Medical School Applications 101: Part I-Before You Apply
Aug 18 '00 (Updated Aug 19 '00)
As I take a break from studying for my Anatomy exams on Monday, I think it may be instructive for those who are applying to college, or those who are in college to know what it takes to get into medical school. I think I know some of the pitfalls, since I had the pleasure of doing it twice. **Note: Having just knocked out a seven page document, I’m breaking it into two pieces for readability.** Be warned, applying to medical school takes at least 18 months, if not more and is very expensive. Which leads me to my first piece of advise:
Know that you really want to go!
This might seem really obvious, but it gets lost on a lot people. Thirty percent of my college class wanted to go to medical school when they entered. A much smaller percentage actually sent in an application. Be able to verbalize why you want to be a doctor. If the answer is “to get rich,” “so that I can prescribe,” or “my (insert relative here) wants me too,” then you need to rethink things. When I say verbalize, I mean it. Just knowing that you want to go isn’t enough. This is the first question that anyone who can affect you future is going to ask. They want a good answer. Medical schools put in a huge investment of time and energy into each student. They don’t want people who are going to drop out because it didn’t interest them or they suddenly decided they don’t like medicine. If you can’t verbalize to them why you want to be a doctor, they don’t want you.
As a corollary to that, make sure that the reasons you give are honest. Medical school can cost $45,000 a year. You don’t want to find yourself in the third year with an enormous debt load (don’t forget undergrad debt), questioning whether medical school is right for you. Anyone can come up with reasons to be come a doctor, make sure they are your reasons.
So I know why I want to be a doctor…now what?
Before you apply, you need to be able to present yourself as an attractive candidate. This is the tough part. You need to carefully balance your academics with your extra curriculars. You need good grades, but you need to be more than that. Here are some numbers that should give you pause: one school to which I applied received 9000 applications for 90 places. That translates to a 2-3% acceptance rate. You need to find a way to be more than just a good student. At a certain level, everyone can do the work that medical school requires. Remember, schools wants to produce good doctors…personality matters.
Schools look for some form of clinical experience…you have to have actually seen a patient or two. This is very important. How can you know you want to be doctor if you haven’t seen a patient? In addition, they also want consistency…a few nights at the ER or a doctor’s office won’t cut it. Medical school is long and tedious; they want you to show you love it. People often get internships in hospitals or volunteer in clinics. Any sort of clinical experience is good.
Schools want more than clinical experience. They want you to be a complete person. Schools want to see that you have given back to the community...a consistent history of volunteerism. Schools want to see leadership...did you participate or did you run the club. Schools often want to see that you can teach and that you have a dedication to learning. Finally, they want to see that you can interact with and you like to work with people. This is by no means comprehensive; it just gives you guidelines as to what you should look for in your extracurriculars. A wide variety of extracurriculars are good, but admissions committees want to see you stretch yourself and do something outside of your zone. You can’t just cruise in a bunch of related activities; you have to do things that are totally different from your norm. For example, I spent time as a research chemist. While research looks good on an application, more of the same research doesn’t improve the way my application looks to a committee. From talking to a school’s admissions director, I was told that I was not “people focused” enough. I needed to branch out. I ended up working with patients (volunteering) in a non-clinical setting. It forced me to think outside my zone…just what schools want to see.
You can’t over look academics. In order to apply, most schools require 1 year of biology, 1 year of inorganic chemistry with lab, 1 year of organic chemistry with lab, 1 year of physics, 1 year of English, and 1-2 semesters of calculus. You need at least a 3.4 to be competitive…and by the way, AP’s don’t count.
About 2-2.5 years before you plan to matriculate, you need find 3-5 professors that know you well enough to write good, honest recommendations. 2 should be science, 1 should be humanities, and its good to have someone who was your supervisor in some way. The fifth is optional. You need to get an advisor who is experienced when it comes to medical school advising and is not afraid to tell you the truth. It might hurt at first, but the more brutally honest your advisor, the better your chances of having a good application.
Write out all your awards, activities, and volunteerism on a few sheets of paper. Write short descriptions of each. The more complete this list the better. You will eventually give this list to your advisor, your undergraduate premedical committee, and will form the basis of your AMCAS application. It will also help you start to think about your personal statement. You also should start reading up on contemporary issues in medicine. Read medical trade publications such as the American Medical News. DON’T go out and start reading JAMA or the New England Journal. You need to know about the issues involved in medicine, not technical specifics. This will become useful when interviews start rolling around.
Now comes the tricky part: you need to write the personal statement. You need to put down, in about a page and a half, single-spaced, something that is you. This is hard. Expect to write several different versions. Often, this is the “Why I want to be a doctor” essay, but it doesn’t have to be. Include influences or a particular event that was meaningful. Having it apply to medicine is best. Ever heard the words “Show don’t tell?” This is where you need to use it. Be expressive. Make the reader feel what you felt. Don’t get discouraged and keep trying. All of a sudden you will have a flash of insight; write about it. If you have nothing else, you can write an expanded resume. Remember that your resume is boring; it won’t impress anyone. Try to avoid this. Once you’ve written an amazing personal statement, have everyone you know read it...especially your advisor. Expect your advisor to crucify it. Rewrite often.
Just to stress how important the personal statement is, let me reminisce. The first personal statement I wrote was bad. This is probably the single most important reason I was not accepted to any schools the first time I applied. The personal statement is read very fast. If it doesn’t make the reader say, “Wow!” then you can forget about it. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot, have a formal portrait taken. Get lots of wallets.
The last thing you need is a “what if” plan. What are you going to do if you don’t get in? This is a favorite question at interviews and it reflects reality. The acceptance rate for medical school is low, be prepared and don’t be left scrambling.
This is what you have to do on your own to start preparing for the medical school admissions process. While you are the key mover after this point, you will have to start fitting into other peoples’ and organizations’ schedules. Be prepared to be flexible with your time and to schedule things long in advance.
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Member: Bram Dolcourt
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After graduating in Chemistry from Brandeis and a short EMS career, I'm a Medical Student.
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