Which Medical Schools Are in North Carolina?

The class sizes and averages for Duke, UNC, Wake Forest and Brody are as tallied by Shemmassian Consulting, which doesn't give a data year. UNC's own admissions requirements page lists the same 512 matriculant average. Campbell's numbers are from AACOM's school profile for 2024-25: 162 first-years, a mean MCAT^® of 504.6 and a mean GPA of 3.61. Methodist's class of 64 is from the school's white coat announcement, and it hasn't released score data yet.

Duke's 519 is about 14 points above Campbell's 504.6, so the 6 schools draw very different applicant pools. For current medians, the source of record is the AAMC's MSAR, and the MSAR guide covers whether it's worth the money.

The 6 schools split into two groups. Brody and UNC fill most of their seats with North Carolina residents, while Duke and Wake Forest are mostly out-of-state. Campbell and Methodist come in near half and half.

Brody's rule is the strictest. Its admissions FAQ limits eligibility to legal North Carolina residents and "individuals who have earned a bachelor's degree from a UNC System institution within the last five years," and every applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. WFAE reported in 2025 that all 91 students in Brody's incoming class were North Carolina residents.

UNC doesn't publish a cap, but it posts different targets for each group. Its requirements page describes a competitive in-state applicant as having a BCPM GPA above 3.2 and an MCAT^® of 500 or higher. A competitive out-of-state applicant has an overall GPA of 3.59, a BCPM GPA above 3.49 and an MCAT^® of 514 or higher. That's a 14-point gap in the MCAT^® target for the same school.

If you're from out of state, Duke and Wake Forest give the largest shares of their seats to nonresidents, and both charge everyone the same tuition.

Each school sets its own dates. These are for the 2026-27 cycle, and several have already passed, but they show what to plan around next year.

• Brody: The Early Decision AMCAS deadline was August 3, 2026. The regular AMCAS deadline was October 1, 2026, and secondaries were due November 1, 2026. The secondary fee is $100, waived through the AAMC Fee Assistance Program, per the application timeline page. The latest MCAT^® it considered for regular decision was August 22, 2026.
• UNC: The AMCAS deadline was October 1, 2026, and there's no Early Decision program. UNC accepts MCAT^® scores from January 1, 2024 through September 13, 2026.
• Wake Forest: The AMCAS deadline was October 15, 2026, and secondaries are due November 15, 2026, with a $130 fee that's waived if you have an AMCAS fee waiver, per its how to apply page. You need at least a 500 MCAT^® and a 3.2 BCPM GPA to receive a secondary, and the latest MCAT^® it considered was September 12, 2026.
• Duke: Duke took completed AMCAS applications through October 15, and the secondary is due November 15 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern, per its important dates page. The MCAT^® had to be done by September 12, 2026, and Duke's admissions process page sets a minimum 3.0 GPA and 500 MCAT^® for committee review.
• Methodist: The AMCAS deadline is November 16, 2026, and the secondary is due November 30, 2026, per its admissions page. It accepts MCAT^® scores from June 2023 through October 2026, the latest cutoff of the 5 MD schools.
• Campbell: You apply through AACOMAS. AACOM's profile lists a primary deadline of March 1, 2027, a supplemental deadline of March 15, 2027 and a $50 supplemental fee.

If the AMCAS fees are adding up, the fee assistance guide covers how to qualify for waivers. If you're applying next cycle, the MCAT^® cutoffs above run from late August to October, so check when to take the MCAT against them before you pick a test date.

Duke runs a compressed curriculum. Its curriculum page says students learn the core basic sciences in the first year and complete core clinical clerkships in the second. The third year is a scholarly year for bench research, clinical research or a dual degree.

Wake Forest now teaches on two campuses. Its Charlotte campus opened in July 2025 as the city's first four-year medical school, with about 50 students alongside almost 150 first-years in Winston-Salem, according to Wake Forest's announcement. The school expects the Charlotte class to reach 100 students over five years. Tuition is the same at both campuses, but the cost of attendance page adds a Charlotte allowance of $3,080 to the first-year budget.

Methodist is the newest school in the state. The LCME granted preliminary accreditation in October 2025, per the school's announcement, and its first class of 64 received white coats on September 11, 2026. Of those students, 31 are from North Carolina and 33 come from 15 other states. Every student in the first two entering classes gets $40,000 in institutional gift aid toward tuition over four years.

Campbell is in Lillington, per AACOM, or Buies Creek, per the AOA, and AACOM's profile counts 82 North Carolina residents among its 162 first-years. Its tuition is the same for residents and nonresidents. The MD vs DO guide covers how its degree compares in admissions and the residency match.

These are annual tuition and fees, including health insurance, for 2026-27 or the latest year each school reports, as tallied by Shemmassian Consulting. UNC's figures match its own cost of attendance page for 2026-27. Duke's financial aid page lists $72,297 in first-year tuition alone. AACOM lists Campbell's tuition alone at $61,180. Brody's nonresident rate applies only to UNC System graduates who aren't residents, and Methodist hasn't published its tuition in the sources here.

If you're a North Carolina resident, Brody costs $51,740 less a year than Duke, and UNC costs $42,078 less. Over 4 years, the gap between Brody and Duke comes to about $207,000 before living costs, and the new federal loan caps limit how much of that you can borrow.

To see how your score compares with the averages above, look it up in the PurpleCAT MCAT score guide.

Last verified November 4, 2026, against the LCME's accredited program directory (updated November 2, 2026), the AOA's osteopathic school list, AACOM's Campbell profile, each school's admissions, curriculum and cost pages, and Shemmassian Consulting's school and tuition tallies. Deadlines, tuition and class profiles change every cycle, so check each school's site and the MSAR before you finalize a list.