Preparing to apply to medical school can be daunting…

Let’s break it down

Experiential pillars of a strong med school application:

  • Clinical experience

    Gaining hands-on exposure to working in a hospital or in similar health care settings is an experience that’s hard to replicate. Medical schools agree. There are many ways that students get involved and gain patient-care experience. To get help figuring out what the best path for you is, fill out the form below:

    Clinical form

  • Shadowing physicians

    Shadowing physicians is important to understanding what roles different specialties of physicians play in a patient’s care. Shadowing is a more temporary and informal way to gain patient-care exposure. For students that don’t have personal connections to physicians, it can be difficult to know how to start shadowing. To find out what your options are, fill out the form below:

    Shadowing form

  • Service

    Similarly to admissions to college and other professional schools, medical schools like to see that their applicants are committed to service. Showing this commitment looks different for each applicant, and doesn’t have to be related to medicine. The most important part is to get involved with something you’re passionate about. For some insight into what this could look like for you, fill out the form below:

    Service form

Academic pillars:

A great way to show your ability and willingness to learn about the sciences is by getting good grades and a competitive MCAT score. Your GPA in college will be divided into two categories in med school applications: an overall cumulative GPA and a science GPA. Additionally, it’s becoming increasingly common to choose a non-STEM major before applying to med school. As long as you take all the necessary STEM prerequisites, which differ minimally between schools, being in a STEM major is no longer required.

The MCAT is broken into 4 categories:

  • Biology & biochemistry (59 questions, 95 minutes)

  • Chemistry, organic chemistry, & physics (59 questions, 95 minutes)

  • Psychology & sociology (59 questions, 95 minutes)

  • Critical reasoning & analysis(reading comprehension)(53 questions, 90 minutes)

    Scores range from 472-528, with the average being 500-501