Getting accepted to medical school
My path to med school was a somewhat nontraditional one. I did not decide that I wanted to apply until my senior year in college, and even then, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to med school or graduate school in bioinformatics. At that point, I had fortunately taken all the required courses (I majored in neurobiology and behavior), but I had not taken the dreaded MCAT, nor had I partaken in any kind of serious scientific research project. So I planned to take a few years off to make sure I was headed in the right direction and to prepare my application.
I took a job at a biotech company doing research and development in an endocrine lab. It started out pretty interesting and the pay was decent (knocked down quite a bit of those undergrad loans) but high turnover rate of personnel led me to do a lot of technical work that wasn't that interesting. I decided to head to the world of academia. I started working as a research assistant in a neuroendocrine lab (the subsequent pay cut forced me to take on multiple teaching/tutoring jobs to make up for the difference), and worked there for the next two and a half years before starting medical school. During that time, I took the MCAT, volunteered at a free clinic, and got a few papers published (only one was a first-authorship).
I applied mainly to schools in California, as J was finishing medical school there at the time, with a few scattered "back-up" schools across the country. I interviewed at four schools and thankfully, was accepted. I never expected to get in, since I wasn't a superstar applicant. My GPA in college was decent but not stellar (perhaps partially balanced by attending a competitive institution), and I had an average MCAT score (for accepted students). I am thankful every day that the admissions committee decided to give me a chance to pursue a career in medicine, as I feel it could have gone either way. I don't have any doctors in my family, and my parents are blue-collar immigrants who make less than my annual school budget each year. I feel pretty lucky to be where I am now.
In terms of general advice that I'd give someone who is thinking about applying to medical school, I'd have to say that initially, it is pretty important to have good grades, and a decent MCAT score (at least 30). If you have those two things, you won't have to "make up" for weak numbers by tackling the other things that would support your application (research, community service, personal statement, etc.). Now of course the other things are important too (after all, it's best to be well-rounded), but It is much harder to play catch-up, if that makes any sense. If you don't have good grades, you might want to consider taking some upper-level science courses and get really good grades in those classes. While your GPA might not increase much at that point, it will show that you are able to handle the workload and are serious about applying. As for the MCAT, there is not much to say about that except that you should have a plan and stick to it. Doing lots of practice questions is always a good idea. It's a long test, with somewhat random topics, and it's not great to have to retake the exam if you aren't thrilled with your score.
I felt like the whole application process was pretty stressful and humbling. I'm not sure if the match is anything like it (I guess it depends on how competitive your application is, and what field you apply into) but I'm glad I don't have to go through that again.
I've got much more to say on the topic of getting into medical school and what's it's like, and I'll be adding more in the near future.
A large (but thin) envelope turned out to be a good thing (whew!)