Admissions Information

The Application Process

All applicants are required to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and apply to medical school through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS).

AMCAS begins accepting applications on June 1 of each year. Completed applications and all materials, including official transcripts, must be submitted to AMCAS no later than November 1. If the application is submitted after the deadline, the student must contact the school directly and obtain permission for AMCAS to process the application.

AMCAS offers a Fee Assistance Program for students with documented need. Those students granted a fee waiver will automatically qualify for a secondary application fee waiver from the College of Medicine.

All U.S. citizens who apply and international applicants with permanent resident status will be sent a secondary application. The information and documentation that students furnish will provide the Admissions Committee with an opportunity to learn more about each candidate. A $75 non-refundable application fee must accompany the application form.

The Selection Process

In the early phase of the selection process, the Admissions Committee relies on objective criteria such as grade point average, MCAT scores, substance and level of courses taken, trend in academic performance, pre-health advisory review, extracurricular activities and state of residence.

Once the student’s credentials have been favorably reviewed, the applicant is invited to interview with members of the Admissions Committee. Approximately 200 applicants are invited for interviews. Applicants are interviewed by members of the Admissions Committee and ad hoc interviewers. Each interview is scheduled for 30 minutes.

The interviewers are supplied with the AMCAS profile of the applicant and an evaluation form. In addition to the interviews, applicants have an opportunity to meet with current medical students.

The Admissions Committee interview evaluates the applicant’s abilities and skills necessary to satisfy the nonacademic requirements established by the faculty, and the personal and emotional characteristics that are necessary to become a competent physician. Specifically, the applicant’s communication, empathy, leadership, team-orientation, previous life and work experiences, research experience, regional bilingual language proficiency and sensitivity to our multicultural society are evaluated.

Acceptance

The College of Medicine’s goal is to select candidates who have the potential to address the wide spectrum of needs that the medical profession faces. Candidates who have been accepted must notify the school of their decisions within two weeks of the offer. If further information is needed to expedite a decision, students are encouraged to call and seek clarification.

Deferred Admission: It is possible, under special circumstances, for an applicant who is offered a position in the M1 class of the College of Medicine to request a deferral of the start of their medical studies for one or two years. A written request that describes the reason for the deferral should be received by the Office of Admissions no later than June 1. Approval of a request to defer will be based on the perceived validity of the reasons set forth by the student. Deferred applicants may not seek nor accept admission at any other school for the deferred entering class year.

Early Decision Program (EDP)

 The College participates in the EDP operated by AMCAS. This program is designed for competitive students who have narrowed their selection down to a single choice. The chief benefits include the security of having an early guaranteed position, reduced application and travel fees involved in applying to multiple institutions, and the opportunity to begin financial planning as soon as possible. Students applying as Early Decision candidates should be competitive on a national level. The EDP is limited to residents of Alabama, the Florida panhandle, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast counties, which are eligible for in-state tuition.
Procedures for regular admission apply to the EDP with the following exceptions:

• Candidates must indicate the EDP intention on the AMCAS application.
• A completed AMCAS application must be received by August 1.
• MCAT scores must be available by September 1.
• Under the EDP guidelines, applicants agree to apply to one medical school and attend that medical school if offered an acceptance.
• Candidates will receive notification of the outcome by October 1.
• EDP candidates are required to have a minimum composite MCAT score of 503 and a grade-point average of 3.50. However, having the minimum requirements only allows a student to be considered for an EDP interview. It does not guarantee an interview.
• Candidates who are not accepted through the EDP are placed in the regular applicant pool and are free to apply to other medical schools.

Advanced Standing Transfers

Opportunities to transfer to our school are limited to the third year on a space-available basis. Transfer spaces are rarely available due to a very low attrition rate.

All transfer applicants should be currently enrolled in good standing at an LCME-accredited medical school and must have a compelling reason to transfer. Students who are attending non-LCME-accredited medical schools, offshore medical schools or osteopathic schools will not be considered.

Students who believe they meet these requirements should submit a request for consideration, including school presently attending and reason for requesting transfer, to Alani Rodgers at arodgers@southalabama.edu.

Detailed information can be found at the Office of Admissions.

Technical Standards for Admission

Because the M.D. degree signifies that the holder is a physician prepared for entry into the practice of medicine within postgraduate training programs, it follows that graduates must have the knowledge and skills to function in a broad variety of clinical situations and to render a wide spectrum of patient care.

Candidates for the M.D. degree must have somatic sensation and functional use of the senses of vision and hearing. Candidates’ diagnostic skills are also lessened without the functional use of the senses of equilibrium, smell and taste. Additionally, they must have sufficient exteroceptive sense (touch, pain and temperature), and sufficient proprioceptive sense (position, pressure, movement, stereognosis and vibratory). They must be able to consistently, quickly and accurately integrate all information received by whatever sense(s) employed, and they must have the intellectual ability to learn, integrate, analyze and synthesize data.

The technical standards are published in the College of Medicine Admissions Policies and Procedures Manual, which is provided to all faculty, administrators and students who are participating in the admissions process. The technical standards are reviewed annually by the Assistant Dean for and Director of Admissions and presented to the Admissions Committee for modification if necessary and for approval. The Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine is committed to the full and meaningful inclusion of students with disabilities. Students with disabilities must submit documentation of disability and application for reasonable accommodation to the Center for Educational Accessibility and Disability Resources.

For further inquiries regarding the admissions process, email Alani Rodgers at arodgers@southalabama.edu.

Early Acceptance Program

The Early Acceptance Program (EAP) is jointly offered by the University’s Honors College and the College of Medicine. The College of Medicine EAP offers a small number of qualified high school seniors a conditional acceptance to the University of South Alabama College of Medicine contingent upon satisfactory completion of the program.