<p>I'm currently on a gap year before college, and I'll be attending a decent school next year, but after reading through many of the threads here and doing research online, I'm starting to think that perhaps I'm aiming too high. I'm particularly nervous I won't be able to maintain a high enough GPA considering I went to a small, religious high school that did not prepare me for college; in fact, I still don't understand why I was accepted. I have a good head (but am by no means brilliant), a strong work ethic and I'm willing to do everything possible to ensure I get into med school, but is that enough? </p>
<p>I guess it depends on what you mean by “brilliant mind”. </p>
<p>What were your stats in HS?</p>
<p>Will you be going to Barnard next year? Barnard accepted you so you must have pretty good stats. </p>
<p>You do not have to be brilliant. The classes are not very hard, but there are a lot of them, and there is a lot to learn. You need to be a quick study. You need to put in a lot of work. My father was a doctor. He had (what seemed to me) a startling ability to remember facts and patterns after seeing them once.</p>
<p>Coming from a family of doctors-- discipline trumps all. every one of them was extremely devoted to their studies, friday night group study is not unusual! All are textbook smart, yes, but none of them (and few people are)“brilliant.” If you got in you can do the work! </p>
<p>You don’t need to be a genius to get into medical school. </p>
<p>(As the parent of two children in med school, I would like to believe they are both world class geniuses, but, alas, I know they’re not. Just very bright girls.)</p>
<p>You do need to have a strong aptitude for science & math and good memory.</p>
<p>A strong work ethic will be your best asset in college. (That, and being willing to ask for help/seek tutoring if you feel like you’re getting behind.)</p>
<p>Here is my D’s (MS4) comment that answers this perfectly: “I am not talented, I am a very hard working”…conclusions are yours</p>
<p>My college roommate was a nursing major. After she graduated, she worked in operating rooms with some of the world’s best cardiac surgeons. She got tired of the doctors’ attitude towards nurses and decided to go to medical school at the age of 30. When I heard that, I was worried, because I thought she had dyslexia (she was always getting the digits in phone numbers mixed up, for example) and struggled with the memorization required in nursing school.</p>
<p>Sure enough, she failed her first year in med school. But they let her repeat, and she made it through! After she finished, she worked as an ob/gyn on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma. Now she goes all over the world, helping women in impoverished areas. So she is another case of someone who is definitely not brilliant, but a kind person who has become an excellent physician.</p>
<p>…after reading post #4, I have to add, that I personally believe that D. is a genius, but I am her mom. I believe that her genius is in time management and communication skills. I am at awe for both. How does she do it? LOL</p>
<p>I’m a former public high school teacher and a current CC instructor. If you feel that your high school didn’t prepare you for college, especially if the math and sciences weren’t rigorous, that may be a concern. I’ve seen plenty of bright and motivated students flounder because of lack of good study skills. If you feel these are lacking, during your gap year see if you can take a study skills workshop offered by a CC, or online. In addition, there are websites like khan academy, iTunes U, etc. that you can use to review or learn about subjects that might help you when you start college. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>My son, a MS2, may not be a “genius,” but he is very bright. He “gets” stuff. He’s not dense. He’s a quick-study. He’s very disciplined. He’s a problem-solver. He loves science. </p>
<p>He used to hate reading the fiction typically assigned in school, but would spend time reading non-fiction, including college science textbooks as a kid. </p>
<p>^The same, D. cannot read novels any more, the HS killed it for her. She is a great writer though, but as I mentioned, she is a communication skills genius (by me).</p>
<p><a href=“Key facts about U.S. college graduates | Pew Research Center”>http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/05/30/5-facts-about-todays-college-graduates/</a></p>
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<p>Come on guys, a medical school student must be brilliant AND hard working. Each year, there is only about 50,000 new students matriculated in any US med school, DO and MD combined. Of those about 35,000 are first time successful applicants. While the Total Graduating class is approaching 1,8 million. Less than 2% of the graduating class can go to ANY med school and become a doctor each year. Why are we beating on the intelligence of those med school students? </p>
<p>I didn’t notice any one “beating on” med students or physicians at all. Perhaps we are using a different definition of “brilliant.” As a college professor, I am accustomed to working with the top 2%. But I can’t think of a single colleague I would call “brilliant.”</p>
<p>Obviously we are talking about very smart people. I have no idea what OP means by “brilliant,” but I assumed it was something more than very smart.</p>
<p>@artloversplus
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<p>Recent annual matriculation numbers are about 20K for MD and 6K for DO. </p>
<p>It requires a lot of focus and singlemindedness dedicated to a very long term task. It takes about 11 years or more of post high school education and many people are simply not cut out for that kind of dedication.</p>
<p>Not all bright people are cut out for it. It does require a lot of perseverance and circa 2000, masochistic traits to have gone through the brutal 110 hour work weeks. 
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<p>A strong psychological makeup is the main requirement. Even more important than intelligence. </p>
<p>“While the Total Graduating class is approaching 1,8 million. Less than 2% of the graduating class can go to ANY med school and become a doctor each year.”</p>
<p>According to AAMC and AACOM there were only about 50000 applicants to MD schools, and about 18000 applicants to DO schools (and some were most likely the same applicants for DO & MD) in 2014 so less than 4% even applied to medical school. Saying that less than 2% can go to ANY medical school implies that all 1.8 million applied and only 2% were accepted and matriculated. I’m sure there are college graduates who are smart and motivated enough to go to medical school who have no desire to do so.</p>
<p>But agreed, you do have to have some smarts to make it to medical school. </p>
<p>There was very little that I learned in medical school that was complex or difficult to grasp. The vast majority of the material is straightforward–just a ton of information to process and master. Like taking a drink from a fire hose. Needs intelligence and perseverance–but not brilliance. Not that there aren’t brilliant doctors–but a lot more are the bright hardworking types. That’s for the book learning of medical school. For clinical learning, add empathy, intuition, communication skills, lack of hubris…I could go on!</p>
<p>Thank you everyone, the comments have been quite comforting! I’m fairly intelligent, but again, not brilliant and I don’t have an insane memory. I do, however, have a strong work ethic and am willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to achieve my goals, so hopefully that will make up for whatever I lack in intelligence. </p>
<p>Here is from the factors that matter in match process for one of the most selective specialties. This could be determined only during interview:
“interactions with faculty during interview” and “interpersonal skills” were the second and third most important factors for ranking applicants with mean importance ratings of 4.9 and 4.7, respectively, out of 5.0 (scale from 1 [not at all important] to 5 [very important])."
Do not underestimate personal maturity, ability to connect to others, social skills. While everybody at this level can raise up to certain academic level, these “soft” skills and character traits need life long process to develop, do not neglect the opportunities, these skills are not natural for the most, you cannot learn them from the textbooks either. Many evaluations at Med. School will be based on how well you interact with peers, superiors, other members of the team and patients. Sometime medical students are actually not allowed to do much at all, so these type of observations become the only basis for your evals. </p>