Getting into medical school is harder now than it has ever been. Every year, thousands
of hopeful premeds apply to medical school only to fail to get a single acceptance. But
why is it so difficult? And what actionable steps can you take to beat the odds?
Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com. There are two types of medical schools in
the United States, and both are incredibly challenging to get into. According to the
AAMC, there were approximately 53,000 applicants to MD schools for the 2022-2023 application
cycle and only about 22,000 matriculated. That’s a matriculation rate of only about
42%. And according to the AACOM, there were approximately 27,000 applicants to DO schools
during the most recent application cycle out of which only about 8,500 matriculated. That’
s a matriculation rate of only about 32%. As we can see by these numbers, the majority
of premeds that apply to medical school each year fail to get into a single school.
Although a 30-40% matriculation rate may seem relatively high compared to some other countries,
there are many challenges that students in the U.S. must overcome before they can even
think about applying to medical school. As a result, the vast majority of students who
start college with dreams of becoming a physician never even end up sending in an application.
At my university, for instance, there were over 2,000 premed students at the beginning
of college, out of which only about 250 applied to medical school during their third or fourth
year. Although this doesn’t account for the students who took time off to bolster
their applications after college, the reality is that only about 10% of the students who
started college wanting to become a doctor actually applied to medical school by the
end of college. As such, by the time you reach the application stage, you’re already competing
against the top 10-20% of students. Let’s explore the reasons why so many students
fall off. The journey to medical school starts with
completing your prerequisite coursework and earning your bachelor’s degree. Most medical
schools require at least 1 year of biology with lab, 1 year of general chemistry with
lab, 1 year of organic chemistry with lab, 1 year of physics with lab, and at least one
semester of math - typically calculus or statistics. Most schools also require English, or another
writing intensive course, biochemistry, psychology, and sociology. This is the first reason that
many students never apply to medical school. Completing your medical school prerequisites
takes several years as many of these courses also come with their own prerequisites. For
instance, in order to take biochemistry, you must first complete one year of organic chemistry.
But to take organic chemistry, you need to complete one year of general chemistry. And
to take gen chem, you often need to complete a certain level of math class - which may
also come with its own prerequisites. As a result, it often takes at least 3 years
to complete the required courses for your medical school application. When coupled with
the fact that medical school is another 4 years of training and residency is another
3-7 years, the long road to becoming a doctor can be discouraging for some students.
In addition to the number of prerequisite courses that you need to take and the time
it takes to complete them, you also need to do well in your classes. During the most recent
medical school application cycle, the average GPA for MD matriculants was 3.73 and 3.56
for DO matriculants. Although it’s possible to get into medical school with a lower GPA,
as we discuss in our How to Get into Medical School with a Low GPA video, the reality is
that higher GPA is correlated with higher odds of a medical school acceptance.
In addition to building a strong foundation in the sciences, prerequisite courses also
serve a second purpose - to ensure students are able to endure the academic rigors of
medical school. Physics and organic chemistry in particular are known for making many premeds
reconsider their dreams of becoming doctors. Whereas in other classes you may be able to
come back from a poor exam grade by learning the new content, these two classes are incredibly
cumulative. To succeed, you have to use all of your previous knowledge from earlier in
the class. If you didn’t learn the fundamentals well, then it can be incredibly difficult
to catch back up. These are just two examples of “weed-out” courses that premeds have
to overcome before applying to medical school. Doing well in your prerequisite classes is
also important for the next hurdle, which is the MCAT.
Along with your GPA, your MCAT score is one of the first things that medical school admissions
committees look at when reviewing your application. During the most recent medical school application
cycle, the average MD matriculant had an MCAT of 512, which is approximately an 83rd percentile
score and the average DO matriculant had an average MCAT of 505, which is roughly a 60th
percentile score. Although you can of course find people who get into medical school with
lower scores, after all these are averages and not minimums, similar to with your GPA,
there is a clear correlation between higher MCAT scores and higher chances of a medical
school acceptance. Due to the sheer amount of information covered
on the MCAT, preparing for it can be daunting. There is a delicate balance between reviewing,
learning, and forgetting information. After working with thousands of students, we’ve
found that a few months of high quality, high-intensity studying is typically ideal to do well on
the test. Ideally, this equates to about 40-50 hours of studying per week for about 3 months.
But it’s not just about studying long hours, it’s also about studying effectively. To
learn more about how to crush your MCAT, check out the Med School Insiders MCAT course. We’ve
condensed everything you need to know into a single, high-yield resource - link in the
description. Another reason why getting into medical school
is so challenging is that you have to balance maintaining a high GPA and studying for your
MCAT with extracurriculars. Given the competitive landscape of medical school admissions, extracurriculars
have become an increasingly important part of any medical school application. Premed
extracurriculars can be broken down into three broad categories: clinical, research, and
personal. Clinical exposure demonstrates to admissions
committees that you understand what it means to be a physician. This includes things like
volunteering at the hospital, going on an international medical trip, shadowing physicians,
and medical scribing. To be a competitive applicant, we recommend having between 150
and 200 hours of volunteer work, at least 20-30 hours of physician shadowing, and 30-40
hours of patient exposure. The trick with gaining clinical exposure,
or any extracurricular for that matter, is consistency. It’s better to do a couple
hours per week of volunteer work for several years than it is to try to load up on volunteer
work close to application season. Not only is it much more sustainable for you, but it
also comes across more positively to admissions committees as it makes your involvement in
volunteer work appear more genuine. Next is research. Research is foundational
to the field of medicine and is what allows us to continuously expand our medical knowledge
and improve patient care. It can be broken down broadly into two categories: basic research
and clinical research. Basic science research typically involves bench work including pipetting,
PCR, Western Blots and other microbiology techniques. On the other hand, clinical research
is not done at a bench in a lab, but rather involves patients - either through direct
interaction, database analysis, or chart reviews. Clinical research generally has a faster turnaround
time but is also sometimes considered to have less weight or to be easier than basic science
research. That being said, the type of research you do is not nearly as important as getting
research exposure. For research, we recommend 200 hours or more to be a highly competitive
applicant. Lastly, there are personal extracurriculars.
As the name suggests, these should be personally relevant and unique to you. Do what makes
you happy. Back when I was in college, I competed on a dance team, took on leadership roles
in digital art and graphic design, and regularly lifted weights during my downtime. Make time
for your personal extracurriculars and don’t just focus on doing research or gaining clinical
experience. Your hobbies will help you deal with stress, allow you to create lasting friendships,
and will ultimately keep you sane. In addition, they’ll help you stand out to admissions
committees by making your application unique and memorable. For example, adcoms loved talking
about my dancing during interviews. The final reason why getting into medical
school is so difficult is the medical school application process. First, there are many
different components to the medical school application, and each one can make or break
your application. Your personal statement is a 5,300 character
essay answering the question “why do you want to go to medical school and become a
doctor?” It’s your chance to show admissions committees who you are deep down, beyond your
grades. That being said, creating an effective personal statement is no easy task. It often
takes months of writing, rewriting, editing, and revising to create a stand out personal
statement. You’ll also want to have many people read your personal statement and provide
feedback - especially those who have been through the medical school application process
and know what admissions committees are looking for.
Next there are your letters of recommendation. At a bare minimum, you’ll need three letters
– two from science professors and one from a non-science professor. Just like with your
personal statement, a poor or even lukewarm letter can break an otherwise stellar application.
What makes getting strong letters of recommendation so difficult isn’t just asking for them
and getting them submitted on time. What makes it so challenging is building strong relationships
with your professors and mentors during college so that they're able to write you a strong
letter. This is something that you need to work at throughout undergrad. The last thing
you want to do is scramble to find people willing to write you a letter at the last
minute. Next is the application itself which consists
of filling out the AMCAS for MD schools, the AACOMAS for DO schools, or the TMDSAS for
Texas medical schools. First, you’ll submit your primary application which includes your
GPA, MCAT, extracurriculars, personal statement, and letters of recommendation, among other
information. After that, you’ll need to fill out secondary applications which consist
of many short essays that need to be submitted on a tight deadline. If you can make it through
your primaries and secondaries, however, you may be rewarded with multiple medical school
interviews. Interviews are the final step in the application
process and, for some, they’re also the most difficult. Although you can’t perfectly
predict what questions you’ll be asked, doing well on your interviews requires practice
and preparation. You’ll want to review commonly asked interview questions and start thinking
about your answers. You’ll want to practice in front of a mirror or camera so that you
can dial in your body language and tone. And you’ll want to complete mock interviews
with people who have been on the other side of the table and can tell you what admissions
committees are looking for. As you can see, getting into medical school
is no easy feat. The pathway is arduous with complexities, nuances, and roadblocks that
can stop even the most ambitious of premedical students.
If your dream is to become a doctor, you want help from trusted experts who can elevate
your application, help you get into your dream school, and make you so compelling as an applicant
that schools fight over you and try to win you over by covering your tuition and living
expenses. As you look at resources and companies to
work with, seek out those who are actual M.D. physicians, and be careful since there are
some that mislead you into thinking they are physicians when they’re actually PhD’s.
Look for those who have achieved stellar results themselves with a track record of success,
glowing reviews from customers, and a systematic approach so you know you'll always receive
high-quality service. If you decide on Med School Insiders, we'd
love to be a part of your journey to becoming a future physician. From medical school or
residency application help to crushing your MCAT or USMLE, we have a variety of services
to help you at each step of the way. And our results speak for themselves. There’s a
reason we’ve become the fastest-growing company in this space with the highest satisfaction
ratings. See for yourself and learn more at MedSchoolInsiders.com.
Thank you all so much for watching. If you enjoyed this video, then check out How to
Get into Medical School with a Low GPA or this other video. Much love, and I’ll see
you guys there.