- Joined
- Apr 17, 2018
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 30
Hey SDN,
I've had what I'd consider to be a tremendous amount of success this past cycle (multiple T20 A's), in very large part thanks to all the advice I've gotten from here over the years. Figure I'd offer my $0.02 on the process- maybe it'll be of some help to someone out there.
1) You are more than just your stats. Going through undergrad, I figured stats were the end-all. High GPA/MCAT meant you were in. As far as I've been able to tell, stats are great for getting you through the door, but past a certain point there are a lot of intangibles involved (quality of writing, nature of motivation to pursue medicine, personality/social skills) that I'd argue are just as important as having high stats. I think med schools are doing their best to select not just the smartest docs, but the best docs, and there's a lot more to being a great doc than simply being smart. That said, stats are still important (after all, there has to be some objective measure in use for stratifying applicants) and you should strive to get the best GPA/MCAT you can so as to not close any doors. I heard a lot of people throughout undergrad saying they could skate through with a middling GPA/MCAT because of their infinity billion volunteering hours/EC's & it doesn't appear to me at all that this was a good strategy.
2) Rankings are far less important than fit. Throughout undergrad I had a good group of friends, & we all pretty much aimed at historically "top" schools. If you had asked me where I wanted to go as a freshman/sophomore, I would have certainly told you HMS. I could have never guessed I'd end up where I did. However, I'm far happier that I ended up here, & it turns out the school I'll be attending is a far better fit for my career goals than HMS would have been. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do prior to applying (personal experience + lots of shadowing) so I did what I could to apply primarily to schools that I felt had a strong program in the specialty I'm interested in with supportive, well-known faculty that will be able to vouch for me down the road come residency app time. I'd say if you know what you want, strongly consider the strength of the programs in the specialty you're interested in as I do believe that's more important than prestige-chasing. (For the ultra-high achieving type-A gunners out there like I was, I can tell you from experience that getting into T20 schools isn't all it's cracked up to be. It isn't going to make you happy & it isn't going to solve all of your problems, I promise you. Do your best in school to ensure you keep the most possible doors open & then go to the school that is best aligned with your career goals. That school may very well be an Ivy. It also very well may be your state school.)
3) For those of you just starting out, it can be a tough road for sure, but it's not impossible. At times this path requires a nearly superhuman amount of sacrifice & dedication. There are bound to be many nights & many weekends spent studying, & many missed holidays. One particular semester I was averaging 2-3 hours/night of sleep since I had an early morning class & was in the lab working on research until 1am many nights. You do what you need to do to get through it (for me it was 3-4 cups of coffee per day). However, you'll also have lighter seasons where you'll sleep 6-8 hours, go out, play basketball with friends, spend a fair bit of time with family. I don't regret anything about what I did- I think I did college the right way & it has paid off- but I do think I could have been a bit more attentive/present in some of my relationships, especially during some of the lighter seasons. It's very easy to become addicted to the high-octane, high-stress lifestyle & neglect some of the other crucial aspects of your life. As best as you can, try to stay grounded. Take care of your nutrition as best as you can, sleep when you can, exercise when you can, do a hobby or two when you can, have lunch/dinner with a friend when you can, call your parents when you can. There is time for these things even if it might not be every day or every week for all of them.
4) Cliche, but enjoy the ride. Maybe I'm just weird, but something that I think helped me is that I genuinely did my best to find an interest in everything I did. Enjoy learning biochem & organic chem. You're literally learning how your body works at a sub-atomic level. Enjoy history & government & english, too. These subjects make you more rounded, & they'll help you to connect with all the people you'll meet, & ultimately to connect with your patients. Enjoy the adrenaline rush of running around between classes, volunteering, studying, research, etc (it's actually pretty fun). Finally, don't forget to enjoy all the moments in between- having coffee with a friend, taking a trip with family, playing a sport. Getting into med school (or a "top" school, for the ultra-high achieving type-A gunners) isn't some magical destination at the end of the road where all your problems will magically disappear. You will be happy, you'll celebrate, you'll relish your accomplishment, the sacrifices you made, and the person you became along the way- as you should- and then you'll go right back to living your life. So live your life. It's the only one you have.
Like I said, hopefully this helps a few of you out there. Have a bit too much free time on my hands right now LOL, please feel free to reach out if there's anything I can help with.
I've had what I'd consider to be a tremendous amount of success this past cycle (multiple T20 A's), in very large part thanks to all the advice I've gotten from here over the years. Figure I'd offer my $0.02 on the process- maybe it'll be of some help to someone out there.
1) You are more than just your stats. Going through undergrad, I figured stats were the end-all. High GPA/MCAT meant you were in. As far as I've been able to tell, stats are great for getting you through the door, but past a certain point there are a lot of intangibles involved (quality of writing, nature of motivation to pursue medicine, personality/social skills) that I'd argue are just as important as having high stats. I think med schools are doing their best to select not just the smartest docs, but the best docs, and there's a lot more to being a great doc than simply being smart. That said, stats are still important (after all, there has to be some objective measure in use for stratifying applicants) and you should strive to get the best GPA/MCAT you can so as to not close any doors. I heard a lot of people throughout undergrad saying they could skate through with a middling GPA/MCAT because of their infinity billion volunteering hours/EC's & it doesn't appear to me at all that this was a good strategy.
2) Rankings are far less important than fit. Throughout undergrad I had a good group of friends, & we all pretty much aimed at historically "top" schools. If you had asked me where I wanted to go as a freshman/sophomore, I would have certainly told you HMS. I could have never guessed I'd end up where I did. However, I'm far happier that I ended up here, & it turns out the school I'll be attending is a far better fit for my career goals than HMS would have been. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do prior to applying (personal experience + lots of shadowing) so I did what I could to apply primarily to schools that I felt had a strong program in the specialty I'm interested in with supportive, well-known faculty that will be able to vouch for me down the road come residency app time. I'd say if you know what you want, strongly consider the strength of the programs in the specialty you're interested in as I do believe that's more important than prestige-chasing. (For the ultra-high achieving type-A gunners out there like I was, I can tell you from experience that getting into T20 schools isn't all it's cracked up to be. It isn't going to make you happy & it isn't going to solve all of your problems, I promise you. Do your best in school to ensure you keep the most possible doors open & then go to the school that is best aligned with your career goals. That school may very well be an Ivy. It also very well may be your state school.)
3) For those of you just starting out, it can be a tough road for sure, but it's not impossible. At times this path requires a nearly superhuman amount of sacrifice & dedication. There are bound to be many nights & many weekends spent studying, & many missed holidays. One particular semester I was averaging 2-3 hours/night of sleep since I had an early morning class & was in the lab working on research until 1am many nights. You do what you need to do to get through it (for me it was 3-4 cups of coffee per day). However, you'll also have lighter seasons where you'll sleep 6-8 hours, go out, play basketball with friends, spend a fair bit of time with family. I don't regret anything about what I did- I think I did college the right way & it has paid off- but I do think I could have been a bit more attentive/present in some of my relationships, especially during some of the lighter seasons. It's very easy to become addicted to the high-octane, high-stress lifestyle & neglect some of the other crucial aspects of your life. As best as you can, try to stay grounded. Take care of your nutrition as best as you can, sleep when you can, exercise when you can, do a hobby or two when you can, have lunch/dinner with a friend when you can, call your parents when you can. There is time for these things even if it might not be every day or every week for all of them.
4) Cliche, but enjoy the ride. Maybe I'm just weird, but something that I think helped me is that I genuinely did my best to find an interest in everything I did. Enjoy learning biochem & organic chem. You're literally learning how your body works at a sub-atomic level. Enjoy history & government & english, too. These subjects make you more rounded, & they'll help you to connect with all the people you'll meet, & ultimately to connect with your patients. Enjoy the adrenaline rush of running around between classes, volunteering, studying, research, etc (it's actually pretty fun). Finally, don't forget to enjoy all the moments in between- having coffee with a friend, taking a trip with family, playing a sport. Getting into med school (or a "top" school, for the ultra-high achieving type-A gunners) isn't some magical destination at the end of the road where all your problems will magically disappear. You will be happy, you'll celebrate, you'll relish your accomplishment, the sacrifices you made, and the person you became along the way- as you should- and then you'll go right back to living your life. So live your life. It's the only one you have.
Like I said, hopefully this helps a few of you out there. Have a bit too much free time on my hands right now LOL, please feel free to reach out if there's anything I can help with.
