WMU School of Medicine announces early decision program

Contact: Laura Eller
Photo of the WMU Medical School building.

Artist's rendering of the WMU School of Medicine building renovations.

KALAMAZOO—Students from both Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College have an opportunity for an early admission decision to attend the Western Michigan University School of Medicine.

WMedStart is an early decision program that accepts students during their junior year of undergraduate education for admission to the WMU medical school for the academic year following completion of their baccalaureate education.

WMedStart is open to all qualified students from WMU and Kalamazoo College. Applicants are selected on the basis of their experiences, attributes and performance in academic studies. Experiences typically include a combination of volunteer service, community service, leadership roles or research.

Successful applicants are notified of acceptance toward the end of their junior year. Students who accept an offer of admission to the WMU School of Medicine must agree not to apply to other medical schools since they have officially accepted admission to medical school.

"The WMedStart program is an excellent way to offer outstanding students from Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College a seamless transition into medical school," says Hal B. Jenson, founding dean of the WMU School of Medicine. "Our organizations and the students admitted will all benefit from this collaboration."

Applications available in December

The WMedStart application will be available Dec. 1 for consideration for the medical school class beginning in 2015. The deadline to submit a WMedStart application and for the school to receive all supporting materials is Jan. 31. There is a $75 nonrefundable application fee.

To apply for the WMedStart program, students from WMU and K College must be in the junior year of their undergraduate studies and have an overall GPA of 3.7 or higher, with a GPA in science—biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics—of 3.5 or higher.

Other requirements and information about how to apply can be found on the WMU School of Medicine website at med.wmich.edu/admissions/wmedstart. Prospective applicants may also call the school's Office of Admissions at (269) 337-6103 or send email to admissions@med.wmich.edu.

For current news from the WMU School of Medicine, visit med.wmich.edu/about-us/news-and-media/news.

About the Western Michigan University School of Medicine

The WMU School of Medicine is a collaboration between Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo's two teaching hospitals, Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare. It has been in planning since 2008 and was granted preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education in 2012. Welcoming its first class in fall 2014, the school is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation supported by private gifts, clinical revenue, research activity, tuition from students and endowment income. In March 2011, Western Michigan University received a gift of $100 million for the medical school from anonymous donors.

The home of the new medical school includes the WMU School of Medicine Clinics, a modern 60,000-square-foot clinical building and a seven-story, 350,000-square-foot building in downtown Kalamazoo that was donated by MPI Research. Located on the W.E. Upjohn Campus, the building is undergoing a $68 million renovation and expansion project and opens in June 2014.