Underclassmen

Getting into med school is simple. Just get A’s in all your classes, ace the MCAT, devote hundreds of hours to community service, take lots of leadership positions, get published in a leading medical journal, and learn to speak and write about your accomplishments eloquently. Ta da. You’re in.

Last week we explained the The 5 Necessary Factors for Getting into Medical School, but what about the cherries on top? The X-factors? What are the ways you can elevate your application from average to extraordinary?

In our first installment, we broke down myths #1-5 in an attempt to decode the cryptic and overwhelming medical school admissions process.Now we’re back to complete the top ten and put an end to the rumors once and for all.

In our work with pre-meds, we hear all kinds of crazy claims. About 95% of the time we hear one of the above phrases, what follows is false. No, you don’t need 400 hours of shadowing to get into medical school. No, it doesn’t help to finish college in three years. And when you get a rejection letter, you shouldn’t call the medical school and plead to be given a second chance.

Imagine a pot filled with cold water, with a frog peacefully swimming in it. A fire is lit under the pot and the water becomes lukewarm. The frog finds this rather pleasant and keeps swimming, but then the temperature keeps rising. As the water turns hotter, the frog grows uncomfortable, but it also becomes weak, so it stands the heat as long as it can and does nothing.

Last week, we dove into the first three lessons that successful students can teach us about how to get into medical school. Let’s continue with our final three lessons:

"Nobody gets into medical school these days." I hear this statement a lot, and I understand where it comes from. When you see scores of well qualified candidates - brilliant classmates, selfless neighbors, hardworking siblings - apply and get rejected, it's easy to think, "there's no way I can get in."