Today I’ve decided to take a look at the admission process of medical school. There are several major issues when deciding on medical school and whether it is right for an applicant or not. There are some key things that one should be aware of when applying to medical school in general.
There are three major issues that usually result in the rejection of a candidate from medical school according to a US News article. Just an analysis of the applicant pools at different colleges on websites such as mdapplicants.com would give one a great impression of what is occuring in the applicant pool. The major three problems have much to do with the undergraduate experience. Extracurricular activities, grades, and which school someone applies to may determine the final outcome for a candidate.
We know that being qualified is the norm, but what isn’t explained is how often that similar candidates still get rejected. The applicant pool is fairly large, and medical schools tend to be very small. Sometimes with only 175 students admitted every year, it is easy for Medical Schools to quivel over small errors or discrepancies in an applicants profile.
Depending on the rigor of the medical school, and the rigor of the undergraduate applicant (including their alma mater), it can be presumed that medical admissions is very difficult, tiresome, and hard to understand. The days where top students only attended other top medical schools are long gone. Though things have shifted, there still is a strong commitment to priority admissions based on the rigor of the alma mater. It can be presumed that this, along with other circumstantial aspects of an application, has the ability to discourage many applicants.
In America, most applicants are happy with ability to be admitted to a medical school. The amount of extracurriculars that one takes makes a huge difference on whether or not an applicant is accepted. Furthermore, even with stellar grades, scores, and extracurriculars, applicants often have to find schools that will accept the applicants prototypical package.
This process is very stressful and very expensive. Some people resort to finding a mentor. Others find tutors for the MCAT process. A post-baccalaureate degree may allow medical applicants the opportunity to fulfill pre-medical school requirements, as well as focus on extracurrricular activities, including research, that should allow the candidate to pursue medical school.
Kyle Langlois's Blog 