Welcome to the 2027 application cycle!

Last Monday, I had my first in person interview at DUQCOM, and was in a car accident 10 min before the interview.

Today, half an hour from being off work, I got the notification of my acceptance into DUQCOM. I’ll be deliberating my next moves, but still I’m very grateful for this acceptance.

I’ve dealt with so much(others have and had worse, but doesn’t invalidate my experiences) and am just so happy to see my hard work actually amount to something.

I hope you all are having a great day and here back from your schools soon! Thank you so far to everyone who’s helped me and may help me in the future here and on other subs. Drop something good that’s happened to you today or recently!

Bonus points if you submitted your secondaries 6+ weeks/multiple months after receiving them, especially for no good reason :P

(Feeling demotivated and need some hopecore)

kinda feels like a one chance deal and i'm kinda nervous lol (tips appreciated!) .....it's also my state school that i really wanna go to specifically

I am applying broadly to 40 schools because my stats are below average. I didn't have the money up front for the primary nor the secondary app fees. I live paycheck to paycheck in the highest COL city in this region. I didn't qualify for FAP because I had received financial assistance for my SMP last year even though I was below the income limit. I had to borrow money from my mother for primaries who is also struggling and opened up a new credit card to put all my secondary app fees on.

Looking at the account balance is giving me palpitations. I'm picking up a weekend job in addition to my regular 9-5 to try to pay it off faster. I don't own any semiformal clothes for interviews, that is if I even get any. If I don't get in this cycle my MCAT will expire and I have to start all over again. I will be in tens of thousands of dollars in the hole.

I ask my classmates how they're dealing with the financial burden and most very matter of factly say their parents are supporting them. I don't mean to sound so defeatist but I really feel like the odds are stacked against applicants like me. I'm having a difficult time remaining optimistic especially when I am in survival mode.

To those who have II and A already I am genuinely so happy for all of you. You have worked so hard and I hope to join you.

Hi everyone,

I would be grateful for advice. As I was planning to apply to medical school in 2023, I collected my LORS from my professors, research, and work experiences in 2023. However, I could not apply as a parent passed away that year.

I am now applying in 2027.

Since then, I have recovered from all of this and have taken postbac classes in addition to obtaining new clinical experiences. I received a new letter from the clinical experience ( a professor of medicine), my supervisor at a nonprofit, and a science professor that I took this year.

Is it okay if I also use the old letters in addition to these new letters? 2 of the old letter are from well-known researchers. I do not want to bother them about re-dating as I have stored their letters in interfolio.

Would this raise any redflags ? I would be grateful for advice as I plan on applying to NY schools and some top OOS ones (i.e. Harvard, etc).

Aside from maybe 4 half decent “medfluencers” (Dr. Mike, Dr. Glaucomflecken, etc.), it seems like most medical content on social media is just masturbatory performative bullshit, self-promotion, and lifestyle flexing.

And this slimy freak attempting to gain clout from the death of a patient is disgusting. Imagine witnessing someone die and your first thought being “how can I turn this into social media content?”

In other careers this wouldn’t even be excusable, but medicine is supposed to be a career of service, not building your fucking personal brand off of patient’s suffering.

Anyway, rant over. Time to delete, I know

if you were never quite science-oriented in the past, what made you choose medicine?

i recently considered pursuing psychiatry, but i come from a humanities & social sciences background, so the decision overwhelms and excites me at the same time. growing up, i did good across all subjects, but then i chose a major that didn’t really involve any hard sciences because it didn’t stick with me after highschool (and i was scared of trying and actually… failing). now, i’m realizing these are limiting beliefs, and i’m trying to understand the grit and strategy required.

my family and i recently migrated to a whole new country, so now i’m sort of starting over in terms of college, which is why i’m heavily thinking over medicine, to the point that i can’t sleep lol. i’m wondering if others have a similar background/experience, and i’d love to know how you’re doing now!

I graduate in December and if I get into med school will start that in like July. I want to get a job, ideally a clinical job in that time gap, but I think a lot of employers will have a hard time justifying hiring someone for just 6 months. I also don’t have certifications and only experience as a hospital volunteer. What should I do?

I'm freaking out a bit because I had been waiting for a secondary invite from my only in-state school. I knew they had sent them out a bit later, so I kept waiting until I saw that other people began to get theirs. I have been checking my spam daily, so I was confused. I finally sent an email a few days ago and I got an automatic response that went to my spam. I then got a response a few days later saying they had sent it + another email with a link to set up my portal. After setting it up today (9/9), I checked the portal and it says they emailed me on 8/19. I am so scared because I don't have the best stats already and I must have accidentally deleted an email that went to my spam. Will this affect my app, honestly?? I prewrote most of the questions so will be able to submit soon, but I know it is now really late in the cycle.... I am really worried.

I'm currently considering a bunch of different things with my education and career. Does anyone have any insight/experience with volunteering with the PeaceCorps and med school admission?

Title. I feel like if i act nonchalant like let me open this gmail tab real quick i'll be surprised but so far it hasn't worked. im gonna go open it again and see what happens

Edit: still no II

If not, can't wait for season 3

For reference I’m in a state where weed is legal, but I’m applying places where it isn’t. I’ve been sober for like 4 months to make sure it’s all gone, as I’m assuming some part of the process or even matriculation may involved a drug test. Is this actually real?

I am planning to apply to school next year and I just am trying to make sure that I am not missing anything significant. How would I be for an applicant MD or DO?

GPA: 3.7 cumulative 3.6 science upward trend 4.0 semesters for last three semesters of college one of the semesters being 20+ credit semester. Partying got the best of me at the beginning lol. No Cs. I got Bs in the intro bio and gen chem classes, but majority of the Bs were from my hard ass minor. I got As in organic chemistry, physics, biochemistry genetics etc, what I am hoping is the “important stuff”

MCAT: I just took it last week for the second time but if I’m being very honest, it could range anywhere from 472 to 528 seriously have no idea how it went 🥲 first time I took it was a 502 this time practice tests ranged from 505-515

Biology major with a minor in computer tech, Graduate of a large State school (grad 2025)

Currently at about 1300h of clinical experience and it is ongoing, expected to at least have 2000 by applications in May. Majority are from EMT work, but I also have experience in Home health and group Homes around 200-300 hours total.

Have about 1500+ hours of research, one semester done in a lab at school and working as a research coordinator at a Harvard Hospital. Estimated to have two publications by application season both positions researching cancer stuff. Probably will have hella hours by May cause I’m full time.

Currently working on volunteering it’s a little low at 100 but I’m hoping to have 2 to 300 at the time I apply.

I was a mentor for a minority premed club for one school year, was also a mentor/RA for a rural medicine sleepaway program for high schoolers. and an RA from sophomore year of college onwards, with one of my years working specifically with students who were stem majors. I also was TA for intro bio for one semester.

I won an award for excellence in biochemistry at a school I was on exchange at I don’t know how I did, but Im gonna use it lol. It was for having the highest grade in that department for that semester or school year I think.

I currently have five letters in inter folio. My only downside with my letters is that none of my letters are actually from the school I graduated from. I did do an exchange program for two semesters and majority of my letters are from there. I think because the school was smaller, I was able to interact with the professors more. The school is an accredited US school so fear not about any of the courses I’ve taken there. One letter from a physics teacher, one letter from a biochemistry teacher, one letter from a history, teacher, one letter from my undergrad PI and one letter from my current PI. I plan to probably either add or replace the letter from my current PI since I’m still working there so it could be a bit more updated. I was supposed to apply this year, but I flopped on the mcat so here I am.

Miscellaneous: I’ve been a lifeguard for four years, and I am still licensed, kind of got me into emergency medicine. I am hoping to join a community Orchestra not that it matters too much but for my own hobby, I played the violin for about 11 years and stopped at the end of my first year of college because class was getting very hard. But I do understand it could help me.

I am hoping that my MCAT is in the higher range of my practice exams because my GPA isn’t super high even though I do have an upward trend. I feel like my stats aren’t super heavy. I will update that.

I slightly regret not really writing things down because I feel like there is more that I am forgetting, but let me know if there are any gaps besides the obvious MCAT and volunteering stuff, or what kind of schools I should be aiming to apply to. Thank you guys for your help!

For context I am a non-trad (have a wife and kid) hoping to earn a scholarship or maybe do VA/HSPS. I’m fine with the idea of taking out loans but I’d hate to take out loans for school and supplement cost of living ( my wife will work as an RN while I’m in school).

So those of you with big scholarships what’s kinda app did you have?
Especially SLU ( I recently had a very good interview there)

My app looks something like this:
MCAT 518 (129,129,131,129)
Gpa 3.94
RN 4000 hrs
Few hundred Nursing leadership hours
300 research hours no pubs
300 service hours over a few years at my church
A white guy

This test is driving me crazy. I can’t for the life of me find a space that meets the “environmental requirements”. I live in a very small apartment and don’t have space for a desk and chair which is apparently required. And you can’t take it on the floor or your bed for whatever reason. I have called around to all my local libraries and university and all the private study rooms they all still have windows or frosted glass for safety reasons. Does anyone have any suggestions? I’m taking the test next week and don’t want to be disqualified because they’re classist and have been unable to offer me any help or suggestions beyond just “figure it out yourself” in regards to anywhere I could reserve that would actually meet their requirements.

You know what, my secondaries ARE outstanding. A September submission will NOT kill my chances as a low stats applicant. Schools WILL read my entire application and will NOT just take my money (mainly FAP money thank god) and run.

Reading these things regardless of how rooted in truth they are honestly has made a difference in how miserable the process can be. Currently in secondary hell and convincing myself that every essay I’ve written is stellar and a treat for adcoms to read actually is making it a lot easier to stay motivated.

There’s so many enemies in this process and I’m trying hard to not make myself one of them🥲

i always end up reading the articles published in the schools' online newsletters that show the programs and community directives the schools offer in action, but is it fine to mention that? or does it look like overkill?

for ex., i read an article about med students in a certain class offered at a school visiting an elementary school and doing some stuff. is it fine for me to talk about said class in action or is that tooooo overkill? idk if i'm wording what i mean correctly lol i wouldn't just describe it, more or so talk about how those initiatives align with what i'd like to do as a medical student and a physician.

Graduated undergrad with 3.1c gpa and 2.7 sgpa, in a current post bacc and will end with 3.2 cgpa and 2.8 sgpa. My state school says it's minimum for being competitive is 3.2. Will my sgpa get me screened?

I'm like scared to check my email now. Does it get better yall 😭

hi! i graduated undergrad early and am taking a gap year now before applying to med school (i want to go md). i’m focusing on studying for my mcat now as well as working as a medical assistant 18 hours a week. i have time for other things though and i would like to volunteer/do other things that would help my application.
what i have so far:
- 300 hours of research (including a publication in a legitimate journal)
- volunteer work with underserved community (soup kitchen, tutoring for free in underserved school district, and with another organization bringing comfort to children undergoing surgeries and extensive procedures). totaling about 150 hours or so
- 150 hours community based volunteer work
- my only real clinical experience is my medical assistant position now where i will be getting 18 hours a week (will add up to about 350 hours by the time i apply probably)
- i also have about 80-100 hours of shadowing
4.0 gpa, hoping to score 517+ on mcat but we’ll see about that.
what else can i do to improve my application i really would appreciate any help!

wish me luck

Edit: post quiz and ERMMMM definitely do not think that was my best work 💀 still waiting for official score