In addition to continuing to fulfill your requirements for graduation, you will need to spend your junior year making sure that you are prepared to apply to medical school. This is your last opportunity to make yourself the best-looking candidate that you can be, so be sure to complete everything on this list by the end of your junior year:

Finish your required courses. Remember that the medical schools will be making a decision based on the grades from the classes that you have completed by the end of this year, so make sure that all of your required courses (science, math and English) are done. It’s also a good idea to have biochemistry and human physiology done by this time, so that you’ll have some background in these subjects before you take the MCAT.

Make sure your volunteer and research experiences are in place. Although you should have done both of these by now, if you have not had a chance to volunteer or have not tried a research experience, this is your last opportunity to do these things before applying. Prepare for and take the MCAT. The MCAT is only offered twice each year: in April and in August. We’ll talk more about the MCAT later, but preparing for this test is very important and should take up a significant amount of your time and energy this year.

Meet with the Health Professions Consultant. Even if you’ve done so already, it’s a good idea to meet with the Health Professions Consultant during this year, just to make sure that you’ve finished everything that you need to have done. It’s helpful to get some feedback about how you are stacking up against other candidates and about the timeline for the application process. You will also need to see the Health Professions Consultant to get the application materials for the Pre-professional Health Committee.

Gather your materials for the Pre-professional Health Committee. Again, we’ll talk more about this in a later section, but you will need to apply for review by the Pre-professional Health Committee during this year. Because all materials are due by the middle of May, you’ll need to spend time during your junior year making sure that your Committee application is complete.

Making sure that all of the items above are finished by the end of your junior year will help to ensure that you won’t encounter any surprises during your review by the Pre-professional Health Committee or during the actual medical school application process.