r/premed

Okay I’m a Texas resident (non trad with a 3.4 and 514) and I literally took a whole gap year after my mcat last June and STILL haven’t finished my primary.

I’ve been stressing hella and I went from aiming to submit on 5/31 to 6/15 to 6/30 to now. I keep trying to sit down and write my essays and I’m struggling so badly to get the words out. Normally I’m a great writer but I just feel so stuck and overwhelmed.

My parents have been putting so much pressure on me too which just makes me more paralyzed with anxiety. It doesn’t help that my household environment is pretty toxic.

I’ve been questioning my motivation for medicine for the last 2 years, after switching from tech, and honestly I don’t even know if I still want to go to medical school. I’ve been really enjoying my free time with friends and family and travel for the first time in my life and I’ve been questioning if I want to lose that to medicine for the next 8 years.

Am I not late for Texas also considering my GPA?? I need to just lock in and submit something. Seeing people already completed with their secondaries is stressing me out more

I keep on submitting secondaries that I spend days on just to realize I contradict myself in one sentence so if they read my primary too close they will get suspicious even tho the contradiction just needs clarification, wrote the wrong name for a free clinic, straight up answered a prompt wrong, grammar mistake, told an irrelevant story. I am loosing it.

As the title says, I graduated recently and did not acquire any research experience during my time undergrad. In hindsight, I wish I was much more aggressive in search for an on-campus lab, but by the time I decided to look for a lab, it was my sophomore year. I was going abroad for the entirety of junior year, so no labs wanted me by then or ghosted me.

I have clinical experience and some shadowing, but I know most people have research experience going into med school. I was wondering how people have entered the research field with no prior relevant experience and if there were any tips people had for me. Thank you in advance and please help a desperate person out ;-;

I’ve reached the ULTIMATE premed experience. Almost 2 years working in the hospital as a tech, constantly being mistaken as the nurse because I am a young woman. I just got asked if I was the doctor. I thought it was a joke but he was being so serious. That was glorious.

I am a non trad immigrant that all of my clinical experience is outside US in a non English country. (Clinical dietitan for 3 years). Every advisor tells me I need clinical experience in US and I can't find MA or Scribe or any jobs in Boston. Even volunteer positions don't have clinical duties(only patient transport or admin stuff). Then how the hell am I going to get clinical experience here? I'm so frusterated I'm even willing to work as a MA non paid but no one wants me.

I am very fortunate to have had a successful cycle last year and got in to a great school that I am overall very happy with, but I am just feeling so sad to be so far from home.

It’s finally hitting me that in a month, I’ll be nearly a thousand miles from home and I’ll no longer be in my childhood home that I’ve always been in. I’m gonna miss my family so, so much, and I’m just starting to mourn my childhood and all the time we’ve spent together because I know that the time where my family is all under the same roof is close to coming to an end. This gap year I spent at home with them was also so, so nice and it made me appreciate them even more.

The school is out of state and probably a 3 hour flight/12 hour drive, and I know I’m gonna be so so homesick. I’m already imagining having a hard time adjusting and don’t think I’ll be doing well the first few months of school lol so I’m not excited for that either. My parents are also older so I am feeling guilt surrounding leaving them, especially since I did get into an IS school, but they are also very excited for me and wouldn’t even let me choose my IS option lol.

I’m trying to focus on the positives, like how the school I’m going to has a better curriculum than my IS option, more resources, higher ranked and will hopefully help me match close to family later. I can do my best to fly home during breaks as well, so I’ll at least see them a few times a year which I guess is similar to undergrad, which I eventually adjusted to.

Just looking to get some reassurance that I’ll be okay and if anyone can relate :(

I have been talking with a lot of my Premed friends about our plans for the money we earn from a physicians salary after we have paid off our debt. Some people have been saying they'll start their own charities, fund people's college, help their families, etc.

I know it's in the distant future, but what do you all think you will spend your money on?

I have a master doc of all the secondary responses I’ve answered. Not even organized by prompt or at all. Just a bunch of random paragraphs. Then, now that I’ve done a bunch already, I’ve just been cutting and pasting and shoving them together or slightly editing to answer these new prompts. I haven’t even been revising much. Maybe I was born for emergency med. I’ve even started triaging my secondaries. I get pissed when I have a question that my slop of words won’t answer.

How long will it take me to do like 30 secondaries? Have any of yall done this in a month? If so, how many hours a day did you work? I am scared...

I've seen plenty of posts where people claim that 518+, 3.85+ applicants can be left without an acceptance due to poor writing, but what makes writing "good" or "bad?"

While it is understandable that pre-meds are expected to be exceptional students, researchers, and volunteers, I do not understand why there is so much emphasis on writing quality. Yes, you should be able to effectively communicate why you want to become a physician, but you should not have to be a laureate-level author to be a doctor. Half of the physicians' notes I read as a medical assistant are bulleted lists or riddled with typos, and most doctors in my clinic use AI to summarize their office notes anyway.

I am partially salty because my academic/storytelling writing style is very similar to AI, and multiple AI detectors flag my application materials. I don't have anyone to look through my application materials other than my immediate family, and they aren't familiar with the typical structure/tone of secondaries. Should I alter my essays due to the fear of being perceived as AI, and therefore tossed? Or do I proceed knowing that this may be a red flag?

It adds another layer of complexity when students are told they need to be eloquent writers, and AI tools are right there to help. While I'm against the use of generative AI to fully write application materials, the line becomes so blurry when med schools and the AAMC allow AI to be used for "editing." How many rephrased words or sentence structure adjustments can be made before it's the AI's writing and not yours? And how is this any different from paying a service to edit your application materials for you?

Obviously, the typical advice is to address the prompt and to show not tell, but how am I supposed to show when the prompt is quite literally: Please tell us about the specific experience, the skills you acquired, and the insights you gained about the profession of medicine (Tufts secondary).

Sorry for the rant, but any tips for ensuring my writing is good are appreciated!

"To educate and inspire a diverse group of leaders in medicine and science who will improve human health through discovery, innovation, scholarship, education, and the delivery of outstanding patient-centered care."

No this is not AI. Really? For a school this highly ranked you can't think of anything better?

Got into 2 MD schools and also got into 2 CAA schools. No family/haven't settled down.

I know this sub is young, but at my unc age, do you think it's more practical to do the CAA option?

Everyone has told me not to do CAA. However, I value the ability to have a life and maybe get settled down one day.

MD school costs 500k, compared to 200k. I am very much am appreciative and extremely grateful to even have the option to become an MD.

I was focused on family medicine, psychiatry, or something less cutthroat and invasive. I did apply to medical school to actually help people in my community for the rest of my career. But they say you would be 43 either way, so that's a reason to just go.

I would be around 43 years old before I become an MD. I also never planned on anesthesiology.

It would be cool to have an MD and have all this knowledge but I am worried about the financial destruction once I get to the USMLEs and pressure to succeed and what it will do to me.

I struggle with school, as I am slow - for example, I had to study 3 separate times to take the MCAT before I nailed it (514).

Any thoughts please. Am I being unreasonable or too pessimistic?

I do feel like I am quitting at the start line in some sense, but I also want to be realistic and speak to the non-trads here as well.

I’m applying for this current cycle to be a fall 2027 student here in Texas and I lowkey think I don’t have a fighting chance T_T

GPA - 3.517
BCPM - 3.41
MCAT - 507

70~ biomedical research hours
400~ leadership hours across orgs and work (5 diff positions)
300~ volunteering hours
150~ working as a caregiver (kinda like hospice assistant)

In my essays, I focused on my mother and I, my love for working with kids, experience with health sciences, my mission to promote global healthcare equity, and my “personal characteristics” focused on my ability to grow and show others how to grow.

I know holistically I should be kinda fine, but I’m unsure if its enough to save my mediocre academics ;-;

Any thoughts or recommendations??

I applied MD last cycle with my MCAT (504) in September and got 0 interviews. I retook the MCAT this June but had a panic attack during the exam and voided. Since I've been trying to better my mental health and took a short break. I'm currently unsure if I should test again in a few weeks or just apply with my 504 to MD and DO this time. I'm unsure if I should rewrite every single thing in my app for MD
Pls don't be mean, I'm struggling

ECs:

3.7 cgpa 3.6 sgpa

290 non-clinical volunteering 200 projected
100 hours clinical research + 120 hours basic science research in undergrad
300 hours as a clinical assistant-scribe
380 other work experience, 95 hours shadowing
200 hours clinical volunteering abroad
250 hours teaching assistant
500 hours peer mentor, 260 hours club board member

Current clinical research job 320 hours done 1000 projected

I’ve been reading some secondaries I’ve some across and one I found talked about volunteering the person did a foreign country and basically said how the US healthcare system was so impersonal and it was refreshing to see the more intimate and human aspect of medical care in the foreign country. Reading it I was thinking like bro are these the secondaries people are actually writing. No way that’s not an auto reject. Reading stuff like this makes me feel at least a little bit better about my own shitty secondaries 😭

Edit: I 100% agree that it’s okay to make note ways the American healthcare system can be better. I’m just saying when someone says something like “American doctors don’t care about their patients as much as doctors in X country” I feel like it comes across as bad

applied this cycle but am worried about if there a true screen for clinical hours. have about 130 shadowing hours across some focused specialties, but pretty much no direct patient care. 100 of those shadowing hours were in a shadowing program where we were able to take patient histories, physicals, and case presentations under attending supervision but unsure if that counts because that was just for practice. was caregiving for my grandma (500 hours) with most of the traditional hospice volunteer experiences like companionship, walking aid, but then also helped her primary caregiver with wound care, medication administration, and giving insulin. would that cover (even just barely) for the clinical experience cutoff? since it was caregiving for a family member i don’t know if that makes it less considered as true clinical experience.

for other context, i am a childhood cancer survivor so i am familiar with the patient experience and have been exposed to the medical world for a while because of that. my whole app’s narrative is built around that experience and what ive learned, how i give back, etc etc

i have 1000+ hours of research across 3 labs (2 co-author manuscripts published, 7 posters), 700 hours of focused community service to underserved and also pediatric cancer communities (especially in Make-A-Wish), and 500 hours of leadership through extracurriculars (started a pediatric cancer patient initiative in partnership with two major children’s hospitals) and national organizations (AMSA). i was hoping that my hours and work in the other areas would cover the lack of clinical hours, but i know that won’t always be the case.

no-gap year applicant, 510 MCAT and 3.99 GPA. 4th quartile casper and 9 on PREview. applied to 41 schools with a fair mix of reach and safeties due to my MCAT and clinical hours. applied first day and have prewritten secondaries to have a turnaround of 24-48 hours for each one, as i feel like my best shot will be earlier in the cycle. i know my MCAT is a barrier for some of the top tier programs and clinical hours are probably my weakest point, so if i had to reapply id focus mostly on fixing that and retaking my MCAT. wondering if i still have a shot for an A this cycle even with my clinical hours? i don’t have crazy preference for tier or prestige, as long as i get into one i’d be happy.

Long post but really need advice since secondaries are about to drop! I'm planning to apply to medical school this cycle, but I have a couple of questions about organic chemistry prerequisites and was wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation.

I completed Organic Chemistry I lecture during undergrad, but at my university the curriculum was set up so that students took Organic Chemistry I and II lectures first, followed by one combined lab that covered both courses. Since I wasn't planning on taking Organic Chemistry II at the time (not pre-med yet lol) I never enrolled in that combined lab.

After graduating and going back to finish prerequisites, the orgo 2 lecture and combined orgo 1 and 2 lab would have ran me about $5000 out of pocket, which I could definitely not afford at the time. Since my undergrad that I took orgo 1 at doesn't have an orgo 1 lab, I instead took it at my local community college, where I will also take orgo 2 and the associated lab. Does having my lecture and lab screw me? As a non-trad I already have like 5 transcripts I've uploaded to AMCAS.

Also, do most medical schools allow applicants to apply with Organic Chemistry II still in progress, as long as it's completed before matriculation?

Albany already emailed me back saying that they require the lecture and lab to be related, so is this just the norm? I'm prewriting secondaries but won't waste my time if I need to wait another year and make sure that course is done. Definitely should have done more research.... Has anyone been in a similar situation or successfully navigated this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

This year, Virginia Tech added this question: "Describe a time when doing the "right" thing conflicted with rules, authority, or expectations. How did you handle it?"

It feels... shady. Do they want applicants to admit to breaking the rules for a moral cause? Are they open to accepting students who might disagree with and advocate against school policies? If not, why ask this question?

Looking for any interview prep resources. Anyone have any tips or advice or anything they have used in the past that helped a lot?