You never thought you wanted to be an OBGYN but they're onto something that every premed should know. Have you heard of, "Earliest date of confinement aka EDC"?

If not no worries, you're scratching your head wondering what does that mean and what does it have to do with my chances of successfully getting into medical school. The EDC in layman's terms is the due date of the baby for a pregnant woman.

As a premed we're going to make the analogy of applying to medical school and being pregnant. The due date is June 15th. Yup, the day AMCAS begins submitting completed applications to the particular medical schools you've applied to.

Now here's the thing: not all pregnancies go according to plan. What I've seen happen with pre med students is they are submitting applications that are overwhelmingly lacking in various areas.

As I like to say, "if you know there's a deficiency in your application then it means AdComs will see it too," don't even think they are just going to overlook a weak medical school application.

Right now we're in the month of September so let's just say you conceived and again have that June delivery date. You have 9 months ahead of you to get ready for the baby's arrival aka submit a strong medical school application.

One overlooked portion of your application is your extracurricular activities. Did you know AMCAS allows you to put 15 extracurricular activities on your medical school application?

The question that is often asked is, "Do I need 15 activities?" The University of PittsburghSOM responded, "You don't need 15 extracurriculars, but the students we accept will have all 15 extracurriculars." Guys I'm trying to help you out.

You have 9 months to get your act together by getting involved and ensuring that by the time June 15th rolls around you have all the extracurriculars you need for a strong application to medical school.

Get involved on campus, take on leadership roles, volunteer in your community, take up a hobby, explore your interests, conduct research, but do not let these next 9 months go by without having additional extracurriculars.

Trust me, you don't want to be the applicant who essentially pads their resume just before applying to medical school. AdComs see it a mile away when you have a flurry of activity 3 to 6 months before applying to medical school.

We all know you weren't serious and just realized the requirements for applying. Plus, AMCAS requires you to put the dates of involvement on your application so it's very easy to divvy up how you spent your time over the last few years as a premed student.

So take a page from OBGYN and start planning early because the Estimated Date of Confinement is right around the corner with June 15th fast approaching.

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