what you need to do to get into medical school

Everything you need to know to get into medical schoolhouse, whether yous're a pupil, recent grad, or non-traditional applicant, including a step-by-footstep guide to get into your dream program

LEARN HOW TO GET INTO MEDICAL Schoolhouse

Office ane: Introduction

Getting into medical school and becoming a dr. is a dream for many—and with good reason.

Beyond being a highly respected and lucrative profession, medicine uniquely allows you to combine your love for scientific discipline with your desire to help people direct. While the latter—wanting to help people—is clichéd, it's true and necessary if you want to be fulfilled as a doctor. You wouldn't be interested in and then many years of training if yous were only motivated past earning potential or prestige. For instance, you could achieve the former faster as a software engineer.

Every bit a reader of this article, you lot probably fall into 1 of four categories:

• You're a high school or college student who is because medicine as one of several career options

• You lot're a premed educatee or contempo college grad who surely wants to get a dr.

• You graduated from college years ago and are because a career change

• You're a parent who wants to learn more nearly how your child tin become a doctor

Regardless of which category you fall into, yous're in the right place. After helping thousands of students get accustomed to med school for nearly 20 years—and answering every imaginable question about how to get into medical school—I decided to write a guide that covers all medical schoolhouse requirements, from various caste programs and extracurricular activities to MCAT prep, admissions essays, and interviews.

Reading this guide thoroughly will help you arroyo medical schoolhouse admissions the right style, whether you're a high schooler, higher junior, nontraditional applicant, or anything in between. It will also assist you lot avoid applying bad advice on premed forums or the opinions of misinformed people and then yous can maximize your odds of getting into med school in the shortest amount of fourth dimension possible.

This guide focuses on getting into U.S. medical schools—allopathic (Doc) and osteopathic (Practise). That said, the majority of advice also applies to Canadian medical schools and Caribbean medical schools, the latter beingness a consideration for students with low grades or test scores. On the other paw, international medical schools fall outside the telescopic of this commodity.

Paths to medical schoolhouse

Historically, the most traditional path involves completing a 4-yr college caste and applying to medical school during the summer between your junior and senior year of higher. If successful, you would enroll in medical school a few months subsequently graduation. This path is also known equally "going directly through."

However, the average age of matriculation into medical schoolhouse is 24, which means that most students take at least ane gap year before enrolling. Gap years are typically used to supplement or bolster your application, whether you demand to complete outstanding prerequisite courses, heave a low or then-so GPA, or deepen your involvement in various extracurricular activities, like inquiry. While taking a gap twelvemonth is non required, it is helpful for students who are non ready to go directly through.

In improver, some people take over 2 years—sometimes way more two years—to enroll in medical school. While at that place is no agreed-upon definition, nontraditional applicants are typically those who are over 24 years old. They may be career changers or individuals who focused on personal responsibilities (e.g., raising children) before returning to school.

On the other end of the spectrum, high-achieving high schoolers who are certain near wanting to become a dr. have the option to employ to direct medical programs, otherwise known every bit BA/MD or BS/MD programs. (More than recently, BS/DO programs take begun to attract students interested in osteopathic medicine. Nosotros'll cover osteopathic medical schools in a moment.) Straight medical programs allow students to consummate their undergraduate and medical degree in 6 to viii years—7 years is most common—depending on the program. Moreover, these combined programs offer "conditional credence" to medical school, meaning you have to maintain a minimum GPA and achieve a minimum MCAT score to secure your position.

Finally, a modest number of medical schools offer early assurance programs to higher students who have exhibited an extraordinary level of accomplishment and hope during their start year or two of undergrad. Accustomed students are not required to accept the dreaded Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)—the standardized examination for medical school—and can focus on their studies, research, clinical experiences, so on.

While nigh medical students receive a single degree—Md or Practice—a subset of students complete dual degrees, such every bit an Doctor/PhD, MD/MPH, or Md/MBA. Typically, these admissions processes crave that you separately get admitted to the 2 programs. Notwithstanding, if you go rejected from the "other" program, you will all the same be considered for the medical program.

Types of medical schools

U.S. medical schools are mainly divided into allopathic and osteopathic programs. The former confers the widely-recognized Dr. degree, whereas the latter offers the less-recognized Practice degree.

Historically, the osteopathic model has focused on holistic medicine, which is sometimes thought of as "treating the whole person." Criticism of osteopathy has largely focused on the use of therapeutic techniques that are not necessarily show-based (i.due east., research-supported).

Over the years, MD and Practice programs accept come to be more similar. Allopathic physicians consider disease prevention, mental health, and systemic factors more than ever, and osteopathic physicians focus on delivering evidence-based care. Moreover, many are involved in cutting-edge inquiry.

While MD and Exercise physicians can practise the same specialties, their residencies have long been separated. This changed in 2020, when residency programs for the two merged. All the same, some applicants, parents, and DO students are concerned about having to compete against highly regarding MD students for the same positions, peculiarly when it comes to entering highly competitive specialties.

There are ii main reasons for MD programs being more coveted:

1. The MD degree is generally more than widely recognized.

2. Dr. programs tend to admit higher-achieving students. In other words, it is typically easier to get into a Do program than an MD program. Therefore, about students prefer to attend an Doc program and see DO programs as Plan B.

In truth, Practice students who practise well in medical school and ace their board exams can get on to have careers that are simply equally successful and impactful as their Doctor counterparts. Even so, the prestige outcome is hard for many med school hopefuls to shake off, so the Exercise vs. Md debate rages on.

(Recommended reading: MD vs. Practice: The Biggest Differences (And Which is Better))

Part 2: What medical schools look for

I often tell students, "Medical schoolhouse admissions is difficult, simply information technology'southward not complicated."

My point is that while there is lilliputian mystery regarding what it takes to become into medical schoolhouse, pulling it off can be difficult. As an analogy, it'due south one thing to understand how to dunk a basketball on a x-human foot rim—grab the ball, spring and extend your arm loftier enough to get the ball over the hoop, and dunk—just an entirely different thing to do it.

Getting into medical schoolhouse is and then difficult, in fact, that over 60% of applicants neglect to matriculate into all Medico programs they utilize to. In other words, most applicants don't arrive anywhere. Therefore, in that location is niggling room for mistake with the admissions process and it'southward of import that you achieve at the highest levels you're able, with regard to academics and extracurriculars.

While it's important to know medical schoolhouse requirements (e.g., which specific classes to have), information technology's as well critical to understand why medical schoolhouse admissions committees (adcoms) expect you to complete certain coursework, accomplish at a sure level, and participate in diverse extracurricular activities: to demonstrate your commitment to medicine, including the lifelong pursuit of bookish knowledge, passion for promoting health, and desire to serve people.

"Medical school admissions is difficult,
but it's not complicated."

Without this understanding, you lot may prefer a "checklist mentality" and, rather than develop a clear "it cistron" (more on this afterwards), neglect to stand out due to completing academic and extracurricular requirements at a surface level.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) provides an official listing of core competencies, as follows:

Interpersonal competencies:

• Service orientation

• Social skills

• Cultural competence

• Teamwork

• Oral communication

Intrapersonal competencies:

• Ethical responsibleness to cocky and others

• Reliability and dependability

• Resilience and adaptability

• Capacity for improvement

Thinking and reasoning competencies:

• Critical thinking

• Quantitative reasoning

• Scientific enquiry

• Written communication

Science competencies:

• Living systems

• Human behavior

This is an overwhelming listing, just y'all need not worry. Cadre competencies are non split medical school requirements, but tin rather be demonstrated through the academics and extracurricular activities you will have to pursue anyway.

To brand things more digestible, medical school admissions factors fall into the following categories:

• Academics (i.e., "stats"): GPA and MCAT score

• Extracurricular activities: Shadowing, patient exposure, customs service/volunteering, research

• Qualities: Leadership, compassion, thoughtfulness, interpersonal skills

• Personal factors: Ethnocultural, socioeconomic, and regional background

Academics

Your stats—GPA and MCAT score—collectively represent your level of academic achievement and fettle for medical school. While GPA is possibly the single most important variable for med schoolhouse admissions, different grading practices and prestige across schools impact its interpretation. Considering there is no GPA conversion table, nosotros don't know that a 3.7 GPA at Vanderbilt is the same every bit a iii.8 GPA at, say, Penn State.

That said, your undergrad does matter for med school—that is, medical schools indeed consider the forcefulness and prestige of your institution—so a 3.6 GPA from UC Berkeley is valued more a 3.6 GPA from UC Riverside.

To further complicate things, adcoms consider your overall GPA and science GPA, the latter comprising your biology, chemistry, physics, and math (BCPM) courses. Most students will have a slightly higher overall GPA than a science GPA, reinforcing the widely held conventionalities that humanities courses are easier to do well in than scientific discipline courses.

Medical schools employ the MCAT, a hard standardized exam, to accost these GPA-related variabilities. The MCAT is composed of four sections—roughly Biology, Chemistry/Physics, Psychology/Sociology, and CARS (reading comprehension)—that make upwards an eight-60 minutes testing day. It is graded on a 472–528 scale, with 500 respective to the 50th percentile score. To do well, you'll desire to study difficult anywhere betwixt 2 and iv months and focus but as much on exam strategy as you do test content.

I often become asked, "What MCAT score practice I demand to get into medical schoolhouse?" or "What MCAT score should I aim for?" The reply depends on where y'all're trying to get into, your GPA, and your other extracurricular achievements. The more than prestigious the med schools you want to get into, the college your MCAT score volition need to exist. The higher your GPA, the more than it will buffer your MCAT score. Similarly, stronger extracurricular achievements, similar multiple research publications, will assuage adcom concerns about your MCAT score.

Extracurricular activities

Adcoms review applications from many students with a high GPA and MCAT score, and it'south incredibly difficult to discern from stats lonely who the peak applicants really are.

In improver, medicine transcends scientific knowledge and achievement. In other words, it's not merely about your ability to do well in science classes or on exams. Therefore, medical school adcoms rely on your extracurricular activities to understand how you spend your time outside the classroom, your efforts to get involved in the medical field, what you lot're passionate virtually, your commitment to service, and your leadership potential.

Obtaining shadowing experience is typically the first clinical footstep for premed students. Shadowing a doctor is a mostly hands-off experience where you volition observe a physician's daily activities. Your goal will exist to shadow 2–4 physicians—for fifty–100 hours full—beyond multiple specialties and medical contexts (east.1000., inpatient vs. community clinic) to testify adcoms that you know what a md does.

Clinical experience is a broad term that encompasses the following:

• Patient exposure: Hands-on work with patients, like working as an emergency medical technician (EMT)

• Clinical volunteering: Any paid or unpaid work in a clinical setting. Clinical volunteering may count as patient exposure (e.g., providing care to patients in hospice) or more general service (eastward.g., volunteering at a hospital'south information desk).

While it'southward important to get involved with service opportunities, there is no substitute for true, easily-on patient exposure.

(Note: Working equally a clinical scribe falls somewhere between shadowing and patient exposure. Scribing is more active than shadowing, but does non provide the same direct patient experience as other activities.)

Customs service/volunteering is another foundational extracurricular category. Your service could be medically relevant, but it does not accept to exist. For example, leading subsequently-school math programs for students from low-income backgrounds, developing customs gardens in urban food deserts, or organizing large beach make clean ups or other ecology initiatives are all meaningful activities. Since medicine is viewed as a career of service, adcoms want to encounter prove that you share their mentality.

Finally, conducting scientific research is more or less required by noteworthy medical schools every bit a demonstration of your scientific literacy and ability to contribute cognition to the field. Y'all can piece of work in a basic science lab or get involved in clinical research. Moreover, you can piece of work in a wet lab or dry lab, likewise as conduct biological experiments or focus on data science in a cerebral psychology lab. More than important than the specific lab chosen is your longstanding commitment and, ideally, your publication record.

(Note: Competitive MD/PhD applicants participate in research for years, and often piece of work in multiple labs. If you're interested in Md/PhD programs, yous will exist expected to submit letters of recommendation from all PIs y'all worked with.)

While it's of import to shadow, work with patients, volunteer, and acquit research, the best applicants are those who develop a specialty or "it gene" in ane, peradventure ii extracurricular activities.

Pinnacle medical schools especially want to admit students who are "earth form" (i.e., the best of the best) at something. For instance, some of the students I worked with who got into top-10 schools demonstrated a research specialty by publishing three first-authored papers in peer-reviewed journals. Notwithstanding, others founded science teaching initiatives for elementary students in low-income schools.

The indicate is that ane extracurricular category is non inherently better than the other. This should exist liberating. Instead of looking around to see what your peers are doing and attempting to mimic their achievements, consider how you want to spend your time, where your passions lie, and what type of impact you want to make in your community or the medical field.

To stand out, you must be memorable, and yous're much more likely to exist remembered for existence great at ane thing vs. pretty expert at a agglomeration of things. And even if you are pretty good at a agglomeration of things, y'all'll still want to be great at one thing.

To use some other basketball game analogy: Stephen "Steph" Back-scratch of the Aureate State Warriors is a perennial NBA All Star, widely recognized as 1 of the best players who ever lived. And while he'due south incredible in a number of ways on a basketball court, he is credited for revolutionizing basketball game more often than not for his unprecedented three-point shooting ability. Countless articles have been written near how no one in NBA history has shot three pointers too as Steph Curry, and from such incredible distances.

Your goal is to exist the Steph Curry—relative to your peers—of your chosen area, no matter how niche. For instance, yous can be the Steph Curry of publishing autism fMRI research or the Steph Curry of opening soup kitchens. Fortunately, even if you become 80-90% of the way to Steph Curry status, you'll be ahead of 99% of the applicant pool.

Sound difficult? Information technology's supposed to be. At the same time, it's achievable. If your aim is to get into a top med school like Stanford or Johns Hopkins, you have to be a top applicant. And there's no ameliorate way to separate yourself from the other academic high achievers than through an extracurricular specialty.

(Recommended reading: How to Cull the Right Extracurricular Activities for Medical School)

Qualities

Medical schools aren't looking to admit applicants who have simply checked all the right boxes with regard to academics and activities. Rather, they want to acknowledge students who have demonstrated certain qualities during their premed years, such as compassion (due east.chiliad., patient exposure, customs services) and desire for knowledge (e.k., enquiry, honors thesis).

Many students mistakenly call back that leadership is its own extracurricular category. They then pursue activities that require a significant time investment but that are not impressive. You can demonstrate leadership through any experience, whether leading an organization you started or taking on increasing responsibilities in your research lab.

Personal factors

Doctors serve various people—individuals from high-income and depression-income backgrounds, ethnic majority and ethnic minority groups, patients from urban and rural areas, religious and non-religious individuals, so on.

To be treated well, the diverse human race requires a diverse physician workforce. Therefore, medical schools look to recruit individuals from various backgrounds to their programs. While personal factors like your ethnicity, sexual orientation, and familial income are outside your control, y'all tin can demonstrate an appreciation for and delivery to serving various people through your coursework and extracurricular activities.

Part 3: Medical school applications

Your academic and extracurricular paths will somewhen converge on your medical school applications, which are divided into 3 phases:

1. Primary applications

2. Secondary applications

3. Interviews

Some people will say that your chief application, which includes your personal statement, is more than of import than your secondary applications. Others will say the exact opposite. While some medical schools indeed weigh one more than than the other, you should use your maximum effort towards all of your application materials. You're putting in a lot of work into your premed journeying; don't slack off equally you near the finish line.

In addition, it'southward imperative that yous begin working on your applications early. Non but is there a significant amount of work to complete, but applying late tin can hurt your chances, as medical schools practice rolling admissions, meaning that they invite students for interviews—and accept them—on a rolling basis. Therefore, the earlier yous submit, the fewer people you'll be competing against for more spots. Conversely, the later on you submit your applications, the greater the contest for fewer spots.

Y'all should brainstorm working on your medical schoolhouse applications months before the submission dates open in May. There is a significant amount of work to consummate, and starting later volition compromise your ability to submit applications early on.

(Recommended reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline)

Primary applications

Your primary applications, otherwise known every bit "primaries", are the centralized application systems that will send your demographic information, transcript(due south), MCAT score(s), letters of recommendation, expanded resume, and personal argument to individual medical schools.

There are three master primary applications:

• AMCAS (Physician programs)

• AACOMAS (Do programs)

• TMDSAS (Texas medical schools).

Fortunately, each application will crave you to more than or less submit the same materials, with a few exceptions.

Entering demographic information is relatively straightforward. Medical schools want to know your age, gender, state of residence, family income, etc. Next, you lot'll be asked to enter all of your academic information: your college courses and grades, besides as your MCAT attempts and scores. (Note: Your official transcripts and MCAT scores will have to separately be sent to each application system'south concrete address.) You will also exist asked to betoken who will submit your medical schoolhouse letters of recommendation.

Adjacent, you'll exist asked to complete the AMCAS Work and Activities section, which is essentially a long-form resume. You'll list your extracurricular activities and awards, hours devoted to each, forth with a short description. Moreover, you will exist asked to further talk over a few of your most meaningful activities.

Next comes your medical school personal statement, a 1.5-page narrative essay that describes your personal path to and reflections on medicine. Your personal statement is your single most important application essay and volition likely have upward more time—and stress you out—than any other slice of your primary applications.

You can write your personal statement on any topic. Many students mistakenly believe that some topics are improve than others, but that'due south not the instance. I've seen not bad essays written about pretty much every topic, and I've seen poor essays written almost those same topics. Therefore, how yous write your personal statement and every other essay is at least as important as what you write about. Just make sure that your essay highlights why y'all desire to be a physician and the qualities that will make you an asset to the medical community.

The terminal footstep earlier submitting your primaries is to choose the list of schools that you lot'd similar your applications to exist sent to. Ideally, your school listing will include a number of schools whose boilerplate stats are lower than yours (undershoots), nearly the same as yours (targets), and slightly college than yours (reaches). Target schools should comprise the single largest category.

(Notation: TMDSAS will ask you to submit two additional essays—Personal Characteristics Essay and Optional Essay. The Optional Essay should be treated every bit a required essay. You tin can notice examples of each in our TMDSAS: The Ultimate Guide)

Secondary applications

Before long subsequently your primary application(southward) is verified, it will be sent to every school you indicated. Salve for a few medical schools that automatically filter applications that don't come across certain GPA and MCAT cutoffs, you will receive a secondary application, otherwise known equally a supplemental awarding, from every school y'all practical to.

Most secondary applications comprise a number of schoolhouse-specific essay prompts with varying grapheme or give-and-take limits. The three most common prompts are those mostly pertaining to diversity, a challenge yous've experienced, and why y'all want to attend the specific schoolhouse.

Given rolling admissions, you should submit your secondary applications within two weeks of receiving them. If you begin working on your applications early, you can pre-write many of your secondaries by viewing previous years' secondary prompts, since they change little from year to year.

(Recommended reading: Medical Schoolhouse Secondary Essays: The Consummate Guide (Examples Included))

Medical school interviews

Anywhere from a few days to a few months later yous submit your secondary applications, yous may receive invitations for in-person medical schoolhouse interviews. The earlier you receive interview invitations, the better the omen.

There are 2 master types of interviews: traditional and multiple mini interview (MMI). The old, as the name suggests, volition involve you lot answering typical interview questions, such as, "Tell me almost yourself," "What is your biggest weakness?," or "Why do you want to exist a doctor?" MMI interviews, on the other hand, will require you to visit diverse interview stations, where y'all volition be asked how y'all would behave if presented with a sure ethical dilemma, communicate with an actor playing the role of patient, work with a teammate to solve a problem, then on.

Years ago, medical schoolhouse interviews tended to be much more than stressful than they are today. You are unlikely to run across uncomfortable personal questions or "put on the spot." Rather, medical schoolhouse adcoms are hoping to get to know you interpersonally and to confirm their positive reaction to your application.

It's important to practice your interview skills with experienced interviewers. Instead of focusing on rare questions like, "How do you lot feel well-nigh Obamacare?," you should practice more common questions, such as, "Why do yous want to attend our plan?" and focus merely as much on how you meet in your answers as you do on the content of your answers. Recall: if they just want to know the content of your answers, adcoms could've just asked y'all to write more essays.

(Recommended reading: How to Ace Your Medical Schoolhouse Interviews)

Waiting

Waiting—for interview invitations or for admissions decisions—is the virtually stressful part of the application process for most students.

During this time, y'all should do what you can to take your mind off the admissions procedure. You should also consider sending update letters—messages of interest or letters of intent—to schools when you have meaningful updates to share, and also to express your connected interest in their plan. If a school explicitly requests that you not communicate with them after submitting secondaries or interviewing, honor their request.

Admissions decisions

Some time afterwards submitting your secondary applications or interviews, yous volition receive 1 of the post-obit admissions decisions from medical schools:

1. Accepted

2. Rejected

3. Waitlisted

While acceptances and rejections are fairly straightforward, navigating wait lists is more than tricky. Some schools will invite y'all to send letters of connected interest, whether others will let you know that you volition not need to send in annihilation. In the latter example, consider sending an update letter, unless expressly told not to.

If yous are accepted to multiple medical schools, you volition have to accept one of your offers by May xv and turn down the others. If you lot receive additional acceptance past May xv, yous'll have two weeks to decide whether y'all desire to keep your accustomed offer or turn information technology down in favor of the new one.

Fiscal help

Different with undergrad, few medical schools offering financial aid in the form of grants or scholarships. And the schools that do offering scholarships tend to give them to one of the highest achieving students they admitted and that they want to recruit

Unless yous tin can afford to pay for medical school out-of-pocket, you volition have to finance your school through loans or external scholarships, fellowships, or employment.

Function 4: A 4-twelvemonth guide to getting into medical schoolhouse

How this guide is organized

This section is separated into four parts that stand for to the traditional four-year college path, bold that you will apply directly through. Nevertheless, it is meant to be applied flexibly.

For example, if you're a college sophomore and realize that you lot didn't complete one of my freshman-yr recommendations, information technology doesn't mean you should skip over those. Rather, you should work hard to "catch up" by completing tasks y'all may take missed. Conversely, if you lot've completed a recommended task ahead of time, y'all don't have to repeat it. In addition, if you intend to take one or more gap years, you lot can space out diverse tasks.

In addition, each twelvemonth has a theme to guide your approach to academics and extracurricular activities. Therefore, you should never be over-focused on one or the other. Remember that maintaining potent stats is disquisitional, so never take on too much coursework or too many extracurricular commitments that they compromise your grades. At the same fourth dimension, you don't want to be seen simply as an academic high achiever.

At first, you'll want to cast a relatively broad net. Over time, your interest volition go more clear. As you decide which area(south) to pursue deeply, your "it gene(s)" will naturally develop. Recall of your medical school admissions journey as a funnel, where your focus gets narrower over fourth dimension.

Freshman year: Good for you foundations and breadth

The first year of your undergraduate career will speed by much more quickly than yous call back. In improver, you will receive seemingly endless opinions on your many questions well-nigh how to navigate your premed years. Here are the most mutual ones:

• Which specific courses should you lot have? Should you lot have more general education courses (GEs) or more prerequisite courses? How many of each?

  • Create a four-year programme that works backwards from cardinal landmarks (e.grand., graduation, applying to medical school, taking the MCAT). Then, fit in your coursework accordingly (e.g., "If I want to take the MCAT during the summertime afterward my second year, I'll demand to complete XYZ before and then."). Do your best to create balanced schedules. Y'all don't want to be taking three scientific discipline courses one quarter (a rather heavy load) and then three GE courses the next (a rather lite load).

• What extracurriculars should you participate in?

  • You have a considerable corporeality of time to decide how to commit your limited bandwidth. The goal during your first year is to expose yourself to as many opportunities every bit possible, noting programs that y'all would similar to contribute significantly to and tin can see yourself growing within. We'll discuss this further beneath.

• What'due south shadowing and when should I get started with that?

  • Shadowing is a passive activity where you observe the daily practice of medicine. In other words, you follow a physician throughout their workday to go a meliorate sense of the type of work doctors practice and then you can decide whether medicine is the right career for you. While y'all don't need to shadow right away, you lot should check this box—actually the simply action y'all may treat as a checklist item—relatively early so you can move on to more easily-on clinical opportunities. You'll need to amass near 50–100 hours by the time you apply to medical school and yous can practice so chop-chop during your winter/summer breaks.

• Am I already behind on research?

  • No! If you lot insist, yous could begin searching faculty pages in departments of interest (e.g., neuroscience, molecular biology) to get a sense of the work being washed on your campus. If you're eager to get started with research right abroad, accomplish out to a few professors and ask nearly available opportunities to work as a enquiry assistant.

Now, take a deep jiff. Nosotros've answered these questions for the sake of assuaging freshman jitters. Over fourth dimension, you'll complete everything necessary, so do your best to find a trusted advisor and avoid overwhelm, rather than rely on premed hearsay or online forums that are filled with misinformation.

College's novelty tends to produce two camps of students. The first comprises those who experience the pressure level to jump into every opportunity that comes their fashion. These students experience like they may "miss out" or that they're not taking their pre-medical aspirations seriously plenty. This approach is largely borne out of two errors:

1. Following the herd of other premed students who are getting involved in certain activities

2. Fundamental misunderstandings of what it takes to get into medical school.

Unfortunately, joining too many clubs and pursuing too many opportunities you're not completely passionate well-nigh leads to shallow, unmemorable work in all of your commitments.

The second group of students are those who do not have advantage of the liberty that college offers. They'll focus on their coursework and render to their dorm promptly after, choosing to pass on activities fairs and introductory club meetings. These students won't understand the breadth of experiences available on a higher campus.

Which of these two approaches is "right?"

The truth is that your first twelvemonth ways relatively lilliputian in the g context of your medical schoolhouse candidacy. It's built as a transition twelvemonth to help you acquaint to a new space surrounded by new people and new freedoms. Therefore, the theme for your freshman yr is to build healthy foundations and explore the breadth of experiences bachelor to you.

(Annotation: There is i exception to my point about your get-go year meaning relatively little: your GPA. A common proverb that circulates the premed community is: "Pain is temporary, GPA is forever." Above all else at this bespeak in your pre-medical journey—including shadowing, enquiry, clinical experience—is your GPA, so protect it. As your units rise, it becomes increasingly difficult to budge it. Be on the correct side of this then yous can have the opportunity to relax during your later on years, because while a B or C early tin compromise your GPA, a slightly lower class later on will make little difference.)

Here are a few key points to consider when developing a strong, lasting foundation:

• Build good for you habits. Eating healthy, working out often, and sleeping consistently are also often disregarded by students. If y'all fail your health, you lot'll likely burn out when coursework intensifies and extracurricular commitments first piling up. Therefore, treat salubrious habits as a cornerstone for your success as a premed student.

• Optimize your studying. Experiment with location, temperature, music, etc. Your report infinite volition go your holy space for the next couple of years. Care for it as such. As with the previous indicate, many students volition neglect this. Merely while pure intellect may get y'all through freshman year, your courses will get tougher and your commitments will have more than of your free time. You lot should therefore report effectively when yous have the opportunity to exercise then.

• Struggle, then seek aid. Take pride in your ability. Button yourself to solve issues and learn to ask for help only in one case you tin answer: "What specific step am I stuck on?" The premed journeying volition require you to exist self-sufficient in many areas of your life, including academics. Many students autumn into the trap of depending entirely on office hours and study guides created by students from prior years. Learn to push yourself because in that location are fewer such resources as you lot move forward in your academic journey.

In addition, it'southward of import to go a sense of your available opportunities. Survey the choices that your campus offers y'all through engaging in modest, bite-sized extracurricular experiences. Become acquainted with a few clubs and programs and note which experiences involvement you so can return and perhaps commit to them.

Moreover, don't feel the need to exclusively engage in medically-related experiences. Since admissions committees look for attractive qualities, such as the ability to piece of work in teams, interpersonal skills or the capacity to lead can be developed through a hospital volunteering program as much as through an a capella team.

Lastly, accept advantage of your beginning higher summer, equally it will exist your most free one. While a popular selection is to get ahead of your coursework past taking summer classes, consider a diverseness of experiences, such as:

• Studying abroad to complete prerequisite courses (e.g., written report physics in Hong Kong). Often, these programs allow you to complete entire prerequisite series (east.k., Physics ABC) in 8 weeks, as compared to the traditional 3 quarters/2 semesters/30 weeks at your university. In addition, you can savour time abroad!

• Going on a medical mission to Vietnam/Bharat/Tanzania, etc. These opportunities are peachy if you're interested in healthcare institutions outside of America, all the while enjoying a summer in a different country.

Freshman twelvemonth will be over sooner than yous think. Although in that location'due south a lot to consider, the main takeaways are:

• Protect your GPA. It is very difficult to budge information technology equally you progress through your undergraduate years and accumulate units.

• Transition into the college environment to the best of your ability. These healthy foundations will carry forward into the next three years. Neglect this, and yous won't be able to handle things when the pace of your coursework and extracurricular activities increase.

• Prioritize latitude over depth when it comes to extracurricular activities. Survey your unabridged campus' landscape and when yous've come to the bespeak where you're settled academically, you can begin to funnel your boosted time into extracurriculars you lot're truly interested in.

• Take advantage of the summer subsequently your freshman year! It is an important fourth dimension to become ahead of the pack and, when planned right, can as well involve memorable experiences studying abroad or serving underserved communities in developing countries.

Sophomore twelvemonth: Bookish refinement and exploration

During your 2d twelvemonth, the academic and extracurricular footstep will pick upwards considerably. Professors will presume that you've transitioned to college and that you tin can now excel despite the rigor of academy coursework. In addition, if you're considering matriculating into medical school right after graduation, you must apply in May/June of your third twelvemonth.

With just under 2 years until you submit your application, MCAT, messages of recommendation and extracurricular involvement should exist moving towards the forefront of your mind. Due to these considerations, the theme for your 2d year should be academic refinement and exploration of activities that will make y'all more than but your GPA and MCAT score.

Think about when to have the MCAT. It's an incredibly difficult exam and should be treated seriously. If you lot're looking to apply straight through, a pop option is to study full time during the summer after your second twelvemonth. This strategy volition give y'all protected time away from coursework and extracurriculars so you can focus entirely on getting the best score you can. Notation that the culling to studying during the summertime is to study during the schoolhouse year. With that approach, you'll take to juggle MCAT written report time with your university coursework, which is often a recipe for disappointment.

Review your 4-year plan and ensure that your coursework in the upcoming years matches your timeline for taking the MCAT and applying. Pay particular attention to whether you lot volition have completed the bulk of your prerequisite courses for the MCAT before you brainstorm to study for the exam. Remember, the MCAT consists of:

• Full general Chemical science/Organic Chemistry/Physics

• Biology/Biochemistry

• Psychology/Sociology

(Note: The MCAT as well includes reading comprehension and assay, only those skills are not directly associated with sure prerequisite courses.)

By the fourth dimension you enter a defended report menstruum for the MCAT, y'all should take completed most of these serial in their entireties, except for the associated lab courses (east.g., Full general Chemistry Lab won't exist of import for the MCAT). Information technology will aid if you take taken introductory psychology and sociology coursework, but if you can't fit all these subjects into your schedule, self-studying psychology and folklore would be manageable. In contrast, you should ideally consummate all of your chemical science, physics, and biology coursework beforehand.

More than by and large, continue to refine your learning fashion and protect your GPA past excelling in your classes. The learning habits you lot develop equally an underclassman will carry with you throughout your undergraduate years and far into medical school. Standing to study inefficiently (e.g., with your phone's notifications on or in loud, distracting environments) will eventually catch up to you as coursework becomes more difficult.

(Note: It's completely normal for you to not have institute your groove with your coursework just still. Rather than panic about a B hither or there, the correct course of activeness is to double down and focus entirely on your academic success. On the other hand, information technology would be a mistake to continue adding onto your plate. Slow down and take your medical school admissions journey 1 step at a time. Once your good for you bookish habits are in place, you can take the grooming wheels off.

Likewise often, students spread themselves thin every which style, hoping that their extracurricular involvement volition exist enough to "encompass" their lower academic stats. Remember, with and so many applicants, many of whom take stiff stats and extracurriculars, admissions committees demand quick ways to filter applicants. Don't let your depression GPA be the reason you don't become a second look. Your numbers are nigh important and your extracurriculars, the differentiating cistron.

Think of information technology this way: your GPA and MCAT scores are the cake and your extracurriculars are the frosting. Without the cake, your frosting may exist nice, merely insubstantial.)

Extracurricular-wise, it'southward time to get more involved . Because you've had a year to survey the extracurricular mural and found things that interest you lot, you should have no problem with diving headfirst into them and doing your best to contribute however you can. Whether giving your all-time efforts when serving patients at a community wellness off-white, answering questions during a order presentation, or interacting with guest speakers at a console, make sure that yous make your time spent in these activities well worth it. Prioritize serving the mission and members of every organization over your personal interests. Too often, premeds bring together clubs simply in search of leadership positions.

Consider exploring clinical experiences to get a better sense of what working in patient intendance is like and what medical contexts you'd like to practice within. A general rule of pollex is that if you are interacting with patients, that experience is clinical. Here are some examples of programs to consider on your own college campus:

• Join the hospital volunteering plan and become a sense of what life is similar every bit a nurse, physician, or patient. Pay attention to how you feel when serving people in their times of poor wellness and whether you come across yourself working in this context throughout your professional career.

• Serve as a volunteer in a gratis community health clinic. Get a sense of working with patients from different socioeconomic backgrounds and what medicine looks like "in the field."

• Create a plan to coach patients with chronic affliction on losing weight and maintaining weight loss. This unique clinical experience would broaden your perspective on patient care.

Likewise, seeking out research experiences not merely to improve your candidacy for medical schoolhouse, simply likewise to get a sense of whether you'd like to pursue bookish medicine in the future. To brand headway on a research project, you should dedicate anywhere from x–20 hours a week to the lab. That said, remember non to push button your schedule if you're not still at the point where you can handle information technology. Here are some ways to become involved with research:

• Attend luncheon seminars hosted by your higher'south scientific discipline departments (eastward.g., psychiatry, biochemistry). Get a sense of the type of work that'south being washed on campus and reach out to faculty members via email if yous're interested in supporting them. Exist persistent. Ofttimes, faculty members run into your email but, for whatsoever reason—they saw your electronic mail correct before lunch or while leaving lecture—did not or could non answer. Don't take it personally and continue to follow up if you're genuinely interested.

• Accomplish out to your upperclassman friends that are doing research in a field you're interested in or to ask whether they recommend working in certain labs. Upperclassmen frequently know about enquiry openings and a recommendation from these already-vetted students can help yous obtain a position more easily. Spring quarter/semester is the best fourth dimension to search for and obtain enquiry positions as many of the seniors in the lab will be looking to transition out of their position afterwards graduation.

• Join established inquiry pipelines. Some undergraduate institutions, similar UCLA, have dedicated biomedical enquiry minors and others have programs that promote inquiry opportunities to certain educatee populations (eastward.chiliad., kickoff-generation, underrepresented). Apply to these programs just if you are relatively sure y'all desire to contain inquiry into your undergraduate career as these programs tend to be selective and rigorous. On the flip side, they offering excellent mentorship and, ofttimes, funding for your scholarly pursuits.

As sophomore year comes to a shut, you'll accept completed half of your undergraduate years! The outset ii years are a menses of meaning growth and the following two years will be more exciting as a result. The chief takeaway for 2d yr include:

• Don't bite off more than you can chew. A strong GPA and MCAT score is critical for consideration from peak medical schools. Therefore, don't autumn into the trap of leveraging your extracurricular experiences to attempt to recoup for subpar academic metrics.

• Recall near the MCAT and your overall awarding timeline. Ensure that your iv-year-plan matches what you hope to accomplish by the time dedicated study for the MCAT rolls around.

• If you're academically comfortable, start shifting into a depth over breadth mindset when it comes to extracurriculars. Pour your time into things that truly matter to you and serve your clubs' missions and members before expecting annihilation for yourself. In other words, don't become involved in a club because you call up, "Information technology'll look nifty for medical schoolhouse." This dangerous "checklist mentality" will hurt you when it comes fourth dimension to write your medical school applications. You lot'll have lilliputian of substance to communicate. The leadership positions, accolades, publications, and presentations will come if y'all provide value upwardly front.

• Explore clinical experiences. These are any activities that involve patient care and requite yous a better sense of what information technology means to serve patients in their time of need. Clinical work will develop your interpersonal skills and an understanding of what working with the sick and their families is truly like.

• Explore research experiences, particularly in the spring as seniors wait to transition out of their positions. Enquiry will give you a better sense of whether you want to incorporate academic pursuits into your career. If you don't, that's perfectly fine, but medical schools desire to encounter that you've worked to sympathize the science that goes hand-in-paw with the medical profession.

Junior year: Optimize your time and elevate your responsibilities

If yous're applying directly through, your third year will be your application yr. At this point, you'll probably feel like fourth dimension is flight by. With one year remaining to boost your application, your goal should be to optimize your time and elevate your responsibilities. Past now, y'all'll need to have a firm grasp on your academics and funnel the rest of your time to differentiate your application from the rest of the pack.

Naturally, the content of your coursework will become more than difficult as you enter upper-division coursework. Despite this, the habits that y'all've developed volition pay dividends. Getting great grades in these not-weeder courses should be relatively straightforward now: put in effective report time in an environment optimized for your learning.

Equally a reminder, if you find yourself struggling academically, lessen your other commitments to improve your stats. You're going to demand competitive stats to exist seriously considered among the thousands of applications that medical schools receive each yr.

At the aforementioned, there is petty difference between, say, a iii.85 and a three.88 GPA. You'll find that your courses now matter much less in moving the needle of your GPA. Therefore, you should exist more than strategic with your time and not chase diminishing returns. A 98% in a class is viewed the aforementioned every bit a 94% and getting those 4 percentage points may take valuable hours away from other ventures, like working on a research publication. Therefore, do the most you can academically with the least amount of work.

By protecting your time, you can focus more on extracurriculars than ever. Your achievements outside the classroom volition aid brand yous equally more than a student with great stats. If yous've focused on serving the missions of your extracurricular opportunities, you'll soon be taking on larger responsibilities. Per the Stephen Back-scratch analogy earlier, look for ways to stand out. Hither are some ways to drag your responsibilities and be seen equally a superstar bidder:

• Take on a leadership role and use your experience as a member to place ways to meliorate an organisation! For example, you may have served as a volunteer at a community wellness fair for recent immigrants from Latin American countries and noticed that this population would do good considerably from having point-of-care glucose and cholesterol screenings. Yous reach out to neighboring schools of pharmacy and nursing and bring out a team of healthcare providers that tin can now offer that service.

• Lead your own independent research project. For instance, your larger research question may be: "What are the underlying mechanisms of stroke recovery?" You propose a smaller experiment that analyzes a mouse's motor beliefs before and after a stroke through a machine-learning algorithm. Whenever possible, disseminate your piece of work through poster presentations and publications. This will give you facetime with experts in the field who tin offer valuable feedback and button your enquiry career forward.

• Scale your positions to build out a squad of members that tin can perform your role more extensively. Mayhap you are a health coach who helps patients achieve and maintain weight loss to reduce their chronic disease risk. Y'all could recruit a dozen other health coaches, train them to be just as effective as you are, and then spend your time recruiting patients who can be served by the squad you've but built out.

On the admissions front, your main applications will open up for submission in May or June, which volition come much faster than you recollect. While specific application details are exterior the scope of this resource, hither are some guiding questions:

• Are you lot comfy with your GPA and MCAT score?

  • View the boilerplate GPA and MCAT scores of matriculants at every medical school and see whether your stats are in the ballpark range of schools you'd like to attend. If your stats are beneath what Dr. programs expect and y'all need to boost your GPA, consider enrolling in a post-bacc, Special Master's, or extension plan. If you need to ameliorate your score, consider retaking the MCAT and studying more than effectively than you previously did.·

• Do you lot have sufficient shadowing hours and clinical experience to demonstrate an understanding of what medicine entails?

  • In other words, can you effectively verbalize why you want to be a doc? Practice you have clinical experiences that can support your reasons?

• Accept you secured stiff letters of recommendation?

  • These letters serve as a third-party perspective into you lot equally a student and as a person. Stiff letters of recommendation can make the difference between receiving an interview invitation early vs. waiting a long time, so consider the relationship you lot take with your letter writers and the picture they would paint of you. If it's been a while since yous were in touch with diverse professors or other references, use your 3rd twelvemonth to solidify relationships.

• Practise yous demand a mental break before medical schoolhouse?

  • Medical school is four years long and nearly continuous, meaning you'll get few breaks. Therefore, consider whether you desire to commit to some other four years of rigorous schooling correct after undergrad.

• Are you proud of extracurricular activities and can speak passionately almost them?

  • If y'all can't, peradventure y'all would benefit from another year or two of focused work. You'll have much more fourth dimension to devote to extracurriculars during gap years because yous no longer need to dedicate so much fourth dimension to your coursework.

• Are you still committed to going to medical schoolhouse direct through?

  • If so, you'll want to get started on your applications early, ideally during the fall of your third twelvemonth, and no later than the winter. Otherwise, you will adventure submitting your applications late or rushing and submitting subpar materials.

The summer subsequently your third year will be largely devoted to completing outstanding application essays and preparing for interviews. This is time can be extremely stressful, as nearly every medical school will yous ask you to consummate a supplemental application with a few additional essays. If your medical schoolhouse listing contains, say, 30 schools, you're looking at upwards of 80 additional pieces of writing across your chief applications!

Whereas some essays may be repurposed, others will crave original writing. Do your all-time not to have too many outside commitments. Fifty-fifty if you accept a full-time chore, attempt to schedule a few weeks of protected fourth dimension to piece of work on your application.

Should you have costless time subsequently submitting your master applications, y'all should pre-write your secondaries. While you lot can view every prompt in our medical schoolhouse secondary essay prompts database, note that they may alter from year to twelvemonth, although most remain the aforementioned.

When y'all receive a certain secondary, practice your all-time to render it within two weeks. If you got started on your applications early, this should not be an consequence. Rolling admissions truly comes into play here because one time a secondary is submitted along with your letters of recommendation, your application will be considered complete and set up for evaluation. Submitting early means you'll be competing against fewer applicants for more spots.

Senior twelvemonth: Enjoy the interview trail and relax

Your fourth year may feel like y'all're on a roller coaster. With secondaries (hopefully) out of the mode, this year volition likely exist an intensely uncomfortable waiting game. Y'all'll accept to look to receive interview invitations, perform well on interview solar day and so expect some more. If y'all receive numerous invitations, you'll accumulate more flying miles and credit card points than you e'er could have imagined.

You lot'll likewise be triggered by every email notification, anxiously wondering whether it'southward an interview invite, an acceptance, or an unfortunate waitlist placement or rejection. Do your best to non permit this flow consume you. Mute your notifications when you tin can, schedule fourth dimension abroad from technology, and lean on your support network to manage difficult emotions. Information technology'south an exciting time, but yous should notwithstanding enjoy your senior year. Therefore, the theme for your 4th year is to savour the interview trail and relax to the best of your ability.

If yous're fortunate to brand it through the primary and secondary screens and receive interview invitations, congratulations! You're nearing the light at the end of the tunnel and you deserve it. On your interview day, remember to:

• Enjoy interview days. You will visit new places and come across new people who may exist your colleagues going forwards. Ofttimes, medical school candidates end upwardly coming together again on the interview trail and on second-expect weekends. You're in this together and may end up being dandy friends while you navigate your education and careers together.

• Medical schools are as interested in yous as you are interested in them. They were impressed enough with your application to give you a 2nd look in person. Recollect that interview spots are coveted, and it is therefore in schools' best interest to invite just people they are genuinely interested in. Be yourself and show schools that what they read about you genuinely reflects who you are in person. There are no fox questions; schools simply want to get to know you.

• Read up on impostor syndrome and don't psych yourself out. The admissions process is rigorous, and you deserve your interview invitations after three years of hard work. Stay out of your caput and resist being your own worst enemy.

When you lot're not interviewing, you lot'll maintain your status equally a total-fourth dimension student and complete coursework for your caste. Whereas your goal during previous years was to protect your GPA, your mentality this twelvemonth—bold you lot've done well and won't be applying during a future admissions cycle—should be to maintain it. Therefore, prioritize enjoying your senior year.

Now, that doesn't mean you should coast, but it does mean that a 4.0 is neither necessary nor helpful. Since you've already applied, your fourth-year grades will not be considered during the application process. However, you lot must send a final official transcript after you are accepted, so don't put yourself in a position where yous take to explain why your three.85 GPA of a sudden became a iii.65 in a single twelvemonth.

Virtually importantly, relax and reflect. Yous've worked hard and grown over the better part of four years. At that place won't be many opportunities to do so during med school or residency as you written report for exam later exam or button projects to completion. Consider traveling during the latter part of your fourth twelvemonth and during summer, pursue other interests, and celebrate.

There'S NO REASON TO STRUGGLE THROUGH THE MED School ADMISSIONS Procedure ALONE, Especially WITH Then MUCH ON THE LINE. SCHEDULE YOUR Gratis 30-Infinitesimal CONSULTATION TO ENSURE You Get out NOTHING TO CHANCE.

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Source: https://www.shemmassianconsulting.com/blog/how-to-get-into-medical-school

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