Applying to medical school: Lessons I learned

Hello everyone!

I know that the new application cycle has started and many of you are starting to work through the process. If you haven't started yet, that is completely ok, you have time, don't worry :)

I want to start off by saying that I am no professional and I did not get accepted to every single school or anything like that. Therefore, I will not provide you with rules of how to do things, but rather just some lessons I learned during my 2-year application journey.

Figure out who you are

This one is the most important point. If you don't read the rest of the post, just remember this. Who are medical schools looking for? There are an incredible number of qualified amazing applicants, so qualifications cannot be the only thing. The are looking for unique individuals that feel they would thrive in the medical profession. So this means a few things: 

• Unique: do not try to be like what you think the "perfect" applicant is supposed to be. I know it's cliché but just be yourself. This does mean, however, that you have to figure out who you are on a deeper level, which I will touch on in a second. 
• Feel you would thrive in this career: really think about this one. Why do you want to be a doctor? On a deeper level, not just helping people. What are your strengths? Weaknesses? How does this line of work fit into who you are and what you want in life?
• The medical profession: know what you are getting into. In order to make a strong argument that you will succeed as a doctor, you need to really know what this career entails. Not just for the admissions team, but for yourself. Do you know enough about the career, to make this important life decision? This is the point where I will tell you that it is okay to have doubts, it is okay to explore other career options, and it is okay to decide that this isn't for you. 

What I did to address these three points is just simply a lot of self reflection. The first year that I applied, I did it quite last minute, I didn't think too much about it, and unsurprisingly I did not end up getting any interviews that year. For my second year, I spent most of my summer journaling. I did it for med school, but also for myself. I journaled about everything I could think of: possible interview questions, CASPER questions, shower thoughts, or just normal things going on in my life. If anything came out in my journaling that I thought could be relevant for my applications, I just put a star beside the idea and kept going. 

I am going to tell you this was a life saver when preparing for interviews! BUT it was even more important for just discovering important things about myself. I was able to better define my identity and to see how my life experiences fit in with that identity. I was better able to choose new volunteer experiences that really aligned with what I was passionate about. It made me think more critically, and analyze situations more maturely (something that medical schools want to see, but also something useful for everyday life).  

You don't have to have fancy extracurriculars

One of the other main questions I had was "What extracurriculars should I be doing?". This one was particularly tough for me because I felt that I was behind compared to my peers. Key word here is "compared". DO NOT compare yourself to others. I know, I know, way easier said than done, but what you read on premed101 is in no way an accurate representation of what you need to be a great physician. There are a few things that helped me. First of all, it is less about what you do, and more about what you got out of it. So once again I did some self reflection. I thought about all the experiences I did do (and ended up thinking of more than I originally realized) and genuinely come up with lessons that these things taught me, obstacles I faced, and what personal growth I accomplished. Write notes on this, trust me it will really help for essays and interviews again. 

Then after this if you still feel you need to add a bit to your experience, look for things YOU actually WANT to do. If you have always been curious about research but aren't sure you will like it, try a short project and see how that goes. If you are passionate about mental health, like I was, find something you can do in that field to help people. To me it was much more meaningful to volunteer as a Crisis Textline Responder with Kids Help Phone than it would have been to volunteer at the hospital (which I was going to do but then it got cancelled due to Covid). Look for the types of things that you could passionately talk to your friend about, not the stuff you find boring and annoying and are only doing for the application. 

You don't have to cure cancer or end world hunger. You just need to figure out who you are as a person, what makes you happy, how can you contribute to your community, why it is meaningful to you, and how would being a doctor add to or expand on these interests you have. Nothing is too small or insignificant. I was part of an intramural waterpolo team, completely for fun, nothing to do with medicine. I still learned important things about teamwork, making mistakes, and healthy competition. It was still part of who I was and therefore part of my medical school application. 

Use your resources

Time is the first thing I would put here. Start early! It might be tempting to put it off and I am sure for some people that has worked, but save yourself the stress and start working on it, or at least thinking about it early. If you give the essay questions more time, you are likely to come up with better ideas. 

Effort is the other thing. Put in 100% of your effort. The first time I applied, I somehow thought just ok, would be good enough. When I didn't get in, I explained to myself saying that if only I had tried my hardest, it would have worked for sure. It was, therefore, very hard to put in full effort the next time. I now knew that I would not be able to blame laziness if I were to fail. So I know it might be scary, it might be hard, but you can do it! So reread all those 32 ABS entries for the third time, make sure they make sense, don't make the same mistakes I did. 

And finally, people. Our connections are so incredibly valuable. I thought at first that I could do it all myself, I did not need anyone. However, different perspectives and life experiences really do add to the quality of anything you do. It is okay to ask your friend for help editing an essay. It is okay to ask a physician you know for tips or opportunities in their research lab. It is okay to ask your family for help cook you a real meal as you finalize the last bits of your application of October 1st. I have realized the incredibly important role that my friends, family, and mentors played in my journey to where I am today. If any of you are reading this, thank you so much!

Live life

Don't forget to live life. This application is stressful and it takes a long time. There are months of waiting, being anxious, stressing about grades, research positions, and everything else. Follow this up with rejections and reapplication (as most applicants have to face), and you get a crazy life filled only with this one thing. You are so much more than this! You are so much more than a premed!

Do things that are simply fun. Do things that are unproductive just so that you can get some rest. Spend time with friends and family. Take courses outside of science just because. Challenge yourself in other areas. And most importantly get help if you feel overwhelmed. 

Getting into medical school is not the destination. It is only the beginning of the next phase of your journey. Try not to burn yourself out. Take care of yourself. And do not forget who you are as a person and that you only have this one life to live. There is more to this life than your med school application (although I know how incredibly consuming it can be). Trust me focusing on living life (with appropriate self reflection afterwards) will actually make you a stronger applicant not a weaker one!

Good luck everyone!!!

If you have any specific questions feel free to reach out in the comments. 

I hope this was helpful for someone out there. I am not perfect by any means, so make sure you do what works best for you. We are all unique amazing people, that will make great doctors some day :)