The Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV only accepts primary applications via AMCAS. The application and its materials must be submitted by October 1. There is a fee to complete the primary application and students who need financial assistance can apply for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program.

Applicant access to AMCAS typically begins in May each year with the ability to submit to schools starting in June. Campuses then receive applications beginning in July for review and processing. For more information on the AAMC timeline to application and live dates, please visit the AAMC Pre-Med Calendar.

Additional details regarding the school of medicine timeline and selection process are available on our website for your convenience.

There are eight required primary application components to apply to the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV:

* A degree may be in progress during application but must be conferred prior to starting enrollment at the medical school.

Degree

A conferred bachelor's degree or higher from a U.S. college or university that is regionally accredited is required for enrollment at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV.

If you hold an international bachelor’s degree and don’t intend to get a U.S. bachelor’s degree, then you must instead have a graduate degree from a U.S. regionally accredited institution (master’s or higher) along with the prerequisite courses from a U.S. school. Please note that citizenship is also required.

MCAT

An MCAT score of 499 or higher is required and applicants must have taken the MCAT no later than the final application deadline of October 1.

The most recent MCAT score will be used for the admissions screening process, and MCAT scores cannot be more than three years* old at the time of application.

It is not recommended to take the MCAT more than three times, however you will not be disqualified if you do have more than three attempts.

There are no set minimum scores for the four MCAT testing sections (i.e. Chem/Phys, CARS, Bio/BioChem, Psych/Soc) however the MCAT reporting of these sections is reviewed by the school.

*Three years is defined as being completed in May, three years ago. For example, if the AMCAS cycle is opening May 2024 then the oldest MCAT to be considered for application would be from May 2021.

GPA

An undergraduate (cumulative) GPA of 3.2 or higher is required.

An undergraduate biology, chemistry, physics, and math (BCPM) GPA of 3.2 or higher is also required.

These GPAs are calculated by AMCAS and reported to the school in cumulative form and by year of study (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior along with post-bacc and graduate, if applicable).

For applicants whose undergraduate GPAs do not meet our minimums for BCPM or cumulative, your application may be considered with post-baccalaureate or graduate work. This can include: formal post-bacc programs designed for those seeking medical school admissions; self-directed coursework, primarily in BCPM studies; or other graduate degrees that include BCPM studies.

It is required to have at least 30 credit hours of BCPM post-bacc or graduate course work at a 3.2 GPA or higher to be considered when the undergraduate GPA does not meet the minimum application requirements. It is better to have 40 to 50 credit hours and also a strong MCAT score.

All post-bacc and/or graduate credits have to come from a U.S. college or university that has the proper regional accreditation.

Only post-bacc or graduate work can be considered in lieu of the non-qualifying undergraduate GPAs. Junior and senior year GPA bands from undergraduate studies do not count as a qualifier when the undergraduate GPAs are below the 3.2 minimum requirement.

Please also note that AMCAS takes into account all courses and all grades completed during your studies, which includes original courses and any course retakes.

Courses in progress at the time of application are not officially calculated into the candidate’s GPA, however if an application prerequisite is in progress, an unofficial transcript of that course must be submitted to the office of admissions when the grade is finalized which is used to confirm the requirements but again, this will not be calculated into the AMCAS GPA.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite courses must have been completed less than 10 years* prior to the time of application and need to be graded from a regionally accredited U.S. college or university with a grade of "C-" or higher. Students cannot use advanced placement (AP) credits, audited classes, the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) or courses with pass/fail grading for prerequisites (with the exception of the listed COVID semesters where a passing or satisfactory grade can be considered).

*10 years is defined as being completed in the summer term, 10 years ago. For example, if the AMCAS cycle is opening May 2024 then the oldest prerequisite to be considered for application would be from the Summer semester/quarter 2014. Spring 2014 would not qualify.

Required prerequisites include the following:

  • Biology: three courses; one course must have laboratory experience
    • The following courses are not eligible: Independent Study, Special Topics, Research, Advanced Mentored Research, Survey Courses, Instructional Courses, or Dissection Team.
  • Biochemistry: one course
    • The biochemistry course should have at least one organic chemistry prereq for enrollment to be at the proper level of biochemistry study.

  • Social & Behavioral Science (Psychology or Sociology): one course
    When choosing a behavioral science, Psychology is preferred.

    The behavioral science course should contain fundamental theories in the science, and it is important that the course demonstrates an application to health and/or healthcare delivery. This can also include studies related to individual, community, and societal health decisions.

    The following courses are not eligible: PSY/SOC statistics or Research Methods, Special Topics, Independent Study; along with Anthropology, Communications, Economics, Political Science, Religion, History, Philosophy, Literature, and/or courses that may be deemed ineligible based on specific course descriptions. 

If you are not sure about your prerequisites, you are welcome to email an unofficial transcript to the office of admissions for review and/or provide a catalog course description for specific classes in question.

Prerequisites can be in-progress at the time of application but must show enrollment. For prerequisites that are in-progress, courses must be completed either with the end of the summer term or the end of the fall/winter term. Prerequisites cannot be taken in the spring term of the application year. Official grades for prerequisites in progress must be submitted to the Kerkorian School of Medicine no later than January 31.

The Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine accepts any instruction delivery format for our required prerequisites for application. This means the course can be taken in-person, hybrid, or online.

Medical school prerequisites are not selected for MCAT preparation and applicants may need additional coursework as part of their MCAT studies. Other recommended courses to help applicants in medical school include: genetics, immunology, molecular biology, physiology, anatomy, statistics, organic chemistry, and physics.

Applicants are not commonly required to submit additional transcripts. If transcripts are requested, applicants will be given a deadline from the office of admissions to do so. Generally, applicants who report prerequisite courses in progress when submitting the AMCAS application will be required to provide unofficial transcripts, electronically, to the office of admissions. Official, hard-copy transcripts are only required for applicants who are accepted to the school of medicine and plan to matriculate.

Letters Of Recommendation

Applicants must submit a minimum of three letters of recommendation and up to a maximum of five letters. These can be individually submitted by letter writers or in packet form from your educational institution.

Letters must be received no later than the application deadline of October 1. Letters received after the application deadline will not be considered. More than five letters may also not be considered by the committee. Applications that do not have at least three letters of recommendation by the application deadline will be considered incomplete and will not receive further consideration for admissions.

Letters of recommendation must be on letterhead and signed and must include contact information for the letter writer.

Applicants should select letter writers who will reflect on their major activities and who know them well. The admissions committee prefers letters that address the applicant’s suitability for a career in medicine and as a medical student. It’s best to have letters from individuals that are directly related to professional experiences (education, community, clinical, research, employment, military, etc.) or from a formal pre-medical committee. It is strongly recommended to have a physician letter.

Letters only will be accepted through the AMCAS Letter Service. Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV will not accept letters of recommendation by any other process.

Personal Statement

Applicants will need to submit a personal statement. The Kerkorian School recommends writing authentically with highlights about how you decided you wanted to go into medicine, supportive experiences that have reinforced that decision and continued your passion for the field, and insight as to your vision of who you will be as a medical student and/or future physician.

For more information on writing personal statements for medical school, please visit the AAMC Choosing a Medical Career website.

Experiences

Applicants need to list experiences and have up to 15 lines available on the AMCAS application to do so. Three of these experiences need to be identified as your most meaningful with supporting narration. All experiences require a description as well and this is a great time to give the admissions committee insight into your experiences.

Required experiences for UNLV include: community service and clinical experiences that are longitudinal in nature.

Community Service

Community service (or volunteering) can be medical or non-medical in nature and involves unpaid service that is often with a non-profit or community-facing organization.

  • Hospital volunteering is often seen in this category as it’s a public service role that most often is patient facing (such as information desk, wheelchair transport, pediatric reading programs, behind-the-scenes supply stocking/office support, etc.).
  • Community service should be longitudinal in nature as well where an applicant grows with the organization in their volunteer role. Some community service does occur in low-income/free medical clinics and may include scribing or significant time with a physician who is treating patients. This may also qualify for clinical experience, but in the case of being solely patient interaction and support, it remains in community service.

Clinical Experiences

Clinical experiences are defined at UNLV as a period where you are with a physician who is actively seeing patients. This can be done through things like physician shadowing, hospital or clinic scribing, licensed practical nurse/registered nurse (LPN/RN), medical assistance, etc. It is important that the physician pairing is present regularly.

  • Experiences where an applicant is mostly patient facing (without a doctor there most of the time) or is more back office focused in a healthcare setting does not qualify. Some paid medical such as certain technician roles do have significant physician interaction and can be considered, but roles that are very patient facing or lab tech in nature are not as applicable and should be considered “paid medical” in AMCAS.
  • Research with a physician may have qualifying components for clinical experience if they include shadowing a doctor while seeing/treating patients, but this tends to be rare, even in clinical trials, as the patient interaction is often just data collection and not full medical care.

Other Experiences

Additional experiences on the application can include employment, college clubs/organizations, research and publications, awards, military service, and other extracurricular activities.

Research experience is not required for the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine but is welcome if you have it.

Hobbies are not recommended unless they are structured, such as with a community group or organization.

There is no “minimum hours” requirement in any category, but longitudinal and significant time makes a bigger impact in our competitive pools and lends itself to more advanced communication by the applicant when it comes to personal statements, secondary essays, and interviews. Similarly, strong experiences lend themselves to well-qualified letters of recommendation.

For more information on completing this portion of the AMCAS application please visit the AAMC Application Guide.

Other Information or Policies

The Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine has the right to cease communications, reject event participation, stop application acceptance and/or any other component of the admissions process due to inappropriate behavior that is disruptive, harassing, or dangerous towards members of the school or others in the process. Similarly, inappropriate behaviors that have resulted in legal action prior to or during application may also be considered and can bring interactions, and the right to apply, to a close.