By: Savvy Pre-Med Staff

If you look at the data for all applicants and matriculants for California MD medical schools in the 2020-2021 cycle, you’ll find the following statistics:

Total applicants: 87,431

Total accepted matriculants: 1,520

Percent accepted: 1.7%

Those numbers are pretty daunting, so it’s wise for in-state and especially out-of-state applicants to diversify their school lists beyond California medical schools.

But what do these elite 1.7% of accepted candidates look like? Who are they and what makes them so special?

Every acceptance into medical school is a complicated equation that involves many variables, but here are some examples of accepted candidates (anonymous, of course) into each of the 15 California medical schools (MD and DO).

We hope they give you a meaningful gauge of where you stand and perhaps some models to emulate in your own applications!

(NOTE: some minor details have been changed to ensure anonymity)

Profiles of Accepted Candidates into California Medical Schools

To better assess these candidates, check out our past article to see what it takes to get into a California medical school.

Profile of Accepted Candidate into the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine:

MCAT: 514
GPA: 3.42

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: Harvard

Ethnicity: African-American and Asian-American

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: French (advanced)

Major/minor: Neurobiology/Global Health and French

Published? (Y/N): Yes

Independent research project? (Y/N): Yes

Total hours of volunteering: 1880

Total hours of research: 600

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 250

Most unique experiences:

• Life sciences consulting
• Internship at WHO

Profile of Accepted Candidate into the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine:

MCAT: 515
GPA: 3.67

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: UCSD

Ethnicity: Asian

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Chinese (advanced)

Major/minor: Neuroscience and Physiology/Psychology

Published? (Y/N): Yes

Independent research project? (Y/N): Yes

Total hours of volunteering: 320

Total hours of research: 650

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 570

Most unique experiences:

• Oceanography research
• Philanthropy chair of sorority

Profile of Accepted Candidate into the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA:

MCAT: 515
GPA: 3.89

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: UCSD

Ethnicity: White

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Russian (advanced), Spanish (fair), French (basic)

Major/minor: Neuroscience and Physiology/None

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): Yes

Total hours of volunteering: 430

Total hours of research: 4500

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 520

Most unique experiences:

• Teaching guitar lessons at the VA
• Neural regeneration research

Profile of Accepted Candidate into the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine:

MCAT: 524
GPA: 3.75

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: UCSD

Ethnicity: White

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: None

Major/minor: Human Biology/None

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): Yes

Total hours of volunteering: 80

Total hours of research: 2400

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 1125

Most unique experiences:

• Pharmacy technician
• Volunteer at memory care facility

Profile of Accepted Candidate into the University of California, Davis School of Medicine:

MCAT: 517
GPA: 3.98

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: UCSD

Ethnicity: White

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Czech (good), Spanish (good)

Major/minor: Biochemistry/Cell Biology and Psychology/Human Health/None

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): Yes

Total hours of volunteering: 1058

Total hours of research: 2332

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 630

Most unique experiences:

• Wilderness survival coach
• Stem cell research

Profile of Accepted Candidate into the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine:

MCAT: 516
GPA: 3.87

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: Brigham Young University

Ethnicity: White

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Russian (advanced), French (basic)

Major/minor: Exercise Science/None

Published? (Y/N): Yes

Independent research project? (Y/N): Yes

Total hours of volunteering: 5275

Total hours of research: 750

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 2134

Most unique experiences:

• Mission work in Russia
• Skeletal muscle physiology research 

Profile of Accepted Candidate into the Keck School of Medicine at USC:

MCAT: 513
GPA: 3.8

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: UC Santa Cruz

Ethnicity: Hispanic

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): Yes

Foreign languages spoken: Spanish (good)

Major/minor: Neuroscience/None

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): Yes

Total hours of volunteering: 200

Total hours of research: 1500

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 120

Most unique experiences:

• Summer research internship at Cornell
• Health education specialist 

Profile of Accepted Candidate into Stanford University School of Medicine:

MCAT: 514
GPA: 3.78

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: USC

Ethnicity: White

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Spanish (advanced)

Major/minor: Biochemistry/Cultural Competence in Medicine

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): Yes

Total hours of volunteering: 530

Total hours of research: 1900

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 340

Most unique experiences:

• Virtual reality diabetes education
• Spanish translator

Profile of Accepted Candidate into Loma Linda University School of Medicine:

MCAT: 507
GPA: 3.64

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: University of San Diego (USD)

Ethnicity: White

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: None

Major/minor: Biology/None

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): Yes

Total hours of volunteering: 650

Total hours of research: 125

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 370

Most unique experiences:

• Mentor for foster children
• Founder of non-profit organization

Profile of Accepted Candidate into California University of Science and Medicine:

MCAT: 520
GPA: 3.32

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: UCSD

Ethnicity: Asian

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Vietnamese (basic), French (basic)

Major/minor: Biochemistry/Biology

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): No

Total hours of volunteering: 120

Total hours of research: 300

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 1190

Most unique experiences:

• Surf team captain and surf instructor
• Scribe in psychiatric inpatient hospital

Profile of Accepted Candidate into California Northstate University: College of Medicine:

MCAT: 516
GPA: 3.44

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: UC Berkeley

Ethnicity: Asian

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Chinese (advanced)

Major/minor: Integrative Biology/None

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): No

Total hours of volunteering: 325

Total hours of research: 180

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 400

Most unique experiences:

• Extensive work in free dental clinics
•  Mentor for underprivileged youth

Profile of Accepted Candidate into Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine:

MCAT: 522

GPA: 3.94

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: Rice University

Ethnicity: Asian

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Chinese (fluent), Spanish (good)

Major/minor: Biochemistry and Cell Biology/None

Published? (Y/N): Yes

Independent research project? (Y/N): No

Total hours of volunteering: 968

Total hours of research: 1830

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 891

Most unique experiences:

• Certified EMT
• Founder of online tutoring service

Profile of Accepted Candidate into Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in California:

MCAT: 513
GPA: 3.51

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: UCSD

Ethnicity: White

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Spanish (basic)

Major/minor: Microbiology/Healthcare and Social Issues 

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): No

Total hours of volunteering: 202

Total hours of research: 2500

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 380

Most unique experiences:

• Crisis Text Line counselor
• Genomics research

Profile of Accepted Candidate into Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP):

MCAT: 511

GPA: 3.78

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: UCSD

Ethnicity: Asian

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Vietnamese (advanced)

Major/minor: Human Biology/Business

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): No

Total hours of volunteering: 400

Total hours of research: 500

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 1320

Most unique experiences:

• Barista
• Mission work in rural Vietnam

Profile of Accepted Candidate into California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine:

MCAT: 501

GPA: 3.79

State of residence: California

Undergraduate college: Southern Methodist University

Ethnicity: White

Disadvantaged? (Y/N): No

Foreign languages spoken: Spanish (basic)

Major/minor: Biological Sciences/Applied Physiology

Published? (Y/N): No

Independent research project? (Y/N): No

Total hours of volunteering: 148

Total hours of research: 20

Total hours of clinical experience (including shadowing): 180

Most unique experiences:

• Work as a nanny for children with disabilities
• Clinical fellowship in Portugal

Have any questions about writing about getting into a California medical school? Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll respond to you personally!