Graduate Schools: Getting Into Medical School

Last weekend’s story of Yankel the Gunner was a very comical satire of a medical student, and in the spirit of continuing on with OneVietnam’s series on Graduate Schools, this article will focus on what it takes to get into medical school.

While Yankel the Gunner’s story might be a satirical exaggeration of the attributes that a student should possess to get into medical school, some facts are not far from the truth if you’re aiming for the top medical schools and residency program.  I wish that I can give you a perfect formula for getting into a top 10 medical school, but there is really no such thing (unless you’re Yankel).  What I can give is a generic formula that will aid in the process of applying to medical school

Disclaimer:  At the time of writing this article, I am not affiliated with any medical admissions committee.  I am simply sharing facts that have made me and my friends successful in the medical school application process.

Before the application…

Undergraduate Record (School, GPA and difficulty of classes):

This is by far the most important aspect of your application.

School:  The undergraduate institution that you go to does influence where you will end up.  While this is not a make or break factor because we can come up with thousands of examples of successful applicants coming from lesser known school, it does present a slight bias.

GPA: Medical school is very tough and demanding, and the Admissions Committee (AdCom) wants to see proof that you can handle the challenge of intense academic learning.  The higher your GPA, the higher your chances of getting into medical school.  Though, word of advice, don’t get cocky because of your high GPA since it is still possible to not get an acceptance if other parts of your application are lacking.

Difficulty of Classes:  A lower GPA can sometimes be excused depending on how difficult your course load was.  However, do not think that this is an excuse for doing mediocre in a class.  There are students that are getting an “A” in those difficult courses: you want to be one of those students because they’re the ones that are getting into the top medical programs!

Advice:  Aim for at least a 3.3 GPA

MCAT

This goes hand-in-hand with a strong undergraduate record.  You have to get a high MCAT score.  Things to do to prepare:

1.  Check the AAMC Official MCAT website

2.  Take a review course: Kaplan, ExamKrackers, Princeton Review, etc.  You need a way to keep yourself on a good study schedule.

3.  Take TONS and TONS of practice tests.  Nothing will improve your scores more.

Advice:  Aim for an MCAT score of 30.  This means 10 on each section.

Research:

I believe that a doctor is a scientist.  He or she should push the boundaries of medicine.  Therefore, you should do research as a student to appreciate  the complexities and beauty of how modern medicine has developed to the point it is today.

You might not do it in your future practice, but you should do it now and be able to talk about it in an intellectual manner in your application and interview.

Extra-curricular Activities

Clinical: You should shadow a physician, volunteer, and do other clinical related projects to demonstrate that you know what it takes to be a doctor

Do what you love: Passion is what it takes to be a great physician.  You can show passion through anything that you do, so do what you love to do and your application will shine.

Dedication:  You should show commitment to some project by long term involvement.

During the application process

Personal Statement:

This is pretty important because it is the last thing you can do on your application to sell yourself.  Read OneVietnam’s article on Personal Statement for more advice on how to construct an interesting story to tell the AdCom.

Recommendation Letters:

Build STRONG relationships.  Your recommendation letters mean a lot.    Famous names do help, but not if they’re only writing a generic letter.  You want to choose people that can comment highly on your personal attributes.

Advice:  Choose people who know you well and who can write you very positive letters.

Early Application

Primaries: Get your primaries in as early as possible.  AMCAS open on June 1st.  If you’re not done with this, at least you can turn in your transcripts early so that your verification process can be quicker.

Secondaries: People often get their primaries in and then sit on their secondaries until October.  Word of advice:  don’t be late!  Your application is not complete until your secondaries are in.  The first interviews start mid/late August, and if you’re sitting on secondaries, you will miss the first possible round of interviews

Why don’t you want to be late?  Well, from my experience, being late really kills your chances at a lot of school.  I turned in my primaries mid-August and missed out on a lot of interviews I could’ve gotten.  However, I finished my secondaries by the first week of the cycle, allowing me to bypass a lot of procrastinators that have not completed their secondaries.  Hence, I got lucky because people were dilly-dallying on their secondaries.

Advice: Get your primaries in by June and your secondaries done as soon as you receive them!

Choosing the right school

Medical school is a complete crap shoot.  There is no guarantee you’ll get into any school.  Some programs may reject you because you’re not good enough.  Other programs may reject you because you’re too good.  There are no true safety schools: only schools that you have a higher chance of getting into.

Look at the average scores of students who get into those schools and apply to schools that match your range.  Those should be considered “probable safety schools”.  I call them probable safety schools because you have a higher chance of getting into schools in this range than any others.  I applied to about 10 safety schools.

Then apply to schools whose statistics are lower than yours.  Those should be school that “you might get into”.  Unlike the college application process, the typical safety schools are not really safety schools at all.  Each particular program doesn’t want to lower their matriculation rate by accepting students that would end up rejecting their program for a higher ranked program.

Schools whose statistics are higher than yours.  Those are considered “reaches”.  Apply to a few of these.  Hope for the best, expect the worst.

After the application

Interviews:

If you do all of the above as adviced, you should receive invitations to interviews.  If you do, practice practice practice!  Know your application and yourself inside and out: the interviewer expects you to elaborate on the things you wrote in your application and go beyond what you described.  Also, know why you want to go to that particular school and why you like that particular program.

Do not screw this part up!  You have a really good shot!    For example, Stanford interviews only 400 students from an applicant pool of 6,500, accepts slightly over 100 student for a final matriculating class of 90.  Most other schools are like this also.  Therefore, if you got the interview, the school already has their eyes on you, and you have a very high shot of getting in.   The chances of getting into the school after getting an interview ranges from 30-50%.

Advice:Practice interviewing with others.  Know yourself as an applicant, know the school, and demonstrate why you will be a good fit for the program.

Do the best you can

You can send in an update letter in November.  During the few months between first submitting your application and November, do something amazing.   You can update your application with that amazing thing you did.

Wait and Hope

The application process is a waiting game. Just sit steady and hope for the best.  Once you get your interviews, then you can practice some more.  In the mean time, enjoy the psychological torture.

Final Words

Getting into medical school is difficult, but it is not impossible.  If you truly want to get into medical school, you can.  Everyone that truly wants to be a doctor will find their way to become one.  If your application doesn’t succeed and if you don’t have the scores, take a year off, do a post-bac, get a research job, get a masters, take additional classes, and study for your MCAT.

As for getting into top medical schools in the world, be like Yankel!  Aim for that perfect 4.0, that 59 on the MCAT, those first author publications, and the cure for cancer.  I hope you the best during the medical school application process.