TAMPA, FL (July 15, 2021)* – The incoming first-year students to the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM) represent the strongest class academically and the most diverse group of students in the college’s history.
As the Class of 2025 begins coursework July 26, it will set academic records for the medical school by having scored the highest median MCAT score in MCOM’s history, 518, as well as earning the highest average GPA, 3.89. In addition, the incoming class is more diverse than previous first-year classes, with a record 20% from those groups traditionally underrepresented in medicine (URM).
“We could not be more excited to welcome this exemplary new class of medical students,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, senior vice president of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “I have long said that USF Health is bringing the best and brightest minds to Tampa Bay, and this record-breaking class is further evidence of the growing strength and reputation of the Morsani College of Medicine. Not only is this the highest achieving cohort in our history, but it is also the most diverse, and we cannot wait to see all that they will achieve in medical school and beyond.”
Across the last several years, each of MCOM’s first-year classes has outpaced the class before it with higher MCAT scores and stronger GPAs. This year’s median score of 518 places this class in the 95th percentile ranking for scores across the country.
And compared to seven years ago, when only 6% of the class was from URM groups, this incoming class includes a far more diverse student body, with 20% from URM groups. Also improving this year is the acceptance and matriculation of more Black men. In 2014, the class included 2% African Americans, and they were all female. This year’s class included 12% Black students, including 11 males.
The MCOM Class of 2025 was selected from a record 6,400 applications, the most applicants in the college’s history, which makes it the most competitive class in the college’s history. Of the nearly 53,000 applicants attempting to find spots this year in the roughly 150 allopathic medical schools in the U.S., more than 6,400 applied to MCOM, which means that each new MCOM student’s chance of being a part of this class was less than 2.8%.
*This story was updated with more current info that includes MCAT scores, national percentile ranking, and GPAs.
