how to pick a medical school reddit

For example, what did you wish you knew about your medical school that drives you nuts now? A lot of people in my class (myself included) struggle with imposter syndrome, just because they didn't beat the mean on an exam. All this "if you can see yourself doing something else, do it!" I have gotten interviews completely out of my league because of the letters I have from the well known faculty at my school. Imagine you could know exactly where to focus your time during college to maximize your odds of getting into medical school. How to Choose the Perfect Medical School. Make a shortlist that takes into account which course structure you prefer, and whether you want a city, campus or collegiate setting. But the #1 universal frustration is having tons of knowledge about diseases/pathology/etc and desperately wanting to be actively involved in patient care while having few, if any, actual practical clinical skills. If something doesn't work, fix it. Really? In today’s blog post, l will provide you with some clear guidance on how to think about and approach these questions in a personal way that reflects who you actually are based on my experience as a former medical school admissions interviewer. And those of you that chose the cheaper option, do you feel like you had all the opportunities you wanted/needed and that you were able to make yourself a competitive applicant regardless of your school? How physically demanding it is- I should've been in better shape to begin with, and had some idea of how to take care of myself (strength in lower back, etc). 100% worth it to go to the best school possible. Do you feel like the debt is just swaying your decision for residency/specialty/etc or full-out limiting your choices? I also don’t want to close doors to more competitive specialties such as derm, possibly. Press J to jump to the feed. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Wasn't just me who did well, we had other classmates who have already matched Ophtho/Uro/Military at stellar programs. What's 5 things you wish someone told you before you started medical school? I did it several times throughout med school just to see how things changed as I gained more experience. For example, what did you wish you knew about your medical school that drives you nuts now? But deciding which medical school to attend isn't as straightforward as some might suggest. As the table below shows, the number of prospective students applying to medical school vastly outnumbers the places available. You've decided that you're applying medical school - congrats! it's ok, fam. If you had that information, you could spend less time on extracurricular activities you don’t love, and more on the ones you do. If you’re here, it’s because you worked hard and dedicated your college years to study and discipline. It takes a while to get there but I'd rather do that then dispense meds all day. You can't learn from First Aid. Letters are everything particularly in a small competitive field, and my interviewers have told me as much. Some are true pass/fail for the first two years, others are honors, high pass, pass, low pass (essentially a letter grade system), while others use letter grade systems. People wonder why the STEP is so massive, it's because if it had any less content then med students would just settle for learning that much content. You can think about work life balance as being happiness , but for the most part in medicine , you'll never be unemployable. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) , more than half of medical school applicants, as well as matriculants, major in the biological sciences . You present in front of anywhere between 2 and 120 people all. Don't keep smashing your head into the same book over and over again. Q: Do medical schools have preferences for certain universities? You mentioned that top 40 is the cut-off, but I typically hear the benefits being for top 20 and especially top 10. Would you do it concurrently while taking classes? Chose a more prestigious school (top tier) that I really didn't care for at all on interview day. That's probably not too helpful, and I'm sorry about that, but I figured I would just give you my experience and let you decide! Number 4 is so important. 5- Be prepared for a lot of frustration- asshole classmates, BS exam questions, BS SP scenarios/evaluations, PhD professors with zero clinical experience teaching clinical stuff, specialists teaching material that only fellows would be expected to know, being tested on material that isn't on board exams while not being taught material that is on board exams...you get the idea. Many schools could probably choose a similarly capable cohort from among the applicants they reject. Happiness is relative. One important thing to realize is that more expensive does not equal "higher tier". *go to the cheapest school you get into because debt sucks and you don’t want to choose your residency based on being able to pay back the debt. "4- If you can see yourself being happy doing anything other than medicine, do it. I will graduate with the "average" amount of debt for a medical student. Learning about the human body is amazing. Read advice from real medical students on how to find the best fit for you. Was your choice worth it in the end and would you choose it again? New section. Literally no amount of money saved would make up for the shit I have to deal with. If you look at the most simple advice given when asked how to choose a medical school, it usually boils down to one of 2 things: *go to the “best” school you get into because you will have more opportunities and it will look good for residency applications that you went there. Our tips for choosing the right Medical School: Read through the entry requirements, course structure and teaching style of each Medical School. You can use our school-by-school pages for more detail on each one. Damn, I’m sorry you’re going through that. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Some schools … To apply to most medical schools in the United States, you will need to use the AAMC’s centralized application processing service, the American Medical College Application Service® (AMCAS®). I am a fine but not stellar student who didn't think I would ever want to go into something as competitive as plastic surgery. The end and would you suggest using FA, Pathoma, and set up. You 'll never be unemployable you go because you worked hard and your... Neurosurgeon working a few shifts a week hard that you 'll achieve a level of yourself you! Less the same decision and ultimately chose the more prestigious school ( top tier med school head into the book! 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