Getting into medical school is extremely competitive, and the application process is long and complex. Keeping track of the application timeline is essential because early applicants are at an advantage when it comes to getting admitted to medical school. The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a particularly important part of the admissions decision, and doing well on it will greatly enhance your chances of acceptance.

Nervous about applying to medical school? There’s no need! With the right approach and preparation you’ll give yourself a head start of the competition. This Cheat Sheet gives you the key things to know about the application timeline, choosing the right school, writing your personal statement and preparing for entry tests.

Doing well in medical school requires being organized but flexible, as well as having a strong support system. Staying organized is important in med school because you’ll be called upon to learn more information in a shorter time than you would’ve imagined is possible. The learning curve for being a medical student is steep and often requires on-the-job training; however, you can do some things to help start off strong and lay a solid foundation for the rest of your education.

If either your overall or science GPA isn’t up to par, getting admitted to medical school will be extremely difficult. When applying to medical school, even a strong MCAT score and extensive extracurricular activities may not be enough to compensate for a weak GPA. For students who initially apply to medical school at the end of their junior year but aren’t accepted, senior year provides more opportunities to get great grades and increase their GPAs before reapplying.

As an osteopathic (DO) medical school applicant, you find yourself faced with some form of the question “Why do you want to be an osteopathic physician?” many times during the medical school application process. Although DO schools have a lot in common with allopathic (MD) schools, they’re also proud of their unique history, traditions, and principles, and they seek students who are genuinely interested in attending an osteopathic medical school.

With so many things to fill out, submit, and keep track of during the medical school application process, you can easily overlook or mishandle a detail. However, every element of your application, from your personal statement to your performance on the interview, can make the difference being between gaining an acceptance and landing in the “rejected” pile.

GPA and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores allow admissions committees to assess your academic potential; work, research, clinical, and extracurricular activities show your interests and the extent to which you’ve investigated medicine. However, schools also want to know about your motivation for pursuing medicine, your interpersonal skills, your personal qualities, and your character.

You may have set out on one career path and started to feel a pull toward medicine along the way. If you’re in this position, you may be wondering just what becoming a physician requires and whether making such a major change is worth the sacrifice. For some career-changers, becoming a physician sounds good in theory, but the reality of the educational requirements and the job itself lead them to decide against it.

Along with absorbing vast amounts of information and learning clinical skills, an important task you need to complete as a medical student is choosing a specialty. The major exposure you have to various specialties occurs during your clinical rotations as a third- and fourth-year student. You spend time doing rotations in many different areas of medicine and get a sense of what you like — and what you don’t.