What MSAR Is
The Medical School Admission Requirements database, MSAR, is the AAMC's online guide to MD-granting, LCME-accredited medical schools in the US and Canada. The AAMC Store sells a one-year subscription to the 2026 edition for $33, and a two-year subscription as well.
Free Profile vs. Paid Subscription
Basic school profiles are free. According to the AAMC's product description, the paid subscription adds:
- MCAT scores, overall GPAs and science GPAs for accepted in-state and out-of-state applicants and matriculants, school by school.
- The medical, volunteer and research experience of accepted applicants.
- Waitlist data.
- Required and recommended premedical coursework.
- Key application dates and deadlines, tuition and financial aid, and combined-degree programs.
The first item is the one that matters most. A school's overall median mixes residents and non-residents, and at public schools those two groups face very different odds.
Who Gets It Free
Applicants approved for the AAMC's Fee Assistance Program receive complimentary access to the MSAR database along with the program's other benefits, including discounted fees and free official MCAT prep products. If you are likely to qualify, apply for fee assistance before buying anything.
The Free Alternatives, and Their Limits
| Free source | What it gives you | What it lacks |
|---|---|---|
| AAMC FACTS tables | National MCAT and GPA means, the MCAT-GPA acceptance grid, each school's applications and matriculants by state | Any school's MCAT or GPA median |
| School class profiles | Whatever the school chooses to publish, often a median MCAT and GPA | Consistency: many schools publish nothing, and definitions vary |
| AdmitBase school pages | Each school's own published figures with a link to the source, flagged when a figure is an estimate | Figures for schools that have not published them |
The gap is real. Of the 164 US medical schools AdmitBase tracks, it has found a school-published MCAT median, with a link to the school's own page, for 30. The rest either do not publish one or publish it only through MSAR.
Start with what is free.
Enter your MCAT and GPA and see how you compare with each school's published figures, then decide whether MSAR's in-state and out-of-state detail is worth $33 for the schools left on your list.
Check my medical school chances →Is MSAR Worth $33?
For most MD applicants, yes. You will spend far more on primary and secondary application fees, and the in-state and out-of-state split is what tells you whether a public school outside your home state is worth one of those fees. In 2025–26, 59.3% of matriculants enrolled in their home state, against 22% of applications sent there (AAMC FACTS Table A-1).
It is less useful if you are applying only to private schools with national applicant pools, or if you are applying to DO programs, which MSAR does not cover.
Advising students or building an admissions tool?
AdmitBase licenses its school-published figures, with sources on every row, to advising offices, test-prep and ed-tech companies.
See AdmitBase data access →