By BeMo Academic Consulting
Medical school acceptance rates may be off-putting but there is a simple first step that you can take that can significantly increase your acceptance chances. What most premed advisors will not tell you is that the secret to getting into medical school is knowing how to choose the right medical school to apply to. Medical school admissions is not a numbers game–if it was, then only applicants with high GPAs and MCAT scores would get accepted, but this is simply not the case.
Here’re the 5 simple steps you need to take to compose the ultimate medical school list and increaseyour chances of acceptance:
Step 1:Check Residency Eligibility Requirements
A very important nuance to keep in mind is that some programs have different medical school requirements for out-of-state applicants, including GPA and MCAT scores. This is especially important toknow for anyone applying to medical schools in Texas usingTMDSAS. Firstly, check which medical schoolsyou are qualified to apply to based on theirresidency requirements.
And keep in mind that even if a school is officially an “out-of-state friendly” medical school, it does not mean that they accept out-of-state students. Using MSAR, check out whether the school has a history of accepting students from out of state. If not, you may want to remove the school from your list if you are an out-of-state applicant.
Step 2:Check GPA and MCAT Requirements
Next, let’s weed out schools where you may be cut from the applicant pool straight away based on your stats. Many medical schools use the GPA requirements and MCAT score requirements to remove applicants from the race in the early stages. Why is this done? Because the number of applications a medical school receives in one admissions cycle is staggering. For example, Stanford School of Medicine received almost 8500 applications last year!
If you think it’s just Ivy League medical schools or prestigious med schools that get this number of applicants, think again. For example, the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University received over 3,500 applications last season. Admissions officers simply do not have the time or energy to go throughthis number ofapplications in detail, so they must make the applicant pool more manageable to have time to review AMCAS Work and Activities sections or medical school personal statements. This is most easily done by removing applicants that do not meet the required stats.
What does this mean for you? Use the MSAR database to further narrow down your list of schools. Your list should now only include programs where you meet and exceed the GPA and MCAT thresholds. Makesure to look not at the minimal accepted GPA and MCAT, but the average GPA and MCAT scoresof the past matriculating class–MSAR provides this information. You are competing with stats that are actuallyaccepted, not what’s theoretically accepted.
This will help you create a list where your entire application will be considered. If you get past the initial screening stage where your GPA and MCAT are reviewed, your other application components will have a good chance of swaying the admissions decision. Step 3: Confirm That You Completed REQUIRED Prerequisites
There is a huge difference between medical school prerequisites that are recommended and required, and you must make sure that you apply to schools where you met all the required prerequisites. You do not want to apply to schools where you have not met the course requirements because this kind of oversight can lead to rejection in the very early stages of the admissions process. Simply put, you do not want to leave any stones unturned, and you do not want to give the admissions committee ANY reasons to remove you from the applicant pool. Just imagine that they are comparing two equally worthy applicants side by side but only one gets to move on to the medical school interview stage, and you see that one of the applicants is missing a required course–it’s easy to imagine who gets the boot.
The good news is that the list of required courses is usually not too long, but we strongly encourage youto make sure that you fulfill the requirements. What does this mean?Try to take courses that check off the boxes. You do not want to do extra work during the admissions process, trying to convince the admissions committee that the course you took does fulfill the requirement. Take courses that clearly demonstrate that you have the required experience and knowledge. Do you need to fulfill the recommended courses? It would be great if you have completed at least some of them, as it shows that you have the desired knowledge, but it’s not as crucial as fulfilling all the required courses. You will not be eliminated from the applicant pool if some of the recommended courses are missing from your transcript.
Step 4: Learn WhatKind of Experiences and Activities Are Valued
Now that you have a list of medical schools where you will not be thrown out in the initial screening process, you need to narrow down the list based on whether the schools you apply to are a good fit foryou. Why is this important? Remember we already mentioned that medical school admission is not just anumbers game. You need to apply to medical schools where you would be a valuable addition based on your qualities and skills. How do you figure out whether you would be someone the school wants to admit?
Firstly, check out their mission statement. You can tell a lot about what a school values in its applicants by simply checking out these statements. For example, let's review the mission statement of Stanford since we are already talking about this renowned institution:
“To be a premier research-intensive medical school that improves health through leadership, diversity, and a collaborative approach to discovery and innovation in patient care, education, and research.”
It is very clear what Stanford is looking for in its applicants: quality research experience. They certainly welcome other types of experience, no doubt, but research is repeatedly inserted in the mission statement because it’s part of this school’s goals and values. So,if you’re planning to apply to Stanford,make sure you have a thorough background in research. If you do not, remove it from your school list.
Another way to discover what the medical schools are looking for is to take a look at the premedical experiences of matriculants of the schools where you want to get accepted. Your peers from other application cycles also participated in extracurriculars for medical school, so you can analyze what worked for them best. In some schools, shadowing experience is a huge boon, while in others paid clinical hours or medical work is a huge advantage. Again, make sure you are using MSAR to see whatkind of experiences your predecessors had.
How will this help you with your school list? Simple–you will be able to tell whether the schools you have on your list value the experiences that are similar to what you gained. For example, let’s say you have zero research experience under your belt,and you have no time to gain this experience now–you may safely remove research-heavy institutions from your list. Or let's say you want to become a military doctor–you will be able to see which schools have a steady acceptance history of students with military backgrounds. These are the ones you should keep on your list!
Having suitable skills and experiences is crucial when you apply to schools. A good GPA and MCAT will only get you through the first screening stage. Narrowing down the list using premedical experiences and qualities valued by the schools will make sure that the schools you apply to are a good personal and professional fit for you.
Step 5:Secure the Required Recommendations
You might think that all you need are strong medical school recommendation letters, and this is partly true, but you must also be able to secure the right recommendations for the schools you’re applying to. For example, if you are applying to osteopathic medical schools, you will need to secure at least one recommendation from a DO physician. If you cannot secure a strong letter of recommendation from a DO physician, you may not want to include any DO schools in your medical school list. While it may seem radical, you do not want to waste money or energy on applications that have little to no chances. If you do not have support from the osteopathic community, you have very little chance of getting into a DO school.
Whether you’re applying to MD or DO schools, you need to make sure that you follow all of the reference guidelines to a tee. For example, if you have a major research project under your belt, some medical schools will insist that you get a reference letter from your principal investigator–it may be a red flag if you cannot submit this as part of your application. If you’re a non-traditional medical school applicant, medical schools may require letters from your previous workplace. Make sure you research these requirements long before you finalize your school list so you can choose medical schools whereyour letters will be appropriate.
Other Considerations When You Make Your List
The above 5 steps will result in a solid medical school list and you will increase your acceptance chancessignificantly if you follow it. However, there are some other items that you may want to keep in mind tomake the admissions process easier onyourself.
For example, if you want to avoid situational judgment tests, you may want to stay away from medical schools that require CASPer, AAMC PREview, or the MMI. You can find out whether your schools of choice require these using MSAR or by checking in with the school personally.
Another consideration that you may want to keep in mind as you may want to keep in mind as you compile your list is if you want to apply to medical schools with the best match rates in your chosen specialties. This is long-term planning, but perhaps you have a specific medical specialty that you want to pursue and want to make sure you line up your path to this specialty, including attending a medical school that has a high match history in this specialty.
As you trudge along and carefully curate your application list, keep in mind the reasons why you want to become a doctor. Are you a passionate medical researcher who wants to contribute to medical innovations? Are you a natural primary caregiver looking to address the lack of medical services in rural and underserved areas? Or are you looking to become a plastic surgeon in a huge metropolitan center? Your motivation can be a great guiding light as to which schools you choose to keep on your list.
About the Author: BeMo is one of the most sought-after academic consulting firms in the world famous for helping applicants with admissions to highly competitive programs and its staunch advocacy for fair admissions.
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