Every year, I interact with hundreds of pre-med
applicants who are eager to gain admission to medical school and take the next step in
their journey of becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of misinformation resulting
in several common pre-med mistakes that hinder their chances of getting accepted. Here are
the top 6 mistakes to avoid, and what you should be doing instead. Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com. A surprisingly common mistake amongst pre-meds is going through the application process without
actually being ready. Applicants often decide to apply one year, knowing full well that
they may not get accepted and that they would be a stronger applicant by waiting one year.
But hey, if it doesn’t go well, they can just apply the following year with a bit of
practice under their belt. Seems like a good idea, right? This is actually a terrible idea for multiple
reasons: First, and most obviously, it is a significant
waste of money. When you apply to medical school, you’ll be using the American Medical
College Application Service, also known as AMCAS. This is a common application you fill
out once and send to multiple schools, and it’s the first step in the application process,
thereby called the primary application. In 2019, AMCAS costs $170 for the first school
and $39 for each additional school you apply to. With the average applicant applying to
15-20 schools, that brings the total cost between $755 and $911. But that’s just the
primary application fees. After receiving a primary application, most schools also require
a secondary app, which requires additional essays, and is also subject to additional
fees. There are then additional fees for submitting your transcript
and letters of recommendation from your college. And then there’s the interview process, the
cost of which adds up quick between airfare and lodging. In total, it’s safe to say
you’ll spend more than $2,000 or even $3,000 just to apply to medical school. Second, the application process is not something
you want to do more than once. Certain aspects, like the interview process, are particularly
fun and rewarding, but most if it is quite tedious. You’ll be writing countless essays,
handling the administrative aspects such as score reports and letters of recommendation,
and likely finding yourself somewhat stressed during the process. But lastly, and most importantly, being a reapplicant
decreases your chances of acceptance. If you apply and don’t expect to get in, understand
that next year you’ll be earmarked as being a reapplicant. Schools will know you applied
in the past and did not get in. You’ll now have to overcome the additional hurdle
of explaining how you’re an improved applicant this cycle and why you deserve a second chance,
which will also require a complete rework of all your essays. This is a position you
should avoid if possible. That being said, if you do find yourself as a reapplicant,
our team at MedSchoolInsiders.com specializes in finding the weak spots and crafting a compelling
narrative to your medical school application to maximize your chance of an acceptance.
We’ve helped dozens of reapplicants ultimately become successful medical school matriculants
and we have the highest satisfaction rating in the industry. Now rather than applying prematurely
and then expecting yourself to reapply again the next year, it’s best to strengthen your application
and apply just once. Apply to win, and apply to get in. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot. Tying in with the first point, I’ve come across far too many pre-med applicants who
are surprisingly nonchalant about the idea of going to a Caribbean medical school. Sure,
gaining acceptance to a Caribbean medical school is quite easy, but there is a reason for that. To get a more in-depth understanding of the
pros and cons of going Caribbean, be sure to first watch our video covering the truth about Caribbean Medical Schools. I’ll give you a hint, there aren’t many
upsides. Rather than going the Caribbean route, we
advise most of our pre-med clients to do two things: first, work on strengthening your
medical school application. Most applicants are surprised how much can be done in a single
year. And second, apply to D.O. schools if you are unable to secure a U.S. M.D. acceptance. For most students, I would recommend going
Caribbean only after one or more failed attempts at applying to U.S. allopathic and osteopathic
medical schools. If you were to check the application deadlines for most medical schools, you’d find dates
listed between October to even February of the next year. Does that mean you’d be fine
to apply any time before that? Absolutely not. Applying early is one of the most important
medical school admission strategies. Why is that? Unlike college or university admissions, most
medical schools follow a rolling admissions process, meaning applications are reviewed
sequentially as they arrive. If you are late in submitting your application, many interview
slots may already be filled, and now you’re competing for a smaller number of open spots.
You may even find yourself in a position where you don’t make the cut for an interview, but would have had you applied earlier. AMCAS opens up for data entry in early May,
with application submissions opening in early June. But know that once you hit submit, your app is not
immediately sent to medical schools. AMCAS first has to verify your application as well.
If you submit early, expect the verification process to be relatively quick. If, however,
you wait until July, it can take several weeks. My general recommendation is to apply as soon
as possible, ideally within the first two weeks of June. July is not optimal, but is
fine in most cases. Applying in August is borderline, and September would be considered
too late. Of course, exceptions exist, and that’s something that our advisors can take
a look at with 1-on-1 guidance. It happens every year. A student with stellar numbers, a 3.99 GPA and 99th percentile MCAT
score does not get accepted. Usually, they have very few interview invites, which points
to poor primary and secondary applications. Less commonly, they can have several interview
invites but no acceptances. This points to weak interview skills. We had a few students approach us who were
in this exact position. After working with us, they didn’t only get accepted, but are
now attending prestigious programs. Now how did that happen? It’s a matter of understanding
that the application is multi-faceted and your numbers are only a part of the whole
picture. A big part of an effective and optimized medical
school application is conveying an effective narrative as to why you will be an excellent
future doctor, an asset to the program, and bring value and diversity to the upcoming
medical school class. Conveying this narrative starts with a nuanced and strategic personal
statement, AMCAS application, and secondary essays. Congruence in the interview along
this narrative is also required to get an acceptance offer. Now tying in with the previous point, put yourself in the shoes of a medical school admissions
committee member. They are bombarded with thousands of applications every cycle, yet
they only have 100 or 200 seats to fill. Of all the hundreds of highly qualified applicants,
why should they pick you? Imagining the perspective of someone from
the other side is one of my favorite tools not only for medical school and residency
admissions, but even as a strategy to perform better on the MCAT or USMLE Step 1. As a medical
school admissions committee member, what would you care about? What would concern you or
make you apprehensive about an applicant? What would you want to see? Once you understand these principles, it becomes
more readily apparent why certain elements and narratives are more effective in a medical
school application compared to others. Demonstrating a commitment to medicine, maturity, resilience,
and the ability to handle the rigors of a medical school curriculum are going to go
a long way in improving your odds. Effectively communicating these and other traits in a
nuanced, indirect, and interesting way is going to be much more effective than claiming
to be those qualities. It’s great to have another pair of eyes
looking at your essay, whether that’s your mom, friend, aunt, or mentor. Improving your
writing is never going to be a bad thing. But while effective story telling and writing
skills are important, they’re just one element of the application and personal statement.
You also have to consider what admissions committees are looking for. Last cycle, we had a student with a relatively
well written essay. The essay opened, as many do, with a personal anecdote related to medicine.
While what was written was completely innocent and well intentioned, the physician advisor
who was editing the student’s essay pointed out that the story used could remind some
physicians of drug seeking behavior. A negative association like that is something you absolutely
want to avoid in your personal statement. For those of you who are unfamiliar, drug seeking behavior
occurs when patients present, most commonly to the emergency department, with the desire
to obtain pain killers. It’s a massive headache and not something you want your admission
committee member to be thinking of while reading your essay. If you’re a reapplicant, it’s even more
important to get this soft elements of your application just right. The personal statement,
AMCAS or AACOMAS or TMDSAS application, the secondaries, and of course the interview.
If you need help, look no further than Med School Insiders. Our team of advisors has
served on medical school admissions committees, so they know firsthand how to make an applicant
stand out and how to get them accepted. You can learn more about our pioneering approach
and why we have the highest satisfaction rate in the industry at MedSchoolInsiders.com/our-method/.
The first 20 customers to sign up for our services will receive $30 off their purchase
using the coupon code GETACCEPTED2019. Link in the description below. Now if you’re applying to medical school this
year, I wish you the best of luck. If you have any video topic requests, let me know
down in the comments below. My priority is always providing you guys with value and helping
make the journey to becoming a doctor a little more manageable and a little more fun. Make
sure you’re subscribed with the notification bell enabled, and I will see you guys in that
next one.
