What Medical Schools are Looking For

For those who don't know, medical school admission is extremely competitive. Somewhere between 30%-50% of all applicants get into any medical school.

Notice that there are two "catches" here. The applicants does not include of all the students who began their undergraduate curriculum as pre-medical students but later switched and ended up not applying to any medical school. In addition, this statement includes students that may have applied to many medical schools, but only got into one. Your goal as a pre-medical student should be to make yourself so competitive that you can pick your school, rather than letting your school pick you.

So how do you go about making yourself look good in the eyes of the medical school admission committees?

Well it would help to know what the admission committees look for when considering which applicants to accept. I will rank each potential factor on a student's application according to how important it is in the eyes of these committees.

Most Important

These are the most important aspects of your medical school application. Focus on making these as strong as possible before worrying about other facets of your application, as these are weighed the most heavily by the admission committees.

• GPA - Your GPA tells the admission committees about your aptitude as a student and your ability to handle a rigorous workload. The average GPA for accepted students varies between medical schools, however most lie between 3.50-3.80. Therefore, to be competitive you would ideally want to be at or above this level (3.80-4.00). 
• MCAT - Your score on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) will give medical schools a numerical value to measure your knowledge in the fields of Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Physics as well as your reasoning ability. The average MCAT score varies greatly between medical schools, however the median range seems to be between 27 and 33. The most selective schools have average MCAT scores of 36-38. 

If you are curious about viewing more statistics from medical school admissions or would like to know the average GPA and MCAT scores from a particular school, I would suggest purchasing the Medical School Admissions Requirements. It is published by the AAMC (a.k.a. the Association of American Medical Colleges. They are the organization that also publishes the MCAT). Inside the MSAR are the average GPA's and MCAT scores for almost all accredited American medical schools, as well as a whole lot of other useful info (such as information on dual degree programs.) 

Very Important

Although not as important as your GPA or MCAT score, these are important enough that they can be determining factors of whether you are accepted or rejected. Make sure these are strong, but don't let them get in the way of a high GPA or MCAT.

• Letters of Recommendation - Before your interview, your letters of recommendation are the only measures of personality that the admission committees have access too. They use these to determine if you are the right "fit" for the school. (They don't look for particular personality types. They just want to know that you are liked and respected.)  The admission committees are looking for letters that prove how well the writer knows you, while also speaking highly of you.
• Research Experience - Having experience in research during your undergraduate years shows admission committees that you have a strong foundation and interest in science. Anyone expecting admission to a MD/PhD program must have a significant amount of time invested in research to show his or her commitment to scientific research.
• Volunteering -  Volunteering (whether it be in a healthcare setting or not) communicates to the admission committees your dedication to philanthropic efforts. Physicians are often seen as humanitarians due to their responsibility of helping others. Having volunteer experience helps to show that you care enough to donate your own personal time to help others. 
• Clinical Experience - Medical School admission committees want you to know you want to be a physician. So they expect you to have spent time being near a doctor, in a healthcare setting, dealing with patients. The best way to get this experience is to shadow a physician. Another path to consider is becoming certified in another healthcare profession, such as a nursing assistant, phlebotomist, or EMT.

Important

Although many see these as no more than "fluff" on an application, they can help give you an edge over other applicants. These should be treated, however, as the least important parts of your application. Don't allow them to take precedence over the more important parts of your application.

• Leadership Experience - Medical schools like seeing that you were in a position of organizing or planning events. The most common leadership opportunities are within clubs or organizations at your school.
• Extracurriculars - Most other activities that don't fall into any of the other categories above count as part of this one. Non-clinical work experience, member of a school club, athlete. These are often seen as bonuses that show how many activities you were involved in, but do little else to boost your standing in the eyes of the admission committees.

So now you know what medical schools are looking for when choosing which applicants to accept. Hopefully it is a little easier to envision the kind of student you need to transform yourself into to impress your ideal medical school.  Having a strong showing in each of these categories can make you a competitive applicant destined to get into the medical school of your choice.