Should I apply to Medical School?

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premedfanatic101

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Hi everyone,



I needed some advice so I figured I would come ask the community here! I am a current sophomore student( will be a junior starting this fall)who is debating whether to study for MCAT and take in Spring in order to apply for the next cycle, or if I should wait even longer and take it in the summer to apply for the following year... Below are my stats/extracurriculars...x

GPA: 4.0 (currently at a T20 in California) all pre-reqs done except physics 2nd semester

Extracurriculars:

  1. Medical Scribe-200 hours
  2. 3 Research Papers Published- 400 hours
  3. Shadowing- 100 hours
  4. Volunteering at Local Hospital- 100 hours
  5. Started a tutoring service (free) for economically disadvantaged students- 300 hours
  6. Various Clubs/ Leadership Positions etc


Should I apply for medical school with all this, or should I wait and bulk up my resume even more? I am concerned that I will be young at the time of application (20) and they will think I am not ready for medical school. I also am not sure if I have enough Co-curriculars to be able to apply. I want to aim for a T20 school, but I understand it is difficult.



Please let me know what you guys think! Any advice is helpful. Thanks for all the help as always...

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Honestly, only you can make that decision - to apply or take gap years. Your hours seem fine to me. Of course they could be better - especially more clinical volunteering, but honestly MCAT would be the deciding factor here. I would spend summer preparing for MCAT (for the parts you already studied for), take a practice one online, (or even just do the questions from the bank) and gage where you are at as far as preparation. I have classmates who are straight out of college, then there are non-traditional ones like me. Ultimately it is your call - to see if you are ready or not. There is a definitely advantage in starting medical school earlier, - more time to practice and train in high-demand fields. Medical school is a big undertaking, it is very stressful. you need to be READY and WANT IT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE. be HUNGRY for it.

I would do this- make an appointment with academic advisor from your school who specializes in medical school applications, and also try contacting one of the local medical schools and go schedule a tour, while there talk to people, look around. Also, I would go to subforums for the schools you are interested in, find some current medical students, and PM them.
 
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Hi everyone,



I needed some advice so I figured I would come ask the community here! I am a current sophomore student( will be a junior starting this fall)who is debating whether to study for MCAT and take in Spring in order to apply for the next cycle, or if I should wait even longer and take it in the summer to apply for the following year... Below are my stats/extracurriculars...x

GPA: 4.0 (currently at a T20 in California) all pre-reqs done except physics 2nd semester

Extracurriculars:

  1. Medical Scribe-200 hours
  2. 3 Research Papers Published- 400 hours
  3. Shadowing- 100 hours
  4. Volunteering at Local Hospital- 100 hours
  5. Started a tutoring service (free) for economically disadvantaged students- 300 hours
  6. Various Clubs/ Leadership Positions etc


Should I apply for medical school with all this, or should I wait and bulk up my resume even more? I am concerned that I will be young at the time of application (20) and they will think I am not ready for medical school. I also am not sure if I have enough Co-curriculars to be able to apply. I want to aim for a T20 school, but I understand it is difficult.



Please let me know what you guys think! Any advice is helpful. Thanks for all the help as always...
You have a very good EC list! Do well on the MCAT and you'll go far.
 
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Age should be ok. I was 20 when I matriculated. ( but it was 1973)


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I suppose if you really are gunning for a top-20/40 school, you need to figure out your own strategy to network with students or faculty at those programs. I'd think about summer research programs at those schools as there are plenty of research fellowship programs that these schools likely offer if you apply early enough. To that end, I would think about taking the MCAT before you apply to be sure your score is at that 520+ level to reasonably get attention in that top group. It doesn't need to be this summer, but you could try to time it for January administration.
 
I suppose if you really are gunning for a top-20/40 school, you need to figure out your own strategy to network with students or faculty at those programs. I'd think about summer research programs at those schools as there are plenty of research fellowship programs that these schools likely offer if you apply early enough. To that end, I would think about taking the MCAT before you apply to be sure your score is at that 520+ level to reasonably get attention in that top group. It doesn't need to be this summer, but you could try to time it for January administration.
Thank you for replying! I will focus on my MCAT and then I will evaluate and see whether I can look into one of these programs you are speaking of.
 
Honestly, only you can make that decision - to apply or take gap years. Your hours seem fine to me. Of course they could be better - especially more clinical volunteering, but honestly MCAT would be the deciding factor here. I would spend summer preparing for MCAT (for the parts you already studied for), take a practice one online, (or even just do the questions from the bank) and gage where you are at as far as preparation. I have classmates who are straight out of college, then there are non-traditional ones like me. Ultimately it is your call - to see if you are ready or not. There is a definitely advantage in starting medical school earlier, - more time to practice and train in high-demand fields. Medical school is a big undertaking, it is very stressful. you need to be READY and WANT IT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE. be HUNGRY for it.

I would do this- make an appointment with academic advisor from your school who specializes in medical school applications, and also try contacting one of the local medical schools and go schedule a tour, while there talk to people, look around. Also, I would go to subforums for the schools you are interested in, find some current medical students, and PM them.
Thank you so very much for this. I plan on using this summer for the MCAT and then if it goes well, I think I will test the waters and apply after getting some more advice!
 
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