Good advice for a pre-med student.

I know quite a bit about this stuff. I just finished my first batch of medical school applications actually. I almost applied to John Hopkins and Harvard, but I don't think that I would like to study in the US... ANYWAY.

Originally Posted by splur

Volunteer at the hospital/clinic starting now till you graduate. Doesn't really matter what, but build up your volunteer experience now. Don't over-volunteer, 3 hours a week on the weekends should do it.

Be sure to try to get something that allows you to interact with patients. The entire point of volunteering in a hospital is to get some experience working with the sick to see if it is something that you can handle.

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If you want a 4 year undergraduate, take your MCATs summer of 2nd year. Start studying now. Take the MCATs prep course, it's really useful. Med schools look at your 3,4th years and MCATs the most. Don't screw those up.

Yup. Summer of your 2nd year should be a good time. Start studying now though? How about no. That's a waste of time. I started studying for the MCAT in June, two months before I had to write it - AND I was working two jobs. I didn't really study much more than 3-4 hours a day until mid July when I asked work to reduce my hours. Prep school isn't something that I would recommend for everyone. I did one and I didn't find it super useful. I probably would have done just as well, if not better, had I simply been giving the books that my prep school gave me and some practice MCAT exams.

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Shadowing a doctor is more for 4th year and med school. You'll shadow a doctor in the field you want to go into, which I'm not sure if you would really know yet because you're freshman. The more you volunteer, the more doctors you'll know, then you'll actually be able to shadow.

I don't know how common shadowing is down there, but I don't think that you should expect to be able to find a doctor that will let you. I've never heard of anybody doing that up here.

Here are some important tips:
1) Make sure that you enjoy your undergrad. You're not there to STUDY STUDY STUDY to try to get that 4.0. Yes, you want your grades to be as high as possible, but don't kill yourself getting them. A 3.6-3.7 should be plenty to get you into med.

2) Be involved with stuff outside of studying. Med schools look for "well rounded" individuals. Play some intramural sports or get a part time job. Don't just study and volunteer at the hospital.

3) Remember that you're going to be writing a computer based MCAT. I believe that they will be increasing the number of test dates to reflect this.

4) Make sure that you take courses that you enjoy. I took a few too many "bird courses" for some A's that I now regret. Sure, they were easy, but I probably could have pulled off the A in a more difficult class that interested me a heck of a lot more.

5) This is the most important advice: keep your options open. You may discover that there are things that you enjoy more than medicine during your undergrad. Try to get a research job in one of the labs on your campus. You might find that scientific research (or something else) is your true passion. That's what happened to my boss at McGill. She actually dropped out of med school because she finally realized that she didn't want to be a medical doctor. Now she runs a great research lab and is living the life of a fairly successful researcher at a prestigious univerisity.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

As of 2007, the MCAT will be "written" on a computer. The days of paper exams are finished.

Model UN, Badminton, BJJ - that should be plenty.

Also, from what I know, med schools don't really give two shits about your 4th year. They'll be looking at your grades from years 1-3, concentrating on 2-3 and just expect you to maintain good grades during your 4th year. It's a little bit different for me since my Fall semester is going to count towards my Quebec applications, but it won't matter for US schools.

As for doing non-clerical work: how about you try asking the volunteer department at the local hospital? It seems to work wonders for everybody that I know...

How ya doing, buddy?