Medical Schools in Texas: How to Get In (2024)
/Which are the best medical schools in Texas? Plus, Texas medical school rankings and strategies to get into your top-choice program
12 of the 16 medical schools in Texas are allopathic programs
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: List of medical schools in Texas: 2023 rankings & admissions statistics
Part 3: Texas medical school profiles
Part 4: Texas medical school admissions strategies
Appendix A: Texas medical schools by degree type
Appendix B: Texas medical schools by institution type
Appendix C: Texas medical schools by region
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Part 1: Introduction
There are several reasons why attending medical school in Texas is a highly attractive option to many. Notably, Texas medical schools tend to have relatively low tuition—this is especially true for in-state students but applies to out-of-state students, too. On top of this, Texas as a whole has a low cost of living, and many Texas medical schools have strong reputations and support a wide variety of communities across the state.
Whether you’re interested in living the urban life and conducting world-class research at a powerhouse like UT Southwestern in Dallas or serving rural and bicultural populations at UT Rio Grande Valley, there’s probably a Texas medical school for you.
While the 16 medical schools in California collectively get more attention than any other state’s institutions, Texas also has 16 medical schools, many of which strongly prefer to admit Texas residents over out-of-state applicants. Combined with the fact that Texas medical schools receive considerably fewer applications and tend to carry reasonable price tags, it’s no wonder that many Texans would prefer to stay home near family and friends.
It’s important to note that applying to Texas medical schools is a unique process: 14 of Texas’s 16 medical schools use TMDSAS as their primary application, while one uses AACOMAS and one uses AMCAS. Therefore, you’ll have to take a somewhat different approach when applying to Texas med schools vs. schools in other states.
In this guide, we’ll cover some of the strategies that will help you improve your odds of getting into med schools in Texas. But before we do so, let’s review the competition and other important information for each program.
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Part 2: List of medical schools in Texas: 2023 rankings & admissions statistics
We’ve compiled admissions information about each medical school in Texas so you can understand what you’re up against, whether you’re a Texas resident or out-of-state applicant.
In putting together the following statistics, we noticed the following:
Several Texas medical schools enjoy strong rankings, with seven appearing in the 2023 U.S. News Research rankings and two falling in the top 25.
Texas residents are invited to interview at Texas medical schools at much higher rates than non-residents. There are a couple of reasons behind this:
Many Texas medical schools have missions based in serving specific regions of the state; therefore, they seek applicants who have ties to those regions.
Public universities in Texas are legally required to cap their out-of-state enrollment at 10 percent.
Tuition and fees at Texas medical schools are, by and large, much cheaper than they are at most other medical schools in the U.S. In considering the costs listed in the table below, keep in mind that the national median med school tuition and fees currently total:
Around $68,000–$70,000 per year at private schools and for out-of-state students at public schools
Around $42,000 per year for in-state students at public schools
In the table below, numbers in parentheses correspond to national rankings, whereas numbers outside parentheses correspond to each Texas med school’s relative rank. By using relative rankings, we can more easily distill the ‘best’ medicals school in Texas.
(Note: We strongly advise you to sign up for MSAR for the most up-to-date and comprehensive data on individual MD programs and to sign up for Choose DO for DO program data.)
| Texas Medical Schools | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor College of Medicine | $41,565 OOS |
5.2% OOS |
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| University of Texas Southwestern Medical School* | $39,543 OOS |
8.3% OOS |
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| Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio* | $43,442 OOS |
11.8% OOS |
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| McGovern Medical School at UT Health Houston* | $34,288 OOS |
5.6% OOS |
|||||||
| Texas A&M College of Medicine* | $34,860 OOS |
7.0% OOS |
|||||||
| Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine - Lubbock* | $37,676 OOS |
11.3% OOS |
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| University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine* | $35,388 OOS |
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| Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine* | $41,600 OOS |
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| TCU School of Medicine | $69,292 OOS |
3.8% OOS |
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| Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine* | $39,681 OOS |
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| University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine | $62,200 OOS |
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| University of Houston College of Medicine* | $40,685 OOS |
0.7% OOS |
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| University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School* | $38,844 OOS |
1.9% OOS |
|||||||
| University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine* | $44,196 OOS |
5.1% OOS |
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| University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine* | $37,149 OOS |
3.6% OOS |
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| University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine* | $38,322 OOS |
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Part 3: Texas medical school profiles
Now that you’re familiar with key aspects of Texas medical schools, we’ll provide profiles of each school so that you can learn more about what makes them unique. When deciding where to apply to medical school, you’ll want to take into account not just a school’s average stats, interview rate, and tuition—you’ll also want to think about criteria like its location, curriculum, culture, and resources. These factors, plus competitiveness, should all be considered when determining which medical schools will fit you best.
Baylor College of Medicine
Consistently considered the best medical school in Texas, Baylor is known both as a research powerhouse and as a top school for clinical education—in addition to its top-25 research ranking, it currently ranks #31 nationally for primary care. Baylor is part of the Texas Medical Center (TMC), the world’s largest medical complex, and is affiliated with many other highly ranked hospitals, giving Baylor med students a breadth of experience treating a diverse patient population. On top of this, researchers within the TMC collaborate across institutions, giving Baylor students abundant opportunities to participate in research.
Baylor is somewhat unusual in that, although it’s a private medical school, it does receive public funding for in-state students, thus allowing it to keep tuition costs low. That’s one reason why Baylor strongly favors in-state applicants, and in line with this is its recent decision to leave the AMCAS system for TMDSAS. Baylor’s mission statement emphasizes promoting education, healthcare, and community service “locally and globally,” the former of which can be observed through its commitment to providing Texans with first-rate medical educations.
(Related reading: How to Get Into the Baylor College of Medicine)
Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio
Through its medical care, education, and research, Long School of Medicine aims to serve the healthcare needs of Texans, with an emphasis on South Texas. In that vein, Long is the largest educator of physicians in South Texas, and many of its grads stay in the region to practice. Alongside its standard medical school curriculum, Long students are also able to earn “distinctions” in research, medical education, or medical humanities. Long students primarily rotate at University Hospital, the third-largest public health system in Texas, and within the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, allowing them to receive a wide range of clinical experiences.
McGovern Medical School at UT Health Houston
McGovern Medical School (formerly known as UTHealth Medical School) is currently the ninth-largest medical school in the country and the largest in Texas. McGovern’s curriculum includes a pass/fail first semester and the opportunity to choose a scholarly concentration to focus on. Like Baylor, McGovern is part of the vast Texas Medical Center—as such, McGovern students are granted top-notch research opportunities and excellent clinical training with exposure to a large, highly diverse patient population.
Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (SHSU) is a brand-new osteopathic medical school located outside of Houston; the inaugural class matriculated in 2020. Because part of SHSU’s mission is to educate physicians who will serve the eastern region of Texas, it strongly emphasizes primary care and rural medicine. Successful applicants will be those who are committed to all three of these areas. While SHSU is technically a public school, it has for the time being chosen to forego state funding and rely instead on tuition revenue; this has resulted in tuition prices that are high for Texas and comparable to private med schools.
TCU School of Medicine
TCU is a relatively new Texas medical school with a mission to “transform health care by inspiring Empathetic Scholars.” This focus on empathy and compassion can be seen through a communication curriculum that includes theater, narrative medicine, journalism, and population health and social justice. Other unique aspects of the TCU curriculum include a flipped classroom model (i.e., students study lecture content on their own, then use class time for group discussion and problem-solving) and a required research project and thesis completed under the guidance of a faculty mentor. One of only three private medical schools in Texas, TCU is also one of the only two med schools in Texas that use AMCAS for its MD admissions process—the other being Texas A&M.
Texas A&M College of Medicine
Split across five campuses, Texas A&M trains all incoming medical students at its main campus in Bryan-College Station; beginning in the third year, students receive clinical training there or at satellite campuses in Dallas, Houston, Round Rock, or Temple. This gives them the option to gain clinical experience in either urban or small-town environments and allows them to capitalize on a variety of research opportunities (e.g., the Houston campus is part of the Texas Medical Center). True to A&M’s roots as an agricultural school, the medical school’s curriculum emphasizes rural and population health. In addition, it offers unique tracks such as military health and EnMed, an integrated engineering and medical curriculum.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
The mission of Texas Tech’s Paul L. Foster School of Medicine (PLFSOM) is to “promote wellness and relieve human suffering through excellence in health care, intellectual innovation and service beyond borders.” PLFSOM has an emphasis on working with underserved populations, and given El Paso’s location on the U.S-Mexico border, students are able to gain a wide diversity of clinical experiences, including insights into the medical circumstances of developing countries. As such, PLFSOM is the only medical school in the country that requires its students to learn medical Spanish. Additionally, PLFSOM’s curriculum is pass/fail for the first two years, integrates clinical experience beginning in the first year, and has a mandatory “Society, Community and Individual” component in which students gain education in public health topics.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
Founded to address a physician shortage in West Texas, TTUHSC’s mission is regionally focused and strives to aid the underserved. Its curriculum emphasizes humanistic primary care and encourages interprofessional collaboration with students in other health professions. Through research and clinical care, TTUHSC aims to decrease the health disparities that affect rural and minority populations and improve the overall health of the region. TTUHSC has a multi-campus system; all students spend their first two years in Lubbock before beginning clinical training there or at satellite campuses throughout West Texas. As the Lubbock campus’s University Medical Center Hospital is the only Level 1 trauma center serving 108 counties in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, the clinical experience students gain there has an unparalleled reputation among Texas medical schools.
University of Houston College of Medicine
University of Houston is a new Texas medical school whose first class matriculated in 2020. UH’s mission is to address the shortage of primary care physicians and to improve health disparities in both urban and rural areas of Texas not only by treating disease, but also by preventing it through a focus on social determinants of health. At just 30 students, UH’s class size is small for now, but they aim to increase their class size to 120 by 2024.
University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine
Incarnate Word is a relatively new, private, osteopathic medical school that’s part of one of Texas’s oldest Catholic universities. Incarnate Word focuses on educating primary care physicians and treating underserved populations, particularly in South Texas. As a faith-based school, it emphasizes “the ethical, compassionate, and altruistic practice of medicine”—as such, social accountability and community service make up important parts of its mission. (Note: Students of all religious backgrounds are welcome.) Incarnate Word is the only Texas medical school to use AACOMAS in its admissions process.
University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) stands out among Texas DO schools for a few reasons: it’s by far the oldest and most established, it’s ranked by U.S. News for both research and primary care (it’s currently ranked #36 for the latter), and it’s generally considered to be the top DO school in the country. These are among the reasons why plenty of applicants consider TCOM alongside allopathic medical schools. About 60 percent of TCOM graduates go into primary care—one of the highest percentages in the nation—and TCOM is known for its focus on treating underserved populations. As such, TCOM also offers a track specializing in rural medicine.
University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
UT Austin’s Dell Medical School is a relatively recent addition to the Texas medical school scene but has already established itself as an exciting option due to its mission to “revolutionize how people get and stay healthy.” Aspects of this mission include a focus on educating future healthcare leaders, developing new models of care and healthcare delivery, and rethinking the standard medical school curriculum. Unique strengths of the Dell Med education include small class sizes, a pass/fail first year, and a science curriculum that’s compressed from the typical two years down to one year, thus freeing up the third year for research, another independent project, or a dual degree. Given that Dell is still fairly new, clinical and research opportunities aren’t yet as robust as they are at well-established med schools like Baylor, McGovern, and UT Southwestern. That said, Dell’s innovative mission and curriculum have made it a med school to keep an eye on.
University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine
UTMB is distinctive among Texas medical schools for a few reasons: its strong reputation combined with the laid-back atmosphere of its Galveston Island location draw many; it’s the oldest medical school in Texas with many long-established affiliations; and it boasts unique clinical experiences, such as providing care for the incarcerated and an aerospace medicine track (in partnership with NASA). UMTB students are provided with many research opportunities, including at the on-campus Galveston National Laboratory, a Level 4 federal biocontainment research facility. The first two years of UTMB’s curriculum are pass/fail; after this, students rotate at sites both in Galveston and in other parts of Texas, allowing them to gain an array of clinical experiences.
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
The UTRGV School of Medicine is another relatively new Texas medical school. Like Texas Tech’s El Paso campus, UTRGV is located near the U.S.-Mexico border and focuses on addressing the unique health disparities present in the border community through delivering quality healthcare, educating physicians who will serve the region, and advancing research on diseases that significantly affect the Rio Grande Valley, such as diabetes. Distinctive features of UTRGV’s curriculum include interprofessional education in which MD students learn collaboratively with students in other healthcare disciplines, early clinical exposure, and the opportunities to work in underserved communities.
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
Highly ranked in both research and primary care, UT Southwestern offers a top-notch, well-rounded education. On the clinical side, UT Southwestern is known for its dedication to mentorship and the opportunities it provides to pursue individualized pathways through the medical school curriculum. UT Southwestern students gain excellent clinical experience through the school’s affiliation with Parkland Hospital, one of the largest teaching hospitals in the nation and Dallas County’s only public hospital. In addition, UT Southwestern’s status as a leading research facility gives students plenty of opportunities to get involved with groundbreaking research.
University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine
UT Tyler is the newest Texas medical school; its inaugural class of 40 students will matriculate in Fall 2023. Through a focus on rural health, UT Tyler aims to address the physician shortage in East Texas, particularly in primary care specialties, and to increase levels of health awareness in the region. The entire inaugural class is expected to receive four-year scholarships.
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Part 4: Texas medical school admissions strategies
In this section, we’ll cover two strategies—beyond achieving a strong GPA and MCAT score and participating in critical medical school extracurriculars—to increase your odds of getting in.
Strategy 1: Submit a great TMDSAS application
Texas medical schools are unique in that all but two use TMDSAS (Incarnate Word uses AACOMAS; TCU as well as Texas A&M use AMCAS). TMDSAS is entirely separate from AMCAS and AACOMAS and differs in some of the following key ways:
The TMDSAS personal statement character limit is 5,000, whereas AMCAS and AACOMAS have a 5,300-character limit.
The TMDSAS Activities section allows up to 300 or 500 characters per entry depending on the type of activity, compared with 700 for the AMCAS Work and Activities section. Moreover, you can use up to 500 characters for the TMDSAS “most meaningful” entries, compared with 1,325 for AMCAS.
TMDSAS requires you to submit two additional essays: a personal characteristics essay and an optional essay.
TMDSAS requires in-state applicants to participate in a Match process.
The two additional essays are a particularly important difference because every Texas medical school you apply to will see those essays. On the other hand, AMCAS and AACOMAS will only require you to submit your medical school personal statement; individual schools are then allowed to request whatever secondary essays they would like to see. That said, Texas medical schools will also require you to submit additional secondary essays.
(Recommended reading: TMDSAS: The Ultimate Guide & Medical School Secondary Essay Prompts)
Strategy 2: Develop a data-driven Texas medical school list
In the table above, we see a wide range of average GPA and MCAT scores among matriculants to medical schools in Texas. For instance, whereas UT Austin (Dell) has an average GPA of 3.78 and an average MCAT score of 514, TCU has an average GPA of 3.66 and 509 as their average MCAT score. It’s clear, therefore, that UT Austin expects higher stats than TCU.
As you develop your school list, aim to apply to medical schools where your GPA is no less than .2 and your MCAT is no less than 3 points below their averages. Of course, higher is better.
(Recommended reading: Average GPA and MCAT Score for Every Medical School)
In addition, closely review each Texas medical school’s interview rate to gain clues about their acceptance patterns, whether you’re a Texas or non-Texas resident, and whether your stats are high or low.
Earlier in this guide, we mentioned how Texas medical schools have a strong preference for in-state applicants, which is clear from their variable interview rates for in-state and out-of-state applicants. For example, Baylor, widely considered the top medical school in Texas, invites about 25 percent of in-state applicants for an interview, but only about 5 percent of out-of-state applicants.
Moreover, some Texas medical schools have strong regional preferences; that is, they prefer to not only admit Texas residents, but also individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to serving certain regional communities during their medical education and career, or are from that area and likely to enroll and stay.
Therefore, as you decide which medical schools you should apply to, consider not only your stats, but also your state of residence and the individual school’s interview patterns.
Strategy 3: Demonstrate your unique sense of fit with all medical schools in Texas
Medical schools in Texas are often mistakenly lumped together as though they’re the same, yet they differ in so many ways. As discussed in the profiles above, some programs are known more for their research than others, others are more committed to serving certain regional communities or individuals from certain cultural or socioeconomic backgrounds, and so on.
Therefore, when you approach your Texas medical school applications, consider your applicant persona—how you want to be known and remembered—and develop clear themes throughout your essays. For instance, being known as “the rural health gal” or “the plastic surgery researcher” may make you a more attractive applicant at different programs.
In addition, be sure to write your secondary essays for each Texas med school in such a way that demonstrates a clear fit with their mission—stated or otherwise. For example, Texas Tech (Lubbock) asks questions about your interest in serving individuals from underserved backgrounds, working in rural health, border towns, and primary care, and also whether you have ties to West Texas.
When you write your essays, highlight appropriate aspects of your background to fit what they’re looking for. Even if you don’t have ties to West Texas, perhaps you’re from another rural area, or from an area with a similar demographic and can share an anecdote that demonstrates your knowledge and heart for the type of community that Texas Tech aims to serve.
Strategy 4: Preparing for interviews is crucial
The final hurdle to getting on your path to a white coat is acing medical school interviews. Once you’ve submitted your applications and essays, if you’ve been invited for an interview, that means adcoms think you could be a good fit from what they’ve seen on paper.
However, they also want to know who you are as a person. How do you think? Are you as congenial and cooperative as you seem in your essays? Making a solid impression during the interview is incredibly important to whether you’ll be granted an offer of admission.
With this in mind, you’ll want to research the interview styles of each Texas medical school you apply to. Will you have just one interview with an admissions committee member? Will it be in-person or virtual? Perhaps they use the multiple mini interview (MMI) format instead of a traditional one.
For example, Texas A&M requires applicants to sit for two 30 minute interviews and a seven minute Standardized Patient Exercise, while Baylor requires two 25-30 minute virtual interviews one-on-one with a faculty member or student admissions committee member.
Taking these variations into account will ensure you’re fully prepared with distinctive and compelling answers on interview day.
Suggested reading: (How to Ace Medical School Interviews (Questions Included))
Final thoughts
Medical schools in Texas are among the most coveted given their relative affordability for in-state and out-of-state students, and also their breadth of training opportunities. When developing your medical school list, consider your likelihood of getting into each individual Texas medical school, based not only on your stats, but also how well you fit the type of student they’re looking for. As you write your essays and participate in interviews, consider how you can demonstrate your enthusiasm for each school and the communities they serve so you can maximize your chances of getting in.
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.
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Appendix A: Texas medical schools by degree type
Allopathic medical schools in Texas (MD)
Baylor College of Medicine
Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio
McGovern Medical School at UT Health Houston
TCU School of Medicine
Texas A&M College of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
University of Houston College of Medicine
University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine
Osteopathic medical schools in Texas (DO)
Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine
University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Appendix B: Texas medical schools by institution type
Public medical schools in Texas
Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio
McGovern Medical School at UT Health Houston
Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Texas A&M College of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
University of Houston College of Medicine
University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine
Private medical schools in Texas
Baylor College of Medicine
TCU School of Medicine
University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine
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Appendix C: Texas medical schools by region
Medical schools in Greater Houston
Baylor College of Medicine
McGovern Medical School at UT Health Houston
Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
University of Houston College of Medicine
University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine
Medical schools in Dallas/Fort Worth
TCU School of Medicine
University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
Medical schools in East Texas
University of Texas at Tyler School of Medicine
Medical schools in Central Texas
Texas A&M College of Medicine
University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
Medical schools in South Texas
Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio
University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
Medical schools in West Texas
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
