by Cydney Foote
Almost everybody has a blemish on their GPA. Usually it’s a failed class or a semester of poor grades. But there’s also the issue of how a “W” on your transcript will affect your chance of admission to medical school. The truth is that withdrawing from one or two classes is not going to hurt …
by Cydney Foote
One of the most popular secondary questions asked by medical schools is “why our program?” Saying why you’re attracted to a particular school can be a hard thing to explain, especially when you’ve looked at so many programs that they’ve all begun to blur. I think that’s why I so often see the same answer: …
by Cydney Foote
We cannot stress enough how important it is to understand and think about a medical school’s mission statement when you are applying. Successful applicants not only demonstrate that they have the essential qualifications a particular school wants, but they also prove that their interests and values align closely with those of the school. Why are …
by Cydney Foote
Each year, Canadian medical school hopefuls look across the border for their medical education. While there are obvious challenges (adapting to a different health care system, returning to a Canadian residency, and much higher education costs), the higher acceptance rates at U.S. programs (about 36.2% overall per AAMC, as compared to around 19.6% in Canada) …
by Cydney Foote
In this final part of your assessment, we will look at all the other ways you communicated with the admissions committee. With the multi-staged admissions process, and an increasingly longer application season, applicants have multiple opportunities to make an impact – or be weeded out. Therefore, it’s important to evaluate whether or not your interactions …
by Cydney Foote
The previous posts have focused on identifying problem areas in your application and offering ideas to help you address them. You might be feeling a bit fragile after such a critical review – if so, then you’re doing it right. This exercise demands that you be ruthless and identify every potential flaw. Your ego might …
by Cydney Foote
In this section of our Medical School Reapplicant Advice: 6 Tips for Success series, we’ll discuss how reapplicants can improve their service experiences. Another factor that can seriously hurt your chances is a lack of substantive, ongoing service experiences, both clinical and non-clinical. Medical schools want students who are passionate and committed – to the …
by Cydney Foote
Fortunately, it’s easier to tackle a poor MCAT score than a poor GPA. While you should not retake the exam too many times, a better-prepared second or even third attempt can be a sound strategy. Many people find that studying independently or with a group of friends works well. Reviewing your old class notes and …
by Cydney Foote
Each year on Match Day, thousands of medical school students and graduates learn where they will receive their specialty training. This year’s Main Residency Match took place on Friday, March 18th. And with events at many medical schools – many of them in-person this year! – it was a cause for celebration for many participants …
by Cydney Foote
In our last post, we talked about how to assess your application weaknesses. If you’re feeling a bit fragile now, that’s to be expected – you’ve just undergone a pretty brutal review of your application! But the admissions committee is scrutinizing submissions with the same critical eye. Anticipating the problems so you can correct them …
by Cydney Foote
What should you do if you applied to med school and all you’ve received are rejections? You knew there was a possibility that this would happen, but that doesn’t erase the sting. What can you do now? How can you move forward? To start with, know you’re not alone. In the 2021 application cycle, only …
by Cydney Foote
Medical school applicants (or any other professional school applicant) must assess their credentials realistically to present themselves in the best possible way during the application process. Since applicants are evaluated based on specific quantitative criteria (primarily undergraduate GPA and MCAT scores) and non-quantitative criteria (research and clinical exposure, leadership skills, mentoring experiences), as well as …
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