Applying to medical school is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires significant focus, planning and discipline over the course of several years.
Though the formal application process typically doesn’t start until May of a college student’s junior year, those with medical school aspirations should start planning almost as soon as they set foot on campus, experts say.
“In many cases, you’ll find health professions offices are advising aspiring medical students to start having a plan as early as your second semester of your first year,” says Jose Espada, director of student financial services at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
That means building class schedules with all necessary premedical and science courses in mind. “Even though you’re quite new to the university and you’re feeling things out,” Espada says, “your honeymoon is over after the first semester because that’s when you need to start putting in place some of those pieces.”
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Successful medical school applicants possess GPAs and quality experience in collecting research, shadowing doctors, publishing papers, writing grants and other practical opportunities that show a passion for entering the medical field, experts say. They also have built deep relationships with professors and others in the medical field who can write letters of recommendation, which can be crucial in the admissions process.
They do all of this while preparing for the Medical College Admission Test, commonly called the MCAT, which they typically take in the spring semester of their junior year if they plan to start med school the fall after graduating from college.
Those credentials “are not accumulated overnight,” says Jagdish Khubchandani, a professor of public health at New Mexico State University. “The first and the second year GPA has to be very high, because by the third year you are too busy with med school preparations that oftentimes you might lose a little bit of focus on classes. So at least do well in the first two years.”
It’s a lot of pressure, but so is the medical profession itself, so experts say this provides good training. Students should surround themselves with similarly focused peers, and having a target medical school start date in mind can help reverse engineer the planning, Khubchandani says.
“Two years before that, it has to be a nonstop chase, and you cannot afford to have other kinds of distractions,” he says. “You have to be at the top of your game in every aspect. You cannot have a low GPA. You cannot have a low MCAT score. You cannot just apply without good letters, without having any community research or clinical experience.”
It’s a complex process, but breaking it down in chunks and creating checkpoints can help, experts say. Here’s a month-by-month schedule to guide you through the process, starting in your third year of college.
January Through March
This is when students should be preparing for and taking their MCAT, though Khubchandani says it’s best to start studying as early as the beginning of junior year.
Because med school applications typically open in May, students should take the MCAT no later than March, experts say, since it takes 30 to 35 days for official scores to be released to schools. Taking the test in April would be pushing it to the very last moment for students planning to apply in May.
“If you get further in the process and you wait until May to take the MCAT, you just put yourself behind by a month or two,” Espada says. ” It’s very important to understand that you may have issues or you may have situations that come up that could delay you taking that MCAT. Any delay in taking that MCAT beyond April puts you in a situation where you’re now putting yourself further down the road in that admissions cycle.”
Though some schools made the MCAT optional in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, most schools still use it for admissions, Espada says. “It’s the one measure that most schools will look at first.”
May
Medical school applications through the American Medical College Application Service, also known as AMCAS, and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service, also known as AACOMAS, typically open in May and are open until August, but experts advise starting your applications as early as possible.
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May is also a good time to ensure all letters of recommendation are submitted, and experts suggest giving your recommenders plenty of time so that their letters are thoughtful and thorough.
“Regarding letters of recommendation: students should ideally obtain letters from different sources,” Pierre Huguet, CEO and co-founder of admissions consulting firm H&C Education, wrote in an email. “Medical schools usually require 2-3 letters from science faculty members who have taught the student in letter-grade courses such as biology, chemistry, physics, or other related sciences. Some schools also require a letter from a non-science professor who has taught the student in a letter-grade humanities or social science course.”
June
Once applicants have submitted their primary application, it undergoes a verification process that can take several weeks. This can sometimes start in late May but typically begins in early June.
Experts say this is a time for applicants to select the schools to which they will have their application submitted via AACOMAS or AMCAS. Programs will begin receiving primary applications for review through these services in June. Verifications are then sent out in waves throughout June.
July and August
After schools receive primary applications, they may send out secondary applications, which tend to be more school-specific, with essays and short-answer prompts. An application at a school is not considered complete until the secondary application is submitted.
“The amount of writing required to complete the personal statement and secondary essays is very substantial and requires working multiple hours per day,” Huguet says. “Students starting at the last minute risk missing application deadlines.”
Deadlines for secondary applications may vary by school, but experts say it’s once again beneficial to submit them as early as possible. Interview offers are made on a rolling basis, and dates fill up quickly, so these two months should be spent focusing on secondary applications.
September Through March
After secondary applications are completed and medical schools have all information needed, they will extend interview invitations to applicants.
While many schools do virtual interviews, candidates should also be ready to travel to schools for in-person interviews, Khubchandani says. Students should be prepared to confidently explain why they want to be a physician and describe their experiences in medicine and health care, he says.
The interview is also a time for applicants to explain any academic struggles or areas of concerns in their application, such as low grades or test scores, and talk about how they’ve grown and hope to continue growing as students.
October Through May
Medical schools decide whether to admit, reject or waitlist applicants on a rolling basis throughout the fall and spring. With holidays and other factors, applicants should be prepared for delays. It’s a long process and schools have a lot of information to filter through, Khubchandani says.
“In the meantime, students also have to keep updating these schools and follow up,” he says.
From March through May, many med schools host a “second look” weekend for accepted students, which experts say is important in deciding which school to attend. Through the “Choose Your Medical School” tool in AMCAS, applicants must formally choose a medical school starting on April 30.
Though applicants may hold more than one acceptance until May, experts say it’s best to rescind acceptances as early as possible to schools they don’t plan to attend to allow space for other applicants. Once an applicant officially accepts an offer on AMCAS, any other acceptances are withdrawn.
Candidates accepted at osteopathic schools will be asked to submit all necessary materials, including a deposit, by a certain date depending on when the offer is extended. Students must decide where to attend by May 15. After that date, “an osteopathic medical college may rescind an offer of admissions to a candidate who has paid deposits to or holds positions at multiple institutions,” according to AACOM.
May Through August
During this time, medical schools may start accepting students off their waitlists up until the day their incoming class begins its academic year.
This is also a time for applicants who have chosen their school to withdraw from any waitlists.
August and September
Classes begin for first-year students.
“Finally, you start, 18 months after you seriously start(ed) thinking,” Khubchandani says. “It’s a one-year process that becomes a two-year process if you really are serious about getting in.”
Khubchandani says applicants will do well if they follow one simple rule throughout the entire process: “What you have to do tomorrow, maybe start today.”
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The Medical School Admissions Cycle: A Month-by-Month Guide originally appeared on usnews.com
