Applying to Medical School
How to Use This Guide
The AAMC works through many avenues to support medical education and help aspiring physicians succeed
in their path to medical school. We created this guide to serve as a resource for students considering a career as a physician. Each chapter explains one aspect of the medical school admission process, and each is carefully reviewed every year by content experts at the AAMC.
You may choose to read this book cover to cover, or you may prefer to skip ahead to chapters most relevant
to where you are in the application process. Here are some tips to get the most out of this guide.
Skim the table of contents before you begin reading.
Not everyone takes the same path or is in the same place when they use this guide. You may want to read
the chapters in the order that most relates to where you are in the process and what you need to know
to move forward.
Use and update the chapter worksheets.
At the end of each chapter, you’ll find a worksheet that can help you with your medical school application.
Topics include tracking your volunteer experiences, finding people to write your letters of evaluation, and
determining the right time to take the MCAT® exam. You may want to complete these worksheets after
you read the chapter or hold onto them until you’re at that phase of the application process. You can print
copies of the worksheets or complete fillable PDFs (aamc.org/msar-resources). We encourage you to share your work with your prehealth advisor as you complete the worksheets. You
should have an advisor or mentor to help guide you through this process. Find out more about the benefits
of working with an advisor in Chapter 2, “Academic Preparation.” If you do not have a prehealth advisor
at your school, you can find one at NAAHP.org.
Look through the data in this book to understand the national picture.
Part of being a well-prepared applicant is knowing more about the national applicant and acceptance data.
While every applicant is different, and every medical school accepts applicants with a range of scores and
experiences, it can be helpful to see how you compare with other applicants across the country. This will help
you to decide, along with your prehealth advisor, when you’re ready to apply to medical school. The data
in this book come directly from the AAMC Data Warehouse, the AAMC Data Book, the American Medical
College Application Service® (AMCAS®), the MCAT, and surveys conducted with entering and graduating
medical students such as the Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) and the Matriculating Student Questionnaire
(MSQ). The data are comprehensively updated each year with the most current information available at the
time of production. Because this information comes directly from the source, you can trust that it is the most
up-to-date and accurate information available. For more and current information, you can check the AAMC
FACTS tables available at aamc.org/facts.
Check out the Medical School Admission Requirements™ (MSAR®) site when you’re readyto look at individual schools.
One of the most important decisions you’ll make is where to apply to medical school. The AAMC’s Medical
School Admission Requirements™ (MSAR®) website provides the most comprehensive, up-to-date information and data. When you’re ready to start researching medical schools, tap into this powerful online database of information on U.S. and Canadian medical schools and baccalaureate-MD programs at aamc.org/msar. As the gold standard for admission requirement information, this is the only comprehensive resource of accurate and current data directly from the MCAT program, the AMCAS program, and medical school admissions offices. Your one-year subscription allows you to search, sort, and save information.