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Highlights of Cal medical school applicants:

  • The majority of Cal applicants take at least 1 gap year before entering medical school. For most applicants, this timeline means applying after spring of their senior (or final) year at Cal.
  • Cal applicants have consistently higher acceptance rates than the national average.
  • Cal applicants represent a variety of majors, within and outside of the biological sciences, and across all colleges, including Letters & Science, Engineering, Public Health, and Natural Resources.

2021 Medical School Statistics

UC Berkeley First-Time Applicants by Class Year

Class of 2022

Application Year Applicants Acceptees Acceptance Rate
2022 66 35 53.0%
2021 26 10 38.5%
2020 67 35 52.2%
2019 149 100 67.1%
2018 164 91 55.5%

Class of 2018

Application Year Applicants Acceptees Acceptance Rate
2018 37 22 59.5%
2019 143 93 65.0%
2020 123 69 56.1%
2021 67 34 50.7%

Class of 2019

Application Year Applicants Acceptees Acceptance Rate
2019 51 30 58.8%
2020 153 100 65.4%
2021 150 84 56.0%

Class of 2020

Application Year Applicants Acceptees Acceptance Rate
2020 64 35 54.7%
2021 194 111 57.2%

Class of 2021

Application Year Applicants Acceptees Acceptance Rate
2021 64 31 48.4%

NOTE: Source: American Association of Medical Colleges. Data for these tables are derived from the ~85% of annual applicants to MD programs who, through AMCAS, give permission for their application information to be released to UC Berkeley. The class year includes December, May, and August graduates of each academic year.

UC Berkeley and National Acceptance Rates

UC Berkeley First-Time Applicants: Acceptance Rates by Year, 2017-2021

  2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Applicants 547 487 511 510 628
Acceptees 304 246 289 284 321
Acceptance Rate 55.6% 50.5% 56.6% 55.7% 51.1%

Note: Source: American Association of Medical Colleges. Each year is a total of UCB first-time applicants, regardless of date of graduation, who applied to MD programs through AMCAS.

National Applicants: Acceptance Rates by Year, 2017-2021

  2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Applicants 49,704 50,905 51,455 51,191 60,363
Acceptees 21,590 21,810 21,972 22,462 23,124
Acceptance Rate 43.4% 42.8% 42.7% 43.9% 38.3%

Note: Source: American Association of Medical Colleges. Each year is a total of applicants nationwide (including UCB applicants), regardless of date of graduation, who applied to MD programs through AMCAS.