Do medical schools give applicants who have advanced degrees in science an advantage?

Question

Do people who hold advanced degrees in biology, chemistry or physics have an advantage when it comes to admissions decisions at medical schools?

Answer 1

Not necessarily.  An advanced degree might help someone whose grades weren't high enough to be admitted on their first go-round; in fact, I've known a couple of people who were turned down for med school but were told that an advanced degree would help them later because their college grades were marginal.  (Yeah, guys who graduated with 3.5 and 3.6 instead of 3.9.)

If you're a college senior and want to go to medical school, go ahead and apply.  If you're turned down, you can always ask the school if an advanced degree, some experience with research, and/or a job in a hospital could help you next time around.

Good luck!