Med school admissions is not just GPA and MCAT. In this Jack Westin Admissions episode, Mark White (Academic Advisor) sits down with Dr. Anita Paschal (35+ years on admissions committees) to break down how medical schools actually screen applicants and what separates “qualified” from “accepted” 🎯
You’ll learn:
✅ The real screening order (and why your personal statement is not screen #2)
📊 What the applicant pool looks like and why acceptance rates hover around 40–42%
🧠 MCAT benchmarks: what 512, 515, 518, 521+ signal to schools
📌 Why 50% of denials can happen even with “good” MCAT/GPA
🏥 Experiences that matter most, plus target hours for clinical exposure
🧾 How to build a smarter school list with in-state vs out-of-state strategy
🗓️ A realistic timeline for MCAT, primary apps, secondaries, letters, transcripts
🔥 The big differentiator: your brand creation (your 5–6 selling points)
Dr. Anita also introduces a simple way to remember experience categories: CLASS
Clinical, Leadership, Academic (non-GPA/test), Service, Social 💡
If you’re applying this cycle or planning ahead, this is the framework you want before you chase checkboxes.
🎧 More JW Admissions + MCAT content: subscribe for new episodes
Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at podcast@jackwestin.com! 📱
📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast
💻 Try our Chrome Extension (video solutions to every AAMC passage) https://tinyurl.com/4jw5pad8
📚 Free Resources: https://jackwestin.com?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast
🎓 Live Education Sessions: https://jackwestin.com/sessions?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast
👨🏻🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast
🙋 Tutoring: https://jackwestin.com/services/live-online-mcat-tutoring?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast
📸 Follow Us On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackwestinmcat?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast
👥 Join our Facebook Study Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/freemcatprep?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast