AMCAS Traffic Rules 2027: Dates, Limits, Deadlines

AMCAS Traffic Rules 2027: Dates, Limits, Deadlines

For the MD class entering in 2027, school pages give the AAMC calendar as February 19, 2027 (the Choose Your Medical School tool opens), April 15, 2027 (hold three acceptances or fewer) and April 30, 2027 (hold one, and Commit to Enroll opens). Your binding date comes later, and it is set by your school.

Most traffic-rule explainers stop at April 30. That is the floor, not the schedule. Across the six 2027 Commit to Enroll deadlines we found on five schools' own pages, the dates run from May 11 to July 1, 2027, and a sixth school sets it at 45 days before orientation. If you hold a seat at the school with the May date, your waitlists close in May, not July. The Plan to Enroll vs Commit to Enroll guide covers what each button does; this page covers the dates.

Every school and university page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026. AAMC's own protocol and tool pages refused automated retrieval that day, so this page does not quote AAMC directly: each AAMC date is quoted from a school page that reproduces it, named with the school. Recheck your own schools' pages in February, when acceptances start to stack up.

The 2027 calendar in one table

Duke's prehealth office reproduces the protocol for the February step: "You are not required to select a school at this time, and your selection of a school is not binding." For the April 30 step it adds the sentence that sets your real deadline:

"Note that while the AAMC has set the above deadlines, medical schools may set their own policies and deadlines and can request that you indicate a "Commit to Enroll" at their school anytime after April 30. You need to honor school-specific deadlines."

The AAMC asks; your school enforces. Arizona Phoenix states the split plainly: "The AAMC Application and Acceptance Protocols recommends accepted students narrow offers to three medical schools (if applicable). The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix requires accepted students follow this protocol."

School Commit to Enroll deadlines differ by months

These are the 2027 Commit to Enroll deadlines that schools publish on their own pages. Days of the week are our arithmetic from the stated dates.

Arizona Phoenix attaches the consequence to its row: "Failure to do so will result in the rescinding of the admission offer." Weill Cornell's page still showed last cycle when we checked: Commit to Enroll by July 1, 2026.

Our view: your real deadline is the earliest Commit to Enroll date among the schools you still hold, and you should plan April around it, not around April 30. The basis is the table: the gap between the earliest and latest fixed dates is 51 days (our arithmetic), and every waitlist you keep has to be dropped by the date of the school you commit to. The countercase: if every school you hold publishes a June or July date, April 30 really is your main decision point, and the later date only matters if a waitlist calls.

Constructed example: two held schools, one waitlist

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant's situation. Context (invented): on April 30, 2027 an applicant holds Plan to Enroll at a school with USC Greenville's published deadline, May 14. They are also waitlisted at a school whose page, like Cincinnati's MD page, says alternate offers come June to July.

The applicant who reads only the AAMC calendar thinks the waitlist stays live all summer. It does not. By 11:59 PM ET on May 14 they must Commit to Enroll at the held school, and USC Greenville's page says "Withdraw from all Alternate Lists (i.e. email those schools directly)" by that deadline. A June waitlist offer can no longer reach them. The decision they actually face is on May 14: keep the seat and drop the waitlist, or take the risk some other way the schools allow. Knowing that in April gives them two weeks to ask the waitlist school any question they need answered, instead of zero.

Holding multiple acceptances before and after April 30

Before April 15 you can hold as many acceptances as you receive. Duke reproduces the rule: "For AAMC schools, you can hold more than one acceptance, continue to interview with other medical schools, and remain on alternate/waitlists up until April 30." It also states the courtesy rule: "if you do receive more than one acceptance and know that you will not be attending a school, you should withdraw from that school in fairness to other applicants."

If a school invites you to a medical school second look before April 15, decide in advance what the visit has to settle.

To withdraw a pending medical school application, email the school directly.

From April 15 the ceiling is three. From April 30 it is one. If a new acceptance arrives off a waitlist after April 30, you choose between the two and withdraw from the other one. USC Greenville's instruction: "YOU MUST email the program you did NOT choose to have your application withdrawn." Cincinnati asks you to email it that you received an offer, "not from whom, just that an offer was received", and to tell it your decision within 7 days.

What happens if you hold more than the limit is set by the schools, and several publish it:

• Cincinnati: "Failure to comply with the CYMS process and deadlines is grounds for the immediate rescinding of your offer of acceptance."
• USC Greenville: "Failure to follow this process will result in the application being withdrawn from our system."
• Zucker Hofstra lists among its grounds to rescind: "An admitted student fails to abide by the AAMC Application and Acceptance Protocols (known as "Traffic Rules");" (policy page).
• West Virginia University, in a policy approved September 16, 2025, lists "Failure to abide by the AAMC Application and Acceptance Protocols for Applicants." and "Failure to adhere to the AAMC Choose Your Medical School Tool deadlines and the WVU SoM-specific deadlines detailed in admissions and pre-matriculation correspondence." (policy PDF).
• Mayo Clinic Alix: "failure to comply may result in rescinded acceptance."

The rescinded acceptance guide covers the other grounds schools list.

Deposits: what schools state

We could not retrieve the AAMC's recommendation to admission officers on deposits, so this page does not state an AAMC deposit figure. These are the deposit terms schools state on their own pages:

Whatever you decide later, reply to a medical school acceptance in the portal within the school's window.

Swarthmore's health sciences office gives the general pattern: "It is customary for schools to return your deposit if you withdraw before April 30th." After that date, it says, "If you withdraw from a school after April 30, you will lose your deposit at that school." (Swarthmore HPO). DO deposits are a different scale and a different clock: see the AACOMAS traffic guidelines and DO deposit deadlines.

What the traffic rules do not cover

DO schools. AACOMAS publishes its own schedule: deposit windows tied to your acceptance date and a single-seat line before May 1. Duke's page says it outright: "The AAMC and AACOM have different traffic rules so you may need to review both."

Texas. TMDSAS runs a match with its own rules, which Duke links separately. The TMDSAS match explainer covers how it works, and the TMDSAS match and AMCAS acceptance guide covers holding both.

Withdrawing. No button withdraws you anywhere. Duke: "Since the "Commit to Enroll" does not notify schools, you need to contact every school personally to withdraw an acceptance or alternate/waitlist offer prior to selecting "Commit to Enroll" in the Choose Your Medical School Tool." The waitlist withdrawal guide has the email.

Questions about the 2027 traffic rules

Can you hold multiple medical school acceptances?

Yes, until April 15, 2027. Then three, then one from April 30, 2027. Your schools can set stricter dates, and the ones above publish them.

What happens if you hold more than one acceptance after April 30?

You break the protocol, and Cincinnati, USC Greenville, Hofstra, WVU and Mayo each name that as grounds to rescind or withdraw your offer.

Is a medical school deposit refundable?

It depends on the school's own terms. Arizona Phoenix asks for none; Weill Cornell's 2026 deposit became non-refundable after April 30, 2026; Swarthmore says schools customarily return deposits for withdrawals before April 30.

Does April 30 end my waitlists?

No. On Plan to Enroll you stay on waitlists until you select Commit to Enroll, as Mayo's page states: "Applicants may remain on alternate lists at other schools until selecting Commit to Enroll." Your school's Commit to Enroll deadline is when they end.

Where do waitlist offers fit in this calendar?

Mostly after April 30. The waitlist movement guide lays out what schools say about May through August.

Review the writing you send next

In April the next thing you write is a letter of intent to one waitlist school, or a withdrawal email to the schools you are releasing. Get a free Quick Review of your letter of intent: it checks that the letter ties a named feature of the school to your reason for attending and states your commitment at the strength you mean. For new accomplishments, use the update letter rubric; the letter of intent vs update letter guide explains which one you need. More medical guides are on the medical school essays hub and the medical school review page. Waiting on money? Send an aid appeal before April 30 so the answer arrives while you can still choose.

Sources

Retrieved November 7, 2026, except where noted.

• Duke University Prehealth Advising, Managing Acceptance to Medical Schools & Traffic Rules (no year stated): February 19, April 15 and April 30 steps; school-specific Commit to Enroll deadlines; the tool does not notify schools.
• University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, Application Process (AY2026-2027): 2027 dates; 45-day Commit to Enroll rule; no deposit.
• University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, Choose Your Medical School (2026-2027 cycle): April 15, April 30 and May 14, 2027 steps; withdrawal consequence.
• University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, CYMS (2026-2027 cycle): MD and MSTP Commit to Enroll deadlines; 7-day rule; rescission.
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, How to apply (2027 dates): May 31, 2027 Commit to Enroll; rescission sentence; waitlists until Commit to Enroll.
• Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Deadlines (entering class of 2027): Plan to Enroll and Commit to Enroll dates.
• LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, Deadlines (2027 first-year class): 4/30 and 7/1.
• Weill Cornell Medicine, Admissions timeline (2026 cycle): last cycle's deposit and Commit to Enroll dates.
• Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Rescinding an Offer of Admission (no year stated).
• West Virginia University School of Medicine, Policy on Rescinding an MD Acceptance Offer (approved September 16, 2025).
• UTHSC College of Medicine, Alternate List FAQs (undated): no enrollment deposit.
• Swarthmore College Health Sciences Office, Multiple Acceptances (no year stated): deposit return before April 30.
• Not retrieved: AAMC, Application and Acceptance Protocols for Applicants and the AMCAS Choose Your Medical School tool page (automated retrieval refused, November 7, 2026). Not quoted.