Welcome to the 2025 application cycle!

You’ll be old someday whether you’re a doctor or not.

It’s one of the schools I got into and a lot of people are saying it’s not that prestigious/not a “real” Ivy. I’m just really curious like what does that even mean? I don’t even feel like prestige even matter, it’s an MD school- any MD school is a good medical school and ultimately it’s what I make of it

Edit: thanks for the comments. I appreciate it. Funny when you find more comfort in the random strangers of the internet

Hey, I vowed I would make this post if it happened, and it happened. I just got the call to my dream medical school today, a T10, after a MMI interview that I thought went so badly I was nearly in tears after it. I completely wrote myself off from this school and couldn’t sleep for many days constantly thinking about my interview answers, which I felt were so horrendous they were definitely a red flag. When I got the call today I was in total disbelief, and so shocked I thought they may have called the wrong number. Really, I’m just an average person who went to my state school and I just felt like I wasn’t the “type” of person this school would even interview, let alone accept. Add that to my self-assessed subpar interview, and I told all my friends and family that I’d be shocked if they didn’t call me with a personal rejection😂

I guess this goes to show that post interview feelings aren’t always that accurate (as everyone says but I just couldn’t get myself to believe!!!) and so long as you don’t receive the R, you’re still in the running. I hope this is encouraging to everyone still in the waiting game! Good things can happen, and I’m rooting for you!!

I’m very scared but some people say it’s not that bad and then others say it’s horrible. How did you feel about the MCAT and what tips do you have? (:

Hi,

I need a responsible adult to either talk me off the ledge or into jumping. I'm 27, got a law degree in May, and I've been working in biglaw since September. In those 4 months I've realized law school was a terrible mistake -- I don't just deeply hate my biglaw job, I think I don't want to work in law at all, or any career that involves staring at a computer all day.

Throughout high school, my dream job was OBGYN. I basically chickened out in college because it seemed too hard at the time. I was used to excelling in everything, and getting my first B in a giant chem lecture freaked me out. My English seminar professors were nicer, and the classes were easy to excel in, so I chose that route. And then I went to law school, because it seemed like the most certain route to a well-paid and well-respected career.

I liked law school well enough -- I've always loved school -- but now I'm miserable. I think I would be marginally less miserable at a public interest legal job, but only marginally -- they have new associates at my firm do a decent amount of pro bono work, and I hate that work too. I just can't sit and stare at a computer all day. I want to help people, but law feels like such a distant and boring way to do it.

I have friends in med school, and I'm so jealous every time I hear about the things they're doing. I regret my life choices so profoundly.

I'm on track to pay off my student loans in just a few months, thanks to some big law school scholarships and living well below my means now. Is it insane to think about applying to post-bacc programs now, though?

Ruined chances first semester GPA ☹️

I'm a first year student at Cornell studying engineering pre-med. I had a really rough time adjusting and I ended up getting a 2.982 first semester GPA. This is one A, one B, and three B-. Does this actually really kill my chances for medical school later down the line? Im really panicked, I'm apart of NROTC and with everything I do it's already hard to try and find med experience for clinical hours, especially since this coming summer will pretty much be consumed by training.

I have research in genetics lined up for the spring semester, and I'm planning to internally transfer to study biological sciences, but this GPA is really really giving me a lot of self doubt. The grade deflation in the engineering school is actually really bad and even though I got average I still got these grades 😭 I never wanted to believe the average GPA for Cornell Engineering is 2.7, but I really see it now.

I have family friends in military medicine, so with whatever time I get from this summer I can at least do something, but its still only half the summer. The closest thing I have right now is my job as a CPR/BLS instructor. I literally have nothing nor do I know what to do soon 😭

Im taking a liberal studies winter course so my GPA will at least be a 3.15 prior to spring semester, but I'm really nervous. I keep telling myself I just didn't know how to study, and I finally learned towards the end of the semester, but I feel like I'm just trying to cope. I got these grades now, why do I think I can get an A in the next level up..

hi all, i finally got my first MD interview (the only interview i’ve gotten so far) at a state school in two weeks. i’m feeling extremely nervous and scared, even when i try to study and practice for this interview. i’m planning to have a mock interview with my PI and a couple with my boyfriend (he’s pretty experienced with the whole interview thing). i just can’t shake this feeling of anxiety and despair that this is likely my only chance to get in this cycle. i feel like my nerves, my inability to speak eloquently and calmly, and my lack of confidence will blow this for me :( does anyone have any tips or advice that helped them overcome the nerves during their first interview? i will have anxiety medication with me, but sometimes i feel like even that isn’t enough for how i get when i have to speak for myself. i was also wondering, how accurate are the sdn interview feedback pages? are they very old? will the questions people say they got on there be a good place to start for me?

I need advice on how you guys go to the gym regularly and maintain a good diet without it negatively affecting your academics.

for my fellow applicants this cycle with no interviews, how are y’all holding up?

I’m planning to extend my MCAT prep course that just expired, study again for 3 months and retake it. Hoping I secure some interviews in the New Year but I’m gonna just start planning to reapply now 😔

Hello! This is my first time posting on this sub so plz bear with me Reading all these other people's stats, it is starting to make me feel like I have no chance against these people

I plan on applying this coming cycle Please let me know anything I could work on based off my stats!

I will be happy with anywhere I go except caribbean I do not care if it's DO, in fact, I really find the DO philosophy fascinating

ORM female

Major: Public health

GPA: 3.8

MCAT: 501😭 I am not planning on retaking

Research: NONE (trying to find research job for coming gap year)

Clinical: -Sports med intern ~300hrs as of now, planning on continuing thru gap yr-> I provide treatment for D1 athletes thru massages and manual therapy -ski patrol ~70 hrs, again I am planning on continuing through gap year-> basically EMT on skis

Shadowing: ~60 hrs at ER

Nonclinical volunteer: Boxing instructor ~50hrs, planning on continuing

Extracurriculars: School's boxing club 1500+ hrs, will continue-> training everyday for competitions (captain this yr, president last yr)

Work: 10 hrs/ wk as steak house server

So I am applying this upcoming cycle and wanted to put my app summary on here to gauge yalls idea on if I have a shot at getting accepted.

ORM TX resident

Gonna take the MCAT in Jan and based on full lengths I am predicting a 512-515 (I am underestimating to account for nervousness etc).

GPA: 3.89

Volunteering: around 380 (native habitat restoration, food bank, hospital)

Research: around 600 hours with 2 poster presentations

Clinical Hours: around 750 hours working in a nephrology clinic + around 50 hours volunteering as a scribe at non profit clinic

Shadowing: around 70 hours in nephrology and ophthalmology (gonna get some more in during spring break).

Other ECs that are meaningful: Worked as 1 of 8 Eco Representatives at my uni (was in charge of zero waste initiatives), I'm a certified Texas Master Naturalist, President of UNICEF Club for 1 year (was a member since fresh yr), historian of my service sorority (active member since sophmore yr),

For reference, I am planning on applying to all TX schools plus ohio, oklahoma, and lousiana. I know for sure that 3 out my 5 LOR are strong. I am putting a strong emphasis on my interest in bridging sustainability and medicine. Also my dream school is UTSW, idk if ill ever get in but one can hope!

EDIT: since so many of you missed the point after several replies, my issue here is the pay and understaffing rampant in CNA roles. Don’t tell me I’m not passionate about something when the job barely pays my rent! You sound like a classist arsehole

I am so envious of people who do pre-med in the UK and EU and other parts of the world that follow a 6 yr model from undergrad-grad for medicine. I did my CNA externship and am applying to jobs and can't stop thinking about how much I hate it. I hate the pay--23/hr in NYC to get yelled at, overworked, smeared shit on (happened several times already), and get eaten alive by angry nurses. It's exposed so much hatred towards the current healthcare system, and even if those problems weren't there, I HATE nursing!! All of the scribe jobs I see pay less than CNA ones so I won't be able to afford rent or MCAT prep, and I can't drive because I grew up too poor for it so that rules out EMT. I would rather work at a grocery store again man. I love medicine so I will stick it out but its BS that people who want to be doctors (and constantly have to explain why physician over nursing or other paths during school interviews) are forced into roles far apart from those of actual doctors.

I am a sophomore (second year). I took O chem 1, Cell & Molec and Physics simultaneously this last semester, 2 of which had labs. I got 3 Cs (I got one last semester also) and my GPA went from a 3.55 after freshman year to a 3.0. I am very disappointed in myself. My study habits and time management were absolute shit. I am worried I won’t recover and am concerned about how this will look. I know I have 5 semesters and summers to pad GPA and get it up but I just worry 😢

I was accepted to my dream medical school right before Thanksgiving and have been so happy ever since. Unfortunately, my parents broke the news today that my mom has been diagnosed with cancer. They waited until after Christmas so the news wouldn’t ruin our holiday. I’m just so devastated and I’m having a hard time processing it all. :(

The school that I’ve been accepted to is a T10 and I loved the school on my interview day. I believe I would be so happy there. Now, my main concern is that it’s 10+ hours away from home. I am so worried about being so far away while she is undergoing chemo and radiation.

I am still waiting on a post-interview decision from my in state MD school. If I’m accepted, this will likely complicate my decision as this school is only 30 minutes away from my home and cheaper but I didn’t vibe with the culture as much and is ranked significantly lower.

I am also currently living out of state for my gap year too and am wondering if I should quit my job early to spend time with my mom.

Just feeling kind of stuck at the moment and could use some encouragement.

Im not planning on lying on my EC's or anything, but if I do a lot of EC's in undergrad (volunteering, clinical, jobs, school clubs, running own club etc) will they check them all? Im kind of scared admissions would call my school and ask and theyll just be like "idk" and my work went to nothing

i have adhd and in 2023 there was a medication shortage. i had to withdraw from my meds in the start of the semester and i fared miserably due to built up dependence, resulting in b,b+ and c grades, with the c in calc 2. i have since taken discrete math with an a- and linear algebra with a b+, but the c still haunts me because it’s an explicit prerequisite. my university (berkeley) doesn’t let us retake courses we passed, but i was thinking i can bypass this by retaking calc 2 at a community college and getting an A to show competency and growth. it honestly wont be too hard for me given that i am PROPERLY TREATED now. my gpa is honestly alright as it is (3.62, not considering the 5 community college courses I already got an A in) but if the C gets replaced in any capacity i think it’ll substantially boost me to a point where I don’t think gpa will be a concern anymore. note that berkeley will not adjust my gpa for community college courses so this will be the adcom’s calculated gpa i’m talking about. should i go ahead and retake calc 2? i could also take multivar which would let me take some cool cs upper divs that i’m interested in since i’m a cs major instead. thanks!

I applied and was approved for FAP in Feb and confirmed multiple times with AAMC that all of my benefits would be available until December of 2025. As of today I can't access my benefits and I keep getting the "applications open in February" message. Is there a separate link for the awardees?

I plan to contact them on Monday but wanted to know I'm not the only one having issues.

I am an incoming M1 next year and want to start being wise about finances since I will probably be independent, taking out loans, etc. Looking into opening my first credit card to start building some credit before then. Current med students: do you have a suggestion for credit card that you have benfitted from in med school? Any bad experiences? Thanks!

Edit: please don’t comment dumb obvious stuff like “don’t charge more than you can pay”… if u don’t know how to budget thats on u lol

Hello!

I am 24F, graduated from undergrad in 2022. I have been on the pre-PA track since my sophomore year of college and have applied to PA schools for the 2024-2025 cycle. I have my third interview coming up in two weeks, but no acceptances as of yet. However, I have been seriously questioning re-applying to PA programs in 2025 and instead applying to MD/DO programs in 2026. Although I truly love the PA profession and have had great shadowing experiences with both PAs and docs alike, I have had some recent hesitations as to entering the PA profession and whether I will be happy as a PA-C.

My GPA at the moment is a 3.56. The only prerequisites I have yet to take are Physics 1 and 2 with lab, and I have also yet to take the MCAT. I have over 4000 hours of clinical experience as a Patient Care Assistant and as a Certified Ophthalmic Assistant, as well as some research experience with two projects that I have presented at symposiums. My tentative plan is to spend 2025 taking Physics 1 and 2, strengthening my GPA, and preparing for/taking the MCAT with a goal of a >515 score.

I am definitely nervous about my GPA and deficiencies on my transcript (first two years of undergrad were rough) & the fact that I took some of my prerequisites at a community college.

What do y’all think I should do? Should I continue the PA track, or make the switch in 2025? I also work full-time, so I am questioning where to take Physics and other post-bacc courses, as I know that online courses are unfavorable.

Please let me know if I am missing any relevant info. Sorry if this was long, and thank y’all in advance!!

I attend a T15 and through my uni’s children’s hospital I have the opportunity to provide educational and emotional support (tutoring, enrichment activities,etc) to the patients since their long stays make them fall behind. Additionally, I’m currently a member of a club that does weekly runs to provide care to the local homeless (e.g identifying people who need medical assistance and connecting them to med students and giving out narcan).

If I have these experiences would it still be necessary for me to do things like EMT, scribe, MA, etc? I’d prefer it if i did not have to as i can dedicate more time to my research and pursuing a more involved role in the above 2 experiences however I’d still like to be a competitive applicant.

This is a bit of a crazy thought so I want to check on here to see if anyone has advice. I've been a software engineer my whole adult life, I have a BS and Master in CS, no bio or chem. But I've been thinking about going into medical stuff for years now and really want to take a stab at it. Even if I fail, at least I did my best. Has anyone done this before? I looked through the admission page for my local med school and they suggest a list of course work to prepare for the MCAT. I'm thinking about starting with those classes at a community college. Is this the right place to start or should I talk to someone first like a career cousenlor? I've been out of school for almost 10 years now so I don't fully remember how this works. Thanks.

also do they want a committee interview?

Chances of getting in?

Background: I went and got an accounting degree, then decided to be a surgeon. (The first D1 I went to for baseball didn’t have any sciences.) Stats: 3.17CGPA 3.8SGPA 519MCAT Experiences: 5 year D1 baseball player. 300PCE hours. 5000+ leadership hours as a student athlete. 200 volunteer hours. 0 research. All while going through 3 very major surgeries of my own. Both parents having cancer and dad having a stroke and heart attack (my reasons why I want to be a surgeon). Letters of recommendation: from a well known vascular surgeon, as well as an mlb team’s orthopedic surgeon. App: plan to apply to 60ish schools. Both MD and DO Do I have a chance of getting in somewhere?