By Glyn Caddell, BSME · Author of Digital SAT Math Secrets · Tutoring since 2008 — Updated October 9, 2026
Ten Mississippi colleges with pre-med programs, what they cost, and the test scores of the students they admit.
Mississippi has two medical schools and they work very differently. One accepts applications from Mississippi residents only. The other is the largest medical school in the state and sits at a university in the table below.
The table shows ACT alongside SAT because every Mississippi college reports an ACT composite and only some report SAT sections.
Table of Contents
- Mississippi Pre-Med Colleges by Test Score
- Mississippi’s MD Program Accepts State Residents Only
- The Largest Medical School in Mississippi Is a DO Program
- Does Mississippi Have a Scholarship Tied to Test Scores?
- What If Your Scores Are Below the Range You Want?
Mississippi Pre-Med Colleges by Test Score
| College | SAT Reading & Writing | SAT Math | ACT composite | Cost of attendance | Undergraduates | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Mississippi | 510 to 610 | 490 to 590 | 21 to 29 | $28,660 | 21,473 | 97% |
| Mississippi State University | 560 to 670 | 540 to 680 | 21 to 29 | $29,267 | 18,397 | 78% |
| University of Southern Mississippi | Not reported | Not reported | 20 to 29 | $26,566 | 10,075 | 99% |
| Mississippi Christian University | Not reported | Not reported | 19 to 25 | $41,214 | 2,518 | 29% |
| William Carey University | 540 to 690 | 500 to 600 | 19 to 25 | $29,651 | 2,201 | 60% |
| Belhaven University | 490 to 668 | 520 to 630 | 19 to 24 | $39,793 | 1,471 | 50% |
| Mississippi University for Women | Not reported | Not reported | 17 to 24 | $22,225 | 1,605 | 90% |
| Delta State University | 475 to 590 | 450 to 620 | 17 to 23 | $22,445 | 1,620 | 100% |
| Jackson State University | 430 to 550 | 390 to 520 | 15 to 20 | $32,415 | 4,600 | 93% |
| Alcorn State University | 400 to 513 | Not comparable | 15 to 19 | $23,751 | 2,363 | 45% |
Each range covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted that test. 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.
Sorted by ACT composite, because every Mississippi college reports one. The College Board and ACT publish an official concordance for comparing a score across the two tests.
Three things in that table need explaining.
Mississippi Christian University admits 29% of applicants, making it the most selective college in the state by a wide margin. The next is Alcorn State at 45%. It was known as Mississippi College until 2026, when it was renamed as part of a restructuring for its bicentennial, so older sources and search results will use the former name.
Admission is not the constraint almost anywhere else here. Delta State admits 100% of applicants, Southern Mississippi 99%, the University of Mississippi 97% and Jackson State 93%.
Alcorn State’s SAT Math figure is left out. The university reports a Math range of 270 to 485, and the floor of the SAT Math section is 200, so the lower number sits very close to the bottom of the scale. That range is also 215 points wide against a Reading & Writing range of 113 points. It does not look like a real distribution, so the page does not publish it as one. Its ACT composite of 15 to 19 is the usable figure for that school.
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University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi is in Oxford with 21,473 undergraduates, the largest school on this page, and its medical centre in Jackson runs the state’s only MD program.
SAT Reading & Writing 510 to 610, SAT Math 490 to 590, ACT composite 21 to 29. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 610, 590 and 29. Cost of attendance $28,660, with tuition and fees at $9,772 in-state and $28,600 out-of-state. 21,473 undergraduates, 97% admitted.
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University is in Starkville with 18,397 undergraduates and strong agriculture and engineering programmes.
SAT Reading & Writing 560 to 670, SAT Math 540 to 680, ACT composite 21 to 29. The top quarter scored at or above 670, 680 and 29. Cost of attendance $29,267, with tuition and fees at $10,202 in-state and $27,637 out-of-state. 18,397 undergraduates, 78% admitted.
It reports the highest SAT Math range in the state at 540 to 680, and admits 78% against the University of Mississippi’s 97%. William Carey reports a higher Reading & Writing range at 540 to 690.
University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi is in Hattiesburg with 10,075 undergraduates, in the same city as the state’s osteopathic medical school.
The university does not report SAT data. ACT composite 20 to 29, with the top quarter at or above 29. Cost of attendance $26,566, with tuition and fees at $9,998 in-state and $11,998 out-of-state. 10,075 undergraduates, 99% admitted.
Its out-of-state tuition of $11,998 is only $2,000 above its in-state rate, which is the narrowest gap on this page and unusually small anywhere.
Mississippi Christian University
Mississippi Christian University is in Clinton with 2,518 undergraduates, and it admits 29% of applicants, the lowest rate in the state.
Founded in 1826, it is the oldest college in Mississippi and was called Mississippi College until 2026.
The university does not report SAT data. ACT composite 19 to 25, with the top quarter at or above 25. Cost of attendance $41,214, with tuition and fees at $23,500. 2,518 undergraduates, 29% admitted.
This is the most expensive school on this page.
William Carey University
William Carey University is a private Baptist university in Hattiesburg with 2,201 undergraduates, and it runs the largest medical school in Mississippi.
SAT Reading & Writing 540 to 690, SAT Math 500 to 600, ACT composite 19 to 25. The top quarter scored at or above 690, 600 and 25. Cost of attendance $29,651, with tuition and fees at $15,480. 2,201 undergraduates, 60% admitted.
That combination is covered below and it is the most useful thing on this page for a student weighing where to go.
Belhaven University
Belhaven University is a private Christian university in Jackson with 1,471 undergraduates, the smallest school on this page.
SAT Reading & Writing 490 to 668, SAT Math 520 to 630, ACT composite 19 to 24. The top quarter scored at or above 668, 630 and 24. Cost of attendance $39,793, with tuition and fees at $30,250. 1,471 undergraduates, 50% admitted.
Mississippi University for Women
Mississippi University for Women is in Columbus with 1,605 undergraduates, and it has admitted men since 1982 despite the name.
The university does not report SAT data. ACT composite 17 to 24, with the top quarter at or above 24. Cost of attendance $22,225, with tuition and fees at $8,492, the same for in-state and out-of-state students. 1,605 undergraduates, 90% admitted.
This is the least expensive school on this page and it has the lowest tuition.
Delta State University
Delta State University is in Cleveland with 1,620 undergraduates, and it admits every applicant.
SAT Reading & Writing 475 to 590, SAT Math 450 to 620, ACT composite 17 to 23. The top quarter scored at or above 590, 620 and 23. Cost of attendance $22,445, with tuition and fees at $8,605, the same for all students. 1,620 undergraduates, 100% admitted.
Jackson State University
Jackson State University is a historically Black university in Jackson with 4,600 undergraduates, in the same city as the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
SAT Reading & Writing 430 to 550, SAT Math 390 to 520, ACT composite 15 to 20. The top quarter scored at or above 550, 520 and 20. Cost of attendance $32,415, with tuition and fees at $8,965 in-state and $11,965 out-of-state. 4,600 undergraduates, 93% admitted.
Alcorn State University
Alcorn State University is a historically Black land-grant university in Lorman with 2,363 undergraduates, and it admits 45% of applicants.
SAT Reading & Writing 400 to 513, ACT composite 15 to 19. The top quarter scored at or above 513 and 19. Cost of attendance $23,751, with tuition and fees at $8,785, the same for all students. 2,363 undergraduates, 45% admitted.
Its reported SAT Math figure is not included here for the reason given under the table.
Mississippi's MD Program Accepts State Residents Only
The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson runs the state’s only MD program, and it accepts applications from Mississippi residents only.
UMMC states this on its own site, describing the School of Medicine as one of two professional programs at the centre that take only state residents, in line with a mission to produce physicians to care for the citizens of Mississippi.
The residency test is specific. Someone not born in Mississippi has to have lived in the state for twelve consecutive months after the age of 21, with acceptable proof such as state tax returns or a Mississippi driver’s licence.
For a Mississippi resident that is a protected route. Every applicant to the state’s MD program is competing against other Mississippians rather than against the national field.
For a student from anywhere else it means something blunter. This is a school to take off the list rather than apply to and hope.
One caution about other sources. At least one published guide states that both Mississippi medical schools are open to out-of-state applicants and have high acceptance rates. That contradicts what UMMC publishes about itself. We have followed UMMC’s own statement, and you should confirm the current policy with UMMC directly before building any plan around it.
The Largest Medical School in Mississippi Is a DO Program
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Hattiesburg was founded in 2010 and capped at approximately 100 students until 2019. It now enrolls approximately 800, which makes it larger than the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and the biggest medical school in the state.
What matters on this page is where it sits. William Carey University is in the table above, with 2,201 undergraduates, a 60% admit rate and a cost of attendance of $29,651. The medical school is at the same university.
That is the clearest version of campus proximity anywhere in this series. One university, an undergraduate program a student can realistically enter, and the state’s largest medical school on the same ground.
Its stated focus is primary care. Its dean has described it as a complement to the University of Mississippi rather than a competitor, on the reasoning that training in a specialist-heavy academic medical centre tends to produce specialists, and Mississippi needs primary care physicians as well.
Unlike the MD program in Jackson, it is open to applicants from any state.
None of this decides where to do an undergraduate degree. Medical school applications are national, and a student at Delta State is not disadvantaged against a student at William Carey when both apply. What proximity changes is how easily shadowing and research can be arranged while the degree is still happening.
Does Mississippi Have a Scholarship Tied to Test Scores?
Mississippi has one, and it has an unusual feature worth knowing.
The Mississippi Eminent Scholars Grant requires an ACT composite of 29 and a cumulative high school GPA of 3.5, along with one year of Mississippi residency before finishing high school. It pays up to $2,500 a year for up to eight semesters, and the award cannot exceed tuition and required fees.
The Office of Student Financial Aid states that it will accept an official SAT score report in place of an ACT score report. Sources differ on the SAT equivalent, giving 1280, 1330 and 1350. The state’s own site gives 1330. Use that number and confirm it before planning around it, because the difference between those figures is large enough to matter.
The unusual feature is that ACT superscores are accepted.
That is worth stating because two other states in this series do the opposite. Georgia’s Zell Miller Scholarship requires a composite from a single test date. Louisiana’s TOPS requires the same. Mississippi allows a student to combine his best sections across dates.
So a Mississippi student planning around this threshold can treat the test the way colleges normally treat it, improving one section at a time. A Georgia or Louisiana student cannot.
Confirm current requirements with the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid, since award rules change by legislation.
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 that reports a range scored below its lower number.
Mississippi is a state where that matters less than usual for admission. Delta State admits every applicant, Southern Mississippi admits 99% and the University of Mississippi admits 97%. For most Mississippi students, a score is not what stands between them and a Mississippi college.
Where it does work here is scholarship money and out-of-state applications. The Eminent Scholars Grant threshold of ACT 29 is a fixed number, and clearing it is worth up to $2,500 a year against tuition that runs between $8,492 and $23,500 at most of the colleges on this page. At Mississippi University for Women or Delta State, that award covers a substantial share of the bill.
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.
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 either target, a free diagnostic SAT gives you one, broken down by section and by topic.
Should You Take the ACT Instead?
Mississippi runs on the ACT, and the scholarship threshold is written in it.
Every one of the eleven four-year Mississippi institutions with more than 1,000 undergraduates reports an ACT composite. Seven report SAT section ranges.
The Eminent Scholars Grant names an ACT score of 29 and accepts an SAT report in its place, with the state’s own site giving 1330 as the equivalent. That makes the ACT the primary currency here and the SAT a recognised substitute.
We sell SAT preparation, and the honest answer is that in Mississippi the ACT is what the published figures are written in. If your list reaches outside the region, the SAT is more common nationally. Take whichever you score better on relative to the targets that apply to you.
How to Read These Score Ranges
Every range on this page covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted that test. 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.
Alcorn State’s SAT Math figure is withheld from the table for the reason given above. A reported range whose lower bound sits near the floor of the scale and which is twice as wide as the same school’s other section is more likely to be a reporting artefact than a description of anyone.
Because most colleges are now test-optional, these ranges describe only the students who chose to submit at all. 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.
The Eminent Scholars Grant works differently from all of this. Its threshold is not a percentile or a description. It is a fixed number and you either clear it or you don’t.
Pre-Med Programs in Nearby States
Mississippi borders Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas, and the Eminent Scholars Grant pays only at Mississippi institutions, so an out-of-state application means giving it up.
See pre-med colleges in Louisiana, pre-med colleges in Alabama, and pre-med colleges in Arkansas.
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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