Tips for freshman pre-med, what should i be doing?

[sharklog71]

I'm a freshman bio major (doubling in a liberal arts major as well) in a top public university, and I'm just looking for advice on what to focus on in order to maximize my chances of getting into medical school by the end of my undergrad journey.

I'm planning to complete gen bio and bio lab, gen chem, biostats, psychology and sociology by the end of freshman year, along with my general english requirements and stuff from college. I'm also planning to take orgo, upper level bio, a&p, physics, and a semester of biochem next year, not sure what else I should finish before starting mcat studying. I've taken AP chem, bio, physics c so at least for the gen science courses I'm mostly cruising by for right now.

In terms of extracurriculars:
I'm taking an EMT course right now to get certified by ~January/February, and hopefully I'll start actually working by the start of next year if possible. Not sure if I'll work this summer or try to do some sort of research program instead.
I'm volunteering weekly at a local hospital, and I'm probably going to pick up another volunteering shift at a local clinic.
I have shadowing set up soon and aim to have ~50 hours by the end of this semester. I have ~20 hours from the summer just from a single exchange with a doctor, and ~100 from high school which I don't think I can keep.
I'm attempting to get into a wet-lab at my university, will find out in a couple weeks if I'm in, and if so I plan to stay in it till the end of college hopefully. I'm also doing remote clinical research at a lab in a t20 med school, working on a couple systematic reviews with medical students at my local med school, and doing clinical research for a vascular surgery research group based in California. I've also done wet lab research over the summer at Hopkins, and some temporary internships at UTSW, but both of those were during high school so I won't keep them on my resume.
I'm aiming to join a pre-health society on campus, as well as some other generally fun clubs and maybe some consulting organizations to get involved in business, purely out of interest. I'm also establishing my own chapter of a national organization I'm a part of, which'll hopefully take flight in a couple months.
Outside of medicine, I do policy advocacy for 2 organizations, both extremely reputable and have a presence nationwide. Getting a conference presentation at a public health conference from one of them in the coming months, so they are definetly meritable enough to hopefully continue until med school applications, I've been in them since high school but they have people working ranging from hs to graduate.

I'm not sure if I should pursue any other form of clinical experience, at the moment I'm just doing volunteering, and I'm hoping EMT will suffice for clinical stuff, but I probably won't start working till next summer/next year at the earliest, and am thinking of trying to reach out to local clinics and work as an assistant, is that a good/bad idea?

I feel like my ideal amcas ec list would end up being 2-3 research activities (i quite like research), EMT, clinical volunteering, non clinical volunteering, shadowing 2 advocacy/policy related activities, 1-2 organizations on campus, and 1-2 hobbies.

Also, is it worth doing research in the summer, or racking up clinical hours. I like research, a lot, so I was focusing on research programs and such, but balancing EMT with school seems like it would lead to very few hours, and so I'm not sure whether I should work EMT over the summer instead.

Also, whats a proper timeline for courses to complete before studying for the MCAT. I'm planning to take it with the intent of graduating in 4 years and applying right away, no gap year in mind at the moment, so I'd love any advice surrounding that.

All in all I'm just looking for advice, sometimes I feel like I can't do much more this early, yet I look around and feel like people are so much more busy than I am. Maybe because I haven't started in a wet-lab yet and my classes haven't ramped up in difficulty that I'm left with this much time, but in general I'm just looking for advice to maximize my freshman year so I don't have any regrets when applying to med school.

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[JAK2-STAT3]

That's an impressive set of plans, but none if it will matter if you don't get good grades. I'll lay out my advice for you:

1. Figure out how to get good grades before committing to a ton of activities. Grade repair in 3-4 years will be far more expensive than needing another 100 hours of volunteering.

2. Regarding your timeline, if you plan to apply without a gap year you'll need to apply the summer after your junior year, which means taking the MCAT ideally before April your junior year. You might consider taking it in January of your junior year (especially if your school gives you a long winter break) so that you have 3-4 weeks off to study full time (you should study part time before that though). If you do this you'll have several months to work on your personal statement and other essays.

3. Regarding the MCAT, you'll want to have taken Bio 1+2, Gen Chem 1+2, Orgo 1+2 (it's okay if you don't get Orgo 2), Physics 1+2, and Biochem. I STRONGLY recommend taking at least one psychology or neuroscience class too. Neuroscience is particularly high-yield because they can sneak it in on the Chem/Phys and Bio sections in addition to the Psyc/Soc section.

4. I would STRONGLY encourage you to take at least one humanities class with a lot of writing AND a professor who's a hard a** about writing. Good writing is a skill that will serve you for your entire career, and reading all of those dense humanities texts is a necessary skill for CARS.

5. Assuming you can get As in your classes, add clinical volunteering (you'll want at 150 hours), shadowing (at least 50 hours), and non-clinical volunteering (at least 150 hours). For non-clinical volunteering, try to do something OFF CAMPUS so that your entire application isn't contained within your campus bubble. Also, it's important to do and see as much as you can in the real world, especially if you aren't going to work a full time job before you apply. Volunteering at your local food pantry or homeless shelter is a good place to start.

6. Hospital volunteer vs. EMT vs. MA vs. Scribe shouldn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. Do whatever interests you and won't negatively impact your grades.

7. Regarding research, this early on your main focus should be finding a good research mentor (since it sounds like you genuinely enjoy research). A lot of people, myself included, did research over the summer in undergrad, but IMO at this point it's too early to nail down exactly what you'll do next summer. Just focus on getting good grades and see what unfolds.

8. Other college/life advice: enjoy college! Either way you're stuck there for a few years, so make the most of it. Try to take one class every semester or year that has nothing to do with science or medicine--it might surprise you how much you like it! Stay open to other career options as well. And it's not the end of the world if you need a gap year--I had 5 and don't regret it for a second.

9. This may not be feasible, but if you possibly can do a semester abroad. It'll get you out of your comfort zone and you learn and grow in ways you can't even fathom right now. Bonus points if you learn another language and study abroad in a country that speaks that language.

EDITED TO ADD: Your north star in the next couple of years should be what you're GENUINELY interested in. Don't become an EMT because you think you need it to get into medical school (you don't)--do it because you love it. Doing a few things that you are genuinely passionate about is far better than doing six things that may check a box but make you miserable. For non-clinical volunteering, there are tons of options, so pick one that aligns with your interests. Like if you're into soccer, maybe coach a kids' camp for underserved kids one summer. Or if you're musically inclined, play the piano at a nursing home. If you don't do things you'll enjoy, you'll 1) be miserable, 2) burn out and your grades will suffer and 3) will really struggle when it comes time to writing your essays. Good luck and have fun!

 

[LindaAccepted]

I'm a freshman bio major (doubling in a liberal arts major as well) in a top public university, and I'm just looking for advice on what to focus on in order to maximize my chances of getting into medical school by the end of my undergrad journey.

I'm planning to complete gen bio and bio lab, gen chem, biostats, psychology and sociology by the end of freshman year, along with my general english requirements and stuff from college. I'm also planning to take orgo, upper level bio, a&p, physics, and a semester of biochem next year, not sure what else I should finish before starting mcat studying. I've taken AP chem, bio, physics c so at least for the gen science courses I'm mostly cruising by for right now.

In terms of extracurriculars:
I'm taking an EMT course right now to get certified by ~January/February, and hopefully I'll start actually working by the start of next year if possible. Not sure if I'll work this summer or try to do some sort of research program instead.
I'm volunteering weekly at a local hospital, and I'm probably going to pick up another volunteering shift at a local clinic.
I have shadowing set up soon and aim to have ~50 hours by the end of this semester. I have ~20 hours from the summer just from a single exchange with a doctor, and ~100 from high school which I don't think I can keep.
I'm attempting to get into a wet-lab at my university, will find out in a couple weeks if I'm in, and if so I plan to stay in it till the end of college hopefully. I'm also doing remote clinical research at a lab in a t20 med school, working on a couple systematic reviews with medical students at my local med school, and doing clinical research for a vascular surgery research group based in California. I've also done wet lab research over the summer at Hopkins, and some temporary internships at UTSW, but both of those were during high school so I won't keep them on my resume.
I'm aiming to join a pre-health society on campus, as well as some other generally fun clubs and maybe some consulting organizations to get involved in business, purely out of interest. I'm also establishing my own chapter of a national organization I'm a part of, which'll hopefully take flight in a couple months.
Outside of medicine, I do policy advocacy for 2 organizations, both extremely reputable and have a presence nationwide. Getting a conference presentation at a public health conference from one of them in the coming months, so they are definetly meritable enough to hopefully continue until med school applications, I've been in them since high school but they have people working ranging from hs to graduate.

I'm not sure if I should pursue any other form of clinical experience, at the moment I'm just doing volunteering, and I'm hoping EMT will suffice for clinical stuff, but I probably won't start working till next summer/next year at the earliest, and am thinking of trying to reach out to local clinics and work as an assistant, is that a good/bad idea?

I feel like my ideal amcas ec list would end up being 2-3 research activities (i quite like research), EMT, clinical volunteering, non clinical volunteering, shadowing 2 advocacy/policy related activities, 1-2 organizations on campus, and 1-2 hobbies.

Also, is it worth doing research in the summer, or racking up clinical hours. I like research, a lot, so I was focusing on research programs and such, but balancing EMT with school seems like it would lead to very few hours, and so I'm not sure whether I should work EMT over the summer instead.

Also, whats a proper timeline for courses to complete before studying for the MCAT. I'm planning to take it with the intent of graduating in 4 years and applying right away, no gap year in mind at the moment, so I'd love any advice surrounding that.

All in all I'm just looking for advice, sometimes I feel like I can't do much more this early, yet I look around and feel like people are so much more busy than I am. Maybe because I haven't started in a wet-lab yet and my classes haven't ramped up in difficulty that I'm left with this much time, but in general I'm just looking for advice to maximize my freshman year so I don't have any regrets when applying to med school.

Strongly consider taking a gap year. it's possible to go straight from college to medical school, but it's very demanding.

 

[ByThe+C]

The only thing you should be planning is to get a 4.0 every semester.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Walk before you run. The other stuff matters only if you start from a position of having good grades. Much easier to get hours later through a gap year if it's needed than to try and repair a damaged GPA.

I recommend everyone spend the first semester doing absolutely nothing except figuring out how to excel in classes and how to live independently

 

[lacrossegirl420]

GPA > everything else (at least early on). I’ve had classmates in college do too much too soon, end up with C’s freshman year, and never got into med school

 

[eigen]

My biggest advice to incoming first years is to take a deep breath.

It seems like everything is coming your way at once, and you have a mountain of things you want/need to do before you apply.

But if you overbook yourself, everything will suffer: preparing for medical school is a marathon, not a sprint.

Take your first semester to build a firm foundation: get settled into campus, explore what things are being offered. Find resources on campus. Figure out where you like to study, and figure out what works / doesn't work for you in terms of class prep. Meet advisors, meet folks in your pre-med office, meet other students, make friends.

Once you have a solid foundation and are doing well in classes, then start adding in other things.

The number of students I watch pile on too many things, suffer, then spiral out trying to get back on track is large. Take your time. The transition from HS -> College is really rough for most people, especially if you're going to a top institution.

 

[Rachapkis]

1. Get the lay of the land and get your feet under you.
2. Do not have a laser focus on medicine . . . explore your interests.
3. Do well in all classes you take and gradually branch out into ECs in your areas of interest.
You can save a lot of time and heartache by taking the time to understand yourself and what you're getting into. Once you're sure of the direction you want to head, the key is to do things right, not fast.

 

[cookie_munster]

Keep a journal either digitally or paper/pen and try to write in it occasionally throughout your premed experience. Write about what you did in your clinical experiences, shadowing, research etc.

But, don't just write about WHAT you did but more importantly why was that experience meaningful to you and what did you get out of it or learn about yourself? You'll thank me when you have to write apps later on.