Top 10 Medical Schools With Rolling Admissions in 2026

Nearly every U.S. medical school, MD and DO alike, reviews applications in some form of rolling process, but not all schools handle that process the same way. Some schools with rolling admissions make their timeline explicit and easy to plan around, offering interviews and decisions continuously from summer through spring, while others keep their review closer to a single cycle even if a handful of offers trickle out early.

That distinction matters more than it might seem. When a school genuinely reviews files as they arrive, an application submitted in June can land in front of an admissions committee months before one submitted in October, even though both technically meet the deadline. Below, you'll find 10 MD and DO programs known for a clearly rolling process, along with what that means for how and when you should apply.

What Does Rolling Admissions Mean for Medical Schools?

Rolling admissions means a school reviews complete, verified applications continuously rather than waiting for one deadline to pass before evaluating anyone. For MD programs, that starts with AMCAS, which typically opens for submissions in late May, while DO programs use AACOMAS, which usually opens in early May; both services take several weeks to verify transcripts and MCAT scores before sending a completed file to any school on your list.

Once a school has your verified application, interview invitations under a genuinely rolling model go out in waves for months, sometimes from July through the following spring, with acceptances offered as soon as the admissions committee identifies a strong candidate rather than all at once. That's why applying as close to the opening of the cycle as possible matters even at a school with a distant final deadline: interview slots and seats shrink as the months pass, so a complete application submitted in early summer is almost always competing for a bigger pool of openings than the same file submitted in the fall.

Top Medical Schools With Rolling Admissions

The MD and DO programs below all confirm a genuinely rolling review process on their own admissions pages, not just a single acceptance date dressed up to look flexible. Here's what stands out about each one.

1. Rush Medical College

Rush Medical College, part of Rush University in Chicago, holds full accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and awards an MD through a curriculum built around Chicago's underserved communities and population health. The school places heavy weight on community involvement and service experience alongside academics, and its urban location gives students exposure to a genuinely diverse patient population from early in the program.

Rush runs interviews continuously from August through February and makes admissions decisions on an ongoing, rolling basis throughout that entire window rather than in batches. Because the admissions committee votes weekly and continues extending offers as seats open up, even applicants interviewed later in the cycle still have a real shot, though earlier applicants naturally see more available seats and a longer runway before the class fills.

2. Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Case Western Reserve University offers a University Program that holds LCME accreditation and awards an MD through the WR2 curriculum, which integrates clinical mastery, research, leadership, and civic professionalism from the first year onward. The school also offers a separate College Program and an MD/PhD track through its Medical Scientist Training Program, though the University Program is the one that operates on a fully rolling basis.

Secondary application invitations go out roughly two weeks after AMCAS verification, and interviews and decisions continue on a rolling basis well into the spring. Case Western is explicit that this rolling model is designed to give students interviewed later in the cycle a fair shot rather than exhausting all its offers on the earliest applicants, though submitting early still gives you the advantage of a fuller pool of open seats.

3. University of California, Los Angeles

UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine holds LCME accreditation and offers an MD through both a Traditional MD track and the combined PRIME and MSTP programs, the latter two of which admit by cohort rather than on a rolling basis. For the Traditional MD track, offers of admission go out on a rolling schedule throughout the cycle rather than all at once.

The school participates in AMCAS with an October application deadline, and its admissions committee actively seeks out applicants whose experiences reflect UCLA's research strengths and Los Angeles's diverse patient population. Because rolling decisions continue for months after the deadline passes, an early, complete application still gives you meaningfully more open seats to compete for than one submitted closer to October.

4. University of California, San Diego

UC San Diego's School of Medicine holds LCME accreditation and awards an MD through a curriculum with strong ties to the university's research infrastructure and La Jolla's biotech and healthcare corridor. Applicants submit through AMCAS by October 15, and letters of recommendation, along with a possible committee letter, factor heavily into the review.

What sets UC San Diego apart is how directly its admissions office describes its rolling process: offers go out in a small, steady stream throughout the year rather than in one large batch after the deadline, and applicants reviewed later in the cycle are explicitly told they're not at a structural disadvantage. That said, the school still encourages early submission, since a fuller slate of open seats simply gives every complete application a better shot.

5. Wayne State University

Wayne State University's School of Medicine, located in Detroit, holds LCME accreditation and awards an MD through the Highways to Excellence curriculum, which emphasizes organ-systems learning integrated with early, hands-on clinical exposure in one of the country's most distinctive urban healthcare settings. The school also offers an Early Decision Program for applicants who want to commit exclusively to Wayne State for a chance at an earlier answer.

Regular admission offers begin October 15 and continue on a rolling basis through the start of classes the following summer, with interview invitations issued continuously from late summer through winter. Wayne State's interviews use a Multiple Mini Interview format across several short stations, and because offers keep going out for months after the October start date, timing your application early in the AMCAS cycle still meaningfully improves your odds.

6. University of Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine holds LCME accreditation and awards an MD through a traditional four-year curriculum with combined-degree options in fields like public health and business administration. The school reviews applications through AMCAS and a required online secondary application before inviting roughly 600 applicants to interview each cycle.

Cincinnati's admissions committee meets and makes decisions every two weeks starting October 15, and applicants placed in its alternate pool remain under active consideration at every subsequent meeting through April rather than being set aside until a single later date. Because that alternate pool is reviewed continuously rather than frozen, an early, strong application gives you more chances to move from alternate to accepted as the cycle unfolds.

7. Kansas City University

Kansas City University's (KCU) College of Osteopathic Medicine, with campuses in Kansas City and Joplin, Missouri, holds accreditation from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) and awards a DO through a curriculum grounded in osteopathic principles alongside a full complement of clinical training. As one of the largest and longest-running DO programs in the country, KCU offers a broad range of clinical rotation sites across its network.

KCU explicitly admits on a rolling basis, reviewing AACOMAS applications and inviting qualified candidates to a secondary application on an ongoing schedule. Interviews run from August through March, and decisions typically arrive within four to eight weeks of an interview, so applicants who submit early in the cycle get first access to the widest pool of open seats.

8. Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), with its main campus in Erie, Pennsylvania and additional locations including Bradenton, Florida, Seton Hill, and Elmira, holds COCA accreditation and is the largest DO-granting institution in the country by enrollment. The school awards a DO through several curriculum tracks, including problem-based learning and a self-directed study option, giving students some choice in how they engage with the material.

LECOM runs a genuinely rolling admissions cycle from May through the following May, reviewing AACOMAS applications as they arrive and conducting interviews from October through March with acceptance notifications issued on a rolling basis throughout. The school also offers an Academic Index Score pathway, which can substitute GPA and standardized test history for the MCAT in certain cases, adding another route for strong academic candidates.

9. Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine

Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM), spread across campuses in Athens, Cleveland, and Dublin, Ohio, holds COCA accreditation and awards a DO through a curriculum built around training primary care physicians for Ohio's underserved and Appalachian communities. All applicants are automatically considered for the Athens campus, with the secondary application allowing candidates to express interest in the Cleveland or Dublin locations as well.

The admissions committee offers seats to the incoming class on a weekly basis once interviews begin in September, continuing that rolling process through late April. Because OU-HCOM notifies candidates of a decision the same day as their interview, and because those interviews stretch across seven months, applying early in the AACOMAS cycle gives you access to a meaningfully larger pool of still-open seats.

10. Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) operates across four campuses in Blacksburg, Virginia; Spartanburg, South Carolina; Auburn, Alabama; and Monroe, Louisiana, each in partnership with a local university, and holds COCA accreditation for its DO program. The school's mission centers on training physicians for rural and medically underserved communities across the Appalachian and Delta regions, and its curriculum includes hands-on osteopathic manipulative medicine training from early in the program.

VCOM applicants apply once through AACOMAS and can rank multiple VCOM campuses in their secondary application rather than submitting separate applications to each. The school is explicit that it fills open positions as qualified applications arrive, with interviews conducted from August through April, so applicants who submit well ahead of the recommended early-consideration dates have a real edge over those who wait.

How We Rank Schools

To create this list, we review data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), along with admissions policies and program information published directly by each school.

We also weigh factors specific to prospective medical students that go beyond general institutional reputation.

• Accreditation: MD programs must hold accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), while DO programs are accredited by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA); both confirm a program meets the standards required for graduates to sit for licensing exams.
• Rolling admissions process: We looked for schools that describe a genuinely continuous review, with interviews and decisions spread across months, rather than a single acceptance date dressed up as rolling.
• Clinical education: We considered the range and quality of clinical rotation sites and any distinctive training tracks, since hands-on experience shapes how prepared graduates feel entering residency.
• Student outcomes: USMLE or COMLEX pass rates, residency Match rates, and graduation rates, where publicly available, all factored into which schools made the cut.

Learn more about our ranking methodology.

Benefits of Medical Schools With Rolling Admissions

Rolling admissions changes more than just when you hear back; it shapes how competitive your specific application is against the specific pool it's compared to at the moment it's reviewed. Understanding those advantages can help you decide how much weight to put on a school's admissions model as you finalize your list.

Beyond speed, a genuinely rolling process tends to reward applicants who do their groundwork early, since your file gets measured against a smaller, earlier slice of the applicant pool rather than the full cycle's worth of submissions all landing on an admissions committee's desk at once.

Earlier Admissions Decisions

Because rolling schools evaluate complete files as they arrive rather than holding every application until one date, you can get a real answer, whether an interview invite, an acceptance, or constructive feedback, months before a single-deadline school would even start reviewing your file.

Multiple Interview Opportunities

Interviews at rolling schools are typically scheduled across many months rather than a single weekend, which gives you more flexibility to prepare for each one individually and, in some cases, room to improve your candidacy between an early rejection at one school and a later interview at another.

More Time To Plan Financial Aid and Relocation

An early acceptance gives you a longer window to sort out financial aid paperwork, scholarship applications, and any relocation a program requires, rather than compressing all of that planning into the few weeks between a late decision and the start of orientation.

Flexible Application Timing

While submitting early is almost always the stronger move, a rolling process still gives you some room if you need extra time to retake the MCAT or finish a prerequisite, since a complete file can still be reviewed well into the cycle rather than being judged solely against a single fixed date.

How To Choose a Medical School With Rolling Admissions

A school's admissions timeline is only one factor to weigh alongside several others as you build your list. Here are five areas worth examining closely before you commit your AMCAS or AACOMAS application to a program.

Accreditation

Confirm an MD program holds LCME accreditation or a DO program holds COCA accreditation, since this status is what makes graduates eligible to sit for USMLE or COMLEX and pursue licensure.

Clinical Rotations

Look at where and how a program places students for clinical rotations, including whether it maintains its own affiliated hospitals or relies on a broader clinical network, since that shapes the breadth of patient populations and specialties you'll encounter.

Admissions Requirements

Compare each program's expectations around GPA, MCAT scores, and clinical or research experience, since these vary meaningfully between schools and a strong candidate at one program may need a different strategy to stand out at another.

Program Costs and Financial Aid

Weigh total cost of attendance alongside available scholarships, loan forgiveness programs, and any tuition guarantees, since medical school costs vary widely and rarely track cleanly with a school's prestige or selectivity.

Student Outcomes

Check USMLE or COMLEX first-time pass rates, residency Match rates, and graduation rates where a school publishes them, since these figures tell you more about how well a program prepares its students than reputation alone.

When Should You Apply to a Rolling Admissions Medical School?

Given how rolling admissions actually functions, submitting early in the AMCAS or AACOMAS cycle is one of the few things entirely within your control that meaningfully affects your odds. Both services typically open for submissions in May, and getting your primary application in during that first wave puts you ahead of the queue at nearly every school on this list.

Reaching that point requires groundwork well before the application opens. Finish your prerequisite coursework early enough that grades post to an official transcript in time, take the MCAT with enough of a buffer that your scores are back before your target schools' secondary deadlines, and request letters of recommendation early enough that your writers aren't rushed during their busiest season. Transcript delays are one of the most common reasons a strong application stalls in verification, so requesting transcripts from every institution you've attended as soon as you decide to apply can save weeks once the cycle is underway.

Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Schools With Rolling Admissions

Rolling admissions raises a handful of practical questions beyond the basics of how the process works. Here are five that come up often.

Do MD and DO Schools Handle Rolling Admissions the Same Way?

Not exactly, though both generally review applications continuously rather than waiting for one deadline. DO schools often begin extending acceptances earlier in the cycle than MD schools, since AMCAS's October 15 rule prevents MD programs from making offers before that date, while AACOMAS doesn't impose the same restriction on DO programs.

Is There Ever an Advantage to Applying Later in a Rolling Cycle?

Generally not, though there are limited exceptions. If you need additional time to retake the MCAT, complete a prerequisite, or add a meaningful new experience to your file, submitting a stronger application slightly later can outweigh the advantage of raw timing, but this trade-off only makes sense if the improvement is substantial.

Can You Be Accepted Off a Waitlist at a Rolling Admissions School?

Yes, and it happens regularly, since many schools continue pulling from an alternate list or waitlist throughout the cycle as admitted students decline offers or commit elsewhere. Some schools, like the University of Cincinnati, explicitly review their alternate pool at every subsequent committee meeting rather than freezing it until a single later date.

Does Applying to a Rolling School Affect How Many Other Schools You Can Apply To?

Not directly, since AMCAS and AACOMAS both let you apply to as many participating schools as you choose regardless of any individual program's admissions model. That said, managing several rolling timelines at once takes real organization, since each school's interview windows and secondary deadlines move independently of one another.

Do Rolling Admissions Schools Ever Reject Applicants Without an Interview?

Yes, and this is standard across nearly all medical schools regardless of admissions model. Primary and secondary applications are typically screened well before any interview invitations go out, so a large share of applicants are declined at that earlier stage without ever reaching the interview itself.

Explore Medical Programs

Comparing MD and DO programs side by side can help you build a realistic, well-timed application strategy, and Learn.org can help you line up the schools on this list to see how their formats and timelines compare. From there, reaching out directly to each school's admissions office is the best way to confirm current deadlines and requirements before you apply.