How to Get Into Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center: The Definitive Guide (2026-2027)

Founded in 1837, Rush Medical College (RMC) is one of the first medical colleges in the Midwest, located in the urban heart of Chicago, Illinois. RMC is the medical school of Rush University, which shares a campus on Chicago’s West Side with Rush University Medical Center, a nationally recognized academic medical center known for its education, patient care and research. The college offers a four-year Doctor of Medicine (MD) program that integrates scientific knowledge with clinical practice and puts students in front of patients within the first few weeks of medical school.

Rush Medical College benefits from its place inside Rush University, which also includes the College of Nursing, the College of Health Sciences and the Division of Translational Science. This interprofessional setting lets medical students learn alongside peers in nursing, the health sciences and the biomedical sciences, which builds an early understanding of the health care team and the roles of different professionals within it.

This guide covers the 2026-2027 application cycle, which fills the class that begins medical school in summer 2027. It is written for applicants deciding whether Rush fits them and for applicants who already have a secondary in hand. It explains the school’s mission, its MD curriculum and longitudinal programs, its current prerequisites and course-timing rules, the 2026-27 deadlines, tuition and living costs, the people who lead the college, the latest class profile, all seven current secondary questions with original example answers, and the interview. Every statistic carries its year and group, and sources are listed at the end. Facts were checked on October 18, 2026.

Like every medical school, Rush has its own requirements and priorities. Understanding the college’s identity, its selection attributes and its programs will help you focus your application and present your strongest self. If you are considering Rush, bookmark this page and come back to it as each deadline approaches.

Key Takeaways

• Rush is very competitive and out-of-state friendly. For the 2025 entering class, Rush received 13,327 primary applications and 7,935 completed applications, interviewed 450 applicants and enrolled 144 students. Of those 144 students, 113 came from outside Illinois. The class averaged a 3.72 cumulative GPA and a 510 MCAT, and accepted applicants had a median 3.8 GPA and a median 510 MCAT.
• Eligibility is narrow on citizenship. Rush considers U.S. citizens, permanent residents, asylees, refugees and DACA recipients. It does not accept international applicants or transfer students.
• Prerequisites changed in 2026. Prerequisite courses do not expire and may be taken in person or online, but Rush requires applicants to be engaged in basic science coursework within five years of application. Every prerequisite must already appear on your AMCAS transcript when you submit. AP credit counts only for physics and math.
• Key dates for 2026-27: the AMCAS deadline is October 1, 2026; the secondary and all materials, including letters, are due November 13, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. MCAT scores from January 2024 through September 12, 2026 are accepted. Casper is not required or recommended.
• The secondary is all short-form. There are five essays of up to 1,000 characters each, plus two optional 1,000-character questions. Rush invites competitive applicants to the secondary beginning in July.
• Service is central to the mission. Rush strongly values community service and long-term clinical work with direct patient contact. Students serve more than 10,000 community members a year through service programs on the West Side.
• Costs for 2026-27: M1 tuition from Summer 2026 through Summer 2027 totals $60,999 across four terms, and the first-year student health insurance rate is $7,572. Tuition is the same for Illinois and out-of-state students.
• Next step: check your science coursework against the five-year engagement rule now, line up a science faculty letter, and draft all five essays before secondaries open in July.

Key Statistics About Rush Medical College

The table below collects the figures applicants ask about most. Each row names the year and group it describes.

Three notes will help you read this table. First, the number of applicants Rush accepted is not published, so there is no verified acceptance rate. The interview figure above is interviews divided by primary applications. It is not an acceptance rate, and dividing 144 matriculants by 13,327 applications would not be one either, because many admitted applicants enroll elsewhere. Second, the averages describe the enrolled class and the medians describe all accepted applicants. Neither is a minimum, and Rush publishes no cutoff score. Third, Rush charges tuition by term on one schedule for every student, so Illinois residents and out-of-state students pay the same amount. Students who start in summer 2027 will pay the 2027-28 rates, which Rush has not yet published.

Mission and Educational Priorities

Rush Medical College publishes its own mission alongside the mission of the Rush University System for Health. The college’s mission reads:

Through a supportive and dynamic learning community, Rush Medical College nurtures the development of empathic, proficient physicians dedicated to continuous learning, innovation, and excellence in clinical practice, education, research and service.

The system mission reads: “The mission of Rush is to improve the health of the individuals and diverse communities we serve through the integration of outstanding patient care, education, research and community partnerships.” The college’s vision is to “be the global leader in student-centered, future-oriented medical education.”

These statements highlight the school’s dedication to diverse communities, community engagement and team-based education. By building a varied student body, Rush aims to prepare physicians to serve a wide range of patient populations. The emphasis on community engagement reflects the school’s commitment to addressing health care disparities and improving public health on Chicago’s West Side and beyond.

What the mission means for applicants

Rush ties its admissions process directly to the mission. The college seeks candidates “who are academically competent, who will actively engage in campus life and the diverse communities we serve, who will enhance and contribute to the diversity of our school and university, and contribute unreservedly to serving, promoting and improving the health of the public.” In practice, that statement asks four things of you:

• Academic readiness for a lecture-free curriculum. Rush teaches its preclerkship years in a flipped classroom without lectures. Applicants must show self-regulated learning and the ability to work in small, problem-based groups.
• Engagement beyond the classroom. Rush looks for people who will take part in campus life and the surrounding community, not only finish coursework.
• Service with staying power. The college’s attribute list asks for a desire to help others, sensitivity to others’ needs and a recognition of responsibilities “locally, nationally and globally.”
• A record that fits a West Side academic medical center. Rush sits in the Illinois Medical District next to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Chicago’s safety-net hospital, and its students care for patients from across Chicago.

Attributes of a successful applicant

Rush lists the attributes it evaluates in a holistic review. Each one is worth reading as a checklist for your activities and essays:

• Academic excellence: organization, time management, self-regulated learning, creative and critical thinking, and the ability to absorb new information quickly and work in a team.
• Professionalism, integrity and ethics: honest and ethical behavior, adherence to rules and the ability to resist peer pressure and develop ethical reasoning.
• Communication and teamwork: listening, adjusting your communication, awareness of others’ needs, putting team goals ahead of individual goals and “evidence of participation with a significant extracurricular, academic or other experience requiring teamwork and leadership.” Rush adds that non-traditional backgrounds with real-life work experience are valued.
• Community service orientation: exposure to community service “whether through employment, volunteering or other activities.”
• Clinical experience: long-term commitments with direct patient contact rather than short-term experiences, with breadth and depth.
• Leadership: experiences during and beyond college, willingness to seek exposure to other backgrounds and cultures, the ability to question the status quo and to self-reflect.
• Resilience and adaptability: tolerance of stress, adaptation to change, persistence and recovery from setbacks.
• Reliability and dependability: accountability, consistent effort and keeping commitments.

Notice how closely the 2026-27 secondary essays follow this list. One essay asks about sustained engagement and service, one about inquiry, one about persistence and leadership and one about the complexity of patient care. If your activities already show these attributes, the secondary becomes a chance to explain them in depth.

Accreditation and Institutional Identity

Rush Medical College is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the body that accredits MD programs in the United States and Canada. The LCME directory lists “Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center” in Chicago with full accreditation, initial accreditation on or before 1942 and a next full survey in 2028-29. Rush University as a whole is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and the Illinois Board of Higher Education authorizes its degree programs.

A few points of identity help when you research the school:

• The name. The LCME and AAMC list the school as Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center. The college calls itself Rush Medical College, often shortened to RMC, and the university uses the RUSH brand for its health system.
• The history. The Illinois legislature chartered Rush Medical College on March 2, 1837, two days before the city of Chicago was incorporated, making it the first medical school in the city. Its founder, Daniel Brainard, MD, a surgeon, named it for Benjamin Rush, whom the college describes as the only physician to sign the Declaration of Independence. In 1847 the college awarded an MD to David Jones Peck, the first African American man to receive that degree from an American medical school. Rush Medical College was affiliated with the University of Chicago from 1898 to 1941 and closed in 1942. It reactivated its charter in 1969 and merged with Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital to form Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, and Rush University was established in 1972. Its long partnership with Cook County Hospital (now John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County) dates to the 19th century.
• The structure. Rush Medical College is one of four academic units of Rush University. The college offers the MD and, through its Division of Translational Science, master’s and PhD programs in biotechnology, integrated biomedical sciences and clinical research.
• The health system. Rush University Medical Center includes a 671-bed hospital serving adults and children and the 61-bed Johnston R. Bowman Health Center. The dean of Rush Medical College is also a senior vice president of the Rush University System for Health, which ties education closely to the clinical enterprise.

For applicants, full LCME accreditation means a Rush MD qualifies graduates for residency training and licensure in every state, and the next survey date shows that the college’s status is current.

Medical Programs and Affiliations

Rush Medical College offers a focused set of programs designed to prepare the next generation of physicians and researchers. With an emphasis on hands-on clinical education and research, RMC prepares students for a medical field that keeps changing.

Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program

RMC’s four-year MD program is the cornerstone of its medical education offerings. Rush describes it as a program that “develops empathic physician leaders dedicated to innovation, research and health equity.” The curriculum integrates foundational medical sciences with early clinical experience. It is divided into a preclerkship phase (first and second years) and a clerkship phase (third and fourth years), and students begin working with patients within the first few weeks of the first year. Through team-based classroom work, laboratory and simulation sessions, and clinical rotations in varied settings, students build a complete understanding of medical practice. Rush grants an undifferentiated MD that prepares graduates to enter residency in any specialty.

You apply to the MD program through AMCAS. There are two ways to apply: the Regular MD program and the Early Decision Program, described in the admissions section.

Physician-scientist training and dual degrees

Rush Medical College does not list an MD/PhD program or a Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) among its admissions options for the 2026-27 cycle. The college’s admissions page lists only the MD program and the Division of Translational Science programs (an MS in Biotechnology, an MS in Integrated Biomedical Sciences, an MS in Clinical Research and a PhD in Integrated Biomedical Sciences), and each of those has its own application. If you want formal MD/PhD training with a combined application, compare Rush with Illinois schools that offer one, such as Northwestern Feinberg and the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, which appear in the related guides below.

That does not mean research is closed to Rush MD students. Highly motivated students can build research into the MD through the first-year research elective, the paid Summer Research Fellowship, professional development research credits and a fourth-year research elective, all described in the research section. Students who want a master’s degree such as a Master of Public Health or an MBA typically arrange it on their own, with their advisers, as a separate program. Pursuing another degree takes independent initiative and planning, but it can open career paths in health care leadership and administration.

Longitudinal leadership programs

Rush offers two selective four-year longitudinal programs inside the MD:

• Family Medicine Leadership Program (FMLP). FMLP students are assigned to an ambulatory practice that serves as their clinical “home base” for all four years. There they care for individuals and families across the lifespan under the supervision of a family medicine faculty mentor, follow patients over time and become part of the care team. They also complete scholarship activities and a project that addresses an identified need in a community on Chicago’s West Side, with mentoring from senior FMLP students and Department of Family Medicine faculty.
• Health Equity and Social Justice Leadership Program. This program prepares students to advocate for health equity throughout their careers. In the first two years, students combine classroom and community experiences with a longitudinal project alongside a community organization. The third year includes a self-study curriculum and quarterly seminars, and the fourth year includes seminars and an equity-focused elective that can be local or global. Participants work with Rush initiatives including the Rush Community Service Initiatives Program, the Office of Global Health, the Office of Community Health Equity and Engagement, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the Center for Community Health Equity and West Side United.

Students in either program cannot also enroll in the optional first-year electives, so it is worth deciding early which path fits you.

Continuing Medical Education (CME)

Rush’s commitment to education extends beyond degree programs. Rush University offers continuing education for practicing physicians and other health professionals through courses, workshops and conferences, which helps clinicians stay current with medical advances and refine their skills. CME is not an admissions pathway, but it shows how Rush’s faculty keep teaching across the career span.

Affiliations

Rush Medical College works within a network of clinical and academic partners that shape the student experience. The most important are Rush University Medical Center on the same campus, Rush sites across the Chicago area, and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in the Illinois Medical District. Rush also shares its campus and teaching with the university’s other colleges, which matters for interprofessional learning.

College of Nursing

The Rush University College of Nursing offers a range of nursing programs that prepare students for advanced clinical roles and leadership positions in health care. Medical students meet nursing students in interprofessional courses: the first-year curriculum includes IPE 502, Interprofessional Person Centered Teams, taken in both the fall and spring terms. Rush’s Office of Global Health also runs service experiences open to students from across the university.

Generalist Entry Master’s in Nursing (MSN) for Non-Nurses: Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL)

One notable College of Nursing program is the Generalist Entry Master’s (GEM) Clinical Nurse Leader program, a direct-entry MSN for people who hold a bachelor’s degree in another field. The program prepares Clinical Nurse Leaders to provide high-quality, patient-centered care in inpatient, outpatient and community settings. It runs six semesters in a hybrid format, with more than half of its courses online or offering an online option, and 2026-27 tuition is $1,154 per credit hour. The GEM program page reports a 100% NCLEX pass rate for the first quarter of 2024 and prepares graduates for the NCLEX-RN and the Clinical Nurse Leader certification exam. Graduates can continue to one of Rush’s doctoral nursing programs through a Direct Entry Pathway.

Affiliated Colleges and Universities

Rush University’s colleges each set their own admission terms for graduates of other colleges and universities. If you are interested in a nursing or health sciences program at Rush, including the GEM program, confirm current requirements and any partner-school arrangements directly with that program’s admissions office. None of those arrangements is a pathway into the MD program.

Graduates from Accredited Institutions

For the MD program, the relevant rule is simpler: you need a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university in the United States or Canada, and your major is not a factor in admissions decisions.

Program Student Learning Outcomes

The GEM program aims to prepare graduates to work “at a high level in an inpatient, outpatient or community setting,” to pass the NCLEX-RN and Clinical Nurse Leader certification exams and to continue to doctoral study. Medical students work beside these future nurses in interprofessional courses, simulation and clinical settings, and Rush’s MD objectives ask every student to coordinate care across the health care system. If you are drawn to team-based care, look for ways to show it in your application, and consider whether nursing internships abroad or other team-based clinical roles could help you understand how nurses and physicians share the work of patient care.

Course Curriculum

The MD course list is described in detail in the curriculum section below. In brief, the first year includes eight required integrated courses built around organ systems and themes, one professional development course and optional electives; the second year includes four integrated courses and three professional development courses; the third year includes seven core clerkships; and the fourth year includes an emergency medicine clerkship, a sub-internship, a clinical bridge course and at least 24 weeks of electives. Rush Medical College is committed to an educational environment that builds academic excellence, clinical proficiency and a strong foundation in research, so that graduates are ready to meet the health care needs of diverse populations.

Rush Medical College and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County

Rush Medical College and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County (formerly Cook County Hospital) share a long history of collaboration that has shaped medical education, research and patient care in the region.

Historical Foundations

The roots of this partnership go back to the 19th century, when Cook County Hospital served as a primary teaching hospital for Rush students and faculty. Many Rush graduates, including the surgeon John B. Murphy, trained or taught there, and the association continued through the 20th century.

Present-Day Partnership

Today, core clerkships are offered primarily at Rush University Medical Center, Rush sites across the Chicago area and Stroger Hospital. Rush describes Stroger as the flagship hospital of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System and the safety-net hospital for Chicago-area residents, many of whom are underinsured or uninsured. Students there see cases that are often more advanced than those in university, community and private hospitals. Rush also notes that Stroger has the busiest emergency department in Chicago and one of the largest Level I trauma centers in the United States.

This clinical exposure prepares future physicians for the complexity of modern health care. Rush and Stroger are also both committed to community engagement, addressing health disparities and caring for underserved populations, and the partnership continues to shape health care in the region for students and the community alike.

Curriculum Overview

Rush Medical College’s MD curriculum is designed to develop compassionate, skilled and knowledgeable physicians who are ready for the challenges of modern health care. The MD curriculum page organizes the program objectives around six roles a physician plays and the foundation of medical knowledge that supports them:

• Advocate: identify and address social, political and cultural factors that affect the health of patients and populations to improve health equity.
• Communicator: establish strong therapeutic relationships with patients and their families to provide care that reflects their needs, values and preferences.
• Leader: improve health care quality by taking part in a culture of safety and coordinating care across the health care system.
• Practitioner: collect, interpret and document information to make clinical decisions and carry out diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.
• Professional: carry out professional responsibilities and uphold the legal and ethical principles of medical practice.
• Scholar: use evidence-based principles to improve your own practice, inform patient care and contribute to scientific knowledge.
• Medical Knowledge: know established and evolving biomedical, clinical and social-behavioral sciences and apply them to patient care.

The Four-Year Journey

The MD is a four-year program with a preclerkship phase and a clerkship phase. To graduate, students must complete all required course work, pass USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK), and receive approval from the promotions committee (COSEP).

Pre-clerkship (Years 1 and 2)

In the preclerkship phase you learn the normal and diseased states of organ systems in the context of patient cases. The first-year required courses are The Foundation of Medical Practice, Host Defense and Response, Vital Fluids, Vital Gases, Food to Fuel, Movement and Mechanics, and Brain, Behavior and Cognition A and B, plus Interprofessional Person Centered Teams. The second-year required courses are Sexuality and Reproduction, Health Across the Life Span, Introduction to Hematology and Oncology, and Complex Cases and Transition to Clerkship. Woven through them are biostatistics, communication and physical exam skills, health care economics, humanism in medicine, medical ethics, personal wellness and the social determinants of health.

Four features define how the preclerkship years feel:

• Flipped classroom. Rush has eliminated the traditional lecture format in the preclerkship courses. You prepare by reading course notes and watching prepared videos, then spend class time working in teams on patient cases, guided by basic science and clinician faculty. Clinical experiences, workshops, labs and simulations supplement the course material.
• EXPLORE Rush. The Experiential Learning Opportunities for Preclerkship Students program pairs you with clinical, research or advocacy experiences. In the fall of the first year you complete EXPLORE Essentials (history taking, oral presentations, mentorship and career exploration). Then you are matched with a faculty preceptor and spend 20 hours with them over the semester. You can choose a new experience each term, up to five over two years, or stay with one for two or more semesters.
• Professional development courses. In the first year you choose one professional development course and in the second year three, in academic enrichment, clinical experience, community service or research.
• Simulation and bedside skills. The Rush Center for Clinical Skills and Simulation has patient mannequins that breathe and bleed, ultrasound equipment, medication dispensing stations and standardized patients. Bedside Clinical Skills lets you take histories, perform physical exams, give oral presentations and write notes on real hospitalized patients before clerkships begin.

Optional first-year electives include Basic and Intermediate Spanish for Medical Professionals, Humanities in Medicine (with museum visits, movement and acting exercises and reading and writing about literature) and Basic Biomedical Research. These electives run alongside the required curriculum.

You must take USMLE Step 1 before starting third-year core clerkships, with required practice exams in the middle and at the end of the second year. Rush publishes its first-time Step 1 pass rates: 90% in 2025 against a national rate of 93%, and 85% in 2024 against 91%.

Clerkship (Years 3 and 4)

The third year begins with Clinical Resources and Skills for the Hospital (CRASH), which covers basic life support, advanced communication, reading electrocardiograms and X-rays, and advice from fourth-year students. The core clerkships are organized into three 16-week super-blocks:

• Internal medicine (eight weeks)
• Pediatrics (eight weeks)
• Surgery (eight weeks)
• Obstetrics and gynecology (six weeks)
• Neurology (four weeks)
• Psychiatry (four weeks)
• Primary care, in family medicine or internal medicine (four weeks)
• Optional elective time (six weeks)

A year-long course, Rush Integrated Clinical Experiences (RICE), meets monthly to connect clinical work to the physician roles. Each third-year clerkship ends with an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE).

The fourth year includes a required four-week emergency medicine clerkship, a four-week sub-internship in family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics or general surgery, a four-week Clinical Bridge course in March that works like a residency boot camp, and the Transition to Residency course. Students must complete at least 24 weeks of fourth-year electives, 20 of them in direct patient care, choosing from more than 80 electives or designing an individualized elective with a Rush faculty member. Up to 12 weeks may be taken at another LCME- or ACGME-accredited institution, and about 60% of fourth-year students take an away elective. Rush’s first-time Step 2 CK pass rate was 100% in 2024-2025 against a national rate of 98%.

Shaping the Curriculum with Student Engagement

RMC values student input and involves students in shaping the curriculum. Students can serve on the Committee on Curriculum and Evaluation, the college’s overarching curriculum committee of faculty, administrators and students, and on the Student Curriculum Advisory Committee, an independently run, student-only committee that serves as the main student voice on the curriculum. Many other committees also include students.

Specialized Programs for Future Leaders

RMC offers two specialized four-year programs that add structured training in specific areas, described in more detail in the programs section above:

Family Medicine Leadership Program

This program provides additional training for students interested in family medicine, with a continuity “home base” practice, leadership and advocacy training and a West Side community project, preparing students for careers in primary care.

Health Equity and Social Justice Leadership Program

This program trains students to address health disparities and care for vulnerable populations through classroom and community experiences, a longitudinal community project, seminars and an equity-focused fourth-year elective.

Through its competency-based curriculum, early patient contact and team-based learning, Rush Medical College prepares the next generation of medical leaders for a fast-changing health care system, with the goal of improving the lives of patients and communities.

Admissions Requirements and Application Process

Earning a place at Rush Medical College is a challenging but achievable goal for applicants who prepare carefully. This section explains each requirement for the 2026-2027 cycle, which fills the class entering in summer 2027.

Who can apply

Rush considers applicants who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or who hold asylee, refugee or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status at the time of application. All applicants must document their status with a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport, permanent resident card, Form N-550 or Certificate of Naturalization, or other documentation of asylee, refugee or DACA status. Rush does not accept international applicants, and it has no positions for transfer applicants in the second, third or fourth year.

Rush supports DACA applicants. Current DACA recipients are eligible and encouraged to apply. In Illinois, DACA recipients are not eligible for federal or state financial aid for their education, but they receive equal consideration for Rush’s institutional scholarships. Jill Volk, M.S.Ed., is the contact named on the DACA applicants page.

Degree and major

You must complete a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university in the United States or Canada before you enroll. Rush seeks students “with a wide range of talents, interests, and academic backgrounds,” and an applicant’s major is not a factor in admissions decisions.

Required Coursework for Rush Medical College

Rush lists its prerequisites on its admission requirements page. Every course must be posted to your transcript before you submit your AMCAS application.

Course age limits and online coursework

This is the part of Rush’s policy that changes most from year to year, so read it closely. The current rules are:

• Prerequisites do not expire. “Prerequisite courses do not expire; however, applicants should ensure that all prerequisite coursework and grades are reflected in the AMCAS application transcript, before submitting the AMCAS application.”
• Online courses are allowed. “These courses can be taken in-person or online.”
• Recent science is still required. “Rush requires applicants to be engaged in basic science coursework within five years of application. Additional coursework in biology is highly recommended.” That additional coursework and its grades must also appear on your AMCAS transcript before you submit.

Rush revised this policy in summer 2026. If you see older advice saying that biology and chemistry prerequisites must be completed in person and within five years of matriculation, follow the current rules above instead. If your science courses are older, or you are unsure whether your recent coursework counts as basic science, email the admissions office at [email protected] before you pay for the secondary, and keep the reply. Applicants with older degrees often strengthen this part of the file with one or two upper-level biology courses, which also satisfies Rush’s recommendation for additional biology.

Additional Recommended Premedical Coursework

Rush recommends coursework in anatomy and physiology and in subjects that expose you to the social determinants of health and disparities in health care outcomes. Its examples include sociology, public health, political science, global health, bioethics, urban studies, history and economics. Coursework like this also gives you material for the essays on world view and the complexity of care.

GPA and MCAT Requirements for Rush Medical College

Rush screens on academic metrics as part of holistic review but publishes no minimum GPA or MCAT number. The 2025 entering class averaged a 3.72 cumulative GPA and a 510 MCAT composite, and all accepted applicants for that class had a median total GPA of 3.8, a median science GPA of 3.72 and a median MCAT of 510. Applicants below the undergraduate screen are still considered if they have a postbaccalaureate or graduate GPA of 3.5 or higher across at least 24 credit hours of biology, chemistry, physics and math coursework completed by the time they apply. Reviewers and interviewers do not see your GPA or MCAT, which keeps their attention on your experiences and essays. For students applying to enter in 2027, Rush accepts MCAT scores from exams taken from January 2024 through September 2026; the latest acceptable test date for regular applicants is September 12, 2026, and for Early Decision applicants it is June 27, 2026. Scores outside that window require a retake. If you take the MCAT more than once, Rush reviews all scores with an emphasis on the highest composite, and it treats the MCAT as “one part of the application” that “does not outweigh other application components.” The AAMC does not tell schools about future MCAT registrations, so keep your planned test dates current in AMCAS. If you are budgeting for a retake, our MCAT Cost: The Definitive Guide explains registration and rescheduling fees and other expenses.

Clinical experience and community service: how to document it

Rush does not publish a minimum number of clinical, shadowing or service hours, and you should be wary of any source that gives one. What the college does publish is a clear description of what it values:

• Clinical experience: Rush “strongly recommend[s]” clinical exposure “in clinics, hospitals, hospices, nursing homes or other health care facilities” and seeks “long-term commitments that include direct patient contact rather than short-term experiences.” The experiences “should be qualitative in nature with a breadth and depth of exposure.” Rush also says that while many applicants have international clinical or public health experiences, it “equally value[s] significant commitments to patient care in the applicant’s own community.”
• Community service: Rush seeks applicants “with exposure to community service, whether through employment, volunteering or other activities.”

Because there is no hour threshold, the way you document your work matters more than a total. Use these four places:

1. AMCAS Work and Activities. Give accurate dates and realistic hours for each role, and describe what you did with patients or community members, not only where you were. Mark your most meaningful experiences and use that space to show continuity.
2. The Rush secondary. Applicants report that the Rush secondary portal asks for experience details, including start dates, in addition to the essays. Make the dates match your AMCAS entries exactly. Essays 2 and 3 then give you 1,000 characters each to show what a clinical setting and a long-term commitment taught you.
3. Letters. If you use individual letters, Rush asks for a professional non-academic letter that can speak to attributes such as dependability, cultural competence and service orientation. A supervisor from a long-term clinical or service role is often the right writer.
4. Your interview. Expect to discuss what you did and learned in the roles you list.

A long-term role with real patient contact, such as working as a medical assistant, EMT, patient care technician, hospice volunteer or clinic intake volunteer, will usually say more than many short experiences. Structured pre-med internships can add hands-on patient care, but Rush is explicit that it values a sustained commitment in your own community at least as much as work abroad, so treat any international program as one part of a longer clinical record.

Rush Medical College Letters of Recommendation

Rush places “a high value on letters of recommendation” and accepts them only through the AMCAS Letter Service. Choose one of three options:

• Option 1: one premedical committee letter (preferred, if your school offers one).
• Option 2: one letter packet.
• Option 3: three individual letters:
• Academic letter from a science faculty member who can evaluate your academic abilities and readiness for a medical school curriculum.
• Professional non-academic letter from someone who has worked with you professionally and can address attributes such as resilience, dependability, social skills, cultural competence and service orientation.
• Personal letter from someone with an in-depth view of you who has had substantial contact with you during the past 24 months. Letters from friends and family are not accepted.

Rush evaluates no more than three letters. If you submit more than three letters, Rush will ask you to choose the three to be evaluated. Letters must reach AMCAS no later than November 1, and your application is not complete until they arrive. Rush assumes you have waived your right to view your letters. Select writers who know you personally, and give them your activity list and a short note on the attributes above so they can write specific, detailed letters.

Technical standards

Rush grants an undifferentiated MD and publishes technical standards for admission and promotion in six areas: behavioral and social abilities, communication, ethics and professionalism, intellectual (conceptual, integrative and quantitative) abilities, motor skills and observation. The standards must be met with or without reasonable accommodation, and accepted applicants must read and sign off on them before accepting an offer. Rush encourages students with disabilities to disclose and request accommodations early through the Office of Student Accessibility Services, because accommodations are never retroactive.

Does Rush Medical College Require the CASPer Exam?

No. For students applying to enter Rush in fall 2027, the Casper exam is “no longer required or recommended for admission.” Rush does not list PREview or any other situational judgment test as a requirement.

Personal Statement

Your AMCAS personal statement is your chance to share your story and your reasons for pursuing medicine. Build it around experiences that show the attributes Rush lists, and let it show who you are rather than repeating your activity list. Because Rush’s secondary essays are short, the personal statement is the one place where you have room for a full narrative.

AMCAS Primary Application and Rush Medical College Secondary Application

You apply through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) with Rush Medical College designated as a receiving school. If you are new to the primary application, our guide to applying to medical school with AMCAS covers each section. After reviewing your AMCAS application, Rush invites competitive applicants to complete its secondary application. Invitations and interview invitations arrive by email, and you can track your file on the status page of the RMC Applicant Portal.

The secondary fee is $100, and a fee waiver is available. The full secondary, with every prompt and an example answer, is covered in the secondary section of this guide.

Early Decision Program

Rush’s Early Decision Program (EDP) lets you apply to Rush as your only school and receive a decision by the end of September. To apply Early Decision:

• Select “Early Decision” as the program type in AMCAS and select Rush Medical College as your only school. If you add another school, AMCAS changes your program type to Regular MD.
• Submit your AMCAS application and all required materials (secondary, letters and MCAT) by August 3. Your MCAT must be taken by June 27, 2026.
• Invited Early Decision applicants attend the first virtual interview day in September.
• Decisions for Early Decision applicants are made by September 30. You are either accepted or deferred to the regular pool. If you are accepted, you are committed to Rush and cannot apply to other medical schools.

Early Decision makes sense only if Rush is clearly your first choice and your application is complete and strong by early August.

Application timeline, 2026-2027 cycle

Planning the Application Timeline

The Rush process unfolds over many months, with specific deadlines and milestones to keep in mind. Here is a practical calendar built around Rush’s dates.

Early Preparation (January to May)

Begin preparing your application materials well before the deadlines. Take the MCAT early enough to retake it if needed, request letters from your chosen writers and start drafting your personal statement. Check that every prerequisite is complete and posted to your transcript, because Rush requires that before you submit AMCAS. Many applicants use this period for a summer clinical job or volunteer role that deepens patient contact, and planned well, pre-med summer internships can fit between spring finals and the June AMCAS opening.

Primary Application (May to October)

Submit your AMCAS application early in the cycle. Rush’s AMCAS deadline is October 1, but because it reviews applications and sends secondaries from July onward, applying in June or early July gives you more time with the secondary and more interview dates to choose from. Make sure transcripts and MCAT scores are complete and accurate.

Secondary Application (July to November)

If you are invited, complete the secondary by the November 13, 2026 deadline. Many strong applicants return it within two weeks of the invitation. Take the time to answer each prompt fully, and make your experience dates match AMCAS.

Interviews (September to February)

If you are selected, Rush interviews on a virtual interview day. Prepare by learning Rush’s curriculum and programs, practicing clear, specific answers and testing your technology. Interviews run from early September through the end of February.

Admissions Decisions (October to Orientation)

Rush begins sending decisions on October 15 and tries to notify applicants two to three weeks after their interview. It continues to extend offers until the class is full, but no later than the first day of orientation. If you are accepted, you will complete a criminal background check through AMCAS, as Illinois law requires for medical school matriculants, and a drug screening on the first day of orientation.

Additional Tips for Success

• Start early: the earlier you begin, the more time you will have to refine your application and present yourself well.
• Be thorough: make sure every component is complete, accurate and submitted on time.
• Demonstrate fit: connect your experiences to Rush’s attributes and mission in your personal statement and secondary.
• Seek guidance: ask pre-med advisers, mentors or current Rush students for advice. Rush’s student ambassadors connect with prospective students, and Rush runs a free virtual workshop, Before You Apply: Application Prep Done Right, each winter for applicants from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds who plan to apply in the next two cycles.

While the path to medical school is challenging, careful preparation and a well-built application can strengthen your chances of admission to Rush Medical College.

Primary Application:

• Service: American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS)
• Primary application deadline: October 1, 2026
• Letters of recommendation: one committee letter (preferred), one letter packet, or three individual letters; due to AMCAS by November 1

Secondary Application:

• Fee: $100, with a fee waiver available
• Deadline: November 13, 2026, 11:59 p.m. Central Time
• Early Decision deadline: August 3 for AMCAS and all materials

Interview Process:

• Format: virtual interview day
• Invitations sent: beginning August 15, 2026 and continuing through February

Decisions, waitlist and First Look Day

Accepted applicants must select Plan to Enroll and pay a $100 deposit by April 30, 2027. The deposit is refundable until June 1, 2027 and is applied to tuition. Requests to defer entrance are considered case by case; one 2025 applicant deferred. The waitlist is not ranked. Applicants on the waitlist are re-evaluated periodically, can upload updates to the applicant portal and remain eligible for acceptance any time before the first day of orientation. Rush accepts letters of intent, letters of interest and notices of significant updates throughout the cycle. Rush holds a First Look Day for admitted and waitlisted applicants in late March or early April. If you are waitlisted, keep your contact information current and send only meaningful updates.

Tuition, Cost of Attendance and Financial Aid

Rush is a private medical school with one tuition schedule for all students, so Illinois residents and out-of-state students pay the same rates. Tuition is billed by term, including summer terms, and Rush charges medical students for a maximum of four years of full-time tuition.

Tuition for 2026-27

The Rush University tuition page lists rates effective Summer 2026 through Summer 2027. The Summer 2026 column uses the 2025-26 rate.

For a student who began in Summer 2026, the four M1 terms (Summer 2026, Fall 2026, Spring 2027 and the M1-end Summer 2027 term) total $60,999. Students who need extra time to finish the MD pay an enrollment fee instead of tuition for each additional term. The class entering in summer 2027 will pay the 2027-28 schedule, which is not yet published; expect it to be similar to or higher than these rates.

Health insurance and other costs

All Rush students must have health insurance. The university plan, through Academic HealthPlans, costs about $7,572 for first-year medical students in 2026-27 (coverage starts in the summer term) and $6,989 for other students. You can waive it with proof of comparable coverage. The plan has a $500 annual deductible and covers most inpatient and outpatient services at 80 percent.

The 2026-2027 cost of attendance page sets these allowances for medical students:

• Living allowance: $3,861 per month for students living off campus, which breaks down into $2,467 for living expenses, $556 for transportation, $132 for average federal loan fees and $706 for personal expenses.
• Books and supplies: $1,314 (first year), $1,182 (second year), $1,758 (third year) and $588 (fourth year).
• Other MD allowances: USMLE Step exams in the third year ($1,437), core clerkship and away rotation travel in the third year ($1,100) and residency interview expenses in the fourth year ($7,182).

Rush’s own 2026-27 pages list cost components rather than a single total. For 2025-26, the estimated first-year total cost of attendance was $116,311 for Illinois residents and $107,391 for out-of-state students, built from $59,222 in tuition and fees, $7,016 in health insurance and other expenses. As a rough IMA estimate using the 2026-27 figures, a first-year student’s budget would combine $60,999 in tuition, $7,572 in insurance, $1,314 for books and about $46,332 in living costs for 12 months at $3,861, or roughly $116,000 before scholarships. Your actual budget depends on your enrollment dates, whether you waive insurance and how you live.

Financial aid

More than 80 percent of Rush Medical College students receive financial assistance. Graduates who borrowed for medical school left with an average medical school debt of $291,751 in 2024-25. Aid packages for accepted applicants begin arriving in early spring and are built to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need with grants, scholarships and loans. Rush awards aid on the basis of demonstrated financial need, defined as the cost of education minus student and family resources, and meets need with a mix of grants and loans. Because there is more loan assistance than grant aid, loans make up a larger share of most packages. Grant aid is based on parent information whether you are independent, married or single; students who will be at least 30 years old by the program start date do not need to submit parent information and still receive full consideration for need-based aid. Rush explains how to apply for aid after you are accepted, and the Office of Student Financial Aid can help you identify scholarships and other assistance. DACA recipients are not eligible for federal or state aid in Illinois but receive equal consideration for institutional scholarships.

Financial Information

Here is the short version of the numbers above:

• M1 tuition, Summer 2026 through Summer 2027: $60,999 over four terms, the same for all students
• First-year student health insurance, 2026-27: $7,572
• Living allowance, 2026-27: $3,861 per month off campus
• Students receiving financial assistance: more than 80 percent
• Average medical school debt of indebted graduates, 2024-25: $291,751

Rush Medical College offers financial aid that includes scholarships, grants and loans, and the financial aid office works with students to understand their options and manage their educational expenses.

Campus Facilities and Student Life

Rush Medical College sits within the Rush University Medical Center campus in the Illinois Medical District on Chicago’s West Side, one of the largest urban medical districts in the country. The location gives students direct access to an academic medical center, research centers and a varied patient population, with Stroger Hospital and other health institutions a short walk away.

Where you will study and train

• Rush University Medical Center. The medical center includes a 671-bed hospital serving adults and children, including the hospital building known as the Tower, where students train alongside experienced physicians and other health professionals.
• Armour Academic Center. The Rush Medical College Office of Admissions is in Suite 403 of the Armour Academic Center at 600 S. Paulina St., and the Rush University Medical Center Library has its services desk in Suite 571 of the same building. The library offers collaborative study spaces and a large collection of medical literature, journals and online databases.
• Rush Center for Clinical Skills and Simulation. The Sim Center bridges the gap between the classroom and real patients with simulators, hospital communication systems, medication dispensing stations, ultrasound equipment and standardized patients. Students use it throughout the preclerkship and clerkship years, for example to deliver a baby in the obstetrics clerkship, perform a spinal tap in neurology and treat an unstable patient in emergency medicine.

The academic calendar for each year, with term start and end dates, holidays and exam periods, is published on the Rush University academic calendars page.

Housing: Your Home in the Heart of Chicago

Rush’s cost of attendance budgets a living allowance for medical students who live off campus, and most students rent apartments in the surrounding neighborhoods. Popular choices include:

• West Loop: a busy neighborhood known for restaurants, galleries and quick access to downtown, with modern apartments and converted lofts close to the medical center.
• Illinois Medical District: next to campus, with apartments, condominiums and townhouses that put you close to classes and clinical sites.
• University Village: home to the University of Illinois Chicago, with student-friendly apartments a short commute away by public transportation.
• Pilsen and Little Italy: neighborhoods with rich cultural life, restaurants and shops, and a range of housing from vintage apartments to newer condos.

Budget carefully. Rush’s 2026-27 living allowance of $3,861 per month is meant to cover rent, utilities, groceries, transportation and personal items, and student loans are not meant to cover living costs for family members.

Student Organizations

Rush has an active student community, with organizations that connect students with peers, build leadership skills and support service. Student groups have included the following, and current Rush students can tell you which are active in a given year:

Professional Development and Academic Exploration

• American Medical Student Association (AMSA): resources, advocacy and professional development for medical students.
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement chapter: student work on health care quality and patient safety. The Health Equity and Social Justice Leadership Program also lists the Institute for Healthcare Improvement among its collaborating initiatives.
• Global Surgery Student Alliance at Rush (GSSA): education, advocacy and research for students interested in global surgery.
• Rush Emergency Medicine Simulation Student Group (REMS): hands-on simulation training for students interested in emergency medicine.
• Topics in Medical Economics (TIME): the financial side of health care and medical practice.
• Journal clubs: student discussions of new research and its implications for practice.

Personal Interests and Social Causes

• Food as Medicine: the role of nutrition in health and disease prevention.
• Friends of MSF (Doctors Without Borders): awareness and fundraising for humanitarian medical aid.
• Global Perspective and Rush Students for Global Health: discussion, advocacy and service on global health issues.
• Habitus, the health humanities journal of Rush University: a student-run journal on medicine, the humanities and the social sciences.
• Neurodiversity Allies (NDA): awareness and acceptance of neurodiversity in medicine.
• Restorative Justice Initiative: restorative practices within health care and the community.
• Rush Students for Choice: advocacy on reproductive health care access.
• Rush University Student Wellness Association (RU Well): founded by medical students in 2018 and advised by Jay Behel, PhD, RU Well offers mindfulness and wellness programming on meditation, nutrition, exercise, sleep and compassion.
• Rush Wilderness Medicine Society (RWMS): training in wilderness and austere-environment medicine.

Identity-Based and Support Groups

• American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)
• Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA)
• Black Excellence
• DACA Medical Association
• Latinx Medical Student Association (LMSA)
• Men in Nursing
• Rush Muslim Association (RMA)
• RushPRIDE
• Together We Thrive

Wellness and student support

Rush Medical College has its own Medical Student Affairs team, separate from the university’s student affairs office, that offers academic support, advising, career and professional development and well-being programming. Programming includes Doc Talks, where Rush physicians and alumni share their successes and struggles, social hours with faculty each term and twice-monthly meditation and yoga. Students can also use the RUSH Center for Clinical Wellness, which provides counseling at no additional charge, and the RUSH Wellness Assistance Program, which is free and confidential.

Rush also uses restorative justice, a practice rooted in Indigenous traditions that emphasizes building community and repairing harm. Restorative practices were introduced at RMC in 2014 and now shape community-building and team-building circles in the preclerkship and clerkship years. RMC was one of the schools chosen for the AAMC’s Restorative Justice in Academic Medicine pilot.

Community Engagement: Making a Difference Beyond Campus

Rush Medical College is deeply committed to serving the surrounding community. Rush students serve more than 10,000 community members each year through programs that improve access to care, health education and the pipeline of future health care professionals. Most of that work runs through the Rush Community Service Initiatives Program (RCSIP), whose mission is to provide community-based volunteer experiences that build teamwork, patient relationships and care for diverse populations. RCSIP aligns volunteer work with Rush’s community health needs assessment and runs access, health promotion, outreach and health care pipeline programs, including a Mini Medical School. A Rush study found that RCSIP opportunities influenced 66 percent of current students to choose Rush.

For applicants, this matters in two ways. First, it tells you what Rush students do, so you can judge whether you would use those opportunities. Second, it explains why the secondary asks about sustained engagement and why Rush values long-term service in your own community.

Global health

Rush’s Office of Global Health works to eliminate health disparities at home and abroad. Students can take part in the Rush Interdisciplinary Service Experience (RISE), the annual Global Health Symposium, primary care and surgical service trips and a fourth-year global health elective. A recent opportunity, Hands on Peru, offered immersion in Peruvian culture with health education and public health training, with scholarships from the Office of Global Health. If Spanish-language care and global health interest you, a supervised medical internship in Peru before medical school can build relevant skills, and Rush’s Spanish for Medical Professionals electives continue that work once you enroll.

Diversity and Inclusion: A Welcoming and Supportive Environment

Rush Medical College is committed to building a varied and inclusive community where every student feels valued and supported. The university’s Office of Student Diversity and Community Engagement offers programs and resources that include mentorship, cultural events and workshops. Rush’s technical standards also state that the college looks “to attract and educate students who help make the population of health care professionals representative of the national population,” and its I CARE values (innovation, collaboration, accountability, respect and excellence) guide its work with every student, including students with disabilities.

Clinical Rotations and Research Opportunities

Rush Medical College offers clinical training at Rush University Medical Center, Rush sites across the Chicago area and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County. Students engage in clinical practice early in their education, through EXPLORE Rush and Bedside Clinical Skills, and continue to build their skills throughout medical school.

Where students train

Third-year core clerkships take place primarily at Rush University Medical Center, Rush sites around Chicago and Stroger Hospital, and the primary care clerkship uses outpatient sites across the region. Stroger exposes students to safety-net medicine, a very busy emergency department and a major Level I trauma center, while Rush University Medical Center provides academic subspecialty care. In the fourth year, students can take up to 12 weeks of electives at other accredited institutions, and Rush participates in the AAMC’s Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO) service to help with away rotations.

Research at Rush

Rush is deeply committed to research and gives medical students several ways to take part. Rush has more than 150 research grants from the National Institutes of Health, and its investigators are involved in more than 1,600 projects, including hundreds of clinical trials. Rush researchers work in basic science, translational, clinical, medical education and community-based research. If you are building research experience now, our guide on how to get research experience in undergrad explains how to find a lab and a mentor.

The research opportunities page describes three programs designed for RMC students:

M1 Elective: Basic Biomedical Research

This first-year elective introduces students to the theory and practice of research in a clinical setting. Students:

• complete a mentored research experience
• learn and practice critically evaluating medical literature
• create a research proposal
• complete the proposed project and present their research in a final report

Summer Research Fellowship

The Summer Research Fellowship is a paid, competitive summer research opportunity between the first and second preclerkship years. To apply, students identify a faculty mentor and prepare a written proposal modeled after a National Institutes of Health training grant. Rush funded 100% of fellowship applicants in the most recent year, and accepted students receive a summer stipend. Fellows take the Basic Biomedical Research course in the M1 summer term.

M4 Research Elective

In the fourth year, students can take a four-week research elective in a specialty of their choice. Students work with a faculty mentor on a specific research question and develop a research plan that includes:

• a hypothesis
• a study design
• a timeline
• an outline of their role in the project

Beyond Coursework: Additional Research Opportunities

Beyond the formal programs, students can pursue research through the professional development research courses in the first and second years, independent projects with faculty mentors, presentations at conferences and symposiums and co-authored publications. The Medical Student Affairs team and faculty help students identify research opportunities that fit their career goals. Students in the Health Equity and Social Justice Leadership Program, for example, have published and presented research as part of the program.

A Culture of Inquiry and Innovation

At Rush, research is part of the curriculum and the culture. The Scholar role in Rush’s program objectives asks every student to use evidence-based principles and develop the skills to contribute to scientific knowledge. Students are encouraged to ask questions, challenge assumptions and explore new ideas, and through their research they build critical thinking, problem-solving and an understanding of the scientific method that matter in every specialty.

Mentorship and advising

Medical Student Affairs provides advising and career development across all four years, and the Office of Undergraduate Medical Education includes assistant deans for preclerkship, third-year and fourth-year education. Longitudinal programs add their own mentors: FMLP students are mentored by senior FMLP students and Department of Family Medicine faculty, and EXPLORE pairs every first-year student with a faculty preceptor.

Notable Alumni, Faculty, Leadership and Admissions Staff

Rush Medical College, founded in 1837, received its charter two days before the city of Chicago was incorporated. This historic institution has produced a long line of physicians and scientists who have shaped medicine and science. The profiles below cover the college’s current leadership and admissions team, faculty whose work applicants often ask about, and alumni of the medical college. Roles were checked on October 18, 2026.

School leadership

Pete S. Batra, MD, FACS, FARS

Dr. Batra is the Henry P. Russe, MD, Dean of Rush Medical College and Senior Vice President of the Rush University System for Health. He is also the Stanton A. Friedberg, MD, Endowed Chair and Professor of Otorhinolaryngology and directs the Rush Sinus, Allergy and Asthma Center. An internationally recognized rhinologist, he trained in otolaryngology at Northwestern and in rhinology and skull base surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. In his welcome message, he lists four strategic pillars for the college: clinical-academic integration, educational innovation, research excellence and community and global health impact. Why it matters to applicants: those pillars are a useful frame for your essays and interview, because they describe what the college is building now.

Lee Jones, MD

Dr. Jones is Vice Dean for Education and Student Experience at Rush Medical College and the Stanley G. Harris Family Professor of Psychiatry. A psychiatrist, he has worked in curricular affairs, graduate medical education, admissions and student affairs at Tulane, UCLA, UCSF, the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Arizona at Tucson, UC Davis and Georgetown, and he has served as an LCME site team member. Why it matters: he oversees the education you would receive, and his background spans every stage from admissions to residency.

Aimee J. Szewka, MD

Dr. Szewka is Associate Dean of Education and an associate professor of neurological sciences. She completed her neurology residency at Rush and a neuro-ophthalmology fellowship at Emory. She leads the curriculum and assessment team that runs the flipped-classroom preclerkship courses and the clerkship curriculum.

Jay M. Behel, PhD

Dr. Behel is Associate Dean of Medical Student Affairs, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and chief of the Division of Hospital Psychology. He advises RU Well, helped bring restorative justice practices into the college and serves on the AAMC’s Restorative Justice in Academic Medicine training team. Why it matters: his office runs advising, academic support and well-being programming for every Rush medical student.

Admissions leadership

Philip Omotosho, MD, FACS

Dr. Omotosho is Associate Dean for Admissions and Recruitment at Rush Medical College. He is also the Jack Fraser Smith Professor of Surgery, vice chair for quality and clinical effectiveness and chief of the Division of Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery. He earned his MD at Penn State and completed a minimally invasive and bariatric surgery fellowship at Duke. Why it matters: he leads the admissions and recruitment team that reviews your application.

Jill Volk, MSEd

Jill Volk is Director of Admissions and Recruitment. She is the contact Rush names for DACA applicants, and the admissions team she directs includes admissions counselors for outreach and recruitment and a data analyst. Questions about your file go to [email protected].

Faculty

Rush Medical College has a large faculty of physicians and scientists who teach students while leading research and clinical programs. These individuals not only share their knowledge with the next generation of physicians but also contribute to advances in research and practice. The faculty below are a small sample.

David A. Bennett, MD

Dr. Bennett directs the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center and is the Robert C. Borwell Professor of Neurological Sciences. The center studies common chronic conditions of aging, including Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and Parkinson’s disease, through community-based studies and clinical trials. Dr. Bennett won the 2018 Potamkin Prize for dementia research, has served on the National Advisory Council on Aging of the National Institutes of Health and, through April 2025, had more than 1,400 peer-reviewed publications.

Patricia Boyle, PhD

Dr. Boyle is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and a neuropsychologist with the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Her research focuses on preventing cognitive and functional decline in old age, including age-related changes in financial and health decision making and psychological well-being.

Elizabeth M. Berry-Kravis, MD, PhD

Dr. Berry-Kravis is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics and co-director of the Molecular Diagnostics Section of the Genetic Laboratory. She is a leading researcher in fragile X syndrome and related neurodevelopmental disorders, with clinical trials and natural history studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thomas Pritchett Bleck, MD

Dr. Bleck is professor emeritus of neurological sciences, with emeritus appointments in neurosurgery, internal medicine and anesthesiology, a neurointensivist and the director of clinical neurophysiology. He is also a Rush Medical College graduate. In 2015 the American College of Critical Care Medicine and the Society of Critical Care Medicine named him a Master of Critical Care Medicine, an honor held by about 100 of nearly 16,000 members. His research interests include subarachnoid hemorrhage and neurocritical care trials.

Joel A. Block, MD

Dr. Block is the Willard L. Wood, MD, Professor of Rheumatology, director of the Division of Rheumatology and director of the Rush Center for Clinical Studies. His research on cartilage biology and the biomechanics of lower-extremity osteoarthritis has produced human chondrocyte cell models still used in laboratories on four continents.

Kenneth M. Boyer, MD

Dr. Boyer is professor emeritus of pediatrics and a pediatric infectious disease specialist. His research areas include group B streptococcal infections in newborns, congenital toxoplasmosis and pediatric HIV.

Edward Barker, PhD

Dr. Barker is a professor in the Department of Microbial Pathogens and Immunity. His laboratory studies how natural killer cells and innate lymphoid cells respond to HIV, and how HIV proteins such as Nef, Vpr and Vpu help the virus evade those early immune defenses, including in the gut.

This list is a glimpse of the faculty at Rush Medical College. Rush’s Find Faculty directory lists faculty across all three colleges, and you can use it to identify mentors whose work matches your interests before an interview.

Notable alumni

Rush graduates have made significant contributions to medicine and beyond. Here are notable alumni of the medical college:

• Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH (MD, 1979). A geriatrician and epidemiologist known for her research on frailty and healthy aging, Dr. Fried served as dean of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health from 2008 to 2025 and now directs the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center. She trained in internal medicine at Rush after medical school.
• W. Ian Lipkin, MD. Dr. Lipkin earned his MD at Rush and is the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology, a professor of neurology and of pathology and cell biology, and director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. He works on diagnostics, microbial discovery and outbreak response; in 1999 he identified West Nile virus as the cause of encephalitis in North America, and he has received the Rush Medical College Distinguished Alumnus Award.
• Julie Ann Freischlag, MD, FACS (MD, 1980). A vascular surgeon who completed her general surgery residency and vascular surgery fellowship at UCLA Medical Center, Dr. Freischlag is a professor of vascular surgery at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She has served as chief executive officer of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and chief academic officer of Atrium Health, and she is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
• Thomas P. Bleck, MD. The neurointensivist profiled above earned his MD at Rush and returned to its faculty.
• John Benjamin Murphy, MD (1879). A surgeon and innovator remembered for his contributions to abdominal surgery, Murphy became a leader in the field and was named professor of surgery at Rush in 1890.
• Morris Fishbein, MD. Fishbein studied at Rush Medical College and edited The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) from 1924 to 1950, more than two decades, making him one of the most influential voices in American medicine of his era.
• Julian Herman Lewis, MD, PhD (MD, 1917). Lewis earned a PhD at the University of Chicago in 1915 and then his MD at Rush, where he received the Benjamin Rush Medal for academic achievement. He joined the University of Chicago’s department of pathology, became its first African American associate professor in 1922, won a Guggenheim Fellowship for immunology research in 1926 and wrote The Biology of the Negro (1942), in which he argued against claims of biological inferiority.
• Franklin C. McLean, MD, PhD (MD, 1910). McLean interned at Cook County Hospital, served as the first director of Peking Union Medical College, became the first appointed director of the University of Chicago Medical Clinics and chair of its Department of Medicine, and founded National Medical Fellowships, which supports medical students from minority backgrounds.
• George J. Mohr, MD (1918). A psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Mohr interned at Cook County Hospital, trained in psychoanalysis in Berlin and Vienna, worked in child guidance in Pittsburgh and Chicago and served as president of the American Orthopsychiatric Association in 1937-38.
• Stephen Alfred Forbes. Forbes spent a year at Rush Medical College after the Civil War before turning to natural science. He became the first chief of the Illinois Natural History Survey, and the National Academy of Sciences called him “the founder of the science of ecology in the United States.”
• Samuel Abbott Ferrin. A graduate of Rush Medical College, Ferrin served as a Union Army surgeon during the Civil War.

Admissions Statistics and Class Profile

Rush publishes a profile of its entering class on its About Rush Medical College page. The newest profile describes the 2025 entering class; Rush has not yet posted a profile for the class that entered in 2026.

Applications, interviews and matriculants

Sources: Rush Medical College, 2025 entering class profile; verified applications are AAMC data for the same cohort. The number of acceptances is not published, so no acceptance rate can be calculated.

Three features of these numbers stand out. First, Rush interviewed about 3.4% of primary applicants and about 5.7% of completed applicants (450 of 7,935). Second, the gap between 13,327 primary applications and 7,935 completed applications shows that many applicants either were not invited to the secondary or did not finish it. Third, more than three of every four matriculants (113 of 144) came from outside Illinois, which confirms that Rush recruits nationally. Illinois residents made up about 10% of verified applications (1,359 of 13,237) and about 12% of interviews (55 of 450).

Academic profile

• Average cumulative GPA: 3.72 on a four-point scale (2025 entering class).
• Average MCAT composite: 510 (2025 entering class).
• Median total GPA, all accepted applicants: 3.8 (mean 3.75); median science GPA 3.72 (mean 3.67).
• Median MCAT, all accepted applicants: 510 (mean 510.7), with section medians of 127 in Chemical and Physical Foundations, 126 in Critical Analysis and Reasoning, 128 in Biological and Biochemical Foundations and 129 in Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations.
• Undergraduate institutions represented: 83.
• Languages spoken in the class: 22.
• Graduate degrees and majors: 13% of matriculants held a graduate degree, and 67% were science or math majors. Ten matriculants entered from postbaccalaureate programs.

These are averages, not minimums. Successful applicants come in above and below them, and the MCAT “does not outweigh other application components.” Percentile ranges for the class are not published. If your MCAT is below the class average, look at your whole school list; our guide to medical schools accepting low MCAT scores shows where your score is closer to the middle of the class.

Who is in the school

As of October 2025, 596 MD students were actively enrolled. Rush’s 2023 enrollment report lists 592 MD students: 143 first-year, 149 second-year, 151 third-year and 149 fourth-year students. Of those 592, 275 were men, 316 were women and one did not specify. About 130 students graduate each year and enter a wide range of primary care and specialty fields.

Academic Metrics:

• 2025 entering class average GPA: 3.72
• 2025 entering class average MCAT: 510
• Median GPA and MCAT, all accepted applicants: 3.8 and 510
• GPA and MCAT percentiles: not published

Demographics:

• 2025 entering class: 144 matriculants, 31 from Illinois and 113 from other states
• 2025 first-year class by gender identity: 57 men, 84 women and 3 of another gender identity
• 2025 first-year class reporting disadvantaged status: 42%
• 2023 total enrollment by gender: 275 men, 316 women, one not specified

Matriculant States and Countries:

Because Rush considers only U.S. citizens, permanent residents, asylees, refugees and DACA recipients, its students come from across the United States, with most from outside Illinois. The 2025 first-year class came from 22 states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington), and students also listed permanent addresses in Canada. Students reflect both traditional and non-traditional paths to medical school, and Rush values non-traditional backgrounds that bring unique perspective and real-life work experience.

Additional Metrics:

• Students receiving financial assistance: more than 80 percent
• USMLE Step 1 first-time pass rate: 90% in 2025 (national 93%)
• USMLE Step 2 CK first-time pass rate: 100% in 2024-2025 (national 98%)
• Average medical school debt of indebted graduates: $291,751 (2024-25)
• Graduating seniors reporting a global health experience: 12% (2025)
• Direct federal research grants and contracts: $61,943,682 (fiscal year 2024)

Specialty Training for Graduating Class:

The Class of 2022 earned 100% residency placement, and Rush graduates enter a diverse range of primary care and specialty fields. In the three most recent AAMC Graduation Questionnaire reports (through July 2025), internal medicine was the most common intended specialty each year (14.7% to 18.3% of responding graduates). Psychiatry (9.5% to 10.1%), family medicine (6.7% to 11.0%), emergency medicine (5.5% to 8.7%), pediatrics (4.8% to 9.5%) and anesthesiology (6.0% to 7.7%) followed, and general surgery, neurology, orthopaedic surgery and obstetrics and gynecology each drew several percent. When you interview, ask where recent graduates matched in the specialties you are considering.

What the numbers mean for you

Rush is selective but not formulaic. The large drop from primary to completed applications means the secondary is a real step: invitations go to competitive applicants, and the secondary itself is where Rush learns about mission fit. If your GPA and MCAT are near the class averages, your experiences and essays will decide most outcomes. If they are below, you will need especially clear evidence of long-term clinical work, service and growth.

Tips and Strategies for Admission

Rush Medical College seeks applicants who show academic readiness and a commitment to service, teamwork and patient care. Here are practical strategies built on what Rush values.

Highlight Healthcare Involvement

Choose depth over variety. Rush asks for “long-term commitments that include direct patient contact rather than short-term experiences.” One role held for a year or more, where you talk with patients and do real work, is worth more than a list of brief experiences. Good options include working as a medical assistant, EMT, scribe, patient care technician or certified nursing assistant, and volunteering in hospice or a free clinic. Structured clinical internships for pre-med students can add intensive, supervised patient care, but pair any short program with a sustained local role.

Reflect as you go. Keep a short journal of patient encounters (with no identifying details). Rush’s Essay 2 asks how your understanding “evolved through reflection, observation, or continued engagement.” A journal gives you the specific details that make that essay credible.

Showcase Leadership and Service

Leadership roles: highlight leadership in student organizations, community groups or work settings, and show its impact. Rush’s leadership attributes include questioning the status quo and self-reflection, so describe a time you changed how something was done and what you learned.

Community service: emphasize service, especially service tied to health or to underserved communities. Rush’s strong service culture, and its 1,000-character essay on sustained engagement, reward commitments that last. If you are early in college, pick one community organization and stay with it.

Emphasize Research Experience

If you have done research, explain your role, what you learned and any presentations or publications. Rush’s Essay 4 asks about sustained inquiry, which does not have to be bench research: a quality improvement project, a community survey or a long independent question can work. What matters is that you asked a real question and followed it.

Craft a Compelling Personal Statement

Reflect on the experiences, challenges and motivations that brought you to medicine. Show the attributes Rush lists, such as resilience and teamwork, through specific moments instead of naming them.

Prepare for the Interview

Rush interviews on a virtual interview day. Practice speaking clearly and specifically about your experiences, and prepare for questions on ethics, teamwork and why you want to train on Chicago’s West Side. The interview section below explains the format in detail.

Focus on Academic Excellence

Coursework and grades: your record should show that you can succeed in a rigorous, lecture-free curriculum. Strong science grades and a competitive MCAT matter.

Recent science: Rush requires applicants to be engaged in basic science coursework within five years of application and highly recommends additional biology. If you graduated several years ago, an upper-level biology course or two can satisfy the requirement and show current readiness.

Advanced coursework: courses in anatomy, physiology and the social determinants of health are recommended and also prepare you for the flipped classroom and the advocacy role in Rush’s objectives.

Seek Strong Letters of Recommendation

Choose writers who know you well. If you do not have a committee letter, plan for three specific letters: a science faculty member, a professional supervisor who can speak to your service and dependability, and a personal writer who has known you well during the past 24 months. Give each writer your activity list and the attributes Rush lists.

Use a gap year with purpose

Many Rush applicants take one or more years between college and medical school. A gap year works best when it adds sustained patient contact, service or research, plus any recent science coursework Rush requires. Well-designed pre-med gap year programs can be one part of that year, alongside a paid clinical job or a long-term volunteer role at home.

If you are reapplying

Rush does not publish a separate reapplicant essay. If you reapply, use the optional additional information question to explain briefly what has changed since your last application, and make sure your new activities show growth in the areas Rush values. Check again that your science coursework meets the five-year engagement rule for the new cycle.

Apply early and turn the secondary around quickly

Rush sends secondaries starting in July and interviews from September, and in the 2026-27 cycle applicants reported interview invitations arriving from early September. Draft all five essays before July so you can return the secondary within about two weeks.

Look Beyond Rush Medical College

Rush may be your top choice, but it is wise to apply to a range of schools that fit your goals and values. Applying broadly increases your chances of acceptance and gives you options. Consider location, curriculum, research, community engagement and cost. Our list of related guides, including other Illinois medical schools and a full directory of school guides, appears in the related guides section below.

By following these strategies, you can strengthen your application and present yourself as a committed, well-prepared candidate. The path to medical school is demanding, but careful preparation and a genuine commitment to patients can get you there.

Secondary Application Questions, Example Responses and Analysis

Rush Medical College’s secondary application gives you room to show your experiences, perspective and fit with the college’s mission. Rush sends the secondary to competitive applicants after reviewing the AMCAS application, starting in July. For the 2026-2027 cycle it includes:

• Five essays for all invited applicants, each up to 1,000 characters, including spaces.
• Two optional questions, each up to 1,000 characters: one on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected your preparation and one for any other information you want the Committee on Admissions to know.
• An experiences section in the portal, where applicants report entering details such as start dates for their activities.

Rush does not post its secondary prompts on its public website; they appear in the RMC Applicant Portal after you are invited. The prompts below are the 2026-2027 prompts word for word. If the portal shows a different limit for any item, write to the limit shown in your portal. The secondary is due, with all other materials including letters, by November 13, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. Early Decision applicants answer the same questions and must submit the secondary by August 3. If your portal shows any additional item, such as a reapplicant question, answer it within the limit shown there.

A thousand characters is about 150 to 180 words, so each essay has room for one experience, told well. Here are a few tips for a strong Rush secondary:

• Read each prompt closely and answer every part. Most of Rush’s prompts ask two or three questions.
• Choose a different experience for each essay so the five together show range: patient care, service, inquiry, leadership and perspective.
• Do not repeat your AMCAS descriptions. Use the secondary to go deeper on experiences you could only list on the primary.
• Connect your answer to Rush only where it is natural, and only to real Rush programs such as EXPLORE Rush, the Summer Research Fellowship, the longitudinal leadership programs or the Rush Community Service Initiatives Program.
• Count characters, not words, and proofread every response before you submit.

The examples below are original teaching material written for this guide. Each is labeled as illustrative, stays within the 1,000-character limit and is followed by an analysis. Use them to see structure and reasoning, then write your own from your real experiences. For other schools’ prompts, see our medical school secondary essay prompts database.

Essay 1 (all applicants): A life experience that broadened your world view (1,000 characters)

Rush Medical College is located on Chicago’s near west side and serves a diverse patient population. We seek to train physicians who can connect with diverse patient populations with whom they may not share a similar background. Tell us about a life experience that has broadened your own world view or enhanced your ability to understand those unlike yourself and what you learned from this experience.

Who answers: all invited applicants. Limit: 1,000 characters. This is the one prompt Rush has kept in every recent cycle.

What it asks: one life experience, how it broadened your view or helped you understand people unlike you, and what you learned. The opening sentences about the West Side are context: Rush wants physicians who can connect across differences in background.

Approach: pick a specific encounter where your assumption was wrong and you changed what you did. Show the change in behavior, not just a new feeling. A short link to how you will use the lesson with Rush’s patients is enough.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay

For two years I drove a weekly grocery route for a refugee resettlement agency, delivering to families from Afghanistan, Congo and Guatemala. I treated it as logistics until Mrs. N., a grandmother from Kandahar, set aside the canned beans I brought and asked, through her granddaughter, why no one asked what her family cooked. I had assumed food was food. I started a short call before each route to ask families which staples they used. Waste dropped, and families began inviting me in for tea and questions about bus routes and clinic letters. I learned that understanding someone unlike me starts with admitting what I do not know and asking before I act. On Chicago’s West Side, I want to carry that habit into every visit, and to build on it through Rush’s Spanish for Medical Professionals electives so I can ask those questions in a patient’s own language.

Why this example works: the writer opens with a concrete, sustained role, then turns on one moment that exposed an assumption (“I had assumed food was food”). The response shows a change in action (calling families first) and a result (less waste, more trust), which proves the lesson rather than claiming it. The closing names what was learned and ties it to a real Rush offering, the Spanish for Medical Professionals electives, without overstating it. The essay is 864 characters.

Mistakes to avoid: describing a trip as a sightseeing contrast (“I realized how lucky I am”); making yourself the hero; using a patient’s identifying details; or writing about diversity in general without one experience.

Essay 2 (all applicants): The complexity of caring for others (1,000 characters)

Tell us about an experience within a healthcare environment that revealed the complexity of caring for others. How did your understanding evolve through reflection, observation, or continued engagement, and what did you learn about the responsibilities of medicine?

Who answers: all invited applicants. Limit: 1,000 characters.

What it asks: three things. First, a health care experience that showed care is complicated. Second, how your understanding changed over time (through reflection, observation or continued involvement). Third, what you learned about medicine’s responsibilities.

Approach: use a setting where you returned again and again, so your understanding can visibly change. Describe your first view, what complicated it and where you ended up. Keep clinicians in charge of decisions and describe your own role honestly.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay

As a hospice volunteer, I sat each Tuesday with Mr. L., a retired machinist with heart failure. His daughter wanted every treatment; he told me quietly that he wanted to go home. At first the conflict looked simple: the patient decides. Over months of visits and debriefs with the social worker, I saw more. His daughter was his only caregiver and feared failing him at home. Both his wish and her fear were real. The team held a family meeting, arranged aide hours and a hospital bed, and trained his daughter before he went home. I made none of those decisions, but I watched what they required: listening to everyone in the room, naming fears out loud and turning a goal into a workable plan. I learned that medicine’s responsibility reaches past the diagnosis to the people who carry care afterward. I want to keep learning that in Rush’s EXPLORE experiences and at the bedside.

Why this example works: it answers each part in order. The health care setting and the complexity (a patient’s wish against a caregiver’s fear) come first. The phrase “At first the conflict looked simple” marks the starting point, and “Over months of visits and debriefs” shows the evolution the prompt asks for. The writer is clear that the team made decisions, which reads as honest. The closing states a specific responsibility of medicine and links it to EXPLORE Rush, where preclerkship students are paired with clinical experiences. The essay is 882 characters.

Mistakes to avoid: telling a dramatic emergency story with no reflection; skipping the “how did your understanding evolve” part; claiming clinical decisions you did not make; or ending with a generic statement about compassion.

Essay 3 (all applicants): Sustained engagement with others (1,000 characters)

Some commitments grow deeper the longer we remain involved. Tell us about an experience that required sustained engagement with others. What drew you to it initially, what kept you engaged, and how did it influence the way you think about caring for others, serving communities, social responsibility, or contributing to something larger than yourself?

Who answers: all invited applicants. Limit: 1,000 characters.

What it asks: a long-term commitment involving other people, what first drew you in, what kept you there and how it shaped your thinking about care, service, social responsibility or a larger purpose. You only need to address one or two of the four areas in the last question, not all four.

Approach: this is the essay where Rush’s community service orientation shows most. Choose the activity you stayed with longest. Answer “what drew you” and “what kept you” separately; they are often different, and the difference is the interesting part.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay

In my second year of college I joined a Saturday reading program at a public library branch in my city, expecting to tutor one semester. I stayed three years. What drew me in was Marcus, a fourth grader who read slowly and hid it with jokes. What kept me was watching him finish his first chapter book and then ask to help a younger reader. When our coordinator left, I recruited and trained 14 volunteers and built a sign-up system so families were never turned away. The work taught me that care is mostly showing up on ordinary weeks, and that a program lasts only if it is built to outlive any one volunteer. I now think about service as something owed to a community over time, not given once. That is why Rush’s community service programs on the West Side, and their focus on access and health education, matter to me as a future student.

Why this example works: the essay answers the three questions in sequence: what drew the writer in (one student), what kept them there (seeing that student grow and help others) and how it shaped their thinking (care as showing up over time, and building programs that outlast one person). The leadership detail (recruiting 14 volunteers) shows sustained engagement without turning the essay into a résumé. The closing connects to Rush’s community service programs, which focus on access, health education and pipeline programs on the West Side. The essay is 844 characters.

Mistakes to avoid: listing hours instead of telling a story; choosing a short-term activity; answering only “what drew you”; or using the essay to repeat your AMCAS description.

Essay 4 (all applicants): Sustained inquiry (1,000 characters)

Advancing knowledge often begins with curiosity, persistence, and a willingness to question what is already known. Tell us about an experience, project, or question that demanded sustained inquiry from you. Where did it lead, and how did it shape the way you think about discovery, innovation, or lifelong learning?

Who answers: all invited applicants. Limit: 1,000 characters.

What it asks: an experience, project or question you pursued over time, where it led and how it changed your view of discovery, innovation or lifelong learning. It does not require formal research; a quality improvement project, a community survey or a long independent question can all work.

Approach: start with the question itself, ideally one where you doubted something others took for granted. Show the persistence in specific steps, report the honest result (including limits) and say what you now believe about discovery.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay

In a geriatrics lab, I noticed that older adults with untreated hearing loss scored lower on our memory screen. I asked my mentor whether the test measured memory or hearing. That question became a year-long project. I helped re-score 212 screens, separating items given aloud from written ones, and found that the gap narrowed sharply on written items. The result did not prove anything about dementia, but it led our lab to add a hearing check before every screen. The project taught me that discovery often starts with doubting a tool everyone trusts, and that persistence means checking unglamorous details. I want to keep asking those questions. Rush’s Summer Research Fellowship, which asks students to find a mentor and write a proposal, would let me build that habit early, and the research on aging and cognition at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center is work I would hope to learn from.

Why this example works: the question (“did the test measure memory or hearing?”) appears in the first lines and directly reflects “a willingness to question what is already known.” The middle shows sustained inquiry through a concrete, unglamorous task (re-scoring 212 screens) and an honest limit (“did not prove anything about dementia”). The result leads to a practical change. The closing answers “how did it shape the way you think” and ties the writer’s interest to Rush’s Summer Research Fellowship and the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center without claiming any connection to them. The essay is 896 characters.

Mistakes to avoid: overstating findings; describing a lab’s work without your own role; filling the space with technical jargon; or skipping the “how did it shape you” question.

Essay 5 (all applicants): Persist, adapt or rethink your approach (1,000 characters)

Describe an experience that required you to persist, adapt, or rethink your approach in order to create meaningful progress. What kept you engaged, and how did the experience influence the way you approach leadership, accountability, or future challenges?

Who answers: all invited applicants. Limit: 1,000 characters.

What it asks: an experience where you had to persist, adapt or change your approach to make progress, what kept you going and how it shaped your approach to leadership, accountability or future challenges.

Approach: the strongest answers include a first attempt that did not work. Explain why it failed, what you changed and what happened next. Then name one specific habit you now use as a leader.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay

At the student-run free clinic where I volunteer, Spanish-speaking patients waited almost twice as long as others because we had one interpreter on Saturdays. My first fix, a sign-up sheet for bilingual volunteers, failed: few signed up and shifts went unfilled. I stopped and asked why. Volunteers said they were unsure their Spanish was good enough. So I worked with our medical director to set up a phone interpreter line for clinical visits and trained bilingual volunteers for intake and scheduling only. Within four months, wait times for Spanish-speaking patients nearly matched everyone else’s. The experience taught me that accountability means owning a plan that did not work and finding out why before trying again. I now lead by asking the people closest to a problem what is in their way. I expect to need that habit in team-based classrooms and on clinical teams.

Why this example works: the problem is specific and measurable (wait times nearly twice as long). The writer admits a failed first attempt, which is exactly what “persist, adapt, or rethink” invites, and shows the turn (“I stopped and asked why”). The solution keeps clinical interpretation with professionals and uses volunteers appropriately. The essay answers both final questions: accountability (“owning a plan that did not work”) and leadership (“asking the people closest to a problem”). It ends by linking that habit to Rush’s team-based classrooms. The essay is 877 characters.

Mistakes to avoid: choosing a story with no setback; blaming others for the first failure; describing a group project without your own role; or ending without saying how you lead differently now.

Optional question: How the COVID-19 pandemic affected your preparation (1,000 characters)

If applicable, describe how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your application to and/or preparation for medical school.

Who answers: optional for all applicants. Limit: 1,000 characters.

What it asks: a factual account of how the pandemic affected your coursework, clinical plans or application. Answer only if the pandemic changed something a reader would otherwise misread, such as online courses, pass/fail grades, a late clinical start or a test delay.

Approach: state the facts, explain how you adapted and point to evidence of your current readiness. This is a worked response pattern, not a story.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay

My first two college years, 2020 to 2022, were largely remote. I took general chemistry and physics online, and the hospital where I planned to volunteer closed to new volunteers. I adjusted. I joined a county contact-tracing team as a call volunteer, which became 300 hours of phone conversations with frightened families. When in-person work reopened, I began volunteering on an inpatient unit and later worked as a patient care technician. My later science courses, including biochemistry and organic chemistry, were in person, and my grades in them reflect steadier footing. The pandemic delayed my clinical start, but it gave me early practice in explaining health guidance clearly and calmly.

Why this example works: it explains a real pattern in the record (online courses and a late clinical start), shows how the writer adapted with a substantial alternative (contact tracing), and points to later in-person science courses as evidence of readiness. It is factual and short. Rush’s prerequisites can now be taken online, so the writer does not need to apologize for the online courses; the response simply gives context. The response is 698 characters.

Mistakes to avoid: answering when the pandemic did not affect you; writing a general essay about the pandemic; or repeating material from your main essays.

Optional question: Additional information for the Committee on Admissions (1,000 characters)

Use this space to provide additional information, that is non-COVID related, you would like the Committee on Admissions to be aware of when reviewing your application.

Who answers: optional for all applicants. Limit: 1,000 characters.

What it asks: anything important that the rest of your application does not explain, such as a grade dip, a gap in your timeline, a significant responsibility, a reapplication or an institutional action you need to put in context.

Approach: use it for one clear issue. State it, give brief context, show what you did and end with evidence that the issue is resolved or has made you stronger. Reapplicants can use this space to summarize what has changed since the last application.

Illustrative example, not an actual applicant essay

During my junior year, my father’s hours were cut, and I worked 25 hours a week at a pharmacy to help cover rent. My GPA that year dropped to 3.2 while my other years were above 3.7. I do not offer this as an excuse, but as context. I learned to plan my weeks in hours rather than days, to ask professors early when I fell behind and to protect time for sleep. Once my family’s situation stabilized, I raised my grades in upper-level biology and kept a smaller weekly shift because I valued the work. Pharmacy work taught me how often patients skip medicines because of cost, a pattern I want to help change.

Why this example works: it addresses one issue (a lower-GPA year), gives honest context without excuses, shows concrete changes in habits and points to improved grades as evidence. The last sentence links the experience to a patient care insight without turning the response into another essay. The response is 608 characters.

Mistakes to avoid: using the space for a sixth essay on a topic you already covered; listing extra activities; or leaving out context that would help the committee read your record fairly.

Before you submit

• Check every response against the 1,000-character limit in the portal.
• Make experience dates in the secondary match your AMCAS application.
• Confirm that letters are in AMCAS by November 1 and that every item on your portal status page is complete by November 13, 2026.
• Keep copies of every answer for interview preparation.

Interview Format and Preparation

The format

Rush holds a virtual interview day. Interview invitations are sent by email beginning in August and continuing through February, and interviews take place from early September through the end of February. Early Decision applicants who are invited attend the first virtual interview day in September. Directions for scheduling are included with the invitation.

Rush does not publish the structure of the interview day in detail. Applicants who interviewed in recent cycles describe all-virtual days with about two one-on-one interviews averaging around 43 minutes, and most report that their interviewers had read their file. Plan for conversational, file-based interviews rather than a fixed set of timed stations, and confirm the format in your invitation.

Decisions usually come two to three weeks after the interview. Admitted and waitlisted applicants are invited to First Look Day in late March or early April.

How to prepare

• Know your file. Expect questions about every experience you listed, including your secondary answers. Reread them the week before.
• Know Rush. Be ready to explain why you want to train on Chicago’s West Side and how you would use Rush’s specific programs: EXPLORE Rush, the flipped classroom, Stroger clerkships, the community service programs, the longitudinal leadership programs or research through the Summer Research Fellowship.
• Prepare for mission questions. Rush’s attributes include community service, resilience, teamwork and ethics. Have specific stories ready for each.
• Practice common questions. Our list of the most common medical school interview questions is a good place to start, and practicing aloud with feedback helps more than rereading answers.
• Set up your space. Test your camera, microphone and internet connection, choose a quiet, well-lit room and have a backup plan if your connection drops.
• Ask good questions. Prepare two or three questions about advising, EXPLORE placements, research mentoring or clinical training at Stroger.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the application deadline for Rush Medical College?

The AMCAS primary application deadline is October 1, 2026. The Rush secondary application and all additional materials, including letters of recommendation, are due November 13, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time, and letters should reach AMCAS by November 1. Early Decision applicants must submit AMCAS and every required material by August 3.

What financial aid options are available?

Rush offers need-based financial aid that combines grants and loans, plus institutional scholarships. More than 80 percent of Rush Medical College students receive financial assistance, and packages are built to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need. Indebted graduates in 2024-25 owed an average of $291,751 in medical school debt. Aid is based on cost of education minus student and family resources, and students who will be at least 30 by the program start date do not need to submit parent information. Rush explains the application process after you are accepted.

What clinical rotation opportunities are available?

Students complete core clerkships in internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology, psychiatry and primary care, mainly at Rush University Medical Center, Rush sites across the Chicago area and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County. In the fourth year, students complete an emergency medicine clerkship, a sub-internship and at least 24 weeks of electives, with up to 12 weeks allowed at other institutions.

How does Rush Medical College support diversity and inclusion?

Rush supports a varied student body through its admissions attributes, its DACA policy, its Before You Apply workshop for applicants from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds, the Office of Student Diversity and Community Engagement, affinity groups and mentorship programs. Its technical standards also commit the college to educating students who help make the health workforce representative of the national population.

What are the requirements for letters of recommendation?

Rush accepts one premedical committee letter (preferred), one letter packet, or three individual letters: an academic letter from a science faculty member, a professional non-academic letter and a personal letter from someone who has known you well during the past 24 months. Letters must come through AMCAS. Letters from friends and family are not accepted.

What is the full name of Rush Medical College?

The full name is Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center. It is the medical school of Rush University in Chicago and is often called Rush Medical College or RMC. It is known for its commitment to medical education, clinical practice, research and community service.

How can I find Rush Medical College photos?

Rush’s official website includes photos of the campus, the medical center and student life on its Rush Medical College and student life pages. You can also find recent photos in Rush news stories and on its official social media accounts, and a virtual or in-person visit gives you the best sense of the campus.

What is the Rush Medical College ranking among U.S. medical schools?

Rankings and their methods change from year to year, so check the current U.S. News medical school directory directly rather than relying on an older number. Rush University Medical Center has been named to the U.S. News Honor Roll of hospitals. For applicants, curriculum, clinical sites, cost and mission fit usually matter more than a ranking.

What is the Rush Medical College acceptance rate?

The number of acceptances is not published, so there is no verified acceptance rate. For the 2025 entering class, Rush interviewed 450 of 13,327 primary applicants (about 3.4%) and enrolled 144 students. Those figures show how competitive Rush is, but neither one is an acceptance rate.

Where is Rush Medical College of Rush University located?

Rush Medical College is in Chicago, Illinois, on the city’s Near West Side in the Illinois Medical District. The campus is part of Rush University Medical Center, and John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, a major teaching site for Rush students, is nearby.

What are the Rush Medical College prerequisites for admission?

Rush requires one academic year of biology including a cell biology course, one biochemistry course, one chemistry course (organic recommended), one academic year of biology and/or chemistry lab, one physics course, one math course at algebra level or higher (not statistics) and one academic year of writing-intensive reading comprehension courses. AP credit counts only for physics and math. Applicants also need a bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. or Canadian institution.

Do Rush prerequisites expire, and can they be taken online?

Prerequisites do not expire, and they can be taken in person or online. Rush does require applicants to be engaged in basic science coursework within five years of application, and every prerequisite and recent science course must be on your AMCAS transcript before you submit. If your science courses are older, email the admissions office to confirm how your coursework fits before you apply.

What is the Rush Medical College average MCAT score for admitted students?

The 2025 entering class averaged a 510 MCAT composite, and the median MCAT for all accepted applicants was also 510. Neither figure is a minimum. Rush reviews all of your scores with an emphasis on your highest composite.

How much is the Rush Medical College tuition?

Rush Medical College tuition varies by program year and is billed by term. For Summer 2026 through Summer 2027, M1 tuition is $11,433 (summer), $22,145 (fall), $22,145 (spring) and $5,276 (M1-end summer), a total of $60,999. M2 students pay $23,297 per fall and spring term, and M3 and M4 students pay $19,490 per fall and spring term. All students pay the same rates regardless of residency. Rates for the class entering in 2027 will be published later.

What is the Rush Medical College match list?

A match list shows where graduating students matched for residency training. Rush’s Class of 2022 earned 100% residency placement, and its graduates enter a wide range of primary care and specialty fields. Rush does not post a full match list on its admissions pages, so ask about recent match results at your interview or First Look Day.

What does the Rush Medical College curriculum entail?

The four-year curriculum has a preclerkship phase taught in a flipped classroom without lectures, with early patient contact through EXPLORE Rush, simulation and bedside clinical skills, followed by a clerkship phase with seven core clerkships, an emergency medicine clerkship, a sub-internship, a clinical bridge course and at least 24 weeks of electives. Students must pass USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK to graduate.

Where can I find reviews of Rush Medical College?

Current students are the best source. Rush’s student ambassadors connect with prospective students, and student stories appear on Rush’s MD program pages. Applicant forums and interview feedback sites also collect reviews, but treat them as individual opinions and confirm any factual claim with the school.

What is included in the Rush Medical College secondary application?

For 2026-2027, the secondary includes five required essays of up to 1,000 characters each, on world view, the complexity of care, sustained engagement, sustained inquiry and persistence, plus two optional 1,000-character questions on COVID-19 and additional information. The portal also collects experience details. The secondary fee is $100, and a fee waiver is available.

What are the Rush Medical College requirements for letters of recommendation?

You need one committee letter, one letter packet or three individual letters, submitted through AMCAS by November 1. If you use individual letters, one must come from a science faculty member, one from a professional supervisor outside academics and one from someone who knows you personally and has had substantial contact with you during the past 24 months.

What is the Rush Medical College mission statement?

“Through a supportive and dynamic learning community, Rush Medical College nurtures the development of empathic, proficient physicians dedicated to continuous learning, innovation, and excellence in clinical practice, education, research and service.” The mission emphasizes empathy, lifelong learning and service, and the admissions process is rooted in it.

What are the recommended courses for Rush Medical College?

Rush highly recommends additional biology and recommends anatomy, physiology and courses on the social determinants of health and disparities, such as sociology, public health, political science, global health, bioethics, urban studies, history and economics. These courses help prepare students for the curriculum and for Rush’s emphasis on health equity.

How does Rush Medical College handle the admissions process?

Rush uses holistic review rooted in its mission. It evaluates academic excellence, professionalism and ethics, communication and teamwork, community service orientation, clinical experience, leadership, resilience and reliability. After AMCAS review, competitive applicants receive the secondary; selected applicants are invited to a virtual interview day; decisions begin October 15 and usually come two to three weeks after the interview.

What is the Rush Medical College class profile?

The 2025 entering class had 144 matriculants, 31 from Illinois and 113 from other states, chosen from 13,327 primary applications and 450 interviews. The class averaged a 3.72 GPA and a 510 MCAT, came from 83 undergraduate institutions and spoke 22 languages. Accepted applicants had a median 3.8 GPA and a median 510 MCAT, 13% of matriculants held a graduate degree and 67% were science or math majors.

Where can I find the Rush Medical College academic calendar?

The Rush University Office of the Registrar publishes academic calendars for each year on the Rush University website, with term start and end dates, holidays and exam periods. The calendar link is included in the campus section of this guide.

What is the address of Rush Medical College?

The Rush Medical College Office of Admissions is at the Armour Academic Center, 600 S. Paulina St., Suite 403, Chicago, IL 60612. The college is part of Rush University Medical Center in the Illinois Medical District, and admissions questions go to [email protected].

What are the Rush Medical College requirements for admission?

You need U.S. citizenship, permanent residency, or asylee, refugee or DACA status; a bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. or Canadian institution; the required prerequisites; an MCAT from January 2024 through September 2026; the Rush secondary; three letters (or a committee letter or packet); and the ability to meet Rush’s technical standards.

What is Rush Medical College’s mission?

Rush Medical College’s mission is to nurture “empathic, proficient physicians dedicated to continuous learning, innovation, and excellence in clinical practice, education, research and service” through a supportive learning community. The broader Rush system mission is to improve the health of the individuals and diverse communities it serves.

What is the Rush Medical College average MCAT?

The average MCAT composite for the 2025 entering class was 510, and the average cumulative GPA was 3.72. The median MCAT for all accepted applicants was 510, with a median GPA of 3.8. Rush has no published minimum MCAT and treats the test as one part of a holistic review.

Where can I find the Rush Medical College match list for 2024?

Rush has not posted a 2024 match list on its public admissions pages. The most recent outcome it lists is 100% residency placement for the Class of 2022. Ask the admissions office or current students for recent match results, especially in the specialty you are considering.

What is the Rush Medical College SDN?

“Rush Medical College SDN” refers to discussions about Rush on the Student Doctor Network forums, including the school-specific thread for each application cycle. Applicants share secondary and interview timing there. It can be useful for timing, but posts are personal reports, so confirm requirements with Rush directly.

How can I prepare for the Rush Medical College secondary application?

Draft answers to all five essays before secondaries open in July, choosing a different experience for each: perspective, the complexity of care, a long-term commitment, a sustained question and a time you rethought your approach. Count characters, not words, keep each answer under 1,000 characters and return the secondary within about two weeks.

Where can I find information about Rush Medical College tuition?

The Rush University Student Business Office publishes tuition rates for each academic year, and the Office of Student Financial Aid publishes the cost of attendance, including living, book and insurance allowances. Both are linked in the tuition section of this guide.

What is the Rush Medical College academic calendar?

The academic calendar lists the start and end of each term, holidays and exam periods. Rush Medical College runs year-round terms, including summer: first-year students begin in the summer, with new student orientation in late June.

What are the Rush Medical College requirements?

Rush requires a bachelor’s degree, the listed prerequisites, recent basic science coursework within five years of application, an MCAT in the accepted window, letters of recommendation and the secondary application. It also evaluates applicants holistically on experiences and personal attributes, with strong emphasis on community service and long-term clinical work.

What is the Rush Medical College address?

Rush Medical College is located at 600 S. Paulina St., Chicago, IL 60612, on the Rush University Medical Center campus in Chicago’s Illinois Medical District. The admissions office is in Suite 403 of the Armour Academic Center.

Does Rush accept international students or transfer students?

No. Rush considers U.S. citizens, permanent residents and applicants with asylee, refugee or DACA status, and it does not have positions for transfer students in the second, third or fourth year.

Does Rush require Casper or PREview?

No. Casper is not required or recommended for students applying to enter in fall 2027, and Rush does not list PREview as a requirement.

Is Rush Medical College’s Early Decision binding?

Yes. Early Decision applicants apply only to Rush, submit all materials by August 3 and receive a decision by September 30. Accepted Early Decision applicants are committed to Rush and cannot apply to other medical schools; applicants who are not accepted are deferred to the regular pool.

How much clinical experience do I need for Rush?

Rush does not set a minimum number of hours. It looks for long-term commitments with direct patient contact, with breadth and depth, and values significant patient care in your own community as much as work abroad. Choose a sustained role and describe what you did and learned.

Does Rush offer an MD/PhD program?

Rush does not list an MD/PhD or Medical Scientist Training Program among its MD admissions options for 2026-27. MD students can do research through the first-year research elective, the paid Summer Research Fellowship and a fourth-year research elective.

Is tuition the same for Illinois residents and out-of-state students?

Yes. Rush is a private school with one tuition schedule for all students, and out-of-state students made up 113 of the 144 students in the 2025 entering class.

Related Medical School Guides

If you are applying in Illinois or comparing Rush with other Chicago-area schools, these guides are a good next step. Each one has a different reason to be on your list. For a side-by-side look at every program in the state, see our guide to medical schools in Illinois.

• Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University: a private MD school in North Chicago with an interprofessional health sciences university, a useful comparison for applicants drawn to Rush’s team-based setting.
• Carle Illinois College of Medicine: a small engineering-focused MD program in Urbana-Champaign, a very different model from Rush’s urban clinical immersion.
• Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine: a research-intensive private MD school in downtown Chicago with a formal MD/PhD program, for applicants who want physician-scientist training.
• Southern Illinois University School of Medicine: a public MD school with a downstate Illinois focus, worth comparing for Illinois residents who want a community-oriented mission at public tuition.
• Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine: a private Jesuit MD school in suburban Maywood with a service-centered mission, often on the same list as Rush.
• University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine: a research-focused private MD school on Chicago’s South Side, with a long historical tie to Rush’s early 20th-century faculty and a formal MD/PhD route.

More medical school guides

If you are considering medical schools in Illinois or any other state, we have guides for most medical schools on our site. If you have been asking how Rush compares with other medical schools near you, check out our other school guides:

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

Additional Articles to Help Prospective Students of Rush Medical College

How to Get Research Experience in Undergrad

Research experience can strengthen a medical school application and gives you material for Rush’s inquiry essay. This article outlines ways undergraduates can find research, from volunteering in labs to securing internships and fellowships.

MCAT Cost: The Definitive Guide

This guide covers the costs of taking the MCAT, including registration fees, additional expenses and budgeting tips, along with the financial planning prospective medical students need.

Medical Schools Accepting Low MCAT Scores

This article lists medical schools with lower average MCAT scores, with details on their admission criteria and strategies for improving your application if your score is lower than you hoped.

Most Common Medical School Interview Questions

Preparing for interviews is crucial. This article lists the questions most often asked in medical school interviews, with tips for answering them well, and pairs well with the Rush interview section above.

How International Medical Aid Can Help

International Medical Aid (IMA) offers programs that support future physicians as they prepare for medical school, from international healthcare internships to medical school application consulting. IMA is independent of Rush Medical College and has no role in its admissions decisions, and no program guarantees admission anywhere. What IMA can offer is hands-on clinical experience and guidance that fit the qualities Rush looks for.

Hands-on clinical experience

IMA runs medical internships abroad in Kenya and other sites for students preparing for health careers. These pre-health internships are patient-facing: interns work alongside local clinicians, take vitals, do patient intake and triage and help with direct care under supervision in clinics and hospitals. For college students, medical internships for undergraduates can fit into a summer or a semester break.

Rush asks for long-term clinical commitments with direct patient contact and values patient care in your own community as much as experience abroad. Use international work as one part of a longer clinical record, and connect it to the sustained roles you hold at home.

Global Health Internships

IMA’s healthcare internships abroad place students in underserved settings where they help deliver care and take part in public health work. These experiences build cultural humility and an understanding of how social and economic conditions shape health, which connects to Rush’s first secondary essay and its emphasis on serving diverse communities. Interns also learn to work on teams with clinicians whose training and resources differ from their own.

Key Benefits:

• Cultural competence: working in varied cultural settings builds skills for connecting with patients from different backgrounds.
• Public health experience: community health work shows how the broader determinants of health shape care.
• Personal growth: students build resilience and adaptability, two attributes Rush lists for successful applicants.

Reflection that turns into strong writing

Clinical hours matter most when you can explain what you learned. Keep a short journal during any clinical role, at home or abroad, and note what complicated the care you saw. Those notes become the material for Rush’s essays on the complexity of care and sustained engagement, and for your interview.

Medical School Admissions Consulting

IMA’s medical school admissions consulting helps applicants through each part of the process, with personalized feedback on the school list, activities, personal statement, secondary essays and interviews.

Key Services:

• Personal statement review: feedback on a statement that shows your experiences and fit.
• Secondary essay feedback: help choosing a different experience for each of Rush’s five essays and staying within 1,000 characters.
• Interview preparation: mock interviews and feedback so you can explain your motivations and fit clearly.
• Application strategy: planning for coursework, recent science, clinical work and timelines.

How IMA’s Programs Align with Rush’s Admissions Criteria

Rush seeks applicants who show academic readiness, leadership, community service and a commitment to patient care. IMA programs can help you build and describe some of these qualities:

• Clinical experience: pre-med internships abroad give supervised, hands-on patient contact that you can describe specifically.
• Service and teamwork: interns work in teams in community health settings.
• Cultural competence: care in unfamiliar settings builds skills for connecting with patients from different backgrounds, which relates to Rush’s focus on diverse communities.

Comprehensive Support from IMA

IMA’s support extends beyond the clinical placement itself. IMA provides pre-departure guidance, including help with flights and travel medical insurance, plus in-country orientation.

Program Features:

• Accommodation: secure housing with Wi-Fi and meals.
• Transportation: arranged transportation to and from placement sites.
• Support services: in-country support, cultural activities and community outreach.

Next step: if your clinical experience is thin, plan a long-term patient care role at home and consider internships for pre-med students for the summer before you apply, then draft all five Rush essays before secondaries open in July.

Final Thoughts and Sources

Rush Medical College combines a lecture-free, team-based curriculum with patient contact in the first weeks of medical school, clerkships at both an academic medical center and Chicago’s safety-net hospital, two longitudinal leadership programs and a service culture that reaches more than 10,000 community members a year. It is very competitive and recruits nationally, with one tuition schedule for everyone. Before you apply, confirm that your coursework meets the prerequisite and five-year science rules, line up the right letters and prepare all five 1,000-character essays early.

We wish you the best of luck with your application. Take your time, be strategic and ask for help if the process starts to feel overwhelming.

Sources

All sources were checked on October 18, 2026. Class statistics are for the 2025 entering class unless another year is named; tuition, insurance and cost-of-attendance figures are for the 2026-27 academic year (Summer 2026 through Summer 2027).

• Rush Medical College, Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program: 2025 entering class average GPA and MCAT, Class of 2022 residency placement, research scale, financial aid share.
• Rush Medical College, About Rush Medical College: 2025 entering class profile (applications, interviews, matriculants), 2023 enrollment, mission, vision, staff and accreditation.
• Rush Medical College, MD admission requirements: mission statements, attributes, prerequisites and course timing, MCAT policy, Casper, letters, technical standards, citizenship and transfer policy.
• Rush Medical College, Application Process and Timeline: 2026-27 dates, MCAT window, interviews, decisions, background check; Early Decision Program; DACA applicants; Tuition and Financial Aid; RMC Before You Apply.
• Rush Medical College, MD curriculum, preclerkship curriculum (USMLE Step 1 pass rates), clerkship curriculum (Step 2 CK pass rates), Family Medicine Leadership Program, Health Equity and Social Justice Leadership Program, research opportunities and student well-being pages.
• Rush University Student Business Office, 2026-2027 tuition rates and Student Health Insurance; Office of Student Financial Aid, Cost of Attendance for 2026-2027 (both linked in the tuition section).
• Rush University, Rush Community Service Initiatives Program, Office of Global Health, College of Nursing GEM program and Rush University Medical Center library and location pages.
• Rush Medical College, Dean’s welcome and Rush University faculty profiles for the leaders and faculty named in this guide.
• AAMC Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR), Rush Medical College profile, 2026 edition (2025 entering class data; TSF 2025-26 cost; LCME Part I-B 2024-25 aid and debt; Graduation Questionnaire specialty intentions through July 2025), accessed October 18, 2026: median and mean GPA and MCAT for accepted applicants, verified applications by residency, matriculant background, enrollment, secondary fee, deposit, deferral, letters, academic screening policy, interview and decision dates, cost of attendance, aid and debt.
• Rush University, History of Rush University, and Rush University Medical Center history page (rush.edu): charter, founder, namesake, University of Chicago affiliation, 1942 closure, 1969 reactivation and merger.
• Liaison Committee on Medical Education, Directory of Accredited Programs (linked in the accreditation section); Rush University accreditation, authorization and licenses list.
• Secondary prompts: Med School Insiders, Rush Medical College secondary essay prompts (2026-2027 list), and the Student Doctor Network 2026-2027 Rush Medical College thread (prompts and 1,000-character limits posted July 2026), checked against each other on October 18, 2026; Student Doctor Network interview feedback summary for Rush. Alumni details: Columbia Mailman School of Public Health faculty profiles for Linda P. Fried and W. Ian Lipkin, the Wake Forest University School of Medicine faculty profile for Julie Ann Freischlag, and published biographies for the historical alumni named above.