How to Choose a Medical School

Choosing the right medical school is one of the most important decisions you will make in your academic career. Choosing the right school will offer you a comprehensive, well-rounded education, while choosing the wrong school will leave you ill-prepared for your career as a doctor.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Study hard for your MCAT. Attaining a high MCAT store will provide you with a wide range of medical schools from which to choose.

2. List your schools of interest. Start by listing your ultimate schools, such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins Medical, The University of Michigan and Duke University. Then move on to good medical schools like Northwestern and the University of North Carolina. Complete your list with a couple of safety schools in the event you are not accepted to the others.

3. Choose a school based on your specialty. Talk to a student adviser or visit medical schools' websites that specialize in the type of medicine you would like to practice.

4. Weigh the costs. Get an idea of how much a particular medical school costs and if you can meet those financial obligations before applying. You don't want to apply to schools that are financially out of reach for you.

5. Decide based on location. If you have a good medical school near where you live, consider attending there. It will save you money in tuition, room and board and transportation costs.

6. Identify schools that have teaching hospitals nearby. Attending medical school with a teaching hospital nearby, such as the University of Michigan, will help you save both time and money in commuting expenses.

Tips & Warnings

• Apply to a medical school in your state. Medical schools supported by state funding often accept state residents before considering out-of-state applicants.
• Include all of your extracurricular activities on your application. These are taken into account during the application process.
• Don't hone in on a single school. Keep your options open in case you are not accepted to your "dream" school.
• Apply to a couple of different schools. If you apply to only one school, you may not be accepted. By the time you find out, you may have missed the deadline to apply to other schools.

Resources

• Find out which medical school is right for you.

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[pcollister]

on 3/7/2009 Sorry, I didn't know you could only include a limited number of characters, so please read my comments from bottom to top if you want to hear what I have to say. Thanks, I hope this helps you.

[pcollister]

on 3/7/2009 patients? It's going to be tough, but I believe that it's well worth it if you know what you're getting into.

[pcollister]

on 3/7/2009 meaning that they do have a significant amount of people that come in from out of state (for example University of Michigan or Case Western in Ohio, U. of Pittsburgh) Try and find out which those are because otherwise it will be really expensive and also hard to get into if it's a public. Privates, though are good to apply to, though they may cost more...it's not ultimately about the cost, and some state schools are really competitive, so depending on which state you're in it may be very difficult to stay in your state. Med school might be a cool time to leave your area and try living somewhere else.Good luck if you're applying. It's a super tough, long, costly process, even after the MCATs. Just make sure that you're applying for the right reasons--that you want to help people more than to have the title as Dr. so and so. Would you be willing to be called by your first name by patie

[pcollister]

on 3/7/2009 ning to follow in your parents' footsteps, but even then, who knows). Also, don't let finances keep you from applying to any school that you think that you might have a reasonable shot at and you might want to go to--almost everyone will go into debt--the average is about $150,000 right now that students end up with. But it's ok, though, because if you become a doctor, which is all but guarenteed if you graduate from med school they will pay well and you'll be able to pay it off after a few years if you stay in the field of medicine. Many hospitals that don't pay as well have programs backed by the government that give money towards paying off debts. I'm not saying that you'll be rich in no time, but that's not the point--just that it'll work out and don't give up.There are two types of state schools--ones that are completely state schools and others that are state sponsored--meaning

[pcollister]

on 3/7/2009 There are a few pieces on here which are a bit incomplete and I would like to add to. The number of schools that many apply to these days is much higher than a couple--more like 10-25--it's a lot of work and money, but it's impossible to say if you'll be admitted to any school in particular because the process is so unpredictable (even if you think you are overqualified). Also, specialty is not necessarily the greatest factor to consider when choosing a school--while med students do take electives, they definitely don't specialize until they do their residency, and residency programs may not favor students from their own medical school over others. Plus many med students don't know what their specialties are--just like in college, they change their minds all the time, so it's almost impossible to say for sure which one you will do before you go to med school (unless maybe you are plan