Residency Requirements

To be considered to the School of Medicine, applicants must meet one of the following residency criteria:

• Be a resident of New Mexico for at least one year at the time of application
• Have strong ties to New Mexico, which include:
  • Graduating from a New Mexico high school after attending for at least one year
  • Hold a Degree (Associates, Bachelors, Masters, or Doctorate) from a New Mexico college or university (NEW)
  • Being 22 years old or younger and financially dependent on a New Mexico resident (NM state tax documentation required)
  • Graduating from high school or currently residing in a U.S. County bordering the state of New Mexico as listed below (NEW): 

    Arizona	Colorado	Oklahoma	Texas	Utah
    Apache County	Archuleta County	Cimarron County	Andrews County	San Juan County
    Cochise County	Baca County		Bailey County
    Greelee County	Conejos County		Cochran County
    	Costilla County		Culberson County
    	La Plata County		Dallam County
    	Las Animas County		Deaf Smith County
    	Montezuma County		El Paso County
    			Gaines County
    			Hartley County
    			Hudspeth County
    			Loving County
    			Oldham County
    			Parmer County
    			Reeves County
    			Winkler County
    			Yoakum County

Applicants may be required to provide proof of residency at any point throughout the admissions process. 

Consideration is also given to enrolled members of a US Federal Tribal Sovereign Nation and active duty military members stationed in New Mexico. All applicants from a US Federal Tribal Sovereign Nation will be required to provide their Tribal Affiliation and/or Enrollment Number. Non-resident military members must be able to provide military orders. 

The university is also a member of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). As such, residents of participating states that currently lack medical schools (Montana and Wyoming) are given consideration. WICHE applicants must apply through the Early Decision Program and must meet or exceed the average MCAT and GPA as previous year's entering class. The 2024 entering class average MCAT composite was 505 and the average cumulative GPA was 3.76.

The UNM School of Medicine welcomes Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applicants who meet at least one of our residency criteria listed above. For more details, please visit the UNM SOM Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) website.

Foreign national applicants must reside in New Mexico for a least one year prior to applying 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.