Navigating the Pre-Med Process Without a Pre-Med Office
Updated October 4, 2020
So, you’re interested in applying to a medical program and your college or university doesn’t have a pre-med office. You’ve come to the right place! Plenty of applicants get into medical school every year without the assistance of a pre-med office. How should you get started? Below are a few pieces of advice recommended by our staff:
Seek out external resources
Seeking out external resources is essential for making sure you’ve covered all your bases. There’s no one ‘perfect’ approach; it’s important that you do your research to find application strategies that work for you.
Be mindful of ‘toxic’ threads! Sites like Student Doctor Network and Reddit have great resources for you to research what MCAT study plan to use or which schools to apply to but make sure to use them with a grain of salt! For every great thread there are plenty of harmful ones. While it may not seem like it, there are tons of people who don’t have 3.9+ GPA and a 515+ on their MCAT. So long as you seek out multiple threads/perspectives, you can avoid falling victim to the ‘louder’ voices from these forums. Both Bridging Admissions and Stepping Stones to Medicine have curated a well-researched information base to answer many common questions; we’d recommend you check out our advice!
Befriend an older mentor
The best advice comes from someone who has already gone through the same process you are about to embark on. Join a healthcare professional club at your college - oftentimes older members of these clubs have first-hand experience and are willing to give advice!
Anxiety and imposter syndrome are incredibly common to experience throughout pre-med and the application process. A mentor can help you talk through some of the concerns you might be having about the pre-med process.
Research the classes required to apply to medical schools
First things first, it does not matter what you major in! Major in whatever you are passionate about; whether that means Performance Arts or Biochemistry. Either way, make sure you are on schedule to complete your pre-med courses early. If you’re eyeing a medical school, make sure you look up their specific course requirements. The Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) tool by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is an inexpensive resource ($36 for a 2-year subscription) that compiles a complete list of all courses required by each medical school. Some schools may require unique classes that you wouldn’t otherwise think of taking. Below is a list of classes that many medical schools require. Make sure you are on track!
All medical schools require: General Chemistry (1 year), Organic Chemistry (1 year), Biochemistry (1 semester), Biology (1 year), Physics (1 year), Math (Check individual medical school for levels)
Most medical schools require: English (1 year), Statistics, Humanities/Social Sciences
Extracurriculars
Which extracurriculars should I get involved with? As a general rule of thumb, schools value longevity and quality over quantity.
Volunteer! Many places welcome first-year volunteers. This is a great opportunity to get some life-experience in an area you are invested in. Google is your best friend here. Look into the websites of organizations close to your college and research their volunteer opportunities. This could be anything from local hospitals and clinics to Habitat for Humanity. Colleges and universities also often have student organizations centered around volunteering - it’s definitely worth looking into any that look interesting to you. Lastly, reach out to any mentors you may have to see what they did!
Over the course of your four years or subsequent gap years, if applicable, engage in some type of in-hospital experience. This can take many forms, such as shadowing a physician, working as a medical scribe, or joining a lab and helping out with research. It’s highly recommended that you do some type of research and shadow physicians more than once.
Lastly, but most importantly, continue what you are passionate about! If you love sports, join an intramural team. If you love playing an instrument, join an orchestra/band/choir.
MCAT studying
When should I take the MCAT? How long should I study? What’s the best study plan? What’s a good MCAT score? All of these are great questions that might generally be answered by a pre-med advisor. Unfortunately, none of these questions have direct answers. First, decide which application cycle year you are applying in. If you aren’t taking a gap year, you should aim to take the MCAT during your junior spring of college. For every subsequent gap year you plan on taking, you can add a year to when you need to take the MCAT (i.e. 1 gap year = spring of senior year, etc.). As far as length of study and study plans, it depends on your learning style. This is where external online resources help. There are countless self-study plans available online – research carefully and choose/modify plans to cater to your strengths. Lastly, there is no formula that spits out a ‘good’ MCAT score. Aim to do the best you possibly can, and go from there.
Letters of Recommendation
Since you likely don’t have a pre-med committee, you’ll have to coordinate your letters of recommendation yourself. Most schools require two letters from STEM faculty and one letter from non-STEM faculty. I also would recommend at least one more letter from someone who knows you personally. The idea behind your letters of recommendation is to create a well-rounded story of you as a person. You want to make sure you choose people who will share perspectives that will complement each other. When asking for letters of recommendations, it helps to include small snippets of what you would prefer them to expand upon. For example, you could ask one professor to expand on how well you self-advocated in class while you could ask another to write about how well you worked within a group.
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Make sure you read and review the AMCAS specifications for Letters of Recommendations. They can be sent via the AMCAS Letter Writer Application or the letter delivery service Interfolio. Include directions for how to accurately submit the letters in your correspondence with your letter-writers.
Should I take a gap year?
For some, gap years are a great time to make money, take a break from school, and gain some experience in the medical field before committing to medical school. For others, they prefer to stay in the rhythm of schooling and attend medical school straight out of undergrad. At the end of the day, it is up to you to decide what makes the most sense for you.
Where should I apply to medical school?
Again, no direct answers to this question. I would recommend applying to all of your in-state schools, and then apply to schools based on a combination of your interest and statistics. MSAR compiles every school’s 90th percentile, median, and 10th percentile MCAT and GPAs for easy comparisons. Apply to as many schools as it makes sense financially. There are also external resources on Reddit and Student Doctor Network that give guidance on which schools/how many schools to apply to. Take these with a grain of salt! Use them as a guide, not a bible.
Collin Brantner
Hometown: Farmington, CT
Medical School: Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Year: M1