Early Assurance/Early Decision Programs

Early Assurance Program

The Early Assurance Program is an affiliation between Penn State College of Medicine and nine undergraduate colleges in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Its purpose is to offer conditional acceptance into medical school to students entering their junior (or freshman*) year of college. The nine undergraduate schools that currently participate in the College of Medicine’s Early Assurance Program are:

• Albright College
• Eastern Mennonite University
• Elizabethtown College*
• Franklin & Marshall College
• The Pennsylvania State University
• The Pennsylvania State University at Erie, The Behrend College
• West Chester University of Pennsylvania
• Wilkes University*
• York College of Pennsylvania

Please contact the premed advising office of participating undergraduate colleges for more information.

Early Decision Program

Penn State College of Medicine follows the procedures and guidelines for Early Decision application as indicated by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) website, with the following exception:

Whereas the AAMC guidelines indicate that the Early Decision applicant must provide all required supplemental information by August 1st, as Penn State College of Medicine participates in AMCAS, the deadline for submission of supplemental information from Early Decision applicants to Penn State College of Medicine is September 1st.

If these guidelines are met, applicants will be notified of the Admissions Committee's decision by October 1st. If not accepted under the Early Decision Program, applicants will automatically be placed in the regular applicant pool and may then apply to additional medical schools.

Please note that Penn State College of Medicine admits only a small portion of its entering class through the Early Decision Program. Only applicants with an excellent chance of admission should apply. Please refer to our course requirements page and our most recent entering Class Profile for details.