 Getting into medical school is how many steps? I know it's a long drawn-out process, but here is what you really need to know on what it really takes. Hi, I'm Dr. Josie. This is Write Your Acceptance. I've worked with hundreds of students at this point. Students who are finishing the residency and beyond at this point. Students who have gotten into with a full ride to Mayo Clinic who have had really, really subpar MCAT scores and multiple acceptances. I know what it takes to elevate your message and so let's get started. So you want to get into medical school. First, let's cover the basics. There are two medical degrees, the MD Allopathic or the DO Osteopathic. And this is historically, MD programs have tended to attract higher kind of quality applicants on paper, right? So higher MCAT scores kind of they've been historically perceived as more prestigious, although kind of the lines are blurred more and more every cycle. MD and DO kind of culturally had or have differences, although like I said, this is blurred a little bit at this point, but DO is kind of been perceived more as holistic, looking at diet and exercise and lifestyle where MD may be kind of quicker to go to pharmacological responses. However, I've had incredibly talented students from MD and DO match in very competitive specialties beyond, although more of kind of my DO students have matched in let's say like family medicine. So the reason why I say that lines have been blurred is that more and more you hear MD practitioners talking about more holistic preventative approaches and more DOs are talking about evidence based and kind of evidence backed research in their approaches. And now from, I don't know, two years ago, they've kind of combined their match. And so now kind of, you know, residents or MSFORs get to match in the same system, MD and DO. If you apply to both. So most of my students who apply to DO will also apply to MD, not all, but a lot a good chunk. So if you do apply to both MD and DO programs, make sure that the DO programs, like the applications don't sound like they are a backup plan, right? So if you are applying to DO program, make sure you shadow DO practitioners, make sure you have the kind of, you know, application that is tailored and catered to specifically DO principles and DO programs. So it doesn't seem like you are kind of like, you know, using it as a backup and dredging up kind of those types of historical myths or conceptions of the two and their differences. So let's talk about what it really takes to get into medical school. Some of the steps are very concrete, boom, boom, boom, you have to do other steps are not so much set in stone, but our tips and techniques that I will advise you on, you know, in my opinion, after working with hundreds of students successfully and navigating this process. Academics are number one, your GPA is king, your MCAT score is queen or whatever royalty you want to designate to each, but the academic record that you hold when you apply will be very, very rigorously vetted and will be kind of top of decision making tier kind of points, right? So you want to pick a major that one, you will do well in two, you will excel because you're interested in it and there's kind of authentic curiosity, intellectual curiosity within and beyond the classroom. And you want to know that you will have two GPAs, right? You will have your science GPA because you will be taking, it doesn't matter if you, you know, apply as a biology major or neuroscience, you don't have to necessarily pursue a biological sciences major, you can be any major. I've had sociology, I've had public health, nutritional science, something in the humanities, however, you will have prerequisites for medical school that will be your composed mostly of your science GPA. So you'll have your science GPA and your overall GPA. And you want to make sure that your academics are, you know, number one on your priority because to do well means that you already have a very distinct advantage, right? In the application process with about 41 acceptance rate. I think it went down a little bit to 37. I will check notes for another video, but with, you know, less than half of students applying to and getting into medical school, you want to make sure that you understand that a competitive GPA is a pretty solid high GPA. 3637 tends to be the kind of competitive benchmark. So although more and more students are taking gap years and that has become almost a norm with students, you want to make sure that you kind of reverse engineer your academic record and your academic plan. Ideally, you're taking the hard sciences, your biology, chemistry, physics, et cetera, as close as possible to when you will be taking your MCAT or when you will start diligently preparing for the MCAT, right? Most of my students and you can, you know, there are experts in the MCAT prep space that will advise you better, but most of my students have been prepping for three to four months kind of on a full-time schedule for the MCAT before they sit for it. However, you want to make sure that you reverse engineer when you're taking what classes so that that content as much content gaps as possible, you are really reviewing and kind of solidifying your understanding here and there. There's also cars, which in my opinion, a lot of kind of first and second generation students sometimes have difficulty with, which is reading comprehension. It can affect other aspects of the exam, but nothing to worry about. You continue, you know, you factor that in, you continue to review and process information and kind of, you know, set yourself up to maximize your opportunities. So the MCAT range is from 472 to 528. The 50% benchmark is the 500. I want to say that the kind of average MCAT score for DO is like 505 and the average to be in the competitive conversation for the MD programs is like a 5, 10, 5, 11. So average out 508 or so. Having said that, I've had students who have had multiple acceptances to DO programs with a 500. I've had students with multiple acceptances to MD and DO programs with a 502, 503. So it's definitely possible to kind of really strengthen other aspects of your application. And so we'll talk a little bit about other aspects, but these are just kind of like the quantitative, concrete steps and requirements that you need to kind of manage. The actual exam is not in my wheelhouse. There are incredible programs and companies that can offer you better insight. However, I just wanted to kind of, you know, put it as one of the requirements as it is. Okay. So step two, extra curriculars. So with extra curriculars, I always like to kind of talk a little bit about passive and active experiences. We want to, with extracurricular activities to move beyond what happens to you versus what you actively seek out. What happens to you within medicine? Grandma got sick, you had an operation, you broke your leg, something that kind of, you know, sparked your interest in medicine. That happens to you. You are a passive recipient in kind of that experience, right? However, in undergrad and, you know, if you're taking gap years beyond, you want to start seeking active experiences where you actively seek them out, right? Start seeking active experience. Okay. So becoming an EMT, scribing, you know, volunteering at a hospice, volunteering at an elderly community, volunteering with special needs kids. So basically, you know, there's an array of volunteering. Some will be clinical, some won't be clinical necessarily, but patient facing. And there's a difference between taking care of your little brother or your grandma, and then taking care of a complete stranger, let's say, right? So you want to make sure that you are kind of gathering these experiences that you are intentional about your experiences so that you're really kind of thinking about what you're interested in and how you can contribute that also factors in patient facing experiences, right? So you're volunteering in ways where you are actively seeking out medical experiences so that you have a wide array of experiences within the field. Step three is shadowing service and research. I kind of put these all together because I think about them in the same bucket, not that they overlap in exactly what you're doing, but because slow and steady kind of wins this race. So you want to start service in areas of your community that you find of interest, right? And that you have intellectual or kind of personal interests in. And you want to kind of be consistent with your service hours, right? Medical schools want, yes, top academically driven students, but they also don't want a robot who lives in the library. They want someone who is out there doing their part to remedy, you know, social and health inequities in their community that are kind of, you know, working at soup kitchens and serving the elderly and tutoring. You know, it doesn't matter if you're tutoring beach cleanup, medical mission trips, you want to be out there. You want to be doing your part and they want to see your authentic engagement and interest in serving others. So beyond service, you want to start thinking about shadowing. You want to be shadowing multiple specialties, MDs and DOs, if you're going to apply to a DO program, right? And you want to think about 50 to 100 hours as the minimum bar for shadowing hours. So you want to slow and steady every week. You kind of do a few hours here and there versus doing like, you know, a boat ton of hours, and then you stop for months and months and, you know, a year on end. So kind of slow and steady for all of these. And then finally for research, you hear both ways that research is required to enter medical school, that research is not required to enter medical school. Really, it depends on the programs that you're applying to. This is where school fit and school list is going to be super important. The more kind of like IV competitive top programs may indeed, of course, require research. Others may not. So you really want to think about one, are you interested in research? I would always, you know, if it's of interest and you have the opportunity, I always encourage students to go out there and find research that's of interest. It could be bench research, it could be translational research, you know, up to you. So always a plus, but it's not necessarily required. In the description below, I'll kind of link an AMC website where they have summer offerings for research in case that's of interest. Are you applying to medical school soon? If you are interested in learning how I work with students, comment below or schedule your free call in the description below. You'll have my calendar and we can chat soon. Step four, let's start talking about the intangibles. So do you know a different language other than English? Do you create space in your schedule to learn a second or third language? Are you inviting diverse perspectives and opinions and backgrounds into your everyday circle? Right? I don't have to remind you that physicians serve everybody from all walks of life, all cultural backgrounds. And so you want to kind of start engaging in opportunities, experiences that really invite diverse and inclusive experiences to your life. In my opinion, you want to be intentional about how you kind of start opening up your world and inviting diverse and inclusive perspectives, right? You could lead through something that is of interest to you. Are you interested in hiking, cooking, yoga? And so then go through your, you know, interests and hobbies and passions, but find not the same three core friends that you've been friends with that you've been hiking with all your, you know, since middle school, find a hiking club in your local city. There you'll meet different people from different experiences, different lived experiences, that kind of content that, and I would say patient facing experiences where you are directly serving and adapting to patients is really the content that then allows your writing materials, your application to really kind of potentially stand out. And we can talk a little bit more about that too. Basically want to stretch the idea of what diversity means. It's not only about where you come from, who you are, but it's also about how you invite diverse perspectives into your life, how you actively kind of approach diversity as a verb rather than as something you are or are not. Also another intangible that I think is really interesting when I hear from students specifically is the opportunity to attend a pre-medical conference. So the opportunity to really just kind of, you know, mingle and network and talk to programs and really just get out there and see kind of yourself not solely in this vacuum of the library and a pre-med class and, you know, college and service and wherever you need to go in that day, but connect with others in a non-academic space that really kind of starts building your professionalism, but starts building your networking and gets you comfortable, gets you kind of talking about you as a future physician, right? It's our language and our words and our thoughts are very, you know, I'm going to get a little woo-woo, but very powerful. And so if you kind of start to say it, start to believe it, start to walk that walk, it'll kind of slowly, you know, you'll step into this role easier and easier every time. The AAMC has a great website page where they have a list of questions that you could potentially ask at pre-medical conferences. So I'll link that in the description below, but these are some of the questions, right? There are a few programs there. There are a few that are of interest to you. What is the mission of your school? What makes your medical school unique? Why do you think students choose your program? So are there combined programs? What does a successful applicant look like at your school? So you have an array of questions that you could potentially ask that will deepen your understanding of these programs. Also, take notes, save these notes, right? Because this is great intel and information gathering for when you are writing those potential. Why us? Why do you want to attend the Miller School of Medicine, XYZ? Step five, learn the system. For the most part, medical schools offer admission through a rolling basis. Texas just started a match program, match system. So we'll see how fun that is. But if not, it is the earlier, the better, right? The later that you apply, the less seats that you are competing for. And the harder it gets, no matter your, not no matter your stats, but it gets harder where the earlier you apply, the more seats you are vying for. I usually say July 4th is my cutoff. It's Independence Day. And I no longer take any more students who want to apply that cycle. Why? Because I want to make sure that students are maximizing their chances. And really, one of the things that they want to do from a strategy perspective is apply as early as possible with the strongest application possible, right? Not just put it all together and go apply the next day, end of May when it opens, when a commas and MCAS open, but the earliest possible with the strongest application possible. And so that's kind of my cutoff. Once an app is submitted, it'll take a few weeks, typically four to six weeks to get verified. And then the secondaries are off, right? And so when you start getting secondaries, you want to make sure that you are as organized as possible one to two weeks, around 10 to 14 days for me works best where it's like, you know, your goal is to turn in a within that window. And so you are getting them and you are kind of turning them out possibly in a very, very timely fashion during the verification period where you're just kind of waiting to be verified and to start receiving those secondaries, you could potentially start prewriting secondaries and kind of really figure out what that school has historically been asking for the last few cycles and what your overlaps are so that you can start those essays that no matter if one or two schools change their prompts, you know, for sure you're going to have a why us, you know, for sure you're going to have an obstacles essay, and you can start kind of prewriting and gathering your thoughts on that in the weeks that you're waiting while your application is being verified. Here are a couple of lines that some schools say about the admissions process on the AMC website and I'll link it below too. Each medical school has its own nuance process for reviewing applications. For example, Cornell invites all applicants to complete their secondary application. So once the file is complete, including secondary application, letters and MCAT scores, the application is moved to screening a number of experienced admissions committee members, so multiple, serve as screeners. And although med school students are on the admissions committee, the students do not screen actual applications. Keck School of Medicine at USC explains in order to give every candidate a fair review of their personal qualities and accomplishments, a single screener, so one person evaluates all candidates with a particular MCAT score at our school. This controls for the inevitable influence that this important test has on the process. At Wake Forest, because of the large number of applications we receive, we use a formula that separates the groups based on their MCAT's primary application. So these groups are, proceed and send a secondary hold for MCAT score or other extenuating circumstances, three risk based on academics. Those candidates in the risk category are reviewed individually by the associate dean and an executive committee of five faculty and admissions committee members. So bonus steps. After you've committed years and years and years to everything that you need to do, top notch academics, your MCAT, your shadowing clinical experiences, service, research, after you've done all of this, make sure that you know you are, yes, close to that finish line, but starting a new race, right? So the application is super, super important. Your personal statement, your secondaries, your activity section, every piece of text and writing that they receive is an opportunity for you to share your values, for you to crystallize and convey your why medicine and to really show who you are beyond the numbers, the numbers they're going to get, but who you are beyond the numbers. So the qualitative aspects of who you are, what you've learned, how you can be an asset to their program really shines through. And that is where I come in. So if you want to learn more about how I work with students to elevate their message, to really kind of build your pitch that is as compelling as possible so that your application truly stands out, make sure you schedule a call and we will talk about that soon. Thank you for watching and I'll see you soon. Take care. Bye.