Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine set a record for number of applications for 2026, far outpacing the nationwide year-over-year increase.
For the cycle, OUWB received 8,627 initial applications, up 15 percent compared with the previous year, according to Ray Wilson, director, Medical School Admissions.
By comparison, the increase in total applications nationally was 5 percent.
Of the OUWB applications received, a total of 125 will ultimately matriculate and become part of the school’s Class of 2030 in August.
“This is only the third time we’ve passed the 8,000-mark,” says Wilson. “It’s a big deal … outpacing the national number by more than 10 percent is almost unfathomable.”
The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) is run by the Association of American Medical Colleges, a centralized application service through which applicants begin the process by submitting grades, MCAT scores, descriptions of work experience and extracurricular activities, personal statements, and letters of recommendation.
The primary application process begins right after Memorial Day. (For applicants seeking to begin medical school about 15 months later.) AMCAS verifies all applications before sending them to individual schools. Starting in late June and through most of July, OUWB typically receives “a couple hundred applications almost every day,” says Wilson.
Things slow down through late summer and early fall until a final rush right before the Nov. 15 deadline.
Among other things, Wilson says the record number of preliminary applications for 2026 generally represents a wider geographic reach.
And while it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, Wilson says one reason could be due to more aggressive recruiting efforts.
“We’ve done a lot as far as physically going out to different locations and going places maybe we haven’t been previously,” he says.
Another factor, he says, could be that the number of people with connections to OUWB continues to grow. That means current students, the school’s 1,257 alumni, physicians, and families familiar with OUWB are talking about the school with others.
“We really try to abide by the ripple effect theory,” says Wilson.
For every application, OUWB performs an academic and eligibility screen. Those who don’t meet minimums are rejected while those who do are invited to file a secondary application that requires applicants to submit additional materials, such as essays.
For 2026, about 6,300 secondary applications were returned to OUWB (also a record).
The fact so many applicants filed secondary applications is even more exciting than the number of preliminaries, says Wilson. That’s because it shows that people are not just curious about OUWB but committed enough to do the extra work and fully enter the next phase of the application process
Reviewing secondary applications is a big job. About 80 clinical and Department of Foundational Medicine faculty are involved as each application gets at least two — and sometimes three — reviews.
Selected applicants are then invited to interview with the goal of having the application reading process completed by Feb. 1. (Interviews and invites continue into early March and admit offers can extend into mid-June.)
And it remains to be seen how the higher number of applications will be reflected in the soon-to-be newest class at OUWB.
“I think what (increased number of applicants) will mean is that we have more students who have more experiences and have really strong academics … characteristics that make them really well-rounded applicants,” says Wilson.
For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at [email protected].
To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.
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