Timeline
- January to September: Take the MCAT
- May 5: AMCAS primary application opens
- June 1 to ~December: AMCAS primary application opens for submission
- Schools have differing deadlines for submission
- July to ~January: Secondary application submission
- September to ~April: Interviews
- October to August: Acceptance/waitlist/rejection
APPLY EARLY. This CANNOT be said enough.
So you want to be a doctor: Here's what you can do now
- Make sure you meet the requirements for ALL schools you apply to, usually:
- 1 year of General Biology with lab
- 1 year of General Chemistry with lab
- 1 year of Organic Chemistry with lab
- 1 year of Physics with lab
- 1 year of English (Literature or Composition)
- 1 year of Math (Calculus or Statistics)
- Med school requirements differ from one school to the next
- Check each school for individual requirements
- Shadow Physicians
- Find a doctor you can shadow
- Explore different specialties
- Volunteer
- Schools place HIGH value on volunteerism
- Volunteer clinically in hospitals
- Doesn't need to be medical related
- James Project, Urban Outreach
- Be Involved
- Pro Tip: Whatever you do, show commitment
- Schools place HIGH value on volunteerism
- Research!
- Helps familiarize you with the scientific process
- Understanding primary literature
- Running experiments
- Grant proposals
- Understanding primary literature
- Some medical schools require scholarly projects (AKA research)
- Publications look great on resume
- Get to know faculty better
- Helps familiarize you with the scientific process
- This process is expensive. Start saving now.
- MCAT: $270
- Primary application: $160 base, $36/school
- Secondary application: $50-$150 each
- Flights and hotel: $200-$500 depending on location
- Getting into medical school: Priceless
- The AMCAS has a Fee Assistance Program
- Start thinking about your personal statement and which schools you might attend
MCAT Basics
- Medical College Admissions Test
- Last eligible MCAT for the year you are applying is in September
- Try to take it before you apply
- Pro Tip: You don’t *need* your MCAT scores to submit your primary application
- Scores are good for three years
- Format changed in 2013 and again in 2015
- 2015-16 mean for students applying to U.S. medical schools: 28.3
- 2015-16 mean for matriculated (accepted) students: 31.4
- Scores over 30 are considered competitive
- Better to score 10/10/10 than 14/8/8
- You can retake the MCAT
- Generally your most recent score is the one used in evaluations, although it does vary from school to school
- Pay attention in your classes
- Don’t take classes to "study" for the MCAT
- That being said, biochemistry and developmental biology helped me on the test
- Don’t take classes to "study" for the MCAT
- The AAMC has ~8 practice tests you can take
- For a fee, of course, 1 is free
- These WILL help you study, 100%, no doubt
- Kaplan, Examkracker, Princeton Review
- Prices range from $100-$2,000
- May or may not help
- That being said, I shelled out for a Kaplan Course
- Three sections
- Physical Sciences: Physics and General Chemistry (50/50)
- Verbal Reasoning: Excerpts from written works
- Biological Sciences: General Biology and Organic Chemistry (75/25)
- Writing was taken out
- Lucky punks
- Physical and Biological
- 52 questions over 70 minutes
- 39 questions based on passages
- 13 free standing questions (like your gen bio tests)
- Verbal Reasoning
- Considered the hardest section for us science folk
- 40 questions over 60 minutes
- 7 passages
- Pro Tip: Passage-based questions are different from those on your science tests. You are not expected to be an expert on the passage information, only able to understand and apply it.
- A different horse indeed
- Disclaimer: I don’t know much about these changes
- 4 Sections
- Chemical and Biological Foundations of Living Systems
- 59 questions over 95 minutes
- Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
- 59 questions over 95 minutes
- Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills
- 53 questions over 90 minutes
- Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
- 59 questions over 95 minutes
- Chemical and Biological Foundations of Living Systems
- HOLD UP
- That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the MCAT WILL test psychological and sociological concepts
Medical School Primary ApplicationBasics
- Opens May 5, available for submission June 4
- Sent to all schools
- 9 different sections
- Some take longer than others
- It takes 4-6 weeks for the AMCAS to verify your application after you submit it.
- Identifying Information
- Name
- Social security number
- Place of birth
- Etc.
- Schools Attended
- High school, any undergraduate institutions (including community college!)
- Institutional action
- Don’t pay a visit to Student Life
- Biographical Information
- Citizenship
- Languages spoken
- Criminal record
- You designate yourself as disadvantaged in this section
- Underrepresented in Medicine (URM)
- Coursework
- Every. Single. Class. You've. Taken.
- Also your class grades
- Every. Single. Class. You've. Taken.
- Work/Activities
- List up to 15 activities, given 700 characters to describe them
- Volunteering, research, clubs, etc.
- List up to 3 activities as "most meaningful experience"
- Given 1,325 additional characters to describe why you designated activity as most meaningful
- My meaningful: Rock climbing, Organic Chemistry TA, and OHSU research
- Hobbies also make great additions to activities
- E.g. baking, dancing, filmmaking. Whatever you do in your spare time that is meaningful to you.
- These can contribute heavily to well-roundedness!
- List up to 15 activities, given 700 characters to describe them
- Letters of Evaluation
- Most schools require 3-5 letters of recommendation
- Some schools require letters to be sent with the primary application, others with secondary
- Almost all schools participate in the AMCAS Letter Service
- Who writes the letters
- Remember those doctors you’ve shadowed and researchers you’ve worked for? Ask them.
- Basic science faculty
- Some schools require one letter from non-science faculty
- Employers
- The more your recommenders know you, the better
- Include resume
- Give plenty of time (1-2 months)
- Most schools require 3-5 letters of recommendation
- Medical Schools
- Designate which medicals you send primary application
- Also designate which letters of recommendation to send to which schools
- Apply to a wide range of schools
- Things to consider:
- Cost
- Location
- Public vs. private
- Research vs. primary care focus
- Students *usually* have a home state advantage (sorry, Oregonians)
- MSAR: Medical School Admission Requirements
- Resource put together by AAMC
- Cost: ~$35 (as if applying isn't expensive enough)
- Tells you school stats, programs, entering GPA/MCAT score, selection factors, etc.
- Essays
- AMCAS Personal Statement
- 5,200 characters including spaces
- Prompt: "Use the space provided to explain why you want to go to medical school"
- You MUST address the two golden questions:
- Why do you want to go to medical school?
- Why are you a good medical school candidate?
- This is a good space to differentiate yourself from the pack
- I compared myself to Samwise Gamgee from "The Lord of the Rings"
- Another student used examples of fictional and real-life heroes to demonstrate his journey to medical school as a "hero's journey"
- Be creative! This can win you big points during your interview.
- Pro Tip: Don't talk about your most meaningful activities (that you listed earlier), you would get bored reading the same thing twice too
- You MUST address the two golden questions:
- Standardized tests
- See the results of your MCAT test
Medical School Secondary Applications
- Schools either:
- Review your primary application and then decide whether or not to send you their secondary
- Automatically send you secondary application
- Completed online
- Usually require 0-5 more essays, such as:
- Why X school? Give us a brief autobiography of your life.
- What do you want to do in medicine?
- How will you contribute to this school’s diversity?
- DIVERSITY!!! Diversity is the most comonnly-asked question on secondaries
- Start thinking about it now!
- Doesn't necessarily have to be race/social class. Some students use experiences with others or coming from a small town as examples of diversity. Everyone is diverse somehow.
- DIVERSITY!!! Diversity is the most comonnly-asked question on secondaries
- More biographical info required
- Deadlines range from 3 weeks (from time of receipt) until ~December
- Invitations to interview can come from October – April
- Good opportunity to check out campus
- Some schools will assign you a date, others will let you choose one
- Choose the earliest possible interview
- Schools may have option to stay with student host
- Great way to see the school from the students' eyes
- Save money on hotels
- Interviews are an excellent indicator that the school likes you (duh)
- The function of the interview is the same as the personal statement
- Why would you make a good doctor?
- Why should X school want you in their program?
- Interviews can take on many forms:
- One-on-one
- Panel
- Group
- Multiple Mini Interview (MMI)
- One-on-one and MMI interviews are most common
- You can be interviewed by both students and/or faculty
- Interviews can be conversational or question-answer
- Arrive early, helps reduce stress
- Dress to impress
- Bring pencil and paper
- Know and understand the basics of current issues in medicine, as well as ethical scenarios
- Health care reform
- Euthanasia
- Stem cells
- Etc.
- Study up!
- Be ready to address any troublesome aspects of your application
- Poor GPA
- Institutional discipline from our pals at student life
- Contradictions in application
- Etc.
- Have a couple well-thought-out questions
- Set up mock interviews with faculty
- Look up possible interview questions on the internet
- Helps get you in the right mindset
- Research the school before you go
- Understand unique aspects of the curriculum
- Pro Tip: Consistency is good, so is answering questions based on your life experience, it shows depth of character
Acceptance
- Congratulations!
- Be sure to send in acceptance paperwork to reserve your spot
- Schools require a non-refundable deposit, but it's generally not due until late in the summer (July)
- You may hold multiple acceptances until May 15
- If you are definitely not going to a school, politely decline to free up your spot for another student.
- I'm sorry. It sucks.
- Some schools offer workshops to improve application for the next cycle
- Most schools looks at re-applicants favorably
- Try to improve upon weak portions of your application
- Volunteer
- Shadow physicians
- Take more science classes
Encouragement
- We can all agree that the process is awful
- Hang in there, keep your eye on the prize
- You can overcome a poor GPA or bad MCAT score
http://www.georgefox.edu/academics/undergrad/departments/biology/medical-school.html