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  • Every year, I interact with hundreds of pre-med applicants who are eager to gain admission

  • to medical school and take the next step in their journey of becoming a doctor. Unfortunately,

  • there is a great deal of misinformation resulting in several common pre-med mistakes that hinder

  • their chances of getting accepted. Here are the top 6 mistakes to avoid, and what you

  • should be doing instead.

  • Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.

  • A surprisingly common mistake amongst pre-meds

  • is going through the application process without actually being ready. Applicants often decide

  • to apply one year, knowing full well that they may not get accepted and that they would

  • be a stronger applicant by waiting one year. But hey, if it doesn't go well, they can

  • just apply the following year with a bit of practice under their belt. Seems like a good

  • idea, right?

  • This is actually a terrible idea for multiple reasons:

  • First, and most obviously, it is a significant waste of money. When you apply to medical

  • school, you'll be using the American Medical College Application Service, also known as

  • AMCAS. This is a common application you fill out once and send to multiple schools, and

  • it's the first step in the application process, thereby called the primary application. In

  • 2019, AMCAS costs $170 for the first school and $39 for each additional school you apply

  • to. With the average applicant applying to 15-20 schools, that brings the total cost

  • between $755 and $911. But that's just the primary application fees. After receiving

  • a primary application, most schools also require a secondary app, which requires additional

  • essays, and is also subject to additional fees. There are then

  • additional fees for submitting your transcript and letters of recommendation from your college.

  • And then there's the interview process, the cost of which adds up quick between airfare

  • and lodging. In total, it's safe to say you'll spend more than $2,000 or even $3,000

  • just to apply to medical school.

  • Second, the application process is not something you want to do more than once. Certain aspects,

  • like the interview process, are particularly fun and rewarding, but most if it is quite

  • tedious. You'll be writing countless essays, handling the administrative aspects such as

  • score reports and letters of recommendation, and likely finding yourself somewhat stressed

  • during the process.

  • But lastly, and most importantly, being a reapplicant decreases your chances of acceptance. If you

  • apply and don't expect to get in, understand that next year you'll be earmarked as being

  • a reapplicant. Schools will know you applied in the past and did not get in. You'll

  • now have to overcome the additional hurdle of explaining how you're an improved applicant

  • this cycle and why you deserve a second chance, which will also require a complete rework

  • of all your essays. This is a position you should avoid if possible. That being said,

  • if you do find yourself as a reapplicant, our team at MedSchoolInsiders.com specializes

  • in finding the weak spots and crafting a compelling narrative to your medical school application

  • to maximize your chance of an acceptance. We've helped dozens of reapplicants ultimately

  • become successful medical school matriculants and we have the highest satisfaction rating

  • in the industry.

  • Now rather than applying prematurely and then expecting yourself to reapply again the next year,

  • it's best to strengthen your application and apply just once. Apply to win, and apply to

  • get in. Don't shoot yourself in the foot.

  • Tying in with the first point, I've come

  • across far too many pre-med applicants who are surprisingly nonchalant about the idea

  • of going to a Caribbean medical school. Sure, gaining acceptance to a Caribbean medical

  • school is quite easy, but there is a reason for that.

  • To get a more in-depth understanding of the pros and cons of going Caribbean, be sure

  • to first watch our video covering the truth about Caribbean Medical Schools.

  • I'll give you a hint, there aren't many upsides.

  • Rather than going the Caribbean route, we advise most of our pre-med clients to do two

  • things: first, work on strengthening your medical school application. Most applicants

  • are surprised how much can be done in a single year. And second, apply to D.O. schools if

  • you are unable to secure a U.S. M.D. acceptance.

  • For most students, I would recommend going Caribbean only after one or more failed attempts

  • at applying to U.S. allopathic and osteopathic medical schools.

  • If you were to check the application deadlines

  • for most medical schools, you'd find dates listed between October to even February of

  • the next year. Does that mean you'd be fine to apply any time before that? Absolutely

  • not. Applying early is one of the most important medical school admission strategies. Why is that?

  • Unlike college or university admissions, most medical schools follow a rolling admissions

  • process, meaning applications are reviewed sequentially as they arrive. If you are late

  • in submitting your application, many interview slots may already be filled, and now you're

  • competing for a smaller number of open spots. You may even find yourself in a position where

  • you don't make the cut for an interview, but would have had you applied earlier.

  • AMCAS opens up for data entry in early May, with application submissions opening in early

  • June. But know that once you hit submit, your app is not immediately sent to medical schools. AMCAS

  • first has to verify your application as well. If you submit early, expect the verification

  • process to be relatively quick. If, however, you wait until July, it can take several weeks.

  • My general recommendation is to apply as soon as possible, ideally within the first two

  • weeks of June. July is not optimal, but is fine in most cases. Applying in August is

  • borderline, and September would be considered too late. Of course, exceptions exist, and

  • that's something that our advisors can take a look at with 1-on-1 guidance.

  • It happens every year. A student with stellar

  • numbers, a 3.99 GPA and 99th percentile MCAT score does not get accepted. Usually, they

  • have very few interview invites, which points to poor primary and secondary applications.

  • Less commonly, they can have several interview invites but no acceptances. This points to

  • weak interview skills.

  • We had a few students approach us who were in this exact position. After working with

  • us, they didn't only get accepted, but are now attending prestigious programs. Now how did

  • that happen? It's a matter of understanding that the application is multi-faceted and

  • your numbers are only a part of the whole picture.

  • A big part of an effective and optimized medical school application is conveying an effective

  • narrative as to why you will be an excellent future doctor, an asset to the program, and

  • bring value and diversity to the upcoming medical school class. Conveying this narrative

  • starts with a nuanced and strategic personal statement, AMCAS application, and secondary

  • essays. Congruence in the interview along this narrative is also required to get an

  • acceptance offer.

  • Now tying in with the previous point, put yourself

  • in the shoes of a medical school admissions committee member. They are bombarded with

  • thousands of applications every cycle, yet they only have 100 or 200 seats to fill. Of

  • all the hundreds of highly qualified applicants, why should they pick you?

  • Imagining the perspective of someone from the other side is one of my favorite tools

  • not only for medical school and residency admissions, but even as a strategy to perform

  • better on the MCAT or USMLE Step 1. As a medical school admissions committee member, what would

  • you care about? What would concern you or make you apprehensive about an applicant?

  • What would you want to see?

  • Once you understand these principles, it becomes more readily apparent why certain elements

  • and narratives are more effective in a medical school application compared to others. Demonstrating

  • a commitment to medicine, maturity, resilience, and the ability to handle the rigors of a

  • medical school curriculum are going to go a long way in improving your odds. Effectively

  • communicating these and other traits in a nuanced, indirect, and interesting way is

  • going to be much more effective than claiming to be those qualities.

  • It's great to have another pair of eyes looking at your essay, whether that's your

  • mom, friend, aunt, or mentor. Improving your writing is never going to be a bad thing.

  • But while effective story telling and writing skills are important, they're just one element

  • of the application and personal statement. You also have to consider what admissions

  • committees are looking for.

  • Last cycle, we had a student with a relatively well written essay. The essay opened, as many

  • do, with a personal anecdote related to medicine. While what was written was completely innocent

  • and well intentioned, the physician advisor who was editing the student's essay pointed

  • out that the story used could remind some physicians of drug seeking behavior. A negative

  • association like that is something you absolutely want to avoid in your personal statement.

  • For those of you who are unfamiliar, drug seeking behavior occurs when patients present, most commonly

  • to the emergency department, with the desire to obtain pain killers. It's a massive headache

  • and not something you want your admission committee member to be thinking of while reading

  • your essay.

  • If you're a reapplicant, it's even more important to get this soft elements of your

  • application just right. The personal statement, AMCAS or AACOMAS or TMDSAS application, the

  • secondaries, and of course the interview. If you need help, look no further than Med

  • School Insiders. Our team of advisors has served on medical school admissions committees,

  • so they know firsthand how to make an applicant stand out and how to get them accepted. You

  • can learn more about our pioneering approach and why we have the highest satisfaction rate

  • in the industry at MedSchoolInsiders.com/our-method/. The first 20 customers to sign up for our

  • services will receive $30 off their purchase using the coupon code GETACCEPTED2019. Link

  • in the description below.

  • Now if you're applying to medical school this year, I wish you the best of luck. If you

  • have any video topic requests, let me know down in the comments below. My priority is

  • always providing you guys with value and helping make the journey to becoming a doctor a little

  • more manageable and a little more fun. Make sure you're subscribed with the notification

  • bell enabled, and I will see you guys in that next one.

Every year, I interact with hundreds of pre-med applicants who are eager to gain admission

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