Learn how California’s top colleges prepare their students for medical school plus unique aspects of each school, and admissions strategies to help you get in
Part 1: Introduction
If your child dreams of eventually attending medical school, choosing which colleges to apply to first can be particularly stressful.
In addition to searching for a school that’s a great fit with regard to academics and extracurricular activities, your future premed will already be planning for their professional future and looking to see which schools offer the best support and resources along the way. You might also be considering how much to save or spend on an undergraduate institution while putting aside enough for the expensive process of applying to medical school later on, not to mention the cost of medical school tuition.
Moreover, with medical school admissions becoming increasingly competitive, your child may feel pressure to choose an undergraduate institution that will give them the best chances of a med school acceptance down the line. If your child has their heart set on attending college in California, it can be challenging to determine which of the state’s hundreds of four-year colleges will deliver the best premed education for your child.
The goals of this guide are to give you a sense of which schools your premed child should consider and to offer some strategies for getting your child into their dream program—whether that’s in California or somewhere else.
Part 2: What are the best premed schools in California?
While compiling this list, we took several factors into account:
Overall U.S. News and World Report ranking: Despite well-documented issues with these rankings, high-ranked schools continue to be viewed as elite by medical school admissions committees, thereby increasing your child’s odds of getting into a great program.
Availability of medical career advising, faculty support, and peer community: Because there is plenty of misinformation online and elsewhere about what it takes to get into medical school, having access to supportive faculty, advisors, and peers can help reduce some of the associated stress.
Availability of research opportunities, fellowships, and medical career experience: Your child will have to accumulate significant hours shadowing physicians, providing patient care, performing community service and volunteering, and conducting research. Some colleges offer a wealth of such opportunities, while others offer fewer.
Medical school acceptance rates: After years of hard work, your child will be disappointed if they don’t get into med school. This factor accounts for school prestige and institutional support.
Number of medical school applicants: Students at certain colleges and universities apply to medical school in much larger numbers than students at other schools. While overall student body size certainly plays a role in determining these numbers—a large research university will likely have many more applicants than a small liberal arts college—high numbers of applicants also point to a well-established premed program.
High-level takeaways:
All the schools listed below provide students with career advising and have one or more designated pre-health or premed advisors. Some schools may also employ staff who coordinate premed experiences such as shadowing and research.
That said, large UC schools like Berkeley and UCLA, while prestigious, have more students to support and thus may not be the best fit for students seeking individualized attention. Smaller, private institutions like Pomona, Caltech, and Pepperdine boast higher faculty-to-student ratios for advising, not to mention in the classroom.
Many California colleges and universities, such as Stanford, UCLA, and Berkeley, have close associations with major medical centers and highly ranked medical schools. This is especially true of schools in the Bay Area and in or near Los Angeles. These affiliations provide excellent opportunities for premed students to gain clinical experience, an important medical school requirement.
All the colleges below provide students with opportunities to get involved with faculty research. Some schools, like UC San Diego, Pomona, and Caltech, also offer competitive summer research programs. However, keep in mind that there will be higher levels of competition for lab spots at big universities with tens of thousands of undergraduates, such as the UC schools and USC.
The best premed colleges in California
Below are our picks for the best premed colleges in California.
When reviewing the data, keep the following in mind:
Of 52,577 applicants to MD-granting medical schools during the 2023-2024 cycle, 22,981 of these applicants matriculated. This means that at least 44% of applicants were accepted into at least one MD-granting medical school.
“Number of medical school applicants” refers to the number of students and alums who applied to medical school during the 2023-2024 cycle. “Medical school acceptance rate,” below, refers to the acceptance rate of students from each of the undergraduate institutions into at least one MD-granting medical school (for these rates we cite the most recent available data).
U.S. News and World Report Rank (National Universities): 3 (tie)
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Undergraduate acceptance rate: 4%
Number of medical school applicants: 162
Medical school acceptance rate: Not given
(Suggested reading: How to Get Into Stanford and How to Succeed as a Stanford Premed)
University of California–Berkeley*
U.S. News and World Report Rank (National Universities): 15 (tie)
Location: Berkeley, CA
Undergraduate acceptance rate: 11%
Number of medical school applicants: 702
Medical school acceptance rate: ranged from 44–65% between 2019 and 2023
(Suggested reading: How to Get into UC Berkeley and How to Succeed as a UC Berkeley Premed)
University of California–Los Angeles*
U.S. News and World Report Rank (National Universities): 15 (tie)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate acceptance rate: 9%
Number of medical school applicants: 1,199
Medical school acceptance rate: 51.3% in 2019
(Suggested reading: How to Get Into UCLA and How to Succeed as a UCLA Premed)
U.S. News and World Report Rank (National Universities): 76 (tie)
Location: Malibu, CA
Undergraduate acceptance rate: 49%
Number of medical school applicants: below 50
Medical school acceptance rate: 70–80%
University of Southern California
U.S. News and World Report Rank (National Universities): 28 (tie)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate acceptance rate: 12%
Number of medical school applicants: 348
Medical school acceptance rate: Not given, but above national the averages
(Suggested reading: How to Get Into USC)
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
U.S. News and World Report Rank (National Universities): 7 (tie)
Location: Pasadena, CA
Undergraduate acceptance rate: 3%
Number of medical school applicants: below 50
Medical school acceptance rates: Not given; however, most students score above the 90th percentile on the MCAT
(Suggested reading: How to Get Into Caltech)
US News and World Report Rank (National Liberal Arts Colleges): 4 (tie)
Location: Claremont, CA
Undergraduate acceptance rate: 7%
Number of medical school applicants: below 50
Medical school acceptance rate: 85%
(Note: If your child is interested in Pomona, other liberal arts colleges in California that they may want to consider include Harvey Mudd, Scripps, and Occidental.)
University of California–Santa Barbara*
U.S. News and World Report Rank (National Universities): 35 (tie)
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Undergraduate acceptance rate: 26%
Number of medical school applicants: 260
Medical school acceptance rate: 42.7% in 2022
University of California–San Diego*
U.S. News and World Report Rank (National Universities): 28 (tie)
Location: San Diego, CA
Undergraduate acceptance rate: 24%
Number of medical school applicants: 646
Medical school acceptance rate: 39% in 2022-2023
(Suggested reading: How to Get Into UCSD and How to Succeed as a UCSD Premed)
Note: * Denotes public universities.
Part 4: Premed college admissions strategies
In this section, we’ll focus on a few strategies for increasing your child’s chances of admission. These strategies, of course, hold true for premeds applying to college anywhere, not just in California.
Strategy 1: Demonstrate an interest in and aptitude for math and science, in and out of the classroom
As a premed student, one of your child’s primary focuses will be on math and science courses. Though it’s not required, many premed students choose a science major. Even if your child doesn’t major in the sciences, they’ll likely be doing research or volunteer work to prepare for a medical career. To get ready for science-heavy learning in college, it’s a good idea to demonstrate ability in the sciences in high school. Your child should take science AP classes offered by their school and participate in extracurricular activities like science Olympiad, robotics teams, competing in the Intel science fair, or pursuing other clubs, teams or competitions at school.
(Suggested reading: Extracurricular Activities for College Admissions: The Ultimate Guide)
Strategy 2: Seek out volunteer and research opportunities
Conducting research, shadowing a physician, or volunteering at a hospital look impressive on an application. These activities demonstrate a serious interest in the medical profession. They can also help your child get a sense of what interests them and what they might want to pursue in college. This can help focus your child’s essays, and also help them get specific about which research opportunities at which institutions might appeal to them. Many colleges and universities offer summer programs for high school students, such as the Medical Youth Science Program at Stanford, or the prestigious Research Science Program at MIT.
Strategy 3: Demonstrate fit by mentioning specific opportunities
Your child should explain why they would be a good fit for each particular school in their “Why us?” college essay. This will mean mentioning specific premed opportunities that the college or university offers. For instance, maybe Stanford appeals to them because they’ve grown up in the shadow of the Bay Area’s innovation centers and hope to join life on the inside. Or maybe Pepperdine’s Summer Research Program in Biology appeals to them because they’ve been wanting to dig deeper into genetics ever since learning about The Human Genome Project in high school.
Your child should also think about ways they’d contribute to the college community as a whole, beyond premed requirements. What are some of your child’s other interests, talents, or extracurricular activities? How will they take advantage of not only the school’s premed opportunities, but also its liberal arts offerings?
For instance, if your child is interested in attending the University of Southern California, maybe they’re excited about the possibility of double-majoring in cinematic arts and biology. Perhaps they are planning to spend the summer interning in a medical television show’s writer’s room. Or perhaps they’d like to pursue global public health alongside their own scientific research and Berkeley’s Integrative Science study abroad program seems like the perfect way to do this.
Target the school’s mission statement
Another fantastic way to demonstrate fit is by reading through the particular school’s mission statement and working aspects of it into your personal statement and/or supplemental essays. UC San Diego’s mission statement, for example, says that they are “transforming California and a diverse global society by educating, by generating and disseminating knowledge and creative works, and by engaging in public service.”
How do your child’s interests, activities and experiences relate to this mission statement? Have they done any volunteering that would fit within the category of ‘public service?’ Have they created anything inspirational or won an award that could show a link to these values?
(Suggested reading: How to Write Great UC Essays (Examples Included))
Strategy 4: Develop and demonstrate work ethic and study skills
The premed track involves long hours of studying and a lot of multitasking. In their application, it’s a good idea for your child to highlight their dedication to the things they do inside and outside of the classroom. They should show commitment to projects and activities, even if they aren’t necessarily science-related.
Perhaps your child stays late at school rehearsing for plays, spends hours researching debate briefs, or passes weekends laying out the school paper. Maybe they went above and beyond the requirements for a history class presentation the same week they organized their campaign for class president. These things are all worth mentioning. They require discipline and follow-through, displaying the drive necessary to meet the demands of a premed education.
Final thoughts
California is full of great undergraduate institutions—public, private, small, and large—that can prepare your child for a career in medicine. As with all college admissions, a competitive application depends on demonstrating fit, preparation, and interest. College admissions committees appreciate sincerity when it comes time to making decisions. So, it will be a good idea to dive deeper into these resources to find the school that is the best fit for your child.
Appendix: Frequently asked questions
If my child is a California resident, should they be applying to medical schools in California?
Given the state’s high-ranking programs, reduced in-state tuition at public institutions, and warm climate, California is an attractive destination for many medical school applicants. However, with the high volume of applications and large in-state population, admission to California medical schools (both MD and DO programs) is highly competitive. When your child is ready to apply to medical school, they should apply to a mix of California and non-California schools to maximize their admissions odds.
Are some schools more likely to “weed out” prospective premed students than others?
Some schools (like those in the UC system) grade their science classes on a curve. Others (like Pepperdine) don’t. Moreover, schools vary with regard to class sizes, which may impact the level of attention and support your child receives.
While the highest-achieving students at each school will enjoy the greatest odds of getting into med school, it’s important to consider how competitive each school is. Keep in mind that a 3.8 GPA, for example, at a higher-ranked school will look more impressive than the same GPA at a lower-ranked school.
For instance, it’s well known that Caltech is one of the toughest schools in the country, grading-wise. For some premeds, this can present challenges when applying to med school. On the flip side, an excellent GPA from Caltech will be viewed very favorably by medical school admissions committees.
Are these the only schools my child should apply to? What about California schools not on this list?
Not at all. Our intention in creating this list is simply to provide our thoughts on which schools offer the strongest premed programs according to the criteria we outlined earlier, not to dictate where your child should apply. The latter should be determined by a wide variety of factors, including your child’s GPA, ACT or SAT score, extracurricular record, academic interests, and preferred school size and location, not to mention your family’s financial situation. The fact of the matter is that there are plenty of other great colleges and universities in California, including highly ranked ones such as UC Irvine and UC Davis, from which your child can find medical school admissions success.
Speaking of rankings, it should be said that, of the many factors that go into medical school admissions, the reputation of your child's undergraduate institution is of relatively lesser importance. What is crucial, however, are their GPA and MCAT scores. Additionally, both extracurriculars and letters of recommendation trump college prestige.
Thus, while attending a school with robust premed resources is certainly to your child’s benefit, the best premed school for any student is one where they will thrive academically and stand out in their extracurriculars.
