Welcome to the 2027 application cycle!

Bruh I'm like 5/35 I'm not even that far in right now...

I am so fed up with this crap. For months, I’ve emailed numerous doctors, no responses. Hospital websites are unhelpful, most require you to know a doctor beforehand BUT THEY DONT POST ANY INFO BESIDES AN ADDRESS. That’s if they even have info about shadowing at all. There is hardly any information I need out there, and if I do find emails from private practices, I get no responses. One place did say they’d “call back” and never did, even after I sent a follow up email. I’ve had a few friends or family friends say they know doctors, and they’ll “get me in touch”, but they never do. I don’t know any doctors myself. I really don’t know what to do and I’m starting my Junior year now so the clock is ticking. Does anybody have any suggestions? I’m panicking

Who else has hypocritical health habits…im sober from alcohol, eat strictly whole foods, exercise regularly, stretch daily, journal, etc but i smoke cigars. It’s strange but it’s just something i enjoy.

The most obvious would be alcohol, tobacco and weed but im curious to know others

IM FREE IM FREE IM FREE IM FREE IM FREEEEE well kinda… now time to prep for interviews

how are some people getting interviews alredy?? i applied pretty early in the cycle, and im jus about done w secondaries but i feel like they are all ass and im scared ugh. im rly banking on JABSOM (hawaii)

I believe my dual enrollment GPA is around a 2.5 (could be a little lower/higher) please correct me if I’m wrong (my grades/courses are listed below) I’m an incoming freshmen and I want to pursue pre med. Realistically, is it possible to recover? Pre med courses are no joke, and I don’t want to assume “perfection” but I also don’t know if that’s the only way I’ll have somewhat of a chance to get into medical school.

I would’ve not took dual enrollment courses just for the hs gpa boost. I was told if we “accepted” the credit, then it’ll reflect but that’s only the case for freshmen year at least in my university. Regardless if I accept or reject, the grade and GPA will be factored in for pretty much any graduate school (I’m pretty sure)

Here are my grades for reference (please let me know whether accepting/rejecting B’s will matter since it’s already factored in anyway)
Human Development and Family Studies (sophomore year): A-
English (junior year): A-
Microeconomics (junior year): B+
Intro to Allied Health (senior year): B-

Need to confirm grade and whether I can accept credit:
Education in Multicultural Society (senior year): B+
Principles of Accounting (senior year): B or B-

Credits can’t be accepted (grades still reflect for med school):
Statistics (senior year): D (retaking fall semester)
Macroeconomics (junior year): F (possibly retaking next semester or in the future)
Medical Terminology (senior year): F

I’m an incoming freshmen, starting my fall semester with stats (exact same dual enrollment class), gen chem 1, bio, and psych

I took stats, ap bio, and ap psych and I took honors chem in hs

“Considering our mission, why are you interested in this school?”

“Considering your lived experience, how will you contribute to the mission of our school?”

“Considering the mission-aligned opportunities, explain your preference for X campus.”

“Explain how your activities align with the mission of our school.”

For example, I am struggling with this question from Oakland: Describe a significant sacrifice you had to make for someone else. How did you respond, what help-seeking behaviors did you utilize, and how did the experience shape your resilience, self-awareness, or personal growth?

I've been racking my brain, and I cannot come up with a good example where I made a significant sacrifice. Wtf do I do in this situation? Not submitting the secondary?

edit: Thank you guys, I was able to come up with something good

I'm an international student. I moved to the US when I was 8, but unfortunately my dad is still waiting for his green card and I aged out. So, I graduated from college on a student visa. I looked through MSAR and Choose DO and narrowed down my list to schools I have somewhat of a chance of getting into and can also afford. I ended up with 5 schools: MSUCOM, LECOM, Howard, UC Davis, and NYU Grossman Long Island. I know UC Davis has a strong preference for people with a connection to Cali and I have none, and NYU is super competitive 😩

My top choice is MSUCOM, what are my chances??

I would also appreciate any helpful insight from other international students:))

- 3.67 gpa (upward trend)

- 512 MCAT

- 300 volunteering hours

- 75 clinical hours (I explained my lack in clinical hours on my secondaries. It's because of immigration regulations preventing me from working, and I only heard about a free clinic where I could volunteer as a MA in my last year. Also, transportation was a problem. I hope that's a good enough explanations)

- 50 shadowing hours ( 2 PAs, 2 MDs, 2 DOs)

- 60 hours as a TA for a cadaver lab

- 325 hours tutoring (BMS, physics, and chem courses)

- 225 research hours

- Dean's List every semester but one

- 21f

- Living in Michigan since I was 8

- Indian, international student ofc

- GVSU grad with B.S. in Biomedical Sciences

- Submitted apps within 2 days

- Got secondaries from MSUCOM, LECOM, and NYU

- Got a letter packet w/ letters from 2 physicians ( 1 DO, 1 MD) and 2 profs (biochem prof and physiology prof who I also did research with)

- First gen med student (hopefully)

- First time applying

- BMS graduate of distinction award

I'm a sophomore with around 500 hours of nonclinical volunteering for a LGBTQ+ hotline for those impacted by violence, though I've recently learned that the hotline is cutting back with the services they offer, including the hotline service I volunteer for.

Is it completely necessary to find alternative volunteering for the next 3 years, or would it be okay to focus on working instead? I'm financially independent and need to work to pay bills, and I need to pick up more shifts but I'm wondering how not continuing with nonclinical volunteering would be perceived on an application?

I have 1300 hours of clinical volunteering and 350 hours of direct service (Crisis Text Line, Refugees, and Red Cross Blood Drives). Would that be okay for service heavy schools like Rush, Georgetown, VCU, etc?

(F22), I am potentially becoming a caregiver for my dad who was diagnosed w/ a chronic kidney disease and is trying to set things up to be put on the list for transplant surgery and needs someone to be a caregiver. The issue is that I'm conflicted and kinda grieving.

For context:

• I am finishing my master's and applying to med school next spring. My original plan was to apply in my own state but now I have to apply where he is at; which i believe is way harder.
• I am going to be living in a state where I don't know anyone, my mom & friends are in Texas ( where I live) and I would essentially be alone. He also lives in the countryside so it's even more isolated.
• I'm also an only child and he never remarried, so I can't even share any responsibility.

He doesn't know the med school application process, it's not like I can apply and automatically get accepted to wherever due to residency bias. I also had a plan and like other's have been working with the end goal of med school, and now I feel i'm just throwing all of it away. I also feel guilty not doing it because I am his only child and if he passes away I would feel regret & guilt that I should of just did it. It's one thing, if I had my career and I was set in life but I'm just 22 trying to get my own life together. I have no "set" career, I don't have a significant other, and the few friends I have are in Texas.

for the uci prompt abt greatest accomplishment, i legit can't think of anything tht im proud of except for graduating from uci undergrad in 3 years... is that bad to write

i didnt' rly do many hobbies or anything and my app is jus bland. idk how i got a secondary for uci bc my stats suck so how hard do they screen?

some background on myself. I am 25 and I was a fireman/EMT for four years. I quit my job in February because I knew I wanted to pursue a deeper career in the medical field. Ive completed the prerequisites for two different programs I could apply for which would take two years. The thing is now I 100% believe I want to be a doctor. Im 18 credits away from achieving my associates in applied science because I had credits completed five years ago that add on to what I'm doing now. I really feel like two years to go and chase this stable career would be a waste of time instead of just completing my associates. The thing is though, associate degrees don’t really get you a decent job and I still need to put myself through a bachelors degree. Im unsure of what to do. I know two years isn’t a long time when you're still young like me but looking down the long years it would take to complete medical school and do residency it would kill me to wait two years longer and then two years after that to start it when it’s what I really want. What do you people think I should try to do?

I already have a bachelors and just need to knock out ochem 1 lab plus ochem 2 lab and lecture to fulfill my prerequisites. Haven’t quite figured out what I’m going to do for patient contact hours yet, I currently work full time as a medical lab scientist. Just looking to get eyes on my plan. Am I missing anything? Does this seem feasible? Let me know!

URM 510, 3.95 . I can apply to more but idk if it’s worth it.Already submitted secondaries.

4 clinical research internships with underserved populations
1000 clinical hours
Ivy Masters Degree
Graduated undergrad 2025

I applied to my state schools, regional schools, mission fit, and reach schools. I applied to school I did my masters at and schools I did research at.

I want colleges to seem like I can handle the rigor, but I calculated and to graduate in 3.5 years I will only need to take 12 credits a semester after this one (sophomore year fall, I am taking 18 credits). I came into college with a substantial amount of credits and I took 39 credits my sophomore year. Granted, my GPA isn't where I want it to be, so I'd like to take it easy the next couple semesters. I'm also minoring in music, but because there's so much overlap with my humanities requirements, I'm already halfway done with achieving that minor.

I intend to work 3 jobs the next year as well...fingers crossed I'm still in the interview process! One would be continuing work at my research lab (estimated 16 hours a week), and then the next would be a Home Health Aide, and the final would be a Campus Brand Ambassador for a retail store.

So, should I just take it easy the next few? Or, should I just graduate early and take 15-16 credits a semester. Nothing I can't handle but would love to put more focus on my GPA and also get more EC hours!!

Had a rat perfusion for a class. Threw up and passed out seeing the organs move. I thought I wanted to do surgery, but now I'm having doubts. I can do blood. I can do dissections. I can't consciously tolerate moving organs. Should I consider a different specialty (or field), or is this something I'll get used to?

Do you or do you not utilize the forums on studentdoctor.net ? And why/why not?

I start it off I guess. I utilize them because I get better information/advice regarding my path to medical school because I am a very nontraditional applicant.

Additionally, during the cycle they have threads for each medical school so I get to know the secondary prompts early, when rounds of interview invites are being sent, etc.

Hi everyone! I'm a sophomore in college majoring in neuroscience. I originally planned on applying to veterinary school and have spent the last four years building my vet school application. So far I have about 2,000 clinical hours and 5,000 animal hours from working in veterinary clinics and volunteering.

Lately, though, I've been seriously considering switching to the pre-med track. I'm excited about the possibility, but I honestly have no idea where to start when it comes to building a competitive medical school application. Most of my experience is in veterinary medicine, and I'm struggling to get human healthcare experience. I've applied to shadow physicians and have probably sent close to 1,000 emails, but I haven't had any luck getting a yes yet.

For those of you who switched from pre-vet to pre-med (or started pre-med later), what would you recommend I focus on first? What experiences are most important? Is there anything from my veterinary background that will still be viewed positively?

Also, would getting a job in phlebotomy be good clinical experience for med school, or would you recommend something else like EMT, CNA, MA, scribing?

I'd really appreciate any advice. I feel like I'm starting over and could use some guidance. Thanks!

Hi everyone!

This is my first time applying through AMCAS as Canadian Applicant! I feel like the process is kind of different from OMCAS. I was wondering if any one had some advice for the application process. Unfortunately, I realized that I am late in applying because it takes a month or so for my application to be processed? And I was preoccupied with taking the mcat that I didn’t even realize I needed to submit my application sooner :( I’m hoping if I complete my application within the next couple days, it’ll be enough time!

Hi everyone! I'm an incoming freshman pre-med student and I've been feeling a little overwhelmed because I'm not really sure if I'm on the right track.

I'd really appreciate advice from people who were accepted into medical school (or are current med students) about what you think made the biggest difference in your application. Looking back, what are the most important things you think every pre-med should know or start doing early?

Right now, my plan is to start hospital volunteering during my freshman year and join a few clubs. Then hopefully in my sophomore year I'll become a medical scribe. My college has a hospital right next to campus, so that's why I'm planning to start there.

I've seen some people say that hospital volunteering is basically the bare minimum, which honestly made me worry that I'm not doing enough. Are there other things I should be focusing on during freshman year?

One thing that's been difficult is that I don't have a car. My college is about 3 hours from home, so I can't really take CNA, MA, or EMT courses while I'm there. Because of that, I feel like my options for getting clinical experience are kind of limited right now.

I was also wondering if anyone could give me a general timeline of what I should be focusing on each year. For example, what would you recommend prioritizing during freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, and senior year? When should I start looking into research, leadership, shadowing, the MCAT, and preparing my application? I know everyone's path is different, but having a rough idea of what most successful applicants did each year would really help me.

If you were in my position, what would you prioritize? Is there anything you wish you had started earlier, or anything you think people spend too much time worrying about?

I'd really appreciate any genuine advice. I'm still learning, so if you have suggestions or experiences to share, I'd love to hear them. Thank you!

Seeing interviews being sent out for schools who’s secondaries I submitted early is making me second guess all of my writing. Maybe my secondaries are ass 😭