New York · Syracuse University / SUNY Upstate Medical University Combined Bachelor’s-M.D. Program

At a glance

DegreeMD (SUNY Upstate Medical University Alan and Marlene Norton College of Medicine)

Structure7 or 8 years

ApplyAs a high school senior

Open toOpen nationally

Annual cohort5 to 10 (sources differ)

GPA floor3.50

Test floorSAT 1360 / ACT 29

MCAT (to keep the seat)Not required

GPA to keep the seat3.50 cumulative GPA, plus grades of B or higher in specified med-school prerequisite courses (bio, gen chem, orgo, physics, biochem, psych, soc, stats), minimum 12 credit hours each semester, and 40 hours of volunteer service during undergraduate enrollment (continuation terms to keep the reserved seat)

If you apply outApplying out to other schools forfeits the seat

InterviewYes

Deadline (regular)1/5 at 11:59 p.m. ET (application due to Syracuse University via Common App or Coalition App, program interest indicated in Academics section)

Deadline (secondary)1/11 (acknowledgement form and 250-word supplemental essay due to Syracuse)

Deadline (secondary)Late January (estimated): application and application fee due to SUNY Upstate Medical University, offered only to applicants Syracuse recommends forward

Deadline (interview notice)First week of February (estimated): in-person interviews with SUNY Upstate staff

Deadline (interview notice)End of March/first week of April (estimated): committee decisions; admission to Syracuse and the combined program follows in April (estimated)

InternationalEligible

A BS/MD seat is conditional, not a diploma. See what it takes to keep the seat, and how the continuation terms compare across every program.

Cost and aid

Undergraduate cost and medical-school cost are separate, and a combined seat is not automatically cheaper. These are the published figures. Confirm the current year with the program before you rely on a number.

Undergraduate years

Tuition (in-state)$69,180 tuition, 2026-27 academic year, Syracuse University (private university, one rate for all students; total cost of attendance living on campus $95,676)

Tuition (out-of-state)$69,180 tuition, 2026-27 academic year. Syracuse is private, so there is no separate out-of-state rate

Need-based aidNeed-based aid available. Official statement: 'More than 81% of our students receive aid-the majority of it in the form of grants and scholarships that do not have to be repaid.' Need-based Syracuse University Grant eligibility is calculated on remaining need after any merit scholarship is applied

Merit aidMerit scholarships awarded by the Admissions Committee at admission, regardless of financial need, based on academic credentials, test scores (if submitted), leadership and involvement. No separate application. No dollar amounts published on the page; renewal criteria live on financialaid.syr.edu

Medical school years

AidUpstate Financial Aid lists need-based grants (no repayment), merit- or need-based scholarships (no repayment), Federal Work Study, loans, Educational Opportunity Program, and veterans educational benefits. Nothing BS/MD-specific published

What the program does not publish (and what to ask)

The official pages are not clear on which phase applies to a GPA floor. Worth asking the program directly before committing.

Sources and verification

Verified July 14, 2026 by Rory Merritt, MD against 8 official sources. Where a program does not publish something, we say so plainly rather than guess. How we verify.

• upstate.edu /bs md program
• syracuse.edu /accelerated programs
• artsandsciences.syracuse.edu /pre health partner schools
• upstate.edu /early admiss
• syracuse.edu /undergraduate costs
• syracuse.edu /financial aid scholarships
• syracuse.edu /scholarship opportunities
• upstate.edu /programs

Knowing the program is the easy part.

Whether it fits the student is the hard part. Tell a former Assistant Dean where things stand and get the one honest next step. Free, no odds, no pitch.

See Where You Stand →Building the program list? The Match, $500 →

See something wrong?

If you are an administrator, a current student, or a family that knows this program from the inside, email rorymerritt@bridge2md.com. We check every correction against the program's official source before we update.

This is a true high-school-entry pathway: you apply as a senior, through Syracuse University, for one of a small number of reserved seats at SUNY Upstate Medical University’s MD program. There are two versions of it, a seven-year track limited to biology majors and an eight-year track open to any major, and the program waives the MCAT. It also says plainly that it prefers New York and Central New York students. This page lays out what it requires, what it does not, and what the two schools do not publish, so that whether you are the student deciding whether to apply or the parent helping, you are working from facts rather than forum rumor.

How the two tracks work

You apply once, as a high-school senior, through the Syracuse University undergraduate application, and you indicate your interest in the combined program then. Syracuse admits you as an undergraduate first. Upstate then recommends candidates for an interview, and selection for one of the reserved MD seats follows that interview. The decision about a medical-school seat is being made now, while you are seventeen or eighteen.

There are two versions. The 3+4 track runs seven years and is limited to students earning a B.A. in biology, who complete the undergraduate degree in three years before moving to Upstate. The 4+4 track runs eight years and is open to any major. Both lead to the MD at SUNY Upstate, and both waive the MCAT for students who meet the agreed undergraduate requirements. Choosing biology to shorten the path by a year is a real trade, and it is worth deciding which track you want before you apply rather than after.

What gets an application read, and what does not

There are published thresholds to be considered: a high-school GPA of 90% or 3.50 with no rounding, and a test score of at least 1360 on the SAT or 29 on the ACT. Note that last point carefully. Syracuse is test-optional for general admission, but this program expects scores in that range, so test-optional is not a route in here. The program also looks for extracurriculars that show real experience in a healthcare setting and a commitment to community service, not just a list of clubs.

Clearing the thresholds gets an application read. With so few seats and an interview at the end of the funnel, it does not on its own win one. What separates applications at that point is not who looks the most impressive. It is who is the most credible, and, here specifically, whether your reasons hold up to a program that says openly it prefers students with ties to Central New York and an intent to stay. A claim that does not survive an interview does more damage than a modest, true one. The work is to make the true version of your story clear and easy for a reviewer to believe.

Keeping the seat

The reservation is real, and it is conditional. To hold the seat through undergraduate study, the Syracuse College of Arts and Sciences pre-health page states you must maintain a 3.50 cumulative GPA, earn a grade of B or higher in every prerequisite course, and complete 40 hours of volunteer service. Those are firm numbers, and the prerequisite-grade rule in particular is stricter than a GPA average alone, because one prerequisite below a B can put the seat at risk even if your overall average is fine.

The MCAT is waived, and no official Syracuse or Upstate page publishes a clause that taking or registering for the MCAT forfeits the seat, despite a rumor that circulates about combined programs in general. The catch is that these conditions are spread across two institutions’ pages, which is why the single most useful thing you can do is ask for all of them in one written, current statement confirmed by both schools before you rely on any of it. The two schools do not even agree on how many seats there are: SUNY Upstate’s page lists five places a year, while Syracuse’s lists up to ten. Confirm the current number with the program before you count on either.

What this program is built around

Upstate states its mission for the program plainly: to recruit, retain, and matriculate qualified undergraduates into its MD program, with a stated commitment to mentoring a diverse group of students and to early faculty-student contact. Paired with the explicit preference for New York and Central New York students who want to stay in the region, the throughline is clear. This is a program built to grow physicians for its own community, not only to hand out a guaranteed seat.

That shapes how you apply. A credible application here shows a person whose interest in medicine and, where it is true, in this region is genuine and tested, supported by real clinical and service experience rather than a resume arranged to look the part. A reviewer who reads these every year can tell the difference, and an interview is built to find it.

Where this leaves you

This program suits a student who already knows, for real and tested reasons, that medicine is the path, who can clear the published GPA and test thresholds, and who has genuine clinical and community-service experience to point to. It fits especially well if you have authentic ties to New York or Central New York and would be glad to stay, because the program says openly that it prefers exactly that. The seven-year biology track adds speed at the cost of choice in major. The eight-year track keeps your options open.

It is not the right fit for a student who is still genuinely unsure, who cannot meet the test thresholds Syracuse otherwise lets applicants skip, or who has no real interest in the region and would treat the preference as something to talk around. The honest question, whether you are the student or the parent reading this, is not only whether you can clear the numbers. It is whether this path, and this place, is something you want, made with open eyes. If it is, the reserved seat and the waived MCAT are a clean version of the BS/MD path. If it is not, there is no harm in saying so now, while saying so costs nothing.