“I’ve heard that medical schools…” “My friend says that…” “I read online that…” In our work with pre-meds, we hear all kinds of crazy claims. About 95% of the time we hear one of the above phrases, what follows is false. No, you don’t need 400 hours of shadowing to get into medical school. No, it doesn’t help to finish college in three years. And when you get a rejection letter, you shouldn’t call the medical school and plead to be given a second chance. The myth-making process is completely understandable. Pre-meds are competitive people, so they pounce on any piece of information–no matter how unreliable the source–to help them gain an edge. Medical schools don’t make this any easier; resources about how to get in are often vague, with little to no tangible details about how medical schools ACTUALLY choose applicants. And given that any idiot with a computer can post his “knowledge” to a message board, well… you get a lot of people who have heard a lot of things. In the following post, we hope to tackle some of the most insidious rumors in the medical school admissions process and lay out our best representation of the truth, as seen from our perspective of working with hundreds of pre-meds. Medical School Myth #1 The science GPA IS THE ONLY GPA med schools care about. What you might think: All that really matters is acing your science classes. Medical schools will focus mostly on upper division courses taken as a junior and senior. The truth: Medical schools look at every grade since high school, so not only are your science grades important, but so are your grades in every class you’ve taken. There’s no grade replacement for medical school, either, so any goof up will show up on your record. If you’re required to take humanities, languages, or other non-science classes as part of your general education, you’ll have to work hard no matter how nauseating you find Victorian poetry or Picasso. Every grade on your record will count. Medical School Myth #2 You have to major in the sciences to get into medical school. What you might think: Since you’ll be studying science on the MCAT and during medical school, you should choose Biology as a major, to show medical schools that you’re up to the task of performing well in the sciences. The truth: As long as you take the required science sequence (see below), then you can major in any subject you want. Choosing a nontraditional major will help you stand out while applying to medical school. In fact, med schools love bragging about the diversity of their incoming class, including the diversity of the scholarly backgrounds of their students. Why accept another boring science major when they might accept an art history or drama major instead? Studying the humanities or social sciences could reap major benefits for your writing and communication skills, and it might even improve your MCAT score (we’ll get to that later). However, if you’re going to become a doctor, you should be a stellar science student, or at least have the drive to look like one. Medical schools will pay close attention to your grades in the required science sequence: -One year of biology with laboratory -One year of general chemistry with laboratory -One year of organic chemistry with laboratory -One year of physics with laboratory -One semester of biochemistry -One semester of upper division biology (required by some med schools) -One year of college-level math (ideally including calculus) -All of your science and math grades get combined into a BCPM GPA (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math), which most medical schools weigh slightly higher than overall GPA. You will review all of these science courses during medical school, but only in the first two or three weeks. As a result, you must prove that you already have the capacity to thrive in these subjects. So, what should you major in if you want to go to medical school? Medical School Myth #3 The MCAT is primarily a test of science knowledge. The MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) is like the SAT of medical school admissions, but much longer and more challenging. It tests biology, chemistry, physics, verbal reasoning, and writing ability. Most pre-meds take it during their junior year of college. What you might think: The MCAT reflects the advanced material you’ll learn in medical school, so you should take the most challenging science courses offered by your college as a way to prepare. The truth: The required sequence listed above is the only science tested on the MCAT. So once you complete that, you’ve taken all the science you need. Three quarters of the test consists of reading comprehension passages that use science as their subject matter. Reading comprehension? Yep, and lots of it! Turns out those humanities classes will come in handy after all. The more you read, the better you’re likely to perform. Yeah yeah, okay, so you should read more. That’s all fine and good. But what grades and MCAT do you need to be accepted? High scores alone don’t get you into medical school, but low numbers can definitely keep you out. It doesn’t matter if you did research on Jupiter–if you have a 2.7 GPA in college, you’re not going to medical school. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has plenty of information about application and acceptance rates to medical school. One of the most interesting pieces is a chart of average GPAs and MCAT scores, divided by undergraduate major for those who apply and those who get accepted. Go to www.aamc.org, then click “Data and Analysis,” then click on “Applicants and Matriculants” data. Okay… so everyone needs to have solid numbers. But you should want those anyway, if only for the knowledge and gained skills they represent. Here’s the point: if you’re a truly competitive candidate, then these scores are merely an expectation–perhaps even part of your identity. But let’s forget the quantitative for a second, and move to the qualitative, where you really have a chance to shine. The remaining myths on our list give you the opportunity to differentiate yourself from other candidates and flesh out your application with genuine personality. Medical School Myth #4 You have to do research to get into medical school. What you might think: You should take any and every research experience you can, especially if it takes up a ton of hours and gets you a letter of recommendation. The more complex and prestigious sounding, the better. Medical schools only care to see whether you’re smart enough and have enough attention to detail to be a doctor. The truth: You should find the research projects that make you the most enthusiastic. If you take anything you can get, you’ll end up going through the motions like every other pre-med who seeks out research for the sake of it. It will be challenging to sound excited when writing or talking about your work. In short, you’re not going to stand out. Oppositely, you’ll win over the admissions committee by communicating your genuine fascination with the research. You want to give the impression that you’d perform the research, regardless, even if they didn’t care about it. Your curiosity, not your sense of competition, is what should be driving you. Medical School Myth #5 Since you go to a huge, public university, medical schools will understand that it’s hard to get to know your professors. What you might think: When the time comes, you should make a list of the best professors from your most challenging classes and ask them to write letters on your behalf. The truth: At a large school, the professors often forget past students. Yep, they might even forget YOU. If it’s a smaller school, the professor can still only comment on one semester’s worth of your work. Plus, they will probably repeat what medical schools already know from your transcript. You should choose recommenders during your first or second year. Visit those professors during office hours and get to know them personally. Look into their research and inquire about work in their labs. Participate frequently in their classes and ask intelligent questions. Take them for as many sequenced courses as possible. DON’T do this just for a letter of recommendation. That will probably be transparent to the recommender. Do it because you enjoy the work and the instructor. This kind of intellectual curiosity pays off. When you need a letter, these professors will have plenty to say. Medical School Myth #6 Volunteering is all about the hours – the more you do, the better off you are. What you might think: That all you need is a few hundred hours of volunteering to get into medical school. That you can do that volunteering over a summer or two. That you’re too busy to volunteer during the school year. The truth: Volunteering reflects who you are as a person: do you only care about serving others when it’s convenient, or does your commitment to service run so deep that you consistently make time for it over the course of several years? Doctors serve their patients and serve the profession for the rest of their lives. There’s no better way to show your commitment to doing the same than by volunteering consistently over a long period of time. You want volunteering that goes beyond just watching from the sidelines. You want to be right in the middle of the action, getting down-and-dirty. You want the tasks and challenges that sound gruesome, frustrating, or depressing. Real medicine isn’t about the glamor of being a doctor. Medical schools like you to suffer, and find a silver lining in that suffering. You should work at free clinics with patients who don’t have insurance. You should travel for outreach to Third World countries and give immunizations to children. You should visit inner city schools and instruct teens on unwanted pregnancy and STDs. Even these things are common for pre-meds, so the grittier the better. Medical School Myth #7 You can worry about the application essays and interview process when the time comes. What you might think: That you can learn to write well and to interview when the time comes. After all, you’re pre-med; you don’t have time for speech classes or the debate team! You need to spend all your time working in the lab or observing physicians. Why take extra classes to learn how to write when your course list is completely crammed? The truth: If you wait to learn to write until you start the application process, the best you can hope for is mediocrity in your application essays. Communication requires practice, and college is a perfect opportunity to hone this ability. Unfortunately, the typical pre-med’s academic and extracurricular choices tend to inhibit rather than improve communication. You should actively seek to grow as a communicator, rather than hiding out in the library or lab. You should take classes that require you to write and join projects that involve collaboration with other students. You should put yourself in uncomfortable situations, such as leading a final exam review for a room of 250 students or even practicing small talk with patients. If you embrace these moments in life and in school, then you’ll be more at ease during your interviews and give thoughtful responses in your essays. Medical School Myth #8 Studying takes precedence over everything else. What you might think: You can’t be pre-med and have a life. You have to spend all your time hitting the books and not allow yourself to be distracted by parties or other social engagements. The truth: Solitary people make good researchers in the lab, but they usually don’t make good doctors. If for no other reason, think of socializing as a necessary skill for becoming a better physician. Becoming a physician is stressful, and you’re going to need a solid support network to get through it. Even surviving the MCAT requires keeping a sense of balance in your life: continuing to exercise regularly and spend at least one night each week with non-pre-meds. Sustaining friendships is fuel for the soul, the perfect antidote to burnout. If you think you’re too busy, find friends through activities that will help your medical school application. Go ahead and volunteer for your school’s orientation program for new students. Go ahead and teach CPR classes to residents in the dorms. Run for president of your fraternity or the student government. Serve as captain of the club hockey team. You can make friends and contribute to your campus at the same time. Medical School Myth #9 Activities unrelated to medical school aren’t worthy of your time. What you might think: You should join a pre-med club or honor society since those will “look good” on your resume. The truth: You will stand out more for your willingness to do things that are unrelated to your medical school acceptance. Med schools have more typical pre-meds than they could ever want to accept in an incoming class. Instead, medical schools seek students with diverse talents to fill their incoming class. Consider this class profile for Ohio State University: it’s not bragging about how much research their students have done or who has been a part of the pre-med club. No, it brags about students who have been: Carpenter’s apprentice Classical pianist Glassblowing teaching assistant Starbucks barista And more. If you like to write, play the drums, kayak, or crochet sweaters, you should do those things. Don’t assume your activities aren’t valuable just because they don’t relate to medicine. Medical schools want interesting people that other students will like being around. You might be surprised in an interview one day when you hear, “So, tell us about your experiences on the diving team…” Medical School Myth #10 As long as you do what other pre-meds are doing, you will be fine. What you might think: Your classmate did this. Your roommate did that. You need to do what everyone else is doing so that you’re not left behind. If other pre-meds got in, then you should do whatever they did so that you too will get in. The truth: If I told you that someone got into medical school because they were captain of the swim team, should you then go try out for whatever sport at your college will take walk-ons? Unless you’re already a brilliant athlete, this strategy is unlikely to work for you. Just because it worked for someone else doesn’t mean that you should do it. The best case scenario for copy-cats is that they end up looking just like other pre-meds. And medical schools don’t want premed clones who spent four years of college following the path of the other typical premeds. That’s why it’s important for you to be an individual. If you think that schools won’t be interested in your penchant for punk rock, your summer in the circus, or your hobby of making gingerbread houses, you’re wrong. Don’t suppress the things that make you different. Celebrate them! Source 1 Source 2
