Do You Have To Be Superman/woman To Get Into Med School?

[rmorelan]

Ha, I have a slide on this on my pred talk I give actually - the short answer is no. You need to be relatively smart, hard working, know the rules, and if needed be persistent. Of course some very talented people get into medical school and of course they have no problem telling you about that. That isn't really all that important though - more important is just making sure the field is right for you and then doing your best knowing that no you don't need to a supreme being to get in. 

[bruhh]

Unless you're applying as OOP which is for "Only Overachieving People".

[a1b1]

No, but you have to be able to play the game that is "the med school application process".
All universities have rules and specific criteria's for applicants, its important to understand and apply them when you're doing a degree or else you could be looking at doing another degree or e.t.c

[xcon2run]

No, but you have to be able to play the game that is "the med school application process".

All universities have rules and specific criteria's for applicants, its important to understand and apply them when you're doing a degree or else you could be looking at doing another degree or e.t.c

 

Agreed. You have to be able to look at a universities criteria, understand where your strengths/weaknesses are and then seek out advice on how to fix your weaknesses. Then fix them! It sounds simple but depending on the weaknesses, it may not be.

[Birdy]

Nope. Just work really hard.

[PM333]

Let me rephrase the question.. What percent of those accepted to med school are over-achieving people?? 

[Emojis4Life]

I doubt anyone will be able to give you a percentage. Partially because I doubt there's a resource for that and partially because "over-achieving" means something different to everyone. That being said, from lurking around this forum for years and from personal conversations with med school applicants/students, I would say that the majority of people are merely dedicated, hard working individuals who have a passion for health care and services. I would say a small percent are insanely accomplished but of course there will be some (I know a medical student who had 20+ research papers published as an undergrad at the time of application -- I don't even know how that's possible -- and another who opened and runs a company that brings in $ 1 000 000 in profit per year). I don't think medical school classes are filled with these people though.

[kenny878]

Let me rephrase the question.. What percent of those accepted to med school are over-achieving people??

No real point in searching for an answer to this question IMO. Work hard, get good marks, gain some real word experience (volunteer, work l, etc) and you'll get in somewhere eventually. Dont do any of these "amazing" things just so you can get into med school.

[Jaybird]

Nope! I manage to run into something that makes me feel like a moron every day in medical school 

[Heisencat]

Nope. I used to think the same and idealize med students until I got in. I am far from superwoman and have many flaws! After practicing with different people for interviews, I found them all to be pretty "normal" people, warts and all. I haven't done any of the things you describe in your post. Other than working hard, it's also important to persevere because it's a tough game. There's no ideal candidate for med school.

 

And just because you don't get in doesn't mean you won't make a good doctor and vice versa.