When you’re in the thick of applying to medical school, it can feel really chaotic! You’re brainstorming for your personal statement, writing countless essays, and maybe even juggling MCAT studying on top of it all.
Once you submit your primary application, you don’t want to look back and think, “Ah, if only six months ago, when things were a little less crazy, I had done this or that, my application would have been so much better.” Hindsight being 20/20, it’s so easy to feel frustrated at that point.
I went through it all myself; I didn’t get in the first time I applied. But the second time around, I received ten medical school acceptances, which is still crazy to say, especially with a 3.3 GPA!
There were plenty of ups and downs to get to that point, and I’ve learned a lot from those experiences. So, I want to share the five things I did and highly recommend you do when you’re gearing up to apply next cycle.
This post is all about applying to medical school.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure here.
The Ultimate Guide To Applying To Medical School
How to Get Ahead of the Game Before Applying to Medical School
The fall before you’re even thinking about sitting down and writing your personal statement, starting your essays, etc, is actually the perfect time to start preparing.
I know that this season can be really busy. You might have a full load of classes, a hectic semester, or you’re working along with a million other commitments.
But I promise that all five of these things I’m about to share with you are really small tasks. They’ll take you ten minutes tops.
You can easily fit these into your schedule without too much stress. And, before you know it, you’ll be in such a better place when you go to apply six or seven months from now.
1. Choose a Weakness You Can Hyper-focus on Turning into a Strength
Take a moment to reflect on your application. Think about your strengths and weaknesses.
From that list, identify one weakness that you can work on improving. If you don’t know what your weaknesses are yet, sit down for about ten minutes and make a pros and cons list of your application.
Identify one thing you want to work on. For example, if you haven’t engaged in meaningful volunteering recently, think about what you enjoy and find volunteer opportunities that align with that passion.
In my experience, I realized that I had zero clinical experience at the time I was preparing to reapply. Although I had my EMT certification from a few years prior, I hadn’t shadowed anyone in over four years. So, when I recognized this lack of clinical experience, I made some significant changes. I quit my nanny job, leaned into my existing EMT certification, and succeeded in getting a job at AMR.
By the time I submitted my primary applications, I had nine months of clinical experience, which was incredible! Also, I was scrappy about finding shadowing opportunities. I was able to shadow a PM&R physician a couple of times before COVID hit.
So, if you’re watching this two years out and you’ve yet to fit in hands-on clinical experience, consider a resource like Advanced E-Clinical Training for free online certifications, which can make it easier for you to find a job.
But, if you’re only six or nine months away from applying, focus on finding clinical volunteering opportunities. You won’t need certification, and you should be able to find something that involves direct patient care, for example, taking blood pressure.
Now, finding shadowing opportunities can be tough, but don’t let that deter you! If you need shadowing hours, you can find it. You just have to be persistent and resourceful.
2. Make a New Habit to Listen to This Podcast
You absolutely have to check out my favorite podcast ever, which I tell everyone about. I know I’m such a nerd, but I think it’s just amazing! It’s called “All Access Med School Admissions,” and the podcast features an admissions committee member from Case Western’s medical school who interviews a bunch of different admissions committees at other medical schools.
They spend the entire hour discussing what applicants can do to be successful when applying, what successful applicants look like, and what they specifically look for in personal statements. Just gold – it’s the best podcast ever!
Please start listening to it now. Incorporate it into your daily routine, especially during your commute a few times a week. And then, back to my first tip of making a strengths and weaknesses list; if you’re unsure about your weaknesses, this podcast will give you excellent insights and ideas you might not have considered before. You’ll probably end up saying, “Oh, they’re looking for that,” or “I hadn’t thought of that!”
3. Make Sure You Know How Much Applying to Medical School is Going to Cost
For those of you responsible for your finances as you transition into medical school, be aware that applying to medical school and everything that goes with it can add up pretty quickly!
So, unless you’re in a situation where a parent is covering all the expenses and you don’t have to worry about it, it’s better to be ready ahead of time so you won’t be caught off guard and you can give yourself a chance to plan and save.
Instead of getting into the nitty gritty of every fee and expense right here, see my blog post that breaks down all the costs involved. Knowing the costs upfront will help you prepare better, so don’t leave this to the last minute.
4. Start a Journaling Practice Now (to Refer to Later When You’re Writing Your Essays)
One of the best things you can do right now is to start journaling because you will be amazed at how often you look back on what you wrote when it’s time to write your essays.
Working on your personal stories into your essays is super important, but it can be tough to recall those stories if you haven’t made an effort to capture them. That’s why I suggest starting a daily journaling habit. When you finally sit down to hammer out your personal statement or your secondary essays, you’ll thank yourself for having this material ready to go.
I’ve compiled a list of 21 journaling prompts to make it super easy for you. Each day, when you come home from your extracurriculars, take just 10 minutes to pull up a prompt, reflect on your day, and jot down a couple of sentences. Over time, you’ll build a bank of experiences to draw from later.
Additionally, I’ve included some more reflective prompts that you can tackle once a week. These can relate to experiences from events that happened as far back as two years ago.
By regularly engaging with these prompts, you’ll gradually gather stories from older extracurricular activities, so you’re not scrambling to remember everything all at once when you start your essays.
5. Download My Premed Planner
Lastly, check out my 12-Month Premed Planner. Even if you think you know everything about the application timeline, I highly recommend you download it anyway.
Just take a quick look, and even if you find yourself saying, “Yep, I already knew that,” it’s worth going over because there’s still so much that goes into the process. Plus, it’s totally FREE!
My premed planner provides monthly to-dos for what you need to accomplish each month. By glancing at it now, you can get mentally prepared for what lies ahead. And it conveniently includes all the important deadlines.
Plus, if you come across terms or concepts that confuse you like, “What the heck is the CASPer test?” Or “What’s the difference between ACOMAS and AMCAS?” you can click on the resources included in the planner.
The sooner you familiarize yourself with these things, the better. You don’t want to find yourself in May still wondering about these details or, worse yet, it’s July and you still don’t know that the CASPer is a thing.
Do These 5 Quick Tasks Now Before the Application Cycle, and Thank Yourself Later!
If you’re thinking about applying to medical school in the next year or two, do yourself a solid and follow these five tips now before the application cycle starts. It will absolutely set you up for success and save you from unnecessary stress or regret. Best of all, each of these tasks are small, small, small things. Seriously, they’ll take you ten minutes tops, maybe even less!
I promise you’ll be grateful you took the time to get these done, especially when you’re feeling overwhelmed with balancing writing essays, getting back letters of recommendation, and possibly studying for the MCAT all at once.
You don’t want to find yourself down the line wishing you had spent more time on certain aspects of your application when things felt less hectic. I know I was really, really happy that I did these things ahead of time before things got so totally crazy.
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How Many Clinical Hours For Med School Do You Actually Need?
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