The Med School Pulse

[Don't forget: Kaplan's Medical School Insider event broadcast airs live tonight at 8PM ET! Learn about everything from tips for the MCAT® to how the medical school admissions process looks from the inside. There's still time to register here.] Chances are that if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably already thinking about applying to medical school; what you may not have considered, however, is which schools you’ll be applying to. Students often being the admissions process with only a rough idea of the schools they’re interested in – or alternatively, plan to apply to nearly every school. Talk to any current medical school applicant [...]

Every premed student has questions about getting into medical school; from the personal statement to the interview, the admissions process can seem like a daunting and confusing endeavor. Compounding the problem is the fact that nearly everyone you’ll speak to seems to have their own opinion on the best approach to take – one person might suggest listing certain experiences on your application, while another will say the complete opposite! Much of this advice is anecdotal and may not apply to your situation – you aren’t the same person as the friend of your cousin’s wife, so you shouldn’t necessarily [...]

Time and time again I get asked “Patrick, I feel like I am drowning! There are so many science concepts to remember on the MCAT. Do you have any tips to keep it all straight?!” And my answer is simple; all one needs to do is to relate it to an example in everyday life. Rote memorization has its time and place in studying, but the MCAT rewards the student who is able to go above and beyond to UNDERSTAND the concept in all its intricacies. With this in mind I often push my students to think of common examples, [...]

Oftentimes, we are asked about the performance of our past MCAT students; how they did on the test, where they went for medical school, and where they are today. Recently, we had the opportunity to talk with one of our many amazing Kaplan MCAT course alumni, Dr. Ricky Grisson, about where his journey in medicine has taken him and the role that Kaplan played along the way.  1. What was your reaction to taking the MCAT for the first time? Wow! I was surprised by the difficulty and really disappointed in myself. I performed poorly and felt really terrible about my [...]

Every Monday morning during the months of September through December, professional football players gather at their respective team’s facilities tired, weary, and groggy from the previous day’s game. They spread out based on their positions and assemble in dark rooms where video projectors display game film while position coaches break down the plays screen-by-screen. The players hate this. They just finished playing barely 24 hours ago. The last thing they want to do is watch the game again. If they won, they want to storm the practice field and keep up their positive momentum. If they lost, they want to [...]

The cliché “never say never” has been around for so long that its significance might be lost on most people. For me, though, every time I hear someone say it, I think back to when I was an undergrad studying for the MCAT. A group of us taking the prep class would study together and at times the conversation would veer towards our MCAT  instructor. “He’s so smart, there’s nothing that he doesn’t know,” one of my friends would say. Another overly-optimistic one would chime in with, “I bet he got a perfect score on the test.” At the time, [...]

“One week from right now I will be in my MCAT….” That thought has haunted many pre-med minds in the week before test day; after spending months and months on your MCAT preparation, the idea of actually taking the exam can be an emotional roller coaster. Managing stress in the days leading up to the test is vital, and the best thing that one can do when preparing in the final week is to remember a few key points: Establish a Regular Sleep Schedule – If your test is at 8:00 in the morning, it is going to be in [...]

In Part I of this series we explored the most common reasons for taking a gap year. While everyone has their own reasons for the choice, one of your biggest concerns is likely going to be how to explain such a decision to admissions committees. However, your time away from school can actually be a great conversation point during your medical school interviews, and can help distinguish you from other candidates. While in college, students do many of the same things (research, leadership, volunteering), and while it’s necessary to fulfill your premed requirements it can often result in cookie-cutter students [...]

In my last article we explored the idea of the gap year and the various reasons why someone might or might not be inclined to delay the start of medical school. Once you’ve chosen to take a year off, the next step is to decide what you will do with that time; there are many options each with its own pros and cons, so you’ll want to consider your own path carefully. Important note: Regardless of your reasons for taking a year off, it is imperative that you do some medically-relevant activity while on your gap year – for example, [...]

With the application cycle coming up, you may have recently heard friends and medical students talk about taking a ‘gap year’ before heading to medical school. The rising average age of matriculating students over the past several decades suggests that it is increasingly common for students to take one or more years off before entering medical school. It’s important to remember that it is perfectly acceptable to take a gap year (or years!), and moreover, it can not only enhance your application to medical school but also help you gain a new perspective on life. However, you need to be [...]