<p>I haven’t always wanted to be a doctor like most students intending to have a pre-med concentration in college, but after years of debating with myself, I’ve decided that I would like to work in medicine. Believe me, this was anything but a whimsical decision simply based on the social/economic prospects of the job, but having considered and focused on different areas up until this point, I have to say I am very uninformed on where or how to start preparing for this. So I would like to ask some current students and/or well-informed pre-med students a few questions about the application process and such. Please bear with me even if I sound incredibly clueless.</p>
<li><p>I will be entering Northwestern University as a freshman this year, having thought I would major in economics. I’ve been told that what you major in is nowadays not a big deal when it comes to med school admissions; is this entirely true? I’ve actually been interested in the study of economics for a long time, aside from the fact that it works well as a pre-business major, and I’d like to pursue it in college; would this work against me, seeing as how unlike other social sciences and humanities like psychology or cognitive studies, economics has little to do with anything related to medicine or interpersonal relations?</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve been told that the admissions process for med schools take place during your junior year of college. Does this mean the GPA taken into consideration for the admissions process only includes the first three years of college? Will they eventually ask for your senior year grades?</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve also been told (I’ve been told a lot of things, mostly very vague and inaccurate I presume) that the general requirement for med school admissions is a year in chem, organic chem, bio, physics and math occasionally. Since Northwestern runs on the quarter system, I’m assuming this would mean three quarters of each subject; does it particularly matter what chem, bio, physics or math you’re taking to fulfill these requirements? Like I stated before, having focused on different areas up until this point, I’ve never given chemistry or bio any serious thought so I would most likely be starting with the most basic intro courses. Would it still count towards the required number of courses for med school admissions?</p></li>
<li><p>I read on an admissions website for a medical school that studies in Spanish or an Asian language is highly recommended for applicants. I’ve studied French for the last five years and intended to continue my studies in college. Should I switch to Spanish or take advanced Korean (my native language)? I’m realizing I may have to make a lot changes to what I intended to study just to apply med school.</p></li>
<li><p>I understand it is VERY difficult to get into med school; I didn’t need anyone to tell me this to know it. Especially going to a school like Northwestern where the vast majority of students are overachieving competitors, I know it’ll be difficult to maintain a good GPA for med school and that there is a good chance that I may not be admitted to med school. I know applicants are usually notified in the spring of their senior year, which leaves us little time to prepare for anything. What I’d like to know is: how many med schools can you apply to; is it fairly common to get rejected by every single one you apply to; and what do you do then if you don’t get into med school? That’s quite a few questions under one number, sorry. But if you prepare for med school for three years and find yourself rejected by every single school you’ve applied to, what can you do? Re-apply the year after with a new MCAT score? Or simply move on and look for a job after having wasted college on preparing for a wrong profession for you?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you’ve got any feedback please let me know, I’d be glad to learn every perspective of the process.</p>
<p>1.) Major in whatever liberal arts subject you like, economics included.</p>
<p>2.) Yes, applications should be sent in the June after/during your junior year. Some places will eventually ask for your senior year grades, but many decisions are made before your first semester is over anyway.</p>
<p>3.) And a year of English. Three quarters is right. You should be taking introductory level courses or higher. I'd be surprised if Northwestern offered anything lower.</p>
<p>4.) Languages aren't a big deal unless you're a California resident.</p>
<p>5.) Maximum is every single school out there, or about 150. That's ridiculous. Don't do that. Fifteen to twenty is a normal number. About 55% of candidates nationally will be rejected everywhere they apply; most of these:
1.) Did not go to Northwestern, which I'm sure has a better (lower) rate of rejection than 55%, AND
2.) Should have known going in that they'd be rejected anywhere, OR
3.) Botched the admissions process itself rather than anything going into it.</p>
<p>You can either quit or try again. Trying again at the same school puts you at a severe disadvantage; whether you've applied in the past is the single first thing any school will ever ask you for. Applying to other schools or retaking the MCAT and improving significantly will both help your chances.</p>
<p>College will not be wasted regardless. An economics major is a fun major.</p>
<p>I second everything BDM said. But I add this: TALK TO YOUR PREMED ADVISOR ABOUT COURSE SELECTION. </p>
<p>I cannot overemphasize the importance of this. Each college is different in which specific courses it recommends, and how these are seen by medical schools. Since NU sends lots of students to medical school each year, the premed advisors will know what you should take. The pacing of the courses, making sure you are not overloaded, and that you have covered the material in time to take the MCATs are critical.</p>
<p>When you get to campus they will have a session (or at a large place like NU, probably more than one) for prospective premeds. The advisors will give you an overview of the process at your university, and answer questions. Go to this session. They will also tell you how to make appointments to meet one on one with an advisor. Make an appointment as soon as you can and go over your academic situation. They will advise you about courses, activities, research, clinical experience, and other things that matter. If you can, look up who they are and make an appointment now, so you can be sure to talk to them before you pick courses.</p>
<p>I assume that you took high school biology and chemistry, right? If not, then you would be much better off getting a truly introductory course before signing up for intro college courses at a place like NU.</p>
<p>Many people take time off before applying to medical school. They would present their entire undergraduate transcript not just the first 3 years. </p>
<p>Switch languages if you want to, but do not do it for application strategy. It is not nearly that important. Spanish only matters if you end up in a place with a large Hispanic population. Even now, there are plenty of places where you would not have that much occasion to use it. If you like French, and are good at it, do not drop it for this reason.</p>
<p>Economics is fine.
Don't worry about numbers of applications now. When the time comes your advisor will help you figure out how many applications to submit, and where.</p>
<p>One thing I'd like to add, sort of as a counterpoint to what BDM has said. It's really the only thing I disagree with him on.</p>
<p>From the experiences of my friends, I have to disagree that reapplying to the same schools is a disadvantage. I'll admit that I have a relatively small sample size to work with, and only a limited number of schools to gain perspective from, but every single last one of my friends who got rejected on their first application ended up getting admitted the second or third time to schools they had applied to initially. That number is in the double digits and rising.</p>
<p>I'll temper this by saying that BDM and I applied to very different sets of medical schools, even in how they approached the admissions process, the schools I have experience with are mainly state schools who were all very open about their admissions decisions and granted exit interviews for rejected candidates. Therefore, my friends and acquaintances knew exactly why they were rejected and could focus their energies into those areas. </p>
<p>BDM on the otherhand has much more experience with the CA state schools and a number of well-known private schools, many of which refused to provide him with exit interviews, so it is possible that there is a big disadvantage at those places.</p>
<p>What I will say, is that if you reapply without making significant strides to improve upon weaknesses in your application (exit interview or not), you are throwing your money away by applying a second time.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input. It really helps to have a more concrete perception of the process.</p>
<p>If you don't mind, though, I've got a few more question. Is it true that your GPA and MCAT scores are the only two things that are seriously considered for med school admissions? Obviously, I've never seen a med school application or anything of that sort, so I'm wondering if there actually are essays and sections to write down summer internships, volunteer experience, and etc. like our college applications and play a significant role in the admissions.</p>
<p>When is the best time to start preparing for the MCATs? Are the MCATs like the SATs in that you buy a book and study for it individually or does it cover material you will have learned in the courses required for med school admissions? I'm guessing even if it's the latter, most would buy prep books and study for it all the same.</p>
<p>And, afan, is it common to take time off before applying to med school? Does it work against the applicant in any way if they decided to apply after their senior year of college?</p>
<p>1.) No. Yes, there are essays. Lots of them.
2.) Two to four months before you take them, which is sometime during your junior year. They do cover material.
3.) Very, very common. Should not hurt, provided you're doing something.</p>
<p>
[quote]
if you reapply without making significant strides to improve upon weaknesses in your application (exit interview or not), you are throwing your money away
<p>I'm sorry if this is becoming some sort of a question and answer thread, but I keep on coming up with more questions to ask.</p>
<p>So if the application process normally takes place mid junior year, does that mean I'll have to complete the med school required courses in my freshman and sophomore year? Is it possible to be taking a few of these required courses in my junior year and completing them during the application process?</p>
<p>Seeing as how there are a total of five year-long courses and only four classes per quarter at Northwestern, it almost seems as if it'd be impossible to complete the requirements for a non-science major and simultaneously meet the pre-med requirements. I'm starting to see why a lot of people simply major in biochemistry or biomedical engineering.</p>
<p>Have any of you majored in a humanities/social science in college? Was it actually possible to complete the coursework for your major while completing a year respectively in bio, chem, organic chem, physics, English/math? </p>
<p>p reepa, yeah I'm guessing it'll be tough just to stay in the game, but then again where do you find a school where the pre-meds are slackers, right?</p>
<p>And I'm sort of skipping ahead, but if I'm more set on practice than academic/research post-med school, is it very important to go to a prestigious med school? I'm guessing this is somewhat of a subjective question, but what I mean to ask is whether med school names are as important as, say, the prestige of your alma mater if you were to be looking at employment right after college.</p>
<p>Hypothetically, Pritzker or Feinberg v. Loyola Chicago Medicine: will it make a huge difference in the med student's future career?</p>
<p>1.) I don't think June counts as "mid". And in any case, no, you don't need to have them completed -- but you will need to complete them before you graduate and you will want to have most of them completed by the end of your junior year. Almost all, in fact. But not necessarily -- postponing one or two into senior year is okay.</p>
<p>2.) I was an economics major. It was fine.</p>
<p>3.) I'm sure NU can't possibly be that bad.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link reference, bdm. I just wanted to ask, though, when people use the term private practice does this refer to practice outside of the hospital you complete your residency at?</p>
<p>And also, I've been reading a few threads on this forum about physician shadowing and doing summer research in a lab. Is it necessary, or highly recommended by med school adcoms, for pre-med students to participate in these specifically "medical-related" type of summer internships? I've been spending most of my high school summers participating in Habitat for Humanity programs abroad and I'd very much like to continue volunteering abroad during the summers even in college, instead of spending the summer in a lab (especially being a social science/humanities major).</p>
<p>Will this have a significant impact on my med school application? Perhaps I should consider volunteering at a hospital?</p>
<p>Edit: And how's social policy for a pre-med major?</p>
<p>Private practice means that you are not a salaried employee of a hospital -- that there is some portion of your revenue which is dependent on how many patients you see and how much you charge them. Many private practice physicians (almost all?) have an arrangement with a hospital, where essentially they "team up" with a hospital to send patients there. Insurers pay the physician and the hospital -- it is not a system where the hospital gets paid and it pays the physician. Whether this hospital is where you did your residency or not is largely irrelevant.</p>
<p>Medical schools, whenever you apply to them, will need to see recent clinical activity. If you applying to a BS/MD program, you will need them during high school. If you will be going to college and then applying to medical school, you can worry about it during college.</p>
<p>I've never heard of it, but so long as it's an academic subject, it should be fine. No basket weaving or exercise science.</p>
<p>I wrote 55 essays for medical school applications. Many of them related to extracurriculars I'd done, asking me to expand, or wanted to know specifically why I was interested in a school. Many specifically asked me for unique traits that I might contribute. There were also plenty of weird ones.</p>
<p>The personal statement is a part of AMCAS. The rest are part of the secondary process.</p>
<ol>
<li>Meet course requirements (bio, chem, organic, phys, english, math; anyone have a list of schools that do NOT require math?)</li>
<li>Study for and take the MCATs by junior year</li>
<li>Participate in summer lab research or clinical work (I assume this means shadowing and/or volunteering)</li>
<li>Prepare to write numerous essays for med school applications</li>
</ol>
<p>1) - yes, you must do those things
2)yes
3) this is not an either/or. Clinic experience is a MUST. Research, not so much. I didn't do a minute of research in undergrad, and had no problems.
4) I also didn't write a single essay other than my personal statement. This happened to be coincidence as the schools I applied to just didn't require them. Also, you could be unfortunate enough to never get a secondary application and thus never have to write an essay.</p>
<p>I would add: You need to be involved on campus and in your community, have some leadership experiences and also have a couple of non-medical related hobbies/interests.</p>
<p>You don't HAVE to take the MCAT during junior year. This is only necessary if you plan to apply to go to medical school right after graduation. Many students take 1-3 years between college and medical school.</p>
<p>If you are not a science major it may be difficult to get all your required courses completed in time to take the MCAT during junior year. Lots of people also go through college not yet sure they want to go to medical school. Taking time off gives them a chance to think about it while off the college treadmill.</p>