How to Get Into UConn Medical School: Requirements and Strategies
/Learn the UConn Medical School acceptance rate, admissions requirements, and strategies to tackle UConn Medical School secondary application essays
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Part 1: Introduction
If you’re aiming to join a prestigious medical school on the East Coast, you're spoilt for choice. One standout option is the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, Connecticut. UConn Medical School stands out for its commitment to innovation, discovery, education, and service—values that are deeply ingrained in UConn students, equipping them for impactful medical careers.
The UConn School of Medicine, which enrolled its first class in 1968, is ranked #71 in Primary Care and #53 in Research by U.S. News and World Report. The program utilizes a non-traditional approach to medical education with its team-based learning curriculum. Students form teams and work together to apply their knowledge in the classroom actively. In keeping with UConn Medical School’s passion for hands-on learning, students begin caring for patients on the first day of school in a primary care, community setting.
If you’re eager to incorporate research, education, and engagement into your future medical practice, the UConn School of Medicine offers the perfect program for you. But, as with all top medical schools, getting accepted presents a challenge. To increase your admissions odds, you’ll need to become a competitive applicant and craft a powerful, highly tailored application that sets you apart from the crowd.
Continue reading to explore the UConn Medical School acceptance rate and admissions requirements. We’ll also give you the best strategies to approach UConn’s secondary essays and to prepare for their interview.
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Part 2: UConn Medical School MD programs
There are many programs through which you can receive a medical degree at UConn Medical School:
The traditional, four-year MD program
The MD/PhD Program
The MD/MPH
The Special Program in Medicine (an eight-year BS/MD program)
In 2016, the UConn School of Medicine released its redesigned MDelta curriculum, which utilizes team-based learning instruction rather than the traditional, lecture-style coursework. Students engage in active learning scenarios to refine their problem-solving, diagnostic, and treatment skills. This new curriculum aims to produce physicians who embrace scientific advances, provide exceptional clinical care, become outstanding teachers, make new discoveries about health and disease, and participate in scholarly activities throughout their careers.
UConn Medical School tuition and scholarships
For the 2023–2024 academic year, the UConn School of Medicine tuition for in-state applicants is $44,666, and it’s $74,367 for out-of-state applicants. The total cost of attendance for UConn SOM applicants, including all fees, the laptop, room, board, supplies, transportation, and personal expenses known as “indirect expenses”) is $84,386 for in-state applicants and $114,087 for out-of-state applicants.
While we don’t have official data surrounding tuition rates for the 2024-2025 academic year, last fall (September 2023), Hartford Business Journal published an article on the upcoming tuition increases for UConn School of Medicine. According to HBJ, in-state applicants can expect a 2.5 percent increase in tuition, while out-of-state applicants can expect an increase of 0.5 percent for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 academic years.
This increase will boost tuition costs at the UConn School of Medicine to $45,783 for 2024-2025 and $46,928 for 2025-2026 for in-state applicants. For out-of-state applicants, the increase will result in tuition costs of $74,739 for 2024-2025 and $75,113 for 2025-2026.
UConn Medical School offers need-based institutional aid to its students in the form of tuition remission grants and university loans. An additional low-interest Primary Care Loan is available specifically for Connecticut residents who demonstrate financial need and plan to specialize in one of the primary care areas—namely family medicine, general internal medicine, geriatrics, and pediatrics.
In total, 81 percent of UConn students receive financial aid from either institutional or federal sources. The average debt for UConn School of Medicine graduates in 2021 was $136,207—well below the average debt for all med school graduates in the nation.
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Part 3: How hard is it to get into the UConn School of Medicine?
UConn Medical School admissions statistics
The UConn Medical School acceptance rate is 4.8 percent, and in recent years approximately 320 applicants have been invited to interview each cycle. Let’s take a look at the admissions statistics for the class of 2027:
Applications: 4,336
Matriculants: 112
Of those, 76 percent were Connecticut residents, and 35 percent were UConn undergraduates.
While UConn hasn’t published academic stats for its most recent group of matriculants, we can look to GPA and MCAT scores among recent UConn classes to demonstrate the competitiveness of the applicant pool:
Average GPA: 3.77
Average MCAT: 84th percentile (between 511 and 512)
(Suggested reading: Average GPA and MCAT Score for Every Medical School)
UConn Medical School admissions requirements
Applicants must have taken the MCAT within three years of their application and no later than September before their expected date of matriculation. Therefore, if you are applying for September 2024 matriculation, you must take the MCAT between June 2020 and September 2023.
UConn Medical School accepts international students with foreign undergraduate degrees, but all their transcripts must be evaluated to determine U.S. equivalent credits and grades.
Here are the specific course requirements set by UConn Medical School for its applicants:
Chemistry: 2 years with lab, with at least 1 semester being organic chemistry
Physics: 1 year with lab
Biology or zoology: 1 year with lab
English: 1 year (courses in composition and literature are strongly recommended)
The above should be considered the minimum requirements. However, UConn recommends that applicants take additional courses in biochemistry, genetics, and physiology to be competitive.
The admissions committee considers each applicant's interests, achievements, abilities, motivation, and character, as demonstrated throughout their application. GPA and MCAT scores are evaluated, but so is academic program difficulty, intellectual growth and development, and the quality of extracurricular activities.
The UConn School of Medicine also seeks students who match its mission of innovation, discovery, education, and service. One of the most effective ways to demonstrate your fit with UConn’s mission is through well-written secondary essays.
(Suggested reading: Medical School Requirements: The Definitive Guide)
UConn Medical School application timeline
The UConn School of Medicine offers an Early Decision option for admission. Whether you opt for this route or the traditional application path, here is a timeline of dates to know as you throw your hat in UConn’s ring:
May 2, 2024: AMCAS application opens
May 30, 2024: AMCAS application can be submitted
August 1, 2024: AMCAS application deadline for Early Decision
August 2024–March 2025: Invitations to interview extended
October 1, 2024: Early Decision applicants notified
October 2024–end of cycle: Regular Decision applicants notified on a rolling basis.
November 15, 2024: AMCAS application deadline
December 31, 2024: UConn secondary application deadline
Because UConn reviews applications on a rolling basis, we suggest you submit your AMCAS application in May, and your secondary application in June or July. It’s to your advantage to be among the first applicants reviewed by the admissions committee.
(Suggested reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline)
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Part 4: UConn Medical School secondary application essays (examples included)
After submitting your AMCAS application, you’ll receive an email from UConn Medical School with information on completing your secondaries. You have four weeks to write and submit the three required secondary essays, each under 1,800 characters or ~250 to 300 words.
The primary goals for your secondaries are demonstrating your motivation for a medical career and expanding on the relevant experiences that make you a strong fit for UConn’s program. Your essays should address the values contained in UConn’s mission. This is your opportunity to explain how you’re prepared to benefit from and contribute to the UConn School of Medicine programs, so remember to do your research and be specific about what you hope to accomplish at UConn Medical School.
Below, we’ve provided insight into how to tackle each of UConn’s 2023-2024 secondary essay prompts and example essays.
Question 1: Highlight your experiences in the healthcare field. What insights have you gained about potential problems you will face as a physician? (1,800 characters)
When responding to this question, you have three primary objectives:
Briefly describe your medical experiences. You don’t need to go in-depth here since these experiences should be explained in detail in your AMCAS Work and Activities section. However, this presents a good chance for you to weave your experiences together, showing how they connect and build on each other to make you a better future physician. You might choose to demonstrate a theme such as your compassion or commitment to service.
Identify a potential problem you’ll face as a physician, as well as how you discovered it. This is the ideal opportunity to include a short anecdote. UConn Medical School looks for students who can relate to patients as people. You can prove you possess this ability by telling a story about a relationship or significant encounter you had with a patient.
Explain how UConn will empower you to address this problem as a physician. Show that you’re familiar with UConn’s resources and have a plan in place for how your UConn training will help you reach your medical goals. Many students overlook the importance of making the connection to UConn Medical School in their answer, so achieving this objective will set your application apart.
Some students get intimidated by this question, particularly if they can’t immediately think of a potential problem facing physicians, or don’t feel qualified to be an expert on the challenges of healthcare. If you’re not sure what to write about, reach out to the physicians you’ve shadowed or the medical professionals you encountered in your volunteer work. Ask them to share a few of the obstacles they’ve faced in their medical practices. Then reflect on their responses and think of instances where you witnessed these issues in a healthcare setting.
Here’s an example response to this prompt:
The summer after my freshman year, I shadowed Dr. Urizar, a primary care physician in an urban community. For the next two years, I continued volunteering at the clinic in various roles. At times I supported the intake team, at others I worked as a medical scribe, and I regularly helped with patient follow-up. I am thankful that Dr. Urizar took the time to mentor and prepare me for a career in medicine. One day he shared his frustration over the amount of misinformation his patients received from questionable sources, primarily the internet. I did not fully understand his complaint until the day Mr. Alonzo came into the clinic. He claimed he had a kidney stone and needed pain meds to help until he passed it. He refused to answer further questions about his symptoms, remaining adamant he knew what was wrong. After a brief exam, Dr. Urizar called for immediate medical transport to take Mr. Alonzo to the emergency room. When the hospital called with an update, they confirmed Dr. Urizar’s suspicion that Mr. Alonzo’s appendix had ruptured. He would fully recover, but his misinformation and his delay in seeing a doctor nearly cost him his life. This experience helped me recognize the seriousness of this issue. The free, often untrustworthy, information available online leads people to self-diagnose their illnesses rather than seek the necessary medical treatment. As a future physician, I hope to address this problem by properly educating the community I serve. I plan to join the Community-Based Education program at UConn so I can learn best practices for educating and promoting health in communities. The CBE program, combined with UConn’s focus on education and service, will empower me with the skills and knowledge I need to educate and improve the health of my future patients.
This essay works because the applicant achieved the three main objectives. They highlighted their healthcare experiences, as well as introduced the population they served. The applicant used a specific story to illustrate the problem facing physicians. And the conclusion of the essay focused on how UConn can help the applicant achieve their goals of providing better health education to communities.
You’ll also notice a direct reference to part of UConn’s mission—education and service. This demonstrates the applicant is a strong match for the mission and values of UConn Medical School, increasing their chances of moving on in the medical admissions process.
Question 2: How will the University of Connecticut School of Medicine best serve your needs of becoming a physician or physician-scientist? (1,800 characters)
Question 3: The University of Connecticut School Of Medicine realizes that each applicant brings a unique perspective from a broad range of experiences that have been influential in leading to a career in medicine. How will your own life experiences and unique identity enhance the UConn SoM classroom and community? (1800 characters)
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: UConn Medical School interview
If you receive an invitation to interview at the UConn School of Medicine, the admissions committee has already decided you meet the academic qualifications to become a UConn student. You just need to demonstrate you possess the right personal qualities and fit with their mission in order to earn a coveted offer of acceptance.
UConn offers traditional medical school interviews. Strategically preparing for the interview will help you impress your interviewers and increase your chances of getting accepted. Review your AMCAS and supplementary application materials so your answers to questions such as, “Why do you want to pursue a career in medicine?” are consistent with what you submitted in your application. The interviewers might ask pointed questions about your extracurriculars, so be prepared to speak about your activities with passion.
Some questions we’ve seen frequently come up for UConn applicants are:
How do you see yourself fitting into the Farmington area?
Tell me about yourself.
What is the bravest decision you've had to make?
How do you deal with stressful situations?
What was your favorite Class and why?
What specialties are you interested in?
What would be a downside to coming to UConn?
Why do you want to become a physician (and become a student at UConn)?
Out of everything on your application, what is the single most important aspect you want the admissions committee to know?
Could you formulate a coherent answer to “What would be a downside of coming to UConn?” in the moment? This can be a tricky question to answer, so proper preparation is vital to your success in the interview.
You’ll also want to review UConn’s mission, programs, and unique features so you can gear your responses to show you’re the perfect fit for the UConn School of Medicine. You can practice thinking on your feet and answering interview questions professionally by having a mock interview with a friend or classmate. Ask your mock interviewer if you’re adequately portraying your passion for medicine and fit for UConn in your practice responses.
Make sure you come to the actual interview day with a list of questions to ask your interviewers. Show interest in the faculty member’s areas of research, even if it’s not a subject you’re familiar with. Ask your student interviewer about their activities and experiences outside the classroom. The way you interact with your interviewers, the admissions staff, and current students is as important as the answers you give to your interview questions. Using every opportunity to make favorable impressions on the UConn community is an effective way to improve your odds of getting accepted.
Final thoughts
Attending a premier medical school like the UConn School of Medicine is the opportunity of a lifetime. The innovative training you’ll undergo will open doors for you to have a distinguished career in medicine, research, and education. But with so many competitive premed candidates vying for a seat at UConn Medical School, the best way to make yourself stand out as an applicant is to craft a persuasive application that demonstrates how you’re a perfect fit for UConn’s mission and values. Using powerfully-written secondary essays to emphasize your commitment to medicine, innovation, and service will impress the admissions committee and improve your chances of getting accepted to the UConn School of Medicine.
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.