Biggest Pre-Med/Medicine Career Misconceptions

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<p>below is only part of above thread currently on SDN. </p>

<p>posted by Goro
That a good MCAT will overcome a poor GPA, and vice versa.
That having only good grades and MCAT will make up for lack of ECs.
That lots of ECs will make up for poor grades.
That what worked in undergrad will work in medical school (I get tons of students who crash onto this mountain).
That the whole app process is completely random, and so by applying to a lot of schools, they'll get in somewhere.
That because someone with a poor GPA got into a top 10 school, they can too.
That because the median GPA and MCAT scores are lower for the HBCs (historically black), then it's perfectly OK for people who don't fit the mission of the HBCs to apply to them.</p>

<p>posted by Catalystik
That applying with great stats and ECs guarantees an acceptance.
That applying anytime before the AMCAS deadline gives equal odds, whether early or late in the cycle.
That applying late for the second cycle in a row will magically result in a better outcome</p>

<p>Post by baxt1412
That anyone can be a doctor if they want to</p>

<p>Posted by touhpause13
My favorite from my pre med advisor was that anatomy and physio were required by all med schools and you had to be a bio major in order to get into med school</p>

<p>Posted by burghmed
That applying to their state school guarantees them an interview
That without even knowing what's on the MCAT (let alone taking it and not knowing their score) they can gauge whether or not they'll get in to medical school.</p>

<p>Posted by Dermvisor (#11)
Although it deals with law school, make sure you watch the Legally Blonde movie clip. Although it deals with law school, it has relevance to medicine and is hilarious.</p>

<p>more…</p>

<p>That majoring in Bio and taking those upper-division Bio classes will help you on the MCAT</p>

<p>That you have to go to a top school because those prepare students for the MCAT.</p>

<p>That you have to go to a top school because those will place you into a top med school. </p>

<p>That you should go to an undergrad that has a med school.</p>

<p>It’s ok to borrow a lot for undergrad and med school because you’ll easily be able to quickly pay it all back. </p>

<p>You have to go to a top-ranked med school to get into a competitive residency.</p>

<p>That content you learn in undergrad will give you a leg-up in med school (hate to break it to you OChem profs…)</p>

<p>That anything your friends say you should do to “game the system” is a good idea</p>

<p>That an interview invite probably corresponds to an acceptance (or that an interview is “just a formality”)</p>

<p>That volunteering in a hospital is required for med school admissions, and similarly that doing something for the sake of “checking off boxes” is a good approach to med school admissions</p>

<p>That you deserve to be a doctor/get into med school/go to a top med school because of your grades/MCAT/ECs/family history/major choice/university name</p>

<p>That your application must be “perfect” for you to have any chance at all</p>