What is the most important factor in getting into medical school?

As a high school student he lost important advice is to not worry about a particular school, course or major. Rather, pursue your interests, explore the things you love outside the classroom, and, if you genuinely enjoy doing so, give back to your university/community/hometown throw volunteering in groups and service organizations. If you do those things and still want to pursue medicine just make sure you take all the prerequisites, get some clinical exposure to work as a physician, and the rest will probably already be there.

Certainly doing well academically, by which I mean achieving the best possible GPA you can in a challenging course load and doing well on the MCAT, is critical. That said, once you pass the initial screening process and move to interview selection and interviewing the following become more and more important:

(1) extracurricular experiences and/or prior work experience , especially those that demonstrate commitment, initiative, leadership, and pursuit of your interests.

(2) clinical exposure. Applicants all say they want to be a doctor, demonstrate that through a substantive clinical experience. It’s like a litmus test experience where you can write about it and say, I explored medicine by doing (x) and it affirmed my commitment to becoming a doctor. The goal is to help you know that, yes, Ivan confidently sacrifice many aspects of the next 8-12 years of my life because I KNOW I want to serve as a physician. If you don’t like it, there are numerous ther medical fields (dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, veterinary) you may find interesting. Shadowing, hospital volunteering, prior work as hospital tech, paramedic, Rn etc. medical service trips all fall in this category.

(3) track record of service, whether it be through volunteering, tutoring, community projects, formal service in military or Ameri/Peace Corps, etc. demonstrate a commitment to and enthusiasm for working with people as a team to help others and your community.

(4) academic curiosity, whether by original research, ec’s, study abroad or self directed academic projects.

(5) social skills. Think about what you want in a doctor. This is particularly on display interview day. Most schools want to know you can relate to, empathize with, and hold a conversation with a stranger, whether that be an interviewer or a patient.

(6) recommendations: the dirty secret is that most of the ones from professors are very similar. Finding people who can comment on strengths not highlighted elsewhere in your application can be refreshing (ie sports coach, volunteer coordinator, Doctor you shadowed extensively, boss from work).

(7) inform yourself about current medical events in pop culture and news media, medical ethics, healthcare delivery and the many issues that arise. These are common fodder for interview day.