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Been meaning to write this for a while (like 2 years)...
So you've successfully managed to make it through pre-med, but with a GPA that looks like rocky balboas face at the end of rocky iii. Maybe you partied too much, went to _____ undergrad with terrible grade deflation, or had a serious medical or family issue. Here is, in no particular order, how you should work on every other aspect of your app.
MCAT: this is the most important test of your life now. You should dedicate every ounce of effort in your being to doing well on the only other numerical chance your app has. Do practice tests until you're blue in the face, and meticulously review every question you get wrong. Seriously this is the only way I've ever seen to do well on the MCAT. Specific resources matter much less than the raw number of practice questions IMO. The MCAT is +50% testing skills and endurance. The only thing that will teach you to THINK the way the MCAT wants you to is to do practice questions.
LORs: for 90% of students luke warm Recs will have no bearing on your app. However, For students with a bad GPA, recs are of critical importance - they're another way to show your work ethic outside of GPA. Good recs don't need to come from high powered faculty (no one knows who's who on a rec letter anyway). The best recs come from people who know you well and can speak clearly about your work ethic and interest in medicine. Best way to get these are to take multiple classes with the same professor, work in a professors lab, or take small classes where the teacher will get to know you well. One of my LORs was from an art professor...these type of people have very few letter requests and tend to put a lot of time/effort in writing a good LOR. For MD letters, try to find a young MD who will remember what the admissions process is like. Or (more difficult) find an MD who has experience as an adcom and knows what being a letter READER is like. Getting a job with an MD for a summer or gap year it a good way to get them to know you well also.
ECs: have good ones. Shy of that, have ECs that tell a consistent narrative about why you want to be a physician. Again, you're trying to prove you are passionate enough about medicine to not repeat the same mistakes from undergrad. The number of hours matters less than the quality of the work you did in the EC.
Research: try to have some, and be able to speak confidently and intelligently about it. No secrets here. Except getting academic research credit - that 4.0 into your sGPA will be a welcome boost.
School list: apply to as many as possible. I front loaded 50 schools on my amcas primary, and tried to finish as many secondaries as possible (finished ~35 personally). Also this isn't a time to be cocky. Any mainland DO or MD school is fair game...at this point you'll be lucky just to get in somewhere. If you're from California...move to West Virginia (half joking).
Primary: don't lie, but don't be shy. The activities and PS are the place to really discuss all the things you've done to this point, tie them together, and relate them back to medicine. Talk about the leadership skills you learned as president of that club, or determination and perseverance you learned when you lost the election for president of said club.
Secondaries: research the crap out of every school you apply to. The secondary is the time to show you actually know about the school beyond their MSAR profile. Talk to current students, discuss any family ties you have to the school or area (even vague ones), etc. I searched YouTube and the schools current research pages to find some hidden gems. I even added one school on snapchat (seriously). Bonus points if you can genuinely relate something about the school back to an EC or app theme.
Explaining the grades: accept responsibility with respect and humility. Explain why you got them, but don't make excuses. My go to lines were "I struggled with our schools notoriously difficult _____ class, but after reflecting on my performance did X, Y, and Z to be sure I understood the material and did not repeat the same mistakes again." And "while there is no excuse for poor performance, i was struggling with ______ during my freshman year. I have since recovered and used the experience to develop better coping skills" Personally I had the unholy trinity: partied too much, went to a grade deflated school, and had a major medical issue.
Hope this helps y'all pre meds out there. This process can be emotionally draining and there's no easy way around that. Med school and medicine in general can be grueling at times - it's better to experience the stress now so you can better handle it later. And whatever you don't give up...you're stronger than you think 🙂
PS. Failed app cycles don't mean you won't make a good med student or doctor. There's a girl in my class who had to apply 3 times, and she's the smartest chick I know. Leads multiple interest groups, great grades, tutors the M1s, and has simultaneous ortho and neurosurg research projects. That could be you one day!
So you've successfully managed to make it through pre-med, but with a GPA that looks like rocky balboas face at the end of rocky iii. Maybe you partied too much, went to _____ undergrad with terrible grade deflation, or had a serious medical or family issue. Here is, in no particular order, how you should work on every other aspect of your app.
MCAT: this is the most important test of your life now. You should dedicate every ounce of effort in your being to doing well on the only other numerical chance your app has. Do practice tests until you're blue in the face, and meticulously review every question you get wrong. Seriously this is the only way I've ever seen to do well on the MCAT. Specific resources matter much less than the raw number of practice questions IMO. The MCAT is +50% testing skills and endurance. The only thing that will teach you to THINK the way the MCAT wants you to is to do practice questions.
LORs: for 90% of students luke warm Recs will have no bearing on your app. However, For students with a bad GPA, recs are of critical importance - they're another way to show your work ethic outside of GPA. Good recs don't need to come from high powered faculty (no one knows who's who on a rec letter anyway). The best recs come from people who know you well and can speak clearly about your work ethic and interest in medicine. Best way to get these are to take multiple classes with the same professor, work in a professors lab, or take small classes where the teacher will get to know you well. One of my LORs was from an art professor...these type of people have very few letter requests and tend to put a lot of time/effort in writing a good LOR. For MD letters, try to find a young MD who will remember what the admissions process is like. Or (more difficult) find an MD who has experience as an adcom and knows what being a letter READER is like. Getting a job with an MD for a summer or gap year it a good way to get them to know you well also.
ECs: have good ones. Shy of that, have ECs that tell a consistent narrative about why you want to be a physician. Again, you're trying to prove you are passionate enough about medicine to not repeat the same mistakes from undergrad. The number of hours matters less than the quality of the work you did in the EC.
Research: try to have some, and be able to speak confidently and intelligently about it. No secrets here. Except getting academic research credit - that 4.0 into your sGPA will be a welcome boost.
School list: apply to as many as possible. I front loaded 50 schools on my amcas primary, and tried to finish as many secondaries as possible (finished ~35 personally). Also this isn't a time to be cocky. Any mainland DO or MD school is fair game...at this point you'll be lucky just to get in somewhere. If you're from California...move to West Virginia (half joking).
Primary: don't lie, but don't be shy. The activities and PS are the place to really discuss all the things you've done to this point, tie them together, and relate them back to medicine. Talk about the leadership skills you learned as president of that club, or determination and perseverance you learned when you lost the election for president of said club.
Secondaries: research the crap out of every school you apply to. The secondary is the time to show you actually know about the school beyond their MSAR profile. Talk to current students, discuss any family ties you have to the school or area (even vague ones), etc. I searched YouTube and the schools current research pages to find some hidden gems. I even added one school on snapchat (seriously). Bonus points if you can genuinely relate something about the school back to an EC or app theme.
Explaining the grades: accept responsibility with respect and humility. Explain why you got them, but don't make excuses. My go to lines were "I struggled with our schools notoriously difficult _____ class, but after reflecting on my performance did X, Y, and Z to be sure I understood the material and did not repeat the same mistakes again." And "while there is no excuse for poor performance, i was struggling with ______ during my freshman year. I have since recovered and used the experience to develop better coping skills" Personally I had the unholy trinity: partied too much, went to a grade deflated school, and had a major medical issue.
Hope this helps y'all pre meds out there. This process can be emotionally draining and there's no easy way around that. Med school and medicine in general can be grueling at times - it's better to experience the stress now so you can better handle it later. And whatever you don't give up...you're stronger than you think 🙂
PS. Failed app cycles don't mean you won't make a good med student or doctor. There's a girl in my class who had to apply 3 times, and she's the smartest chick I know. Leads multiple interest groups, great grades, tutors the M1s, and has simultaneous ortho and neurosurg research projects. That could be you one day!
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