The medical school’s 12th class of future physicians has officially arrived.
The 86 students who make up the Class of 2029 were welcomed to the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus on Monday, July 7, along with seven students who are completing a one-year Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree.
The MD Class of 2029 was chosen from a pool of 5,896 applicants, an increase of 37 percent over last year and the highest number in school history. At WMed, the admissions process is holistic and seeks students who possess strong personal attributes and outstanding pre-medical experiences. The cohort is academically excellent, boasting an average MCAT score of 512 with scores ranging from 497 to 522, along with an average GPA of 3.81.
“We are so excited to have these students in Kalamazoo to begin their medical training,” said Val Horwath, Director of Admissions at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed). “Our Admissions Committee hand-picked these students based on their outstanding attributes, experiences, and academics, and we are confident they will make strong contributions to both the class and the field of medicine.”
The newest MD class is composed of 49 women and 37 men from 18 states. They range in age from 21 years old to 35 years old with an overall average age of 24. Students in the class hail from across the country, including 41 Michigan residents and 14 students and 13 students from California and Illinois, respectively.
With collaboration and teamwork as pillars of our curriculum, this group of students comes to WMed by way of 49 undergraduate institutions where many pursued majors in the biological sciences, while other majors include architecture, chemistry, chemical engineering, computer science, exercise science, global health, linguistics, and music.
Highly represented undergraduate institutions include University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Locally, 13 students are from Southwest Michigan and six attended an institution with which WMed has a preferred relationship.
The Class of 2029 is being joined at the medical school by seven students who are pursuing a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree. The master’s degree program, now in its 10th year, is designed specifically for applicants to WMed who have strength in their pre-medical experiences and attributes and would benefit from additional basic science preparation before beginning their pursuit of a MD degree.
The students who are pursuing the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree bring a wide breadth of backgrounds and experiences to the learning environment at WMed. The students, as part of their acceptance to the master’s program, are conditionally accepted to the WMed MD Class of 2030.
Meanwhile, students in the Class of 2029 will receive their white coats and be officially welcomed into the medical profession on Friday, September 5, during a White Coat Ceremony at Western Michigan University’s Miller Auditorium. Please visit https://wmed.edu/whitecoat for more information.