Postgraduate entry requirements by region

United States of America

Postgraduate entry requirements for students from the United States of America.

You should have an undergraduate degree from a recognised university or college with a minimum 3.25 GPA. Please contact the School who offers your programme to check the exact academic entry requirements.

Standardized tests

The completion or submission of the GRE test is not required by any postgraduate programmes at the University of Edinburgh (US graduate entrants to the Undergraduate Veterinary degree are required to submit the GRE).

Any other standardized tests that are required such as the GMAT or MCAT will be clearly stated in the application guidelines and entry requirements for individual programmes.

Graduate entry to Medicine and Veterinary Medicine

For entry to most postgraduate taught or research degrees, the minimum requirement for students from the USA is an undergraduate degree from a recognised university or college with a minimum 3.25 GPA.

Medicine (MBChB)

Applicants with an undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline will be considered for the 6-year programme.

You will need a pass in a 4-year undergraduate degree with a GPA of 3.25 or better, preferably with a pre/medical related major (e.g. biomedical sciences/medical sciences/nursing/paramedic science).  We will also consider other science majors and non-science majors with the same GPA.  If you have not undertaken a science major you must have SAT II Chemistry at 650+ or AP Chemistry at grade 4 or better.

If you have not taken or cannot take SAT II or AP Chemistry we will also accept an MCAT score of 508 to include a minimum of:

  • Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems - 128 
  • Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behaviour - 126 
  • Chemistry and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems - 128
  • Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills - 126

Applicants must also take the UCAT.

UCAT

There are well defined routes for graduates of a UK Medical degree to registration in the USA.

Refer to the British Medical Association website for full information:

British Medical Association - advice on using your degree to work abroad

Veterinary Medicine

  • a minimum of at least two years of a pre-veterinary or science course at College
  • a minimum of one year (two semesters or three terms) in Chemistry
  • additional courses in Biology, Physics and/or Mathematics
  • a minimum grade point average of 3.4, with more than 3.0 in science courses which have been completed

College leavers must apply through the Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) not through the UCAS application system. Contact VMCAS directly to apply.

VMCAS

PhD Programmes

Application to PhD study typically requires a masters degree in a related or relevant subject, and a research proposal.

However, entry requirements vary by programme, and you should check the detailed entry requirements are listed under each programme on the Degree Finder.

Degree Finder

How to write a research proposal

Further guidance on academic entry requirements

You can also obtain further guidance on admissions requirements from staff in the College Admissions Offices.

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine

College of Science and Engineering

English Language requirements

All applicants are required to demonstrate a level of English language competency, regardless of their nationality or country of residence. These requirements are listed by programme.

English Language advice

Specific English language requirement by programme

Applicant support

Our representatives for the USA are Tessa Bell, Hillary Cementina, Mikaela Spencer and Aly Stewart.

You can contact us for advice and support by emailing:

usa.enquiries@ed.ac.uk

Browse our events calendar to see if we are hosting an event in your area:

Events calendar

Review student visa requirements on our Student Immigration Service website:

Student Immigration Service

About Edinburgh

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Open Days and events

Student numbers

There are around 1875 students from North America currently studying at the University of Edinburgh.