r/medschooladmissions

I sw stats where 40% of students that apply to med school get in. That makes it seem easy but then acceptance rates are 1-2% at schools in my state

Would greatly appreciate any and all feedback, I'm seriously so lost.

1. I need to narrow down my list.
2. I feel like I may be aiming too high.
3. I'm a Chicago suburbs native, like the Midwest, but open to really any state, would prefer in or near a city, pass/fail grading would be great
4. Didn't include any CA schools bc i've heard about the OOS disadvantage. Is it worth it to think about any? Also unsure about any NY schools and the Carolinas/Arizona.

Stats
3rd year Northwestern undergrad
AAMC GPA - 3.67
Science GPA - 3.54
(upward trending for both, started off as engineering, had a horrible first quarter with 3 C's due to that + other life circumstances, changed majors, life got better, everything after that quarter was As and Bs, this year all As and 1 B)
MCAT - 516 (128 Chem/Phys, 128 CARS, 130 Bio/Biochem, 130 Psych/Soc)

Hours
Total Research Hours: 1070 Hours
Total Clinical Volunteering Hours: 320 Hours
Total Non-Clinical Volunteering Hours: 360 Hours
Clinical Shadowing Hours: 84 Hours
Non-Clinical Work Hours: 648 Hours
Clinical Work Hours: 320 Future Hours (EMT this summer + possibly part time into the school year)
Leadership Hours: 320 Hours
Presentations/Posters: 45 Hours

Current colleges:
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
University of Illinois College of Medicine
Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center
Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine
University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences The Pritzker School of Medicine
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Penn State University
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Medical College of Wisconsin
Indiana University School of Medicine
Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University
Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University
Tulane University School of Medicine
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Drexel University College of Medicine
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine
University of Michigan Medical School
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Ohio State University College of Medicine
University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Creighton University School of Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

SO basically the title. I feel like my grades are mid in hs and in college im going to work much harder! I definitly do not want to take a gap year tho. How many people acctually get into med school in their first attempt? Also how many people are forced to take a gap year?

511 mcat (balanced), 3.83 gpa, MA resident, URM latinx

T20 undergrad

1000+ research hours

800 volunteer/ community service

400 clinical (MA)

100 shadowing

I want to apply to as few schools as possible (maybe 15), but worried about my stats. Any help is appreciated!

Hello all! I really appreciate you taking the time to read my profile and letting me know what you think about me applying this cycle!

Background: White, 22 Y/o straight male, very low SES raised in single parent household (dad died to cancer @ 8 years old), CO resident, BS in Bio, minor in chem and spanish from a respected small liberal arts school in OH

MCAT: Taking 5/30, but averaging 513 but I really think I can get up to 515 in time, have already gotten 516 on one FL

GPA: 3.74/3.6 (worried about this being a tad low, especially the science gpa, but i see very conflicting things about this

Hours:
- Paid Clinical: 500 + working here currently as a scribe (but pretty hands on for a scribe)

- Non-paid clinical: 50 hours as a hospital volunteer in an underserved area

- Volunteering: 150 hours (this is one of my big worries, as 100 of these hours is from january til now w/ me continuing, but i know it's really low, and also frankly i would have loved to do more but i have been living on my own since 18 and so i've had to for the most part just focus on being employed). Around 20 of these hours were during events that i organized while president of a club

- Research: 750 hours, planning on doing more w/ hopefully a pub, 5 poster presentations with one 1st place for my presentation @ a small symposium. research was focused on lung cancer in hispanic communities and lung cancer in LGBTQ+ communities

- Shadowing: 30 hours, this is another big weak spot

- Tutoring: 50 hours as a TA for orgo, 300 hours as a 1-1 peer tutor for Bio and Chem

- Leadership: 500+ hours as president of political club that I co-founded w/ two other people, 2 summers as a freshman orientation leader (made my own workshops in writing, planned out the 3 day trip), RA for 2 years. 1 semester as Spanish club VP

- Non-Clinical work: 2000+ hours between bartending, landscaping, and construction

- ECs: Rhythm guitarist in cover band for 2 years, A-capella group (bass and baritone if anyone is curious) for 4 years (performed at Groundhog day in Puxatauney PA for like 60K people!), animal rights activism (probably won't include this), biking, lifting (225 bench @ 155 (most important part of my app)), rock climbing, also interested in urban planning and interior design

LORS:
- Bio prof I'm super close with, did research w/ her and had 3 classes w/ her. Like a mom away from home (A, A-, A-)
- Chem prof I'm also close with, had her for 2 classes and she likes me (A, A-)

- Spanish prof who i'm also super close with who was ecstatic to write me an LOR (A-, A-)

- PI from research @ CU Anschutz, will be strong as well

- DO doctor who i scribe for

- MD who i shadowed and has known me my whole life

- Can get more if needed

Narritive: Really want to work w/ underserved people, and honestly really want to serve hispanic communities and use my spanish, as i'm functionally fluent and have been speaking since 6th grade. also from low SES, have had a lot of life experience for someone my age (moved out day i turned 18 and lived on my own for 6 months before college, working landscaping and construction). Basically i really have tried it all and there is nothing i want more than to be a doctor

My biggest concerns here and why im asking if i should apply:

A. My volunteering hours are low, and all very recent. My clinical hours are also all recent and relatively low. My shadowing hours are really low.

B. Taking my MCAT on the 30th, so I'd be applying blind. additionally because im working full time, studying for the mcat, and i've also just been dealing w/ being cheated on and breaking my collarbone, i have no writing done for my app so far, no PS written or anything, but I am a very very strong and fast writer. I just don't know if I can get it done in time and if there's a realistic time frame for me to apply?

if i should apply, i would love any suggestions for schools and if/how many DO i should apply to relative to MD? i really want to apply this cycle but i feel like im just borderline on my hours and what not

Update for everyone from my “am I cooked?” post a month ago that blew up way more than I thought it ever would:

Accepted to a DO school. 😭

Shoutout to the people who gave genuine advice and kept it real without acting like a 497 MCAT automatically meant I should be exiled from medicine forever. Some of y’all genuinely helped me tighten up my app and mindset.

To the “you’re doomed,” “future patients are cooked,” “Caribbean or nothing,” “reapply in 3 years,” and “YOLO’d your MCAT” crowd… respectfully:

we got the A. 🫡

Turns out applications actually are holistic. Crazy concept for this sub sometimes. My MCAT was the weakest part of my app. I knew that. But thousands of clinical hours, research, service, leadership, a completed masters with a 4.0, and being able to actually talk to humans apparently mattered too.

And before people start shitting on Caribbean schools again too, it’s worth remembering that DO schools had a massive stigma attached to them not even that long ago, and honestly still get looked down on by some people today. Medicine changes. Pathways change. At the end of the day there is a physician shortage, and if someone is willing to put their head down, survive the grind, and not quit, they can still become a great doctor.

Not posting this to flex. Posting it because I know there’s another applicant doomscrolling this sub right now thinking one weak area means their career is over before it starts.

Improve where you can. Be realistic. But don’t let Reddit convince you your life is finished because of one number. I am definitely not the norm and I took a risk, but it paid off.

And yes before someone comments it:
I still plan to improve my test taking moving forward lmao

3.4 cGPA, 4.0 postbacc, 520 MCAT. CA resident. 1000 hours non clinical volunteering, 1000 hours clinical volunteering/shadowing, 500 hours med-related research, multiple published first-author research outside of medicine in top tech conferences. 5 years employment at Amazon. Advice on school list? I'd prefer a CA med school, but can apply widely. Do I even have a decent shot at MD school, or only DO?

For context, I'm a dual degree computer science and neuroscience sophomore with a 4.0 GPA. I've taken orgo 1, chem 1 and 2 (in the same semester), calc 2, Java, etc., and have gotten A+'s on all of them. I'm saying this to show I'm not taking physics online to avoid rigor; however, my school's physics/math department is awful, where your grade is dependent on the professor. Also, with being dual degree, I could take a lighter courseload. I'm able to take physics 1 and 2 online this summer, and I will take the lab in person at my university. However, I am aware of the stigma of online pre-reqs, and Columbia Med School does not accept any online coursework. Although Columbia is not like my top top choice, I wouldn't want to eliminate the opportunity of applying for it just because I took physics online. However, getting physics out of the way would lighten my courseload and also potentially protect my GPA. (Note: I don't believe online coursework shows up on a transcript; however I'm unsure if you have to report it on AMCAS, and wouldn't want to take the risk.)Tips?

I am applying to medschool to 2027 cycle. I don't consider myself disadvantaged, but in my childhood, I lived in a different country away from my parents until 8th grade; I did not meet my adoptive father until 5th grade. I moved to the US and had to adapt to the social and educational differences.

I'm not sure if I can write about this since it's not affecting me during my med school journey. I am planning to refer to it in my personal statement, but I am not restating it.

Hi everyone, I would like some feedback or advice please.

During Freshman year (2020-2021 Covid) I was caught using chegg during a physics exam. I posted a question, however I immediately felt sick to my stomach as it was a moment of desperation and closed the tab and did the problem by myself. I ended up getting the question wrong.

I was emailed the same day by student conduct office for suspicious activity. The professor reported me due to the order of answers to that particular question. As noted in my conduct record that I can view, there was no IP address or chegg account that proves it was me, however I confessed and explained the situation because I wanted to own up to my mistake. It’s also on the conduct record that I got the question wrong, I tried it myself, and confessed. I ended up getting an academic reprimand, a zero for the exam, however I still passed the class with a 2.0.

I decided to learn from my mistake and wanted to take some time off and waited to take the next two physics classes out of the 3 class series in person, which I ended up getting 4.0 for both classes. This event is on my conduct record for 7 years (it has only been 5 years. Should I apply this cycle? Also if I do and report it this cycle and later on once it’s expunged do I still have to report it with the new guidelines for future cycles?

Stats
School: Washington State University (URM)
• Degree: Neuroscience with Honors
• GPA: 3.71 | MCAT: 513
• Research: \~2,107 hrs | 2 publications (1 in Nature) | 3 poster presentations, including Society for Neuroscience
• Clinical: \~4,500 hrs total — CNA (208 hrs), Orthopedic Supervisor/MA (\~4,000 hrs, including \~200 hrs Peds MA)
• Volunteering: \~250 hrs — soup kitchen serving homeless individuals (200 hrs; personally meaningful — I experienced homelessness), hospital vaccine administration during COVID (50 hrs)
• Teaching: TA for advanced Neurobiology (30 hrs)

I appreciate the feedback!

No gap year applicant with 3.96 GPA and 521 MCAT

1000 hours of research (gap year after high school), helped parent’s lab with projects and ended up with work published on four collaborative papers

300 hours of research (undergrad), standard wet lab work, honors thesis + 600 more hours expected over summer and next year

200 hours paid EMT over summers

50 hours volunteering at local hospital over summer

300 hours volunteer EMT during school year as collegiate EMS crew chief, director of operations next year, 200+ hours expected over next year

50 hours shadowing various specialties

100 hours non clinical volunteering at food bank

300 hours leadership for educational religious organization on campus

200 hours TA for organic chemistry

Hobbies: powerlifting, bass guitar, cooking/baking

Applied to most T20 schools as well as state and OOS friendly mid tiers

So I'm aware both MD and DO are equally accepted now but I still noticed that most pre-med students prefer MD route over DO route (or keep DO as a backup)

Is there a reason why? What is the real difference between both? Ad./disads. for each?

Just curious :)

Hi! I'm hoping to apply to ~35 schools this cycle. I applied last cycle and was WL at 4 schools (Stanford, Einstein, UCSD, UC Davis). I got feedback and I think my PS held me back A LOT. In a meeting with an adcom, she said that none of the 4 screeners knew why I wanted to go into medicine. My PS for this cycle is much better (having a lot of people look it over too) and I also have more non-clinical volunteering (another weakness pointed out to me).

About me:

• Residence: CA and ORM (Asian)
• sGPA/cGPA/MCAT: 3.97/3.985/518
• Major/minor: Human bio major + stats minor
• Shadowing: 100 ish hours (2 specialties, working on getting a third one soon!)
• Clinical paid: 1k hours as an MA at a private IVF clinic (almost 3 years)
• Clinical volunteering:
  • quarter long internship at cardiac rehabilitation dept in hospital (50 hours)
  • health screening volunteer (100 hours, more projected)
    • We also connect people to social services here and it is a very diff population of people i have worked with in the past
    • I also supervise the students who are community health workers and mentor them so kinda a leadership position too!
• Non-clinical volunteering:
  • volunteering at my home city's senior kitchen, university food pantry, and community food pantry (400 hours)
  • teach meditation in Spanish (since freshman yr of HS, ~700 hours)
  • volunteer with unhoused population (~200 hours)
  • using NIH funding, I created an initiative with my lab to teach educationally under-served HS students about statistics. i helped them create a research project and mentored them through making a research poster (300 hours)
  • member of a community service non-profit geared towards supporting senior in my home city, i'm a part of community outreach and have been finding community partners to support us; we havent really launched yet, so im helping with pre-launch set up (100ish hours)
• Leadership:
  • Student Alumni Association Executive Committee Director (700 hours, mentorship organization, over 4 years)
  • learning assistant for physiology class (200 hours)
• Research: 1000+ hours, 2 pubs (1 more in review, 1 sent out soon), 4 posters (1 for a national conference)
  • Worked with a grad student on public health research focused on womens' health and adolescent suicide (1 publication) (~200 hours)
  • currently work in a heart failure lab at the med school, co-lead a project (800 ish hours)
    • working on the manuscript, first author (hoping to send it out later this week or next week!)
  • joined an imaging lab, 1 pub under review (100 ish hours)
• Awards: selective corporate scholarship for all 4 years of undergrad, got a graduating senior award for independent research
• Other/hobbies: I love art: classical indian dancer, flautist, origami (1000+ hours)

I applied to a TON of places last time (50ish). I def wanna be more conservative and strategic with where I apply this time. I will definitely apply to UCs, but where else do you guys recommend? TYSM!! <3

Hi all, I am a rising senior dead set on medical school, but I need a little help because I am in a unique situation. Due to personal reasons during the last semester, I test for the MCAT on 6/13, after I would get my initial app in. I've verified with my advisor that timing wise everything would be fine, I just need to drill the MCAT. I've studied on and off over the course of the past year, totaling 300 ish hours. I will get an absolute minimum of 150 more hours in before I test. In addition, I took Orgo 1&2, biochem, psych, and bio 1 w/in the last year so a lot of this info is pretty fresh. Basically: is it worth trying to blow out the MCAT and apply this cycle, what is the minimum score I can get away with, and given a serviceable score how competitive am I? I understand we're running a little blind, but any advice is helpful.

Stats:
I attend a very rigorous engineering school in the northeast

Physics major, minors in math and chem + all prereqs are met

3.89 gpa
3.92 sgpa

504 TPR FL; testing 6/13

1550 hours of urban 911 EMT

650 hours non clinical (computational physics) research, no pubs but beginning new research with a new PI in fall

200 hours Lab/Teaching TA

80 hours PCCM shadowing

4 years/800 hours D3 men's club rugby + 1 year treasurer
3 years/300 hours D2 men's club vball + 1 year president

LORs: Shadowing MD, Coach, prof. I TA for, head of physics dept

Hey y'all, I've been a frequent stalker of this page and r/premed during my pre-med years and applied last cycle. I wanted to share my success story since a lot of the posts on here seem to skew towards the extremes (i.e. "I had a 3.2 GPA and got accepted at Harvard!" or "I had a 528 MCAT and got rejected everywhere!"). While I'm not saying these extremes don't happen, I wanted to share my ~average~ or even ~below average~ stats and application experience, for those who don't see themselves represented in some of the other posts on here.

MCAT: 511 cGPA: 3.78 sGPA: 3.49

Research: 360 hours

Clinical Experience: Rural Cardiology Scribe 450hrs, Shadowing 85hrs, Rural Healthcare Field Experience 30hrs, Burn Unit Volunteer 25hrs, Surgical Dermatology MA 1660hrs (during gap year)

Schools applied to: 27 (17 MD, 10 DO)

Interviews: 10

Acceptances: 5 (1MD, 4 DO)

What helped me: I applied to schools where my experiences fit their mission, giving me strong talking points on essays and interviews. Though my sGPA is low, I had a really strong upward trend (Fr 3.04, So 3.31, Jr 3.63, Sr 4.0). Also, talking to adcoms, I've learned that not all GPAs are created equal. I went to a relatively competitive undergrad program (a public Ivy), and I think the rigor of my undergrad was factored in to my app, and gives my poor start more context. Lastly, I had diverse interests and pursued these through varied ECs in college, regardless of whether or not I thought they'd help me get into medical school. Including things like minoring in history, tutoring at a Title I middle school and leadership in my sorority and campus ministry. I think all of this demonstrated I was well-rounded and goal-oriented -- in life, not just in my academic pursuits.

To everyone applying-- good luck! This process is imperfect, but I truly believe that it rewards those who put forth the effort. Don't lose yourself in this crazy application process, and remember there's more to you than the letters behind your name! I'll try my best to respond to any comments/questions!

This might seem like a silly question, but how essential are amazing LORS compared to just good ones?

I am in a weird spot where I am taking my MCAT on the 30th (of May), and I want to go ahead and apply on the 28th of May, so I won’t know my score for sure. Based on my practice exams (I’ll take FL 6 the 25th to get a more accurate idea), I think I will at least pass a 510 as a conservative estimate.

I am worried about applying without knowing a hard score, and I wanted to know is if really strong LORs might be able to compensate for a score that may still be a few points under a given school’s average.

For reference I have a strong GPA (~3.93), 200+ college credits (I am a triple major), and a good bit of research experience. All four of the facility I asked to write a LOR also know me very well and I have tight relationships with them. They have been known to write good letters in the past and they know me well enough for it to not be superficial. Is this something I should even worry about or just see what happens?

Got off the waitlist at my top choice program!!! Can’t believe it’s real. Keep the hope if you’re still waiting for the move!!