There is a certain stigma that comes with becoming a doctor. Here are a few that seems to stick with me: The schooling is very long and expensive, only the smartest get into med-school, the major you choose is very important, and the M-CAT will make or break you.
With these preconceptions in mind, I decided to try to find a book that would be able to put an explanation to wether these are true or false. I did some research and stumbled upon the online book "The Not So Short introduction To Getting Into Medical School" by Ryan Aycock, and inside was a lot of information that not only answered my questions but it also taught me more. I knew getting into med-school was hard, but the acceptance percentage of 42 was higher than I thought. As student your major seems like it will decide your fate, but in med-school it does not matter, only test scores and GPA does. To become a doctor its a 11 to 16 year process. I knew it would be long, but not this long. Tuition of schooling is around 40,000, so it is very expensive and thats why so many students get loans to pay for it. The M-CAT I found out is tied for first in importance along with GPA. The highest score you can get on the test is a 45, the average is a 24, in order to get into med school you want a 30 and above. The test is about 5 hours long and very hard. It is used to filter out applicants.
Reading this book was really eye opening. I now know how hard I really have to work to be able to succeed. I knew how hard it was going to be, but I didn't know all the minute details to help me prevail. Like how the M-CAT was important, but I didn't know what scores were needed. To all my friends in the same process as me, please read this book it takes you step by step throughout the process, and it gives you tips and trick to succeed.
http://premed.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Not-so-short-guide-to-getting-in-to-med-school.pdf
