UW (WWAMI)

University of Washington School of Medicine Seattle, WA · Public · MD

Average MCAT: 511
Average GPA: 3.70
Class size: 280 (5,275 applicants)
Tuition: $105,421 (per year, nonresident)
Out-of-state applicants: Limited

Deadlines

AMCAS deadline: Oct. 1, 2026
Secondary deadline: Nov. 15, 2026

Essays

Essay 1

Describe how your experiences have prepared you to work effectively with classmates, patients, and colleagues from a wide variety of backgrounds, perspectives, geographic regions, and lived experiences.

Essay 2

Describe an academic, personal, or professional challenge you have encountered, how you responded, and what you learned from facing the challenge. How did it prepare you to be a physician?

Essay 3 (Why WWAMI)

Why WWAMI? Describe how your preparation, service, and career goals align with the cohort that you are applying to [i.e., WY, AK, MT, ID, WA (Seattle or Spokane)].

Essay 4

What shapes a person's health in the U.S. beyond the care they receive, and how have you come to understand this through your own life or work?

Essay 5 (Social sciences and humanities competency)

Demonstrated competency - Social sciences, Humanities or "Human Condition" Entering medical students should understand the social forces that shape the health of the individuals and communities they will serve. This includes understanding how social contextual factors and policy operate at the community and national level to impact the health of individuals. Students should be familiar with disparities in health currently present in society and their underlying etiologies. Candidates seeking acceptance to UWSOM can establish competency in this area through course work in the social sciences, humanities or related interdisciplinary fields such as public health or ethnic and gender studies, clinical and/or population health research, service learning, lived experience or a combination of thereof. Examples of social science/humanities coursework to consider: Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science, Economics, Psychology, Religion, History, Philosophy, Literature.? Describe your competency by explaining how you have explored and come to understand issues in the social sciences and humanities as they relate to the practice of medicine.

Reapplicant essay

For Reapplicants: Please share any areas of growth since your previous application and what you’ve learned from the process.

Editor's notes

If you're not from Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana or Idaho, look hard at the numbers before applying. Out-of-region applicants had a 0.4% offer rate over three years, and they're considered only if they have a real WWAMI tie plus underserved service or hardship. The pre-secondary statement is your whole case. Spend your effort there.
UW is strict about completeness. It won't take written activity updates, holds files with pending MCATs, and tells you to wait a year if new experiences would make your application much better. With a limit of three completed applications, applying before you're ready costs you one of your chances.
Washington applicants choose Seattle or Spokane in the secondary and can't switch after interviewing. Spokane has 60 seats against Seattle's 100 and has had the higher post-interview offer rate (52.2% vs. 30.4% over three years). Choose the site you actually want, and write Essay 3 about that site.
The interview is a 30-minute virtual panel, and two of the three interviewers won't see your grades or MCAT. Your stories carry the room. The Executive Committee member has read everything, so be ready to go deep on anything in your file, especially your research and your social sciences competency.