Welcome to MCAT Problem of the Day!

As this is our first post, we're going to provide a roadmap for where we're going and what medical school applicants might hope to get from our site.  First, a little about who we are.

This site is the collaborative effort of a group of Harvard Medical students dedicated to passing on what helped us get into medical school.  All of us have been involved in teaching undergraduate and MCAT prep courses, but we have never seen a resource that provides ALL of the details you need to get into the top medical schools.

Several of us have been part of the admission process at HMS, and have seen why some applicants get admitted and some don't.  There is no mystery or magical formula, it's the same things you've undoubtedly heard about: grades, MCAT scores, personal statement, and letters of recommendation.  It's the little details that make the difference, and we're going to go through all of them.

This is no small task, but if you stick with this, we'll show you how to ace the MCAT, how to write a personal statement that captures the admissions committee's attention, and how to navigate the gauntlet that is the application process.

We will organize this into several pieces:

1. MCAT Problems.  We'll have five MCAT problems per week (one from each of the science areas, and one from verbal reasoning).  The goal is not only to solidify your knowledge of these areas, but to teach you the strategies necessary to get the score you want.  If you're still months or years from applying, it's never too early or too late to start preparing for the MCAT!  Strong performance on the MCAT can put you at the head of the pack going into interviews.
2. Admission Cycle Calendar.  We are about to release a Google Calendar that you can join, which will give you all the key dates related to the admission cycle.  It's a complicated process, and the key is to stay organized.  Lucky for you, our calendar covers not only deadlines, but also key milestones in terms of preparing your application: this includes studying for and taking the MCAT, writing a first draft of your personal statement, approaching recommenders about letters, and starting to fill out your AMCAS application.  Email us if you are interested in joining, and we will add you as soon as it goes live.
3. Personal Statement.  Though we can give general details on what makes for a strong personal statement, and what pitfalls to avoid, the specifics of your personal statement are just as important.  For that reason, we are offering a service to help you write your personal statement from start to finish.  Contact us about more details.

We hope you benefit from our site, and we wish you the best of luck in applying to medical school and a career in medicine!

 

MCAT POD Team