Good advice for a pre-med student.

I'm in my freshman year at NYU, and I don't want to sound like a snobby dick but I have big aspirations for the future, and would love some advice in general about opportunities I should be seizing throughout my undergrad years for med school.

Currently, I'm going to be taking Chem II over the summer [which is kind of bad] but I'll make it up by taking Biochemistry in my Junior year. It's becuase the curriculum they set up for me is messed up, so I'm forced to do that if I want to finish everythign on time. I'm not very sure what to major in, most likely Psychology or Politics, but I'm not exactly sure yet.

Aside from taking the required courses, and maintaining a good GPA and taking the MCATS, what should I be doing? WHat are some good jobs and volunteer options I should be considering?

I understand it's very hard to get a job/internship at a hospital, shadowing doctors and everything. Is this something I should be seriously considering? What other opportunies are there?etcc

How ya doing, buddy?

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.

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.

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.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

What medical field are you interested in? That would help a lot.

As far as actual school, I would suggest taking two painful courses, and two fun courses. Figure out what you like to do, and figure out what is necessary. I hate math and science, and I love business and electronics. Therefore, I made sure for every math and science course I HAD to take, I would have something pleasant to look forward to before and after class. If you have to take more than four courses, try to aim for an easier course than a hard course. It's really hard to say for sure what the best path is, as we all have our own style and asparations.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

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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.

I volunteered at a hospital in HS, and got like 100 hours into it. It really wasn't fun at all. It was a clerical job. All I did was staple sheets of paper and other menial tasks. How would I get a volunteer job where there's more responsibility and opportunies for me to do more?

I was thinking of something I'd have to take training courses to be certified in? Like CPR, or an ambulance crew or something? I want something really intensive that I can dedicate time to, rather than a laundry list of things that just "may" look good on a resume. I need to be able to do these things and get something out of it.

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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.

Are you speaking of schools in the US? People here usually tell me to take the MCATs in the spring of my junior [third] year. But I'll look into that. I figured schools looked into your freshman, sophomore, and junior years... since you'll be applying to med schools after junior year right? So basically it's like in HS, when the senior year isn't concentrated on by med schools, so I'll spend senior year finishing my major and enjoying my last years in undergrad.

Start studying now? Hmm. I understand your advice though. I sometimes think that if I had started studying for the SAT from a very, very early age I'd get like a 2400 or something. Theoretically it makes sense, since how else would you get better at a test but studying? I'll have to check it out and try taking a practice one to see where I am right now, and to rock the test when it comes because I'd have had so much preparation. So I'll take that into account.


Shadowing a doctor would be incredible, but it is very hard to get. It would be best if I can volunteer somewhere early and form a relationship with the doctor and be trusted enough to shadow him/her in the upcoming years. I guess it'll be great if I could start early.

As for medical field. I'm not very sure, yet. For a long time I wanted to be a Psychiatrist, but now I'm interested in being a surgeon. Heart surgeon, brain surgeon, something like that. Not sure yet.

I do like Math and Science, I like everything. But admittedly, they are hard subjects for me. Politics is something I really enjoy and read up on on my own time. I'm real good at the humanities, and will definitely take courses in those classes [not just to boost my GPA but because it'll give me something to look forward to between the hell of my science courses and labs.]

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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.

I am enjoying my undergrad very much right now. I'm not very sure about the upcoming years thouhg, hah. Going to be a lot of work, and it's only going to get harder. But that's expected. I know when to relax and have fun and when to sit down and study my ass off. I do get stressed, I'm not superman, but I'm not TOO worried about that. I don't know, I'll make it through and I generally find it easy to enjoy myself so it'll be alright emotionally speaking.

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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.

I've had several jobs in the past, but NOTHIGN compares to the jobs I can get throguh the university. I don't have one yet, but I have applied to many and will continue to apply. Not only is the pay great, but they're wonderful jobs with astronomical qualifications. If I can nail one [hopefully through an interview, since that's the best opportunity to nail jobs] then I will be very happy. Plus, I'm not rich like all the other kids here so I need the money, too. heh.

Extra-curriculars, as well. I'm in Model United Nations. And it's a club I really enjoy and I dedicate a lot of time to it, so I'm definitely sticking with it. I'm also in Badminton and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Is that well-rounded enough?

What do you mean about a computer based MCAT?

I have to finish a lot of the NYU required coruses which aren't very interesting. Along with foreign language which I really don't want to take. I took French in HS and barely understand it. I want to take German or something more exotic in college, but I figured Spanish would be the most useful as a doctor so I'm not very sure about that either.

I was speaking idiomatically.

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?