Medical schools in Pennsylvania are some of the most well-respected and competitive schools in the country. This means getting accepted into one is great for your future, but potentially tricky.
That’s why we’ve put together this list for you. You’ll be able to quickly get a snapshot of what each Pennsylvania medical school looks for in new applicants, and get some general info about each school as well.
Drexel University College of Medicine
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
- GPA: 3.76
- MCAT: 512
- Tuition: $59,096 In-state, $59,096 Out-of-state
- Public/Private: Private
Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Drexel University College of Medicine is a combination of two of the finest medical schools in this country and even the world. The current campus is home to the formerly named Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania established back in 1850 and Hahnemann Medical College established two years earlier in 1843.
The Women’s Medical College was the very first medical school established for women anywhere around the world, and Drexel is proud of this significant and rich history that offers a distinguished education for both men and women with a student population today of over 1,000 students.
Today, Drexel’s main campus feels more like a smaller hometown setting with several venerated educational departments including the Department of Psychiatry at Friends Hospital and the Department of Pediatrics at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
The school houses one of the largest spinal cord research centers and includes a top malaria study center making this college one of the most respected educational and research campuses in the region.
Drexel is listed among only 21 National Centers of Excellence for Women’s Health among other distinguished honors.
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
- Location: Scranton, PA
- GPA: 3.73
- MCAT: 511
- Tuition: $56,584 In-state, $62,684 Out-of-state
- Public/Private: Private
This novel and well-respected school of medicine offers a more community-oriented undergraduate medical education with five beautiful campuses in the northeastern and north-central regions of Pennsylvania.
The college also offers medical students a forward-thinking Doctor of Medicine (MD) Degree educational curriculum that seeks to give medical care from a more community reference. This healthcare is intended to follow each patient through their unique medical needs throughout their lifetimes.
Geisinger Medical currently offers 31 accredited and coveted residency programs for the college’s over 500 students and offers up to 23 accredited fellowship programs as well. In addition, the school also offers a Professional Science Master’s degree option at its Doylestown campus and a degree in Master of Biomedical Sciences at both the Doylestown and Scranton campuses.
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
- GPA: 3.77
- MCAT: 513
- Tuition: $53,239 In-state, $56,381 Out-of-state
- Public/Private: Private
The prestigious Lewis Katz School of Medicine was first founded back in 1901, and this medical school was the very first Pennsylvania co-educational medical school to open its doors.
Since its beginning, this finer educational institute became known for its humanistic and passionate medical program and research opportunities. The school continues to be attractive to those medical and science students who truly want to make a huge difference in patient care, medical research and caring community healthcare services all around the world.
Associated with Temple University Hospital, this medical school continues to deliver top-quality health care to what is considered a vulnerable group of patients in our country today. This medical care is often provided for free, or as under-reimbursed care to patients who would otherwise never get the medical care that each person deserves.
Additionally, medical students here have the outstanding opportunity to work with patients from a widely diverse population group not often seen in most urban medical schools today.
Students get experience with both rural and urban types of medical care, and the health conditions treated are also uniquely broad to give students a well-rounded clinical experience so important in this modern age of changing medicine.
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
- Location: Hershey, PA
- GPA: 3.81
- MCAT: 511
- Tuition: $50,534 In-state, $50,534 Out-of-state
- Public/Private: Private
The revered Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine was established in 1963, and the medical school continues to be the only trauma 1 designated pediatric treatment center in the state between the cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with its Penn State Children’s Hospital.
The college is also associated with its flagship hospital known as Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center that continues to serve patients living in and around the central Pennsylvania region.
Another bonus healthcare training site for medical students involves the well-respected Penn State Medical Group that serves many in the community with its academic training and impressive outpatient medical sites and physician practices.
Along with this school’s highly acclaimed medical degree program, the college also runs a topnotch physician assistant program as well.
Medical students also have fantastic community outreach and overseas International medical care opportunities while pursuing their medical and graduate degree training.
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
- GPA: 3.92
- MCAT: 521
- Tuition: $63,137 In-state, $63,137 Out-of-state
- Public/Private: Private
The prestigious University of Pennsylvania is today considered the oldest Pennsylvania located medical school founded in 1765. The school certainly boasts a rich cultural heritage that students will hold dear long after they graduate.
Affiliated with some of the leading hospitals in the nation, Penn Medical School offers some of the most valuable clinical training opportunities in community-centered medicine and rural outreach medical programs.
This institute of higher learning is considered by many in the medical community to be a forerunner in innovative medical education training. This enables the medical students to take advantage of state-of-the-art biomedical research, patient-focused healthcare and up-to-date information in medical education that changes dramatically with each coming year.
Due to this college of medicine’s ongoing and revolutionary medical research opportunities, major medical publications list this school among the top 5 of all research-oriented types of groundbreaking medical programs.
One of the advantages of choosing to go to the Perelman School of Medicine is its dedicated 2,600 plus full-time college faculty members. Each brings something relevant to each classroom lesson plan and clinical setting on-the-job training experiences.
A number of hospital affiliations with this phenomenal medical school include Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Lancaster General Hospital, Penn Medicine Princeton Health among others in this diversely populated region of the state. It is clear to see why so many medical students pick this medical school.
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
- GPA: 3.75
- MCAT: 514
- Tuition: $57,761 In-state, $57,761 Out-of-state
- Public/Private: Private
Once known as the Jefferson Medical College, this reputable medical training school began back in the year 1824. Today, the school is named the Sidney Kimmel Medical College often abbreviated affectionately as SKMC.
School officials estimate that this finer learning institute has graduated over 31,000 and rising medical doctor degrees and currently holds the world’s possible record of boasting the highest number of living graduates.
SKMC offers the usual medical educational programs and offers undergraduate training paths as well. The school graduates approximately 1,000 students every year from their revered educational medical training programs.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- Location: Pittsburgh, PA
- GPA: 3.87
- MCAT: 517
- Tuition: $56,896 In-state, $59,078 Out-of-state
- Public/Private: Private
In 1886, the University of Pittsburgh was founded as the Western Pennsylvania Medical College. At that time, Pittsburgh didn’t have much in the way of medical care.
Today, this medical school is still going strong, and the entire area is now saturated with some of the state’s top medical centers. Pittsburgh has become a haven for specialists in just about every field category of medicine.
The mission of this medical school continues to be inclusive and diverse as the people groups that surround this learned educational institute.
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
- GPA: 3.5
- MCAT: 504
- Tuition: $28,364 In-state, $28,364 Out-of-state
- Public/Private: Private
The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine was first the brainchild of two prominent students attending an osteopathic school in Minneapolis. Today, the college stands as a testimony to two medical student’s vision for the future of osteopathic education in this “city of brotherly love.”
Always inclusive of women and different cultural backgrounds, the college still prides itself on its work for better women’s healthcare among other worthy health care causes and community programs.
At its beginning, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine was considered ahead of its time on clinical training, groundbreaking research opportunities and determination to train more family physicians.
Medical students get to perform their classroom taught medical skills out on a realistic human simulator.
This well-respected osteopathic medical school continues to meet those original goals, and the school is now one of the oldest and largest schools offering osteopathic medical training in the world.
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM)
- Location: Erie, PA
- GPA: 3.56
- MCAT: 502
- Tuition: $32,800 In-state, $32,800 Out-of-state
- Public/Private: Private
This Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine is located in Erie, PA. The school is considered the largest medical school in the country, and it also is designated as the only osteopathic medical school as well.
Early on, the distinguished administrators of Millcreek Community Hospital together with area physicians saw a need for more qualified physicians and opened LECOM in 1992.
Today, LECOM has its original main campus still located along the beautiful scenic shores of Lake Erie in the city that bears the lake’s name. Additionally, there are campuses located in Greensburg, PA and Bradenton, FL.
The college is community-oriented, and the school is credited with many innovative changes for the better in senior care, community health and wellness programs and more.
Along with osteopathic degrees in medicine, LECOM also offers osteopathic educational paths towards pharmacy and dental care training. This private college is dedicated to keeping its student’s educational costs affordable and is known for its overall student-centered learning modules that are groundbreaking in medical education circles today.
Getting Accepted Doesn’t Have To Be Stressful
Getting accepted to a medical school in Pennsylvania doesn’t have to be a stressful process (even if you want to attend a very competitive school). If you want to pull out the big guns and get peace of mind when it comes to your application we’d love to talk to you.
Over the years we’ve helped hundreds of students get accepted to their dream med school, and want to do the same for you. Get the ball rolling and reach out!
