deciding together, early, so that everyone can do one job well.

Why it works. It names the competency, shows a believable weak starting point and identifies what triggered the change (a specific piece of feedback). The middle shows a new habit and its effect, and the closing scene proves the growth in a higher-stakes setting. The last two sentences state the lesson in the applicant’s own words, which answers “describe your development.”

Mistakes to avoid. Picking a competency and then describing a strength you always had. Using abstract claims (“I learned the value of teamwork”) without a scene. Spending all 250 words on the story with no reflection. Choosing the same story you used in your personal statement.

Essay #3: Favorite failure

“Reflect on a time when a failure, or an apparent failure, set you up for later success. Do you have a favorite failure that you now see as a pivotal moment in your personal or professional growth? (250 words max.)”

Limit: 250 words. Who answers: all applicants.

What it asks. A real failure (or something that looked like one), what it later made possible and why you now see it as pivotal. “Favorite” invites some warmth or humor: the committee wants to see that you can look back on a setback with perspective rather than defensiveness.

How to approach it. Pick a failure with real stakes that you caused or contributed to. Describe it briefly and honestly, spend most of your words on what you did next, and end with the later success that the failure set up. Avoid disguised successes.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (217 words):

My favorite failure is a research poster no one read. As a sophomore working in a soil microbiology lab, I spent a semester on a project about nitrogen-fixing bacteria and presented it at our undergraduate symposium. I had packed the poster with every graph I had made. Over two hours, three people stopped. One was my roommate.

I was embarrassed, and for a week I blamed the topic. Then my mentor asked me to explain the project to her in one minute, with no slides. I could not do it. I had collected data without ever deciding what question mattered most.

That conversation changed how I work. Before my next project, on antibiotic resistance genes in farm runoff, I wrote a single sentence stating the question and taped it above my bench. Every experiment had to answer it. I also started practicing explanations on friends outside science, including my grandfather, who farms near Platteville and has strong opinions about runoff.

The second poster was half as crowded with graphs and drew a steady line of visitors, including two county extension agents who asked for a copy. More important, I now start every project, in the lab or anywhere else, by asking what I am actually trying to learn. I expect to use that habit with every patient.

Why it works. The failure is real, specific and a little funny, which fits “favorite.” The applicant takes responsibility instead of blaming the topic for long. A mentor’s question supplies the turning point, and the essay shows concrete changes (one-sentence question, plain-language practice) followed by a measurable later success. The last line connects the lesson to clinical work in one sentence without overreaching.

Mistakes to avoid. Choosing a failure that is really a success (“I got a B+”). Choosing something so serious that 250 words cannot handle it responsibly. Spending most of the essay on the failure itself. Ending without explaining how it set up a later success.

Essay #4: A broader issue or policy that affects health

“Individual and population health flow from the intersections between healthcare outcomes, sociopolitical factors, economic, historical and other systemic factors. Choose a broader issue or policy that impacts health outcomes where you believe change is needed. Discuss the role you hope to play as a physician in addressing this issue. (250 words max).”

Limit: 250 words. Who answers: all applicants.

What it asks. Three things: name a broader issue or policy, show that you understand why it affects health outcomes, and describe the role you hope to play as a physician. The opening sentence signals that UW wants you to think beyond a single patient. Your role should be realistic for a physician, not a sweeping plan to fix the system alone.

How to approach it. Choose one issue you know from experience or study. Spend about a third of the essay explaining the issue with a concrete example, a third on why it matters for health, and a third on your role: clinical, advocacy, research, teaching or community work. For UW, the public health thread, TRIUMPH, WARM or a Path of Distinction can be part of your role, but the focus should stay on the issue.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (213 words):

When I was in high school, the hospital in my county stopped delivering babies. The nearest labor and delivery unit is now fifty minutes away in good weather. My cousin gave birth in a car on the shoulder of the highway, with a sheriff’s deputy and a 911 dispatcher talking her through it. She and her son were fine. Not every family is so lucky.

Closing obstetric units is a business decision, but it is also a health policy problem. When delivery services leave a rural area, prenatal visits often move with them, and women who already face long drives, unpredictable work schedules and winter roads start skipping care. Small hospitals struggle to staff a unit for a modest number of births, and the communities that lose them are often the ones with the fewest alternatives.

I hope to become a family physician who provides obstetric care in a rural community. In practice, that means being one of the doctors who make a small unit possible to staff. I also want to collect and share local data, since decisions about service lines are made with numbers, and rural communities need physicians who can bring outcomes evidence to hospital boards and state policymakers. Training in a rural track would prepare me for both roles.

Why it works. It names a specific issue, grounds it in a personal story and then explains the mechanism linking the policy to health outcomes (lost prenatal care, distance, weather, staffing). The role is concrete and realistic: providing rural obstetric care and bringing data to decision-makers. It mentions a rural track without turning the essay into a WARM application, and it avoids statistics the applicant could not source.

Mistakes to avoid. Choosing an issue so broad (“health care is too expensive”) that you cannot say anything specific. Lecturing with statistics and no personal insight. Describing a role that a physician could not realistically play. Forgetting the second half of the prompt, your own role.

Essay #5: Reapplicant statement

“Individuals reapplying are required to submit a statement indicating what has changed since the previous application to the UW School of Medicine and Public Health MD or MD/PhD program (e.g., additional academic work, new letters of recommendation, work and volunteer experience, life changes, etc.). If switching application pathway (e.g. to WARM from regular MD or from regular MD to MD/PhD), please explain the decision/change. (500 words max)”

Limit: 500 words. Who answers: reapplicants to the UW MD or MD-PhD program only (required for them).

What it asks. What has changed since your last application, with the prompt’s own examples as a checklist: academic work, new letters, work and volunteer experience and life changes. If you are switching pathways, you must also explain why. Remember that the committee cannot see your previous application, so state the changes plainly instead of assuming they know your old file.

How to approach it. Start with an honest, brief assessment of what was weak. Then go through each change with specifics (dates, hours, grades, roles). If you are switching pathways, explain the decision with evidence that it is well grounded, not a strategic guess. End with what the changes mean for your readiness.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (Regular MD to WARM, 436 words):

When I applied to UW last cycle, my application had a strong academic record and a thin clinical one. I had 120 hours of hospital volunteering, mostly at an information desk, and my letters came from three science professors and a lab supervisor. After I was not admitted, I met with my pre-health advisor and with the UW admissions advisor, and both pointed to the same gap: I could describe medicine, but I had not done much of it.

Since then I have worked full-time as a certified nursing assistant at a critical access hospital in Richland Center. Over fourteen months I have logged about 2,300 hours on a medical-surgical unit that also takes swing-bed patients recovering from surgery in Madison. I bathe, turn and feed patients, take vitals, and sit with families when the nurse is busy with an admission. I also completed an online medical Spanish course this spring because several of our patients’ families are more comfortable in Spanish.

I submitted two new letters. One is from the charge nurse who trained me, and the other is from a family physician I have shadowed for about sixty hours in the hospital’s outpatient clinic. I also resubmitted one updated letter from my research mentor.

I am switching from Regular MD to the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine, and I want to explain why this is not a strategy change. Last year I said I was interested in primary care. I now know what kind. At our hospital, one family physician may see clinic patients in the morning, round on the inpatient unit at lunch and cover the emergency department at night. I watched her diagnose a stroke in a patient who had driven himself in, start treatment and arrange a helicopter transfer within an hour. I want to be that physician for a community like this one.

I also learned what a rural life asks. I have worked holidays because there was no one else, driven to shifts on roads that had not been plowed, and been recognized at the grocery store by patients. My partner and I have talked through what a WARM site placement would mean for us, and we are ready to live in Green Bay, La Crosse or Marshfield for the later phases. I have kept volunteering with my township’s fire department as a first responder.

My academic record is the same, but I am a different applicant. Last cycle I wrote about wanting to help people. This cycle I can describe the specific patients I helped, the doctor I hope to become and the community I hope to serve.

Why it works. It follows the prompt’s checklist in order: honest assessment, new work and volunteer experience with numbers, new coursework, new and updated letters, and the pathway switch. The WARM explanation is grounded in real experience of rural practice and addresses WARM’s stated criteria (rural connection, desire to fill an unmet need, preference for rural life, family support and community involvement) without listing them mechanically. The closing line contrasts last year’s general intent with this year’s specific readiness.

Mistakes to avoid. Blaming the previous outcome on the committee. Listing changes without numbers or dates. Switching to WARM or MD-PhD without evidence of real interest. Assuming the committee remembers your old application. Leaving a weak area unaddressed.

Writing tips for the whole secondary

• Avoid repetition across essays. Use different experiences for the mission, competency, failure and issue essays wherever you can. Together they should show four sides of you.
• Keep Wisconsin and UW specific, but honest. Name programs you can explain, and do not invent connections to the state.
• Count your words. The limits are firm. A 250-word essay is short, so cut background and get to the scene quickly.
• Use the optional fields only when needed. If you have an institutional action or criminal offense to explain, be brief, factual and focused on what you learned.

Interview Format and Preparation

The format

For the 2026-2027 cycle, UW interviews are virtual, held on Zoom, and all live sessions are interactive. Regular MD interviewees have one-on-one interviews of 30 minutes with faculty or alumni, plus a small-group discussion or interview. Invited applicants receive a detailed agenda. Interview invitations begin in early September, and there are no regional interviews. Interview times and components vary between the Regular MD, Rural MD (WARM) and MSTP programs:

• WARM applicants who are selected have a separate WARM interview.
• MSTP applicants typically have four interviews between November and February. Interviews are virtual, and MSTP uses rolling admissions. Accepted MSTP applicants are invited to an in-person Admitted Student Visit Day in spring.

Beyond the interviews, the day includes sessions on the ForWard Curriculum, student life, facilities, research and life in Madison, and informal time with current medical students. For MSTP applicants, the Admissions Committee performs a final review of the application after the interview.

How to prepare

1. Know your application. One-on-one interviewers may ask about anything in your AMCAS and secondary. Reread both, and be ready to expand on your mission-fit and issue essays in particular.
2. Prepare for the small-group discussion. Group formats test how you listen, build on others’ ideas and push back respectfully. Practice discussing a health policy topic with two or three friends and notice whether you are talking more than your share.
3. Practice the competencies. Expect behavioral questions such as “Tell me about a time you worked on a team that struggled” or “Describe a time you had to adapt quickly.” Answer with a specific situation, your action and the result.
4. Prepare a “why UW” answer that names specific features, such as the public health thread, PaCE Cases, the LTC program, MEDiC, WARM or TRIUMPH, and connects them to your goals.
5. Test your technology. Use a stable connection, a quiet room, good lighting and a camera at eye level. Treat it like an in-person interview in dress and focus.
6. Ask good questions. Use the student sessions to learn about TRIUMPH, house life, Statewide Campus rotations and research.

For practice, review our list of the most common medical school interview questions. Mock interviews are also part of our admissions consulting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health a good medical school?

Yes. It is the nation’s first integrated school of medicine and public health, is fully accredited by the LCME, and was ranked Tier 1 for primary care and Tier 2 for research in the 2026 U.S. News rankings, as well as 18th for graduates practicing in rural areas. For the Class of 2026, 99% of graduates matched. Whether it is good for you depends on whether you want a curriculum that weaves public health into medicine and training that spreads across Wisconsin.

What is the acceptance rate at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health?

The school does not publish the number of acceptance offers, so no true acceptance rate exists. For the 2026 entering class, it received 7,968 applications, held 586 interviews and enrolled 171 students. About 7.4% of applications led to an interview. Dividing enrolled students by applications is not an acceptance rate, because some admitted applicants choose other schools.

What GPA and MCAT do I need for UW medical school?

The minimums are a 3.0 cumulative undergraduate GPA and a 500 MCAT. Applicants under 3.0 can still receive a secondary with at least 12 post-baccalaureate natural science credits at a 3.0 or higher. The 2026 entering class averaged a 3.81 GPA, a 3.74 science GPA and a 511 MCAT, and accepted applicants for the 2025 entering class had a median 3.87 GPA and 512 MCAT. Aim to be competitive with those figures while knowing they are not cutoffs.

How old can my MCAT score be?

Your MCAT must be taken after January 1, four years before you start medical school, and no later than August 22 of the year before you start. For students entering in 2027, that is after January 1, 2023 and by August 22, 2026. All of your scores are considered, and only one needs to meet the 500 minimum.

Is it hard to get into UW medical school as an out-of-state applicant?

It is harder. A majority of every class are Wisconsin residents, and in the 2026 entering class 58 of 171 students came from out of state. For the 2025 entering class, UW interviewed 270 out-of-state applicants and 322 Wisconsin residents. The school still encourages strong applicants from throughout the United States. Show specific reasons for choosing UW, and if you live in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan or Minnesota, consider WARM, which is open to residents of those states.

Does UW medical school require Casper or PREview?

No. UW’s MD requirements do not list Casper, PREview or another situational judgment test. UW is exploring PREview for future use, but it will not be used in 2026-2027 admissions decisions. You need the MCAT, the prerequisites, letters through AMCAS and the secondary application. Check your secondary instructions each year in case requirements change.

Can DACA recipients or international students apply?

DACA recipients can apply. To receive a secondary, you must be a U.S. citizen, legal permanent resident, or have refugee, asylee or DACA status. International applicants without one of those statuses are not eligible for the MD program, and the MSTP likewise excludes international students.

What is the difference between WARM and TRIUMPH?

WARM is the Rural MD program. You apply to it through AMCAS, it is limited to legal residents of Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota, and students spend 28 months at Green Bay, La Crosse or Marshfield. TRIUMPH is the urban track. Current UW medical students apply during their first year, and selected students spend 2.5 years training in Milwaukee with a community health project.

Does UW offer MD-PhD or MD-MPH programs?

Yes. The Medical Scientist Training Program (MD-PhD) usually takes seven to eight years and is fully funded, with a $38,000 stipend in the MD stage for 2026-2027. The MD-MPH takes five years, with the MPH year before medical school or between the third and fourth years. You can indicate MD-MPH interest on the secondary or apply during your first three years.

How much is tuition at UW School of Medicine and Public Health?

For 2026-27, tuition and segregated fees are $22,749.89 per semester for Wisconsin residents and $32,037.89 per semester for non-residents, or $45,499.78 and $64,075.78 for two semesters. Living costs, insurance and supplies are extra and are listed on the UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Aid’s cost of attendance page. For 2025-26, the full first-year cost of attendance was $78,665 for Wisconsin residents and $97,464 for non-residents.

Does UW medical school use pass/fail grading?

Current students describe the grading system as pass/fail and credit it with reducing stress, encouraging collaboration and allowing a healthier school-life balance. The curriculum itself is competency-based, with skills built in a planned sequence across all three phases.

What kind of clinical experience does UW want?

UW wants patient-facing experience that shows you understand medical practice. Its own examples are working as a CNA or EMT, physician shadowing, volunteering in an assisted-living facility or free clinic, and medical scribing. Sustained roles count more than short ones. Supervised medical internships for undergraduates can add to steady local experience, but they should not replace it.

Can I defer my admission?

Yes, in limited cases. UW allows requests for one- or two-year deferrals, approved based on the rationale and goals in a letter to the MD Admissions Office. Only a limited number are approved each year, and accepting a deferral means withdrawing acceptances at other schools.

Does UW medical school require a deposit or offer Early Decision?

No to both. UW does not participate in the Early Decision Program and does not charge a deposit. Applicants offered admission must acknowledge the offer within 10 business days of receipt. Acceptance notices for the 2027 entering class go out from November 17, 2026 through July 30, 2027.

Is there a secondary application fee waiver?

Yes. The secondary fee is $75, and a fee waiver is available. The secondary goes to applicants who meet the 3.0 GPA and 500 MCAT minimums and the citizenship rule.

How much debt do UW medical graduates have?

In 2024-25, indebted graduates left with an average medical school debt of $198,773, and 94% of enrolled and graduated students received financial aid. All aid the school allocates is need-based, and loan repayment programs for Wisconsin, rural and public service practice can reduce debt after residency.

Does UW accept transfer students?

No. Because of its integrated curriculum, UW does not accept transfer students. Every applicant to the MD program applies as a first-year student.

How do I reapply to UW medical school?

Reapply through AMCAS and complete the 500-word reapplicant statement in the secondary. The committee will not see your earlier application, so explain what has changed. Submit at least two new letters (one academic, one non-academic), and if you are switching pathways, such as to WARM, explain why. UW’s admissions advisor can meet with reapplicants by appointment.

What are the class sizes and where do students come from?

The 2026 entering class had 171 students, including 113 Wisconsin residents and 58 from out of state. The most common states of residence were Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, the most common majors were biology, biochemistry and neurobiology, and ages ranged from 21 to 42.

Related Medical School Guides

The University of Wisconsin is a great school. It’s great if you want to apply, and it will be fantastic if you get in. But with 171 seats and a strong preference for Wisconsin residents, there’s no guarantee, so apply to several medical schools. Each application you submit increases your chances of getting into medical school.

These guides to other Midwest schools are good places to start:

• Medical College of Wisconsin: the state’s other MD school, with Milwaukee, Green Bay and Central Wisconsin campuses, a natural pairing for Wisconsin residents.
• Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine: a research-intensive Midwest school for applicants drawn to UW’s MSTP and research culture.
• University of Minnesota Medical School: a neighboring public school with strong rural and primary care missions, useful for Minnesota residents who are also eligible for WARM.
• University of Kansas School of Medicine: a Midwest public school with regional campuses, a comparison point for applicants interested in statewide and rural training.
• Carle Illinois College of Medicine: an engineering-based MD program in Illinois, a contrast for Illinois residents weighing UW’s public health focus.
• Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine: a Michigan MD school with a community service emphasis, for Michigan residents who also qualify for WARM.

More medical school guides

If you’re looking beyond Wisconsin, research schools based on your desired location, specialty focus and other factors. We’ve compiled guides to schools across the country. Just like this guide, they’ll help you decide which schools are right for you.

Midwest

• Case Western Medical School
• Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago
• Washington University School of Medicine

Northeast

• Harvard Medical School
• Yale School of Medicine
• Perelman School of Medicine
• NYU Medical School
• Brown Medical School
• Boston University College of Medicine
• Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
• Drexel University College of Medicine
• Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (in Pennsylvania)

Mid-Atlantic and Southeast

• Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Georgetown University School of Medicine
• George Washington University School of Medicine
• VCU School of Medicine
• University of North Carolina Medical School
• Wake Forest University School of Medicine
• Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
• Emory University School of Medicine
• University of Florida Medical School

Texas

• UT Southwestern Medical School
• Baylor College of Medicine
• UT Austin’s Dell Medical School
• McGovern Medical School at UT Health
• Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio
• UTMB School of Medicine
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
• Texas A&M College of Medicine
• University of Houston College of Medicine
• UNT Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
• University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine

California

• UCLA Medical School
• USC Keck School of Medicine
• UC San Diego Medical School
• UC Davis School of Medicine
• UC Riverside School of Medicine
• California University of Science and Medicine
• California Northstate University College of Medicine
• Touro University of California
• CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Western University of Health Sciences (in California)

Caribbean

• St. George’s University School of Medicine

Good luck deciding on medical schools!

How International Medical Aid Can Help

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with medical school applications. Each school has its own admissions process, and UW alone asks for four essays, a specific letter format and a choice of track before you submit. International Medical Aid (IMA) supports pre-health students in two ways that fit what UW looks for: hands-on clinical experience and admissions advising. IMA is an independent organization. It is not affiliated with the University of Wisconsin, and taking part in an IMA program does not affect admission decisions at UW or any other school.

Clinical experience. Patient-facing, hands-on and intensive: IMA runs medical internships abroad for pre-health students in Kenya and other sites. In our pre-med internships, interns work in hospitals and clinics under supervision. They take vitals, do patient intake and triage, and help with direct patient care. Our internships for pre-med students fit into a summer or a gap year, and our pre-health internships welcome students on other health career paths too. You can compare all of our healthcare internships abroad on one page.

Our programs serve communities with limited access to care. By interning, you build clinical skills, broaden your perspective on health care and serve the medically underserved, with insights that last well beyond medical school. UW’s mission centers on health equity in Wisconsin, so the strongest applications pair sustained clinical and service work close to home with any experience abroad, then reflect on what it taught you about access to care. That reflection is exactly what UW’s mission-fit and health-issue essays ask for.

Admissions consulting. Writing thousands of words for multiple applications is exhausting. A medical school admissions consultant can guide you through every stage, offering feedback on your personal statement, UW’s four secondary essays and the reapplicant statement, and preparing you for virtual one-on-one and small-group interviews. If you’re like most applicants, you’ll benefit from personalized medical school admissions consulting. Take a moment to schedule a free consultation to get started.

Final Thoughts and Sources

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is a strong choice if you want medicine and public health taught together, early patient contact, a coach who follows you for four years and clinical training across an entire state. Its WARM and TRIUMPH programs make it one of the clearest options for applicants committed to rural or urban underserved care, and its MSTP is a fully funded route for future physician-scientists. It is also built around Wisconsin: most seats go to residents, and the secondary asks directly how you fit the mission.

Your next step depends on where you are. If you are in the 2026-2027 cycle, return your secondary well before November 1 (November 20 for WARM) and prepare for a virtual interview. If you are planning for 2027-2028, check your MCAT timing against the August 22 cutoff, complete the writing and statistics requirements, build sustained patient-facing experience and choose your track before AMCAS opens. We wish you the best of luck. Take your time, be strategic and don’t hesitate to ask for help when you need it.

Sources

Facts in this guide were checked against these sources on October 20 and 21, 2026. Cohort and academic year labels appear with each figure above.

• UW SMPH MD Admissions: MD Admissions, MD Application Process, Premedical Requirements and Selection Criteria, Entering MD Class Statistics (Entering Class of 2026), MD Letters of Recommendation, Accepted MD Applicants, Reapplying to the MD Program, MD Technical Standards, MD Admissions Staff and MD Admissions Events.
• UW SMPH MD Program: MD ForWard Curriculum, Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, Curriculum Threads, PaCE Cases, 2026-2027 MD Academic Calendar, Longitudinal Teacher/Coach Program, Houses and House Mentors, MD Statewide Campus, Student Research Programs, Medical Student Resources, What MD Students Say, Community Service Programs and MEDiC.
• UW SMPH programs: Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine, WARM Admissions and WARM Curriculum; Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health, TRIUMPH Admissions and TRIUMPH Curriculum; MD-PhD Program, MSTP Application Process, MSTP Requirements, MSTP Program Overview, MSTP Curriculum, MSTP Financial Support (2026-2027), MSTP Outcomes and MSTP Directors and Staff; MD-MPH and MPH Dual Degrees; Paths of Distinction; Rural and Urban Scholars in Community Health (RUSCH).
• UW SMPH, About: Mission, Vision and Values, Leadership, Social Impact and Belonging, Impact, Campus and Directions, Accreditation and LCME Accreditation; staff profiles for David Tillman, Erin Myszkowski, Shobhina Chheda, Gwen McIntosh, Elizabeth Petty, Jonathan Temte, Amy Kind and Jeniel Nett.
• UW SMPH news: “Dr. Nita Ahuja announced as next dean” (February 2025); “Sweet Success: UW medical students celebrate Match Day” (March 2026); “UW School of Medicine and Public Health MD program ranked Tier 1 for primary care” (April 2026).
• Universities of Wisconsin, 2026-27 Tuition Schedule, UW-Madison Medical School rows (per semester).
• UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Aid, Cost of Attendance (Medicine).
• AAMC, Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR), University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health profile, 2026 edition (2025 entering class data; Tuition and Student Fees survey 2025-26; LCME Part I-B 2024-25; 2026-2027 cycle policies), accessed October 21, 2026.
• AAMC, Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) Report for Applicants and Advisors, 2027: Interview Procedures (information provided by individual medical schools).
• UW-Madison editorial style guide, “Wisconsin Idea,” for the Van Hise quotation.
• Secondary prompts: 2026-2027 wording as shown in the UW SMPH secondary application, checked October 20, 2026.