Ohio · Connections Dual Admissions

At a glance

DegreeMD (University of Cincinnati College of Medicine)

Structure8 years

ApplyAs a high school senior

Open toOpen nationally

Annual cohort3-15

GPA floorNot published

Test floorSAT 1270 / ACT 27

MCAT (to keep the seat)Yes, 507

GPA to keep the seatMinimum AMCAS-calculated 3.50 cumulative GPA and 3.50 BCPM GPA (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math) to progress to the College of Medicine; the Policies and Performance Standards page adds that students must earn grades of B (3.00 on a 4.00 system) or better in all courses, and a grade of D or F in a BCPM course may be grounds for dismissal from the program.

Taking the MCATTaking the MCAT does not forfeit the seat

InterviewYes

Deadline (regular)December 1

Deadline (secondary)December 12

Deadline (interview notice)February 2026

InternationalNot eligible

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)$14,394 tuition+fees/yr (Ohio resident, 2025-26 Uptown cohort)

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

No published GPA floor. The screen is holistic. The admitted pool sets the bar.

Sources and verification

Verified May 20, 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.

• med.uc.edu /overview
• med.uc.edu /requirements to apply
• med.uc.edu /faqs
• med.uc.edu /how to apply
• med.uc.edu /policies and performance standards
• med.uc.edu /connections dual admissions
• uc.edu /costs 2026
• med.uc.edu /timeline

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.

Connections is a genuine high-school-entry BS/MD program: you apply as a senior and, if accepted, hold a seat at the UC College of Medicine before you start college. It is open nationwide, and it is small, on the order of a few seats to fifteen a year. It also differs from many guaranteed programs in one way that matters a great deal, and this page is built around it. Whether you are the student deciding whether to apply or the parent helping, the goal here is to work from what UC publishes rather than from forum rumor.

How the eight years work

Connections is a non-accelerated, eight-year program: four years as a University of Cincinnati undergraduate, then four years at the UC College of Medicine. You apply once, as a high-school senior, and the decision about a medical-school seat is made now, before you start college. You can pursue any major, but two things are fixed. You are admitted into the University Honors Program, and you must minor in Medical Sciences alongside whatever else you study.

Applying is a two-part process, and both parts matter. You submit the Common Application for UC undergraduate admission, and separately the Connections Application through the MedOneStop portal. The two do not talk to each other. UC states plainly that Common App documents are not shared with the College of Medicine, so your letters of recommendation have to be submitted again through the Connections Application. The Connections application is due December 1, and the letters December 12. Miss the second deadline and a complete-looking application is not complete.

What gets an application read

The published test floors are real and you have to clear them: a 27 ACT or 1270 SAT to apply, and those scores are not super-scored for this program, so a strong single sitting matters more than a patchwork of your best sections. There is no minimum high-school GPA to apply, which does not mean grades are optional. It means UC reads the whole record rather than screening on one number.

What UC says it is looking for is specific, and worth taking at face value. The program describes wanting mature, intellectually curious students focused on service, students drawn to health disparities from a community-engagement perspective. With only a handful of seats and a holistic read, what separates applications is not who looks the most impressive. It is who is the most credible. A reviewer betting a guaranteed medical seat on a seventeen-year-old has every reason to look closely at each claim, and a claim that does not hold up does more damage here than a modest true one. The work is to make the true version of your story clear and easy for that reviewer to believe.

Keeping the seat

This is where Connections differs from many guaranteed programs, and it is the part to understand before you apply. The seat is real and it is conditional, and the conditions are unusually concrete. You must keep a cumulative GPA of at least 3.50 and a BCPM (biology, chemistry, physics, math) GPA of at least 3.50, both calculated the AMCAS way, and earn a B or better in every course. There is no single weak grade that slips by unnoticed.

And unlike a number of BS/MD programs that exempt you, Connections requires the MCAT. You take it during undergrad and must earn at least a 507 composite with no section below 125. UC notes that most students who matriculate score well above that, so treat the 507 as a floor, not a target. Beyond grades and the MCAT, retention also requires full-time enrollment, completion of your bachelor’s degree, and ongoing participation in experiences tied to helping others and the profession. Concerns about academic performance, conduct, or professionalism are reviewed by the Admission Committee and can lead to action up to dismissal. None of this is a reason to avoid the program. It is a reason to go in knowing exactly what you are agreeing to.

The character of the program

Connections reads less like a fast track and more like a deliberate eight years. Because the timeline is not accelerated, UC frames the undergraduate portion as room to use rather than rush, naming shadowing, co-op, study abroad, and service in Cincinnati and beyond as part of the experience, all under the Honors Program. The throughline in how UC describes itself is community-engaged medicine: students interested in health disparities and serious about service, not only about the seat. That shapes how a credible application looks. It shows a person who would use those four years and who has a tested reason for choosing this path, not a resume arranged to look broad.

Where this leaves you

Connections suits a student who already knows, for tested reasons, that medicine is the path, who is drawn to service and community health, and who is genuinely prepared to meet concrete conditions across all eight years. The trade is a small, national, very early commitment in exchange for early assurance, paired with a real obligation: a 3.50 in two GPA measures, a B in every course, and an MCAT of at least 507. This is not a program that lets you coast once you are in.

It is not the right fit for a student who is still genuinely unsure, or for anyone hoping a guarantee means the pressure ends at admission. Here the guarantee and the work run side by side for the full eight years. The honest question, whether you are the student or the parent reading this, is not only whether you can get in. It is whether you would thrive under conditions that stay live the whole way through. If the answer is yes, Connections is a clean, credible version of the BS/MD path. If it is not, saying so now costs nothing.