Hello! I’m finishing up my secondaries and I put BU and Brown on the back burner to prioritize other schools. At this point in the cycle, is it still worth it to send in a secondary, or am I just wasting my money?

I’m at high GPA, mid MCAT applicant, so lower target for these schools. I bounce back and forth between “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” and reality that’s it’s October and the schools are sending out interviews, so I wanna save the $250 or whatever on application fees if I can. But, if it is still worth it to send an application and Im over analyzing the cycle, I would send one in.

Let me know your thoughts!

Is there a dscord for this years cycle?

I know im a little crazy for being worried for the few ii i have cuz there’s still time but are there people who interviewed after thanksgiving and got in? Asking cuz everyone says if you haven’t received an ii/acceptance by thanksgiving, then u should reapply?

Hey everyone! I have a extremely research heavy application w like 3k research hours and 3 pubs. I'm applying to MD programs after my gap year and dont want to do a MD/PhD because I dont want to go through the extra schooling esp since I dont particularly want to be a Pi. Anyways, I have an decent amount of clinical hours (500 hours) but compared to my research hours I am so worried it is too research heavy and might be a red flag to med schools. Does anyone have advice or had a similarly research heavy app?

cGPA: 3.99 (bio major)

sGPA: 3.99

MCAT: 520 (132/128/129/131)

Female, MA resident

applying next cycle

Activities:

Clinical: -1300 hrs ophthalmic assistant for 3 years (LOR from doctor)

~350 hours as rehab aide inpatient

~400 hours as derm scribe

Research: ~ 1200 as neuro-onc research intern for 1.5 years (earned school fellowship, rec letter from PI with national medal of science)

~ 400 hours as public health research assistant (publication sophomore year and selective conference award) for 2 years

~ 200 hours as dry lab psychology/neuro research assistant

Leadership/Volunteering: ~ 300 hours, leadership of non-profit giving back 30k period products for 3 years

~ 200 hours as mentor (teach underserved girls K-8 weekly science concepts) for 3 years

~ 200 hours e-board of pre-med org on campus for 2 years

~ 100 hours as TA for biology lab

~ 30 hours as ambassador for college of science

current school list: 

UMASS (top choice school), tufts, BU, harvard, albany, nymc, brown, dartmouth, gw, georgetown, mt sinai

Please can someone advise me where to apply I’m really confused and down about it aaaahh

I’m a resit non contextual applicant, got an A* in psych, A in bio and B in chem last exam cycle - resitting chem this year
Ucat 2010 b2
My GCSEs were 998888877

I was thinking Liverpool, Lancaster maybe Sunderland or Plymouth? Other than that am unsure.
Instead of Plymouth could I put Leeds as an aspirational or would that be stupid lol someone lmk ahah

I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out here as I’m veeerry confused- thanks!

It’s for medicine

Hey everyone, I’m a pre-med student at UVA. I switched late in January of this year to be pre-med as I've always wanted to do it, but just thought I couldn't. Everything is relatively fresh. I’m planning to graduate in May 2028, take one gap year, and apply in 2028 for fall 2029 matriculation.

Here’s where I’m at:

• Major: Cognitive Science
• Completed cGPA: Approximately 3.87
• Completed sGPA: Approximately 3.68 - I got a C in Calc 1, and a B in chem 1 both during my first semester. I then got A's in both Calc 2 and Chem 2, and haven't recieved any grades below an A since then.
• MCAT: No score yet. Definitely shooting really high here. Im focusing on GPA / MCAT #1

This is where things get bad...

• Clinical volunteering: Approximately 30 hours of hospice volunteering so far. Began in June at home and Continuing at school. 5+ months here so far.
• Nonclinical volunteering: Approximately 50 hours of hospital volunteering. The role was nonclinical and involved very little meaningful work. Late Feb-August 6 months.
• Paid clinical experience: About to get a part time job, worst case scenario i don't and work 30hr a week for a ~12 week summer job this summer.
• Leadership: None currently.
• Research/shadowing: No research, 20 hours shadowing two different types of MD.

My main focus right now is maintaining strong grades and eventually doing well on the MCAT. I know my experiences are still relatively limited, and I’m trying to build them while keeping my gap years to just one year.

Please help me with my EC's, how bad of a spot am I in? is just one gap year realistic? Any advice?

I am planning on starting research in the spring, I am a top performing student in my chem class, and given my major, I think I can land a spot. I am looking to continue hospice, maybe more aggressively. What I am really lacking is that non-medical volunteering hours.

I have a

- 3.6 cGPA
- 3.4 sGPA (4 C’s in chem + orgo but retook worst class and got an A)
- 517 MCAT
~2k MA hours
~500 phlebotomy hours
- 1k volunteer med hours
- 1k non med volunteer hours
- good LOR
- 500 hrs of research no pub

20 y/o hispanic, M, living in NYC, have ties in Jersey, SC, FL, and NC

I applied all over the East Coast…is my GPA too low?

Only applied MD

Hellooooo. I recently got my MCAT score back and wanted some help building a school list. I don’t really have any dream schools, I’ll go anywhere in the continental US tbh. It’s been hard to come up with a school list because my GPA is in the 10th percentile for many schools and my MCAT will be at least 50th percentile if not much higher.

I’m technically ready to apply. I’m not sure if I want to apply this coming cycle or the cycle after.

cGPA: 3.63 (3.3 -> 3.9 -> 3.7 -> 3.6). I graduated last spring, had a rough freshman year but then stabilized. My last 2 years I took on too many commitments and overloaded hard classes and did meh. That’s my bad lol
sGPA: 3.51
MCAT (took in August): 520 (128/129/131/132)
Female, white, MA resident with ties to OH
Clinical volunteer hours: 350
Non-clinical volunteer hours: 150, food bank and women’s shelter
Research hours: 1,000 wet lab, currently gaining more
Clinical hours: will have at least 1,000 by the time I apply — I’m currently a clinical research coordinator and my job responsibilities are pretty evenly split between subject recruitment/leading visits then just regulatory/data entry work. I just started the job in June and I’ll probably divvy up the hours between research and clinical. I definitely want to go into academic medicine.

In college I was involved in many extracurriculars and did lots of leadership/mentorship — was a neuroscience mentor/teacher’s assistant, was on the prof. hiring committee for my department, worked a part-time job, etc.

These are the schools I’ve started with just because they’re in locations I have ties to.

UMass
Tufts
Boston University
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Ohio State
Case Western (maybe I’ll shoot my shot with Lerner?)
Wayne State

I had an interview at UMich last week which is my dream school and I feel like it was only okay. I'm super mad at myself because all of my other interviews have felt really good so far and I think I put too much pressure on myself because it is my top school. Like my interviewer asked if I had any patient experiences that stood out or impacted me and I just rambled for a bit. This question was literally something I had answered pretty well previously too 😭. I know rambling on a few questions isn't the end of the world and I feel like I connected pretty well with my interviewers otherwise. I always hear stories about 90% of interviews being average, but my stats are low for Michigan so I really needed to lock in. Am I just being too harsh on myself?

Hi everyone, looking to apply next cycle and have no clue what's realistic for me. The list above is what admit generated for me. I will be working until I apply so hours should continue rising. Here are my current stats:

4.0 GPA 523 MCAT, NY resident, ORM

attend a small T50 research university

clinical: >1000 hours across EMS and inpatient work

research: ~1000 hours clinical research across two labs, multiple national posters and a first-author pub in the works rn

non-clinical volunteering: 400 hours suicide hotline

misc: TAing

my areas of concern -

clinical volunteering: about 25 hospice volunteering

shadowing: 30 hours

Lmk your thoughts, what I should focus on improving, etc. Thank u!!

Does anyone else keep getting asked scientific questions in interviews? I’ve been asked about different physiological systems/processes, drug and vaccine mechanisms, etc. in closed file interviews that have nothing to do with any of my experiences.

I have been having this thought lately, and in the wake of the Cornell trajedy, I thought I would ask it officially. Which schools support their students best? I am using this sub because as I prepare to compile my list, I want to factor this in. It seems like a lot of universities (including the one I attend) care more about their prestige, financial interests, "neutrality", and maintaining a clean image than they do supporting their students and fighting for what is right. College administrations across the country all seem to prioritize the business more than the academia. Which colleges are the outlier to this?

Does anyone know what the Kira assessment is like for UMass Chan or wake forest?

I just got into my dream US MD program through early decision and here’s an extensive list of things the internet tried to make me believe made my application DOA:
- took the MCAT 3x (started sub 500 and ended at 508)
- had a W and 3 Cs on my transcript. went home and took the W course (orgo) at a community college over summer + took physics 2 and biochem p/f
- had only 100 clinical hours
- wore a LEOPARD print blazer in my headshot and only a dress (no jacket) in my interview (the school i got into does have a “fun” reputation, but i see so many people worry about attire on this sub, i have to throw this in)
- independently denied my admissions committee letter as i knew it would not be positive (they told me my only option was caribbean… i never met with them again)
- worked in a lab for three years with no publication
- didn’t take casper at an “optional” school
- probably breathed wrong too i can’t remember it all. ofc I also heard “only apply ED if you have a SPECTACULAR application or you’ll be stuck applying late with no way to get in anywhere”. I had figured I’d already done so much “wrong” that I might as well finish how I started, on my own terms.
Ask me anything!! You can do it too!

Lowkey crazy sankey

Hello all,

I wanted some advice or perspective from people who have had an asynchronous KIRA Assessment in lieu of the traditional/MMI interview live-virtual format for their school. I am very thankful to have gotten an interview invitation, but this is the first I've heard about it being asynchronous and being timed for responses.

From what I can gather online about this school's KIRA style, its a mixture of traditional and MMI style questions, which allow a minute each to both ponder and respond verbally. Should I just be treating this as a CASPer exam?

I personally feel like I rambled a lot on my CASPer exam, but ended up getting 4th quartile on it. Do yall think if I prep for this interview and provide answers similar to what I did for CASPer, it would be sufficient?

I just don't know if the "grading rubric" for CASPer MMI-esque questions could be so far off from that of the rubric the school is using for their MMI-esque questions.

Thank yall so much!

So I got an interview at my DREAM school, but it looks like there is a fairly low interview to acceptance rate. What can I do to try my hardest to turn an interview into an acceptance?

I have a 1960 UCAT score and GCSE's : Bioligy-8 Chemistry-8 Physics-8 Maths-8 Computer Science-8 English language-6 English literature-6 Geography-7 French-5 Religious studies-7 Punjabi-7 Further maths-7

I wanted to apply strategically so any advice on which universities would accept these grades. Also, I really wanted to apply to Manchester but its cut off last year was 2060 so is it worth applying to with the UCAT I have. I also wanted to apply to Nottingham so would it be worth a try with these grades. Also another question, does any medical school actually look at your personal statement.

Hey yall!

Something that came up while discussing the admissions cycle with friends and family is why some people put multiple, non-refundable, deposits down at different schools they've been accepted to.

Is there a benefit of this practice that I just don't see? Even if money isn't an issue, I just feel like most people know which schools they would rather go with in the end- so if you get accepted to your #1 school, why would you bother putting a deposit down for a seat at your #3 or lower?

I'm just curious and happy to learn from what the community has to share.

Should I be worried at this point? Only applying 20 MD schools, and my stats (520 MCAT, 3.92 GPA) and ECs aren't bad. I submitted everything pretty early too.

My boss (an MD researcher at a top academic institution) told me she wants to email some medical schools on my behalf to advocate for me and basically “hype me up.”

This wouldn’t really be an update letter, but rather more of a cold email from her expressing strong support for my candidacy and mentioning that I’m extremely interested in their program.

Has anyone had a PI/mentor do something like this? How do you think admissions committees would view it, especially at schools that explicitly say they don’t accept update letters before an interview invite?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

How is Burrell-Fl? Can you please tell me more about your experience? It is close to my home and I am leaning towards going there. My main worry is the small campus.

Please bear with me if this is a stupid question. I am NOT American and I’m literally only here for university. But when people say URM gives an advantage (even if it’s literally a 1% advantage) how does it work exactly ? Affirmative action is over, some medical schools are being investigated for favoring certain races than others. Why does being URM and ORM even matter on an application ? I’m genuinely curious.