I was wondering if good writing could really impact admissions that much? For example an average applicant with a 3.6ish gpa and 510+ MCAT has an amazing story that they write about in their primaries and secondaries and has it reviewed by multiple people etc. Would that be better than a person who has like 3.8ish with a 520+ MCAT with terrible writing?

I am currently working on editing/updating my work/activity descriptions and I was looking at changing one of my most meaningfuls from intercollegiate athletics [4 years of DIII swimming] to my part time job of coaching club swim [coming up on 2 years there and a lead coach]. Is this a red flag on my part? My other 2 most meaningfuls are my clinical work experience and my research/internship which I feel are solid. But coaching has honestly become an outlet for me and with an interest in pediatrics it kind of has solidified it for me. I'm just not sure if it will come off as not focused on medicine or just like out of place?

Could I pay for my tuition (or at least partially somehow) with a credit card and then use loans to pay off said credit card? I wanna meet the sign on bonus for some of those travel credit cards and get some points

So I wanted to write my personal statement intro on an experience I had in 2020 regarding my mental health. I don’t plan on going into detail with it other than mentioning that I had an encounter with a physician who made an incredible impact on me etc. etc. and how I want to be that person for others (I’m gonna write this out obviously but this is a short summary)

I plan on focusing on that impact on others part, and only briefly mentioning needing to be seen by that physician due to a mental health crisis. I would only really be as descriptive or include the same amount of details regarding my mental health crisis as I did in this post (really brief). I might include some descriptions about how I felt at that time in order to show how that physician helped me realize certain things and changed my life, but nothing else too crazy outside of that.

Would this still be a red flag for adcoms?

Willing to answer questions as long as I don’t have to dox myself any further.

For context, I had intended to apply to my in-state schools to so I’d have a more balanced spread. However, with the state of things in FL right now, it’s really not somewhere I wanted to stay.

Where I lacked in finances I made up with confidence. I put my whole heart into this cycle and really believed in myself and that things would work out. Feeling real blessed to be sitting with these choices right now.

I’m starting the prerequisite courses pretty late (that’s a blunder on my part), but I want to get chemistry 1 and bio 1 + lab out in june and chemistry 2 and bio 2 + lab out in july. That’s a totally of 14 credit hours in two months. How feasible is this?

Ideally, I want to take ochem 1 in the fall, which is why I want to for sure get rid of the chemistries over the summer. However, I want to get rid of bio1 and bio2 so that I have more time over fall/spring semester and so that I can take genetics.

What do you guys think?

RELEVANT STATS:

Bodyweight: 185

Bench: 255

Squat: 275 (improvement needed?)

Deadlift: 425

DM for physique check

Just made a web scrapper to collate all medical school essays, demographics, missions statements, and values. Is this overkill?

So I'm enrolled in an early college where I finished hs in my first 2 years of hs and have been taking only college courses for the past 2 yrs. I heard that medschools will take into account every single college course I've ever taken (even for the ones that don't transfer credits to the actual college I'm about to attend) when it comes to GPA.
I'm just wondering if this is true or if it's possible they don't look at these course grades at all? I'm sure they have less weight especially if I improve in my actual undergrad years.

I’ve posted here before but here’s a quick rundown: I’m 26 and graduating from nursing school soon. This is my second degree. I dropped premed because 1) I didn’t think I’d get into medical school and 2) I thought patient care mattered more to me than making diagnoses. Of course patient care is important to me or I wouldn’t have gone into nursing, but medical school is what I really want. I’m worried I’ll look super indecisive to Adcoms, and honestly they wouldn’t be wrong. I had a period of my life where I was unsure of myself.

That being said, I don’t want to look indecisive again by starting prereqs right away or working as a nurse for less than a year. Ideally, I should work as a nurse for several years. However, I’m aware that the earlier I go back to medical school, the better. My current plan is to work in my unit for at least a year. I’ll probably start taking courses at the 6 month mark. I’m only missing physics 2, but some of my courses are 7 years old so I might retake some. I will definitely take upper level science courses.

TLDR: Graduating from ABSN, premed in undergrad, prereqs are 5+ years old. How many years should I work as a nurse to avoid looking indecisive?

I’m gonna void tmrw and stick with my original score on the MCAT(Also had personal reasons for not being prepared and out of wack) and being the neurotic guy I am had to triple check that schools could not see that I voided the test and the first thread I see on SDN about adcmons being able to view voids.

If anyone is wondering MED SCHOOL ADCOMS CAN NEVER SEE IF YOU VOIDED UNLESS YOU INDICATE ON UR APP UR GONNA TAKE THE EXAM THEN VOID. It makes me so angry to see threads from almost 10 years ago with fake info being opened and scaring people.

Medical schools do not have any record of exams which you chose to void or no-show, nor do they have the ability to access a system that shows them whether you voided or no-showed. Only you will have a record of these exams through the MCAT Score Reporting System. Medical schools only have access to the exams you chose to score. Remember, voids and no-shows count as an attempt toward your testing limits.

That is all, thank you for listening

ECs:

Clinical Experience: (~4000 hrs) Large medical respite facility site manager for migrants in NYC during gap years, Multiple other emergency response projects assisting refugees (~2000hrs), Managed a emergency quarantine shelter during covid (~2500 hrs).

Research: ~1500 hrs CT surgery outcomes research and a short stint assisting with lung transplant RCT’s. 2 pubs.

Volunteering: (Community outreach, ED volunteer (150 hrs), Disaster action response with Red Cross (~800hrs), a few other smaller projects.

Shadowing: ~200hrs CTS and Anesthesiology.

*Dropped out of high school and got my GED at 16 due to some unfortunate personal circumstances. Started CC at 17 and then transferred to a four year and worked full time throughout undergrad to gain EC’s. Took two gap years and applied. Many said I would never make it, but I did, and you can too if you really want to be a physician despite being in difficult circumstances. I always have wanted this and never let anything or anyone stop me….Some other advice (that is not too unique but I think is important) I have for future applicants is to not take any section on the MCAT for granted (CARS/PS lol), write your narrative as if you had your future patients evaluating you, and do NOT come off rehearsed/robotic during your interviews…your interviewers are people too. Good luck to everyone :)

LISTEN!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS NOT WHO I AM NOW!! That is why I'm asking! 2022 to 2023 me was uninspired, depressed, unmotivated, lazy, blah blah blah. THIS is who I am now and ideally I'd apply for 2028:

Biochemistry and Sociology double major with writing minor (because I like writing. Not looking for that to jazz up my app) at a SLAC, upwards trend of GPA every semester, ending with around 3.6 - 3.7 (I'm predicting my final year here lol). HOWEVER, with the 10 fails (I would just stop doing the work and never withdraw on time) at a community college and stupid online university, my cGPA is going to be barely a 3.1. Currently I have:

- Manager position (leadership experience, hoorah!) employed by university

- EMT certified, 380 clinical hours so far

- 150 current nonclinical hours volunteering at the same organization

- 2,500ish combined hrs non clinical employment

Currently not done but in the plan:

- obtain extremely good MCAT score to make up for the horrid cumulative GPA that will be seen

- RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH it is so hard at my SLAC but i have been gnawing and clawing here. I want hours upon hours and TRUST it WILL happen! I got a few profs who really like me and are very committed to helping me in this regard

- sociology internship in 2026 (required for degree anyways)

- getting shadowing hours

TLDR: a few years ago i was an idiot and racked up 10 fails and 7 withdrawals at higher education institutions that are NOT my current undergrad. Is this going to immediately screen me out and kill me due to the low cGPA it will cause (3.1ish, while 3.6-3.7 at final undergrad) even though I have an extreme upwards trend, change in mindset, and relentless commitment to learning and advancing in my career

EDIT: typo in ideal application year

Seton Hall/Hackensack is guaranteed interview (if 3.7 gpa and mcat above 80% are maintained) and the med school reserves 25% of its seats for kids from the undergrad (those don’t necessarily have to be part of the bs/md program). I am looking to start a practice and I can major in finance during my undergrad. They have 3 years in medical school 4 years undergrad. If anyone else has gone to Hackensack please pm me.

NYIT gives you a guaranteed spot if you have 3.5 and 510 mcat, but it is a do school. They have a strong match rate and are well established. A lot of people drop out of the program during undergrad. You must major in biology.

Both programs are 7 years long. I am looking to pursue psychiatry. I really don’t know what to do. All advice appreciated.

So I am stuck sick in bed and rewatching Monsters University for the second time, it has finally dawned on me that going through this entire application process twice and finally getting in RL, medical school is like the tough to get in, prestigious institution of Monster University Scare School.

Hi all. So I'm considering applying early decision to wake forest. I'm currently a graduating senior, taking one gap year, potentially applying 25-26 cycle. cGPA: 3.8, MCAT: 507 (retaking May 31st, practice tests are trending 510-513), job offer as clinical research coordinator for gap year, SC resident.

I really want to go wake forest, ( MS in Translational Research program, Charlotte campus, closer to family in SC ). I know everyone says not to do ED, but I'm okay with taking another gap year if I don't get in. My concern is whether my current MCAT is too low and whether my reschedule is too late.

Does anyone know the stats for wake forest med early decision apps. Would it significantly help my chances of an acceptance?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks!

Have someone who was my course instructor, major advisor, and PI write me a LOR, should my activity of being in their lab be an activity? I have others I wish to include and my time in their lab wasn't a huge amount of time either

So to preface this Sankey, I 100% do not recommend doing what I did, but as a low-income student who somehow did not qualify for FAP and applied late, I had to drastically shorten my school list. Therefore, I did not follow the traditional advice of applying broadly or including reaches, etc. I am from Queens, NY and wanted to stay in-state to visit family so I took out all of the schools in NJ, PA, MA, and CT that I originally planned on applying to. I mainly applied for target schools although Stony Brook has a higher median MCAT than what I scored and Einstein is a bit of a reach now that it is free tuition. NYMC placed me on an interview hold, but I am sure that they are done with interviews at this point in the cycle so I am counting it as a rejection. For context, I submitted most of my secondaries in late September so I was not too surprised that Einstein or Rochester rejected me. SUNY Upstate was a little surprising since I was able to get an interview at the rest of the SUNYs.

Side Rant: I interviewed at SUNY Downstate in November and it has been radio silence ever since until I got waitlisted 2 days ago. I interviewed at Stony Brook in January and heard back in 3 weeks. Jacobs got back to me within a week, but I also interviewed at the end of the cycle so there weren't many applications left to go through. Just keep this in mind if you are a NY applicant and are expecting to hear back within a week from your interview by the SUNYs.

Overall, I do think that submitting your application early plays a bigger role than some people on this subreddit would like to think. I was initially in that camp where I thought it didn't matter as much in terms of when you submitted your application, as long as the writing was flushed out. However, I think I could have done better and applied to more "reaches" if I had submitted as soon as the application came out. That would be my advice for any new pre-meds who stumble upon this post.

Nevertheless, I am super happy with my one acceptance. Shoutout Sea Wolves!!! I am hoping to apply to their 3YMD program as a MS1 and I'm looking forward to meeting my fellow students on Accepted Students Day. Happy to answer any questions that people may have. Good luck to those applying this upcoming cycle and remember, you are more than just numbers on a page. Don't lose yourself in this whole process. What is meant to happen will happen!

Edit: Oops, forgot to include my CASPER score which is required for Stony Brook. I scored in the 4th quartile and I took it before they changed the format.

I have an embarrassing question. I have an old (like 15 years old) Twitter account that shows up when you google my name from when I was a little kid. There’s nothing offensive on it, it’s just an embarrassing lady Gaga fan account with some childish tweets. Is this disqualifying? I’m literally completely freaking out about this and could use some reassurance lol

I’m currently tutoring underprivileged students from a foreign country through a service organization. My role is essentially leading conversations to help improve their English skills. However, someone recently told me that this wouldn't be considered "volunteering with underserved populations" and would instead be classified more as teaching... would that be correct?

I’m a clinical research assistant with ~200 hours of work. I got an email from my PI that she put my name on a Harvard Celebration of Science poster on the study I am helping out with. What does that mean and is this something I can put on my application when I apply to med school? I’m like a 6th author or last author on it?

Fortunate enough to have gotten a third acceptance!

Options are: MCW, UTMB, Penn State

What should I do? UTMB is by far the cheapest (will most likely get in-state tuition) and much closer to family (brother and sister-in-law live in Dallas). Definitely not committed to any specialty yet, but maybe leaning to PC and hoping to be involved in research. Open to any and all commentary!

Like there’s absolutely zero data on this I could find, any public schools?

I know a lot of people practice with other premeds, but I am someone who doesnt have any premed friends😭

what are you guys planning to do for practice?

Looking at ECs on the forum, I feel like I'm lacking quite a bit...

Gpa: 3.94, Mcat: 521

Paid clinical: 350 hours EMT

Clinical volunteering: 300 hours hospital volunteer

Shadowing: 20 hours (doctors not in the US)

Research: Literally zero, 1 poster (not wet lab)

Committee letter: In progress, probably 2 good and 2 average LORs

I'm graduating soon and I'm at a bit of a loss what to do during this gap year. I know I want to do hospice volunteering since I have an interest in improving the quality of life of elders.

Other than that, should I just work as a scribe and ask doctors for shadowing opportunities? Or should I apply for a research technician job and hope to work my way up to a research assistant job?

I know I'm pretty dumb for just focusing on academics. I kinda neglected my ECs and feel like I wasted my time during my 4 years.