Aman Chisti
​Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
School: University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine
Year: MS2

What made you interested in joining GAB as a mentor?
When I was a premed, I often found myself perplexed by the sheer volume of information, complexity, and effort that went into crafting a competitive medical school application. I did endless research to create an application that resulted in a very successful application cycle for me, and I was beyond fortunate and grateful to have had multiple acceptances. However, my entire way along the process, I couldn't help but notice the disparities that I saw in the premedical pathway. I was lucky enough to have privilege in some respects – for example, I was fortunate enough to be able to live at home, and I was able to work part-time jobs selectively based on their clinical experience rather than based on their salary. I know countless other premeds are not afforded those luxuries, and it takes incredible amounts of time that they may not have to research and create a successful medical school application. Therefore, I wanted to use all the research I had done and experience I had gleaned to give back to others, especially to premedical students who experience systemic barriers to medical school entry and yet are persistent and inspiring in their pursuit of medicine.
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What's one thing you wish you knew before applying to medical school?
That the process has endless moving parts, and your performance in them doesn't dictate your worth overall! It is impossible to predict exactly which schools will interview you, which schools will reject you, and how your cycle would go – so it's best to go into it with a completely open mind and excitement for the way it will unfurl.

What helped you most during the application process?
I personally found online forums like the premed subreddit and Student Doctor Network extremely helpful. I credit a large amount of my success to the incredible – and free! – advice provided on those forums.

What's a tip you'd like to share with applicants?
Longitudinal commitment, relationships, and extracurriculars matter more than you think. It is better both for you and your application to invest in something deeply over time, rather than spreading yourself thin and doing numerous commitments but only for short amounts of time. Many of my letters of recommendation were also obtained from professors and supervisors I worked with for long periods of time and in multiple settings.

Any additional words of wisdom?
Utilize all the resources you have, and amalgamate them based on what makes sense to you. Absolutely talk to those who have gone through the process before you, advisors and counselors, yes – but combine their perspectives and sift through all of the advice rather than taking everything completely at face value and stressing yourself out in the process. Medical school applications are such a competitive and dynamic environment that it can be overwhelming to know who to listen to – but the more information you seek to understand, the better you will become at discerning what advice is more or less useful to you.