From college to med

[prodigy09]

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j/w,

what is needed for medical school applications? Is it like the college app, in which you keep up your GPA, do extracurriculars, join clubs, take tests (sat/act), get teacher recommendations, ect and send it in hoping to get in some where good?

Specifically, what would be good to do during college to really help make a excellent med school app?

 

[DrYoda]

j/w,

what is needed for medical school applications? Is it like the college app, in which you keep up your GPA, do extracurriculars, join clubs, take tests (sat/act), get teacher recommendations, ect and send it in hoping to get in some where good?

Specifically, what would be good to do during college to really help make a excellent med school app?

Most of what you described applies. The MCAT is the standardized test you take, and GPA should be high. For extracurriculars you are basically expected to have done some clinical experience(medically related volunteering in which you have contact with patients), other extracurriculars you can do whatever you want. Most schools require three recommendation letters (usually two science faculty letters and one non-science). You also write a general personal statement which is sent to every school you apply to.

From there it goes on to secondary applications, which are school specific.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Just for the record, clinical experience doesn't have to be volunteering. In terms of actually learning useful information, getting a clinical job is definitely the way to go. You'll need to volunteer a bit since that's just part of the game, but do it somewhere you'll enjoy spending your time.

 

[Insulinshock]

You basically hit it on the head except that admission to medical school is much more difficult than undergrad (aside from the ivys perhaps). Average GPA for medical school matriculants is around a 3.6 which anyone will tell you is much more difficult to attain in college than in high school.

The best way to succeed in college is just to work hard. At least for the science classes there is a direct correlation to how much work you put in and how good of a GPA you have, which is arguably the most important aspect of your application.

 

[habibah91]

Just for the record, clinical experience doesn't have to be volunteering. In terms of actually learning useful information, getting a clinical job is definitely the way to go. You'll need to volunteer a bit since that's just part of the game, but do it somewhere you'll enjoy spending your time.

Hmm, what if in college you just do a job that is healthcare related? Like I'm a senior in high school and taking an EMT course. When I turn 18 then I can take the official state test to have a license. In college I want to be an EMT because the pay is good, it's healthcare related and I like the shifts (12/day and 2 days of work = 24 hours/week). If I just do that during college and not volunteer, does that look bad? I mean, I would volunteer but probably not in a healthcare setting explicitly.

habibah

 

[DonkeyD]

Working two EMT shifts per week during college is a fantastic way to gain clinical experience and get paid at the same time. I'm convinced that I wouldn't have gotten into medical school without my EMT experience.

Just remember that nothing is more important that doing well in your courses, if 2 shifts a week is hurting your grades then stop.

An excellent supplement to EMT experience is some sort of volunteering. An important part of medical school apps is dedication to your community and making it a better place.

One warning...although EMT is great experience and one of the only ways an 18 year old can make clinical decisions that actually matter, it has little relevance to what actual doctors do (maybe outside of ED physicians). You're still going to need to shadow doctors to be able to talk about what they do in your applications.

Good luck.