Med School Basic

[wons]

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hey, so i'm new to this whole med school thing (i barely know what the mcat is, i'm assuming it's like the sat but for med school?) and it'd be great if anyone could set me straight with this whole business. i'm currently in my second quarter of college (attending a community college) and i recently decided i'd like to go to med school and hopefully become a surgeon. after getting 90 credits here, i'd like to transfer to university of washington (hopefully). after doing another 2 years there, would i be eligible to apply for med school? i'm sure you guys get the "how hard is it?" question too often, but really, is it as hard as people say it is? i mean is a 3.9-4.0 GPA required?

before moving on any further, i'm kinda confused as to what premed is exactly. i'm assuming premed is undergraduate school but i'm confused as to how it's different from undergrad. what are the fundamentals of premed AND med school (and getting in)? i understand if med school requires hours of dedication each day (is this even true?) but what about premed? as you can probably tell, i'm completely lost so i'd appreciate any help. matter of fact, i'm so lost i don't even know exactly what i'm trying to ask. thanks for reading

 

[Morsetlis]

hey, so i'm new to this whole med school thing (i barely know what the mcat is, i'm assuming it's like the sat but for med school?) and it'd be great if anyone could set me straight with this whole business. i'm currently in my second quarter of college (attending a community college) and i recently decided i'd like to go to med school and hopefully become a surgeon. after getting 90 credits here, i'd like to transfer to university of washington (hopefully). after doing another 2 years there, would i be eligible to apply for med school? i'm sure you guys get the "how hard is it?" question too often, but really, is it as hard as people say it is? i mean is a 3.9-4.0 GPA required?

before moving on any further, i'm kinda confused as to what premed is exactly. i'm assuming premed is undergraduate school but i'm confused as to how it's different from undergrad. what are the fundamentals of premed AND med school (and getting in)? i understand if med school requires hours of dedication each day (is this even true?) but what about premed? as you can probably tell, i'm completely lost so i'd appreciate any help. matter of fact, i'm so lost i don't even know exactly what i'm trying to ask. thanks for reading

Start by reading the FAQs and stickies at the top. Spend a week reading before having any preconceptions. In fact, spend a month reading, and go talk to real physicians and ask them about their job. Perhaps shadow one.

After a few months, come back and formulate a plan. It's probably going to be a 4-year plan before you are accepted to med school.

 

[LizzyM]

I would also recommend purchasing the MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements). It is published by the American Association of Medical Colleges AAMC) costs about $25 hardcopy and less if you buy the electronic version only; a new edition comes out every year in the late Spring. The intial chapters cover the coursework needed for medical school, the pathway from college to medical school, the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), recommended extracurricular activities to test one's interest in medicine, and so forth. It also includes a description of every med school in the US.

here's a link to a pdf with a preview

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/180052/data/guide_book_preview.pdf

 

[Catalystik]

Ryan Aycock's on-line advice for getting into med school: http://www.scribd.com/doc/12077119/Getting-Into-Medical-School-Guide

 

[sector9]

Here's a general premed timeline https://www.aamc.org/students/considering/gettingin/62796/considering_timeline.html