How to Get Into Kaiser Permanente Medical School: Requirements and Strategies
/How hard is it to get into Kaiser Medical School? Learn requirements, acceptance rate, and strategies for getting into California’s newest medical school
Learn requirements, acceptance rate, and strategies for getting into California’s newest medical school.
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Part 1: Introduction
For an exceptional premed student applying to medical school, the array of choices can be staggering. Many familiar, old guard names are likely to come up in your search—Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, and so on. Now applicants have a new institution to add to their lists: the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, where the inaugural class matriculated in July 2020.
Located in Pasadena, a few miles from Los Angeles, Kaiser Permanente Medical School has a strong focus on patient care, taking advantage of six clinical locations in Southern California. You may have heard of Kaiser Permanente, which has had residency programs since 1946, and offers health insurance and healthcare facilities, primarily in the western U.S.
Kaiser Permanente Medical School is also notable because it promised to waive all four years of tuition for each of its first five classes. The prospect of a tuition-free MD alone made Kaiser Permanente a more-than-appealing option for graduating premeds from 2019 through 2024. However applicants applying in the 2024–2025 cycle onward will need to be informed about the full cost of attendance at Kaiser, as well as the effect that the expiration of the free tuition program might have on acceptance rates.
In this guide, we’ll provide the information you need to get into Kaiser Permanante Medical School, including admissions statistics, requirements, and advice and examples to help you tackle Kaiser’s secondary essays.
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Part 2: Kaiser Permanente Medical School MD programs
Kaiser Permanente offers several combined degree opportunities, in addition to the MD. Additional doctoral and master’s degrees are offered in partnership with other institutions in Southern California, and students must apply and be accepted at both schools.
Here are the paths via which you can earn an MD at Kaiser Permanente Medical School:
The traditional, four-year MD program
Doctor of Philosophy (MD/PhD) offered in partnership with the California Institute of Technology
MD/Master of Public Health (MD/MPH) offered in partnership with UCLA
MD/Master of Health Administration (MD/MHA) offered in partnership with the University of Southern California
MD/Master of Healthcare Systems Engineering (MD/MS) offered in partnership with Loyola Marymount University
Is Kaiser Permanente Medical School still free?
Kaiser Permanente Medical School pledged to waive all four years of tuition and fees (including health insurance) for its first five classes—through the 2024 entering class. Students included in those cohorts are still expected to cover the cost of their living expenses, which are estimated at about $38,380.
Matriculants entering Kaiser in the fall of 2025 will be the first to not be covered by the tuition waiver. As such, applicants in 2024 onward should be prepared to cover their own annual tuition, living expenses, and health insurance costs. Tuition is currently estimated at $61,494 per year, and health coverage at $6,725. In addition, Kaiser notes that most costs are subject to a 3 percent increase each year, so paying cohorts should expect to pay more with each year.
However, a variety of scholarships, loans, and grants are available to eligible admitted students, and Kaiser Permanente has a Financial Aid Officer to help you determine your eligibility.
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Part 3: How hard is it to get into Kaiser Permanente Medical School?
Kaiser Medical School admissions statistics
Though the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine is a recent addition to the medical school landscape, the admissions statistics are striking. They accept 48–50 students per class, and the promise to waive tuition has attracted upwards of 7,700 applicants in the most recent application cycle. It’s possible that the expiration of the tuition waiver program could lead to a drop in the number of applications for the 2024–2025 cycle, but applicants should still expect the competition to be fierce.
Who are the students that make the Kaiser cut? Here are some admissions statistics for Kaiser Medical School’s most recent class, the class of 2027:
Class size: 50
Average MCAT: 516
Median MCAT: 517
Average GPA: 3.76
Median GPA: 3.70
(Suggested reading: Average GPA and MCAT Score for Every Medical School)
Kaiser Permanente Medical School admissions requirements
There are no minimum requirements for GPA and MCAT scores, according to their admissions website. However, based on the admissions data above, we can see that the average GPA and MCAT scores are relatively high. Applicants can assume, based on the class size (48–50 spots), that Kaiser Permanente’s standards will be selective and rigorous, as is the case for most California medical schools.
Kaiser Permanente lists the following required coursework:
Behavioral or social science: One semester or quarter (examples include anthropology, economics, ethnic studies, psychology, and sociology)
General biology: One year with lab
General or inorganic chemistry, or equivalent: One year with lab
General physics: One year with lab
Humanities: One semester or quarter (examples include art, English, history, literature, and philosophy)
In addition, courses in organic chemistry and biochemistry, calculus, statistics, public health (e.g. population health or epidemiology), and foreign language are recommended.
To apply to Kaiser Medical School in the 2024–2025 application cycle, you’ll need to submit an MCAT score earned between July 2022 and September 2024.
Their admissions website stresses, however, that each applicant will be considered holistically, and that admissions officers will look not only at your grades and test scores but also at your achievements in context. They’ll want to understand who you are, what you started with, and how you made the best of your opportunities. There’s no better place to showcase these qualitative aspects of your application than in your secondary essays.
(Suggested reading: Medical School Requirements: The Definitive Guide)
Kaiser Permanente Medical School application timeline
You’ll submit your application to Kaiser Permanente Medical School via AMCAS. Here is a timeline of dates you’ll need to be aware of during the admissions process. We will continue to update the dates specific to Kaiser Permanente Medical School when they are announced in May 2024:
May 1, 2024: AMCAS application opens
May 28, 2024: AMCAS application can be submitted
TBA (likely July 2024): Kaiser secondary application opens
TBA (likely August 2024–February 2025): Kaiser interviews conducted
TBA (likely October 2024–March 2025): Kaiser offers of admission sent
TBA (likely in November 2024): Kaiser secondary application deadline
TBA (likely in May 2025): Deadline to commit to only one school
Kaiser Medical School employs rolling admissions, so you should plan to submit your primary and secondary applications as early as possible without sacrificing quality. Kaiser does not pre-screen for its secondary application, so all applicants who complete the AMCAS application will be invited to complete the secondary application as well.
(Suggested reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline)
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Part 4: Kaiser Permanente Medical School secondary application essays (examples included)
With your AMCAS application behind you, you can devote your energy to crafting exceptional secondary essays. These essays tell the story of who you are in a way that can’t be accomplished with grades and test scores alone, and for this reason, they’re a vital part of your Kaiser Permanente Medical School application.
The 2023–2024 Kaiser secondary prompts are listed below, as well as strategies and sample essays.
Note: These will be updated to reflect any changes to the essay prompts for 2024–2025 when they are released in early summer of 2025.
Question 1: During your career as a physician, you will potentially encounter obstacles, and be required to overcome challenges. Please describe your experience with a situation that had an unfavorable outcome, including your reaction, how you might have responded differently, and what you learned about yourself. (250 words)
This is similar to the standard “adversity prompt,” which we cover in our guide to secondary essays. The difference is that, rather than ask how you overcame an obstacle, this prompt asks how you dealt with “an unfavorable outcome” and grew as a person because of it. Instead of asking for an example of success, as one would expect, it asks essentially for an example of disappointment. This is tricky, as there are obvious pitfalls to admitting an unfavorable outcome.
As with the standard adversity prompt, admissions officers want to see that you’ve handled obstacles and disappointments with grace, and that you emerged a better, wiser person after these experiences. Obviously, you don’t want to list an unfavorable outcome that makes you look really bad or negligent.
But disappointing outcomes are par for the course in the medical field, and how you deal with them will be an important part of what makes you an exceptional physician. Your focus with this prompt should be on your growth as a person—“what you learned about yourself”—rather than the unfavorable outcome itself.
Here's an example:
For the past few years, I’ve been a volunteer for a community garden in Denver. We work with local food banks and community organizers, delivering fresh produce in the warmer months to low income residents, as well as advocate for plant-based diets.
My first year in the program, I got to know Hector. He was in his 50s and had diabetes. His left leg had been amputated, and he was wheelchair-bound. We delivered to him three times a month, discussing how a plant-based diet would lead to better health outcomes and help him manage his diabetes.
I grew close to Hector and his Boston terrier, Kermit. He was one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. We talked about the Broncos, which he loved. I hoped we could help Hector change his health situation, and while we improved his quality of life, enabling him to better manage his diabetes, in the end, he passed away.
This broke my heart. It showed me that, in many ways, our intervention was “too late” for Hector and made me determined to get involved in patients’ lives earlier, on a personal and population level, before they get diabetes. I also understand that sometimes the best you can do is help someone manage the illness they’re living with, and I want to be the best physician I can be for that, too. I would bring this understanding to Kaiser Permanente Medical School.
What makes this a good response?
The applicant chooses an example of an “unfavorable outcome” that doesn’t actually involve failure or negligence on her part, but which does demonstrate that she understands challenges, and which inspires her to adopt exactly the kind of attitude toward health that Kaiser hopes to cultivate.
Question 2: Kaiser Permanente is committed to advancing equity, inclusion, and diversity for all. How will you contribute to the diversity of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine? (250 words)
Question 3: Lifelong learning is an essential process for continued professional development. This includes reflection and being open and responsive to constructive feedback. Please tell us about an area of intellectual exploration you’re passionate about, and your approach to exploring this area. (250 words)
Question 4: Optional: Please describe how you have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. (No limit)
Gain instant access to med school secondary essay examples for every single prompt required by every medical school in the United States and Canada. Subscribe today to lock in the current investments, which will be increasing after May 31 for new subscribers.
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Part 5: Kaiser Permanente Medical School interview
An invitation to interview is cause for relief. It means that you were impressive on paper. Now they want to see how you are face-to-face, and whether your interpersonal skills make you a good match.
During the 2023–2024 application cycle, all interviews were held virtually. Kaiser Permanente uses a combination of the MMI format and the standard one-on-one interview format. In addition, your virtual interview day will include a welcome from the Associate Dean for Admissions, virtual student engagement, a tour, and remarks from other Kaiser Deans.
MMI interviews tests your thought processes in various hypothetical situations and are therefore harder to prepare for, but there are frameworks you can use to work through any scenario. If you’ve written in your secondary essays about research in which you’ve participated or a field of medicine about which you feel passionate, you should be prepared to talk about it at length with your interlocutors. It will also help to have a working knowledge of the programs on offer at Kaiser Permanente, and how you might be able to further your research there.
Above all, remain consistent with your essays in your one-on-one interviews, and if possible, find a way to tie your experiences or interests to the opportunities Kaiser Permanente has to offer.
Final thoughts
Even without the draw of a tuition waiver, the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine is an exciting new choice for anyone pursuing their white coat. The Kaiser Permanente name is renowned in healthcare, and if you plan on applying to the Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, you’ll inevitably face tough competition.
Though the cohort is only 48–50 students, what will set you apart from other applicants will be the qualitative aspects of your application, such as the comprehensive picture portrayed in your secondary essays. The program will want to see that they are as right for you as you are for them. This means you’ll need to understand and appeal to the unique opportunities offered by Kaiser Permanente Medical School to seal the deal and get accepted.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.