In your opinion, what is the most overrated aspect of the admissions process?

[Astarael]

---

Members do not see this ad.

For a lot of schools, I really think MCAT and GPA are the most overrated. My 4.0/36 certainly didn't get me into a lot of schools, especially my state school that seems to only look at scores to make sure you're not a complete idiot before moving on to other parts of the application.

It's easy to say this when you're sitting on top of the 95th percentile score-wise. In reality, you're even higher than this, since 36 is 95th percentile but not everyone that gets that score has a 4.0. I promise you that your scores matter.

 

[juliedi]

Maybe I'm a minority, but I actually liked clinical volunteering. During/after college I've volunteered in a few different hospitals and clinics, and I can say that some were way more boring than others, but they all were things I enjoyed. Even at the place where I had the most menial duties (i.e. your typical stocking/changing beds/running things to the lab), if there was nothing for me to do (this was a small Emergency Dept, so often there was nothing for me to do), it was still nice to chat with the patients and their families. I've met some patients with really cool stories (one elderly woman told me she used to work as a trapeze artist - she was awesome), and I'm glad I had the chance to talk with them. Of course, the gigs where I got to do more relevant clinical tasks were pretty awesome too, but I guess I'm just saying that if you make the most of it, even transporting patients around or bringing patients food trays can be a worthwhile experience.

 

[Geekchick921]

That information is available in the MSAR, a copy of which every premed really should own.

👍 If it helps you cut down your list by just one school you weren't really a good match for, it's paid for itself. If it helps you choose a school that accepts you and you love, it's priceless.