By Glyn Caddell, BSME · Author of Digital SAT Math Secrets · Tutoring since 2008 — Updated October 1, 2026
Arizona has four medical school programs, which is more than most states and more than its size would suggest. For a pre-med student that means shadowing, research, and in-state application options are available without leaving.
This page covers where to do the undergraduate degree, what each school costs, and the SAT scores of the students they admit.
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. Two of Arizona’s largest universities report no scores at all, which is covered below.
Table of Contents
- Arizona Pre-Med Colleges by SAT Score
- Arizona Has Four Medical School Programs
- What If Your Scores Are Below the Range You Want?
Arizona Pre-Med Colleges by SAT Score
| College | Reading & Writing | Math | Cost of attendance | Undergraduates | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arizona | 580 to 700 | 570 to 720 | $29,423 | 42,537 | 86% |
| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott | 580 to 680 | 560 to 690 | $62,798 | 3,218 | 77% |
| Grand Canyon University | 518 to 580 | 488 to 533 | $32,702 | 73,371 | 79% |
| Arizona State University | Does not report SAT data | Does not report SAT data | $30,111 | 64,674 | 90% |
| Northern Arizona University | Does not report SAT data | Does not report SAT data | $29,933 | 22,903 | 90% |
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.
Two things about that table need saying directly.
The largest pre-med school in Arizona has no score range. Arizona State produces more pre-medicine degrees than any other school in the state, and it reports no SAT data to the Department of Education. Northern Arizona doesn’t either. Between them that’s over 87,000 undergraduates with no published figures.
Cost of attendance is the full number, including tuition, fees, room and board, before financial aid. Four of these five sit between $29,000 and $33,000, which is a narrow band. Embry-Riddle is the outlier at nearly twice that.
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University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is the state flagship, in Tucson, and the only school on this list whose university also runs medical schools. It runs two, in Tucson and Phoenix, which puts an undergraduate on a campus connected to the medical education system he’s aiming at.
Reading & Writing 580 to 700, Math 570 to 720. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 700 and 720. Cost of attendance $29,423, with tuition and fees at $13,926 in-state and $42,278 out-of-state. 42,537 undergraduates, 86% admitted.
Note the gap between in-state and out-of-state tuition here. It’s the widest on this page, at over $28,000 a year.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott
Embry-Riddle is an aeronautical university rather than a conventional pre-med destination, and it has the second-strongest Math range in Arizona. That combination is why it appears on this list.
For a student who wants a small science-focused campus and is weighing pre-med against engineering or aerospace, it’s a real option. For a student certain about medicine, the larger universities have more of the infrastructure.
Reading & Writing 580 to 680, Math 560 to 690. The top quarter scored at or above 680 and 690. Cost of attendance $62,798, with tuition and fees at $44,149. 3,218 undergraduates, 77% admitted.
This is the most expensive school on the page by a wide margin and the smallest by a wide margin.
Grand Canyon University
Grand Canyon University is a large private university in Phoenix with a substantial health professions presence, and it is the only private option here at a public-university price.
Reading & Writing 518 to 580, Math 488 to 533. The top quarter scored at or above 580 and 533. Cost of attendance $32,702, with tuition and fees at $17,850 for all students. 73,371 undergraduates, 79% admitted.
Grand Canyon has the largest undergraduate enrollment in the state and the lowest reported score range on this page. Those two facts are related.
Arizona State University
ASU is the largest producer of pre-medicine degrees in Arizona. Its pre-health program is a track rather than a major, covering biology, chemistry, physics and social sciences, with pre-health advising through course selection and the application process.
The university does not report SAT score data. Cost of attendance $30,111, with tuition and fees at $12,223 in-state and $33,139 out-of-state. 64,674 undergraduates, 90% admitted.
With a 90% admit rate and no published score range, the SAT is not what stands between a student and ASU. It may still matter for merit scholarships and for honors college admission, which are separate processes.
Northern Arizona University
NAU, in Flagstaff, offers pre-health advising alongside its biological sciences programs, on a smaller campus than the two larger publics.
The university does not report SAT score data. Cost of attendance $29,933, with tuition and fees at $13,009 in-state and $29,881 out-of-state. 22,903 undergraduates, 90% admitted.
Arizona Has Four Medical School Programs
Arizona has four medical school programs, two awarding an MD and two awarding a DO. Most states have one.
- University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson — MD
- University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix — MD
- Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Glendale — DO
- A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, Mesa — DO
The Mayo Clinic also operates a medical school campus in Scottsdale.
Since half of Arizona’s programs are osteopathic, the distinction is worth a moment. Some of these award an MD and some a DO. The two degrees are treated as equivalent and the difference is a question for the medical school application rather than the college one.
What this means for an undergraduate is practical rather than abstract. Four programs in the state means more places to shadow a physician, more research labs within driving distance, and more in-state applications when the time comes. In-state applicants are normally favored at public medical schools, and Arizona has two of them.
Those programs matter for shadowing and research access while you are an undergraduate. They do not decide where you should do the degree, since medical school applications are national.
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.
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.
Two of Arizona’s largest universities report nothing at all. That’s increasingly common and it means the score carries less weight in those admissions than at a school that does report.
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.
Pre-Med Programs in Nearby States
Students applying in this region normally look across state lines, particularly toward California, Nevada and New Mexico.
See pre-med colleges in California, pre-med colleges in Nevada, and pre-med colleges in New Mexico.
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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