Medical School Acceptance Advice

I was recently accepted into the University of Arizona College of Medicine and in this article I'll explain how I did it. My friend Ethan was also accepted to medical school (at Vanderbilt) and he mentioned some resources in the video linked below. These are included in the resources section of the article.

My Stats

Stats are what make your application competitive, but extracurriculars and clinical experience get you accepted. Below are my stats:

-513 MCAT

-3.82 Science GPA

Extracurriculars

Before applying to medical school it is important to have strong clinical and non-clinical extracurriculars. This will not only help with interviews and essays, but it will ensure that you enjoy working with patients and serving others. My extracurriculars and the descriptions I used in AMCAS can be viewed below in the resources section.

I would strongly recommend getting a clinical license because it will help you get more meaningful work and patient care. While it is possible to do work at a free clinic or hospital without credentials, working as an EMT or CNA will allow you to be directly involved in patient care.

Building a School List

When choosing which schools to apply to I would recommend adding more schools if in doubt and applying DO even if you feel that you can get into an MD school. Why apply DO? Because if you are rejected after the first cycle you would probably rather go to a DO school than risk applying a third time. So why not just apply DO the first time and go to one if you get rejected from MD schools. Of course the decision is up to you, but if I had to apply again I would apply to 40 MD schools instead of 31 and somewhere around 10 DO schools. I would also recommend looking at which states accepted students come from for each school you are applying to on MSAR and the spreadsheet included in the resources section of this article. Ultimately the number of schools you apply to is a personal decision, but as a general rule err on the side of too many applications.

Submitting Secondaries

It is extremely important to prewrite secondaries, especially if you are applying broadly. You can find the secondary prompts on SDN or Admit.org and save them in a google doc. I would recommend using the google doc to keep links to all medical school portals as well to keep everything organized. I included an example of what this could look like in the resources section.

Many schools have similar secondary prompts, but it will still take a significant amount of time to adapt them to fit each school's mission and specific phrasing. Some schools have as many as seven secondary essays and some of them are extremely unique. This is yet another reason to prewrite.

What if I am Waitlisted?

Being waitlisted can feel highly discouraging. When I applied to medical school I was waitlisted at three schools out of the five that I interviewed at and I remember thinking to myself that I must be a terrible interviewer. It is important not to get too negative when waitlisted and instead to focus on what you can control. Send a letter of continued interest or a letter of intent and stay optimistic. Many medical schools accept a significant number of waitlisted applicants and you could be one of them.