Entering Class Profile

Approximately one of every five applicants to U.S. medical schools for the 2007–08 academic year applied to the Feinberg School. The 169 members of the Class of 2011 include 85 men and 84 women. Their undergraduate majors span the spectrum from biology to biomedical engineering, economics, psychology, and history. Our new students possess a wide range of life experiences, proven leadership and team skills, and collectively, speak 25 different languages.

The undergraduate grade point average (GPA) for the Class of 2011 is 3.71 overall and 3.68 in the sciences. Average scores on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) for the class are 11.8 in the biological sciences, 11.8 in the physical sciences, and 10.6 in verbal skills. The medical school had 7,527 applicants for the 129 positions available through the regular admissions process.

Among our new students, represented self-described racial and ethnic groups are 11 (6.5 percent) African and African American; 59 (35 percent) Asian; 10 (6 percent) Hispanic; 3 (2 percent) Native American or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; and 80 (47 percent) White. Sixteen new students chose not to self-describe.

There are 40 (24 percent) non-traditional students—those who have taken off two or more years between their undergraduate studies and medical school—in the class. They and the traditional students range in age from 20 to 38 years old, claim 69 institutions as their undergraduate alma maters, and hail from 32 states and 13 foreign countries. 

Fifteen students entered the Feinberg School of Medicine's Medical Scientist Training Program and will receive both MD and PHD degrees when they complete their studies. Thirty-five students entered through the Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME) and five through the Northwestern Undergraduate Premedical Scholars Program (NUPSP).

Sixteen members of the 2011 class have earned advanced degrees, including a PhD. in Neuroscience, six Masters in Science, and four Masters in Public Health.

Entering class members possess extensive research experience:  82 percent engaged in research on the undergraduate or graduate level.  Forty percent are authors on a research publication or presentation.  Among the Class of 2011 there are Howard Hughes, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Mayo research fellows and awardees.  Our students are Goldwater, Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key Society honorees. 

Their volunteer experience includes service with Americorps, Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, and Teach for America.  Additionally, our students have volunteered as EMTs, in hospices, local soup kitchens, at boys and girls clubs, and more.

The 2011 class has a varsity football Division 1 player, snowboarders, Marathon and long distance runners, Lacrosse and rugby players, Triathlon participants, a competitive speed jump roper and a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. Class members possess experience in business consulting, as a scuba diver, a freelance photographer, an English teacher in China, and a high school chemistry teacher as well as a patent owner for a corneal electrode array.  The class includes Indian classical, Flamenco, and Irish dancers, a synchronized skater, and more than 8 pianists, 6 guitar players, and a flautist, among a number of other musicians and dancers. 

One student received certification as a patisserie chef from the Ritz in Paris while another served as a special advocate volunteer for the juvenile court system.