Getting into medical school is difficult, but possible with the right strategy. Check out the article below to see tips and tricks that you can use to dominate the medical school admissions process, score well on your medical college admission test, and get into medical school!
Disclaimers: Getting into medical school is difficult. The medical field is highly competitive, often selecting from the best of the best. And it probably should be. Depending on the medical specialty you eventually choose, your day-to-day work will directly or indirectly affect the lives of countless people, sometimes involving life or death situations.
While a lot of time has passed since I applied and attended medical school, the basics behind putting together a competitive application remain largely unchanged. While I did not participate in the selection process at the medical school level, I gained some insight from one of my former roommates who did serve on the medical school admissions committee for several years.
My advice is based on my personal experience and is meant to help people interested in a career in medicine successfully achieve their goals but is by no means a guarantee. I will try to lead you to water, but it is ultimately up to you whether or not you drink.
Building a Competitive Application for Medical Schools
To succeed in gaining acceptance into medical school, as with succeeding in most things in life, requires preparation and hard work. So what do medical schools look for to guide their selection process? These are some of the top categories that medical schools evaluate: Scholastic Achievement, Experience within the Field of Medicine, and Notable Achievements.
Scholastic Achievement
- Overall College and Prerequisite GPA, Degree(s)/Major(s)
- Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) Score
It is somewhat difficult to have an apples to apples comparison between colleges/universities as it is with comparing high schools in the college application process. For example, a biology major at one university may be substantially harder or easier than the same major at another institution.
While your GPA and any scholastic achievements or awards are helpful, medical schools ultimately must rely at least partially on standardized test scores in the form of the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) to get as fair of a comparison as possible. This is by no m