What are my chances? Getting into medical school
So you're applying to medical school and you want to know what your chances are? Well here is a general guide to what you need. Ready?
*Feel free to comment your stats and whatever other information you have below and I'll let you know what your chances are.
There are a number of criteria that you need (or should) have on your application when reaching out to medical schools.
1) MCAT Score: The average MCAT score right now for most MD schools is around a 32-34. Did you read that? Average. That means that students are getting below and above that score and getting accepted. A few years ago, AAMC published its report and a student with a 16 on the MCAT got accepted (how? Who knows. Probably the son of a billionaire). The point is, students can get into medical school with below 30 MCAT scores and students with above 40 (yes you read write) are not getting accepted. How is that possible? Your application is all about balance. If you don't have most or all of the criteria I'm about to mention, then think again about applying.
2) GPA: So obviously medical schools aren't going to accept someone who they don't think can handle their curriculum. Having said that, you're going to need plenty of As on your transcript. A friend once told me: "For every B you get, there are 5 kids getting As." Scary. Try to get the highest marks possible. Does a B or a C, or even a D disqualify you? Absolutely not. Just make sure you have a good reason when they ask you what happened.
3) Research: This is not a must since a some medical students aren't science majors. I have a number of classmates who were English or History majors and never did any type of clinical or medicine research. Having said that, if you're not planning on doing any research, then you better make sure you're doing something else with your time. Now for those who do research, great. How many research projects? What type of research? For how long should you do research? Is getting published important? The answer to all of those questions is it doesn't matter. Schools don't take whether you've done 1 or 4 projects (some schools may actually see that as bad - it's better to have one strong focal area than 4 weak ones). Schools don't care how long you did the research. If you cured cancer in a day or a year doesn't matter - what matters is what you did and how much effort you put into it. Schools don't care about if you get published or not. Of course it's nice to get published but it's not a deal-breaker (though it may be important for those looking to get into MD/PhD programs). Lastly, your research doesn't have to be lab-based. It could be statistical, historical, etc. At the end of the day, medical schools want to see you do something you're passionate about - it'll show trust me.
4) Volunteering: Yes, you have to be a good person and volunteer your time. Lots of schools actually have volunteering hours on their applications. And yes volunteering can be anything. Did you tutor without pay? Write cards to veterans? Clean up parks? Help your local church? So what about health-related volunteering? Your primary application actually has a category for health and non-health related volunteering. My opinion is do both. Now some people have ridiculous volunteering hours because they've shadowed at a hospital for 3 years. Don't be discouraged. I only had about 50 hours of shadowing and 100 hours of hospital hours and I still got in.
5) EC: What type of extracurricular activities should you get involved in? How many? As many as you want and in whatever you want. Again, admission committees are pretty good at finding out how passionate you are about something. You don't have to be part of the biology club leadership or be a part of 100 different clubs. Just go out there and get involved in a few EC that you're really interested in. Everyone going to medical school was part of the biology or chemistry club - you want to be different, not the same.
6) IT Factor: This is the MOST important category for getting into medical school. Try to think outside the box and do something that you think no one else has. This is where you try to really stand out of the crowd and make the admissions say "I won't forget that guy." For me, my "everything else" category was writing a book and making an educational science App. And guess what? EVERY interview I went on asked me about my book and my App. Why? Because it's different. It's fresh. It's something no one does and something that shows my passion and interest. They don't want to see "Mr. Perfect." They want to see someone who is "real."
So you don't need a 4.0 GPA, a 35+ MCAT, 10 EC, 1000 hours of volunteering, and plenty of research to get into medical school. What you need is that "IT Factor." I have a friend who is applying now with a 3.8GPA, 41 MCAT, incredible EC, phenomenal research, and more volunteering hours than he knows what to do with. Guess what? He's only had 3 interviews and not one acceptance and it's already the end of January. How? Why? Medical school is becoming more and more competitive each year. The average age of many M1 students are 24 - that means that most students are taking a couple of years off to make their applications stellar. You must work on that IT factor. If not, you can be like my friend and be really well-rounded and it doesn't mean you're guaranteed a spot. I'm sure there are plenty of applicants who have applications weaker than him that are accepted. Unfortunately, part of the application cycle is a crap-shoot. Just keep working hard and don't lose hope.
If you want to know what your chances are, leave a comment with your stats and information and I'll let you know where to improve on and what you need to do to maximize your chances of getting in.
So you're applying to medical school and you want to know what your chances are? Well here is a general guide to what you need. Ready?
*Feel free to comment your stats and whatever other information you have below and I'll let you know what your chances are.
There are a number of criteria that you need (or should) have on your application when reaching out to medical schools.
1) MCAT Score: The average MCAT score right now for most MD schools is around a 32-34. Did you read that? Average. That means that students are getting below and above that score and getting accepted. A few years ago, AAMC published its report and a student with a 16 on the MCAT got accepted (how? Who knows. Probably the son of a billionaire). The point is, students can get into medical school with below 30 MCAT scores and students with above 40 (yes you read write) are not getting accepted. How is that possible? Your application is all about balance. If you don't have most or all of the criteria I'm about to mention, then think again about applying.
2) GPA: So obviously medical schools aren't going to accept someone who they don't think can handle their curriculum. Having said that, you're going to need plenty of As on your transcript. A friend once told me: "For every B you get, there are 5 kids getting As." Scary. Try to get the highest marks possible. Does a B or a C, or even a D disqualify you? Absolutely not. Just make sure you have a good reason when they ask you what happened.
3) Research: This is not a must since a some medical students aren't science majors. I have a number of classmates who were English or History majors and never did any type of clinical or medicine research. Having said that, if you're not planning on doing any research, then you better make sure you're doing something else with your time. Now for those who do research, great. How many research projects? What type of research? For how long should you do research? Is getting published important? The answer to all of those questions is it doesn't matter. Schools don't take whether you've done 1 or 4 projects (some schools may actually see that as bad - it's better to have one strong focal area than 4 weak ones). Schools don't care how long you did the research. If you cured cancer in a day or a year doesn't matter - what matters is what you did and how much effort you put into it. Schools don't care about if you get published or not. Of course it's nice to get published but it's not a deal-breaker (though it may be important for those looking to get into MD/PhD programs). Lastly, your research doesn't have to be lab-based. It could be statistical, historical, etc. At the end of the day, medical schools want to see you do something you're passionate about - it'll show trust me.
4) Volunteering: Yes, you have to be a good person and volunteer your time. Lots of schools actually have volunteering hours on their applications. And yes volunteering can be anything. Did you tutor without pay? Write cards to veterans? Clean up parks? Help your local church? So what about health-related volunteering? Your primary application actually has a category for health and non-health related volunteering. My opinion is do both. Now some people have ridiculous volunteering hours because they've shadowed at a hospital for 3 years. Don't be discouraged. I only had about 50 hours of shadowing and 100 hours of hospital hours and I still got in.
5) EC: What type of extracurricular activities should you get involved in? How many? As many as you want and in whatever you want. Again, admission committees are pretty good at finding out how passionate you are about something. You don't have to be part of the biology club leadership or be a part of 100 different clubs. Just go out there and get involved in a few EC that you're really interested in. Everyone going to medical school was part of the biology or chemistry club - you want to be different, not the same.
6) IT Factor: This is the MOST important category for getting into medical school. Try to think outside the box and do something that you think no one else has. This is where you try to really stand out of the crowd and make the admissions say "I won't forget that guy." For me, my "everything else" category was writing a book and making an educational science App. And guess what? EVERY interview I went on asked me about my book and my App. Why? Because it's different. It's fresh. It's something no one does and something that shows my passion and interest. They don't want to see "Mr. Perfect." They want to see someone who is "real."
So you don't need a 4.0 GPA, a 35+ MCAT, 10 EC, 1000 hours of volunteering, and plenty of research to get into medical school. What you need is that "IT Factor." I have a friend who is applying now with a 3.8GPA, 41 MCAT, incredible EC, phenomenal research, and more volunteering hours than he knows what to do with. Guess what? He's only had 3 interviews and not one acceptance and it's already the end of January. How? Why? Medical school is becoming more and more competitive each year. The average age of many M1 students are 24 - that means that most students are taking a couple of years off to make their applications stellar. You must work on that IT factor. If not, you can be like my friend and be really well-rounded and it doesn't mean you're guaranteed a spot. I'm sure there are plenty of applicants who have applications weaker than him that are accepted. Unfortunately, part of the application cycle is a crap-shoot. Just keep working hard and don't lose hope.
If you want to know what your chances are, leave a comment with your stats and information and I'll let you know where to improve on and what you need to do to maximize your chances of getting in.
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