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These are sliceofbread's tips for getting into med school! This list is a combination of things I did and things I wish I did. I still don't have an acceptance yet, so I guess take my advice with a grain of salt. I'm open to criticism about what I have to say. This might be alittle long but I'd rather type too much information than too little.
1. Grades-
Your GPA and MCAT are by far the most important part of your application. They take priority over everything. Never forget that. Keep your Grades up.
My advice for this is to take an easy first semester of college. I took 12 hours of class my first semester and 2 of those classes I already took in highschool. I used this time to get used to college, and to more importantly find study habits that work for me. The best advice I can give you is to find a way to study that works for you. This means you have to be open to new techniques, because no one learns the same. I think a good way to start for qualitative classes is to make "cheat sheets" divided into chapter or subject sections. Write everything you'll need to know about a section on that section's sheet. Read that sheet everyday in the morning and before you go to bed, and the week before the test start to really do your hardcore memorizing of these sheets. During this week do a ton of practice problems and practice tests. The more the better. Try and do any problem you think you might see on the test, because it's better to make a mistake during practice than the real test. For math based classes you should place more emphasis on practice problems and less on the memorizing of your cheat sheets. Try this and evolve your own techniques from it.
BOTTOM LINE: Find your own study techniques, then use them to succeed.
2. MCAT-
This is fricking important. It seems tons of people give themselves ridiculously short time to study for this. Don't make that mistake. Give yourself a summer of pure MCAT studying with some light ECs like hospital volunteering. Take the Princeton review or do the study schedule posted on this board (great schedule). Use the study methods you developed during undergrad to learn the conceptual material. Get as many practice tests as you can. Get those AAMC tests and some other type of test (I used the Princeton review's tests). You should take a test once every two weeks starting as soon as you can (that's right, BEFORE you've gone over all the concepts, it will help you learn how to figure things out). Save the AAMC tests for when you get closer to your MCAT date. The key with taking all these tests is so you can see continual improvement. Spend an hour going over what you went wrong and how you can improve. Another thing I like to do is take individual sections of the tests of just do that one section (1 section is much less daunting than a whole practice test). For example, if I felt like verbal was my weakness I would do 9 verbal sections over like 3 days and really try to improve on each one. I found this technique to be VERY helpful. It shot up my scores.
BOTTOM LINE: Use your study techniques to learn the material, do LOTs of practice.
3. Extracurriculars-
These are very important, especially when you are putting together your application. I feel a lot of premeds miss the point of these. The point of them is to illustrate what YOU ARE ABOUT. They aren't there for you to neurotically rack up volunteer hours. They are there so when you are explaining yourself on your application, you can say I have this quality and this is demonstrated by this activity. You can't just say you have some trait, you have to substantiate it. What this means is you should sit down and write down the traits you feel you have that will make you a good doctor. The next step is to think of activities you can do that will demonstrate this. Never forget clinical experience (not just sitting at an info desk, get something where you will develop interesting stories.) It's also nice to get some research and some fun interesting activites that will make you stand out. Something to remember is that it isn't what you are really doing that is important, it is what you are getting out of it and the stories you can tell.
BOTTOM LINE: You should do activities that you can use to substantiate traits that you have so you can prove you have those. The purpose of these are so you can use them to illustrate who you are on your application and in your interview.
4. Personal Statement-
This is easy. Tell your story about how you wanted to get into medicine and try to subtly impart why you think you will be a good doctor (I mean VERY subtly). Have fun with it and spend a lot of time on it, but don't stress out on it. I honestly think the best thing to do is go with a safe personal statement that has a wide range of appeal, but many would disagree with me.
BOTTOM LINE: Don't stress about this, have fun with it.
5. Activities description-
This could be easy or hard depending on if you followed my EC advice. Simply list out what you got out of the activity and what trait it demonstrates, then put in a quick and interesting story from that activity that demonstrates that trait. Easy recipe for an interesting app.
BOTTOM LINE: Just read what I wrote, it's short.
6. Secondary Essays-
The point of these is to impart if you are a good fit for a school. Imo, it's hard to know what schools want, so the best strat is to write essays that tell a lot about you and hope that some school likes what they see. This means you have to apply broadly (which everyone should do!).
7. Interview-
This one is easy if you do your homework. Your homework is to once again write down the traits you have that will make you a good doctor, why you know you want to be a doctor, and why you think you can make it through your training. Next to each of these things write down examples from your life and activities that demonstrate these points. You now know the information you want to impart, which makes it a ton easier to form your answers to questions. You also need to know some stuff about healthcare. Spend a day reading and studying about, and form your own opinions. Mock interviews are good to do so you can work on your delivery. Try to tape yourself so you can see any bad habits. Another helpful thing is to get a friend to ask you questions and you answer in front of a mirror. Honestly, interviews are easy and a lot of fun. Do your practice but don't stress.
BOTTOM LINE: Know what you want to talk about, work on your delivery.
8. Live a Balanced Life-
Just remember to do things you enjoy. You'll be a better person and a better student.
9. Apply Early-
Get your primary done by early July and secondaries done by September. You can pre-write your secondaries by looking at last years in the school specific section.
This is all I can think of for now, I'll probably add to this as I think of other stuff. Ill also proofread for spelling…
1. Grades-
Your GPA and MCAT are by far the most important part of your application. They take priority over everything. Never forget that. Keep your Grades up.
My advice for this is to take an easy first semester of college. I took 12 hours of class my first semester and 2 of those classes I already took in highschool. I used this time to get used to college, and to more importantly find study habits that work for me. The best advice I can give you is to find a way to study that works for you. This means you have to be open to new techniques, because no one learns the same. I think a good way to start for qualitative classes is to make "cheat sheets" divided into chapter or subject sections. Write everything you'll need to know about a section on that section's sheet. Read that sheet everyday in the morning and before you go to bed, and the week before the test start to really do your hardcore memorizing of these sheets. During this week do a ton of practice problems and practice tests. The more the better. Try and do any problem you think you might see on the test, because it's better to make a mistake during practice than the real test. For math based classes you should place more emphasis on practice problems and less on the memorizing of your cheat sheets. Try this and evolve your own techniques from it.
BOTTOM LINE: Find your own study techniques, then use them to succeed.
2. MCAT-
This is fricking important. It seems tons of people give themselves ridiculously short time to study for this. Don't make that mistake. Give yourself a summer of pure MCAT studying with some light ECs like hospital volunteering. Take the Princeton review or do the study schedule posted on this board (great schedule). Use the study methods you developed during undergrad to learn the conceptual material. Get as many practice tests as you can. Get those AAMC tests and some other type of test (I used the Princeton review's tests). You should take a test once every two weeks starting as soon as you can (that's right, BEFORE you've gone over all the concepts, it will help you learn how to figure things out). Save the AAMC tests for when you get closer to your MCAT date. The key with taking all these tests is so you can see continual improvement. Spend an hour going over what you went wrong and how you can improve. Another thing I like to do is take individual sections of the tests of just do that one section (1 section is much less daunting than a whole practice test). For example, if I felt like verbal was my weakness I would do 9 verbal sections over like 3 days and really try to improve on each one. I found this technique to be VERY helpful. It shot up my scores.
BOTTOM LINE: Use your study techniques to learn the material, do LOTs of practice.
3. Extracurriculars-
These are very important, especially when you are putting together your application. I feel a lot of premeds miss the point of these. The point of them is to illustrate what YOU ARE ABOUT. They aren't there for you to neurotically rack up volunteer hours. They are there so when you are explaining yourself on your application, you can say I have this quality and this is demonstrated by this activity. You can't just say you have some trait, you have to substantiate it. What this means is you should sit down and write down the traits you feel you have that will make you a good doctor. The next step is to think of activities you can do that will demonstrate this. Never forget clinical experience (not just sitting at an info desk, get something where you will develop interesting stories.) It's also nice to get some research and some fun interesting activites that will make you stand out. Something to remember is that it isn't what you are really doing that is important, it is what you are getting out of it and the stories you can tell.
BOTTOM LINE: You should do activities that you can use to substantiate traits that you have so you can prove you have those. The purpose of these are so you can use them to illustrate who you are on your application and in your interview.
4. Personal Statement-
This is easy. Tell your story about how you wanted to get into medicine and try to subtly impart why you think you will be a good doctor (I mean VERY subtly). Have fun with it and spend a lot of time on it, but don't stress out on it. I honestly think the best thing to do is go with a safe personal statement that has a wide range of appeal, but many would disagree with me.
BOTTOM LINE: Don't stress about this, have fun with it.
5. Activities description-
This could be easy or hard depending on if you followed my EC advice. Simply list out what you got out of the activity and what trait it demonstrates, then put in a quick and interesting story from that activity that demonstrates that trait. Easy recipe for an interesting app.
BOTTOM LINE: Just read what I wrote, it's short.
6. Secondary Essays-
The point of these is to impart if you are a good fit for a school. Imo, it's hard to know what schools want, so the best strat is to write essays that tell a lot about you and hope that some school likes what they see. This means you have to apply broadly (which everyone should do!).
7. Interview-
This one is easy if you do your homework. Your homework is to once again write down the traits you have that will make you a good doctor, why you know you want to be a doctor, and why you think you can make it through your training. Next to each of these things write down examples from your life and activities that demonstrate these points. You now know the information you want to impart, which makes it a ton easier to form your answers to questions. You also need to know some stuff about healthcare. Spend a day reading and studying about, and form your own opinions. Mock interviews are good to do so you can work on your delivery. Try to tape yourself so you can see any bad habits. Another helpful thing is to get a friend to ask you questions and you answer in front of a mirror. Honestly, interviews are easy and a lot of fun. Do your practice but don't stress.
BOTTOM LINE: Know what you want to talk about, work on your delivery.
8. Live a Balanced Life-
Just remember to do things you enjoy. You'll be a better person and a better student.
9. Apply Early-
Get your primary done by early July and secondaries done by September. You can pre-write your secondaries by looking at last years in the school specific section.
This is all I can think of for now, I'll probably add to this as I think of other stuff. Ill also proofread for spelling…
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