Application Process, Timeline, & Pathways

Before submitting AMCAS and paying their fee, please ensure you meet our secondary requirements. These requirements are non-negotiable. You will not receive a secondary application if these are not met. A secondary is required for reviewing your full application.

Ensure you can complete the premedical course requirements and earn a bachelor’s degree at an accredited college or university in the United States or Canada by July 15 of the year you will begin medical school.

• Take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
• Review Holistic Review Information
• Request Letters of Evaluation

You do not need to complete all prerequisites before you apply; however, you must complete them by July 15 of the year you matriculate.

The 2024 AMCAS Applicant Guide is a great resource and is available to help you apply.

Once you have determined you have met or will meet the secondary requirements at some point in the admissions cycle prior to the AMCAS deadline, apply through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS). AMCAS charges a $175 processing fee for one medical school designation and $45 for each additional medical school designation. If you are in need of financial assistance, learn more about your eligibility by visiting the AAMC Fee Assistance Program.

Our AMCAS application deadline is October 15, 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (8:59 p.m., Pacific Standard Time).

AMCAS application screening for a secondary application

Once we receive your AMCAS application, our system will check to see if you have met the secondary requirements. This may involve requesting official documentation from you to prove you meet a definition of resident student.

Check that your letters of recommendation have been sent.

Your letter writers submit all letters of evaluation through the AMCAS Letters of Evaluation/Recommendation Service. Receiving these is one of the requirements to receive a secondary application.

Submit the Secondary Application

If you receive the secondary application, you must submit it by December 2 at 5:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time to be considered.

When you submit your secondary application, you will be asked to pay a $50 fee. Once proof of payment is received, the AMCAS application, letters of recommendation, and the secondary application will be assigned to two screeners who review the full application file (AMCAS, secondary, and letters; UGPAs or MCAT scores are not shared with screeners) to make independent recommendations for interview. Your application will remain in review until we have filled all interview seats. Those who are  no longer being considered for an interview will be notified as soon as that decision has been made. When reviewing completed applications, the Committee looks for relevant life experiences and personal attributes, and connections to the state of Washington.

*NOTE: We waive the secondary fee for applicants who have been approved for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program.

The secondary application is your opportunity to further demonstrate how your experiences and attributes align with the College’s mission, vision, and goals. Holistic review is a balanced consideration of experiences, attributes, and academic metrics that help us meet our mission. Since we have established UGPA/MCAT threshold combinations as a partial requirement to receive a secondary application, once the secondary application is submitted, we do not include the UGPA and MCAT in any of our decision-making.

After you submit your secondary application, you can log into our admissions portal to check your application status. Admissions decisions will be sent to the email address provided in your AMCAS application. Please ensure the email you included on AMCAS and the secondary are the same. NOTE: To ensure you receive all of our correspondence, please add medicine.admissions@wsu.edu as a recognized address to receive emails from. If not, our emails may go to your junk or promotions folders (check these regularly if you are an applicant).

The college will email interview invitations as early as July. All communications are sent via email so please include a valid and regularly monitored email address on your AMCAS and secondary application.

You cannot schedule an individual appointment with the admissions office to discuss your qualifications once an application has been submitted and you are under consideration. You may ask general questions during this phase.

Interviews will take place from August through February.

We conduct an all-virtual interview cycle.

Our Virtual Interview Day Will Include the Following Via Our Mixed Structured Interviews (MSI):

Live Virtual Interviews

The first part of our interview modality includes two structured live traditional interviews that are 10 minutes each during our virtual interview day. These two interviews are more traditional questions however, they are still structured. One of these interviews will be conducted by an Admissions Committee member; the second is conducted by another trained interviewer (which may be a second Admissions Committee member).

Interviews are closed file: interviewers do not review any aspect of your application prior to the interview.

Live Recorded Interviews

The second component to our interviewing modality, MSI, will be four recorded interviews to be rated asynchronously. During our live Virtual Interview Day, you will be interacting with a live moderator who will pose scenario or behavioral-type prompts for you to respond to within three minutes. The moderator is only serving the purpose of providing you with the prompt and listening to and recording your responses. They are not interviewers and will not be asking you follow-up questions, providing clarification, or assessing your responses. Instead, your recordings in response to these four prompts will be assigned to trained raters who will rate your recorded responses following the interview day.

Additional Information about the WSU College of Medicine Virtual Interview Day

• WSU College of Medicine has trained interviewers to assess the recorded interviews.
• All individuals involved in the MSI complete implicit bias training. Our Admissions Committee also undergoes bias training annually.
• The Virtual Interview Day will include all we need to assess you further.
• The Virtual Interview Day will also include presentations about our MD program and conversation with current medical students.
• You will be provided with a link to our Virtual Interview Day resource website which will include recorded presentations and information to review prior to your interview day.
• Attendance at the full interview day is required.
• Interview days are held on select Mondays and Fridays from August through February.

CougDoc Applicant Mock Interview (CAMI) Project!

Our medical students, led by the Student National Medical Student Association (SNMA), provide a service to applicants applying to our College of Medicine to help them be even more successful on interview day. They want to ensure that all applicants have access to this type of resource regardless of their background and access to services.

The CAMI Project is a student-created (by Dr. Kalkena Sivanesam, Class of 2023), student-led mock interview program that was first implemented in the 2020/2021 interview cycle and has been offered each cycle since. All applicants invited to interview with our College of Medicine are invited to engage in mock interviews with a trained medical student prior to their official interview day with our college. CAMI student leaders consult with the Admissions leadership on questions, process, and protocol so that it is the most helpful to our applicants.

Check out this flyer for interview tips from our medical students.

If you are invited to interview, contact information will be shared to set up your mock interview. We highly encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity!

Following the Virtual Interview Day

Once you have completed your Virtual Interview Day, your full application packet will continue through a review by two Admissions Committee members and discussion at an Admissions Committee meeting where each interviewed applicant is formally assessed.

A complete application file for discussion by the Admissions Committee includes:

• AMCAS primary application (with GPAs and MCAT removed)
• WSU College of Medicine secondary application
• Letters of recommendation
• MSI assessments (six independent assessments)

Await Notification

The college uses a rolling admissions process. The Admissions Committee meets at several intervals from September through March to review applicants and make admission decisions.

If you have been accepted to the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and decide not to attend, it would be courteous and professional to decline your offer or withdraw your acceptance by emailing medicine.admissions@wsu.edu. This allows us to admit another applicant in a timely manner. It is prudent to review the AAMC Application and Acceptance Protocols for Applicants, especially as it pertains to holding multiple offers of acceptance. In particular, if you receive an offer of acceptance from more than one medical school on or before April 30th, you must select only one program and withdraw your acceptance from all other schools from April 30 and after.

If you are on the waitlist and no longer considering our medical school, please withdraw your application by emailing Admissions. This allows us to maintain a waitlist of only those who are still interested in attending the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.

Pre-Enrollment Deposit

We do not require a pre-enrollment deposit.

How Admission Decisions Are Reached

The Admissions Committee receives a presentation of the applicant’s file (without access to the UGPAs and MCAT) by a member of the committee and discusses the applicant’s experiences and attributes and their alignment with our mission, vision, and goals. Each committee member confidentially provides an independent score for each candidate discussed.

The Admissions Committee’s scores determine which applicants will be granted admission and in what order. Their scores also determine if an applicant will be waitlisted or no longer considered. These decisions are final and free from any influence. Furthermore, all committee members are required to declare any real or perceived conflicts of interest for any candidate for whom it applies.

The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine does not offer an early decision program.

What if You Are Not Selected?

Some applicants may be invited to be on the waitlist. Offers from the waitlist occur once all seats have been filled and a previously accepted applicant withdraws. Offers from the waitlist can be made until orientation in mid-August.

Questions? Contact Admissions.

Early May 2024

• AMCAS application opens

Late May 2024

• Submission of the AMCAS application to MD medical schools begins

June 28, 2024

• The transmission of verified AMCAS applications begins

• Verification of secondary requirements begins. If met, a secondary application will be emailed to the applicant. Please be sure you meet the secondary requirements before submitting and paying the AMCAS fee. We do not make any exceptions to the secondary requirements

August 2024 – February 2025

• Interview season

October 1, 2024, 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (8:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time)

• Deferred Deadline
• Only applies to those who were granted deferral in the previous admissions cycle

October 1 Each Year

• First day to submit the FAFSA. Explore financial aid information and scholarship opportunities at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. The FAFSA is required for accepted applicants who want to be considered for scholarships. To be considered, the FAFSA must be submitted by January 31^st of each year from the matriculation year on.

October 15, 2024, 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (8:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time)

• Official deadline to submit your AMCAS application

There are no extensions for any reason.

November 2024 – March 2025

• Regular season, rolling acceptances made to fill the initial class of 80.

December 2, 2024, 5:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time

Deadline to Submit Your Secondary Application

• The application and fee must be submitted to be considered. The fee is waived for anyone approved for the FAP by the AAMC.
• Interview spots will only be filled once all completed applications have been considered for an interview.

February 19, 2025

• AMCAS “Plan to Enroll” option becomes available on AMCAS applicant portal.

“Plan to Enroll” communicates to schools who have made an offer of acceptance that the applicant has made a choice about where they intend to enroll. “Plan to Enroll” options can be changed by an applicant at any time in the AMCAS portal as they receive additional offers or change their mind.

See AMCAS Choose Your Medical School Tool for more information.

Early to Mid-March 2025

• Waitlist decisions are communicated to applicants interviewed but not yet made an offer. All applicants denied admission are notified on a rolling basis shortly after that decision has been made.

March – August 2025

• Waitlist offer period

April 2025

Second Look

If you are an admitted applicant, you will be invited to visit the Spokane campus for this event

Financial Aid and Scholarship Information Delivered

The college will strive to provide information about scholarships before the Second Look. Loan packages are typically distributed in the summer months prior to matriculation.

April 15, 2025

• AMCAS applicant protocols ask applicants to narrow down multiple offers of acceptance to no more than 3.

April 30, 2025

• AMCAS applicant protocols indicate that applicants hold no more than one acceptance from this point forward.

• AMCAS “Commit to Enroll” option becomes available on AMCAS applicant portal.
  • “Commit to Enroll” communicates to schools that the applicant has made their final decision and has withdrawn from all other medical schools including waitlists.
  • “Plan to Enroll” can still be used at this point if the applicant wants to hold on to the offer of acceptance but is on waitlists at other schools and may commit to another school should an offer be made.
  • See AMCAS for more information.

July 15, 2025

• All prerequisites must be complete and required degree earned.

August 11 – 15, 2025

• Welcome Week

August 18, 2025

• First day of class

For prospective applicants who plan to apply to medical school while in college and hopefully matriculate after graduation, there are many resources on college campuses to assist. We highly recommend that you rely on your pre-health offices and advisors for guidance on how to be competitive applicants.

There are other resources available through the Association of American Medical Colleges. The Premed Navigator page provides many different insights.

We encourage you not to focus so much on when you could start medical school and instead consider how you can gain as much experience and exposure and grow as an individual to be ready for medical school. If this changes your path to add a gap year(s) or to pursue another career first, there is nothing wrong with that!

For prospective applicants who plan to apply to medical school after a gap year(s), we encourage you to be thoughtful about how you want to spend that time and how you hope to grow as an individual. Medical schools want to know how applicants spend their time between college and medical school.

Be mindful that you may also lose contact with your former professors as you transition out of college. If you aim to ask for a letter of recommendation from a former professor, it is up to you to maintain that relationship and keep them informed of what you are doing.

If you plan to pursue postbacc courses or apply to a formal program, this page has some helpful resources.

The AAMC provides some additional considerations if taking a gap year(s) and how to make the most of it.

For applicants who have pursued other careers and/or served in the military, having access to pre-med advisors may not be an option. If you need to take pre-requisite courses, consider taking them at a four-year institution where there would be access to pre-med advisors. However, we understand this is not always possible and support applicants pursuing coursework at community colleges. We encourage you to reach out to us directly for an advising meeting.

Know Your Value!

We encourage you to share with us on your application how your former career and/or military service has helped prepare you for medical education or the practice of medicine. Often applicants who are transitioning from other careers forget that medical schools are not only concerned about your health care exposure; they also want applicants who have leadership and teamwork experience and skills, among others. Consider how you can highlight what you have learned from these other fields that will help you as a medical student, bring diversity to the class, care for others, and/or help us solve challenging healthcare problems.

Below are links to AAMC resources:

• Questions when applying as a veteran or active-duty military service member
• Medical school costs for nontraditional students