UofT Medical School Requirements and Acceptance Rate

The Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto is one of 17 medical schools in Canada. It is one of the oldest medical schools in Canada and has access to some of the best hospitals in Ontario.

In 2021, the UofT medical school acceptance rate was 5.99%. Of the 4,319 undergraduate students that applied, only 259 were admitted into the program.

The UofT medical school undergraduate requirements, including admission statistics, are categorized below in the priority of what an applicant must submit to be considered:

Academic

  1. Pre-requisite courses
  2. Minimum number of years of undergraduate study required
  3. GPA

Non-Academic 

  1. Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
  2. CASPer Test
  3. Personal Statement/ Essays
  4. Letter of Reference
  5. Interview

UofT Medical School Requirements: Prerequisite Courses

All students applying to UofT Medical School must have completed at least 3 years of undergraduate study by the proposed year of entry. If you are applying for admission while registered in your third year of undergraduate studies, it is expected that you should have at least three third-year or higher courses in your program. If you are in the fourth year of your program, you should be enrolled in a majority of courses at the third- and fourth-year levels. In addition to this your undergraduate studies must include the following courses:

  • Two full-course equivalents (12 units) in any life science
  • One full-course equivalent (6 units) in any of social sciences, humanities, or a language

UofT Med Requirements: GPA Calculation and Requirements

Minimum GPA to ApplyAverage GPA of accepted applicantsLowest GPA Admitted
3.63.96Not Released

For the 2022 application cycle, UofT Medical School has decided to no longer use a weighted GPA calculation. When calculating your GPA a simple average of all undergraduate degree courses will be taken. There are no exceptions or weighted GPA options for this university.

Courses for which a “Pass” or “Credit” grade is assigned are counted for credit, but will not be included in the GPA calculation.

UofT Medical School Requirements: MCAT and CASPer 

MCAT and CASPer Overview:

CASPer RequiredMCAT RequiredMCAT Scores Considered
XMost Recent Score

MCAT Admission Score Statistics:

C/P ScoreCARS ScoreB/B Score P/S Score
Minimum Score Admitted124124124124
Average Score AcceptedNRNRNRNR

CASPer Test: The Canadian Professional Health Sciences test is not required by this University.

Medical College Admission Test: The MCAT must be taken and released to UofT by the OMSAS November 6th deadline. Any test that is written within 5 years of the application deadline is valid for the application cycle. The MCAT is not weighted in admission decisions. All that is required is for applicants to meet a threshold of 125 in all sections with an allowance for 124 in one section. For those looking for MCAT prep courses, we recommend those offered by the Princeton Review. They are a reputable long standing company that offers a variety of different course options to meet individual needs.

UofT Medical School Reference Letters:

Three letters of recommendation are required by applicants. Applicants are not allowed to use family members, friends/colleagues of family members, neighbours, or someone who may be perceived as your peer as a referee. Otherwise, there are no requirements for who these letters of recommendation should come from.

Your references will be asked the following questions:

  1. Would this applicant make a good physician?
  2. Rate the applicant on their communication skills
  3. Rate the applicant on their problem-solving skills
  4. Rate the applicant on their professionalism (e.g., commitment to ethical practice, standards of behaviour and accountability to others)
  5. Rate the applicant on their empathy (e.g., demonstrating consideration of others’ perspectives)
  6. Identify and comment on 1 area of improvement for the applicant
  7. Share any other information you feel may be relevant to a medical school’s admissions committee.

Autobiographical Sketch and Personal Statements:

Autobiographical Sketch

UofT Medical School will take into account an applicant’s OMSAS autobiographical sketches (ABS). The purpose of the ABS is to get a brief understanding of who the applicant is as a person and what they have learned from their experiences that would make them a better physician. UofT will look at all ABS entries, completed since the age of 16, in the following categories:

  • Employment
  • Volunteering
  • Extracuricular Activites
  • Awards/Accomplishments
  • Research
  • Other

You will be required to provide verifiers for all activities included in your supplemental application. They may be contacted to elaborate on or confirm that certain events you described took place.

Personal Statements/Essays

Additionally, the following personal statement and essay questions must be submitted via OMSAS:

  • Two brief personal essay (250 words in length) answering a specific question about the UofT Medical School Values
  • One autobiographical statement (500 words in length) discussing your most impactful experience from your ABS

Your essays are assessed in the following ways:

  1. Does the response answer the question being asked?
  2. Is the response clear and do we understand the argument?
  3. Is the writing style concise?
  4. Is the applicant able to personalize their response by providing examples?
  5. Will the individuals reviewing the essay responses be able to identify these clusters in our responses?

When answering these questions make sure to completely answer the question in the prompt and clearly communicate the CanMED qualities in your personal essay.

UofT Medical School Interview:

MandatoryBy InvitationNumber of Applicants InvitedEntering Class Size
633259

Shortlisted candidates will be required to partake in an interview with the UofT admissions team.

The UofT Admissions committee will conduct a Modified Personal Interview (MPI) or its virtual counterpart on selected applicants. The MPI is a blend of MMI and traditional panel-style interviews. It consists of four independent interviews assessed by four different interviewers. Each interview is approximately 12 minutes in length with a 3-minute break between stations. The virtual equivalent of the interview is completed asynchronously with a video response that is approximately 5 minutes in length.

The MPI allows for short one-on-one interactions that are more conversational, similar to a panel interview, while still having the benefit of multiple assessors. There are no stations involving role-play or collaborating with other applicants. Additionally, there will only ever be one assessor per station.

Each station will follow specific guiding themes with a mix of standard questions, which are asked to all participants, as well as those that are more specific to your application. If time permits, applicants will also be given the opportunity to ask questions to their assessors about the program.

The goal of MPI is to learn more about who you are as an applicant and determine whether or not you have the qualities necessary to be successful in UofT’s medical program. Because of this, it is recommended that students familiarize themselves with the UofT clusters (professional, advocate, scholar, communicator/collaborator/manager) and the CanMEDS roles. This will give you an idea of the sort of qualities the program is looking for and help prepare you for interview day.

If you are looking for interview practice check out our posts on both MMI Practice Questions and Standard Interview Practice Questions.

UofT Med Offers of Admission Decision:

UofT Medical School’s offers for admission will be based upon a mix of academic achievement, supplemental application, and results of the interview process. The breakdown of acceptance decisions is as follows:

  • File Review (33%): GPA, References, ABS, Statements/Essays
  • Interview Results (67%)

Requirements for other Medical Schools in Canada:

If you would like an in-depth analysis of the medical school requirements for other universities in Canada click here. Or if you want information on a specific university click on any of the following links:

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