July 3, 2025
Written By
Michael Minh Le
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You’re eyeing California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM), but you’re not sure if you’re actually competitive. So, what is the California University of Science and Medicine acceptance rate? Will your And GPA, MCAT, and story be enough to beat the odds?
In this guide, we’ll break down the CUSM acceptance rate and exactly what it takes to get accepted here. We’ll cover average stats, eligibility, what makes the school unique, and how to craft a compelling application.
At Premed Catalyst, we’ve been through this exact process ourselves. That’s why we created a free resource that shows you 8 full AMCAS applications that earned acceptances to top California schools like UCLA and UCSF. You’ll see what success actually looks like, so you can model your app accordingly.
Get your free resource here.
For the 2025 entering class, the California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM) received 6,306 applications. Out of these, only 129 students matriculated.
That’s an acceptance rate of approximately 2.05%. To put that in perspective, that means out of 100 applicants, only 2 get accepted.
Another number to note: 97.7% of the matriculants were California residents. Which means if you’re out of state, this is likely not the school for you.
CUSM students come with the numbers. Average GPA? 3.66. Average MCAT? 513.
That puts them slightly above the national med school average.
But here’s the deal: there’s no official cutoff. No GPA floor or MCAT ceiling. You can still have a shot if your stats are below those averages. That said, if your GPA’s under 3.0 or your MCAT sections are dipping below 125, you’re likely not going to be competitive.
To apply to CUSM, you need:
And as for classes? Here’s what you need:
Biochem, stats, and calc are recommended, not required. But if you want to stand out, take them. Especially biochem.
At CUSM, tuition for the 2024–2025 academic year is around $63,000. Add in fees, health insurance, and living expenses in Southern California, and your total cost of attendance can easily climb north of $90,000 per year.
Four years of that? You’re looking at over $360,000.
Now, for the good news: CUSM does offer scholarships, and they’re not just for 4.0/528 robots. There are need-based grants, merit-based awards, and a handful of mission-aligned scholarships for students dedicated to community health and underserved populations.
The catch? They’re limited. So apply early, write compelling essays, and don’t be shy about reaching out to financial aid.
California University of Science and Medicine is one of the newest med schools in the country, and it's already carving out a reputation as a mission-driven powerhouse. Built to serve California’s underserved communities, especially in the Inland Empire, CUSM blends purpose with progress.
Founded in 2015 by Dr. Prem Reddy and the Prime Healthcare Foundation, CUSM was established with a clear goal: to address the physician shortage in underserved areas like California's Inland Empire. This region has fewer than 35 primary care physicians per 100,000 residents, roughly half the recommended benchmark for accessible care.
CUSM doesn’t make you wait two years to see a patient. From year one, you’re already in clinics, learning how to think like a doctor, not just memorize like a student.
It’s system-based, case-driven, and designed to tie your classroom learning to real-world medicine right away. Programs like CARE (Community and Regional Engagement) give you hands-on experience early, with underserved populations.
No crumbling old lecture halls here. The CUSM campus is modern, clean, and built with med students in mind. You’ve got high-tech simulation labs, clinical skills rooms, and study spaces that don’t feel like dungeons. It’s the kind of environment that supports focus, collaboration, and actual learning, not just survival.
CUSM doesn’t just talk about diversity. They act on it. The school’s admissions and campus culture are built to include voices that have traditionally been shut out of medicine, whether that’s first-gen students, historically excluded backgrounds, or those returning to medicine later in life. If you’ve felt like an outsider elsewhere, CUSM might feel like home.
CUSM is still young, but the results? Impressive. Their match rate has been 100% since their first graduating class in 2022. Students are landing spots in competitive specialties and strong hospitals across the country. And if you’re not quite ready for the MD leap, their MBS program has been a solid launchpad, with nearly 50% of grads getting into med school within three years.
CUSM is looking for future doctors who don’t just want the title, but the mission. The school’s application process is designed to test exactly that from your personal statement to your secondaries, your letters of recommendation to the interview room.
Your personal statement isn’t a list of achievements. It’s a narrative. One that connects who you are, what you’ve been through, and why you’re ready to become a physician. The trick? Every claim you make should be backed up with a lived experience.
If you say you’re passionate about serving the underserved, then you need to show experience working in free clinics, mentoring first-gen students, organizing health fairs, or translating for patients in under-resourced hospitals. To put it simply: values without action are just noise.
CUSM requires three letters of recommendation submitted through AMCAS. These letters should come from individuals who can attest to your academic abilities, character, and suitability for a medical career. Acceptable sources include faculty members, medical professionals, and community organization leaders.
CUSM’s secondary application includes several essay prompts designed to assess your alignment with the school's values and mission. Below are some of the prompts from recent application cycles, along with strategies for addressing them:
1. “Diversity comes in many forms. How do you think you might contribute to the diversity of the class?”
Approach: This isn’t just about race, ethnicity, or gender, although it can be. Think broadly: are you a first-gen student? A career changer? Did you grow up rural or in a medically underserved community? Are you a parent, a caregiver, an immigrant?
Show how your background has shaped the way you relate to others, navigate challenges, or think about patient care. Then explain how those perspectives will add value to a diverse learning environment at CUSM
2. “Describe the last time you were criticized by a peer or supervisor. How did you handle it?”
Approach: This is a test of emotional maturity. Don’t dodge it or try to spin the criticism into a fake compliment (“I care too much”). Pick a real moment when someone gave you feedback you didn’t like hearing.
Then show how you responded: Did you take time to reflect? Did you change your behavior? What did you learn about yourself? End by connecting it to medicine. Your willingness to grow will directly impact how well you work on teams and how you treat patients.
3. “Give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. Why was this person difficult? How did you handle that person?”
Approach: CUSM is preparing you to be part of a healthcare team, and healthcare teams are full of different personalities under real pressure. Choose an example that shows patience, communication, and conflict resolution. Maybe you had a lab partner who flaked, a co-worker who was condescending, or a fellow volunteer with different values.
Focus on how you responded, not how wrong they were. Show humility, empathy, and a focus on the bigger goal.
4. “What would be the best example that shows you are a person of integrity?”
Approach: This is a chance to show your moral compass in action. Think about a time when you could’ve cut corners and didn’t. Or when standing up for what was right came at a personal cost. It could be academic (reporting cheating), clinical (protecting patient privacy), or personal (calling out bias, even when it was uncomfortable).
Walk through your decision-making process, what you risked, and what you learned. CUSM wants doctors who will do the right thing.
5. “If given the opportunity to attend medical school, where would you see yourself in ten years?”
Approach: Don’t just say “I want to be a doctor.” That’s obvious. Show that you’ve thought about how you want to practice medicine and where. Are you drawn to primary care, rural health, academic medicine, community clinics? Mention specific goals (e.g., starting a mobile clinic, working with immigrant populations, researching diabetes in low-income communities).
Then tie it back to CUSM’s mission. They want grads who will stay connected to underserved populations and give back.
At CUSM, the interview is traditional and open-file, meaning your interviewer has read your primary and secondary applications and will ask questions based on them.
This isn’t an MMI or a panel. It’s typically one-on-one and conversational. You’ll get questions that dig into your motivations for medicine, your alignment with CUSM’s mission, and your personal qualities like resilience, empathy, and ethical decision-making.
Expect to discuss specific stories you’ve already written about like clinical experiences, volunteer work, leadership challenges. This is why your application needs to be honest: if you stretched the truth, they’ll be able to tell.
Applying to CUSM? Timing is everything. Like most med schools, CUSM uses the AMCAS system and follows a rolling admissions process, which means the earlier you apply, the better your chances.
Below is a breakdown of the key dates and deadlines you need to hit to stay on track:
CUSM isn’t trying to be everything to everyone, and that’s exactly what makes it worth considering. This is a school with a clear mission: to train physicians who will show up for underserved communities, especially in California’s Inland Empire. If that mission lights a fire in you, you’ll probably thrive here.
The school does a lot right. You get early clinical exposure, a collaborative environment, and a tight focus on patient-centered care. The campus is new, thoughtfully designed, and the support from faculty is real.
But let’s be honest, CUSM isn’t built for everyone. If your goal is to land at a powerhouse research institution or chase big-name prestige, this may not be your place. It doesn’t have a massive research infrastructure or a university hospital system of its own. Clinical rotations happen at partner hospitals like Arrowhead Regional, which offer meaningful experiences but not name recognition.
California is home to a diverse array of medical schools, each offering unique programs, missions, and opportunities. Whether you're interested in cutting-edge research, primary care, community service, or holistic medicine, there's a California medical school that aligns with your goals.
Maybe CUSM is at the top of your list, or maybe it’s one of several California schools you’re shooting for. Either way, you’re probably asking yourself: Is my app actually good enough? Are your GPA and MCAT competitive? Are your essays telling the right story? And most of all: what does a successful application really look like?
That’s exactly why at Premed Catalyst we created a free resource that takes out the guesswork. It includes 8 full AMCAS applications that earned acceptances to top California med schools like UCLA and UCSF.
You’ll see how applicants just like you told their story, proved their mission fit, and got into the schools you’re aiming for. Use them to model your own app.
Get the free resource here.
