Residency Requirements

To receive consideration for admission to the School of Medicine, applicants must be a resident of New Mexico for at least one year at the time of application or have strong ties to New Mexico. Strong ties include graduating from a New Mexico high school in which you attended for at least one year or being financially dependent on a New Mexico resident. Applicants may be asked to provide proof of residency at any point throughout the admissions cycle. 

Consideration is also given to enrolled members of a US Federal Tribal Sovereign Nation. All applicants from a US Federal Tribal Sovereign Nation will be asked to provide their Tribal Affiliation and/or Enrollment Number. For more specific information regarding UNM's residency policies, visit the Office of the Registrar's page on Residency Information.

The university is also a member of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Therefore, consideration is given to residents of participating states that at present have no medical schools (Montana and Wyoming). WICHE applicants must apply through the Early Decision Program and must also have at least the average MCAT/GPA as the last year's entering class in order to receive consideration. The 2022 entering class average MCAT composite was 505 and the average cumulative GPA was 3.72.

Foreign national applicants must reside in New Mexico for a least one year prior to application to meet the residency requirement for consideration.

Residency Appeal

Applicants who have been rejected due to the residency requirement and feel that they have strong ties to New Mexico may submit a residency appeal to the SOM Office of Admissions. More information on how to submit the appeal will provided in your correspondence from the SOM Office of Admissions.

All submissions should be sent within two weeks of the dated rejection letter. Appeals may take up to four weeks to process. Notifications are sent by email once the decision has been made by the Admissions Committee.