Wake Forest

Wake Forest University School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC · Private · MD

Average MCAT: 511
Average GPA: 3.82
Class size: 193 (14,403 applicants)
Tuition: $66,895 (per year)
Out-of-state applicants: Welcome

Deadlines

AMCAS deadline: Oct. 15, 2026
Early Decision Program: Aug. 3, 2026
Secondary deadline: Nov. 15, 2026

Essays

Improve health for all (200 words)

The mission of our academic health system is to improve health for all. Consider your abilities, insights, and previous experiences and then tell us about your potential to help improve health for all.

Non-academic challenge (200 words)

Describe a non-academic challenge you have faced and explain how you overcame it.

Most formative meaningful experience (200 words)

From your list of "most meaningful experiences" on the AMCAS application, choose one that has been the most formative in terms of your desire for a career in medicine. Why did that experience have such meaning for you in your decision-making process?

Collaboration (200 words)

Please share an experience that demonstrates how you have collaborated with others.

Commitment (200 words)

Tell us about a time you have committed yourself to something.

Why Wake Forest (150 words)

Tell us about any specific reason(s) (personal, educational, etc.) why you see yourself here at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Surprising fact (50 words)

Please tell us an interesting fact about yourself that a casual acquaintance may find surprising or interesting.

Editor's notes

Check the screen before you pay. Wake Forest won't send a secondary below a 500 MCAT or a 3.2 BCPM GPA, and even above the line, the Class of 2030 averaged 511 and 3.82. With 14,403 applicants for 193 seats, the $130 secondary is worth it only if your numbers and story fit.
Casper is required and results last only one cycle, so book it early. The last test Wake counts is Nov. 12, 2026, but your file isn't complete until the scores are released, and offers have been rolling since Oct. 15.
Seven short essays in 1,200 words total means you have to divide your material. Map one story to each prompt before you draft, so the challenge, collaboration and commitment essays don't all lean on the same job.
Know the two campuses. The pre-clerkship teaching differs (problem-based in Charlotte, lecture plus small groups in Winston-Salem), and a clear, reasoned view of which fits you makes the why-Wake essay and the interview more specific.