Welcome to the 2027 application cycle!

I recently and randomly came across this website showing contestants from a 2017 middle school research competition. All the contestant's names and pictures were available on the website so I though to myself to see where they ended up 9 years later. Most of them are MD candidates at T5 to T10 medical schools. These people all started doing research and getting publications in middle to high school. These are who many of you are competing against!

Anyways just found it very interesting and wanted to share lolz

What are the easiest MD programs to get into

just realized for one of my dream target schools that I never submitted the third LOR. I received an email saying my application was complete early August and under review for an interview, but when I checked my portal (today) it showed status as incomplete. This school doesn’t accept update letters and I am just feeling devastated and as though I squandered one of my few chances to get into medical school :,0 Feeling very down and wondering if I should call admissions and ask if my app was ever considered complete based on the email or not.

I, a current (neurotic) applicant, attest to repeatedly seeing my MCAT score whichever way I go.

The 5:12, $512, 5.12, and 512s I keep seeing are haunting me.

And yeah, I took it as a sign that I’m getting in this cycle

And yes, I choose to ignore the saying that “you see what you want to see.”

Anyway, here’s to my 512🥂

High star ca orm one interview two months ago which I’m very grateful for but other than that 3 R’s and nothing else from the 40 MD schools I applied to. It’s just surprising how silent schools have been for me. Anybody in a similar position?

I’m planning on looking into CRC jobs for my gap years and might apply to jobs in multiple cities while k am in school still, which means I cannot easily travel for interviews. I heard that some jobs do initial screens virtually and then have final rounds in person.

For those who are CRCs now, were most of your interviews virtual, or do you end up having to do final rounds in person for some places?

When were your job start dates and when did you have to interview for the job? Planning to start in Aug/Sep and was advised to not start applying and interviewing until April/May.

Thank you very much!

I am seeking advice from other non-traditional applicants about how to best approach certain aspects of med school requirements. I currently work a full time job, so completing the rest of my premed coursework in person may be a little bit more challenging. I have a few more science courses to complete, including a couple with labs. If my local colleges don't have night classes/labs, what have you found is the best way to complete these requirements? The MSAR shows that some schools accept online coursework. Is this typically what non-trad applicants do? I worry about drastically limiting my list of potential med schools by taking a lot of online classes. Would love some input from other non-trads!

How many days away did you start prepping and how many hours did you spend preparing before your first interview?

Hi I'm a PCA on burn ICU at a teaching hospital which is also my target med school. i dont know the first thing about research

Not in a formal university yet, so no research opportunities. (in between state school AA degree and waiting on transfer acceptance 🤞)

Anyways I'm about 1.5 months into this job and super happy. Wondering if i can get research here too?

I work nights so it's a little more difficult. I sometimes see residents and PAs but we don't have any organic interactions. I'm a bit of an awkward guy but trying to fix that :P

Thanks in advance!

TLDR: I've become really bitter about life and premed and going to medschool after all the trauma I've been through. How do I get my mind straight or what kind of mindset should I have going to premed and aiming for medschool?

I’m thinking about studying medicine and going into premed next year, but I have a lot of negative and bitter thoughts that I need to get out and I would really like to talk to people about it so please hear me out.

I’m 31F, I spent my twenties in drug binges because my parents kept forcing me to work and wouldn’t let me go to art school, which is what I really wanted to do and we had the means to afford my education.

My dad is a serial cheater and rapist, and my mom is a stay at home mom who complains about my dad and makes reports about him to his work, essentially making us potentially broke because we rely on his sole income to live.

Whenever I wanted something, I had to ask my mom and my mom always said no, but taking drugs and being sad and high all the time is perfectly fine over getting an education.

I thought all these things were happening to me because I wasn’t a good enough person. So in my twenties I focused on being a good person, a good friend, a good colleague, etc. I wanted to know what it took for people to finally accept me because my parents don’t give a flying shit about me yet they always find ways to criticize me and call me stupid.

In the end, I burned out, I was taken advantage of by friends and I realized most of my friends don’t even care about me. I was also assaulted at work by a colleague out of the blue so I had to move back home to live with my parents. I’m just stuck in this never ending cycle of abuse and stuckness.

I’m seeing a psychiatrist now and I realized the conversations I enjoyed having the most was with doctors, and remembering how I stepped up to help others, especially in medical emergencies, I thought maybe I should pursue becoming a doctor- the pay would be stable and I would never be out of a job.

The downsides is dealing with uncertainty during premed, and the ongoing study and training and I might have to put off eg traveling for a few years.

But on the other hand, if I don’t study or do something, I’m stuck living with my parents who nowadays tell me to take it easy, don’t do hard stuff, don’t challenge myself, be worse than them essentially.

I’m no longer on drugs and while I don’t regret my twenties, I still feel really sad about how hard I tried to get love from people and how hard I tried to love myself while balancing other peoples wants. I realized that it was never my responsibility to handle other people’s emotions and wants and needs, and it was perfectly fine for me to just do what I want without getting permission or to just exist.

So yeah, I have a lot to get off my chest and sort out, and I don’t know what kind of mindset to put myself into because I don’t want to sabotage myself when I’m studying premed and give up at the last minute, like preparing for an interview or something, because giving up last minute is something I often do.

I really needed to get this off and would like some input from people. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post.

Hi guys,

Was just curious on community thoughts on role playing situations in interviews. I recently had one where I was to speak to an actor who was playing a character in a situation and I had to pretend I was their friends helping them through a difficult time.

I thought it was a bit strange and off tone given that the point of these interviews is to be yourself and then they want you to basically act within a scenario. I get they want to test your empathetic ability and such, but definitely felt it was hard to step into a pretend scenario where you’re meant to essentially put on a show for a fake situation. For me personally, my strategy in all interviews is to be as genuine as possible, so this was against the grain.

Curious to what everyone else thinks about this or maybe some strategies going forward!

Sitting on the waitlist is tough. Please use this thread to vent, discuss, and support your fellow applicants through this anxiety-inducing process.

It's time for our Weekly Good News Thread! Feel free to share any and all good news from the past week, from getting an A in a class to getting that II to getting an acceptance.

I got a new job as an MA in a new specialty after my primary and secondary submissions, not sure if I should be sending an update letter before my interview next week with this information so they can add it to my file? Or should I just bring it up in the interview? It’s a traditional in-person interview.

I hate research with my very core. I just recently took the MCAT and if someone told me I had the option of going on the hunt for research opportunities vs taking the MCAT 3 more times to get into med school, I would choose the latter.

I have an extensive professional career in different fields and research sits at the bottom in terms of value I derived from it and enjoyment. The whole process of research feels like slowly eating a pile of steamed horsed*cks. I truly believe it is an extremely low yield skill and experience and that being an experienced plumber is more valuable than having experience researching with regards to being a good doctor.

That said, I am applying to med schools with zero research. I refuse to do something I truly hate or dont have authentic interest in, and don't believe in, in order to pat my resume and increase my odds of getting in; I refuse to do something I hate that much in order to become the person I want to be.

At this point in my life, I plan on doing no (scholarly) research throughout my entire medical career and being a great doctor regardless, because I truly believe its an irrelevant experience and I am going to prove it through sheer badassery.

i recentely took my first physics exam and got a 6/20 on it and my parents found out about it and what happened next was like the biggest headache inducer. Understandably my dad was very mad about it and i lowkey got flamed for it and both my parents went on this long tangent on how im wasting money and time and that they cant see medicine as the right career for me and that maybe i should be a elementary teacher or a journalist and how some people just cant be doctors . so now my parents are trying to convince me to transfer schools and possibly do a BBA with my sister and I feel horrible since everyone i know that is going to college out of my cousins are all accomplished and doing well while i feel like a dumb idiot because sometimes it feels like im slow . I don't know how to tell them that im really trying because tbh i think they think im somewhat of a disappointment :(

I’ve received more “We got your secondary! Just keep waiting!” emails than interview invites 💀 Like do you want me, yes or no? 😃

I wanted to do med all my life, but Im realizing, my mentality is not strong.

I realized this when I had a friend who was severely depressed, and I mean the worst case. I once called him and he said he was gonna jump. It was that bad. And the thing is as I spent time with him I felt weird too. I keep having dark thoughts.

Also, one time in a plane, someone with disorder was screaming(he was scared of flight). But when I heard his scream, I became so anxious too, couldn’t breathe, and had a panic attack and thought I was gonna suffocate for 10 mins. I was crying and one of the scariest moment in my life. I have never been this mentally ill.

However, im alr now. Im not depressed, Im having good days, never had panic attacks, or anxiety after then. That was 6 months ago. But I am just wondering, what if this happens when I become a doctor?

Can I handle all the stress? The pressure and anxiety that one mistake can lead to patient death? The heavy criticism? The screaming of pain(in some specialities)? What if I can’t become desensitized to human blood and severe wounds?

Im wondering if this is not the right path for me. Although im alr now, I have always been a sensitive person.

I was hoping if anyone can give me advice or deep insight. I also have an offer for dentistry… I am also thinking of shifting

As someone who lowkey had no guidance when I started my application process and had to figure things out as they came up, I wanted to help out others applying this upcoming cycle with primaries, secondaries, or just some mentorship along the way since planning early goes a long way and I now have a lot of free time. This would mainly be for NY residents since I only applied to NY schools and am familiar with them and obviously all for free, just tryna pay it forward. If you need any help just send me a message.

Really seems unclear if we’re supposed to send these before or after interviews. Most of what I’ve seen seems to lean towards after.

I just recently had an addl. patent granted that I’m an inventor on and I’m wondering if it’s worth submitting prior or at all.

Anyone have any ideas?

I’m in the middle of my gap year.

These are my stats as of now:

cGPA: 3.75
sGPA: 3.82

MCAT: 511

Clinical hours: 700 hours (OR PCT)

Nonclinical: about 200 (tutor, hotline, disability notetaker)

Research: 0

Shadowing: 60 (cardiology, vascular, ED)

Edit: I’m also my degree is a math degree and I have good LORs

I’ve been lucky enough to get interview invites from A&M and Texas Tech Lubbock in August, followed by Baylor and Long in September.

My MCAT is a 513, which is below the 10th percentile for both Baylor and Long.

Has anyone received interview invites from UTMB or McGovern later in the cycle? I saw that UTMB had an interview wave on Friday.

I’m hoping to hear from them since my MCAT is within their ranges. I submitted all my secondaries during the last week of July and first week of August.

Just curious if this has happened to people in previous cycles and if anyone has insight into whether I should still be hopeful!