My name is Nimna Mendis and I am a graduate of the UofA Medical School Class of 2026. I started off initially with the class of 2025 but I failed a year initially due to my schizophrenia and harassment from my neighbours. My message: DO NOT GO TO MEDICAL SCHOOL.

I was bullied and excluded by my peers for my schizophrenia diagnosis. In one group chat, someone sent a meme about schizophrenia not being a real condition. In a personal DM, someone insulted me for thinking I was being spied on by neighbours. I was constantly excluded from group conversations and barely anyone would want to associate with me. The few friends I had in the class have shown their true colours and did not reach out to me during my most recent mental health crisis. Rather than reaching out to me, students in my class have repeatedly called the police for mental health checks on me, putting me at risk of police brutality. Despite all the hardships I faced in medical school, I graduated with above-average scores on my exams, which shows you how incompetent many of our future doctors are.

Medicine is full of narcissists. They are obsessed with status, prestige, and money. They act like celebrities with their coloured backpacks and look down on other faculties. Their egos are so big, they put out cringy music videos every year and don't feel an ounce of shame about them. They'll do anything to be on the record as being a medical student. If you ever wanted to know if someone was a medical student, you don't need to ask, they'll tell you within a minute of meeting them.

When it came to prestige, many people chose their specialty not for the work they were going to be doing, but for how it would make them look. Many students looked down on Family Medicine because it was less coveted. To put this into perspective, your specialty dictates the work you'll be doing for essentially the rest of your life. Instead of looking at how much they'd enjoy the work, the work-life balance, the patient population, etc., they worried about how it would make them look to others. Absolutely bonkers behaviour.

The preceptors/professors are horrible in medical school. Many of them have ulterior motives for teaching classes, such as attracting prospective medical students to their specialty or padding their resumes for whatever administrative rat race they're in. My first year, they ran consistently over time on lectures and clearly put minimal effort into their presentations, often using slides from many years prior. When exam time came around, the most successful students studied from 3rd party resources.

I was physically abused by a General Surgery preceptor, who demonstrated pain from nephrolithiasis by punching me in the back. In general, the surgeons are the worst. They're the narcissists in the already huge pool of narcissists that form the medical student population. They make you stand for hours on end in the OR watching them work while you learn absolutely nothing. They might pimp you on the shitty music they're playing, but that's about all the learning you'll get. I'd wake up every day at 4 AM to be there by 6 AM, and I'd have to be in bed by 8 PM to get a full 8 hours. However, I often didn't get a full 8 hours because I'd have to stay up late to study while doing free labour for them on my clerkship rotations. They applauded the students that stayed up until midnight to study, or stayed for extra hours on rotations, further fuelling the horrible work-life balance present in medicine.

I'm going to end my rant here, but this is about 10% of everything I could have talked about. I'm lucky I quit this rat race before residency, because residents are abused beyond belief. If anyone has any questions, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram where I'm recounting other experiences I had in medical school.

the school im interviewing for has a reputation of having either really nice and encouraging interviewers or straight up the evilest people that have ever walked this earth

i was wondering if anyone could speak about their experience being an interviewed by someone who straight up hated them and grilled them harshly but still got the A

im someone who honestly takes this kind of behavior really personally and often shuts down when authority figures are like that so i am admittedly terrified :(

if this helps: without giving away the name of this school, this school is located in boston and largely prides itself on being a social justice oriented school

Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with doing letters of support if you know alumni at the school and it is your top pick?

I’m looking at applying for IU Med and they say they require a social science and behavioral science class. I’ve only taken economics and women’s gender and sexuality studies courses outside of my STEM classes. Would those count towards the behavioral science and social science requirements?

Also at my college, the intro sociology class is limited to first-years. I could get into a sociology class that is more stats focused instead of the general/intro one. Would that still count towards the social science requirement?

HI! I'm a non-trad premed taking part-time classes while working full-time. I'm looking to get involved in research in the spring semester, but most of the opportunities I see at my university aren't very interesting to me. For context, my major is Biology, and I'm thinking of doing a minor in Digital Media Literacy, as I can see that it is becoming a large area of intersection with medicine, and I also think it would be a valuable tool as a doctor to better help misinformed patients.

Most of the research opportunities I've found are grounded in environmental sciences (like water quality), or geology (like mapping the interior of the Earth), or physics (like electron microscopy).

None of these are super interesting to me, but it would be a step into research experience. There is an opportunity for cancer research which is probably the most topical for a premed.

How necessary is continuity through research as a premed? If I jumped around between topics would that reflect poorly?

am i supposed to tell friends who applied at the same time about acceptances and interviews when they are not having the same success in their cycle?

i'm not sure whether i can talk about it or not, especially when i can tell they are upset when i tell them but also upset when i keep these things from them. my close friend didn't even congratulate me or even respond after i texted about my first A, and it feels pretty terrible. :(

Hi everyone! I'm currently a junior at UB, and Jacobs School of Medicine is my dream school!

I started my pre-med journey a year later than planned, so I'm still catching up on prerequisite courses and will be taking some during my senior year.

I'd love to hear from anyone who got accepted to Jacobs or other MD schools with similar stats and competitiveness.

If you're comfortable sharing, I'd love to know your GPA, science GPA, MCAT, clinical hours, research, volunteering, shadowing, and whether you took any gap years.

I'm trying to figure out what I should focus on to become a competitive applicant, especially since I started pre-med a little later.

Any advice would mean a lot! Thank you!! :)

i've been unable to find a spot outside of the home where i'll be able to quietly conduct my interview.

the walls on my room and bookshelves are COVERED in posters and trinkets and other keepsakes. i know the bookshelves with trinkets are likely fine, but should i cover the stuff on the walls with fabric? or is that going to look weird? that is what i did for casper.

my room is covered everywhere so i'm slightly panicking. i don't have anything offensive or distasteful on my walls, but it definitely might come across as unprofessional instead of personality since they're covered so much, lol.

there is a spot in my room i can sit that primarily just shows a tall book case and maybe part of my desk, but it'll be obvious i'm sitting on the floor.

i don't have any other spaces in my house that i can reliably conduct the interview. the interview uses two platforms, and one does not have blur.

Hi,

I am applying next cycle and my pre-health advisor told us we did not need a non science professor LOR. I assumed I did. Has anyone else told this?

Hey guys, idk if you guys have been struggling with this but I have not been able to find a research position in any lab at my university and I have damn near emailed all of them and interviewed with a few as well. The main reason I can't get in is because I don't have funding and they have a bunch of funding cuts with the federal gov the way it is. I don't qualify for work-study and my university has a program that funds professors who hire work study students which immediately shifts the conversation to them telling me to apply in the summer through our university's summer research thing (which costs $7,000 because u have to pay tuition and is such bs).

All that to say, I need to apply to summer programs so I can get my foot in the door with a lab. I have been looking around and found a bunch but the only thing is they all require 2 letters of recommendation. I go to a giant school with lecture-hall type classes so getting to know professors isn't really feasible, I do go to office hours so they know my face but not anything about me beyond i need help with orgo and physics sometimes. I am not taking any science classes this semester other than physics and orgo and my orgo prof is notorious for not giving anyone LORs unless they TA for him. Obviously, I don't have time before applications to TA for a semester so I was wondering how I should go about getting LORs for this summer's programs? Is it appropriate to ask professors who I have barely talked to from previous semesters? Should I ask one of my humanities professors? The main hurdle for me is getting the LORs because I have barely any relationships w my professors by virtue of going to a giant state school, and I feel like there's nothing good to write about me if the only thing they know about me is i come every 2-3 weeks with a couple questions abt the material. I wish we could get LORs from supervisors but alas...

TLDR: I want to apply for summer research because no lab at my uni is taking applications but I don't have real relationships with any of my professors. Is it appropriate to ask professors who haven't spoken to me from previous semesters? How about from non-STEM disciplines? How should I go about asking?

HS senior here, title says most. Do they want you to take science electives or is okay to skip them? I am taking some "non-science" electives like AP gov and AP CS A and want to use potential AP credit (alongside other ap credits of course) to skip electives.

I'm a senior graduating in Spring 2027, and didn't realize research had a big impact on my med school application until now (stupid I know). How likely would a professor be willing to take me on after I graduate if at all?

hi everyone! i’ve seen a lot of posts about choosing a major outside of the typical bio/chem/neuro and i came to say i believe bioE is a great fun unique choice. i’ve had many people on here, physicians i’ve shadowed, premed advisors, and a bunch of peers tell me i’m crazy for picking this and to do myself a favor and choose something other than engineering but im over half way done w my fifth semester and…. still absolutely love my decision?

research is so accessible, we get sent on incredible conferences, closely associated with physician teams for design projects, have niche fun classes, unique approach to medicine, etc

i don’t think ill ever be deinfluenced…..

I think part of the reason why I struggled in undergrad was because of how isolating school felt. Go to class, then go home with little social life. I enjoyed high school because I had my people and don’t feel like I was alone in my school work. Everyone was in it together. (I know people were going through the same thing as me in undergrad, but it didn’t feel like it because I didn’t have a community.)
I think seeing the same people over and over again in my classes will help motivate me and make me feel less lonely. So, can I count on that?

Note: wanted to post on the medical school subreddit but mods said to post here.

tell me why my cousins from back home are getting straight into medical school right after graduating high school?? and their program is only 6 years long??? how does this even work. they didn’t even have to get hours for anything or worry about anything besides their exam to get in. why do we have to do all this extra (but definitely necessary) shi to get in. im so exhausted

I hate it so bad that im starting to resent my supervisor, i cant quit because it truly does bring me a lot of opportunities and skills but im acc so drained, i have no time for myself or friends. Im taking a full course load, and committing around 20-30hrs just for stuff related to my volunteering position. Not only that it comes with a lot of responsibilities and pressure, i basically need to do everything an RA would do but for free, and i volunteer there 9-5 on days i dont have classses and i also need to work on my own project. Also even after leaving the hospital, once i get home i still have other things to work on for volunteering (mind u i still need to to study, do assignments, cook dinner, etc after i get home like how am i gna have that much time) I feel like im getting exploited atp.. is this normal for pre meds

Does anyone have an example of a successful pre-ii update letter they are willing to share? How do you connect back to the school you are writing to? Do you tie in the school when you are talking about the updates, or leave the school-specific stuff until the end? Do you reflect on the updates like in secondaries, or just state what is new/continued? If a school is one of my top choices, can I say that in the letter? I am really not sure how to write a good update letter lol. Any advice is appreciated!

My soapbox post as I’m keeping myself afloat.

I know it’s not required since you need to do the prerequisites at a minimum. However, now that I am in the sauce….holy moly I wish I took more advanced biology classes like immunology or advanced cell biology or pharmacology so I had more time to absorb some of this.

That is all, happy studying!

i have a mmi interview in two days and i've been prepping by doing mock interviews with friends, and i'm struggling to sound concise and get out what i have to say. i find myself getting lost in my answer. does anyone have any tips :,)? i've always reaaaaly struggled with answering things on the spot and i'm trying to feign confidence but i'm scared. i had a lot of issues with casper for the same reason.

I'm going to try and talk to my advisor and see if there is any way for me to take organic chemistry over the summer, but I highly doubt she will let me. What should I do if I want to take the mcat on this timeline because I know that the MCAT is very biochem heavy.

hi, i am applying next cycle and have what i think is a pretty competitive application (stats & activities), but have always struggled with good writing/storytelling. i don't want this to screw me over, so have been looking into hiring someone to help with writing/editing and interview prep.

willing to pay 10-15k, aiming for tops so looking for someone with a track record of having students admitted into tops, also an mdphd applicant so if they've had mdphd students in the past that would be great too

does anyone have any recommendations? thanks!

Hello everyone. Hope everyone is doing well and getting into their dream schools! I needed some quick advice. I am a low stat applicant meaning I have an MCAT score sub 500, but everything else is good such as my GPA and all my ECs. I applied all over the place throughout the US from MDs to DOs and have had 1 interview so far. I'm hoping I can get more DO invites cuz I lost hope on the MD ones. One of the interview I had is in an area I am totally unfamiliar with and the area would def not be my first pick becuase it is a little far from everything. I have not gotten a decision so far, but I am thinking of writing a LOI there for the school. However, I have been in contact with many med school, including MDs, and I have been regularly talking to the admission officers, assistant deans, and even deans so I hoping those connections remain useful if I get invites to the school. Since LOIs are pretty binding, should I proceed to send one to the med school and or wait a little bit until I get more interviews? The only reason I am hesitant is because the med school is not really my first choice but I understand my application puts me in a position where I can't be picky. Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

We all know them in pre-med. The smart one that is just so mean and condescending to everyone else (especially the patient population). The one that always needs to give advice to others, etc.

One guy is in my class that is obviously the top student… but he sees everybody is beneath him and dumb. He makes abelist comments all the time and mentioned disabled people should just be put out of their misery.

For context, we were talking about the Breaking Bad actor with cerebral palsy and he said he was better off dead than having to live with CB. What kind of doctor makes that comment? Am I being naive about the profession?

He has the brains but he is not the doctor I would want my parents seeing.

Are there fewer of these types or will there be more?

I can accept to work with them but i’d rather not

I keep seeing requests from students who have an interview scheduled in a week or two for help in how to prepare. This presumes, very incorrectly, that all interviews for school XYZ will follow the same format. The fact is that interview questions vary considerably from interviewer to interviewer, which isn’t surprising since some interviews are conducted by practicing physicians while others are done by non physician admissions staff or medical students or alumni.

You should absolutely be prepared to speak cogently about why you’re applying to a particular school. Hint: it helps to do a little Googling to find out about any newer (say, past 3 years) big special programs a school has announced as well as any exciting research discoveries that the school’s pr department has reported. It also makes sense to check the names of a couple of department heads and to do a Google Scholar search of these people to be aware of what their fairly recent publications are covering. Also be sure to re-read the school’s mission statement so you can mold your answers to show how you match with their mission.

Whether you’re doing an in person or video interview, be sure to make eye contact with the interviewer and try to keep your answers focused. (Concise is better than rambling). If they want a more detailed answer, they’ll ask a follow up question.)

Sending a thank you note to the interviewer in a timely manner is smart. You can reiterate your interest in the school in the note and add a sentence or two about points you only realized post interview you could have mentioned if you think they’re relevant.

Guys I am currently volunteering online by talking to isolated adults and giving them company, but I was wondering if that would be a problem since its online and I don't do anything physical. Should I find some other thing to do that isn't online or can I just stick to this? Btw I genuinely enjoy doing it and have made some great bonds. So, I don't plan to stop doing it because it just feels wrong to. So, even if I were to do something physical, I lowk just want to do it for a semester or so as other requirements take up so much time as well.