Pre-Med Post Military Student

<p>I'm going to be separating from the military here in several months and I wanted to find out what I needed to do to get into Med school, particularly WashU. First of all I apologize if these questions have been brought up before.</p>

<p>Is there a percentage of prior-military applications get accepted into med-school.</p>

<p>I see that recommendation letters are required to get in, can I get my CO to write me one since I directly worked for him, will this help even though its not medical related.</p>

<p>Also I have already been accepted to Missouri University of Science and Technology for an electrical engineering degree and going to go through the pre-med school there to get all the required courses knocked out, but is there anything else I really need to know or need to do that I can still do while I'm in the Navy; specifically would I be able to take the MCAT test before I get to college or is it best to wait?</p>

<p>PS: Since I'm deployed right now I won't be able to take a MCAT classroom prep-course but would be able to take an online or self study class, would there be any recommendations on what I should do in that aspect.</p>

<p>First, WashU is highly unlikely (unless, and really even if, your GPA and MCAT are both phenomenal). Don’t aim for a specific school and especially not WashU of all places.</p>

<p>No… you’re in it w/ everyone else as an applicant.</p>

<p>CO can write one but it won’t mean a whole lot. They are primarily looking for LORs from professors (academic), clinical supervisors, and research advisors. Supervisors can be of some use but the other 3 are an order of magnitude more heavily weighted.</p>

<p>Take the MCAT after taking the prerequisite coursework. Doing otherwise would be suicide to your application.</p>

<p>Consider MCAT prep options after taking the required courses.</p>

<p>See the FAQ and use the search function in the future, please.</p>

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<p>I disagree - it would definitely be a good idea to get a letter from your CO, especially if he/she knew you well and worked closely with you. For anything that you devote a lot of time/effort to, getting a LOR is a good idea, and the military most certainly counts.</p>

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<p>I agree it would be a good idea. My understanding, though, has always been that supervisors’ letters are generally of significantly less weight than are those of academic and clinical references. Certainly, not getting an LOR from a longterm supervisor (such as one’s CO) might bring up some questions and an outstanding LOR from one’s CO would be highly valued.</p>

<p>I appreciate the responses, I’m going to get one from him, from what I’ve read I need a general LOR to put into the AMCAS, would I need one also to put into the specific school?</p>

<p>LORs to specific schools are nice on top of those that are sent to all schools. You’ll probably want around 5-6 all school letters and then you can ask people you know for school specific ones if there seems to be a good reason for it (prof went to school there, knows a lot of people, has research or professional ties, etc)</p>