In the best of times, applying to medical school is stressful and takes tremendous preparation. Letters of recommendation, a high MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) score and a strong GPA are just a few of the essential pieces of the puzzle. Admission to medical school is so competitive that the average acceptance rate was just 6.7% in 2019.

However, with COVID-19 infecting hundreds of thousands in the U.S. alone, and numerous states mandating their residents to quarantine at home, the situation for medical school hopefuls has become even more difficult. This unprecedented situation has left pre-med students across the country wondering how this will affect the current and future medical school application cycles. Heres what you need to know.

Applying to medical school this year will change due to the coronavirus pandemic

Undergraduate Course Requirements

Undergraduate universities around the U.S. have transitioned to an online learning format. While universities are doing everything they can to give students the same quality learning experience as the did pre-coronavirus, the reality is every student learns differently. Some might thrive at virtual learning, whereas other students might struggle to comprehend material.

Lecture-based classes can be taught over the web with relative ease, while many lab-based classes have been indefinitely postponed. Other research-based courses have shifted online to studying and analyzing data previously collected. The postponement of classes should not interfere with the applications to the participating schools of AACOMAS (American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine), AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) and TMDSAS (Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service).

According to AACOMAS, not only will medical schools be encouraged to accept all online coursework, including lab credits, the participating osteopathic schools will accept all pass/fail/satisfactory/unsatisfactory coursework. TMDSAS and AAMC will have similar policies, with each application platform encouraging participating schools to make exceptions.

MCAT Cancellations

For the Class of 2025, the canceled MCAT is another hurdle they will have to overcome. The MCAT is one of the most important academic metrics medical school committees judge, with students studying for months in preparation.

Every MCAT test date has been canceled from March 27 through May 21 across the world, and more dates could be canceled if necessary. The students who were planning on taking an MCAT during this time might be wondering how they can still apply to medical school if they are missing this requirement.

However, Dr. Kenneth Steier, DO and executive dean at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, expects this problem will be solved quickly. Ultimately, I think one way or another, the pipeline will remain open because we need more physicians to battle against things like this pandemic, he says.

Currently, the AAMC plans on adding three more dates to the 2020 MCAT testing calendar and will continue to update its website as more dates are added. At this time, all application platforms (TMDSAS, AACOMAS, and AAMC) have extended the deadline for submitting test scores and letters of evaluation. All platforms will continue to monitor the situation and make additional changes as necessary.

How The Timeline Will Be Affected

The application timeline for MD and DO applicants typically begins in the first week of May. As of now, the start of the application process is expected to continue as usual, with the applications opening on its respective dates in early May. However, AAMC has decided to delay sending applicant data to medical schools by two weeks. The organization will begin to transmit the information on July 10, instead of June 26, allowing students more opportunity to gather the necessary pieces of the application.

Both Dr. Steier and Dr. Karen Murray, the associate dean for admission for the New York Medical College, anticipate the timeline will be pushed back a few months, with more students taking the MCAT later in the season. Medical schools are able to make decisions on an individual basis if they want to push back their deadlines.

Even if the deadlines are delayed, students are encouraged to apply as soon as possible and not postpone submitting their application. Applying earlier in the cycle tends to give students an edge. According to Dr. Murray, each year they have to turn down highly-qualified candidates who applied too late in the cycle, simply because there was no room left in the class. Give yourself the best shot by applying as soon as possible, she says.

For students who still need to take the MCAT and are planning on applying for the class of 2025, they should continue to gather the other pieces of the application. Ask teachers and mentors now for letters of recommendation, finish your prerequisites and write your personal statement.

The Increasing Popularity Of The Gap Year

In 2019, only 40.9% of applicants matriculated into an allopathic medical school. Many of the denied applicants decide to take a gap year to help boost their medical resume before reapplying the following cycle.

The gap year has almost become the norm, Dr. Murray says. If, for some reason, you didnt get the MCAT score you wanted, or you werent able to take the exam at all, take the year to gain some clinical exposure. Second-year applicants might even have an advantage for the upcoming application cycle, as they already have the MCAT score, letters of recommendation and prerequisites completed.

The interview process is one of the final steps medical students must take to get accepted to their dream school. Students can take advantage of the interview to visit the campus and meet professors, helping them to decide which college of medicine might be right for them.

Traditionally, interviews have been held in person. But with travel restrictions in place, schools had to adapt. For the final weeks of interviews, colleges had to switch to a virtual format, where students and the admission committee could still meet and answer questions. While the situation was not ideal, the medical schools did their best to foster an encouraging interview environment.

But for the New York Medical College, it was a little more difficult to navigate the interview process. The college uses the MMI (Multiple Mini Interview), which consists of multiple stations where students move from room to room, with a new interviewer at each station. Unlike the traditional interview format, the MMI is much more difficult to translate to a virtual format. What we did was have students participate in one-on-one interviews, but they did get interviewed by multiple people, Dr. Murray says. While it wasn't quite the same as the MMI, it was the best that could be done under the circumstances.

What is more interesting is the implications the pandemic might have on the medical school interview process in the future, even when there are no dangers surrounding domestic travel. For Dr. Steier, he wonders if more students will request a virtual interview, rather than foot the bill for airplane travel and a hotel stay to attend one interview.

While the U.S. was already experiencing a physician shortage, this problem has been exacerbated as hospitals fill up with patients at nearly unprecedented levels. Retired doctors and nurses have once again been called to the frontlines.

Medical schools with students who are on track to graduate on June 1 of this year are in an interesting predicament. Some schools like Columbia, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York University (NYC) Grossman School of Medicine, the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will be pushing the graduation date up for the students who have already fulfilled their graduation requirements.

According to Jonathan Amiel, MD, interim co-vice dean for education at Columbia, the new doctors will be deployed in short-term, nonresident roles in New York hospitals before they depart for their PGY-1 (first year of graduate training) residencies in June.

For other colleges, like Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, this option isnt as simple. We are working on it, but even now, it is unclear if the students who graduate early are even going to be eligible to do anything, Dr. Seier says. Because they arent medical students and they arent residents, so what are they? Considerations like insurance and malpractice insurance are all details that need to be ironed out first.

Applying to medical school can be a huge financial burden. Under normal circumstances, medical school applicants should budget $5,000-$10,000 for test and application fees, as well as interview costs. With fears of a recession coming and unemployment at an all-time high, the financial logistics of applying to medical school might make it impossible for many applicants.

Another factor might be the inability to visit medical school campuses before applying or accepting a spot in the admission class. Schools like St. Georges University in Grenada are doing their best to bridge that gap between students and medical schools. Robert Ryan, the dean of admissions at SGU says they have launched Experience SGU, a series of virtual informational sessions where students can connect with admission teams, see the campus, and learn more about the educational opportunities.

Dr. Karen Murray says this could be a good thing for students currently on the waitlist at medical schools. If students attended fewer interviews this year, some students who were on a waitlist might have a better opportunity of getting in because there are fewer applicants considered for this cycle.

As for advice for students who are planning to apply to medical schools for the class of 2025, Dr. Steier says: Number one, stay healthy. Number two is to keep doing what you were doing before, as much as possible. Stay current in the medical news and pay attention to what health professionals are saying. There might be slight delays because of the pandemic, but stay patient and stick with it. Nothing good comes without waiting.

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The Impact Of The Coronavirus Outbreak On Medical School Admissions - Forbes