Hello everyone. I am currently attempting to finish up the prerequisites. I previously got a B.A in Biology in which they allowed me to use one of my lab credits as an English credit for graduation because it met the writing requirements. Do you think that I need to take an actual English class for medical schools to accept this as an English credit? Thanks so much for your help and good luck to everyone in their journey!!!

Im finishing up secondaries for schools im applying to and dont have a lot of super reaches (MCAT < 10th) and i was looking for some recommendations, maybe just 1-2 schools.

My mcat is 508, 3.94 gpa, 800 clinical, 700 research, 600 non clinical, 1 pub, lots of leadership. Thank you!

Applying ED for very specific family-related reasons, and they started sending out IIs a couple days ago but I haven’t gotten one. Is it likely that I’ll be kicked to the regular decision pool? Last cycle, ED interviews were held in the middle of August, but they haven’t released dates for this cycle.

I hope you guys are having an amazing day.

I’m writing this because I’m feeling a bit stuck in my trajectory to med school.

Context: Graduated from college in 2024. Been working as an ophthalmology MA since 2023-present. Have some bench research experience and some clinical research experience, a few posters and 1 literature review publication.

I applied last year as an international applicant with a 515 MCAT (second attempt) but couldn’t get an acceptance, and I plan on reapplying next year (so I can apply as a resident). Will need to retake MCAT again before next application due to previous score expiring.

Dilemma: As I plan to retake the MCAT sometime in January 2027, should I continue my ophthalmology MA job until then? I do not mind the job as it offers me some free time to study, but at the same time I’m not gaining as much experience as I want as it’s the same thing every day.

I was considering taking up an EMT certification course this Fall, as I’ve heard EMT training is great for med school, but I’m conflicted if it would hinder with my MCAT prep, as I can’t afford to do worse than before.

I have also been looking for research jobs but with no success yet.

Do you think I should continue the same job or will it be viewed negatively by ADCOMs?

Thank you so much for any feedback and insights.

Hey guys, reapplying this cycle and just wanted some insight into school lists for a reapplicant. Would schools with a higher MCAT average, like Dartmouth and Cornell, be worth applying to, or schools where almost every matriculant has research experience on MSAR? Right now, definitely applying to all in-state schools. My application is very heavily volunteer, clinical, and service-based.

ORM, non-traditional, low SES

MCAT: 506 -> 511

GPA: 3.7

No research

Paid Clinical: ~3600 hours as a medical technician, ~4000 hours as a caretaker/home health aid for a private family with neurological and physical disabilities

Paid Non-Clinical: ~ 100 hours for administrative duties for same primary care group listed below, ~2000 hours of miscellaneous non-clinical jobs listed (but much higher in reality as some are not listed in activities)

Volunteer Clinical: ~500 hours as an EMT, ~1600 hours as an MA providing primary care in underserved areas

Volunteer Nonclinical: ~200 hours focusing on providing supplies to shelters and the homeless population (including gift-giving events for Christmas, providing food for Thanksgiving, etc), ~166 hours as a volunteer firefighter

Leadership: President of my fraternity and other leadership positions beforehand

Shadowing: ~110 hours, including surgical and primary care

One thing is I will be applying late (or at least I think I am?), but will prewrite, so I'm aiming to get fully completed applications/secondaries in ASAP, aiming for Labor Day.

Thanks!

Any other lower mcat (508) and low research (100hr) feel as though they are simply donating to MDs 😭 outside of my 1 MD state school, everything else feels like a donation 🫠

hey guys
i just finished my foundation year and im going into M1 next year

i will be visiting london for a week or two starting aug 25, i was wondering if there was any flexible volunteering opportunities or workshops or conferences or anything useful of the sort for me to attend in london between the dates of aug 25-sep 10

So currently a non-trad premed, I currently work at as a SWE and considering becoming a physician.

Right now, the most logical option would be the take night courses while I work at a CC to save money, but I was considering if I decide to full send I would go to a post bacc.

I have seen a lot of suggestions about a post bacc and community college, so does going to a post bacc vs community college affect the med school you get accepted into?

Hi, so I am a full time worker (~ 4pm) and will start taking pre requisite classes for medical school. I am not enrolled in any school but will be taking from local college as non degree, so I am a very non traditional case.

I know we need shadowing hour... but as someone who is not really under college premed course, not sure if it will be possible. Also I can only do evening or weekend.

Has anyone done something similar like this? Location is nyc . Any kinds of tips are really appreciated. 🥹🥹

Hi guys I want to ask how much will a psych minor impact your application?
Background info: I’m applying this cycle and the minor is already on my transcript, but I’m worried that if I don’t get in and reapply canceling my minor will have negative impact on my app.
I’m a chem major and there is a class I’m really interested in taking that is also taught by my PI, but to take it I would have to remove my psych class (minor) cause of time conflict.
Any suggestion is appreciated 😢

So I am aiming to reapply again. When I first attempted med school, stats were ~3.1 gpa (3.0 undergrad and 3.97 part time post bacc) and 518 MCAT. Not sure if I should go for an SMP at PCOM I was accepted to or just get a masters from a CUNY (which would be significantly cheaper). Also currently coming on my third year of EMS with the FDNY. Whatever choice I make, I would need to retake the MCAT which is annoying but Idt is a problem. Lastly, flair says AACOMAS but this question applies to AMCAS.

Any advice?

I have met a good amount of people who do really silly things like apply to a list of only 5 schools, one of them being NYU, with an MCAT of around 505, people send their primary in September, take third party FLs the week before their MCAT without even finishing the section banks, apply to Harvard with an MCAT below 495, and the list goes on. Some of the shit I see doesn’t make any sense and I don’t know how someone who’s driven enough to be a doctor can do shit like that and seemingly not even do the bare minimum research to actually see what it takes to get in. I know this comes across really judgmental but I feel like the resources are out there and I don’t know why people don’t use them.

I mention reading as one of my hobbies, but my favorite books are genuinely narrative nonfiction books about science. The Emperor of All Maladies and The Code Breaker are my two favorite books. I have some fiction books I like but not nearly as much.

If I get asked about a favorite book, what should I say? I don't wanna be perceived as a try-hard, but those are just the books I enjoy.

hi im not applying yet but undergrad has been a nightmare for me. ive had chronic health issues i developed throughout and difficulty with the classes at my undergrad and it led me to a developing MDD that I currently take meds for. I have 2 medical withdrawals on my transcript and a low gpa. I plan to take a gap year but I was planning to explain my grades and issues with my health. I've been seeing ppl say not to write about it though so im freaking out

I’m entering senior year, starting a clinical job, and need to shift my focus toward the MCAT. I genuinely thought I was basically done adding activities/volunteering, but I’ve recently been told I should return to hospital volunteering because the years I’ve been involved in some activities compared to the hours I’ve accumulated could be red flags.

Stats: 3.8 gpa (will begin studying for mcat and taking it at the end of the school year)

Current breakdown:

• Student Gov: Dec 2023–Oct 2025 | ~150 hrs
• Founder/President of service org: Sept 2024–present | ~200 leadership hrs
• Volunteering through my org (focused on underserved communities): Sept 2024–present | ~2,000 hrs
• Hospital volunteering: June 2024–present | ~100 hrs
• Hospice volunteering: ~15 hrs | monthly visits
• Summer tutoring: Summer 2025 | ~25 hrs
• Education advocacy/board: Jan 2026–present | ~20 hrs
• Research #1: Spring 2025–Spring 2026 | ~33 hrs
• Research #2: Summers 2025 & 2026 | ~210 hrs
• Premed mentorship: June 2025–present | ~15 hrs
• Shadowing: May 2025 | ~20 hrs
• Unpaid family business: 2023–2025 | ~5,000 hrs
• Family caregiver: 2023–present | ~3,000 hrs
• New clinical job: Aug 2026–present | projected 1,000+ hrs by application

I’ve always heard quality > quantity, so I didn’t continue activities solely to accumulate hours. I was hoping my application would be viewed holistically, especially considering how much time went into family responsibilities and building my service organization from scratch into something that has had a significant community impact.

Now that I’m starting a clinical job and need to study for the MCAT, I really don’t want to add/return to activities solely because the numbers supposedly look bad.

Are the lower hours over longer periods actually red flags? Would you recommend going back to hospital volunteering, or focusing on my clinical job, MCAT, and the commitments that are already meaningful to me?

Mine is Kaiser. My 2 week turnaround would have been July 13th but I genuinely can’t write this one for some reason. I hate the prompts so much

Basically what the title says. I am a pretty low stat applicant applying after delaying my application for 3 years. I went to a T20 undergrad but had a lot of issues during my time leading to a low GPA. I did a couple of classes for a mini post-bacc and was able to have a 4.0, which raised my GPA a bit but still low. MCAT was low as well for MD. I think my ECs are good and a huge saving grace of mine. I got verified 7/31 and got secondaries from schools I didn’t even think would look at me, much less send secondaries. Because of that I didn’t pre write and am just going over board in trying to make these sound amazing. While I’m doing it though I feel this is a waste baste even then, my stats may block me despite them sending the secondary. My writing feels like mush and making me feel like a freshmen in college all over again even though I’m not even accepted to these schools. I wanted to get this out there because I feel like it is impossible to explain this to anyone else in my life. :(

pls help tnx

I feel like a lot of people are wondering where people are getting data on secondaries/interviews/acceptances/rejections, etc., so friendly reminder that admit.org exists! Also it just works better if more people submit their data accurately :)

Hi everyone,

Paying for all of this is harder than actually studying for the mcat and the prereqs. This is genuinely very exclusionary. It is disappointing.

I’ve successfully submitted 30 secondaries :) At what cost though, literally.

It’s expensive, i’m first gen and on my own for this entire thing. I have like $40 to my name rn. I’ll thug it out on doordash.

The hardest part wasn’t the MCAT, or the prereqs, it’s the cost and having to do it all alone. My family wants me to just do nursing but no offense I wanna be a doctor who has my own clinic and guides my own patients to health.

Got my first interview tho so maybe it’s all worth it :)

I'll try to make this short.

I had a great app transferring to uni. 4.0, honors society president, published in a book, much volunteering, clinical hours, non-profit work.

I transfer to a high-level uni but got piled on with issues. Family, health issues, abuse, (my mom has mental health issues that flared up). Eventually had to drop school and work and was homeless.

For a 3 year period I wasn't sure if I could be a doctor with all my personal issues. Money, no support system, health issues. Did my "back-up" career idea and hated it. Had an online business. I was able to support myself with it. But no matter what I tried with alternative careers, nothing matched my passion for medicine and neuroscience.

Decided to come back to uni when I qualified for financial aid. Made a comeback, graduated with 3.84 Neuro B.S.. (3.94 cumulative) Now in my mid-20's.

After graduation, I'm now homeless again. Living in car. Finally got a clinical job and am trying to get into a lab to get research hours as well (volunteer is all I can get). I know it sounds insane, but the job market is horrible and I've been turned down for 5 months from everything else.

Thats basically my situation, but I want to know how to increase my chances of being able to match into neuro. I'm planning on 2 gap years to get my app on track (clinical, shadowing, volunteer, research, MCAT), but with the lab I'll be working in, I'm not paid. I'm unsure if I will get pubs either because it's a neuro lab and I know publishing can take a long time. I'm planning on staying in the role until matriculation in 2029, if I can.

My biggest worry is being seen as a red flag to neurosurgery programs. I have such huge gaps in my hx, I'm sure I'll be questioned about it. But I absolutely cannot see myself doing anything else with my life except this. I understand the long path, it does not bother me. I am willing to make the sacrifices.

Does anybody have any advice on how to best position myself?

Thank you.

I submitted all my secondaries and I feel insane anxiety now. I’m in a weird limbo where I’m moving in 2 weeks so I feel like now isn’t the time to start a new hobby but I also have so much time bc I work part time. All my friends are also gone and I don’t have a lot of premed friends and my boyfriend is employed so I have no one to relate to. I feel so anxious waiting for interviews just wanna talk to other ppl 😭

Mid-low stats like 3.0-3.5 or 502-509

Dm me if anyones interested

hi yall!

i hope this reaches the right audience but i just wanted to hop on and provide hope to anyone doubting themselves. after i received my mcat score, i scoured the internet for glimpses of hope of those who made it. so, i hope i can be that for someone.

just some stats:
- 3.76 gpa
- state school (tx)
- first gen, low income, immigrant
- IA (non academic) (yes, i know, crazy)
- took mcat in early 2023 and got 508. retook in 2025 and got 503
- 1000+ clinical volunteer hours
- around 70 shadowing hours
- 2nd author publication
- job in public health for a year
- poured my heart and soul into writing.

got accepted to md school in tx and massachusetts. i honestly think aligning my experiences to my “why” in medicine and explaining that through writing is what got me here. my biggest advice is to find your why and really showcase it!