How do medical schools select potential candidates?

Answer 1

For authoritative information about med school admission, check the website of the Association of American Medical Colleges - AAMC

Competition for places in Med School is extremely tough. In some of the elite schools like Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Duke or U Chicago there are thousands of applicants for only 150 - 200 seats each year.

The competition means that the schools must look very carefully at the credentials of the applicants. Certainly you cannot get into med school without very good marks in all the prerequisite classes such as chemistry, calculus, biochem, organic chem, etc. And you must have a very good score on the MCAT exam. You must demonstrate that you are committed to a life in the health sciences by doing a lot of volunteer work in health care settings and/or research labs.

You need really good recommendations from your undergrad faculty and volunteer supervisors.

If you have all these credentials then you have a fighting chance of being one of the lucky ones who gets admitted to med school.

Answer 2

Every med school has its own set of criteria for selecting candidates. It is best to learn what each, individual school that you are interested in wants.

A lot of times, it seems that their requirements are pretty much the same. But its not. Read the fine prints.