Can anyone verify that this is legit and if so why is the average so low?

When I was in college, my schizophrenia got to me in the last couple years of me getting my degree and my grades dropped some.

What would be a good explanation for that in an interview other than saying I have schizophrenia (which would be a kiss of death)?

Maybe saying I had sleep issues that were resolved with medication and sleep therapy?

I’ve really been hearing good things about Northwestern and how students there are given some of the best rest opportunities and also that some of their exams are take home? Anyone have any insight into this or other examples?

My bf and I have been together for two years and before things got serious he told me that he doesn’t want to do long distance. I didn’t give it much thought when he told me because we were not really serious back then and afterwards we never really had that conversation again. Now I’m applying to med school this cycle and my boyfriend says I cannot apply to OOS medical schools or he will break up with me because he made it clear from the beginning he wouldn’t do long distance. I am a CA resident and I know I need to apply OOS as I’m an average applicant, but I can’t jeopardize my relationship either because I see myself marrying this man. I have a pretty good shot at my state DOs but that’s ruling out a lot of MDs in CA I’m not competitive for. He also says no to SoCal schools so that just leaves me with the few schools in NorCal. What would you all do because I can’t figure this out for the life of me…

I'm planning to apply to medical school in the 2026 cycle but have received pushback from some people (advisors, docs I work with, professors) about being too young to apply. I'll be 18 (1 month from 19) when I apply and am concerned about being seen as immature/lacking experience because of my age. I'll already be taking a gap year if I apply in the '26 cycle and don't want to take more than 1.

For context, I skipped a grade when I was super young, so I graduated HS at 16 (late birthday too rip). I started dual enrollment my Junior year of HS and took a good amount of prereqs, so I only had 2 years left of my degree after HS. I feel like I have sufficient clinical hours, volunteer hours, research, shadowing etc. I'm just concerned about my age being a "red flag". Is it enough to have to delay my application? Will I have to explain this during my interviews? All help is appreciated, so thank you in advance!

Edit: since a lot of ppl r mentioning taking a gap year. I'll be taking 1 gap year already if I apply in 2026 :) I plan on traveling back to my home country for a bit and continue working my clinical job + research. I would love to use this time to travel the world and explore hobbies but ur girl is broke and first gen 😭😭

Seriously, with Physician shortage going on. Why is this whole process of getting into med school so difficult? Is it because lack of Residency spots or what?

Hello people, So, I just applied to Ross and got accepted, and now they want me to start in January 2025. The offered me $150,000 scholarship. But I have applied to MD and DO schools as well. I have an interview for DO next week. And another one in January.

Ross is literally pushing me to submit my deposit and everything, but I am still waiting for my other schools.

So, basically I need help!!! What do I do?

My stats: MCAT, 1st take: 491, 2nd retake 500 :( GPA 3.80, sc 3.76 Graduated 2023, Currently in gap year Clinical hours: +4000 hrs (opthalmic scribe) ER scribe : 500hrs Clinical Volunteer: 250hrs Non Clinical Volunteer: 700hrs Shadowing in ER : 50hrs Tutoring: 200hrs 2 publications 1 National scientific presentation 1 poster presentation

Immigrant student 1st gen med school applicant

Please advise. Anything would help!!

I really love technology and medical sciences. Radiology is my first choice by far. A distant second would be pathology. Medical imaging is very fascinating to me! I love the idea of helping people indirectly but I do not want to touch people. I do not really mind the idea of educating a patient or collaborating with other providers. I just do not want to be the one touching or directly treating patients. Is this risky given how competitive rads is, especially if I go DO? What do you think?

So when people ask me what I’m in school for I just tell them I’m premed because I want to be a doctor. There are some people who are like oh that’s great. And then there’s others who always ask me are you not worried about how long you’ll be in school for or they tell me that won’t have a life because I’ll be studying a lot and all the loans. And then there’s a special person who gets triggered and upset (they always try to mask it) that I say that I want to be a doctor and they try to discourage me to not become a doctor for some weird reason. But the way they do the discouraging is very passive aggressive. It always seems like they’re just envious.

I’m just wondering does anyone else have this experience?

I think it's so amazing how incredible some of you are. Some of you are Olympic athletes, designed patents, started non-profits, etc. Please share some of the cool things you've done that makes your application special!

I’ll start. I got a 22 on an Orgo 2 exam. Class average was a 45.

Shout out to the pair of 38’s I got in physics 2 before the huge curve at the end of the semester.

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time at the beach, I love reading at the beach! I like to read non-fiction stuff about health, diseases and conditions and biological sciences! I’m about to finish the one I’m Reading right now. Do you have any suggestions that you enjoyed? I’d love to go take a trip to the book store to get some more for the rest of the summer, especially because my summer classes just ended and I have some free time :)

I often feel so lost, because I do make occasional mistakes here and there and it can feel soul crushing. I understand that it’s all a part of the learning process, but sometimes I wonder if something is too bad or not? I know that having a GPA above 3.5 is common for medical school applicants, however I do want to hear from all of you and see your personal experiences!

So I was given a full COA scholarship at WashU, but I am considering turning them down for my other offers which are at, rankings-wise, worse schools. The main schools I'm considering over WashU is UNC and UMaryland over them. They're not full COA so I expect to pay at least $10k each year.

I visited St. Louis and I just couldn't see myself there for 4 years. I hated the city and having to be worried if I was in the wrong neighborhood. The segregation was also sad to see, and I genuinely don't think I would be happy to go there, especially with there being so few things to do there. I visited UMaryland and while it's in Baltimore, I loved the city and was so happy visiting and exploring it on my own as opposed to St. Louis.

What was your dream medical school at the beginning of this application cycle? Has it changed?

I just got accepted into a D.O. school yesterday (in philly)!!

Although I have tons of research (+ 1st author pub), clinical hours, and volunteering, my stats are not great (GPA: 3.5 SPA: 3.3 MCAT: 492/492/497), so I feel incredibly blessed to have an acceptance.

I feel this school would be a really good fit for me!Only problem is my parents and other family members have some serious reservations about me attending a DO school over an MD school.

They think "I won't be a real doctor or get into any residency programs" and would rather me do a prep class, retake the MCAT again, and reapply so I have a chance at getting into an M.D. school.

Need to make a decision soon, so honest opinion on what I should do? Thank you!!

Hi Reddit, so I’m graduating in may and was planning on applying to medical school this upcoming cycle. I’ve been applying to CNA jobs back where I live for during my gap year while I wait to get in somewhere. I also need to take my MCAT in may.

Recently I’ve been very behind on my MCAT studying and am really wanting to push my test date back. Along with this I just recommend for a job as a nuclear chemist where I would making around 100k after 6 months at the company.

So should I take the job and wait an additional cycle while I study for the MCAT? Or will this job look worse then a CNA position on an application.

Tell us where to avoid!

my heart is breaking 💔

Right now I work full-time in a clinical research position (it's very chill and low-stress), knit, read books, hang out with friends, volunteer at crisis hotline (bc I genuinely enjoy it), and go to the gym. I'm saving money, and feeling stress-free for the first time in a long time, and all is good. I plan to quit my job in April and travel around for a month, before relocating to med school in June. After getting into one of my top schools right before Christmas, my mom started to insist that I pre-study for med school: get the textbooks, re-do mcat anki, study anatomy, etc.

I tried telling her that it is not recommended by most, and people usually take the time before med school to relax, do hobbies, and just enjoy the last bit of free time. Her argument is that I can take the month before med school off to relax, and the rest needs to be used to pre-study. She wants me to get textbooks, study anatomy, etc. because it will help me be more prepared and less stressed while in school. I need to "get ahead and be prepared".

Please give me some more points on how to convince her. I live with my parents so I cannot escape this, she literally brings it up every day.

As some of you might know, the current administration is getting rid of Grad PLUS loans. They’re on the chopping block, and only a simple majority is needed through the process of reconciliation. Do any of you know of any alternatives to financing a medical education? It seems that there are currently no private lenders who are upfront about guaranteeing financing for 4 years. I mean, sure, you needed to reapply every year for your federal loans, but unless you’re delinquent or in default, you just got it as long as you progressed academically. That guarantee is gone. So what do we do?

Up until this point I thought my application was pretty decent. 4.0 GPA, 524 MCAT, 4th quartile CASPER. There weren't necessarily X-factors in my ECs, but I had long term commitments in two labs for a total of 2000+ research hours. 800 hours of patient exposure, some from a job and some from a volunteering position that was a major part of my app. I was the president of my school's student council and had some other decent leadership positions. 80 hours shadowing. Solid LORs as far as I knew. Applied on time and all secondaries were submitted by mid August. Hired a professional admissions advisor to work through my PS and secondaries with me. I applied to 33 schools and interviewed at 10 of them. I've either been rejected or waitlisted at 7 of them, and the other 3 are supposed to release admissions decisions in early March. I spent time doing mock interviews with my school and even hired a previous adcom member for two other mock interviews and they said I was well prepared and a good interviewer. I felt my interviews all went well, but I'm starting to think maybe they didn't go as well as I thought as I got hit with some additional Rs and WLs this week. Anyone else who has felt pretty good about their application at every step of the process until just about now? I'm not really sure what I would even do next cycle if these last three schools don't pan out...

I’m trying to figure out my career path. I love all things medical/healthcare related. I just honestly don’t know if I can spend all of my twenties in debt and constantly stressed over school. I’d like to be able to make money out of college and then be able to work harder/more often to climb the ranks. Ik it won’t pay like a doctor will; but I’m okay with that. I wud like to be able to travel in my twenties and have an income at least. Debt scares me. I want to make money early on so I can invest and live a decent life while not being constantly stressed and overworked. I know it obviously any well paying job is a grind and takes dedication and I’m okay with that. I just am not very good at Chemistry which is a huge limiting factor for doctors. Does anyone have career pathways that can offer this?

Currently sitting at 5/38 (mix of R’s and II’s) submit mid August-early September.

Thanks!