Jessica Freedman, MD

By Jessica Freedman, MD
President of MedEdits

Your son or daughter wants to get into medical school. Of course, you want to help, but how? Many parents, including those who are physicians themselves, are overwhelmed by the medical school application process. They want to guide their young adult children but also want to allow their “kids” to work independently and don’t want to do too much hand holding.

So, what do you, as parents, need to know about the medical school admissions process to help your premedical student to succeed? This article reviews some basic material to help parents and their children make wise choices that will help them to gain acceptance to medical school.

Know the facts, but try not to add more pressure to the cooker

It is important for parents to know what is required of their children to gain admission to medical school. This means knowing the premedical prerequisites and the activities in which students should be involved. But it also means understanding how to help without adding more stress.

Achieving this balance often depends on the relationship between parent and child. It is essential, however, that parents understand that their children are young adults who will someday soon be required to make independent (and very important) decisions. Since a career in medicine requires maturity and independent thought and decision making, parents should encourage these qualities while remaining involved in their children’s lives.

Consider carefully what college to attend

Many premedical parents ask me where their child should attend college. The most common question is: “Should my child attend a prestigious college where ‘As’ are more difficult to earn or go to a college or university that is considered less prestigious but where high grades may be easier to earn?” The answer to this question is not easy.

What is most important with regard to medical school admissions is academics. A high GPA (3.9) and a strong MCAT score (above 30 with a good distribution) are the most important factors for an application to be considered for review by an admissions committee. I have seen people who went to outstanding colleges but earned 3.3s or so who had difficulty gaining admission to medical school. Thus, students with similar MCAT scores but with higher GPAs from less prestigious undergraduate colleges may receive more interviews (and thus more acceptances) than the student who went to a top ranked college but had a lower GPA.

Help your child choose best major and courses for them

The emphasis in medical school admissions now is diversity. So, beyond the basic premedical prerequisites, students should major in what interests them most. Majoring in something other than biology or chemistry would be looked upon favorably by admissions committee members. It is always wise, however, to take upper level science classes regardless of the student’s major to demonstrate academic excellence in the sciences. I also suggest that all premedical students take biochemistry and, if possible, statistics; Medical schools like to see these courses on transcripts.

Think about the activities in which your premedical student should participate

Just as with their courses, students should become involved in activities that motivate and interest them. While everyone knows that medical schools “like to see” research, community service, and teaching, first and foremost, all applicants must have clinical and shadowing experiences. Also important is that students do not become involved in extracurricular activities at the expense of their academic success and that they do not accumulate a list of activities just for the sake of doing so. In-depth involvement is preferred over a long list of superficial activities and will likely lead to stronger letters of reference.

Put together a good “team” to help your son/daughter gain admission to medical school

This team should consist of professors, mentors, extracurricular leaders and premedical advisors. Remember that you cannot be everything to your child and that having other people to provide support and guidance throughout this process is helpful. I find that many “kids” like to have other objective authority figures to help advise them.

Think seriously about some time away from formal academics

Many applicants now take a year away from formal academics before going to medical school and apply during the spring of the senior year rather than the spring of junior year.  Some parents are uncomfortable with this idea, but it can be difficult for students to get “all of their ducks in a row” in time to submit a successful application at the end of their junior year of college. Applying in the senior year also allows applicants to have an extra year of grades on their transcript, which can be important for many applicants whose grade point average (GPA) tends to trend upward from the freshman to senior year. I find that some applicants who are not successful the first time they apply often fail because they and their parents did not understand how much work and organization is required for a successful medical school application.

Understand that the medical school application process is long!

As parents, it is important to understand that the process of applying to medical school requires a tremendous amount of endurance and perseverance. Many parents of my clients who are physicians lament: “It wasn’t this complicated when I applied!” Indeed, as medical school admissions have become more competitive, the process has become more laborious and expensive.

The application season officially begins when the student starts thinking about composing and submitting his or her primary application in June. But, students must also take all required courses and the MCAT and request letters of reference and transcripts in addition to composing an excellent application. Then, after the primary application is submitted, students must fill out secondary application essays for many schools and go on interviews. Some applicants may not know what school they will attend until they “get off a waitlist” in August. Thus, the application season may last for more than a full year.

Medical school applicants tend to be a highly motivated group who hold themselves to high standards. Sometimes, in an effort to make sure their kids stay on track, parents ask questions constantly, do GPA calculations, plan curriculums and seek out summer activities that will bolster their child’s application. There is a fine line between helping and hovering, and I find that this added pressure can sometimes backfire.  The premedical race requires agility and careful judgment, and parents play an important role in helping premedical students to reach the finish line.

Jessica Freedman, MD, a former medical admissions officer, is president of MedEdits (www.MedEdits.com), a medical school, residency and fellowship admissions consulting firm. She is also the author of the MedEdits blog, a useful resource for applicants: (www.MedEdits.blogspot.com).

Alex Shalman

by Alex Shalman
AlexShalman.com – Practical Personal Development

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”

~Randy Pausch

There are certain goals in your life for which success is a non-negotiable conclusion. It’s inevitable that the bus of your life is going to drive towards a fork in the road.  The trick is to position yourself in the drivers seat.

My most current and biggest obstacle so far has been to get into dental school. If my whole story was simple, that “I applied, I got in, woot!” then it wouldn’t have been very inspirational. Luckily, for the story’s sake, it took me three years of applications, rejections, retaking the DAT, and upping the ante with a master’s degree in order to push my way through.

The whole process really humbled me, and at the same time made me really proud of what I can do when I put everything I’ve got into it. I’ve had the benefit of being very self-aware, and carefully analyzing the mental processes that I went through in order to reach this goal. I could have been depressed at the first rejection. I could have quit and found another line of work…I almost did…but I didn’t, because my brain thinks as follows:

1. Cut Off Unsupportive People
   I’ve long been going through the process of purging negative people from my life. The friends that were just great to party with, the people that were disgustingly pessimistic, and the ones that clearly did not have my best interests in mind. Getting rid of negative people opens you up to meeting new ones with qualities you respect and admire.

   Several months ago I had a friend ask me why am I still trying to get in, and why don’t I just give up and go and get a real job instead of trying for this dental dream. My girlfriend Marina had an awesome response to this onslaught. She said, “How can you live if you stop trying? That’s the formula for regret.” I like it a lot. I have to keep this Marina person around me more!

2. Cut Off Plan B
   I’m very inspired by a story of Julius Caesar that I heard from one of my personal development tapes years back. When Caesar’s ships landed on the enemy beach, he immediately ordered his army to turn around and burn down all of their own ships. This left only one option, plow through the enemy lines, no matter what, and on to victory.

   In my own life, I gave myself only one option, no plan B, no alternatives, and that option was to become the best Dental health professional in the world. Other options and job opportunities were presented to me, quite often, and I always thought of them as the “Serpent’s apple” which I refused to pick.

3. Talk About Your Dream
   Everyone that I encountered knew that my number one goal, the thing that I wanted so much I could taste it, was to get into dental school. I didn’t ask them for help, I presented myself as a passionate individual who has wanted to be a dentist since he was five years old and would stop at nothing to achieve this dream. People respect this form of sincerity.

   In fact, people would often times start trying to think of solutions to how they might help me, or who they knew in a great position to help me. Over three years, I got a lot of contacts, some of which were dead leads, but the sheer volume that was generated from me speaking about my number one goal created some golden opportunities and referrals.

4. Believe In Yourself
   You know those days: When you’re down on yourself, and you’re thinking about quitting. Perhaps you even start to entertain some good reasons for why quitting would be a good idea.

   *SLAP*

   The trick is to give yourself a mental slap.  Take those negative thoughts and nip them in the bud before the weeds overthrow the yard of your mind. Don’t be the kind of person that thinks this way.

   It’s your job, not your friends or your parents, to believe that you’re the best. You must believe, deep in your soul, that whatever you have, whatever you’re selling is absolutely the air that everyone should be breathing. If you don’t believe you’re the best, and don’t do everything in your power to really be the best, then no one else will believe – so believe!

I’ve played a dangerous game my friends. I got a Masters degree, albeit educational and interesting, in a field that I didn’t want to spend my life working in – but I pushed on. I talked to everyone and their dog about my dreams, and encountered some pessimistic backlash – but I pushed on.

I even spent this summer studying to retake the admission test “just in case,” while having a promising spot on the waiting list, when I could have taken a vacation and hoped I’d make it off the list – but I pushed on.

Never stop trying, not while you’re still alive and capable. As I like to say… “If you have a dream, whether you have to go through those doors sideways, backwards, or jump in from the roof… don’t give up.”

Alex Shalman is a Personal Development writer and speaker, and most recently an NYU Dental student. If you enjoyed this article please tweet it and vote for it on StumbleUpon. I’d appreciate it.

Ahh, simple childhood games. Music playing. Walking around a circle of chairs. I’m eyeing the one closest to me.

*the music stops*
I scramble for a chair.

“I’m sorry, Joe. You can’t sit in a red chair. Those are for people with Outies. Your belly button is an Innie. You need to find a blue chair.”
“But the kindergarteners took most of the blue chairs for their game…”
“I’m sorry. Just see if you can find a left over one.”
I cry.

While this never actually happened, it is a recurring nightmare I have (and may explain my deep seated phobia of blue chairs). This game represents how health professional school admissions, particularly medical school admissions, work.

For medical schools, there are a good number of chairs that are spoken for before you’ve even submitted your AMCAS. How many depends on the types of alternate acceptance programs the school offers, but these programs contribute to the ultimate class size and subsequently are fewer seats available during the AMCAS application cycle.

As an informed applicant, what you can do is realize that you’re only going to be competing for the blue chair.

What alternate acceptance pathways are there?

BS or BA/MD Programs
These programs offer medical school acceptance to exceptional students either directly out of high school or early in their undergraduate careers. After completing their undergraduate and program requirements in anywhere from two to four years, students in these programs join the entering medical school class at the institution affiliated with the program.

Early Acceptance Programs
Similar to the above, some schools will offer early acceptances to students at linked universities or within their home state. This generally occurs sometime following the junior year. These students also matriculate with the entering class.

Special Masters Programs
Many medical schools offer Special Masters Programs. These programs allow students to take classes with M1 students in order to show they can excel at medical school coursework. While the degree of linkage between SMPs and Medical Schools varies from program to program (few, if any, offer a direct acceptance), many will at least interview every SMP student and SMP students will traditionally be accepted to their home institution with a higher rate than the general applicant pool. SMP students do apply through AMCAS, but they are deceptively competitive for the school in question.

Where else do the spots go?

Deferrals
Every year, there are students that are unable to matriculate the year they’ve applied. These students defer and subsequently join the next year’s class. This is a small number of students and this happens each year, so it may be negligible, but these students are already holding acceptances in the application year that the entering class is applying so they may be considered as drawing away from the total number of available seats.

The Innie/Outie Factor
State residency is a large issue at state funded schools. Unless the school is private and state residency is not a factor, there will be separate pools for in state and out of state students. This is a division of seats you’ll need to consider.

A Note on Gender
A false impression exists that schools hold a specific number of seats for males and a specific number of seats for females. While researching this article I was informed by an admissions committee member that the approximate 50/50 ratio of male to female students is not a function of intentional admissions selection, but rather a function of the proportion of male to female applicants.

Applying the Math

Those were some nice observations, but what does it all mean?

Let’s take a hypothetical state medical school trying to fill a class size of 200:

• This school had 5 deferrals from the previous year.
• It accepts 20 students per year from an Early Acceptance program from its Undergrad.
• It accepts 20 out of 30 students per year from its SMP program.
• The In State Acceptance Rate is 70%
• No BS/MD program.

Now let’s pretend you’re an In State applicant applying to the above school. How many seats are you actually applying for?

200 seats
x.7 In State student acceptance rate
140 Seats for In State Students

That doesn’t seem too bad, but wait, the linkage programs and SMP programs are predominantly for in-state students. Deferrals are able to attain IS residency in some states.

140 Seats
-5 Deferrals
-20 Early Acceptances
-20 SMP Acceptances
95

While there is a 70% acceptance rate for in state students, the applicant is only applying for 47.5% of the seats in the class. Out of State applicants are essentially unaffected by these programs.

Below is a table of the make up of that class mentioned above:

Where can I find this information?
One source would be the school’s website. You can search for info regarding any alternate admissions programs or Special Masters Programs. Additionally, the AAMC publishes the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) annually. This gives the best breakdown of admissions stats and class profiles. Check both of these and combine the results to give you the best understanding of what programs are operating and their scope.

What can I do about it?
When looking at a medical school, or any health professional school, it helps to know your odds. A lot of money can be wasted for spots that were filled years ago. A little research can help. Know how many spots a school has open for you. This will tell you if that long-shot application is worth the money.

By Jessica Freedman, MD

AMCAS 2010 opens in early May and the next wave of applicants is preparing to submit applications, so it seems apropos to summarize some key observations I have made while privately advising medical school applicants. Here is my list of some essentials for medical school applicants to improve their chances of acceptance.

1. Submit an early application
   Everything you read tells you that the #1 rule of medical school admissions is to apply early. But, I find that many applicants still ignore this advice. You should not only submit your application as early as possible but also make sure that your transcripts and letters of reference are sent in promptly.
2. Take your MCAT exam early
   Again, the key word here is “early.” Your application will not be reviewed until your pending MCAT scores are in so, if you have worked hard to submit your AMCAS application in June, don’t negate this effort by taking an August MCAT.
   
3. Don’t apply once for “a practice run”
   Yes, people do this. I suggest applying only when you are truly ready. While the stigma of being a reapplicant is declining, being a third-time applicant does trigger a negative bias, so it is best to try and make your application as perfect as possible the first time around. Take an honest inventory of your stats, experiences and accomplishments and decide if you are ready to apply or if you must do something to enhance your candidacy.
   
4. Apply broadly
   It may be your dream to attend a top 10 medical school, but be realistic. Too often, applicants apply to only a few schools initially and limit their chances. It is important to apply to a broad range of schools both in terms of geography and ranking. Around this time of year, I receive calls from applicants who say “Well, I didn’t get in last year but I applied only to five schools because I wanted to stay in California.” If you really want to increase your chances of being accepted, do not limit yourself.
   
5. Think about your story
   I encourage applicants to think about their unique story and path to medical school. What motivates you? What are the overarching themes in your background and experiences? Why do you want to be a physician? Really thinking about who you are, how you got there and what you hope to do in the future will set the stage for your entire application process. Think about this throughout your education. And, remember, nothing is set in stone. As you develop new interests, expertise and hobbies, your story will evolve and change. Just make sure that your story doesn’t have any major unaccounted gaps in time because admissions committee members often regard these gaps as “red flags.”
   
   
6. Make your application entries descriptive
   While some applicants write a bulleted and brief description for each AMCAS entry, my advice is always to give as much information as possible in your written activities descriptions. You have a 1325 character limit per entry so, unless you have nothing to say about your experiences (which would be a red flag in my book), use this space to your advantage. The person who wants to read less can opt to skim your entries but the person who wants more information won’t take the time to pick up the phone and inquire about your experiences. These descriptions present an opportunity to write about your insights, experiences, accomplishments and observations.
   
7. Do not regurgitate your application entries in your personal statement
   It is important to say something new, different and fresh in your personal statement that does not repeat your application entries. Interestingly, I find that many applicants shy away from the very topics and aspects of their backgrounds that make them unique. Applicants also lament that they don’t really have a story or anything special about them. Boloney. Every applicant has a compelling story, but sometimes you need an outsider to bring it into focus. Often applicants are self conscious about the very experiences that will make them more compassionate providers (and more attractive applicants), such as being an immigrant, growing up with few opportunities or having their own encounters with illness. Applicants often say, “I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me and I don’t want to tell a sob story.” As long as you present your story in a matter- of- fact way and write about the positive direction of your path, you won’t be perceived as a whiner. It is often the most challenging times in our lives that are the most catalytic, and any experienced medical educator understands this.
   
8. Fill out your secondary essays in timely fashion
   Here is that theme again. Early, early, early.   For schools that have secondaries, your application won’t be screened until the secondaries are in.
   
   
9. Practice Interviewing
   Many applicants think interviewing is easy and, for some, it is, but everyone needs practice. Even if you are a great public speaker, sitting down and talking about yourself one on one with a person in a position of authority does not usually come naturally. Also remember that you can guide your interview and highlight what you think is most important about you. Most medical school interviews are fairly low stress and conversational, so enter your interview knowing which experiences and thoughts you want to discuss and emphasize. When I do mock interviews with clients, I am often surprised at how many people, including those with a long list of impressive achievements, are not able to present their stories cohesively and comprehensively.
   
   
10. Make every interview count
    Every interview is an opportunity for an acceptance. Be sure to smile, be positive and be personable on your interview day. Regardless of “scoring systems” or “rankings,” there is a huge subjective component when evaluating an interviewee. This “halo effect” works both ways; if someone perceives you positively, this will likely carry over to everything about you and your candidacy, whereas if someone perceives you negatively, the opposite is true. I have several clients who received only one interview invitation which resulted in an acceptance. So, approach every interview, literally, as if it is the only one.
    
    
11. Get good advice
    This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Seek out individuals who are knowledgeable about medical school admissions and provide sound guidance. When I used to evaluate applicants as an admissions officer, it was often obvious when an applicant received bad guidance because they did not have the best mix of experiences, had poorly written documents or weak interview skills.
    
    
12. Stay objective and be honest with yourself about your chances
    If it is late in the season and you have not received any interviews or only have wait list offers, consider what went wrong and correct your mistakes. If you plan on reapplying, you must, once again, do so early. If you reapply in August after you realize you won’t get off a wait list, you may again be unsuccessful. Inevitably it is the waitlisted applicant who reapplies in June who gets off a waitlist in August just before classes start.

Learn from my collective experience working with medical school applicants and try to make the most of your candidacy. What I have learned from my clients, most of all, is that the new generation of physicians is a motivated, well-intentioned and inspiring group with a positive outlook.  Apply well because our patients need you. Good luck!

Jessica Freedman, MD, a former medical admissions officer, is president of MedEdits (www.MedEdits.com), a medical school, residency and fellowship admissions consulting firm. She is also the author of the MedEdits blog, a useful resource for applicants: (www.MedEdits.blogspot.com).

Just over a year ago, I stood, heart racing and hands trembling, in front of my mailbox.  Any other Thursday I would have nonchalantly checked my mail as I came home from work, but today was an entirely different story.

A friend had texted me earlier in the day to let me know that decision letters had been delivered by our state school.  I had only been offered two interviews, and the letter which innocently lay in my mailbox represented my highest hope for attending medical school that year.  I paced for a full two minutes in front of my mailbox before I built up the courage to open it.  I probably would have paced longer, but someone came down my hallway, and I felt a bit foolish dancing around in front of the mailboxes.

Four attempts at inserting my key in the lock later, I was holding a too-thin, white, letter-sized envelope in my severely shaking hands.  Suddenly, I desperately needed to know the contents of that letter, and I ripped open the envelope with fervor akin to a starving man diving into a steak dinner.  I never made it past the first line.  The phrase

We regret to inform you…

jumped out of the page.

Panic gripped me, and it seemed that I could barely breathe, but no tears clouded my vision as I stared mindlessly at those dream-shattering words.  I stumbled down the hall to my apartment, where I collapsed in my desk chair.

In an attempt to think of something, anything, else, I opened the browser on my laptop and checked my e-mail.  I immediately noticed that I had received an e-mail from the one other school I had interviewed at, my last chance for the year.  I quickly opened the e-mail, only to discover that I had been waitlisted.

Utterly shocked, I crossed the room and lay down on my bed with one thought on my mind.  What in the world am I going to do now?

As I reflect on my reaction to the news I received that day, I can’t help but see myself as overly dramatic.  But if anyone had accused me of being a drama queen that day or in the weeks that followed, it is likely that they would have received a swift kick in the shin (or at least a scathing glare).

It’s easy to downplay the emotions I felt as I watched my dream disappear when those emotions are set firmly in my past.  Truthfully, up until a few months ago, I was petrified that the exact same thing would happen again this year.  In fact, I must say that I’m proud of myself for having the courage to stick it out, reapply, and dare my fears to make themselves reality again.

So, having been in this position before, I thought it would be beneficial to offer some advice to those who are in the same position now.  Be aware, this advice is heavy on how to handle the emotions that come with being rejected, as opposed to what you can do to improve your application for the next time around (though I do have some ideas where that is concerned as well).

First, allow yourself to freak out a little.  For you, this may mean a very vocal rant to your friends, an embarrassing sob fest, a pavement-pounding run with angry music screaming in your ears, or a trip down to the local pub to take off some of the sting.  Just remember that however you choose to cope with the initial wave of emotion post-rejection, you don’t want to do anything that could damage your chances next cycle.  Therefore, I would not recommend jumping on SDN to bash the schools that rejected you or drowning your sorrows to the point that you end up with a public intoxication.

Second, only talk about it if you want to.  Perhaps the worst part of being rejected last year was when people would ask me what I was doing after graduation.  I hated explaining to people who weren’t familiar with the concept of a waitlist that I was currently on one.  I hated admitting that I hadn’t gotten in.  Each time someone asked it felt like my self-esteem dipped that much lower.  I became a master at avoiding the questions and changing the subject.  It wasn’t until late last summer that I realized that I wasn’t obligated to answer their questions, and a simple “I didn’t get in, but I’d prefer not to talk about it” would have sufficed.  Whether or not you get in is your business, and whether or not you want to talk about it is your decision to make.

Third, don’t stay in the same town unless it is beneficial to you.  I cannot stress this enough.  After being rejected last year, I decided to stay at my undergraduate institution and work on raising my undergraduate GPA.  While this was academically the right choice for me, it was extremely hard emotionally.  Chances are, many of your friends graduated when you did, so not only will you have lost much of your social support system, you will more than likely feel that you are stuck in an enormous rut.  If you have the opportunity, change locations.  If you are reapplying, look for a research or clinical position in a different city, do a Special Masters Program at a different school (many schools guarantee at least an interview for medical school if you complete their post-baccalaureate program), or go on an extended medical trip (if you can afford it).  Do something different that you can add to your application next year and avoid going crazy at the same time.

Next, take this year as an opportunity to grow and mature.  Many of us apply when we are just 21 or 22 years old, with a decidedly undergraduate mindset.  While we may be ready to move on, we may not be mature enough to handle the pressures that come with medical school at this point in our lives.  Admissions Committees may see this and it may be part of the reason an acceptance wasn’t in the cards this year.  When I was interviewing this year, I realized how young and uninformed my answers had sounded last year, and I realized just how much I had matured in the past few months.  Maybe this is a chance to do the same.

Re-evaluate your ultimate goals and make sure this is what you really want to do with your life.  This may be the most important advice I can give.  If you can think of concrete reasons why you want to be a doctor, call the places you applied and ask them why you weren’t admitted.  Most schools are willing to tell you where you were lacking on your application.  Then, act on the information they give you.  Whether this means taking more classes, putting in more volunteer hours, completing a masters, working on your writing skills (darn personal statements), or learning how to present yourself more professionally at an interview, if you KNOW that you want to be a doctor, do whatever it takes to improve your application and get in next year.  If you don’t know why you want it, there’s a good chance you don’t want it enough.

Finally, realize that you are not alone and that this setback is not indicative of how successful you can later become.  Over half the people who apply to medical school each year are not accepted, so even though it feels like you are the only one, recognize that you are actually in the majority.  There are many people in the same situation, and you can believe that while some will decide against reapplying there are others who are going to do everything they can to alter their outcome next year.

Do not expect that just because you are a re-applicant, schools will feel sorry for you and let you in.  Do not be passive about your future.  If medical school is what you want, do not let a single blow to your self-esteem stop you from fulfilling your dreams.

This year, I stood in front of another set of mailboxes.  The same feelings gripped me when I held another white envelope in my hands.  Even though I had been offered seven interviews, I was still terrified that I would not be accepted anywhere.  I carefully opened the envelope and pulled out several sheets of paper.  This time I didn’t make it past the first word, congratulations, before my reaction tore through me and I found myself jumping up and down in my hallway.  Three acceptances later, I still have a hard time believing that this is real, that I’m going to be a doctor.  All I can think is,

What a difference a year makes.

The discussion here will focus on the MCAT scores, timing, strategies and other issues.  Discussion about the content of the MCAT and details about the exam itself will be held to a minimum and would extend this already lengthy post too much.

The GPA

Obviously, the higher your GPA, the better. Generally, anything above a 3.5 GPA is considered very good and very competitive. Jumping from a 3.0 to a 3.5 GPA will make a huge difference in someone’s application, whereas jumping from a 3.5 to a 4.0 GPA will not be quite as dramatic (although it is obviously an advantage to have a 4.0 versus a 3.5 GPA).

The GPA really reflects how seriously an applicant has taken his or her undergraduate studies. A high GPA is a reflection of strong study habits and work ethics. Medical schools look at an applicant’s GPA for that reason – to evaluate if the applicant is likely to work hard in medical school. A high GPA has been found to be a very good predictor of success and the likelihood that someone will NOT drop out of medical school.

It is also worth pointing out that a high GPA can compensate somewhat for a lower MCAT score. The GPA usually does carry a lot of weight in the admission decision. If both MCAT and GPA are lower, admission to medical school becomes much harder. However, having said that, there is more to the overall application than the MCAT and GPA alone. An otherwise stellar application can also overcome a lower GPA and MCAT score – to a point.

The 3.0 GPA is a cutoff for most medical schools. However, some applicants are accepted every year that have a lower GPA, so this value is by no means absolute. Again, it all depends on the strength of the overall application…and the MCAT score.

For example, for the 2005 school year, 155 applicants were accepted to allopathic medical schools (out of 17,978 total accepted that year) with a GPA that was lower than a 2.75. (Undergraduate Grade Point Average, Medical School Admission Requirements, 2007-2008, page 29) So, it is possible to gain admission with a low GPA, but you can see from these numbers that this is very rare. Also, these individuals most likely had stellar applications otherwise.

For most of the allopathic (MD) medical schools, an average GPA of 3.0 is the minimum they will consider for extending interview invitations, regardless of what the rest of your application looks like, but there are a few exceptions.

The MCAT

The MCAT (or Medical College Admission Test) is one of the most dreaded parts of medical school preparation and is required by all U.S. medical schools, including all allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) schools. Note that most Caribbean and international medical schools do not require the MCAT.

As of 2007, the test is administered in a computerized format throughout most of the year. Before 2007, it was only given twice a year as a paper test-once in April and once in August.

If possible, you should try to take the MCAT early so you receive your scores back by the time you submit your medical school application (AMCAS for allopathic schools and AACOMAS for DO schools). Before 2007, it took sixty days to grade the MCAT and release your scores, so taking the April MCAT around April 15 gave you the best possible timing for submitting your applications early (around June 15).

The earliest date applications can be submitted is June 1, but you needed to wait for your MCAT scores to submit your application. So, in reality, your earliest day for submitting your application before 2007 was around June 15. With the 2007 changes, scores are now returned within thirty days (and supposedly the eventual goal is a fourteen-day turnaround at some point). To submit your applications on the earliest day possible, you should therefore plan to submit your applications June 1 and take the MCAT no later than thirty days before this date (May 1). Submitting your applications early gives you a huge advantage in the admissions game.

The MCAT score

Each of the three multiple-choice sections (biological sciences, physical sciences, verbal reasoning) is worth 15 points for a total of 45 points, but it is nearly impossible to achieve a perfect score. The average MCAT score each year is somewhere around a 24 (eighty in each section).

A good score that is competitive at most MD schools is around 30 and a stellar score is somewhere above a 34 to 36, which is competitive at the top medical schools in the country. A score of 36 or better would put you in the top 2 percent of the country. The writing sample is scored with a letter system from J (lowest) to T (highest), but is much less important than the number score. You never hear anyone mention the letter score. All you ever hear people talk about is the number, although some people insist that the letter score is also considered in the admissions process somehow.

To give you an extreme example that the MCAT is not the only measurement that is important, 60 applicants were admitted to allopathic medical schools in 2005 who had an MCAT score that was less than 17 (Performance on the MCAT, Medical School Admission Requirements, 2007-2008, page 27). Keep in mind that there are a few allopathic medical schools in Puerto Rico, for example, that have very low MCAT averages (20.1, 21.3, and 23). These schools could be responsible for many of these numbers. Again, this sort of low score is a rare exception. Essentially, an MCAT score below 25 will make it almost impossible for you to gain admission to allopathic (MD) medical schools. You will still be competitive for osteopathic (DO) medical schools, podiatry schools, and Caribbean medical schools.

For most of the allopathic (MD) medical schools, an MCAT score of 21 is the minimum they will consider for extending interview invitations, regardless of what the rest of your application looks like. For some of the more prestigious medical schools in the country, the minimum MCAT score is around 30 to 32, below which you will not make it past any screening for interviews, regardless of how strong the rest of your application is.

The more applications a medical school receives every year, the more the school tends to eliminate applicants by MCAT scores and GPA alone when screening applicants. It is the easiest and most cost-effective way to limit the search for competitive applicants – and especially the more popular and prestigious medical schools use these criteria more heavily.

Medical schools like to use the MCAT as a way of screening and comparing applicants since it is the most objective measurement. Your GPA varies with the difficulty of the courses you take and the type of college or university you attend for undergrad. The MCAT provides one way to compare everyone at the same level.

The MCAT score is a reflection of your ability to reason, think, and interpret charts and data. It has less to do with your work ethic or your ability to memorize, which are two factors reflected more by your GPA.

MCAT Preparation

The MCAT test is intended to test material presented in general biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and general physics. For review, it is important to stress the most important concepts and information in each of these areas. Generally, it is better to know the basic concepts very well than to know a lot of information superficially. Having said that, most of the questions on the MCAT are very difficult, and often it feels like they are testing concepts you have never heard of. Some additional course work can be helpful, but is not required. Although it is not necessary to memorize every formula in physics, chemistry, and the other courses covered, you should know the bread-and-butter formulas of each subject, particularly in physics. Don’t focus on all the derivative formulas. Memorize the main ones – you will need them.

They may ask a question like “If I throw a ball out of a window 25 m above the ground, at an initial velocity of 15 m/s, how long will it take until it hits the ground? How far does it travel vertically until it hits the ground?” So, you will need to know your formulas to figure out these questions. However, most questions are not this straight forward.

You will need to decide what type of person you are and what you will need for preparation. Some students swear by commercially available review courses such as offered by Kaplan, Princeton Review, Columbia Review, Cambridge, and Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. They are rather expensive, with a price tag up to $1,500, but many physicians and other successful applicants strongly suggest you take a review course.

Review courses often provide a classroom type setting with lecture format to review pertinent topics in all the MCAT prerequisites. You still have to study the extensive review material that comes with the course as you would in any class.  Other programs just provide the materials and the plan without classroom lectures. In either case, they provide the structure and the plan to get you through all the pertinent material in an orderly fashion.

You still have to put effort into the prep course like any other class you have taken before. Just attending the prep course may not help you out much, although they do cover a lot of test-taking strategies, which are helpful for test taking in general and not dependant on how much material you learned. Also note that these courses work only for review. If you have not had physics or organic chemistry before, you cannot learn the material in the prep course. These are review courses.

They also offer practice tests throughout the course and provide hints and tricks, do all kinds of analysis of what was on previous tests, and help you with time management techniques and other topics. This type of review may be very well worth it if you are the type of person who is a procrastinator or needs a structured program that is already set up and scheduled.

For those who are able and willing to work through self-study, there are many good review books and book series from the same MCAT review companies.  The Student Doctor Network has also published its own MCAT review book. The books contain the same basic material used in the courses, but you are on your own. So, you have to set aside a certain number of hours per week for a few months to review and work through the materials on your own. Expect to prepare for three to four months before the test.

I would highly recommend purchasing the Web practice MCATs online. They are the real deal, made available by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), the makers of the MCAT and not some version made up by Kaplan, Princeton Review, or other test-prep companies. These practice tests are well worth the money and you can take them under real testing conditions. Set aside a few Saturdays at your library in a quiet corner, or at home – undisturbed. You can grade yourself at the end to see how you did. One of the practice tests is available free of charge. You can purchase additional practice tests online (http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/practicetests.htm ) for $35 each.

The MCAT is really a thinking test. You will need to know the sciences to do well, but many of the questions do not directly test knowledge. They may ask you to interpret some data or extract some answers from a passage. It has been said that you cannot really cram for the MCAT.

Average GPA and MCAT scores

Note that the two following tables give average GPA and MCAT scores for both allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) school matriculants for a few years.

Data for allopathic (MD) schools

Mean Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) Scores and Grade Point Averages of U.S. Medical School Applicants and Matriculants, AAMC Data Book, 2006, page 38

Data for osteopathic (DO) schools

Grade Point Averages and Mean Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) Scores for Entering Students, Osteopathic Medical College Information Book, 2007 Entering Class, page 80

Note that it is easier to get into osteopathic (DO) schools than allopathic schools (MD) by roughly 5 points on the MCAT and something like 0.15 points on the GPA.

Regarding GPA calculation, MD schools count every course grade earned even if you have retaken a course. If you earned a “C” in organic chemistry the first time, retook the course and earned an “A” later, they will count both grades for calculating your GPA. DO schools only count the retake grade (”A” in this example) and not the lower grade you earned the first time.

The average MCAT score for MD schools is around 30 and GPA is around 3.6. For DO schools, the average MCAT score is around 25 and GPA around 3.4. Especially if your MCAT score and GPA are below these values, your extracurricular activities weigh heavier in the admissions decision and can make the difference between getting an interview and no interview.

Caribbean medical schools typically do not have any MCAT requirements with few exceptions. If they do, they will accept lower GPA and MCAT scores than MD and DO medical schools.

Retaking the MCAT

If you score low on the MCAT, it may be a good idea to retake it. However, you absolutely have to show improvement. I know some students who increased their scores a good three to five points and it made all the difference. If you score the same or lower than your original MCAT score, retaking the MCAT only hurts you because you have just demonstrated that you really cannot do well, even if you have another chance.

Often, it is advisable to take a prep course, if you haven’t already done so, to prepare for retaking the MCAT, especially if you didn’t take the exam seriously enough the first time. You have to be willing to put a lot of hard work into preparation before retaking the exam again; just retaking it will buy you nothing.

Sometimes, if the MCAT score is not very high but still acceptable, it might be better to work on extracurricular activities to increase the overall strength of the application to compensate. However, a lower MCAT can limit some of your medical school choices. Certain medical schools may not consider you at all. Generally, osteopathic (DO) and Caribbean medical schools have lower MCAT requirements than allopathic (MD) schools. There is also quite a bit of variation between various MD schools.

The decision to retake the MCAT may depend on your goals overall and not necessarily on the score you received the first time. Also, keep in mind that it is very hard to increase your MCAT score, especially if you were prepared for the test the first time and there is not much else you can do to prepare. Increasing a score from a 24 to a 28 is probably much easier than raising a score from a 30 to a 34.

Important Note: A premedical advisor should be consulted to help you decide whether you should retake the MCAT and what strategies are appropriate for you to maximize the effectiveness of additional preparation. Only an experienced premed advisor who knows you personally and knows something about the MCAT can tailor advice to fit your specific circumstances. This is a big and important decision.

You may retake the MCAT up to three times, which can be all in the same year if you wish. However, retaking the MCAT for the fourth time, and every time thereafter, you have to jump through some hoops to be able to take the MCAT again. The AAMC requires a letter proving that you are really applying to medical school and not just taking the MCAT for other reasons (maybe you are teaching MCAT prep courses on the side and you can teach it better by taking the MCAT yourself every year).

The application process for medical school is long and intense. It really begins much earlier than when you actually fill out the application to send to the schools. It includes completion of many premed requirements, meetings with your premed advisor and maybe a premed committee, taking the MCAT, and doing well in all of your premed coursework and extracurricular activities.

Understanding What Happens Is Important

Most medical schools will review applications as they are submitted on a rolling basis, extend interview invitations, and finally offer spots in their classes in the same way. This means that they fill their classes on a first-come, first-serve basis. Initially, they may have 150 spots to offer. With each passing week of conducting interviews, the admissions committee meets and extends offers and fewer and fewer spots are available. At the same time, the medical school still receives more applications, so the competition goes up and the number of available spots goes down. This means that an early application is one sure way of having the best possible chances of getting in – all other things being equal.

Main Events of the Application Process

Apply early, early, EARLY!!!! Did I say early?

One of the most important aspects of your application relates to timing. You can talk with many applicants who applied late because they took the MCAT late (August) or they just procrastinated on their applications. You will hear loud and clear that they would recommend applying as early as possible. I strongly agree. Applying as early as possible, interviewing on the first day possible, etc. gives you a huge advantage.

As already mentioned, as time passes with a rolling admissions process, your chance of gaining admission decreases due to more and more spots being filled with students and more applicants still arriving to be considered. Besides this factor of increasing competition, there is also peace of mind when you have received an offer early. Let’s consider each step of the application process in detail now, in light of timing.

Early MCAT (by May 1)

You should take the MCAT by May 1 so you can get your scores back by June 1 at the latest, which is about the first day you can submit your AMCAS medical school application.  The exact date may vary each year, but should be sometime in the first week of June.  Taking the MCAT later during the summer will put you behind in the application process. Many applicants have already received interview invitations and some have already been extended offers as the admission cycle progresses. Most medical schools will not consider your application and do not offer interview invitations until your MCAT scores are received, so timing your MCAT is essential for timing your application.

Early Applications

Make sure you start working on your AMCAS (MD) and/or AACOMAS (DO) applications right after the MCAT is out of the way if you didn’t have time for this before you took the MCAT. It takes a few months to get the applications put together, so you should ideally start about two months before June 1 to fill out the applications or at least gather the required information and start working on your personal statement. The online applications are made available sometime around May 1 each year, although they cannot be submitted until June 1 at the earliest. It is recommended to submit your completed applications (AMCAS and AACOMAS) within the first week after you receive your MCAT scores. That would be roughly the week following June 1. It is critical to submit your applications as early as possible.

Early Secondaries

Fill out all secondary applications received from the medical schools immediately and try to return them within less than seven days, ideally within two days, along with the money and other information they require you to submit. Turn these around as fast as possible. Some secondaries are more involved than others and all cost money. Do not procrastinate. To obtain early interviews, turning these around quickly is a must!

Early Interviews

If you have done the previous three steps very speedily (early MCAT, early application, fast turnaround of secondaries), you will have interview invitations very early and will have the opportunity to interview during the first few weeks of the interview cycle, maybe the first week or even the first day interviews begin. Try to pick the earliest day for interviewing the school offers. Ideally, you want the first day available on their schedule to interview, but realistically the first few weeks of interviewing are all excellent.

Early Offers

Most medical schools extend offers within two to three weeks. However, the notification time varies greatly from school to school. Some take only a few days (literally) and others take up to six months.

Why the Hurry?

You should know the answer to this question by now. If not, reread this post again from the beginning! Do yourself a favor and do things early. It’s the one factor of your application you have complete control over – and it really pays off!

Early Decision Program (EDP)

Don’t confuse the Early Decision Program (EDP) with applying early.  This is a separate admissions program and not really part of the regular admission process. Not all medical schools offer the Early Decision Program.

This is how it works:
You can only apply to one medical school’s Early Decision Program. The medical school has to make a decision by October 1 and must notify you of acceptance or rejection. If you are accepted to the school, you are obligated to attend that particular medical school and cannot participate in the regular application cycle at any other medical schools for that application cycle. So, you have to be sure the medical school you apply to with this program is really the school you want to attend since there is no changing your mind later.

There are also some huge drawbacks to the Early Decision Program, as you might have already guessed, since you can only apply to one medical school. If you are not accepted, you have wasted valuable time to get your application submitted to the other medical schools.

You cannot start applying to other medical schools until you have received a rejection letter from your EDP school by October 1. That is two to three months late in the application cycle! You are essentially in the same spot as if you had taken the MCAT late.

Note that if you were rejected during the Early Decision Program, you can still apply to the same medical school through the regular admissions process again and you will be considered for regular admission independently from the EDP decision. You may even get a spot in the class that way if you were rejected for EDP admission.

The Early Decision Program can be useful for very strong (exceptional) applicants or for candidates who have specifically been encouraged by the school to compete for early admissions. Generally, if you are a strong enough applicant for a spot through the Early Decision Program, you will also get a spot in the class through the regular process.

EDP Drawbacks in Summary

Personally, I think the Early Decision Program only limits your choices and is not very useful. Especially if you apply early (not through the Early Decision Program), you can also get offers by the middle of October. Also, the timing issue is a huge disadvantage, putting you way behind in the admission process if you are rejected. I would therefore strongly discourage going through the EDP at any school.

A frequent topic in the SDN Forums is the postgraduate application essay. In researching the field, we asked for help from one of the largest and well-known essay editing services, EssayEdge.

With the help of their editors, we co-developed a course for students which is available for free on SDN. Please click a link below to begin the course.

Each of the lessons should help you with a different aspect of the essay-writing process.

Enter the Workshop by selecting a link below:

• Lesson One: The Audience
• Lesson Two: What “They” Look For
• Lesson Three: Brainstorming a Topic
• Lesson Four: Tackling the Question
• Lesson Five: Introductions
• Lesson Six: Editing Checklist

The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) reported yesterday that, “First-year enrollment at the nation’s medical schools this year increased nearly 2 percent over 2007, to more than 18,000 students.” This represents the highest allopathic medical school enrollment in U.S. history.

Most of the enrollment increase was due to the three medical schools that have just established branch campuses (Mercer University School of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, and University of Arizona College of Medicine). It does not reflect the anticipated enrollment at new schools expected to open within the next few years.

Notable is the growth in Latino students, with an increase in first-year enrollment by more than 10 percent. Latinos now represent 7.9 percent of the 2008-09 entering medical school class.

Additionally, the number of Native American first-year enrollees increased by more than 5 percent. The number of African American first-year students remained nearly the same as in 2007. Native Americans and African Americans represent 1.0 and 7.2 percent, respectively, of this year’s entering medical school class.

Overall, the percentage of women first-year enrollees held steady again this year at about 48 percent.

“As the nation debates comprehensive reform of our health care system, it’s imperative that we continue to educate and train a new generation of qualified doctors prepared to execute those changes, and lead the way on innovative health care,” said AAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D.

MedPage Today reports Dr. Kirch saying the numbers are “only one part of the equation. In the U.S. A medical school graduate can only practice after a period of residency and we have not been commensurately expanding residency positions.”

He explains if more residency positions aren’t created the effect of the increased enrollment would be to change the composition of the young doctor pool, with more native-born physicians and fewer from other countries. However, the total number of new doctors would not increase.

You’ve been waiting for what seems like an eternity. You practically snatch the mail from the mail carrier as it is being delivered and frantically search through the stacks of coupons and bills to find some good news; just as you are ready to steel yourself for yet another disappointment, your heart stops.

There it is.

The school’s emblem sits silently above the return address on the envelope, meeting your stare. Hands shaking, you fumble with the envelope and eventually manage to tear it open. Unfolding the letter it contained, you discover that someone out there thinks you are interesting enough to offer you an interview.

After you finish dancing with your neighbors who were minding their own business until that point and get done laminating the letter, you catch your breath and wonder, “How do I proceed now?”

It is possible that you have never been on a plane before, nor traveled out of state. Now you are expected to travel to a city you have never been to, alone, and make a favorable impression upon an admissions committee member-oh, right, and then there’s the issue of paying for the trip as well.

Luckily, on the Student Doctor Network Forums, many students have already been through what you are about to go through and can offer you some valuable advice. If, however, you don’t feel like perusing pages of threads to get the answer to a quick question, this article might be just what you need.

First of all, take a deep breath. Before you decide on an interview date (if you have a choice), review your budget. You could potentially be paying for airfare, rental car and hotel. If you’re a poor student (like most of us), you need to cut corners wherever you can. Beware, however, that cutting corners on one item, may cause you to spend more on another. For example, if you pay less for your plane ticket because you stayed longer, you will need to pay more for your hotel and rental car. Conversely, if you stay only one night, you may have a more expensive flight.

The first thing to do is to browse the internet for ticket prices for the dates you have to choose from. If you don’t need to be one of the first few candidates interviewed, you can usually save a bit of money by booking a ticket for a later date. After all, if you knock their socks off, who cares if you interview in September or October?

Don’t just look at one website for airfares. Instead, check out as many as you can. Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz and other travel websites often have different sales and promotions. Some airlines, however, such as Southwest, Midwest and JetBlue do not list their flights on third-party website sites, so referring to the airline’s webpage can sometimes reveal cheaper flights or extra departure times and dates.

Check surrounding airports, not just the one closest to the school. You may be able to save a sizeable amount of money if you go to a larger airport that is farther away. Be aware, however, that the money you save on airfare might be lost due to obtain the extra ground transportation that is needed. If you are lucky, there may be a shuttle from the airport which will take you to your destination for minimal cost.

If you’re anything like me, you like to have a certain degree of control over the things that you plan. Because of this, I never book my plane tickets through priceline.com. I simply can’t take the chance of booking a ticket that might arrive too late or leave too early. If, however, you don’t care where you stay or what you drive, Priceline.com can be your best friend. Rooms can be found for fewer than $50, and rental cars can be under $20 a day-just don’t expect a blue Cadillac or a chocolate truffle under your pillow.

Although the chances of being separated from your checked baggage are slim, if you can carry your interview outfit onboard with you, do it. You absolutely do not want to be the person that arrives at his interview in a pair of jeans. In addition, I recommend you take a carry-on bag with essentials such as a small snack or two, a stick of deodorant, a music player, reading material, and a neck pillow. Remember, however, that there are restrictions on the amount of liquids you can take onboard a plane. For more details, check the Transportation Security Administration website at www.tsa.gov for all the latest regulations. If you need to carry some toiletries with you, either pay attention to the restrictions, or get yourself some of Travelon’s dissolving toiletries: “just add water!”

While smelling like a gorilla because your gel-stick deodorant was confiscated is not ideal, being sleep-deprived and fatigued during your interview is worse. Grogginess reduces your cognitive ability, inhibits your memory, and saps your energy. So if you don’t sleep like a baby when you’re on a plane, avoid red-eye flights at all costs. Likewise, if you try to save a few dollars by sleeping in the airport, odds are you will look like you slept in the airport. Make sure that you get a good night’s sleep the day before your interview so that you can put your best foot forward.

If you can’t afford a hotel, don’t think that sleeping in the airport is your only option. Some SDN members have graciously offered to house interviewees. If you don’t mind sleeping on a couch or using someone else’s bathroom, it’s a lot cheaper than a hotel room. Alternatively, medical schools often provide hosting through current medical students. In addition to giving you the opportunity to talk with someone on the inside, student housing is usually within walking distance to campus. If you choose to walk, just be careful at night.

Gas is expensive, air travel is exasperating, and motels too often are breeding grounds for who knows what. If you are able to find cheap plane tickets, catch a shuttle that stops near campus, and stay with a student then you’re one of the lucky few. Examine all your options before booking that trip and your travels on the interview trail will be much less stressful. If you play it smart, you just might save yourself enough to money to splurge on a hoodie to show off the very same school emblem you saw printed on the front of the envelope of your first interview invitation.