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LECOM tops list of medical schools receiving the most applicants in 2016

Last year, the school received more applications than any other medical school in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) likely received more applications than any other medical school in the country for the 2016-2017 school year, according to U.S. News & World Report, which tracked applications to 118 U.S. medical schools.

LECOM received more than 16,000 applications. In 2016, the school had 277 students in its first-year class at its flagship campus in Erie, Pennsylvania, along with 114 first-year students at its additional location in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and 199 first-year students at its branch campus in Bradenton, Florida, according to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.

Another DO school, Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (WesternU/COMP), landed in the list’s No. 6 spot, receiving more than 11,000 applications for its 2016-2017 class. Last year, the school had 235 first-year students at its flagship campus and 108 students at its additional location in Lebanon, Oregon.

The average medical school received roughly 5,900 applications for the 2016-2017 school year, U.S. News reported, meaning LECOM netted more than double the average number of applicants, while WesternU/COMP received nearly double.

Here’s the full top 10 list, along with each medical school’s total number of 2016-2017 applications:

  1. Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, 16,187 applications
  2. Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 14,377 applications
  3. George Washington University, Washington, DC, 12,393 applications
  4. University of California—Los Angeles (Geffen), 12,081 applications
  5. Drexel University, Pennsylvania, 11,532 applications
  6. Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, 11,178 applications
  7. Thomas Jefferson University (Kimmel), Pennsylvania, 10,726 applications
  8. Brown University (Alpert), Rhode Island, 10,672 applications
  9. Temple University (Katz), Pennsylvania, 10,623 applications
  10. New York Medical College, 9,978 applications

More U.S. News med school rankings

Earlier this year, The DO reported on the eight osteopathic medical schools that landed on U.S. News’ lists of the best medical schools. You can find more analysis on how these schools are innovating in the areas in which they ranked here.

4 comments

  1. Lee Marshall D.O.

    As a DOI am very proud of our organization. My wife Dr.Susan Gendein – Marshall and I have participated in several interviews for applying candidates at the Lebanon, Oregon location of COMP.
    I am curious however as to how many of the other medical schools have more than one location ,as this may skew the results.
    Warmly,
    Lee Marshall D.O.

    1. Rose Raymond

      Hi Dr. Marshall,

      Thank you for your comment. That’s a great point. U.S. News & World Report’s list does not specify which schools have multiple campuses, or whether applications to all of a school’s campuses were included in their list. If you’d like clarification, you might consider reaching out to the author of the U.S. News article, Farran Powell, at fpowell@usnews.com. Many thanks.

  2. Adil Hussain

    I’m not denying that LECOM is a fine institution, but I’m pretty sure the reason for the huge number of applicants to this school in particular is due to their amazingly low tuition, especially when compared to other Osteopathic Medical Schools (most of which are private and thus have very high yearly tuition costs).

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