Medical
Chat — May 9, 2000
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Chat Transcript:
Med School Admissions with Dr. Cynthia Lewis
Dr. Cynthia Lewis, founder of Lewis & Associates, a medical
school admissions consultancy, joined us on May 9, 2000 for a fascinating discussion
of medical school admissions. The Accepted.com editors and guests who participated
gained a great deal from the discussion.
Unfortunately, our chat hosting service had some technical difficulties, and
the transcript was lost. What follows are questions that Linda Abraham, Accepted.com's
president, had sent Dr. Lewis before the chat and the answers that Dr. Lewis prepared
in response. There was much more give-and-take during the chat, but unfortunately it
was not captured. We intend to have transcripts from future chats, but this
regretable incident just highlights the advantages of actually attending the chats: the ability
to ask your own questions and learn from those of other participants, and minimal
dependence on the chat transcript
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What criteria should applicants use when deciding which medical
schools to apply to?
The criteria should be internal and not external — that is what is most important
to you should be used: curriculum, special programs available like an MPH or
MBA, location, academic support, financial support, ...
Which is more important in the admissions process: the MCAT
or the GPA?
Most schools allow that you may have started slow or had a difficult transition
from high school, so some latitude is allowed for the first year GPA. But, science
GPA and MCAT scores are very important. Many schools consider the VR score and the
science GPA as most important.
Which schools weigh the MCAT more heavily?
Examples include Washington U, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, UC San Francisco,
Vanderbilt, UC San Diego, Yale, UC David, Duke
Which weigh the GPA more heavily?
Examples include U Colorado, Oregon, St. Louis U, U Washington, Baylor, U
Virginia
Is not having research experience fatal to one's application,
especially if one is clinically oriented?
Absolutely not. Medical schools WANT to know that you have a clear
understanding of the profession that you have entered — thus, clinical
experience is crucial, but research is only one way you can show your
interest in problem solving.
What about clinical volunteer work?
As I said, this is absolutely crucial. If you haven't spent quality time in
a clinical setting with doctors and patients, you cannot understand the demands
and fulfillment doctors experience.
You mentioned to me that next year the AAMC will require an
additional essay about medical students' goals. Do you recommend mentioning goals
in the AMCAS essay and if so, how much specificity do you think the schools
want?
Yes, for the first time for the Class of 2002, an additional essay will be on
the AMCAS: "What do you see yourself doing in 5 to 10 years?" or
something close to this. I advise having thought carefully about your interests
(thus, having clinical experience should give you some interests). If you just
know you like variety with patient care, family practice may be a good choice,
others may have a real focus already, e.g. surgery or ER or ... Or you may wish to
work in specific community, for a particular kind of medical setting — e.g. rural
— or do an MPH and develop medic al public health programs ... This is the place
to discuss this.
Is it enough to say one wants to go into primary care or
specialize, or is the applicant expected to know which specialty?
Medical schools understand that at least 50% of students change their minds
about residency type during their medical school experience, but if you do NOT
have anything to discuss it can mean you really have NO interests... or have not
gotten a clear enough view of the career to be able to select an area of
interest. And, that is NOT good.
What is the role of secondary essays in the application process?
Secondary application essays are used both by schools who send secondaries to
all applicants and those with pre-screening, so it is important to know which is
which. Many (but not all) private schools send secondaries to most applicants).
Secondaries are used to really home into the areas which interest each school,
for example: the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences has an
essay asking to explain motivation for military medicine and familiarity with
the military. If you read the mission statement of each school, this will give
you a clue as to what they are most interested in.
If applicants have a lot of diverse experience, what do you
suggest they include in the personal comments section.
It is important that applicants discuss their clinical experience, their
reasons for wanting to be a physician (telling stories to illustrate their
motivation), and beyond that, there is only room for one or possibly 2 or 3
of their most important experiences which may be about research, community
service or leadership ...
How can applicants compensate for low grades? At what point
do they need to start compensating?
Not all applicants are created equal... if you are disadvantaged in some
way-financial, social, educational, ethnicity in some states ... And, if you
are applying in your state or residence, you may be given more latitude in your
GPA or for a poor performance during a particular time in your college career-than
those without disadvantage or who are non-residents. If your science and overall GPA
are below 3.4 (allopathic) or 3.3 (osteopathic) without disadvantage ... your MCAT
scores need to show your academic strength there.
How important is the undergrad institution that applicants attend?
Does someone from less prestigious schools who has good grades, a 30+ MCAT, and volunteer
experiences have a chance?
Undergrad institution IS taken into consideration by many medical schools-but
if your academic credentials are strong and the rest of your application is complete,
your chances are excellent-for example, I advised students as the Pre-professional
Health Advisor at San Diego State University (a large, diverse, public institution)
for over 11 years and have had 23 advisees accepted to Harvard medical and dental
schools ...
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