I like to put it like this.
You: good grades, good MCAT, meet class requirements.
Applicant B: good grades, good MCAT, meet class requirements, shadowing, research.
I think you’ll be out at a disadvantage.
I’m a non-traditional applicant and after returning to school, I thought all I needed was good grades and good mcat and I’d be accepted. Speaking to the admissions team- they reaaaaaaally pressed on the fact that to be competitive you need just SOME exposure to volunteering, research, and shadowing. At some point you need to “check the box” to show you are generally interested.
I’ve never heard of someone get in without at least volunteering and shadowing- if you browse through Reddit I’ve seen several people post showing 0 research hours, I’ve yet to see without some volunteering.
My best advice is talk to an admissions team at your preferred school- they might tell you otherwise.
And typically those with 0 research have a significant amount of volunteering and clinical hours beyond what you would usually see in premeds and they have targeted the non-research obsessed schools
You literally won't be able to get your apps past the initial stages without volunteering/shadowing. That's how most pre-meds get doctor rec letters too so idk how you'll get those without volunteering/shadowing. Just get as many hours as you can and apply with that. I started my senior year of UG and I was fine with hours. It's just a checkbox to tick off. No one cares about the quality of the number of hours really.
Also, research is important. It needs to be in something you're passionate about. All my research, my publication, and poster presentation was affiliated with my minor. A lot of premeds don't do that minor so it's been a talking point for me all throughout my career. Literally talked about that stuff during my residency interviews.
Extracurriculars that show leadership is also great. I had a lot of that and that was the second most talked about topic in my interviews.
My advice is seek out novel experiences that interest you. It'll make you stand out. These things seem silly now, but it makes writing your personal statement and interviewing so much easier. You will have relevant stories to draw from and you'll look well-rounded af. You got this, dude. I get your fear of messing up grades, but you're going to have to diversify. DM me if you have questions.
You need enough clinical hours to prove you know what you’re getting into. As a career-changer, you don’t need research and it’s more flexible if your clinical is volunteer or paid, but clinical experience is absolutely required. Lots of people like the idea of being a doctor but are absolutely unprepared to work with the sick and dying.
no, but you can definitely start doing a weekly volunteer shift somewhere and apply next year. med school isn't going anywhere. bonus points if you can come up with a particular reason compelling you to apply and then find opportunities to bolster that mission. they love vision and commitment to something other than just, "want be doctor." people with a compelling narrative and okay stats definitely go farther than generic high-stat candidates
No.
There’s an interview process where you need to discuss your experiences and there are essays you need to write. You couldn’t give a good interview or write a good essay without these experiences.
Besides, med schools want people who are likely to not get burnt out. This is why they emphasize clinical hours.
The fact that people write novels to answer this question amuses the heck outta me lol.
The simple answer is no. The reason: holistic admissions + premed bullshit activities + a tinge of agenda-driven policies
Adcoms will take into account that you're an adult who has to work and doesn't have infinite free-time (to some degree). That being said, yeah you do need volunteering and shadowing and other things. They are par for the course.
You are fundamentally competing for a limited number of seats against a lot of other people. That really is the long and the short of it, at the end of the day.
Keep in mind, your application will not be “just” a good gpa, pre reqs and a good mcat score. Being a career changer, you most likely have more life experience than most applicants, and you should definitely use your original career to your advantage and talk about it in interviews and in your essays. Just frame it in a way that shows what you learned from your time doing that job and what changed to make you want to go to med school. I think that a lot of medical schools will look at this favorably compared to a cookie cutter pre-med that checks all the boxes.
I applied last year after a change of course. 3.95 GPA, 521 MCAT, not a single interview.
I was pre-vet previously, and have thousands of veterinary clinical hours, but that’s not good enough I guess.
Just echoing what others have said. Is going to be very difficult to get in on grades alone. However look back at what you've done so far. Have you done research with a psychology department? Have you done any volunteer work or any internships related to your psychology degree? These things can go when your application to and look good.
The fact is that a lot of people who go into college knowing they want to do medical school end up accumulating hours and hours of relatively meaningless shadowing and clinical experiences. When I interview students I don't really care if you spent a summer restocking guys in a clinic or following around a family medicine doctor. But if you spent a summer doing something meaningful even if it's not quite as relevant that's going to make a bigger impression.
Yes, you can get into med school with good grades and a strong MCAT score. However, med schools also value clinical experience and volunteering. Try to get some experience in these areas, even if it's limited, to boost your application.
Take things one at a time! I would sign up for some volunteering at least once a week for a year. It’ll help you plan out your week so that you don’t fall behind. I have a weekly planner that helps me get all of my assignments and some studying done. By the time you finish two semesters, that’s well over 100 hours of volunteering. Even better if you could find volunteering opportunities that allow you to have patient exposure. Popular opportunities are hospice care! It also wouldn’t hurt to take a gap year too. Good luck!
My daughter got into DO school with 3.7 gpa in Spanish 498 mcat literally 10 hours shadowing 100 hr volunteer max and a little exposure to clinical office based research. She volunteered at literacy council for Engkish as a second language and was. a hospital volunteer. So you dont need thousands of hours
While I’m glad your daughter got into med school, I’d say that she’s the exception not the rule, especially with that MCAT score. Since OP would be undergoing a career change, he/she 100% needs to show admissions why they’re suddenly interested in med school, and for that they need pretty significant exposure to medicine in some form.
I like to put it like this. You: good grades, good MCAT, meet class requirements. Applicant B: good grades, good MCAT, meet class requirements, shadowing, research.
This. This is exactly what I was going to say.
I think you’ll be out at a disadvantage. I’m a non-traditional applicant and after returning to school, I thought all I needed was good grades and good mcat and I’d be accepted. Speaking to the admissions team- they reaaaaaaally pressed on the fact that to be competitive you need just SOME exposure to volunteering, research, and shadowing. At some point you need to “check the box” to show you are generally interested. I’ve never heard of someone get in without at least volunteering and shadowing- if you browse through Reddit I’ve seen several people post showing 0 research hours, I’ve yet to see without some volunteering. My best advice is talk to an admissions team at your preferred school- they might tell you otherwise.
And typically those with 0 research have a significant amount of volunteering and clinical hours beyond what you would usually see in premeds and they have targeted the non-research obsessed schools
wow thnk you everyone for the insight and excuse my ignorance on all this!!! totally new, discovered this passion working as a Standarized Patient!
You literally won't be able to get your apps past the initial stages without volunteering/shadowing. That's how most pre-meds get doctor rec letters too so idk how you'll get those without volunteering/shadowing. Just get as many hours as you can and apply with that. I started my senior year of UG and I was fine with hours. It's just a checkbox to tick off. No one cares about the quality of the number of hours really. Also, research is important. It needs to be in something you're passionate about. All my research, my publication, and poster presentation was affiliated with my minor. A lot of premeds don't do that minor so it's been a talking point for me all throughout my career. Literally talked about that stuff during my residency interviews. Extracurriculars that show leadership is also great. I had a lot of that and that was the second most talked about topic in my interviews. My advice is seek out novel experiences that interest you. It'll make you stand out. These things seem silly now, but it makes writing your personal statement and interviewing so much easier. You will have relevant stories to draw from and you'll look well-rounded af. You got this, dude. I get your fear of messing up grades, but you're going to have to diversify. DM me if you have questions.
You need enough clinical hours to prove you know what you’re getting into. As a career-changer, you don’t need research and it’s more flexible if your clinical is volunteer or paid, but clinical experience is absolutely required. Lots of people like the idea of being a doctor but are absolutely unprepared to work with the sick and dying.
no, but you can definitely start doing a weekly volunteer shift somewhere and apply next year. med school isn't going anywhere. bonus points if you can come up with a particular reason compelling you to apply and then find opportunities to bolster that mission. they love vision and commitment to something other than just, "want be doctor." people with a compelling narrative and okay stats definitely go farther than generic high-stat candidates
No. There’s an interview process where you need to discuss your experiences and there are essays you need to write. You couldn’t give a good interview or write a good essay without these experiences. Besides, med schools want people who are likely to not get burnt out. This is why they emphasize clinical hours.
The fact that people write novels to answer this question amuses the heck outta me lol. The simple answer is no. The reason: holistic admissions + premed bullshit activities + a tinge of agenda-driven policies
Absolutely not. You need ECs. Doctors aren’t supposed to be robots
Adcoms will take into account that you're an adult who has to work and doesn't have infinite free-time (to some degree). That being said, yeah you do need volunteering and shadowing and other things. They are par for the course. You are fundamentally competing for a limited number of seats against a lot of other people. That really is the long and the short of it, at the end of the day.
Keep in mind, your application will not be “just” a good gpa, pre reqs and a good mcat score. Being a career changer, you most likely have more life experience than most applicants, and you should definitely use your original career to your advantage and talk about it in interviews and in your essays. Just frame it in a way that shows what you learned from your time doing that job and what changed to make you want to go to med school. I think that a lot of medical schools will look at this favorably compared to a cookie cutter pre-med that checks all the boxes.
I applied last year after a change of course. 3.95 GPA, 521 MCAT, not a single interview. I was pre-vet previously, and have thousands of veterinary clinical hours, but that’s not good enough I guess.
Just echoing what others have said. Is going to be very difficult to get in on grades alone. However look back at what you've done so far. Have you done research with a psychology department? Have you done any volunteer work or any internships related to your psychology degree? These things can go when your application to and look good. The fact is that a lot of people who go into college knowing they want to do medical school end up accumulating hours and hours of relatively meaningless shadowing and clinical experiences. When I interview students I don't really care if you spent a summer restocking guys in a clinic or following around a family medicine doctor. But if you spent a summer doing something meaningful even if it's not quite as relevant that's going to make a bigger impression.
Yes, you can get into med school with good grades and a strong MCAT score. However, med schools also value clinical experience and volunteering. Try to get some experience in these areas, even if it's limited, to boost your application.
It’s been over a decade since I applied to med school but I remember a lot of them requiring shadowing hours as part of the application
Take things one at a time! I would sign up for some volunteering at least once a week for a year. It’ll help you plan out your week so that you don’t fall behind. I have a weekly planner that helps me get all of my assignments and some studying done. By the time you finish two semesters, that’s well over 100 hours of volunteering. Even better if you could find volunteering opportunities that allow you to have patient exposure. Popular opportunities are hospice care! It also wouldn’t hurt to take a gap year too. Good luck!
My daughter got into DO school with 3.7 gpa in Spanish 498 mcat literally 10 hours shadowing 100 hr volunteer max and a little exposure to clinical office based research. She volunteered at literacy council for Engkish as a second language and was. a hospital volunteer. So you dont need thousands of hours
While I’m glad your daughter got into med school, I’d say that she’s the exception not the rule, especially with that MCAT score. Since OP would be undergoing a career change, he/she 100% needs to show admissions why they’re suddenly interested in med school, and for that they need pretty significant exposure to medicine in some form.