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The Cookie Cutter Applicant


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As I get closer to applying to medical school (I am a year and a half away), I am receiving more and more advise about what to do and what not to do. This includes advise from my pre-med advisor, professors who are also MDs and teach pre-med coursework, and numerous other sources. Most of the advise also happens to conflict with each other.

 

This goes beyond suggestions to keep grades up and have good LORs. It covers things like which interview questions to watch out for and how they can make or break your application; what points to stress (e.g. compassion) about yourself etc...

All the advise on what to do exactly is followed by a token, but 'be yourself during the interview'.

 

While I appreciate all of it, it is starting to turn my slightly anxious self into a potential nervous-wreck.

 

My question is Is it worth listening to all these rules and following them from all of these people who seem to know much more than me or is it detrimental to your application, especially your interview, to come across as the cookie cutter candidate. Obviously, there are some threshold characteristics that everyone who wants to be a physician needs, but do medical school acceptance committees really have a model physician parrot in mind? The sane part of me wants to say no, but after listening to everyone in my vicinity I am starting to feel not so lucid.

 

I'm looking for answers from current med students and people who've gone through the process.

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If you're a year and a half away, my advice would be to try to relax. Honestly there are much better things to do with your time instead of stressing over advice that probably won't make any difference to the way you live your life for the next while.

 

Realistically, if you maintain a high GPA, get a good MCAT score, pursue extracurriculars you're passionate in and do some work to demonstrate an interest in medicine (whether it's hospital volunteering, research, etc) you're going to be in great shape. Do those things - in general, don't worry about the details - and you'll be fine.

 

When you get interviews, THEN start worrying about answering questions etc

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