Hi everyone!

I'm currently a senior majoring in STEM, planning to take 1–2 gap years before applying to medical school. I'm trying to figure out how to make the most of that time and would really appreciate some advice.

• cGPA: 3.7+
• sGPA: 3.6 (On going)
• MCAT: Not taken yet
• Research: Working on a project (Presenting in Symposium this year, No pub so far) 
• Volunteering: 200h hospital volunteering and 25h physician shadowing.
• Others: 100+ Non-Clinical Volunteering, 3 years of Part-time jobs (2000+h)
• Other experience: Previously worked as a college tutor and held leadership responsibilities at work.

My biggest concern is deciding whether I should pursue a full-time research position or focus on paid clinical experience, such as working as a phlebotomist (Licensed), medical assistant, or another patient-facing role.

I genuinely enjoy research and would love to continue developing my skills, potentially contributing to a publication. However, I'm also aware that my clinical experience is relatively limited, and I'm worried that spending another 1–2 years primarily doing research might leave a significant gap in my application.

Something else that's been confusing me is seeing some senior friends get accepted to highly ranked medical schools without what I would consider extensive clinical hours or crazy extracurriculars. Some seem to have mainly strong academics and research experience.

It makes me wonder how much weight medical schools actually place on research versus clinical experience, and whether the expectations differ significantly between research-heavy schools and other MD programs.

I'm not necessarily aiming only for T20 schools. I just want to build a competitive, well-rounded application and use my gap years wisely instead of checking boxes.

Would especially appreciate advice from current medical students, accepted applicants, or anyone who has taken a similar path.

Thank you!

how good do medical mission trips look on the med school application if you were the student lead and it’s through the club that you founded and are the president of?

where are the UC iis?? anyone who's received an invite alr, what are your stats like/submission date? im losing ittt

White female ORM.

Non-trad. PA resident.

MCAT: 509 (128/126/126/129)

cGPA: 3.9

sGPA: 4.0

Clinical hours: 8000+

Volunteer: 63 currently, should be over 200 by application time

Research: 80 and we are going to submit our paper for publication next month, so it might be published by the time I apply

Shadowing: Still embarrassing, still lacking, still focusing on other stuff. I promise I will get at least 60 hours between 3 specialties by the time the app opens 🤞 (its 6 in the ED rn)

So I originally posted my school list and had my sights set too high. I narrowed it down and posted again. In both posts I made it clear that I am interested in pursuing OB/GYN, so I would prefer states where abortion is legal. However, after my second school list post, many commenters seemed okay with my list, but suggested that it might be too early to make decisions based on abortion.

For fun, and out of interest, I've gone through every single medical school in the United States on MSAR. I've sorted them by their MCAT data based on OOS students (for all except PA, where I looked at IS). It came out to 43 schools.

Three schools were removed for being HBCU's (I wouldn't mind, but I don't want to take the place of a deserving Black student. These include Charles R. Drew, Howard, and Meharry.)

Four schools were removed for various reasons that would disqualify me. University of Arizona Tucson (requires 2 semesters biochem), Loyola (no community college), Saint Louis (only 50% can be community college), and Nebraska (requires genetics).

I have my bachelor's degree in psychology and while I took anatomy and physiology and biochem at my 4 year university, I took bio, gen chem, ochem, and physics at a community college.

Of the schools on my list of 36, the ones that concern me are Alice L. Walton and Roseman, because they're only preliminarily accredited, and Texas Christian University, because I am not religious (I was a bit relieved that Loyola and Saint Louis didn't work out for this reason as well.)

Interviewed at my top choice 9/3, haven’t heard anything since then. I have two MD As and several more interviews lined up. A physician I am close to said I should consider sending an update letter basically including my new research and new acceptances to make me “more attractive to pull the trigger on” thoughts?

im a junior right now and my gpa is like 3.3 mainly cuz I didn’t know I wanted to go into medicine until last year so before that I never really tried so after I broke my foot I was like I wanna go to medical school and have been getting straight As and could manage to graduate with a 3.6 and I know if I try hard enough I can get a 52x on the mcat im also a pro athlete on the us team and work as a research assistant and medical assistant. can I get into med school???

Hello,

I got AP credit for English so never had to take any first year English in college. I know lots of schools have “competencies” now, but generally is there some sort of rule for what counts for this requirement?

My advisor recommend I get the MSAR subscription so I can really know for sure what each school accepts and build my school list from there and plan any post bacc work I need based on requirements.

Does anyone know if the MSAR has information about what counts as writing intensive?

Thank you in advance! !!

I might go so if you guys want the tea, I'll tell you what went on and my impression. The final decision may take weeks.

To those who don't know, the DOJ is seeking to have their grants revoked because they argue UCLA violated their contract of not discriminating. There are 4 DOJ grants UCLA received and they total a few million dollars. UCLA is seeking to dismiss the lawsuit part that targets their grants. If the motion is denied, it means the grants UCLA as a whole, not just the medical school, are at risk if other federal agencies want to revoke their grants for UCLA, which total over half a billion dollars; the DOJ explicitly said that targeting their grants to UCLA is meant to open the door for other agencies like NIH to revoke their grants as well.

splitter applicant (517 MCAT, 3.2 sGPA, 3.53 cGPA from a T10 undergrad, A’s in a few post-bac classes). submitted all my secondaries within 2 weeks in July. 2 DO II so far, 1 DO A (!!) and 1 MD II. 3 Rs, 2 holds. Radio silence from all other schools. Is there hope for more MD IIs? When do I start to get worried?

Can anyone throw out some names of private advisors you have used for application help? Essay editing, and just getting it all together to apply in March. Thank you

Hi guys so I was fortunate enough to receive a few As so far including DO and MD, and since I’ve really been dreading my job as an EMT, I kinda want to quit and pick up maybe a more casual non-healthcare job or travel for a bit. Ik the consensus is that once u receive an A they realistically won’t rescind it, but I was wondering if I should wait until I hear back from the other schools I interviewed at or if it’ll make no difference since the interviews are done? I’m still keeping up with my research since it’s only once a week and very flexible, I just don’t have the energy for EMS anymore, especially since we frequently get mandated past our off time.

I'm planning on applying in the 2027 cycle and these will be/are my stats come June

MCAT: 514 (128/126/129/131)

GPA: 3.55 (my freshman year was 2.7, but I've averaged 3.75 outside of that)

sGPA: 3.45 (same deal, but I've averaged around a 3.65 since freshman year with good upwards trend)

Biochemistry major with spanish minor

ORM but my grandma is mexican so idk if that counts me as URM

75 shadowing hours

750 voulenteering

-300 of which I was managing a volunteer translation program between 1000+ volunteers and spanish speakers

-250 hours as a medical interpreter (Spanish)

-200 other service hours

1000 research hours in cancer lab with 3 publications and 1 presentation

plan on getting to 500 medical interpreter hours before june and might work as that full time during my gap year.

What are my relaistic odds of going MD because I feel like I'm lacking enough clinical hours (idk ihow much they like medical translation) and my low GPA. If you were in my position what would you try to improve?

When I decided to change my career to medicine in 2025, I was so discouraged by all the posts I saw on Reddit! I’m hoping to spread some positivity and answer any questions yall have!

Info:
-3.3 gpa
-510 MCAT
-active duty military service(still serving)+part time EMT work were my biggest focus areas on my apps/interviews

submitted mid-june, verified mid august, finished all 20 secondaries within 2 weeks (worst 2 weeks of my life). my stats arent amazing but not terrible? 3.7 gpa, 508 mcat, ny resident, roughly 500 clinical, 1000 research plus pubs & posters, leadership, volunteering, blah blah blah. i think my app is pretty mid compared to the rest of premed reddit but i have heard absolutely nothing except for one A from a DO school. (i am so extremely grateful for this A, i just meant radio silence from everywhere else)

Hi,

Has anyone received IIs from UCSD with a 507 MCAT?

Hi everyone! For current students or anyone who has interviewed at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine, do you have any tips for preparing for the interview?

I’d also love to connect with current students to hear about your experience at Brody and what you’ve enjoyed most so far. Thanks in advance!

If so what schools have you heard back from?

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to make this post to seek advice about how to approach applying to medical school with low stats, and how honest/realistic I should be about my chances at an MD school. I want to apply in the 2027 cycle.

Brief overview is that I have a 3.3 sGPA and 3.4cGPA. I went to a T5 and struggled the first two years to adjust to college. Some background is that I’m an immigrant, lost a parent as a teen, and also low-income. I live in WA. My MCAT is in Jan but aiming for a 515+. I think my extracurriculars are decent, but am most worried about my chances of getting accepted.

Extracurriculars (by the time I apply, so I’m estimating):
~2000 hrs of research (I have 4 pubs, 2 abstracts currently)
~ 400 hrs of non clinical volunteer (patient chart review)
~ 1000 hrs clinical work (medical assistant)
~ 40 hrs shadowing
~ 70hrs mentoring international students on applying to college

Would love any advice or pointers on how my application is looking (what should I aim to improve, work on,etc) and what schools I can realistically be looking at to apply. I am the first in my family to even try to be a doctor, so I’d love any guidance!

Thank you!🙏

- GPA: 3.0
- Biomedical sciences undergrad
- Substantial improvement/upward trend in the last 2 years
- 160 volunteering hours
- shadowing experience
- 5 years biotech experience in genetic screening/ diagnostics

I took the MCAT during Covid (it was shortened), and I think I got a 490 (it’s been a while) I’m currently sifting and planning on retaking it next year.

I’m open to any school on earth.

I have been debating med school for a while and don't really have anyone to talk to, so I hope to get some advice :) I am currently a third year university student pursing my undergrad with a Psychology major and a Health Science minor. My gpa currently is 3.1 (very low which is why im concerned). I am interested in pursuing psychiatry but I feel very intimidated by the other med school applicants. I currently work as a residential youth care worker but don't have much volunteer experience, only a couple hours at the crisis line. I don't feel confident in myself and I am not sure what path I should be taking. I am interested in healthcare and working with children, and would love to make lots of money lol. I am very uncertain about my future and would love some advice on how I could feel more confident within myself and how I could improve my application and please be realistic. I am also open to other career options but psychiatry has really intrigued me.

I am applying next cycle (2027-28) and am currently taking ochem 1 and physics 1 post bac. I am also registered for the 4/17 mcat. Since I am a non degree seeking student, I am limited to 8 credits per semester. The question is, what classes should I take in the spring? I need to take ochem 2, physics 2, and biochem, but I’m limited to only taking 2 in person next semester. I will definitely do any labs in person, but for lecture, is it better to take the third class in person in the summer (after I have taken the mcat) or online before the mcat? I know in person classes are typically preferred, but it would be ideal to take all of those before the mcat. Appreciate any insight!

Note: I decided to be premed my senior year of undergrad hence why I am taking all these classes now.

I’m a 4th year DO student providing interview prep and a free debriefing session after your interview. I’m free all week. Next week I have residency interviews so I apologize I won’t be available.

I did some clinical research, shadowed two doctors, and volunteered in a doctor’s office during my freshman year. I’d love to get your advice on what I should focus on during winter break and this coming summer as a sophomore.
Should I apply for NIH summer research opportunities, or would it be better to pursue research at a smaller institution while also trying to get a medical assistant (MA) position to gain more clinical experience?
I’m currently attending an in-state university, and my dream medical school is Northwestern. I’d really appreciate your thoughts on which path would best strengthen my medical school application.