Reviewed by:
Former Admissions Committee Member, Hofstra-Northwell School of Medicine
Reviewed: 4/25/24
Are you considering the Baylor School of Medicine? Here’s everything you need to know about the school, including how to get into Baylor medical school and key info about its requirements, rankings, and more.
Baylor medical school has many strong attributes, from being one of the top private medical schools in the country to also being one of the cheapest.
The school prides itself on its commitment to diversity, service to society, innovation, and excellence. Located in the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world.
With an acceptance rate of 4.1%, there’s no denying it’s a competitive school. With a lot of hard work and careful attention to your application’s details, you will be one step closer to obtaining an acceptance letter.
Students at Baylor have opportunities to gain clinical experiences at hospitals around Houston, have access to millions in funding for research, and more. The location near the Gulf Coast allows them to be one of the top bioscience research institutions in the country.
Beyond Texas, Baylor is part of the AAMC Global Health Learning Opportunities program, giving students access to about 1,400 clinical rotations in 30 countries. Baylor is looking to create graduates who give back to both their local and global communities by being innovators, caretakers, and pioneers in the medical field.
Baylor’s mission is to aim to be a “health sciences university that creates knowledge and applies science and discoveries to further education, healthcare and community service locally and globally.” Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the United States, and so Baylor prides itself on its commitment to diversity.
Baylor medical school rankings are high in both the US World and News Report. Baylor ranks as a tier 1 school for research and a tier 3 school for primary care.
The Baylor School of Medicine’s chief program is the M.D. program. In this program, students spend the first three semesters in the foundational science program, learning scientific concepts, gaining an understanding of medical problems, and practicing for patient interaction.
The next two and a half years are spent with the clinical curriculum, in which students have the opportunity to participate in patient care and practice the concepts they learned in the first year and a half. Students can personalize their experience at Baylor through electives, internships, and a variety of choices in rotations.
If you are interested in medicine but also have other interests, Baylor caters to the eclectic student. Are you interested in pursuing medical law? Check out Baylor’s joint MD/JD program. Are you interested in healthcare management? Enroll in the MD/MBA program. Baylor allows students to complete dual degrees.
As one of the nation’s top medical schools, Baylor’s acceptance rate is unsurprisingly low, at 4.1%. The out of state acceptance rate is even lower at 2.5—the in-state acceptance rate is 4.7%.
While these numbers are certainly low, they should not discourage you. With a little work, your application can be just as competitive as the thousands of others who apply each year.
The Baylor School of Medicine has a holistic admissions process, meaning they seek to admit applicants by giving balanced consideration to their experiences, background, and academic measures. They try to see students not just as numbers but instead as complex individuals who come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.
The application process for Baylor can be broken down into the following steps.
Before applying, complete the Baylor College of Medicine prerequisites. Baylor requires students to have taken several courses before being admitted, including:
Since Baylor is an institution that works with a diverse population, they also recommend Spanish classes. To be a competitive applicant, it is a good idea to listen to recommendations like these, on top of the requirements.
Due to COVID-19, the school will accept pass/fail grades for prerequisites taken in spring 2020.
The average MCAT score of the most recent Baylor class is 518. While this is certainly a high score, it is important to remember that Baylor uses a holistic review process, meaning that your score is only one facet of your extensive profile. Having a high score is certainly beneficial to your application, but you can show your strengths in other ways.
Unlike other medical schools, the admissions committee does not accept multiple scores. They will only review your most recent MCAT score. Complete the MCAT, and submit the scores on the TMDSAS portal.
For the first step of the application, log on to the TMDSAS (Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service) portal. Just like the Common App is used for undergraduate admissions, the TMDSAS application allows you to apply to multiple medical schools at once. The TMDSAS opens in June and requires letters of recommendation and MCAT scores to be submitted as well.
Baylor requires applicants to submit three letters of recommendation or one health professions committee packet. You may send additional letters, but the school doesn’t guarantee that the admissions committee will read more than four. These are due with your MCAT score and the AMCAS application.
The supplemental application is due shortly after the TMDSAS portion. The largest part of this part of the application is the supplementary essays, which all applicants are expected to complete. This application generally opens in early July.
At Baylor, all applicants are required to take the CASPer Test (Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics). This test is an essential part of Baylor’s holistic admissions process, as it is meant as an opportunity for you to prove your real-world skills beyond grades and test scores.
After you have submitted all components of your application, you may be contacted for an interview. Interviews are an opportunity to prove that you will fit in well in both the workplace, the lab, and the classroom by communicating effectively. Logic, reasoning, critical thinking, and the ability to work on a team are all skills Baylor is looking for.
Baylor conducts traditional interviews—you will participate in two virtual 30-minute interviews with two faculty members or one faculty member and 1 student, resident, or member of the committee. To prepare, review past year’s questions and practice answering them.
Baylor uses the interviews to evaluate these and other personal qualities in its applicants. They are interested in how you can demonstrate your intrapersonal skills, service to others, past learning experiences, and dedication to the medical profession.
Interviews occur on a rolling basis from August through January.
Here are our expert tips on Baylor college of medicine admissions.
Baylor seeks to develop students who can transform healthcare globally, which means they expect matriculates to work and communicate across differences, with people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Your extracurricular activities can demonstrate this, whether it be through your leadership experience, patient exposure, or collaboration with classmates.
Students at Baylor take their involvement beyond their interest in medicine, from an a capella group made up of entirely med students to a plethora of intramural sports. The application committee wants to see that you will thrive as a fully involved student at their college.
As one of the country’s top research institutions, Baylor prides itself on having students who excel in the field of research. There are numerous opportunities to collaborate with doctors and researchers within the Texas Medical Center, and Baylor wants to make sure you will be prepared.
The vast majority of applicants have some research experience, so it’s important that yours stands out. The type of research that will impress the admissions board is research that has been conducted out of sincere interest in innovation and creativity in the field of medicine, not just an attempt to brighten up an application.
Research that you are passionate about and intend to continue in the future will serve you better than experiences that just look good on paper.
Baylor is looking for applicants who have “Attributes and experiences that demonstrate leadership and exceptional service to others.” As one of the nation’s best schools in patient care, they are looking for students who are knowledgeable and experienced when relating to patients.
As Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the U.S., Baylor is interested in admitting students who come from diverse backgrounds and can bring value to the entering class. If you can highlight what you can bring to the table, you will have an advantage at Baylor.
Patient exposure is essential at most medical schools, and the ability to connect with patients and provide not only knowledge but also comfort and sympathy is a valuable skill in the medical field. There are a variety of ways to get patient exposure, from shadowing, to working as a medical scribe, to volunteering in a nursing home.
Baylor specifically mentions that they are looking to develop leaders in the medical field, and they certainly won’t admit you if they don’t think you have this potential. A great way to prove this is by showing your previous leadership experience. This might mean leading a research project, having managerial experience at a job, or starting a student club in undergrad.
In light of Baylor’s holistic admission process, use recommendation letters to your advantage by allowing the admissions committee to see you as a multi-faceted candidate. Baylor requires a minimum of three recommendation letters and accepts a maximum of four.
Ask individuals who know you very well to write your letter, who can speak to your medical knowledge, ability to learn, leadership skills, and any other strengths you have. This might include a boss, an academic adviser, a trusted professor, or a volunteer coordinator.
Like most Texas medical schools, Baylor requires students to apply through TMDSAS. A component of the application is the Medical Applicant Personal Statement, which “asks you to explain your motivation to seek a career in medicine. You are asked to include the value of your experiences that prepare you to be a physician.”
The essay is limited to 5000 characters, including spaces.
Baylor also requires a series of supplemental essays. The essay questions are as follows:
1. 1. In addition to training as a competent physician, please select up to two additional areas of interest from the items below that you may want to pursue during your medical studies. Your responses will have no bearing on applications to joint degrees or special programs to which you might also apply.
Options include:
(connected to #1) What knowledge, skills and attitudes have you developed that have prepared you for this career path? (1000 characters)
2. Are you planning to matriculate into medical school immediately after completing your undergraduate education? If not, please explain what activities and/or careers you have pursued in the time between your college education and your application. (no limit)
3. Indicate any special experiences, unusual factors or other information you feel would be helpful in evaluating you, including, but not limited to, education, employment, extracurricular activities, prevailing over adversity. You may expand upon but not repeat TMDSAS or AMCAS application information. This section is mandatory. Please make sure you submit an essay or your application will not be reviewed by the committee. (2000 characters)
With these questions, especially the last one, Baylor is giving you a gift. They are giving you a chance to brag about yourself, and this is not the place to hold back. Think of your strengths and interests that don’t shine through in the rest of your application, and emphasize them here.
In both the TMDSAS and Baylor’s supplemental essay, it is best to demonstrate your interest in the school. Research the school ahead of time, and reflect on why Baylor is the best fit for you. Look through research opportunities, student clubs, and classes, and think about how you will take advantage of these opportunities.
Writing is a skill that more medical schools are beginning to value as communication becomes an essential tool for innovation. Make sure that you write well and communicate points efficiently and concisely. Look for spelling and grammatical errors, perfect sentence structure and flow, and write a couple of drafts.
It’s always a good idea to have a few people read over your essays critically before submitting them. Check out our guide on how to write a competitive medical school essay.
As far as medical schools go, Baylor is one of the more affordable choices. In fact, it is the least expensive private medical school in the U.S. Baylor College of Medicine tuition is around $29,000 for Texas residents and $42,000 for non-residents.
The relatively low Baylor College of Medicine tuition fees, combined with the fact that Baylor offers significant financial aid based on both need and merit, means that students graduate with approximately $87,000 less debt than the national average for private schools, which is about $222,000.
Baylor scholarship opportunities are varied; there are scholarships based on your city or county and those based on your career interests. There’s even a scholarship out there for students with a penchant for creating greeting cards. With a little searching, you can surely find a scholarship that’s right for you.
Here are our answers to some frequently asked questions about getting into Baylor medical school.
Baylor medical school has a low acceptance rate of about 4.1% and is generally considered competitive and challenging to get into.
Baylor Med is not an Ivy League school. However, it is a private medical school. It maintains high rankings and has an excellent national reputation for research and family medicine.
There is no GPA requirement for Baylor Med School. However, the average GPA of matriculating students is 3.9.
Baylor is known as the least expensive private medical school in the U.S. In addition, the school has a stellar reputation and is well-funded.
It is true that an application to Baylor will take some work. The school is looking for students who are smart, hard-working, and have a genuine desire to give back to and improve the medical field. While applying, make sure you pay careful attention to the kind of students Baylor wants, and emphasize those aspects of yourself in your application.
Given the fact that Baylor values students from diverse backgrounds, make sure you prove how you and your experience will add to the Baylor community. Make sure that your experience whether it be in research, academic study, leadership experience, or elsewhere, shines through loud and clear. Both of these are essential to proving that you stand out in the applicant field.
Take time to make sure your individuality shines through in your application. If you take every step in this guide to heart, you will be a competitive applicant.
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