8 things to avoid doing during your medical school application process
Written by Jasmine Cho 1 Jul 2020
The medical school application process is tough, but certainly not unmanageable.
Here are 8 things you should probably avoid doing during your medical school application process.
1. Procrastinate
Bad news for all the deadline fighters out there but you simply cannot afford to procrastinate when applying to medical school.
I’m sure that this is something that all medical students will agree unanimously upon.
Let’s be frank here. The medicine school application process is long. Not only are med applicants required to complete and submit their UCAS application earlier than most other courses, there is also a long waiting time between submitting your application, receiving an invitation to interview and finally receiving the conditional offers from universities (later than most applicants).
Though the application process is inherently stressful, you can greatly reduce the chances of experiencing monthly mental breakdowns if you are organized from the get-go. Don’t leave everything till the 14th of October. Divide up the 3 months preceding the UCAS deadline into sections and assign priorities, targets and deadlines to each of them.
In addition, the skills required for success in the UCAT and BMAT exams only come with doing lots of practice, making it even more important to ditch procrastination once and for all!
Those 3 months will be grueling, especially when you have to juggle admission tests, personal statements and academic work all at the same time, but always remind yourself that hard work will definitely pay off at the end :) Work hard, play hard !
2. Apply to schools which ‘sound nice’ rather than those where you would be most suited to, be happiest at and have the highest chances of getting accepted
There is no particular issue with wanting to aim high but don’t let glamor and peer pressure cloud your rational judgment. Other than yourself, nobody can be more familiar with who you are as a person. It’s much, much more important to study at a university where you can thrive and feel truly at home. This is not to deter anyone from applying to the more ‘prestigious’ schools that ‘look good’, but just remember that they are not suited to everyone!
By all means, include prestige as one of your factors when finalizing your medical schools list but don’t let it overshadow everything else which is of much greater significance. It’s also important to be realistic.
Focus your attention on building the most competitive application you can for the schools that you actually stand a solid chance of getting accepted into (as pessimistic as that sounds). Being optimistic but realistic is the key takeaway here :)
3. Lie in your personal statement or interview because it makes you ‘look better’
Examiners are trained to spot dishonesty. Although it’s very tempting to magnify your achievements in order to outcompete other applicants, you, on your own, are enough (as cliché as that sounds). If you are set on securing a place at medical school, your passion will shine through in every aspect of your application, whether that be your work experience reflection in your PS, or your interview response to ‘what have you done to explore your interest in medicine’. Be your true self always!
A quick tip:
If you understand that your application isn’t as strong in a certain aspect compared to other applicants, for example, your extracurriculars, the best form of action would be applying to schools which do not prioritize such an aspect.
4. Read an insane amount of medicine-related books without actually understanding any of them
As hard as it is to believe, it is possible to get into medical school without reading Atul Gawande or Henry Marsh’s books. Jokes aside (because they are actually books I highly recommend to anyone thinking of studying medicine!), don’t ever feel the need to sound more scholarly, intelligent or ‘cultured’ than you are by reading a whole pile of books that are a. clearly beyond any teenager’s cognitive capacity to comprehend and b. read by most applicants so ‘I should read them as well’.
It will be beneficial to you as an applicant, if you read widely around whichever area of medicine you are deeply interested in, but ensure that you are not reading just for the sake of it. You will also, most likely, be only able to fit in 2 books maximum in your personal statement. On this point alone, there is no real advantage to reading an insane amount. Quality over quantity!
5. Go on student room religiously as a daily habit
The existence of student room itself probably accounted for 99.9% of my stress during my medical school application and I’ll just unashamedly recount my grim memories with student room here. I spent 5+ hours reading (yes, actually reading) approximately 500 pages of all the student room threads in previous years related to admission / entry statistics for the medical schools I considered.
Between October and March, there were four permanent tabs open on my computer and yes you guessed it, the 2020 entry threads for my 4 medical schools. My emotional stability hinged upon the statistics or ‘updates’ anonymous individuals posted on student room every day.
So why shouldn’t you check student room daily? Two simple reasons. Firstly, many people lie about their statistics which means whatever information you extract from their posts will most likely to be misleading or false. Secondly, it can slowly erode your mental health because that really isn’t a priority for most student room users. Don’t give in to the toxicity of this platform! Check it once or twice per week to keep track of any relevant updates but it’s certainly not a must-do task everyday:)
6. Ignore your mental health because ‘everybody knows applying to medical school is stressful’
Applying to medical school is stressful, but that is definitely not a justification to put aside or dismiss your mental health. It’s perfectly normal to experience emotions that you are not accustomed to so never berate or criticize yourself for being emotionally weak. Take some time to appreciate the fact that it is an exhausting and demanding couple of months for all medical applicants nationwide, so don’t ever feel that you are alone in this journey! Acknowledge your anxiety, your bitterness or whatever mixture of negativity that you are encountering. Give yourself the space and time you deserve to digest and resolve these emotions.
Despite the tightly packed nature of the medicine application process, it is very much acceptable for you to unwind and take a break, so that you can be mentally recharged and energized. Speak to someone you trust. Apart from stress relief, they can also offer you a refreshing perspective on how best to handle your emotions.
The months during the application process will be tough and draining, but never under-estimate the importance of taking good care of yourself, both physically and emotionally, so that you can be more or less ready for every challenge ahead :)
7. Reciting stock answers to interview questions and solely relying on interview answer guides to prepare for your interviews
There are a couple of reasons why reciting stock answers is really not what you should be doing to prepare for interviews.
Firstly, the regurgitation of pre-planned answers is easily detectable by anyone, let alone experienced interviewers. They will ask you follow-up questions which there is no way you could have pre-formulated an answer for. This will make you look flustered and panicked – definitely not the impression you want to be giving in your interview.
Secondly, medical schools are increasingly aware of the fact that most, if not all, applicants use at least an interview question guide / ‘cheatsheet’ to prepare. Therefore, interview questions / MMI scenarios are becoming more creative or ‘out of the box’ to differentiate those who have merely recited piles of questions as preparation, from those who’ve approached interview preparation in a more holistic manner.
Lastly, there are only so many answers that you can memorize. It’s time-consuming and unproductive, considering the numerous alternative ways you can better spend that time to prepare for your interviews (in another upcoming blog post!!).
By all means, have a look at the overall structure and briefly skim through the content included in these stock answers, but remember to only take them with a pinch of salt.
8. Think it is the end of the world when something doesn’t go your way
It’s essential to come to terms with the brutal fact that throughout your medicine application process, there will be ups and downs. Some will be easier to bear, and others might feel utterly demoralizing. The stressful nature of the medical school application process stems from the ‘if I mess this up, I’m doomed’ belief and I truly appreciate just how much anxiety that statement can instil in anyone, let alone a 17-year-old about to make one of the most significant steps in their life :)
I know it is convenient for me to stand here preaching about resilience given the fact that I’ve been successful in my medical school application, but I do genuinely feel that there never is an ‘end of the world’ to anything. As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. There are always alternative, if more treacherous, paths to the same destination, but they only become apparent if you are willing to acknowledge and move on from your setbacks. Whether that be taking a gap year, or eliminating UCAT-heavy schools, there is bound to be a way for you as long as you have the passion, commitment and work ethic. Trust me, it will all work out at the end.
Best of luck with your medical school application, from all of us at MedU
Please feel free to contact us with any concerns or queries you have regarding the application process! We wish to see you soon :)