I got interviews from 5 medical schools and was accepted into 2. I had a much lower MCAT score than the average (I got a 508), and I had about a 3.6 gpa. I definitely felt like the personality hire especially during such a competitive cycle with such uncompetitive stats. I do believe it was Gods will, and I have tips and tricks for you to do well regardless of your stats too.
Firstly, based off of my experience in this application cycle, I want to rank the value of all the application material.
- Essays
- Extracurriculars
- Interviews
- MCAT
- GPA
To be completely honest, I believe the reason med schools want to see your MCAT and GPA is because they want to see if you will survive the rigor of med school. If you get above a 506 on your MCAT and above a 3.5 GPA you should be okay in my opinion. The closer to a 510 you can get the better. The reason I ranked everything higher than GPA and MCAT is because based off of my experience and my friends’, your scores don’t matter as much as your essays and experiences.
I know someone who got an MCAT score of 523 and did not get into many schools he wanted to get into. I also know someone who got a 505 and got into a great medical school. Scores are not the end!
What truly matters is that you embody humanism and have a true passion for service. You then show this through your extracurricular activities which feed your main essay and your secondary essays.
Make sure that your extracurriculars highlight many components of your character and love for service. For example, my extracurriculars show that I love supporting patients with mental illnesses AND patients who are in underserved communities. Many facets of your character and intellectual passions should be explored through the lens of service. I can write another post about writing a great essay, but for now, I want to emphasize the criticality of extracurriculars.
You shouldn’t just shadow doctors! You should participate in a variety of service initiatives that showcase many parts of your character. They don’t always need to be linked to medicine!
For example if you worked in hospice or elderly home, you can explain your passion for communicating with patients and learning from their expansive experiences while also developing a value for patient perspectives.
If you worked as a manager, you could describe your passion for problem solving and identifying core problems in teams and how that is a critical skill for a doctor.
There are many many ways to frame your experiences to write fantastic essays and no matter your interests or experiences, there are ways they can contribute to medicine. I’m a firm believer that doctors can be anyone with any reason for choosing medicine.
One reason I chose medicine is because I’m an artist. I love art and I truly believe that the human body works somewhat like clockwork. The more you understand the art behind the cogs and wheels, the better you can oil their parts and further appreciate both the art and the creator.
I can write more about med school essays in future posts but for now, it is critical you understand that future doctors should participate in
A) research and
B) service
And these should 100000% be written about in your essays.
The best way to get into medical school is to articulate your passions and frame your interests to exemplify why they would make you an amazing doctor. As always, some materials are listed below. This time, it’s a guide to the entire pre-med and med-school application process.
Good luck and stay posted for help with essays and the MCAT!
Guide: https://amzn.to/4kcbDAk
Best,
Med girlie
Simply Girly 
Leave a comment