In the U.S. News’ preview of its 2024 Best Medical Schools (Research), Johns Hopkins University overtook perennial leader, Harvard, for the top rank. The full rankings will be released April 18th.
In addition to the noteworthy change at the top, significant movement occurred elsewhere within the top-ranked schools when compared to the 2023 rankings.
Rank School
1 Johns Hopkins University, +2 from 2023
2 University of Pennsylvania (Perelman), +4
3 Harvard University, -2
4 University of California—San Francisco (tie), -1
4 Washington University in St. Louis (tie), +7
6 Columbia University, -3
7 Stanford University (tie), +1
7 Yale University (tie), +3
9 Duke University (tie), -3
9 University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (tie), +8
11 University of Pittsburgh, +3
12 Northwestern University (Feinberg), +5
13 New York University (Grossman), -11
14 Cornell University (Weill) (tie), no change
14 Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (Alix) (tie), no change
U.S. News has also made changes to their ranking methodology, which includes the addition of a research quality metric, increased weight given to faculty-student ratios, and a reduced weight for reputation surveys, MCAT, and GPA scores.
Briefly addressing the departure of many medical schools from the rankings—including those at Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Duke and University of Chicago—U.S. News explained that it ranked all schools using publicly available data from the National Institutes of Health, as well as data submitted through surveys in 2023 (or 2022 if 2023 was not available).
In addition to the noteworthy change at the top, significant movement occurred elsewhere within the top-ranked schools when compared to the 2023 rankings.
- University of Michigan and Northwestern University entered the elite tier of medical schools, climbing to 9th and 12th, respectively, from a tie at 17th last year.
- Three schools dropped out of the top 15: University of Washington (ranked 8th in 2023), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ranked 11th in 2023), and Vanderbilt University (ranked 13th in 2023).
- NYU Grossman saw a sharp decline, although it still remained in the top 15, falling from 2nd in 2023 to 13th in 2024.
- Washington University in St. Louis climbed seven spots from last year, moving from the 11th rank in 2023, to tie for 4th in 2024.
Rank School
1 Johns Hopkins University, +2 from 2023
2 University of Pennsylvania (Perelman), +4
3 Harvard University, -2
4 University of California—San Francisco (tie), -1
4 Washington University in St. Louis (tie), +7
6 Columbia University, -3
7 Stanford University (tie), +1
7 Yale University (tie), +3
9 Duke University (tie), -3
9 University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (tie), +8
11 University of Pittsburgh, +3
12 Northwestern University (Feinberg), +5
13 New York University (Grossman), -11
14 Cornell University (Weill) (tie), no change
14 Mayo Clinic School of Medicine (Alix) (tie), no change
U.S. News has also made changes to their ranking methodology, which includes the addition of a research quality metric, increased weight given to faculty-student ratios, and a reduced weight for reputation surveys, MCAT, and GPA scores.
Briefly addressing the departure of many medical schools from the rankings—including those at Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Duke and University of Chicago—U.S. News explained that it ranked all schools using publicly available data from the National Institutes of Health, as well as data submitted through surveys in 2023 (or 2022 if 2023 was not available).
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