By Glyn Caddell, BSME · Author of Digital SAT Math Secrets · Tutoring since 2008 — Updated September 29, 2026
Eight Alabama colleges with pre-med programs, what they cost, and the SAT scores of the students they admit.
Two of them have medical schools of their own, which matters more for a pre-med student than it does for most majors. The University of Alabama at Birmingham runs the Heersink School of Medicine and the University of South Alabama runs the Whiddon College of Medicine. Undergraduates at both have access to research, shadowing, and clinical exposure on the same campus.
They’re listed by score, highest first. The scores are given by section rather than as a single total, because a student at 680 Reading & Writing and 590 Math is in a different position from a student at 590 and 680, even though both have a 1270.
Table of Contents
- Alabama Pre-Med Colleges by SAT Score
- What If Your Scores Are Below the Range You Want?
- Pre-Med Programs in Nearby States
Alabama Pre-Med Colleges by SAT Score
| College | Reading & Writing | Math | Cost of attendance | Undergraduates | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Alabama at Birmingham | 600 to 710 | 610 to 740 | $28,145 | 11,635 | 88% |
| Auburn University | 630 to 690 | 630 to 700 | $34,919 | 26,816 | 46% |
| University of Alabama in Huntsville | 600 to 690 | 610 to 720 | $27,392 | 6,591 | 69% |
| The University of Alabama | 590 to 690 | 580 to 710 | $33,382 | 33,227 | 77% |
| Samford University | 550 to 640 | 520 to 610 | $57,456 | 4,206 | 82% |
| University of South Alabama | 500 to 610 | 470 to 580 | $25,476 | 8,879 | 71% |
| Tuskegee University | Does not report section data | Does not report section data | $43,454 | 2,630 | 49% |
| University of North Alabama | Does not report SAT data | Does not report SAT data | $23,786 | 5,811 | 87% |
Each range covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted scores. A quarter scored below the lower number, and the top quarter scored at or above the upper one. Being under the lower number does not rule a student out, and being just above it is not as safe as it looks.
Three things about that table are worth pausing on.
The highest scores in the state are at a school that admits 88% of applicants. UAB has the top range on this list and one of the highest admit rates. Those two facts sit together because the students applying there are largely applying for its health sciences programs, which is a self-selecting group. A high range does not always mean a hard admission.
Alabama is inexpensive. Six of the eight are under $45,000 for full cost of attendance including room and board, and three public universities are under $29,000. In-state tuition at UAB is $9,098, which is the lowest figure on this page by a distance.
Samford is the outlier on cost. At $57,456 it costs more than twice UAB and roughly $14,000 more than any other school here, with scores in the middle of the list.
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University of Alabama at Birmingham
UAB is the state’s academic medical center and runs the Heersink School of Medicine. For a pre-med student that means research, shadowing, and clinical exposure are available on the same campus rather than somewhere else.
Reading & Writing 600 to 710, Math 610 to 740. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 710 and 740. Cost of attendance $28,145, with tuition and fees at $9,098 in-state and $22,562 out-of-state. 11,635 undergraduates, 88% admitted.
Auburn University
Auburn offers pre-health advising alongside a large science faculty, and it is the most selective school on this list by admit rate.
Reading & Writing 630 to 690, Math 630 to 700. The top quarter scored at or above 690 and 700. Cost of attendance $34,919, with tuition and fees at $12,890 in-state and $34,922 out-of-state. 26,816 undergraduates, 46% admitted.
Auburn admits fewer than half its applicants while UAB admits nearly nine in ten, and their score ranges overlap almost entirely. Admit rate and score range measure different things.
University of Alabama in Huntsville
UAH has a science and engineering emphasis, which shows in its Math range sitting above its Reading & Writing range.
Reading & Writing 600 to 690, Math 610 to 720. The top quarter scored at or above 690 and 720. Cost of attendance $27,392, with tuition and fees at $12,132 in-state and $26,408 out-of-state. 6,591 undergraduates, 69% admitted.
This is the second cheapest school on the list and the third highest scoring.
The University of Alabama
The flagship campus in Tuscaloosa offers a Pre-Health Professions program, with pre-med as a track rather than a standalone major, built on biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences.
Reading & Writing 590 to 690, Math 580 to 710. The top quarter scored at or above 690 and 710. Cost of attendance $33,382, with tuition and fees at $12,180 in-state and $34,172 out-of-state. 33,227 undergraduates, 77% admitted.
This is the largest school on the list.
Samford University
Samford’s prehealth resources include personal mentoring, MCAT preparation, and an alumni network, and it produces more pre-medicine degree completions than any other school in the state.
Reading & Writing 550 to 640, Math 520 to 610. The top quarter scored at or above 640 and 610. Cost of attendance $57,456, with tuition and fees at $40,150. 4,206 undergraduates, 82% admitted.
Samford costs more than twice what UAB does. What that buys is a private university with a small student body and a strong record in pre-health placement, which some families judge worth it and some do not.
University of South Alabama
South Alabama runs the Whiddon College of Medicine, making it the second Alabama university where an undergraduate can do pre-med on a campus with its own medical school.
Reading & Writing 500 to 610, Math 470 to 580. The top quarter scored at or above 610 and 580. Cost of attendance $25,476, with tuition and fees at $10,116 in-state and $19,092 out-of-state. 8,879 undergraduates, 71% admitted.
This is the cheapest school on the page with reported scores, and it has a medical school attached.
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee offers pre-med preparation alongside its College of Veterinary Medicine, one of the few at a historically Black university, and has a long record of sending graduates into medicine.
The university does not report SAT section data. Its reported average total score is 1120. Cost of attendance $43,454, with tuition and fees at $25,386. 2,630 undergraduates, 49% admitted.
University of North Alabama
UNA allows students to major in any field while taking the prerequisite courses for medical school, with a Pre-Health Professions committee supporting applications.
The university does not report SAT score data. Cost of attendance $23,786, with tuition and fees at $12,120 in-state and $22,320 out-of-state. 5,811 undergraduates, 87% admitted.
This is the least expensive school on the page.
What If Your Scores Are Below the Range You Want?
Being below a school’s published range doesn’t disqualify anyone. A quarter of the students admitted to every school on this list scored below its lower number.
It does mean the score isn’t helping the application, and at a selective school that matters more than at a less selective one. The number worth aiming for is the upper end of a school’s range, the one the top quarter cleared, rather than the middle. The reasoning behind that is on what SAT score you need for college.
Reading the sections separately is the useful part. If your Math sits inside a school’s range and your Reading & Writing doesn’t, you know which section your hours should go to, and that’s a more specific answer than a total score gives you.
The gap is measurable and so is the work to close it. A 70 to 130 point improvement takes approximately 40 hours of effective studying, based on the students we’ve worked with since 2008, and a 130 to 250 point improvement takes approximately 80.
How to improve your SAT score covers the method, including how to work out which topics are actually costing you points. If you don’t have a recent score to compare against this list, a free diagnostic SAT gives you one, broken down by section and by topic.
Pre-Med Programs in Nearby States
Students applying to pre-med programs in this region normally look across state lines, particularly toward Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.
We cover each of those states separately, with the same figures from the same source: pre-med colleges in Georgia, pre-med colleges in Florida, and pre-med colleges in Tennessee.
How to Read These Score Ranges
Every range on this page covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted scores. The lower number is the 25th percentile and the upper number is the 75th, which means a quarter of admitted students scored at or above it.
That upper number is the one to aim for.
Two schools here report no section data. That’s increasingly common, and it means the score carries less weight in those admissions than at a school that does report. It also means there’s no range to compare yourself against, so the rest of the application does more of the work.
Because most colleges are now test-optional, the ranges that are published describe only the students who chose to submit. Students with strong scores submit and students with weak ones don’t, so a published range sits higher than the range for everyone who was actually admitted. More on test-optional colleges.
See what SAT score you need for college for how to turn a score into a realistic list.
Pre-Med Colleges in Other States
We publish the same breakdown for pre-med programs in every state.
See pre-med colleges by state for the full list.
Glyn Caddell
Glyn Caddell holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from NJIT and has been tutoring New York City students since 2008. He founded Caddell Prep in 2012 and is the author of Digital SAT Math Secrets: Lessons & Tricks to Quickly Improve to a Perfect 800 on the Math Test, which contains over 900 practice problems and is used in Caddell Prep’s SAT math classes. He is founding president of the Staten Island Technical High School alumni association and teaches every lesson on this site personally.
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