Hi everyone! I am currently in my sophomore year of college and I really want some advice on how to look good or better on medical school applications. I know there are many obvious choices a pre-med student should make during the course of getting their undergraduate degree so if you would like to list them out you can, I think it would be a great way for other people to know. However, I really want to know about the choices or things that you should add to your resume or things you should be involved in that most people don’t know or are lesser known facts.
Thanks to everyone who will help!
So you’re 2nd year in college, have you visited the pre-health office yet? All your questions can easily be answered by them, plus they can provide much more valuable info such as what are the average GPA/MCAT for accepted applicants from your college, where did they get accepted, what are the weeder pre-med classes…
Things “look good on med school applications” are - top GPA (close to 4.0), top MCAT (520+, 99 percentile), strong ECs (volunteering, shadowing, research, …), Olympic winner, strong LORs… How much can you accomplish in college?
Here are the basics you need to have to be creditable applicants for med school
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high GPA (median for all matriculating students last year was 3.7+)
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high MCAT (median MCAT for all matriulcating students last year was 512-- >80th percentile, for top ranked med school the median was >99th percentile)
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strong LORs from your professors (at least 3, including 1 from a non-science prof)
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strong ECs that include all of the following:
–physician shadowing, particularly with primary care physicians
–clinical volunteering or employment with direct, hands on patient contact
–community service with disadvantaged populations
–leadership positions in your activities or employment
–lab bench or clinical research -
demonstrated excellence in oral, written and interpersonal communications skills (assessed through personal statement, secondary essays, LORs, in-person interview, etc)
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demonstrated fulfillment of the [AAMC Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students](https://www.careercenter.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/Core%20Competencies%20forEntering%20Medical%20Students.pdf)
The strongest applicants have truly exceptional achievements, both inside and outside of the classroom: professional or Olympic athlete, a performance the Met, Rhodes Scholar, a tour of active duty in a war zone, first author publication in Nature/PNAS or a similar high quality peer-reviewed journal, founder of a self-sustaining non-profit that benefits the disadvantaged, etc