The Complete Guide to Being Premed at Monmouth College
Contact Information
Matthew Simonson
Biochemistry Major
Monmouth College 22'
Phone: (309)371-5673
Email: msimonson@monmouthcollege.edu
Basic Overview
This serves as a rough guide for anyone looking for more information on the long process of working towards applying to medical school. In the various sections below are links to my strategies and activities that I feel made me competitive for matriculation into medical school in no specific order. This was my journey to medical school. Many times, I had no idea what I was doing and was unsure of where I stood up until I received a couple of interviews after three years of hard work. Hopefully this guide serves as an asset to help you navigate the premed process and make connections at Monmouth College.
Getting into medical school is hard. Most people take a gap year or two, but it is possible to matriculate right after college. Regardless, you will need a wide variety of interests to show admissions you are well rounded, some of which should be clinically related and relevant in order to provide support for your interest in medicine. These experiences should be longitudinal and of high quality so that you will be able to write insightfully about them. Of course this is secondary to being academically proficient as indicated by GPA and MCAT score. It is also important to remember that you will need exceptional letters of recommendation. Keep this in mind as you develop relationships with potential letter writers.
My Experience
The Foundation
This information is ultimately going to play into where you apply or if you should even apply. Grades and test scores are the foundation of your application. If they were a part of a cake, then these "stats" would be considered the bread portion of the cake. Below are the classes I took as an undergraduate and which ones are prerequisites for most medical schools as well as my strategy towards tackling the MCAT.
I highlighted all of the classes I took as an undergraduate and differentiated which ones served as my Biochemistry major requirements and Liberal Arts education requirements and which ones satisfied prerequisites for medical school.
The sole purpose of the MCAT is to show you have critical thinking capabilities that extend upon being a good student (evident by a high GPA). The MCAT also serves as a reliable way to compare students who attended different institutions by using their standardized test scores. Hopefully looking at my strategy will help you personalize and organize how to prepare for such a stressful test.
Why you and not somebody else
Everything found in this section is the frosting and the flavor to the cake your baking. Sure, by this point you have the foundation, but nobody is going to want to eat your cake without frosting or that cherry on top. This "flavor" ranges from how well your letter writers write about you, what makes you interesting and a good candidate, how you've decided to spend your time over the past several years, and why you want to become a physician.
Below is a brief discussion of LORs and how I picked my letter writers based on the interaction and relationships I formed over the course of three years at Monmouth College.
Over the course of your academic career you will take up many activities including jobs, clubs, hobbies, and extracurriculars. The way you describe these activities will enlighten medical school admissions committees to who you are as a person and how well rounded you are. Below is a link that shows you what I listed on my application and how I described each activity. The important thing to remember when writing about these activities is to mainly show and not tell. Hopefully my narratives serve as a guide for what activities impacted my desire to pursue medicine.
AMCAS Work and Activities Section
The personal statement is the classic essay that asks why you want to be a doctor. Ideally, you'll be able to formulate a good story by this point that is not cliche, but rather unique and personal. I linked mine below to serve as a sample personal statement.
After filling out the primary application which includes all of the above information, many medical schools will have you send them your responses to 1 - 8 new essays. Below are some of the more common ones that I filled out from schools that I received interview invites from.
Most medical schools are pretty chill, and try to keep the interviews light hearted. For some schools, the interview is a formality while others use it as a way to further differentiate candidates. For instance, University of Illinois accepts a large percentage of students who interview (600/750) while New York University accepts a much lower percentage (200/1100). The interview is ultimately your final chance to address the elephant in the room ... Why you and not this other similar applicant (what makes you a good fit for us?) Regardless, different schools conduct interviews in different ways. Below you will get a good idea of the traditional interview process as well as the MMI process. In addition to what's provided in the link, I would highly encourage you to schedule multiple mock interviews with the Wackerlee Center on campus.
Results
Below are my results after the four year marathon of preparing for and applying for medical school. This is when the cake gets eaten . . . hopefully it tastes alright. I also included the associated costs of a typical application cycle. I recommend using MSAR to help you formulate a school list when you are ready to help you determine what schools fit your interests and competitiveness. Overall, I applied to 23 schools and got interviews from ## and was ultimately accepted into ##.