University of Virginia, School of Medicine Admission
University of Virginia, School of Medicine Undergraduate Program
University of Virginia, School of Medicine Application

The Facts

The University of Virginia is a rather large, public institution located in the town of Charlottesville, Virginia, and has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 24,000 students. The university's School of Medicine, however, is significantly smaller, and is home to about 555 graduate medical students. The average age of enrollment is around 24, and it is fairly rare for any of the students to enter the school directly from their undergraduate education. The school is perhaps best known for its emphasis on the biomedical sciences, as well as its integrated educational styles. Aside from the basic MD degree, the school offers a joint MD/PhD degree in the areas of anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, physiology, biophysics, as well as neuroscience.

Admission to the University of Virginia's School of Medicine is extremely competitive among the many students who apply; last year, over 3,540 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 140 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 120 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had average MCAT scores of about 10.8 in Biology, 10.7 in Physics, and 10.4 in Verbal, as well as an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.7. Students are notified of their admissions status on a rolling basis, and there is currently no early application program available.

The School of Medicine has about 800 faculty members, all of whom come from relatively diverse medical and academic backgrounds, and the school also boasts a very manageable student to faculty ratio of about a 1:1, and the small classes allow plenty of discussion and interaction between students and their professors.

Graduates of the university's School of Medicine often go on to be accepted to some of the nation's most competitive and prestigious residency programs, and most frequently specialize in the areas of primary care, family medicine, neurology, orthopedics, pathology, pediatrics, as well as genetics.

Clinical Programs

Students are required to complete extensive clinical training including 12 weeks of medicine, 12 weeks of surgery, 6 weeks of psychiatry, 4 weeks of family medicine, 8 weeks of pediatrics, 6 weeks of obstetrics, and 4 weeks each of neurology and electives. Students complete their clinical clerkships at affiliated facilities including the University of Virginia Medical Center, the University Hospital, Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center, the Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley, Roanoke Memorial Hospital, as well as the Veteran's Affairs Medical Center.

What's Good

"There are a lot of opportunities for hands-on learning here, which I appreciate."

"The faculty here are very passionate about their students and the school itself."

"The clinical programs do a fantastic job of preparing you for you residency programs."

What's Bad

"There are some students who tend to be very competitive."

"The administration often seems way too busy to pay attention to the needs of individual students."

"I think tuition should be lower for us in state students."

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