How to Get Into the Icahn School of Medicine: Requirements and Strategies
/Discover the Icahn School of Medicine ranking and admissions strategies, plus secondary essay examples
icahn school of medicine is ranked #11 by US NEWS and World Report for research
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Part 1: Introduction
If you’re looking for a medical school focused on pushing the boundaries of medical innovation, the Icahn School of Medicine should be near the top of your list. Offering one of the best medical programs in New York, Icahn Medical School has a strong reputation for being a leader in medical training, research, and patient care.
The Icahn School of Medicine, currently sitting at #18 in the U.S. News and World Report Research rankings, is located on the culturally vibrant island of Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1968, it serves as the medical school for the Mount Sinai Health System, which boasts eight hospital campuses and is ranked in the Top 23 for Best Hospitals by U.S. News and World Report. With its core values of research, service, and global health, the Icahn School of Medicine attracts forward-thinking students who hope to change the frontiers of local and global healthcare.
If you’re eager to join a learning environment that will challenge you to think critically and disrupt the status quo, Icahn Medical School would be the perfect choice for you. But you’ll need more than impressive stats to get accepted into this competitive medical program. You’ll also need to demonstrate that your combined passions, experiences, and qualities make you the perfect match for Icahn Medical School.
In this guide, we’ll discuss how to get into the Icahn School of Medicine, from being the ideal candidate to writing powerful secondary essays and acing the Icahn Medical School interview.
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Part 2: Icahn Medical School MD programs
There are several paths for students to earn an MD from the Icahn School of Medicine:
While only applicable to college freshmen or sophomores, it’s worth noting that the Icahn School of Medicine also offers an innovative approach to med school admissions through the FlexMed Program. This progressive admissions pathway invites sophomores from any college and any major to apply for early acceptance to Icahn Medical School.
If accepted, FlexMed students aren’t required to complete traditional med school science prerequisites or take the MCAT, freeing them up to pursue interests outside of the usual premed course of study. This is just one example of the Icahn School of Medicine questioning conventions and thinking outside the box in order to advance the field of medicine.
(Suggested reading: How to Get Into the FlexMed Program at Icahn School of Medicine)
Icahn School of Medicine tuition and scholarships
The 2023–2024 tuition for Icahn Medical School is $70,653. When fees, room, board, supplies, and personal expenses are added, the total cost of attendance reaches $93,653 for the first year alone.
The Icahn School of Medicine has historically offered need-based institutional scholarships and loans to its students. But in 2019, Icahn Medical School once again demonstrated progressive and innovative thinking by rolling out the Enhanced Scholarship Initiative. This program addresses the high levels of debt incurred by medical school graduates.
Students with demonstrated need are guaranteed to take out no more than $75,000 in loans over their four years of study—much less than the average medical school graduate debt of $250,995. After the loan is applied, Icahn Medical School covers its students’ remaining demonstrated need through scholarships, making it an affordable and attractive option for many.
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Part 3: How hard is it to get into the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai?
Icahn School of Medicine admissions statistics
Icahn School of Medicine’s acceptance rate is just 3.4 percent. Let’s examine the admissions statistics for the 2023-24 application cycle:
Applications: 8,278
Interviews: 822
Matriculants: 120
Average GPA: 3.81 (as of 2022-23)
Average MCAT score: 519 (as of 2022-23)
It’s important to note that the figures above include MD/PhD applicants and students entering via FlexMed, in addition to applicants to the four-year MD program. Because FlexMed’s class size tends to hover around 50, and Icahn aims to matriculate 12 MD/PhD students per year, we can infer that traditional MD applicants are competing for approximately 60–70 spots.
(Suggested reading: Average GPA and MCAT Score for Every Medical School)
Icahn School of Medicine admissions requirements
To apply to the Icahn School of Medicine, you’ll need to have completed coursework in a number of key areas. Here are Icahn’s requirements for incoming MD students:
General chemistry: One year
Organic chemistry: One year or one semester each of organic chemistry and biochemistry
Biology: One year
Physics: One semester with lab
Lab work: One year in biology and/or chemistry
Statistics: One semester (biostatistics preferred)
Intensive writing courses: One year
Note that, even if you received AP credit in the sciences listed above, you’ll still need to take advanced coursework in those areas to complete Icahn’s prerequisites.
Additionally, applicants are encouraged to take coursework in the social sciences, such as political science, global health, sociology, and psychology. They are also encouraged to gain skills, if not proficiency, in a second, non-English language. And indeed, about 79 percent of students who matriculate possess native or advanced proficiency in a language other than English. This aligns with the emphasis Icahn places on global health. Plus, knowing multiple languages serves as an advantage to students who are completing their clinicals in a place as diverse as New York City.
Applicants must have taken the MCAT within five years of their application to Icahn Medical School.
The Icahn School of Medicine also looks for students with a significant history of serving their communities, as service is one of Icahn’s core values. Nowhere is this more evident than in the East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership (EHHOP), Icahn Medical School’s student-run free clinic which offers primary care services to uninsured adults at no cost. If practicing medicine in an underserved community is your career goal, serving at EHHOP is one of the most valuable med school experiences you can find.
Your application should demonstrate that you exceed the Icahn School of Medicine requirements and possess the qualities to make you an ideal candidate for Icahn’s unique program. The secondary essays present the greatest opportunity for you to achieve this objective.
(Suggested reading: Medical School Requirements: The Definitive Guide)
Icahn School of Medicine application timeline
To apply to Icahn School of Medicine, plan to submit your AMCAS application according to the following timeline:
May 1, 2024: AMCAS application opens
May 28, 2024: AMCAS application can be submitted
July 2024–October 2024: Icahn secondary application invitations are sent out
July 2024–January 2025: Applications are reviewed
August 2024: Interview invitations begin to be sent out
September 2024–February 2025: Interviews conducted
October 1, 2024: AMCAS application final deadline
November 1, 2023: Icahn secondary application final deadline
January 2025–July 2025: Admissions decisions are released
May 2025: Waitlist offers are considered
To increase your admissions odds, plan to submit your application and secondary materials as early as possible. Because Icahn Medical School follows rolling admissions, it’s in your best interest to be included in the early rounds of application review.
(Suggested reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline)
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Part 4: Icahn School of Medicine secondary application essays (examples included)
After submitting the AMCAS application, you can work on your secondary essays to the Icahn School of Medicine. Many applicants will have similar stats and extracurriculars as you do, so these essays are your best chance to impress the admissions committee and improve your odds of being accepted.
Below, you’ll find strategies for approaching each prompt, as well as examples to guide you in writing essays that make you stand out as a top applicant.
Question 1: If you are currently not a full-time student, please briefly describe the activities you are participating in this academic year. (100 words)
If you’re entering your final undergraduate year and are applying to start at the Icahn School of Medicine immediately after graduation, skip this question.
But if you’re entering a gap year as you submit your application, or if you’ve been out of school for some time already, this is your opportunity to explain why you didn’t apply to medical school directly out of undergrad. Don’t worry, you’re not at a disadvantage. After all, the average age of first-year med school students at Icahn is 23, so most applicants are in the same situation as you. But it’s important that your activities during your gap year demonstrate your passion for medicine and set you up as a competitive applicant.
You might take a gap year to strengthen a weak area of your application, such as low research or patient exposure hours. If this is the case, you want to write your essay in a way that focuses on your strengths rather than your weaknesses. Don’t dwell on the fact that you weren’t a competitive applicant straight out of undergrad. Instead, show how you’re becoming the ideal candidate for Icahn Medical School.
Even though you only have 100 words and the prompt is to “describe your activities,” you don’t want this essay to become a resume summary. And you definitely don’t want it to bore the admissions committee. You can prevent this by reflecting on how each activity impacts you.
When you start writing this gap year essay, keep several questions in mind. What were your goals for taking a gap year? Why were these goals important to you? How have you been successful in meeting your goals?
Here’s an example of an essay written by an applicant taking a gap year to gain additional patient exposure experience.
My goal for taking a gap year was to gain new medical skills and work with patients from an underserved community.
After graduating, I completed training and secured a position as a phlebotomist in a community health clinic. I work three days a week and see thirty to forty patients each day. Calming the patients who are anxious around needles has significantly strengthened my bedside manner.
I also volunteer as an intake assistant helping patients qualify for free medical services. Talking with people undergoing hardship has heightened my desire to serve and advocate for the struggling members of my community.
This essay works because it demonstrates how the applicant’s activities are shaping their medical goals and making them a stronger candidate for the Icahn School of Medicine.
But not everyone taking a gap year is doing so to address a weak area of their profile. Maybe your application is strong already, and you want a year to pursue one of your passions before starting your medical career. In that case, you still want to clarify what the specific goal for your gap year is and show how your experience will make you a better physician.
Question 2: If you are committed to a particular community or if there is an important aspect of your identity not addressed elsewhere in the application, we invite you to do so here. Briefly also explain how such factors may have influenced your motivation for a career in medicine. Completing this section is optional. (150 words)
Question 3: What is the toughest feedback you ever received? How did you handle it and what did you learn from it? (250 words)
Question 4: Describe a situation that you have thought to be unfair or unjust, whether towards yourself or towards others. How did you address the situation, if at all? (200 words)
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: Icahn School of Medicine interview
If invited to interview, know that you’re among only a fraction of applicants who make it to this point. Your stats, extracurriculars, and essays have already impressed the Icahn Medical School admissions committee. Now you just have to prepare to ace the medical school interview.
If selected for an interview at Icahn, you’ll have two 30-minute interviews with members of the Icahn School of Medicine admissions committee.
Be prepared to discuss your extracurriculars and the experiences included in your essays with enthusiasm. You should also identify a few programs or key features about Icahn that excite you. Be ready to share how you plan to engage in and contribute to the community. Remember to prepare questions for your interviewers, as well. It’s a polite practice, but it also shows you’re curious and like asking questions—desirable qualities in a student at the Icahn School of Medicine.
When it comes to the questions you’ll encounter on interview day, we’ve made a list of some that have been asked recently at Icahn.
Tell me about yourself.
Tell me about your research in X.
Tell me about your experience working as X.
What experience do you have with individuals from diverse backgrounds?
What is the biggest challenge in healthcare today?
Tell me about a time you thought that you were decided on something and then you changed your mind.
Why Icahn?
What do you think about women in medicine and science?
What do you like to do for fun?
From this list, we can see the admissions committee wants to get to know you as a person in addition to why you chose to apply to Icahn. However, questions such as, “What experience do you have with individuals from diverse backgrounds?” and “What is the biggest challenge in healthcare today?” contain golden opportunities for meaningful answers that incorporate your unique perspective with aspects of Icahn’s mission—always a plus with adcoms.
If you take the time to prepare your approach to these questions, you’ll attend your interview cool and collected, coming off as knowledgeable and capable to your interviewer.
One in every three applicants who interview will be accepted to Icahn Medical School. So make sure to leave it all on the line. This is your best and last chance to favorably impress the admissions committee. Make it count.
Final thoughts
The Icahn School of Medicine is leading the way in educational, research, and patient care innovation. If you want the opportunity to impact the way medicine is practiced in communities around the globe, Icahn Medical School is the premier place for you. But don’t forget, you’re competing for admission against thousands of other applicants, many of whom boast out-of-this-world stats and impressive extracurriculars. The best way to improve your admissions odds is to write strong essays that portray you as the type of forward-thinking change leader and advocate the Icahn School of Medicine desires.
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.