Emory School of Medicine Requirements, Tuition, and More

We’re covering everything you need to know as you consider applying to the Emory School of Medicine. You’ll learn about enrollment rates, application deadlines, average MCAT scores, tuition, curriculum, and more.

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Located in the historic Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, the Emory University School of Medicine is one of the nation’s most well-respected medical programs. The medical college that would become the Emory School of Medicine was founded in 1854, and in 1898 it merged with the Southern Medical College to become the Atlanta College of Physicians and Surgeons. The school later joined the Atlanta Medical School and became the Emory University School of Medicine in 1915. It is affiliated with Grady Memorial Hospital, the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Currently, about one-fourth of physicians practicing in Georgia are Emory alumni.
The school has 556 current students, many of whom are nontraditional, meaning that they waited at least a year between undergraduate education and medical school. The faculty to student ratio is 3.8:1, so students can expect plenty of individual attention and support. With a commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture, Emory encourages students of all backgrounds to apply. The school also recognizes the human impact of studying medicine; it maintains a student wellness program aimed at helping med students manage stress and lead a healthy lifestyle throughout their studies.
The Emory University School of Medicine emphasizes cutting-edge research aimed at advancing the field of medicine and improving patient care. With ties to University departments like chemistry and business, the school is able to craft an interdisciplinary approach that finds solutions to longstanding problems. A culture that encourages leading edge, translational, and current research helps students graduate with the skills to provide quality health care in every stage of their careers. 
Emory’s MD curriculum was designed to promote lifelong learning and physicians who are empowered to set their own educational goals. The program strives to produce clinicians who are active problem solvers and who can apply scientific principles in a clinical setting. Graduates emerge prepared to become leaders in their respective fields and use their medical training to deliver outstanding patient care and address issues of social justice.
Multidisciplinary research facilities are available at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, which includes the School of Nursing, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Rollins School of Public Health, Winship Cancer Institute, and Emory Healthcare. Emory also brings commercially promising medical breakthroughs to the market through the Office of Technology Transfer, which has launched 89 startup companies related to medical devices, software, drug discovery, and diagnostics.

The MD program is structured around patient care, with clinical experience built in from the very first week—earlier than is usual for most medical programs. Active learning and clinical training are the foundation of Emory’s MD program, while medical research is another highly emphasized aspect. Rotations begin in the middle of the second year, giving students valuable hands-on instruction in 14 disciplines before they decide on an area of specialization. Students can also pursue an MD and PhD concurrently.
At the start of their med school careers, Emory students are divided into four Societies, each of which is named after a historical physician. There are four Small Group Advisors in each Society. Students form close relationships with their Society and Advisor during the first months of medical school, ensuring that they have a network of support throughout their studies. They meet twice a week in small groups to learn about clinical care, problem-solving, ethics, preventive medicine, and diagnostic thinking.
The curriculum unfolds in four phases over four years. Phase One, Foundations of Medicine, lasts for 18 months. After a weeklong clinical shadowing experience, students spend four months learning about healthy human physiology before they begin to study diseases of organ systems. Students meet in groups to discuss professional ethics, communication, and other important skills. They begin to see patients in outpatient clinics as part of a longitudinal experience.
Phase Two is Application of Medical Sciences. During this time, Emory students spend 12 months completing rotations in the following fields: Surgery, Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Neurology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Radiology, Primary Care, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Palliative Care, and Anesthesiology. The third phase is Discovery, during which students engage in hypothesis-driven research under the guidance of a faculty member. This phase lets students focus on their medical research for five uninterrupted months, and many students publish their work in peer-reviewed journals at its completion.
Phase Four, Translation of Medical Sciences, is a time for students to transition to professional physicians. There are required rotations in Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine (ICU), and a sub-internship in Surgery, Medicine, or Pediatrics during Phase Four. It concludes with a month-long Capstone course that includes lectures, panels, and workshops designed to give graduates the skills and information they need to become successful residents.
Students also engage in a four-year structured learning experience called Community Learning and Social Medicine. During this course, med students work with community-based organizations to help disadvantaged populations.

Emory researchers and physicians strive to create new breakthroughs in the medical field. Here are some of their discoveries:

• Made advances in the treatment of strokes
• Created the Emory Cardiac Toolbox for the interpretation of images of the beating heart
• Invented new drugs for the treatment of AIDS
• Discovered a way to safely treat post-Ebola cataracts
• Developed balloon angioplasty
• Uncovered a link between antidepressant treatment resistance and inflammation
• Used advanced imaging techniques to understand the structure of the measles virus
• Found that some infant formulas pose a risk to babies with a metabolic disorder
• Developed a new treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections
• Conducted research aimed at creating a biological pacemaker

• Pathology
• Dermatology
• Emergency Medicine

In the 2018-2019 admissions cycle, 7,790 candidates applied to Emory School of Medicine. 668 applicants received an interview (8.6% interview rate), and 136 ultimately enrolled.

While Emory School of Medicine doesn’t release its acceptance rate, the enrollment rate for the class of 2023 was approximately 1.7%.

Tuition is $51,000 per year as of 2019. Scholarships and financial aid are available for qualifying applicants.

Here is the application cycle for the Emory School of Medicine:

• Early June: AMCAS application opens
• October 15: AMCAS application deadline
• December 1: Emory Supplemental Application and letters of recommendation deadline
• April 30: Final decision deadline for MD and MD/PhD students accepted to both programs
• July 1: Deadline to select Commit to Enroll

The application fee is $120.
Emory School of Medicine operates on a rolling admission cycle. If your application is not selected at the first Committee meeting after your interview, your application will remain in consideration at all subsequent meetings. Completed applications will not be rejected during interview season.

For applicants accepted in the 2018-2019 admissions cycle, the median undergraduate GPA was 3.7 and the mean composite MCAT score was 514.

The most popular specialties chosen by Emory graduating students in 2019 were:

• Internal Medicine
• Emergency Medicine
• Anesthesiology
• General Surgery
• Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Pediatrics

Students also matched into programs in urology, ophthalmology, and military residencies.
Graduates from the class of 2019 went on to become residents at Brown, Duke, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Yale, New York University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Michigan, Mayo Clinic, Northwestern, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Washington. Thirty students out of 116 matched with residencies at Emory.
Other recent locations include: Jefferson Wills Eye Hospital, Dartmouth, University of Texas, UC San Francisco, and UC San Diego.