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A lot of students with average MCAT scores are worried about not getting in. How can you make your profile stand out if your MCAT score doesn’t quite cut it?
In order to make up for your average score, you should focus on building up your extracurricular activities. You’ve probably heard that medical schools like to see that their students have had certain extracurricular experiences. These include: research, clinical experience, leadership, and community engagement. But it isn’t enough just to “check the boxes.” In order to make your extracurriculars shine, you need to have a clear reason as to why you want to be in medical school. You should work to build a unifying theme to pull all of your extracurriculars together.
Leading a passion project is a really good example of how you explore your passions. Here’s how you can start:
Here is an example of how extracurriculars can tie together:
This example is very good for two main reasons. 1) Her extracurriculars had a clear theme in music and 2) She founded her own project. These things together show passion, leadership, and a desire to go above and beyond the typical pre-med student.
Remember to think big! Involve others, get funding for a project, and build a legacy! For more insights on making your extracurriculars and activities count, watch this webinar.
In order to make up for your average score, you should focus on building up your extracurricular activities. You’ve probably heard that medical schools like to see that their students have had certain extracurricular experiences. These include: research, clinical experience, leadership, and community engagement. But it isn’t enough just to “check the boxes.” In order to make your extracurriculars shine, you need to have a clear reason as to why you want to be in medical school. You should work to build a unifying theme to pull all of your extracurriculars together.
Leading a passion project is a really good example of how you explore your passions. Here’s how you can start:
- You need to decide what you care about.
- Find a mentor who shares similar interests and shows interest in you! Finding a mentor who cares about you can be very powerful when applying to medical school because chances are, him/her will write you an outstanding letter of recommendation.
- Set goals with this mentor on what you want to achieve with your project.
- Execute these plans throughout your college career.
Here is an example of how extracurriculars can tie together:
- Sarah learned how to play piano as a kid. She always loved music and was always very interested in learning more.
- When Sarah arrived to college she took a class in neurolinguistics with Professor X. She loved the class so much, she started staying after class to talk with Professor X and routinely visited his office hours to discuss the topic more.
- After creating a relationship with her Professor, Sarah found out that they shared similar interests in music. She asked Professor X if he would like to help start a music therapy program with her in partnership with the university hospital. Professor X was very interested and agreed!
- After creating the program, Professor X and Sarah conducted research into how music can help patients in hospitals. They decided to publish a paper on how music impacts a patient’s experience.
This example is very good for two main reasons. 1) Her extracurriculars had a clear theme in music and 2) She founded her own project. These things together show passion, leadership, and a desire to go above and beyond the typical pre-med student.
Remember to think big! Involve others, get funding for a project, and build a legacy! For more insights on making your extracurriculars and activities count, watch this webinar.
