How to Get Into Washington University School of Medicine: The Definitive Guide

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, usually called WashU Medicine, is one of the best-known medical schools in the United States. It is a private MD school on a single medical campus beside Forest Park, and it trains students alongside Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. It is also one of the largest research schools in the country, ranking No. 2 among U.S. medical schools in funding from the National Institutes of Health. WashU has everything a medical student could want: deep resources, a strong faculty, classmates who become friends and colleagues, and a program that prepares graduates for residency programs all over the country. That is exactly why admission is so competitive.

This guide covers the 2026-2027 application cycle, which is for students who want to start medical school in August 2027 (the Entering Class of 2027). It explains what the class statistics really mean, how much WashU costs in 2026-27, how the Gateway Curriculum works, and what WashU requires, including the AAMC PREview exam that is now part of the application. It walks through all five supplemental application questions with a full illustrative example and analysis for each, then covers the virtual interview, the people who lead the school and the most common questions applicants ask.

Aligning yourself with the school’s mission and showing real, reflective experience is the best way through the application process and, hopefully, to an interview. You will need to stand out among thousands of strong applicants. That can feel daunting, but it is manageable when you know what WashU asks for and why.

Key Takeaways

• The academic bar is very high. Accepted applicants for the 2025 entering class had a median GPA of 3.96 and a median MCAT score of 521, and the enrolled class averaged a 3.88 GPA and a 520 MCAT. There is no minimum GPA, and the minimum MCAT total is 500.
• Interviews are the main filter. For the Entering Class of 2025, WashU received 6,138 applications and interviewed 1,021 applicants. It enrolled 123 students: 93 MD and 30 MD/PhD.
• Two exams are required. Both the MCAT and the AAMC PREview are required, and WashU accepts scores from January 2023 through September 2026 for this cycle.
• Deadlines for 2026-2027: AMCAS and transcripts by October 15, 2026; the supplemental application by October 29, 2026; letters by November 6, 2026. MD/PhD deadlines are earlier.
• Cost is high, but aid is broad. Tuition for 2026-27 is $67,968, and the estimated first-year cost of attendance is $103,047. Tuition is fixed for up to ten years, and 71% of the Entering Class of 2025 had full tuition funding.
• Research is everywhere but not required. Over 95% of WashU MD students complete a research project, and the EXPLORE program builds career pathways into all four years.
• The interview is virtual. You will have two 25-minute one-on-one Zoom interviews with faculty on the same day, one with your full file and one where the interviewer knows only your name.
• Next step: take the PREview early, line up three or four letters, and draft your failure essay before your secondary invitation arrives.

Key Statistics About Washington University School of Medicine

The snapshot below pulls together the figures most applicants ask about first. Class statistics are for the Entering Class of 2025, the newest class data available. Cost figures are for the 2026-27 academic year. The table lists the source and definition of each figure.

WashU does not publish its number of acceptances, so any “WashU acceptance rate” you see elsewhere is an estimate or a different ratio. The 123 matriculants equal about 2.0% of applicants, and the 1,021 interviews equal about 16.6%. Neither figure is the share of applicants who received an offer, because some admitted students choose other schools and the offer count is not released. Note also that the medians describe all accepted applicants, while the means describe the whole enrolled class, including MD/PhD students. None of these figures is a cutoff; the only screening minimum is an MCAT total of 500.

Mission and Educational Priorities

WashU Medicine’s mission has three parts. In the school’s words: “We provide exceptional, individualized and compassionate care for every patient; we make the scientific discoveries that change lives; and we train the clinicians and biomedical leaders who will shape tomorrow’s healthcare.” Its vision is “to cure illness, enhance quality of life and transform human health.” You can read the full statement and the school’s values on the mission, vision and values page.

The five values listed with that mission are integrity, excellence, compassion, scientific rigor and collaboration. Two of the definitions are worth reading closely. Compassion includes honoring the school’s “role as a safety-net provider to ensure access to care for all who need it.” Scientific rigor means grounding “every decision, treatment and discovery in evidence.”

The MD program has its own statement of purpose. The Gateway Curriculum’s stated goal is to “produce physicians who are leaders in medicine,” meaning leaders in clinical care, science, education and advocacy. Its curriculum values are excellence, learning, care, collaboration, inquiry and innovation, and equity and justice.

What does this mean for you as an applicant? Four things stand out.

First, WashU selects for mission fit. The Committee on Admissions uses mission-aligned selection, which gives “balanced consideration” to an applicant’s experiences, attributes and metrics. Because every MD student studies under the Gateway Curriculum, the admissions process is guided by that curriculum’s mission, vision and values. In its admissions FAQ, WashU says it reviews applicants in the context of its mission, that it is “interested in educating tomorrow’s leaders in biomedicine,” and that many graduates want academic or leadership roles. It looks for excellent communicators, “people who are energized by other people” and people with “multiple longitudinal life experiences.”

Second, leadership here means more than titles. WashU names four leadership directions: clinical care, science, education and advocacy. You do not need to be a future lab scientist. An applicant who has spent years teaching, organizing a community health project or improving a clinic process can show leadership in the school’s own terms. What matters is depth over time.

Third, inquiry is expected. WashU is a research-focused institution, and its FAQ notes that it “would be a little unusual for someone with no research experience or exposure to apply.” Research is not a formal requirement, and it does not have to be bench science. Clinical, community, education and social science research all count, as does the ability to think critically about evidence.

Fourth, service is part of the mission. Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital are important safety-net hospitals for St. Louis, and health equity and justice runs as a thread through the whole curriculum. Sustained service to people who need care is evidence of fit, not a box to check.

The admissions FAQ also says what WashU wants beyond the record: someone who can “take what WashU has and not only make the most of it but bring something more to the table.” Humility and being a team player are key attributes, and the committee looks for applicants who are collaborative, open to feedback, committed to lifelong learning and able to show grit and perseverance. WashU also uses the AAMC Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students as its benchmark for personal characteristics.

Accreditation and Institutional Identity

Washington University School of Medicine is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private research university. The school now calls itself WashU Medicine, and its main website has moved to the washu.edu domain, though the MD admissions office still uses mdadmissions.wustl.edu. The medical campus sits in the Central West End of St. Louis, next to Forest Park. There are no satellite or regional campuses, although students may be assigned to clinical sites off the central campus.

The MD program is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). In September 2023 WashU announced that the LCME had awarded full accreditation for another eight years, the longest possible term. That review was the first since the school launched the Gateway Curriculum in 2020, the first rethinking of its MD program in more than two decades. WashU described the result as validation of a $100 million investment in modernizing MD training and supporting student scholarships. Accreditation is a baseline standard for all U.S. MD programs, so treat it as confirmation that the program meets national requirements, not as a ranking.

On rankings: WashU Medicine no longer participates in the U.S. News & World Report MD program rankings, although the publication may continue to rank the school from public data. Rankings should not drive your decision. Fit with the curriculum, the research culture and the city should.

The university’s own mission, stated on the same mission page, is “to act in service of truth through the formation of leaders, the discovery of knowledge and the treatment of patients for the betterment of our region, our nation and our world.” The school has deep historical ties to research medicine: 19 Nobel laureates have ties to WashU Medicine, most of them as faculty.

Medical Programs and Affiliations

WashU offers a four-year MD and several combined degrees. The MD program is the focus of this guide, but the admissions process and secondary questions described here also apply, with some differences, to MD/PhD applicants. If you are interested in the school’s other degree programs, including physical therapy, occupational therapy and graduate programs, see WashU Medicine’s areas of study page.

Doctor of Medicine (MD)

The MD is a four-year program delivered through the Gateway Curriculum. Every MD student follows the same three phases, with growing flexibility over time. Students can add a year for research or a master’s degree without losing their tuition guarantee (see the cost section below). The program is designed to produce physicians who are leaders in clinical care, science, education and advocacy, whatever specialty they choose.

MD/PhD: Roy Vagelos Medical Scientist Training Program

The Roy Vagelos Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) has trained physician-scientists for more than 55 years. In the Entering Class of 2025, 30 of the 123 new students were MD/PhD students. Current MSTP students come from 31 countries, 34 states and 112 undergraduate colleges.

Key points for MSTP applicants:

• Earlier deadlines. For the 2026-2027 cycle, the AMCAS primary application and transcripts were due September 16, 2026, the supplemental application September 30, 2026, and letters October 7, 2026.
• One extra essay. MSTP applicants answer an additional 1,800-character question about the research they want to explore in graduate school (covered in the secondary section).
• Letters. There is no cap on letters for MSTP applicants, and WashU expects a letter from every research mentor with whom you had a significant research experience.
• Choose one program. Applicants apply to either the MSTP or the MD-only program. In practice, MSTP applicants are considered for both at once. If the MSTP does not move your application forward, WashU will ask whether you want to remain under consideration for the MD-only program.
• Structure. MSTP students complete Phase 1 of the MD curriculum, enter PhD training, then return for Phase 2 clerkships and a shortened Phase 3.
• Transfer in later. WashU also allows students to apply to transfer into the MSTP after spending time in medical school.

Combined master’s degrees

WashU’s current combined options are listed in the Gateway Curriculum materials and its degree programs page:

• MD/MS in Biomedical Data Science and AI (BDS-AI). Combines computing, statistics and informatics to study health data, with concentrations in biostatistics, data science or biomedical informatics.
• MD/MS in Biomedical Informatics (MS-BMI).
• MD/MSCI (Master of Science in Clinical Investigation). For students planning careers in clinical and translational research, with coursework, a mentored thesis and career development.
• MD/MPHS (Master of Population Health Sciences). A five-year combined program in clinical research methods such as epidemiology, biostatistics and clinical trials.
• MD/MPH (Master of Public Health). A five-year option with the Bursky School of Public Health, focused on population health, prevention and health policy.
• MD/MBA. One year in addition to the MD, with mentorship and training in leadership and innovation in health care.

There is also a Medical Scholars Program, a year-long research option in which students pause the MD curriculum to work with a mentor. Students can apply for a stipend for that year. All MD/PhD training, in any doctoral field, runs through the MSTP, which lists its available doctoral programs on its website.

Clinical affiliations

Through a longstanding affiliation with BJC HealthCare, WashU Medicine physicians care for patients at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Siteman Cancer Center. Students also rotate at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Progress West, the federally qualified health centers CareSTL and Affinia, and rural Missouri practices with primary care preceptors.

Early assurance, early decision and transfers

WashU does not accept advanced standing (transfer) applications from students at other medical schools, because of the structure of the Gateway Curriculum. WashU does not offer an Early Decision Program for 2026-2027, it has no early assurance or baccalaureate/MD program for undergraduates, and it has no three-year MD pathway. No student in the 2025 entering class came through an early assurance or early decision route. Plan on the regular AMCAS route and ask the admissions office if you have a specific question.

Curriculum Overview

The Gateway Curriculum launched in 2020 and is delivered in three phases over four calendar years. Graduation requires 172 weeks of credit. Rather than listing courses alone, WashU also shows applicants what a week in the curriculum looks like through students’ own stories, so read its curriculum page along with the summary below. The details here come from WashU’s Gateway Curriculum Essentials document, dated June 23, 2026.

Phase 1: Gateway to the Foundations (17 months)

Phase 1 replaces the traditional preclinical years. It runs 17 months and includes 66 weeks of required content.

• Transition to Gateway (one week) opens the phase.
• Seven Foundational Science Modules (47 weeks) organize the basic sciences around how the body works: Health and Homeostasis (7 weeks), Defense and Response to Injury (7), Breathing and Circulation (8), INs and OUTs (7), Metabolism and Reproduction (6), Scaffolding and Movement (5) and Brain and Behavior (7). Clinical skills and the social, behavioral and health systems sciences are taught inside each module, not as separate courses.
• Three Clinical Immersions of three weeks each place first-year students in inpatient, outpatient (including urgent and emergency care) and perioperative or procedural settings, including labor and delivery. There are no other classes during these blocks, so students work as part of the team. All students travel off campus for at least one immersion.
• A four-week EXPLORE immersion lets students explore a career interest early.
• Transition to Clerkships (one week) and a four-week, credit-bearing Step 1 study period close the phase. Students take USMLE Step 1 after Phase 1. Passing Step 1 is not specifically required to start Phase 2.

Teaching uses team-based learning, case-based learning, a flipped-classroom method called LACE (Learn, Apply, Consolidate, Expand), labs, simulations and standardized patients. Attendance is required for clinical activities, coaching, dissection labs and interactive sessions, about 27% of all sessions, but not for most lectures, which are recorded. Phase 1 includes seven weeks of unscheduled time.

Your days look different from a traditional first year. Mornings often bring lectures, labs or small groups, and a typical day still involves plenty of studying. But instead of waiting two years to see patients, you spend three full blocks in the hospital and clinic during Phase 1, learning to take histories, examine patients and work with a team.

Phase 2: Gateway to Clinical Medicine (12 months)

Phase 2 is the core clinical year, with 49 weeks of required content. It begins with a one-week transition and then six eight-week clerkships:

• Internal medicine
• Surgery
• Pediatrics
• Obstetrics and gynecology
• Neurology
• Psychiatry

Each clerkship starts with a Foundations Week of specialty-specific science and ends with an ARCC week (Assessment, Reflection, Coaching and Communities), when students take NBME subject exams, objective structured clinical exams or oral exams and meet with their coaches. All students travel off campus for part of at least one clerkship.

A typical clerkship day starts with your patients. You review overnight events, labs and vital signs, see each patient, and present to your team before rounds with residents and attending physicians, who supervise every decision. Lectures, grand rounds and teaching conferences fill out the week.

Students who are especially interested in science, and who are not in the MSTP, can complete 8 to 16 weeks of research beginning in January of Phase 2. Through EXPLORE, students can also defer up to 16 weeks of clerkships for a second immersive experience.

Phase 3: Gateway to Specialization (16 months)

Phase 3 lasts 16 months and includes 57 weeks of required content. Every schedule is different. Required elements are:

• A four-week internal medicine Advanced Clinical Rotation (ACR), also called a subinternship, where students take on more responsibility for patients.
• Two more four-week ACRs.
• Two four-week Keystone Integrated Science Courses (KISCs), which take a topic from cell to society. Current options include Diabetes Care from A to Z, Integrated Approach to Oncology, Infectious Diseases and Health Equity, Introduction to Addiction Medicine, Comprehensive Approach to Disability, Advancing End-of-Life Care, Pediatric Neurocritical Care, Precision Medicine and The AI Imperative.
• A four-week Gateway to Residency capstone early in the graduation year.
• Up to four weeks of credit-bearing study time for USMLE Step 2.

The remaining ten months are elective. There is no limit on elective time for research, and most students do some research early in Phase 3. Students planning to enter the residency match are expected to finish Step 1 and Step 2 by September 1 of the fall before graduation. In this phase your days look much like a junior doctor’s: you gather information, review results, present to your senior resident or fellow and discuss each patient’s plan with the attending physician. Where the first year was book-heavy and patient-light, Phase 3 flips that balance.

EXPLORE: career pathways through all four years

EXPLORE is WashU’s longitudinal career program. It offers four pathways: Research, Education, Advocacy and Global Health, and Innovation. Each provides mentors, core training and experiential learning, starting with the four-week immersion in Phase 1, continuing with optional clerkship deferral in Phase 2 and expanding into electives, extended study and dual degrees in Phase 3.

Threads, coaching and assessment

Eighteen curricular threads run across all three phases, grouped into basic sciences, clinical sciences and the social, behavioral and health systems sciences. They include health equity and justice, ethics and law, professional identity formation, and women’s and LGBTQIA+ health. An artificial intelligence thread launched in July 2026.

Every student joins a coaching group of about seven to nine students led by a clinician-educator faculty coach, and usually keeps the same coach for all four years. Coaching sessions cover academic and personal progress, professional identity and the experiences students share in medical school.

Assessment is competency-based, not traditional pass/fail. WashU gives no traditional grades. Students receive credit or no credit for each course and a rating of Competent or Not-Yet-Competent for each program objective, with Competent with Distinction possible in selected domains. Evidence is gathered across tests, direct observation, standardized patients, simulations and projects, and is reviewed by a faculty committee. Students follow their progress on a learning dashboard and must request some assessments themselves. Studying is still demanding, because the amount of material is large, but the system is built around feedback and growth.

What the curriculum means for your application

Gateway rewards students who seek feedback, reflect and take initiative. Experiences where you asked for critique, changed your approach and tracked the result fit this model well. The early clinical immersions also mean you will be on a hospital team within your first year, so evidence that you understand clinical work, and can be useful and humble on a team, matters.

Admissions Requirements and Application Process

WashU follows the mission-aligned selection process recommended by the AAMC. Standards are high. WashU expects applicants to have high character, aptitude, integrity and motivation suitable for medicine, along with strong communication skills, extracurricular accomplishments and a balanced lifestyle, including hobbies and recreational interests. The full policy is on the requirements page.

Hours of undergraduate study

You need at least 90 semester hours, or the equivalent, from an institution approved by a U.S. Department of Education recognized accreditor, an institution recognized by Universities Canada, or an American College Overseas as defined in the AMCAS Applicant Guide. Study-abroad credits that appear on a U.S. transcript count. Applicants with an international undergraduate degree can be considered if they have a U.S. graduate degree that includes 90 credit hours.

Prerequisite coursework

WashU requires at least one year (two semesters), or equivalent advanced placement such as AP, IB or CLEP credit, in each of these subjects:

Labs in the sciences are recommended but not required. Biochemistry is encouraged but not required. In selected cases, the Committee on Admissions may waive one or more prerequisites. Courses must be completed by the June before you start medical school (June 2027 for the Entering Class of 2027).

Course format rules are flexible. WashU accepts pass/fail and pass/no pass courses, and courses from community colleges, summer school or online programs, as long as the institution meets its accreditation rules. However, most classes, especially science classes, should ideally be taken for a letter grade at your primary undergraduate institution. We strongly recommend letter grades for prerequisites when you have the choice. A pass shows you knew enough to pass; a letter grade shows how well you learned the material, and an A-minus tells the committee more than a “P.” Credit by exam counts if it appears on a college transcript or you can document it with a score report.

Majors

No single major is preferred. Many applicants study science, engineering or math, but applicants from the humanities, social sciences and the arts are equally welcome. You can major in anything as long as you complete the prerequisites. WashU does not prefer BA or BS degrees, and a master’s degree carries no specific weight. If you pursue one, it should match your interests and career goals rather than serve only to raise your GPA.

MCAT policy

The MCAT is required and must be completed before WashU considers your application. WashU accepts MCAT scores that are up to three years old at the time of application. For the 2026-2027 cycle, that means scores from January 2023 through September 2026 test dates. You do not take the test three years before applying; you simply need a score no older than three years.

WashU requires a minimum total MCAT score of 500. Above that floor, the committee uses mission-aligned review and looks at the whole application. WashU does not superscore. It considers your highest total score from any single test day, and all of your scores are visible to the committee. Its strongest applicants have balanced, strong performance across all sections. For the 2025 entering class, accepted applicants had a median total of 521, with section medians of 131 in Chemical and Physical Foundations, 129 in Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills, 130 in Biological and Biochemical Foundations and 131 in Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations. Many students find the best time to take the MCAT is the spring of junior year, about 18 months before they expect to enroll.

AAMC PREview

The AAMC Professional Readiness Exam (PREview) is now required. Like the MCAT, it must be completed before WashU considers your application, and WashU accepts results up to three years old. For 2026-2027, that means PREview scores from January 2023 through September 2026. PREview is a situational judgment test that measures how you understand effective professional behavior in situations medical students meet. Plan it into your spring and summer schedule, because a missing PREview score holds up review. WashU’s requirements page does not list CASPer.

GPA

WashU has no minimum GPA. For the 2025 entering class, accepted applicants had a median overall GPA of 3.96 and a median science GPA of 3.95. WashU primarily considers your undergraduate GPA, but the committee looks at every grade in your AMCAS academic record. Postbaccalaureate grades become part of the undergraduate GPA as calculated by AMCAS. The committee considers the rigor of your curriculum, your performance in each class and grading practices at each institution.

Experience

WashU has no single preferred type of clinical experience. It wants to see that you have had real exposure to medicine in a clinical setting, have watched physicians work with patients, and can reflect on what you learned. It says the strongest clinical experiences are ones where you received mentorship from a physician. Career changers should show they understand the clinical environment, so patient-facing work is especially important for them.

Research is not required, but it would be unusual for an applicant to WashU to have no research experience or exposure. It can be clinical, community-based or social science research, not just bench work, and publications are not required. What matters is your ability to think critically and analyze.

If you are still building hours, choose roles where you work directly with patients and where someone gives you feedback. A hospital job, an emergency medical technician role, a free clinic or structured pre-med internships abroad can each give you the direct patient contact and reflection WashU describes.

International and DACA applicants

WashU considers applicants who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, including DACA students. International applicants are compared with all other applicants, not a separate pool, and visa status is not a factor in admissions decisions. Accepted international and DACA applicants must provide the required financial documentation by May 1 before matriculation. WashU’s policy is that international students must place four years of tuition plus expenses in escrow. International students are not eligible for need-based aid but are considered for merit scholarships.

Step 1: AMCAS primary application

Submit your AMCAS application to WashU (AMCAS School 184) by October 15, 2026, with transcripts to AMCAS by the same date. AMCAS opened May 1, 2026, and the earliest submission date was May 30, 2026. Verification by AMCAS can take four to six weeks, and WashU does not receive your application until it is verified, so the earlier you submit, the better. If you want to compare the MD and DO application systems before you start, see our guide to the differences between the MD and DO application services. The AAMC’s own AMCAS instructions explain each section.

Step 2: Supplemental application (screened)

After WashU receives your verified primary, it screens your file. Applicants who meet basic selection criteria get an emailed link to the supplemental application about three business days later. WashU recommends completing it within two weeks and no later than October 29, 2026. The fee is $100, waived automatically for AAMC Fee Assistance Program recipients. Applicants without FAP approval may still request a fee waiver through the admissions portal. Supplemental applications cannot be edited after submission. The questions are covered in full in the secondary section below.

Step 3: Letters of recommendation

WashU requires three letters of evaluation. MD applicants should send no more than four. You may submit individual letters, a letter packet collected by your school, or a committee letter from your premedical advisor or committee, either in addition to individual letters or instead of them if that is your school’s practice. A committee letter or letter packet fulfills the requirement on its own. Letters must arrive by November 6, 2026.

WashU does not require a science letter. Letters can come from any combination of college instructors, science instructors, research mentors or supervisors, extracurricular mentors, workplace supervisors, postgraduate advisors and others who know you well. If you have an advanced degree or at least a year of full-time work after college, ask a graduate faculty member or your supervisor for a letter. WashU wants letters that evaluate your accomplishments, skills and character in depth, ideally addressing the AAMC Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students, rather than repeating your grades. WashU accepts letters through the AMCAS Letter Service, Interfolio, VirtualEvals, email or mail. Letters should be on letterhead, signed and dated.

Step 4: Complete file

Your file is complete when WashU has your verified AMCAS application, your supplemental application, your MCAT results, your letters and your fee or fee waiver status. You can check status at the applicant portal, mdapply.wustl.edu. Allow ten business days for materials to be processed. The How to Apply page lists each step.

Step 5: Interviews, decisions and the waitlist

WashU uses rolling admissions. Once your file is complete, it stays under consideration for an interview and an offer throughout the season. Interviews run from mid-September 2026 to mid-February 2027, and decisions are released from December 2026 through March 2027. By April 15, 2027, every applicant receives one of three decisions by email: accepted, not accepted or waitlist. There is no link between the date of your interview and the date of your decision. Acceptance emails carry the subject line “Acceptance to Washington University School of Medicine,” and many accepted applicants also receive a personal phone call.

Updates and letters of intent

After your AMCAS application is verified, WashU welcomes updates such as new activities, awards, publications or personal news. Upload a PDF in the portal or email the admissions office. Letters of interest or intent are accepted and reviewed, and there is no fixed format or deadline. There is no limit on updates, but sending many in a row can work against you, so send only meaningful ones.

Enrollment deadlines

WashU asks accepted applicants to respond to an offer within two weeks, and it does not require a deposit to hold your place. If you need to delay entry, deferral requests are considered case by case; two students deferred from the 2025 entering class. By April 30, 2027, accepted applicants must select “Plan to Enroll” in the AMCAS Choose Your Medical School Tool and hold only one acceptance, though they may keep waitlist positions. MD students must select “Commit to Enroll” by July 20, 2027, and give up all other waitlist positions. MSTP students commit by May 31, 2027.

Timeline for the 2026-2027 cycle

Dates after April 2027 are marked by WashU as subject to change. Check the important dates page before each deadline. If you are planning for a later cycle, expect a similar pattern, with deadlines in the fall, but confirm the new dates when WashU posts them.

Tuition, Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid

Attending medical school is not free, and WashU is expensive on paper. It also offers one of the most predictable pricing models in medical education and a large scholarship program.

Cost of attendance, 2026-27

WashU’s estimated budget for a single student in the 43-week Phase 1 year of 2026-27 is below. WashU is a private school, so there is one tuition rate for all students, regardless of state of residence.

The health and general student fees include health care coverage, hospitalization or disability insurance and access to public transportation, so there is no separate health insurance charge. WashU has posted only the Phase 1 budget for 2026-27. Later years run on different calendars, so living costs will differ, and all amounts are subject to change. See the cost of education page for updates.

Tuition stabilization

WashU’s tuition stabilization plan fixes your tuition, merit scholarships and need-based scholarships from your first year for up to ten consecutive years. That window allows one extra year for research or a master’s degree. In practice, you know your tuition cost before you decide to enroll, and it will not rise while you are a student. Required health and general fees can still change each year, and you can apply for more aid if your circumstances change.

Scholarships

In the Entering Class of 2025, 71% of students had full tuition funding and 77% had merit and/or need-based scholarships. These shares include MD/PhD students, whose tuition is covered by the MSTP, so the share for MD-only students is lower than 71%. All accepted applicants, including international and DACA applicants, are considered for merit scholarships.

WashU describes the effect of scholarships through its students. On its scholarship impact page, recent graduates describe choosing specialties and careers without debt driving the choice. WashU says its students “graduate with significantly less debt than the national average.” In 2024-25, average graduate indebtedness was $102,548, and 87% of WashU medical students received financial aid. If debt is a deciding factor, ask the Office of Student Financial Planning how those figures apply to your own situation. The school also points out that many students choose primary care fields such as internal medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology, and advises applicants not to rule WashU out based only on cost.

Loans

Most students who do not have full funding borrow. For U.S. citizens and permanent residents who receive need-based aid, WashU caps awarded need-based loans, federal and institutional, at 35% of the cost of attendance, and need-based aid packages combine scholarships and loans. Need-based scholarships and institutional loans awarded at entry are locked in for later years, while federal loans require a new application each year. Your financial resources do not enter into the admissions decision. Federal loan rules for graduate and professional students changed for new borrowers from July 1, 2026: Grad PLUS loans are no longer available to new borrowers, and Direct Unsubsidized loans for professional students such as medical students are capped at $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total. If you expect to borrow, ask WashU’s financial aid office how these limits apply to you and what institutional or private options fill the gap.

International students

International students must escrow four years of tuition plus expenses. They are not eligible for need-based financial aid, but they can receive merit scholarships, which can cover full or partial tuition.

St. Louis cost of living

St. Louis is one of the more affordable large U.S. cities, which helps balance the high tuition. The budget assumes $21,500 for room and board over the 43-week year, and full-time WashU students ride the MetroLink light rail for free.

Campus Facilities and Student Life

The medical campus is in the Central West End, an eclectic neighborhood that students like, close to the Cortex Innovation District, The Grove and Midtown. Across the street is Forest Park, at more than 1,300 acres one of the largest urban parks in the country. It holds the Saint Louis Zoo, the Saint Louis Science Center and McDonnell Planetarium, the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Missouri History Museum, along with golf courses, running and bike paths, athletic fields and pickleball courts. The university’s athletic complex on the Danforth Campus, across the park, includes an Olympic-size pool and an indoor track, and is a short MetroLink ride away.

Student community

New students join one of three academic societies: Cori, Erlanger-Graham and Lowry-Moore. Each runs a “Big Sib” program that pairs every first-year student with a second-year student. Combined with the four-year coaching groups, this gives each student two small communities from the first week. There are more than 100 student groups on campus, including groups for art, music and theater, specialty interests and identity-based organizations such as LMSA, SNMA and LGBTQmed. First-year students also produce an annual Dis-Orientation Guide for incoming students, which is one of the best ways to see student life from the inside.

WashU says its students come from many regions, socioeconomic backgrounds and educational paths, including military service, and that “there is no single profile” that defines a student there. Its FAQ calls the culture approachable and collaborative, and current students describe sharing notes and study materials before big exams.

Wellness and support

The Office of Medical Student Affairs runs student wellness programs, and the school supports students through academic support services, peer and faculty mentoring, and university-wide resources. Students who need help preparing for the boards can get individual help from faculty, and the school provides UWorld question bank subscriptions for Step 1 and Step 2 plus practice exam vouchers. WashU students consistently pass Step 1 at rates above the national average.

Service and community health

Community engagement and service learning are built into the health equity and justice parts of the curriculum, and many more activities are run by students. Examples include:

• The WashU Medicine Interprofessional Pro-Bono Health Clinic, which brings together medical, physical therapy, occupational therapy and social service students on Friday afternoons.
• Casa de Salud, a clinic for Spanish-speaking patients and refugee and immigrant communities in St. Louis, where students volunteer through partner organizations.
• Schnucks Health Screenings, basic health screenings at local grocery stores in areas with limited access to care.
• Saturday Scholars and the Young Scientist Program, which introduce local high school students to medicine and research.

Global health

In recent years WashU students have studied in countries including Ghana, Guatemala, India, Malawi, Peru, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania and Vietnam. The student-run Global Health and Medicine group hosts lectures and speaker panels, and the school’s global health page lists faculty with international research. Applicants who have done meaningful work abroad, such as medical internships abroad with supervised patient care, can connect that experience to these opportunities, as long as they reflect on what they learned rather than simply listing a trip.

Clinical Rotations and Research Opportunities

Where students train

Most clinical training happens on the central campus at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, which together have about 1,893 beds. Both are BJC HealthCare hospitals and provide a large amount of care for medically underserved people in St. Louis. Pediatric clerkships take place at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, and cancer care is centered at Siteman Cancer Center.

Students also rotate at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Progress West, the federally qualified health centers CareSTL and Affinia, and rural Missouri sites with primary care preceptors. Under the transportation policy, every student travels off campus for at least one Phase 1 immersion and part of at least one clerkship. A substantial share of students also complete rotations at other institutions in the United States and abroad.

How clinical training is structured

Clinical work starts in Phase 1 with three three-week immersions in inpatient, outpatient and procedural settings. Phase 2 brings six eight-week core clerkships, and Phase 3 adds three Advanced Clinical Rotations, including an internal medicine subinternship, plus ten months of electives. One note for applicants interested in family medicine: WashU supports students who match into family medicine, but it has no Department of Family Medicine or family medicine residency of its own.

Global rotations

In Phase 3, up to 16 weeks of EXPLORE elective time may be spent abroad, and grants are available. Global health rotations can take place at WashU’s 12 partner sites and 64 AAMC-approved global partners, in countries including South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Germany, Lebanon, Ireland, Ghana, France and Australia. If Spanish-language care or Latin American health interests you, an undergraduate medical internship in Peru can be a useful early step before this kind of training.

Research

Research is not required, but over 95% of WashU MD students complete a research project, and all take part in scholarly activity of some kind. Most of these students are heading into clinical specialties, not research careers. WashU ranks No. 2 among U.S. medical schools in NIH funding and invests $1.2 billion a year in research.

Research fits into every phase:

• Phase 1: the four-week EXPLORE immersion can be spent on research in clinical, translational or basic science, or in education, advocacy and global health, or innovation.
• Phase 2: an 8- or 16-week clerkship deferral allows a second immersive experience.
• Phase 3: unlimited elective research time, the year-long Medical Scholars Program with an optional stipend, and combined master’s degrees.

Areas of investigation include Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, developmental biology, diabetes, genomics, imaging, immunology, infectious disease, the human microbiome, neuroscience, organ transplantation, personalized medicine and women’s health. Day to day, student research can mean anything from lab work such as RNA extraction, microscopy and transfection experiments to clinical studies, data science and community-based projects. WashU’s student research page describes the options.

Mentorship

Beyond coaching groups and Big Sibs, students find faculty mentors through classes, clinics, specialty interest groups and identity groups. The Gateway Coaching Program is the backbone: trained faculty coaches meet students regularly in groups and one on one across all four years.

Notable Alumni, Faculty, Leadership and Admissions Staff

Knowing who leads WashU and who has trained there helps you understand the school’s priorities. The profiles below use official WashU sources. They are not a list of people to contact, and none of them can be assumed to influence an individual admissions decision.

School leadership

Bruce D. Levy, MD, Executive Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs and George and Carol Bauer Dean. Levy became dean on July 1, 2026, succeeding David H. Perlmutter, MD, who led WashU Medicine for more than ten years and remains on the faculty. Levy also holds the Joseph Erlanger Distinguished Professorship. A pulmonary and critical care physician-scientist, he spent more than 35 years at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he co-directed the medicine residency program for 13 years, led the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and chaired the Department of Medicine, before becoming the first executive vice chair of medicine at Mass General Brigham. He grew up near the university; his father earned his medical degree at WashU, and Levy’s first research experiences, in high school, were in WashU Medicine labs. For applicants, his background signals continued emphasis on physician-scientists and on training that links discovery to patient care.

Eva Aagaard, MD, Vice Dean for Education and Vice Chancellor for Medical Education. Aagaard led the creation of the Gateway Curriculum, which launched in 2020, and has held her current titles since November 1, 2025. She oversees medical education across the MD program, 199 residency and fellowship programs, allied health programs and the school’s PhD programs in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences. She joined WashU in 2017 from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. If you want to understand why the curriculum is competency-based and feedback-driven, her work is the place to start.

Nichole Zehnder, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education. Since November 1, 2025, Zehnder has had broader oversight of medical student education, including integrating artificial intelligence into the curriculum, advancing student success and keeping admissions aligned with the school’s mission. As associate dean for educational strategy, she oversaw EXPLORE, dual-degree programs, partnerships with WashU Disability Resources and learner success programs, and she led the launch of the Gateway coaching program, which many students name as a favorite part of their education. Before joining WashU in 2020, she was assistant dean of admissions at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Admissions leadership

Valerie S. Ratts, MD, Professor and Associate Dean for Admissions. Ratts has led WashU’s MD admissions since January 2014 and served on the admissions committee from 2008. A St. Louis native, she earned her MD and completed residency and fellowship training at Johns Hopkins, then joined WashU in 1994. She is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and a reproductive endocrinologist whose research has focused on polycystic ovary syndrome and fertility preservation in young cancer survivors. When she was appointed, her role included chairing the financial aid, scholarship and admissions steering committees. Interview invitees receive a video from her introducing the Virtual Interview Experience, and admissions deans host the Dean’s Greeting sessions during interview weeks.

Ian S. Hagemann, MD, PhD, Assistant Dean for Admissions. Hagemann is a professor of pathology and immunology and of obstetrics and gynecology, and is listed among the members of the Committee on Admissions. The committee is made up of faculty from a wide range of departments, from surgery and radiology to biochemistry and psychiatry. Its members are the people who interview applicants, so a closed-file interviewer may come from any specialty.

Faculty

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor. Gordon has spent his entire career at WashU and is the founding director of the Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology. Known as the “father of human microbiome research,” he studies how gut microbial communities form and work, and his group’s research on childhood undernutrition led to microbiome-directed therapeutic foods now being tested internationally. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine and has mentored 151 PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. He is the featured keynote speaker on WashU’s MD commencement site. His work shows how WashU research moves from the lab to global health.

Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, Herbert S. Gasser Professor. Diamond holds appointments in medicine, molecular microbiology and pathology and immunology. His research focuses on how viruses such as West Nile, dengue, hepatitis C and SARS-CoV-2 cause disease and how the immune system responds, and he contributes to vaccine development against flaviviruses, alphaviruses and coronaviruses. WashU lists him among faculty with internationally focused research, a useful example for applicants interested in infectious disease and global health.

Mark D. Huffman, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Global Health Center. Huffman works on improving cardiovascular health and care in low- and middle-income countries through evidence-based interventions and policies, and on bringing those lessons back to the United States. The Global Health Center is a collaboration between the Bursky School of Public Health and the Department of Medicine. For applicants interested in the Advocacy and Global Health pathway, his work shows what global health research at WashU looks like in practice.

Alumni

Earl W. Sutherland Jr., MD (MD 1942). Sutherland earned his MD at Washington University School of Medicine in 1942, after working as a student assistant in pharmacology, and later taught pharmacology and biological chemistry at WashU. He received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries about how hormones act, work that identified cyclic AMP as a key messenger inside cells.

Daniel Nathans, MD (Class of 1954). Nathans graduated from WashU Medicine in 1954 after receiving a scholarship to attend. He shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their use in molecular genetics, tools that underpin modern genetic engineering.

Thomas F. Frist Jr., MD (MD 1965). Frist earned his MD from WashU in 1965 and served two years as an Air Force flight surgeon before co-founding the Hospital Corporation of America with his father and businessman Jack Massey in 1968. He later became president, chairman and chief executive of HCA, and is now chairman emeritus. WashU awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2017. His career is a reminder that WashU graduates lead in health care delivery and business as well as research.

Leana Wen, MD (MD 2007). Wen graduated from WashU Medicine in 2007 as a Rhodes Scholar and a past president of the American Medical Student Association. As a student she was selected to travel to Africa with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof to report on health and poverty. She later served as Baltimore’s health commissioner and became a nationally known physician, author and public health commentator. Her medical school writing about health injustice shows the kind of advocacy WashU’s curriculum now supports formally through EXPLORE.

Stanley S. Chibueze, MD, MBA (MD and MBA 2023). Chibueze completed WashU’s MD/MBA and was a psychiatry resident at Barnes-Jewish Hospital when WashU profiled him. He has described using scholarship support to gain business skills to improve health care access in Nigeria, an example of how the combined degrees can serve a global health goal.

Admissions Statistics and Class Profile

Just how tough is it to get in?

WashU is one of the most selective medical schools in the country. For the Entering Class of 2025:

• 6,138 applicants
• 1,021 interviewed, about 16.6% of applicants
• 123 students enrolled: 93 MD and 30 MD/PhD
• That is about 50 applicants for every seat in the class

The matriculants equal about 2.0% of applicants, but that is not an acceptance rate. WashU does not publish its number of offers, and some admitted applicants choose other schools. The useful takeaway is that roughly one in six applicants is interviewed, so your file must earn the interview before anything else.

For the next class, the Entering Class of 2027, WashU estimates about 124 new students: 100 in the MD program and 24 in the MD/PhD program.

It might seem next to impossible to get in, but it is not. Applicants who have strong academics, real experience and a clear connection to WashU’s mission and curriculum have a genuine chance. The rest of this guide is about building that case.

GPA and MCAT

The medians describe everyone who received an offer; the means describe the students who enrolled, including MD/PhD students. Neither is a cutoff. Separate figures for MD-only students are not published. A score below the median does not rule you out, but at a school where the mean is in the 97th percentile, a lower score has to be offset by unusual strengths elsewhere.

Who is in the class?

The Entering Class of 2025 came from 30 states and 9 countries. WashU matriculates students from a wide range of colleges. Over the last ten years, 241 different schools contributed at least one student and 82 contributed three or more. The largest numbers over 2015-2025 came from Washington University in St. Louis (147), Duke (45), Harvard (44), Yale (44), Johns Hopkins (34), Vanderbilt (34) and UCLA (32). Missouri schools on the list include Saint Louis University (4), the University of Missouri-Columbia (5), Missouri State University (3) and Truman State University (3).

A few more details describe the 2025 entering class:

• Background: 11% held a graduate degree, and 69% majored in science or math.
• Age: 59 students were 19 to 23 when they entered, 60 were 24 to 29, three were 30 to 39 and one was 40 or older. More than half were 24 or older, so starting medical school after time away from college is common.
• Experience: 99% reported research or lab work, 96% physician shadowing or clinical observation, 90% community service, 90% medical or clinical volunteering and 54% paid clinical employment.
• Access: 30% reported disadvantaged status, up from 10% in the 2022 entering class, and 26% came from medically underserved areas.

Attending WashU for college does not give an applicant preference. WashU says the main advantage is familiarity with the city and institution, and that whatever college you attend, it looks for evidence that you used the special opportunities available there.

Residency

WashU is a private school with one tuition rate and no stated in-state preference. Applicants are considered regardless of state of residence or citizenship, and international applicants are reviewed in the same pool as everyone else.

These figures are for the 2025 entering class and include the 30 MD/PhD students (one from Missouri, 23 from out of state and six international). Missouri residents made up about 4.5% of applicants and about 8% of the class, so Missouri residents do enroll at a slightly higher rate than their share of the pool, but residency is not a major factor at this private school. International applicants were about 8% of the pool and 8% of the class.

Where graduates go

Among WashU graduates surveyed in each of the three most recent reported years, through 2025, internal medicine or one of its subspecialties was the most common intended specialty, chosen by 20% to 26% of the class. Other common choices included pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, ophthalmology, orthopaedic surgery and anesthesiology. About 12% of 2025 graduates reported a global health experience during medical school.

What the numbers mean for your list

Treat WashU as a reach school even with excellent statistics, and build a balanced list around it. The related guides near the end of this article cover other Missouri and Midwest MD programs to consider alongside it.

Tips and Strategies for Admission

1. Show why medicine, and why WashU

WashU’s FAQ says it likes “to see WHY you are choosing a career in medicine, and also why you are choosing WashU.” Your reasons for WashU should be specific to its training: the Phase 1 clinical immersions, EXPLORE pathways, competency-based coaching, the research environment or the safety-net patient population. Generic praise of a famous school does not help.

2. Build clinical experience with mentorship

There is no preferred type of clinical experience, but WashU says the strongest experiences include mentorship from a physician. Choose roles where you work with patients and receive feedback over months, not a single summer week. Well-designed clinical internships for pre-med students can add hands-on hours, but local, longitudinal work matters most.

3. Do some research, and think about it

You do not need publications, and the work does not have to be in a wet lab. You do need to show that you can ask a question, gather evidence and interpret it. Be ready to explain your project’s purpose and your role clearly, in both your secondary answers and your closed-file interview.

4. Take the PREview seriously

PREview is now a requirement. Prepare with the AAMC’s free materials, take it early, and treat it as part of the application, not an afterthought. Its subject, professional behavior in difficult situations, overlaps with what WashU’s interviewers evaluate.

5. Write the failure essay early

The failure question appears every year, and it is the hardest one to write well. Start drafting before your invitation arrives so you can return the full supplemental application within two weeks.

6. Use the open-ended question for distance traveled

WashU lists distance traveled, meaning challenges and hardships overcome, among its review factors. If you worked through college, cared for family members, overcame illness or came from a background that shaped your view of medicine, the open-ended question is the place to say so.

7. Ask for letters that evaluate you

Choose writers who can describe your character, skills and growth in detail, ideally in terms of the AAMC core competencies. Remember the limit: three required, no more than four for MD applicants. A committee letter or letter packet fully satisfies the requirement.

8. Plan your gap years with purpose

Many applicants take time between college and medical school. If you do, use it to add depth: full-time clinical or research work, service or pre-med gap year programs that give you supervised patient contact. The first secondary question asks for a dated account of this time, so make it a record you are proud of.

9. Use your summers well

Summers before your junior and senior years are the best time to add sustained experience. Research programs, clinical jobs and pre-med summer internships all work if you can describe what you did and what you learned.

10. Reapply with a stronger file, not the same one

WashU views reapplicants positively but wants to see how your application has improved: new activities, leadership, publications or other growth, and how it relates to medicine. Have an advisor review your revised application, including your personal statement. Strong pre-med internships, new responsibility at work or a completed research project can all show real change.

11. Submit early

Rolling admissions mean the season moves quickly. Submit AMCAS as soon as your application is ready, ideally in early summer, take the MCAT and PREview on time, and return the supplemental application within two weeks.

Secondary Application Questions, Example Responses and Analysis

This is the part of the process that makes many applicants nervous, so it helps to start with how the two stages fit together. You submit two kinds of applications. The first is your AMCAS application, the standard primary application used by almost every MD school. It holds your coursework, activities, letters and your personal statement, and you send one copy to every school on your list. The second is the secondary (WashU calls it the supplemental application), which goes only to WashU and is where you answer its own questions. These essays are what make your file personal to WashU.

How WashU’s supplemental application works

• It is screened. WashU reviews your verified AMCAS application first. Applicants who meet basic selection criteria receive an emailed link about three business days after WashU receives the verified primary.
• Timing. WashU strongly recommends returning it within two weeks of the invitation. The final MD deadline for the 2026-2027 cycle is October 29, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Central time. MSTP applicants must submit by September 30, 2026.
• Fee. The supplemental application fee is $100. It is waived automatically if you were approved for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program, and other waivers can be requested in the portal.
• No edits after submission. Once you submit, you cannot change it. If something must be corrected, you email the admissions office.
• PREview first. The PREview must be completed before WashU considers your application, so take it early enough that your score does not hold up your file.

The 2026-2027 questions at a glance

WashU does not post its secondary questions publicly. The wording below is the 2026-2027 wording shown in the applicant portal. All limits are in characters, including spaces. Always follow the wording and limits in your own portal if they differ.

Three thousand characters is roughly 480 to 520 words, not 3,000 words. Two thousand characters is about 300 to 330 words. Draft in a plain-text editor, check the character count with spaces and leave a small margin, because some portals count line breaks and curly quotes differently.

We recommend answering every question that applies to you, including the open-ended one when you have something new to say. Each answer is a chance to show the committee something your primary application could not.

The examples below are original teaching examples written for this guide. Each is labeled Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay. Do not copy them. Use them to see how a response can answer every part of a question within the limit, then write your own from your own experiences.

If you read the first question and realize your time since college has little patient contact, the months before you apply are the time to fix that, whether through a hospital job, a scribe role or structured medical internships for undergraduates. If you feel you lack the experience to answer these questions well, consider applying to International Medical Aid’s program, the kind of hands-on experience our alumni still talk about.

Question 1: Activities while not a full-time student (2,000 characters, conditional)

“Have you already completed your undergraduate education, have you had your college or graduate education interrupted, or do you plan not to be a full-time student during your application year? If yes, describe in chronological order your activities during the time(s) when you were not enrolled as a full-time student.”

Limit: 2,000 characters. Who answers: Everyone answers yes or no; the description is required only if you answer yes.

What it asks. This question has two parts. The yes/no part applies to everyone. If you answer yes, WashU wants a timeline of what you did whenever you were not a full-time student: gap years, work, a leave of absence, part-time study or a postbaccalaureate year. The key words are “in chronological order.” It is a record, not a personal statement.

Approach. Use dated entries, oldest first, and keep each one to what you did, how much time it took and one concrete detail that shows responsibility. Include everything, even months that feel unimpressive, such as studying for the MCAT and PREview while working. Unexplained gaps raise more questions than ordinary ones. End with one or two sentences about what the period added, but do not turn the answer into an essay. Two thousand characters is about 300 to 330 words, so there is no room for long reflection.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (1,522 characters)

Yes. I graduated from the University of Kansas with a BS in biology in May 2025.

June to August 2025: I completed an EMT-Basic course at a community college, two evenings a week plus ambulance ride-alongs, and passed the National Registry exam in August.

September 2025 to present: I work full time as a clinical research coordinator in a pulmonary clinic at an academic hospital in Kansas City. I screen and consent patients for two asthma studies, record spirometry results and schedule follow-up visits. I have consented 64 participants. The most useful skill I have learned is explaining a consent form slowly, in plain words, and stopping when a patient looks lost.

October 2025 to present: I work as a part-time EMT for a private ambulance service, one 12-hour weekend shift every other week, mostly transfers between hospitals. I take vitals, keep patients comfortable on long rides and give the handoff report at the receiving hospital.

January 2026 to present: I volunteer on Tuesday evenings at a free clinic, where I do intake and check blood pressures for walk-in patients.

March to June 2026: I studied in the evenings for the PREview, which I took in May, and the MCAT, which I took in June.

Through June 2027: I will continue my research job and EMT shifts. This spring I will help draft an abstract for one of our asthma studies.

These two years gave me the patient contact I did not have in college. Moving between research and the ambulance has shown me both the evidence and the people behind it.

Analysis.

• It answers the yes/no first. The response opens with “Yes” and the graduation date, so the reader knows why the description follows.
• It is truly chronological. Each entry starts with a date range, oldest first, and overlapping roles are listed by start date. That is exactly what the question asks for.
• Each entry shows responsibility, not just a title. The research entry gives a number (64 participants) and a skill (plain-language consent). The EMT entry names real tasks: vitals, comfort on transfers and the handoff report.
• It accounts for test preparation. Listing the PREview and MCAT months closes a gap that a reader might otherwise wonder about. PREview is now a WashU requirement, so mentioning it is natural.
• It looks ahead to matriculation. “Through June 2027” tells the committee what the applicant will be doing for the rest of the cycle.
• The closing sentence is short. One line of reflection is enough here; the facts carry the answer.

Mistakes to avoid.

• Writing a narrative essay instead of a timeline.
• Skipping months, or leaving out a job because it seems unrelated to medicine. Ordinary work counts.
• Copying your AMCAS activity descriptions word for word. Use new wording and add what has changed.
• Answering “no” when you are already out of school. If you have graduated, the answer is yes.
• Running past 2,000 characters. Count characters with spaces, and paste into a plain-text editor first.

Question 2: A time you were unsuccessful or failed (3,000 characters)

“Describe a time or situation where you have been unsuccessful or failed.”

Limit: 3,000 characters. Who answers: All invited MD and MSTP applicants (treat as required).

What it asks. WashU has used this question, in the same words, for many cycles. It asks for a real failure and, by implication, what you did next. The interview factors WashU lists include resilience and adaptability, capacity for improvement, self-awareness, and maturity, reliability and accountability. A strong failure essay gives evidence for all four.

Approach. Pick a failure that was actually yours, where you can name your own mistake. Avoid stories where the real cause was someone else, or where the “failure” is a disguised strength. A useful structure is: what you tried and why, how it failed (with specifics), what you got wrong, what you changed, and evidence that the change stuck. Spend at least a third of the space on what happened afterward. Three thousand characters is roughly 480 to 520 words.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (2,621 characters)

In my junior year I started a blood pressure screening table at a barbershop near campus. Within four months it had failed.

The idea came from my public health class. High blood pressure was common in the neighborhood around my university, and I had read about barbershop screening programs that worked. I recruited six classmates, borrowed automatic cuffs from our pre-med club and asked the owner, Mr. Davis, if we could set up on Saturday mornings. He agreed. I made a schedule, a referral sheet listing two nearby clinics and a spreadsheet for readings.

On the first Saturday we screened eleven men. By the sixth week we were screening two. By the fourth month my volunteers had stopped coming, and I closed the table.

At first I blamed things I could not control: the weather, finals, a campus event on the same morning. Then Mr. Davis told me something I did not want to hear. His customers felt like we were “doing a study on them.” We arrived with clipboards, asked about their diets and handed out a sheet of phone numbers. We never asked what they wanted. Two men with high readings told him they had not gone to the clinics because neither one took walk-ins on Saturday, their only day off.

The failure was mine. I designed the program around my own idea of the problem. I did not ask the people who would use it, and I did not check whether my referral plan worked for them. I also kept going for weeks after the numbers dropped, because stopping felt like admitting I was wrong.

I took three lessons from it. First, I ask before I build. When I later helped our campus free clinic plan a flu vaccine day, I spent two weeks asking patients in the waiting room which days and times worked. We held it on a Sunday afternoon and vaccinated 73 people. Second, I check the next step, not just the first one. A referral only helps if the patient can get there. Third, I set a date for an honest review. When I start a project now, I write down what result would tell me to change course, and I look at it on that date instead of waiting until failure is obvious.

The next year I went back to apologize to Mr. Davis and thank him. He said the idea had not been bad, only the way we did it. With his advice, another student group restarted the table with two barbers trained to take readings themselves. It still runs every month.

I expect to fall short again in medicine, and I would rather find out early. The Gateway Curriculum assesses students against specific competencies and uses “Not-Yet-Competent” instead of a failing grade. That matches how I want to learn: name the gap, ask for help and close it.

Analysis.

• The failure is real and owned. The applicant names a project that ended, gives numbers (eleven, then two), and says plainly, “The failure was mine.” There is no hidden brag.
• It shows how the applicant first got it wrong. Admitting to blaming the weather and finals before hearing the truth is honest and shows self-awareness, one of the factors WashU lists for interviews and review.
• It identifies specific mistakes. Not asking users, not checking the referral path and not stopping in time are concrete errors a reader can follow.
• More than a third of the essay covers what happened next. The flu clinic shows the lesson applied, with a result (73 people). The return visit to Mr. Davis shows accountability and repair.
• The school link is brief and accurate. The last paragraph ties the lesson to the Gateway Curriculum’s competency-based assessment, which really does use Competent and Not-Yet-Competent ratings. It does not turn into a “Why WashU” essay.
• It fits the limit. The response stays within 3,000 characters with room to spare for portal formatting.

Mistakes to avoid.

• Choosing a “failure” that is really a success, such as an A-minus or working too hard.
• Blaming other people, bad luck or a professor.
• Spending most of the space on the failure and one sentence on what you learned.
• Picking a story that raises professionalism concerns, such as dishonesty, without showing serious change.
• Using a family tragedy as a “failure” when the real subject is grief. That topic may belong in the open-ended question instead.

Question 3: Anything else for the Committee on Admissions (3,000 characters)

“Is there anything else you would like to share with the Committee on Admissions?”

Limit: 3,000 characters. Who answers: All invited MD and MSTP applicants (open-ended; answer if you have something to add).

What it asks. This is an open question with a real limit of 3,000 characters, not 3,000 words. It is the place for something your application does not already show: context for a grade pattern, a family responsibility, an identity, faith or cultural background that shapes how you see patients, or a challenge you overcame. WashU lists “distance traveled, challenges and hardships overcome” among the factors it considers in application review, so this is the natural place to explain yours.

Approach. Pick one topic and go into it. Explain the circumstances briefly, show what you did, and connect it to the kind of physician you want to be. If your topic explains a weakness, such as a low semester, state it directly in the first lines so the reader knows why you are writing. A short, specific link to something verified at WashU is fine, but the essay should stay about you. If you have nothing new to add, a well-written primary application does not need padding here.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (2,448 characters)

My transcript shows a C in general chemistry in my first semester and steady A’s after that. The grade is not the most important part of that year, but it is the easiest part to see.

My parents came to the United States from Vietnam in 2001 and run a laundromat in Springfield, Missouri. In my first year of college, my father had a stroke. He recovered most of his strength, but for eight months he could not lift wet loads or work long hours. I was living at home to save money, so I took his place. Three days a week I opened at 6 a.m., drove to class and came back to close at 10 p.m. I did chemistry problem sets on the folding table between customers.

I also became my father’s interpreter. My mother’s English is good for business but not for neurology appointments. At 18 I sat in an exam room explaining “anticoagulant” and “transient ischemic attack” in Vietnamese, words I had looked up the night before. Once I realized at home that I had told my father to take a medication twice a day instead of once. I caught it by reading the label and called the pharmacy. He was fine, but I have not forgotten how close it was. Since then I read every label twice, and I ask clinicians to write instructions down.

By my second year my father was back at work and I had a normal schedule again. My grades went up. I joined a lab that studies stroke rehabilitation, which was not a coincidence. I also trained as a medical interpreter through a hospital volunteer program, earned certification in 2024 and have interpreted for more than 40 Vietnamese-speaking patients.

I share this because it explains two things my application cannot. The first is the C. The second is why I care so much about the moment a patient walks out of the exam room. My father had good doctors. What nearly failed him was the gap between their instructions and our kitchen table.

At WashU I would want to work on that gap. Health equity and justice is a thread that runs through all three phases of the Gateway Curriculum, and the Advocacy and Global Health pathway in EXPLORE would let me study language access with a mentor. Barnes-Jewish Hospital is a safety-net hospital for St. Louis, and I expect to meet many patients who go home with instructions they cannot fully read. I want to be the physician who checks.

I still work at the laundromat over holidays. My father still teases me about the chemistry grade. It may be the most useful C I have ever earned.

Analysis.

• It explains a weakness in the first sentence. The reader learns immediately why the essay exists: a C in general chemistry, followed by an upward trend.
• The context is specific and brief. The stroke, the 6 a.m. openings and the folding table show the load the applicant carried without asking for sympathy.
• It includes a mistake and a fix. The medication error is a small, honest detail that shows responsibility and a lasting habit (reading labels twice, asking for written instructions).
• It shows growth with evidence. Better grades, a related lab, interpreter certification and more than 40 patients turn the hardship into a record of action. This is what “distance traveled” looks like on paper.
• The WashU link is accurate and earned. Health equity and justice is a Gateway thread, Advocacy and Global Health is one of the four EXPLORE pathways, and WashU describes Barnes-Jewish Hospital as a safety-net hospital. The applicant connects each to the essay’s real subject, language access.
• It ends on the applicant’s voice. The closing line is light but not a joke at the reader’s expense, and it brings the essay back to the grade it started with.

Mistakes to avoid.

• Pasting a personal statement or a diversity essay written for another school without rewriting it.
• Listing several unrelated topics in one answer.
• Explaining a weak grade with excuses rather than context and evidence of change.
• Writing about religion, culture or family background only in general terms. Tie it to what you have done and how you will treat patients.
• Assuming the limit is 3,000 words. It is 3,000 characters.

Question 4: Personal experience or relationship with WashU Medicine (4,000 characters, optional)

“Have you, a family member, or a research mentor had any personal experience or relationship with WashU Medicine? Yes/No If yes: Please explain.”

Limit: 4,000 characters. Who answers: All invited applicants answer yes/no; explain only if yes.

What it asks. This is a disclosure question. It asks whether you, a relative or a research mentor has a personal experience or relationship with WashU Medicine. Examples include a parent who trained or works there, a mentor who did a postdoctoral fellowship there, or a family member treated by WashU Medicine physicians. If none applies, answer no and move on. There is no penalty for having no connection.

Approach. If you answer yes, be factual first: who, what the connection is and when. Then say what it means to you, and be honest about what it does not mean. The question does not ask why you want to attend WashU, but a short closing paragraph on what draws you to the training is reasonable if it adds something. You do not need anything close to 4,000 characters. Clear and complete is better than long.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (1,713 characters)

Yes. Two connections apply, one through research and one through my family.

Research mentor: Since January 2024 I have worked in a microbiology lab at my university. My principal investigator completed her postdoctoral fellowship at WashU Medicine before starting her own lab in 2019. Our project on how gut bacteria respond to iron supplements grew partly out of questions she began studying in St. Louis. She has told me about her time there, mostly about the people she trained with and early morning runs in Forest Park. She is writing one of my letters of recommendation and has no other role in my application.

Family: In 2021 my grandmother was treated for lymphoma at Siteman Cancer Center. I was a high school senior and spent that summer driving her to appointments from our home in Columbia, Missouri, about two hours each way. I sat with her during infusions and kept a notebook of her questions for the next visit, because she forgot them once the doctor walked in. Her oncologist answered every one, even the ones she asked twice. She has been in remission for four years.

That summer is part of why I want to be a physician. It is not the reason I am applying to WashU, and I do not assume it gives me any advantage. I mention it because you asked, and because I already know the drive down I-70 and the waiting rooms.

My reasons for applying are about the training. I want early clinical work, and the Phase 1 clinical immersions would put me in inpatient, outpatient and procedural settings before clerkships begin. I also hope to keep doing research, and the option to defer up to 16 weeks of clerkships for a second immersive experience would let me do that without giving up clinical time.

If you have no connection, the complete answer is simply:

No.

Do not add an explanation to a “no.” The portal only asks you to explain a yes.

Analysis.

• It answers yes and says how many connections there are. The first line sets up the structure.
• Each connection is factual and dated. The mentor’s postdoctoral fellowship, the letter of recommendation and the grandmother’s treatment at Siteman Cancer Center (a WashU Medicine and BJC HealthCare partner) are stated plainly.
• It is transparent about roles. Saying the mentor “has no other role in my application” answers the question a reader is most likely to have.
• It does not claim an advantage. The applicant says outright that the connection is not a reason for admission, which reads as mature and honest.
• The closing paragraph adds real content. Phase 1 clinical immersions and the 16-week clerkship deferral for a second immersive experience are verified parts of the Gateway Curriculum, and they match the applicant’s stated goals.
• It uses well under half the limit. About 1,700 characters is enough. Filling 4,000 characters would only dilute it.

Mistakes to avoid.

• Stretching a weak connection, such as a campus tour or a single online event, into a relationship.
• Name-dropping faculty you have not worked with.
• Implying that a family connection should help your application.
• Writing a full “Why WashU” essay here and ignoring the disclosure the question asks for.
• Leaving out a real connection, such as a parent on the faculty. Disclose it plainly.

Question 5 (MSTP applicants only): Research you would like to explore in graduate school (1,800 characters)

“Briefly describe the area of research you would like to explore in graduate school.”

Limit: 1,800 characters. Who answers: Roy Vagelos MSTP (MD/PhD) applicants only.

What it asks. MSTP applicants answer this in addition to the questions above. It asks for the research area you want to pursue in your PhD, not a summary of your past projects. In 1,800 characters (about 270 to 300 words) the committee wants to see a clear scientific question, why it interests you, the kinds of approaches you would use and how it connects to your future as a physician-scientist.

Approach. Open with the question in one sentence. Use one or two sentences of past research to show where the interest came from, then spend most of the space on what you want to study next and how. Mention the types of methods and environments you need, and name a WashU resource only if it is verified and relevant. Show some flexibility, since MSTP students choose a lab after rotations. Finish with the clinical problem that ties the science to patients.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay (1,569 characters)

I want to study how the gut microbiome shapes growth in early childhood, and whether changing it can help treat undernutrition.

My interest began in my undergraduate lab, where mice fed the same diet grew at different rates depending on the bacteria they carried. For my honors thesis I colonized germ-free mice with microbial communities from two human donors and tracked weight gain for six weeks. The differences were large, and I wanted to know why. That question, how microbial communities and host metabolism shape each other, is the one I want to pursue in a PhD.

In graduate school I hope to combine three approaches: germ-free animal models to test cause and effect, metagenomic sequencing to see which microbial genes are active, and computational methods to link those genes to host growth. I want a program where these tools sit side by side. WashU’s Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology is built around this kind of work, and I would want to explore labs there as well as in microbiology and pediatrics during rotations.

The clinical side matters to me as much as the lab. A therapy for undernutrition is only useful if it works for real children and families. As a physician-scientist I hope to run studies that move from animal models to clinical trials, and to care for children in clinic while I do.

I am open to related questions in host-microbe biology, including infection and immunity, and I expect rotations to sharpen my focus. My goal will stay the same: research that starts with a patient problem and returns to it.

Analysis.

• The research area comes first. The opening sentence names a field and a question, which is what “briefly describe” asks for.
• Past work is used as a bridge, not a résumé. The honors thesis appears in two sentences and leads straight to the future question.
• It describes methods, not just interests. Germ-free models, metagenomic sequencing and computational analysis show the applicant understands how the question would be studied.
• The WashU reference is real. The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology is a WashU center, and the applicant mentions it as an environment to explore during rotations, not as a promised placement.
• It shows flexibility. Naming related areas and expecting rotations to sharpen the focus is realistic for a first-year MSTP student.
• It ties the science to patients. The last paragraphs connect the PhD question to clinical trials and pediatric care, which is the point of a physician-scientist program.

Mistakes to avoid.

• Retelling your research history instead of describing what you want to study next.
• Naming a single faculty member as the only reason to attend. Labs change and rotations exist for a reason.
• Being so broad (“cancer biology”) that no question is visible.
• Using jargon to fill space. A reader outside your field should follow it.
• Going over 1,800 characters. Short limits leave no margin.

Program-specific questions

The MSTP question above is the only program-specific question published for the 2026-2027 cycle. Applicants choose either the MSTP or the MD-only program, and MSTP applicants are considered for the MD-only program at the same time. Secondary questions for the combined master’s programs (MD/MPH, MD/MBA, MD/MSCI, MD/MPHS, MD/MS in BDS-AI and MD/MS-BMI) and the Medical Scholars research year have not been published for this cycle. These options are usually pursued during medical school, so plan to explain an interest in one of them through your existing answers or your interview rather than a separate essay.

General tips that apply to every WashU answer

• This is about you. You may be tempted to describe the people you worked with. Keep the focus on what you did, what you noticed and what you changed.
• Keep it simple. Short sentences and concrete details work better than claims about how life-changing an experience was. Describe what happened and let the reader judge.
• Be honest, and it is fine to repeat yourself. You can return to an experience from your primary application, but never copy yourself. Use new wording and add something the reader does not already know.
• You do not need your most embarrassing moment. For the failure question in particular, a situation where you had good intentions and still fell short, and then learned something you can prove, is usually stronger than a dramatic story.
• Religious, cultural and family background belong here if they matter to you. The open-ended question is a good place to discuss them, as long as you connect them to how you think about patients and medicine.
• Know that the essays are read. WashU lists essays, including secondary responses, among the factors in application review, alongside rigor of curriculum, GPA and MCAT, activities, other accomplishments, distance traveled and letters.
• Return it early. Your supplemental application is part of the complete file WashU needs before it considers you for an interview.

Interview Format and Preparation

Congratulations if you reach this stage. You are among a small share of applicants WashU will consider for its class. Each school’s interview process is different, so here is how WashU runs its interviews for the 2026-2027 cycle, followed by preparation advice.

How WashU interviews in 2026-2027

WashU uses a Virtual Interview Experience (VIE). There are no in-person interviews for the 2026-27 cycle. Interviews run from mid-September 2026 through mid-February 2027, usually Monday through Friday, and you schedule your day in the admissions portal soon after your invitation arrives. The interview page has the full details.

• Two live one-on-one interviews. Each interview is a 25-minute Zoom conversation with a faculty member from the Committee on Admissions. Both are on the same day.
• One standard interview. The interviewer has reviewed your full application.
• One closed-file interview. The interviewer has seen only your name. Each interviewer tells you which type of interview you are having, so you know how much background to give.
• Not MMI. These are conversational one-on-one interviews rather than multiple mini interviews (MMI).
• Preparation videos. Invitees receive videos introducing the VIE from Dr. Ratts, an overview of the Gateway Curriculum and a welcome from students.

During your interview week you are also invited to optional events: a small group discussion with faculty admissions leadership, an informal small group discussion with current students and a self-guided virtual tour of the medical campus. Other optional sessions include “Meet Our Students” (Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. CT), the Dean’s Greeting (twice a week, 4:30 to 5 p.m.) and “Why WashU Wednesday” sessions on select Wednesdays at 5 p.m. CT from October. Attendance at the student and Why WashU Wednesday sessions does not affect admissions decisions. There is no campus meal or in-person tour this cycle. Applicants who are offered admission are invited to optional visit days in spring 2027.

What WashU evaluates

WashU lists the factors it considers in the interview and admissions evaluation:

• Integrity and authenticity
• Service orientation
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Leadership
• Avocations and interests
• Capacity for improvement
• Communication skills
• Empathy and understanding others
• Ethical responsibility to self and others
• Initiative and productivity
• Insight into the practice of medicine
• Maturity, reliability and accountability
• Motivation for the study of medicine
• Professional bearing and communication
• Resilience and adaptability
• Creativity and innovative thinking
• Self-awareness
• Unique accomplishments or experiences

“Avocations and interests” is on the list for a reason. WashU’s requirements page mentions hobbies and a balanced lifestyle, so be ready to talk about life outside medicine.

What the two formats mean for you

The two-interview design reduces bias and tests different skills. In the standard interview, expect detailed questions about specific parts of your application: why you made a choice, what you learned from an activity or how you handled a problem. In the closed-file interview, you must introduce yourself from the beginning. Prepare a clear two-minute answer to “Tell me about yourself” that covers where you come from, your path to medicine, your most important experiences and why WashU. Then be ready to go deeper into any part of it.

How to prepare

This advice is general good practice, not a WashU rule.

1. Know your file. Reread your AMCAS application and secondary answers so details come easily in both interviews.
2. Practice out loud. Practice common questions, such as why medicine, why WashU, a failure, a conflict on a team and an ethical dilemma, until your answers sound natural rather than memorized. Polished does not mean scripted.
3. Prepare examples for the factors. For each item on WashU’s list, have a real story ready. Many stories cover several factors.
4. Learn the Gateway Curriculum. Be able to explain what draws you to immersions, EXPLORE or coaching.
5. Treat the video call like a real interview. WashU says the virtual format does not change normal expectations for professional appearance and timeliness. Test your camera, sound and internet beforehand, choose a quiet room and sit at eye level with the camera. If technology fails, contact the admissions office to reschedule.
6. Ask good questions. Think in advance about what you want to know about WashU. The interview is also your chance to decide whether the school is right for you.
7. Use the AAMC’s virtual interview tips. WashU points applicants to them.

After the interview

You may send updates or a letter of interest after your interview through the portal or by email. Decisions can arrive any time from December through March, and everyone hears by April 15, 2027.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is WashU hard to get into?

Yes. For the Entering Class of 2025, WashU received 6,138 applications, interviewed 1,021 people and enrolled 123 students. Accepted applicants had a median GPA of 3.96 and a median MCAT of 521, and the enrolled class had a mean GPA of 3.88 and a mean MCAT of 520. Strong applicants still get in every year, so if your record is competitive, apply as part of a balanced list.

What is the WashU School of Medicine acceptance rate?

WashU does not publish an acceptance rate. The 123 students who enrolled in 2025 equal about 2.0% of applicants, and the 1,021 interviews equal about 16.6%, but neither is an acceptance rate because offers are not reported. Focus on earning the interview, which is the biggest filter.

What GPA and MCAT do I need for WashU?

There is no minimum GPA, and the minimum MCAT total is 500. For the 2025 entering class, accepted applicants had a median GPA of 3.96 and a median MCAT of 521, and the enrolled class averaged a 3.88 GPA and a 520 MCAT, which is the 97th percentile. WashU considers your highest total from a single test date and prefers balanced section scores. If you are below these means, your experiences and essays need to stand out.

Does WashU require the PREview?

Yes. The AAMC PREview professional readiness exam is required for the 2026-2027 cycle and must be completed before WashU considers your application. Scores from January 2023 through September 2026 are accepted. Take it early so your score is ready when your file is reviewed.

How old can my MCAT score be?

WashU accepts MCAT scores up to three years old at the time of application. For 2026-2027, that means test dates from January 2023 through September 2026. You do not need to take the MCAT three years before applying; your score just cannot be older than that window.

When are the WashU deadlines?

For the MD program in 2026-2027, the AMCAS application and transcripts were due October 15, 2026, the supplemental application is due October 29, 2026, and letters are due November 6, 2026. MSTP deadlines were earlier: September 16, September 30 and October 7, 2026. WashU uses rolling admissions, so applying early helps.

What are the WashU secondary essay questions?

There are four questions for MD applicants: a chronological account of time when you were not a full-time student (2,000 characters, only if it applies), a time you were unsuccessful or failed (3,000 characters), anything else you want the committee to know (3,000 characters) and a yes/no question about personal connections to WashU Medicine (4,000 characters if yes). MSTP applicants also describe their graduate research interests in 1,800 characters. All limits are in characters, not words.

Is the WashU secondary application screened?

Yes. WashU screens verified AMCAS applications and invites applicants who meet basic selection criteria, usually about three business days after it receives the verified primary. The fee is $100 and is waived for AAMC Fee Assistance Program recipients.

What is the WashU interview like?

WashU interviews are virtual. You have two 25-minute one-on-one Zoom interviews with Committee on Admissions faculty on the same day. In one, the interviewer has read your full file. In the other, the interviewer knows only your name. There are also optional sessions with students and admissions deans during your interview week.

How much does WashU School of Medicine cost?

For 2026-27, tuition is $67,968, and the estimated total cost of attendance for a first-year student is $103,047, including fees, housing, food and other living costs. Tuition and scholarships are fixed for up to ten years. In the Entering Class of 2025, 71% of students had full tuition funding and 77% had merit or need-based scholarships.

Does WashU require research experience?

No, research is not a formal requirement, and publications are not needed. But WashU is a research-focused school, and it says it would be unusual for an applicant to have no research experience or exposure. Clinical, community and social science research all count.

What kind of clinical experience does WashU want?

WashU has no single preferred type. It wants to see real exposure to patient care, time watching physicians work with patients and thoughtful reflection on what you learned. It values experiences that include mentorship from a physician. Hospital jobs, scribing, EMT work, free clinics and supervised internships for pre-med students can all provide this kind of experience.

What prerequisites does WashU require?

One year each of biological science, general or inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, physics and calculus (differential and integral). One semester of biochemistry can replace one semester of organic chemistry, and statistics or biostatistics can replace one semester of calculus. Labs are recommended but not required, and you need at least 90 semester hours from an accredited institution.

Does WashU accept pass/fail, online or community college courses?

Yes, as long as the institution meets WashU’s accreditation requirements. WashU does recommend taking most courses, especially science courses, for a letter grade at your primary undergraduate institution.

How many letters of recommendation does WashU require?

Three. MD applicants should send no more than four. A committee letter or letter packet satisfies the requirement, and no science letter is specifically required. MSTP applicants have no cap and should include letters from every significant research mentor.

Does WashU accept international and DACA applicants?

Yes. International applicants are compared with the full applicant pool, and visa status does not affect decisions. Accepted international and DACA applicants must provide financial documentation by May 1 before matriculation, and international students must escrow four years of tuition and expenses. International students can receive merit scholarships but not need-based aid.

Does WashU give preference to Missouri residents or WashU undergraduates?

No residency preference is stated; WashU is a private school with one tuition rate, and its 2025 class came from 30 states and 9 countries. Of 6,138 applicants, 276 were Missouri residents, and 10 of the 123 students who enrolled were from Missouri. Attending WashU as an undergraduate does not give preference either.

Does WashU accept transfer students?

No. Because of the structure of the Gateway Curriculum, WashU does not accept advanced standing transfer applications from students at other medical schools.

Is the WashU curriculum pass/fail?

Not exactly. The Gateway Curriculum is competency-based. Courses are graded credit or no credit, and students are rated Competent or Not-Yet-Competent on each program objective, with Competent with Distinction possible in some domains. There are no traditional letter grades.

How does WashU view reapplicants?

Positively, as long as the application shows growth. WashU wants to see what you have added since the last cycle, such as new activities, leadership or publications, and how those relate to medicine. Have an advisor review your revised application and personal statement.

Can I send updates or a letter of intent?

Yes. After your AMCAS application is verified, you can upload updates in the applicant portal or email the admissions office. Letters of interest and intent are accepted and reviewed. There is no limit, but send only meaningful updates.

Does WashU have early decision?

No. WashU does not offer an Early Decision Program for the 2026-2027 cycle, and it has no early assurance program for undergraduates. Apply through AMCAS on the regular timeline, and apply early because admissions are rolling.

Does WashU require a deposit after acceptance?

No. WashU does not require a deposit to hold an acceptance. It asks accepted applicants to respond to an offer within two weeks, and everyone holding a WashU acceptance must select Plan to Enroll by April 30, 2027.

Can I defer my WashU acceptance?

Deferral requests are considered case by case. Two students from the 2025 entering class deferred entry. If you expect to need a deferral, raise it with the admissions office as soon as you have an offer.

How much debt do WashU graduates have?

In 2024-25, average graduate indebtedness was $102,548, and 87% of WashU medical students received financial aid. Tuition is fixed at entry, and need-based loans are capped at 35% of the cost of attendance for students who receive need-based aid.

What MCAT section scores do WashU admits have?

For the 2025 entering class, accepted applicants had median section scores of 131 in Chemical and Physical Foundations, 129 in Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills, 130 in Biological and Biochemical Foundations and 131 in Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations, for a median total of 521.

Related Medical School Guides

WashU is one of several strong MD options in Missouri and the Midwest. These guides can help you build a balanced list. They are chosen for geography and pathway, not because the schools are equally selective.

• Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine admissions guide. Our second WashU guide approaches the same school from a different angle, useful if you want another walk-through of its admissions process.
• Saint Louis University School of Medicine. The other MD school in St. Louis, a good fit if you want to train in the same city.
• UMKC School of Medicine. A Missouri MD option in Kansas City, worth comparing if you want to stay in the state.
• University of Missouri Medical School. Missouri’s public flagship MD program in Columbia, important for Missouri residents building a state-focused list.
• University of Kansas School of Medicine. A nearby Midwest public MD school just across the state line from Kansas City.
• Indiana University School of Medicine. A large Midwest MD program, a useful comparison for applicants applying broadly across the region.
• University of Minnesota Medical School. Another major Midwest research medical school to consider alongside WashU.

For every MD program in the state, see our guide to medical schools in Missouri.

How International Medical Aid Can Help

WashU looks for applicants who understand patient care from the inside, can reflect on it honestly and can explain their path clearly in two very different interviews. International Medical Aid (IMA) helps pre-health students with both the experience and the application.

Clinical internships. IMA runs pre-health internships in Kenya and at other sites for students preparing for medicine and other health careers. Interns take vital signs, do patient intake and triage, and help with direct patient care under the supervision of local clinicians. That gives you hands-on clinical skills and specific stories about teamwork, communication and care with limited resources, the kind of material WashU’s failure and open-ended questions and its interviewers ask about. You can compare all of IMA’s healthcare internships abroad by field and location.

Admissions consulting. IMA’s medical school admissions consulting helps with school lists, personal statements, secondary essays and interview practice, including mock closed-file interviews where you introduce yourself from scratch.

If you are deciding which step comes first, start with your timeline. Applicants who still need meaningful patient contact usually benefit most from clinical experience first. Applicants already applying this cycle usually benefit most from help with secondaries and interviews.

IMA is not affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine, and no internship or consulting service can guarantee admission to any medical school. What we can do is help you gain real clinical experience and tell your story well.

Final Thoughts and Sources

Applying for medical school is a long, complicated process, and there are many steps before you sit in your first lecture or lab. If you want to become a doctor, the time is worth it. The care you put into your application reflects the same care you will one day bring to your patients.

For WashU, the plan is clear. Take the MCAT and PREview on time, submit AMCAS early, line up three or four strong letters and draft your failure essay before the invitation arrives, so your supplemental application goes back within two weeks. Prepare for two very different 25-minute interviews, one where the interviewer knows your file and one where you start from your name. Do not let the numbers stop you: put your best foot forward and apply as part of a balanced list.

If your application is still years away, consider joining an International Medical Aid program to gain the kind of experience you will want to write about. And if you feel you have less experience than you would like, write well about the experience you do have. When you start listing it, you will often find you have more than you thought. Good luck with your application.

Source notes

Facts were checked on October 17 and 18, 2026. Cohort and year labels are given with each figure in the article.

• WashU Medicine MD Admissions, Who Chooses WashU Medicine: Entering Class of 2025 profile (class size, mean GPA and MCAT, applicants and interviews, geography, scholarships) and ten-year undergraduate institutions table (2015-2025).
• WashU Medicine MD Admissions, How to Apply, Requirements, Important Dates (Entering Class of 2027), Selection Process and The Interview Experience pages, 2026-2027 cycle.
• WashU Medicine MD Admissions, Frequently Asked Questions: mission fit, clinical and research experience, MCAT scoring, reapplicants, updates, international applicants, clinical sites, grading, academic societies and service programs.
• WashU Medicine MD Admissions, Cost of Education (2026-2027 estimated expenses, tuition stabilization) and Scholarship Impact pages.
• WashU Medicine MD Admissions, Curriculum, Degree Programs, Student Research, Global Health and Student Life pages, and the Gateway Curriculum Essentials document dated June 23, 2026.
• WashU Medicine MD Admissions, Admissions Committee Bios directory.
• AAMC Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR), Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine profile, 2026 edition (2025 entering class data), accessed October 18, 2026: median and section MCAT and GPA for accepted applicants, applications and matriculants by residency, minimum MCAT, Early Decision status, fee waiver, deposit, offer response and deferral policies, estimated new entrants, matriculant background and experience data, specialty intentions (Graduation Questionnaire through 2025), and 2024-25 financial aid and graduate indebtedness (LCME Part I-B).
• WashU Medicine, Mission, Vision and Values; Areas of Study; About Dean Levy; LCME accreditation announcement (September 2023); Nobel Prize winners; and the October 2025 news story on Aagaard and Zehnder’s education leadership roles.
• WashU news releases: Levy appointed dean (March 2026), Ratts named associate dean for admissions (October 2013) and Leana Wen, 2007 graduate (May 2007).
• WashU commencement pages for Thomas F. Frist Jr. (2017) and Jeffrey I. Gordon; Roy Vagelos Medical Scientist Training Program home page.
• Nobel Prize biography of Earl W. Sutherland Jr. (education record).
• Secondary question wording for 2026-2027: Student Doctor Network, 2026-2027 WashU thread (applicant posts, June 26 and June 30, 2026), with matching wording in the Med School Insiders and MedCoach 2026-2027 listings. WashU does not post its supplemental questions publicly.
• AAMC, AMCAS application instructions. Federal loan limits for new borrowers from July 1, 2026, as published by university financial aid offices; confirm current terms with WashU’s Office of Student Financial Planning.