AACOMAS received a record number of 12,617 completed applications for the 2009 entering class at the 27 osteopathic colleges and branch campuses that are part of AACOMAS. These applications generated 92,557 individual college designations for the 4,693 medical school seats that are filled through the AACOMAS process. There were approximately 2.7 applicants for each seat.

Of all AACOMAS applicants, 52 percent were male and 48 percent female. For 2008, the applicant pool was split evenly by gender.  Following federal guidelines for single race/ethnicity reporting, 12 percent of applicants report membership in a historically underrepresented minority group. The youngest applicant was 18 years of age on July 1, 2009, and the oldest was 72 years of age.

The overall mean MCAT score of applicants in 2009 was 8.50, compared with 8.43 in 2008. 

In 2009, the mean undergraduate science GPA was 3.25, the non-science GPA was 3.52, and the total GPA was 3.40. This compares with 2008 GPAs of science – 3.24, non-science – 3.52, and overall – 3.39.

More than one-third of 2009 applicants reported that a family member is a DO or MD.

Two-thirds of applicants reported an undergraduate major in the life sciences, 11 percent in the social sciences, and 8 percent each in the physical sciences or arts and humanities. 

Based on numbers alone, the largest undergraduate institution contributors to the 2009 AACOMAS applicant pool were Michigan State University, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, the University of California-Los Angeles, and Brigham Young University.  When weighted for undergraduate institution size, the largest undergraduate institution contributors to the 2009 applicant pool were New York Institute of Technology (the parent institution of NYCOM), Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA, and Allegheny College in Meadville, PA.

The full report was distributed to deans and admissions directors and is available online: AACOMAS Applicant Pool Profile, 2009 Entering Class (pdf)