Advice for incoming college freshman

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I am doing pre-medicine at rutgers, newark. I will need some help and hopefully this forum can help me a bit. I know that i will major in biology but what else should i do at campus to increase my chances at getting into a med school? do you join more extra curricular activities or spend more time studying for better grades? and is pre-medicine hard?

Originally Posted by raptridge75

I am doing pre-medicine at rutgers, newark. I will need some help and hopefully this forum can help me a bit. I know that i will major in biology but what else should i do at campus to increase my chances at getting into a med school? do you join more extra curricular activities or spend more time studying for better grades? and is pre-medicine hard?

Stay away from this forum. It will steal your soul.

I second the above advice. After that, just focus on getting decent grades first semester, and pay a visit to your pre-med advisor. You can start thinking about what volunteer/shadowing stuff you might want to do, but there's time for that later, starting off with good grades makes everything easy. Also, party, meet people and have fun. The time for all that slowly dissapears when things get more serious later on.

Originally Posted by CTtarheel

I second the above advice. After that, just focus on getting decent grades first semester, and pay a visit to your pre-med advisor. You can start thinking about what volunteer/shadowing stuff you might want to do, but there's time for that later, starting off with good grades makes everything easy. Also, party, meet people and have fun. The time for all that slowly dissapears when things get more serious later on.

I heard stuff about research, what's this all about and will it help?

Originally Posted by raptridge75

I heard stuff about research, what's this all about and will it help?

Depends really. Clinical is a must, research helps. If you are a biochem major not doing research will turn heads like 'aren't you interested in your major...?' but again it's not always a must.

Originally Posted by raptridge75

I heard stuff about research, what's this all about and will it help?

Academic physicians do research. I would recommend trying it out just to see if it is your thing. It will definitely help you for getting into top-name research schools and you might even get paid. You can find a mentor from your school, just ask around how to go about that. And don't major in biology just because everyone told you to... if you like it, fine, but you might find you like something else better down the road and majoring in something else is perfectly fine. The pro to a biology major is that it is more useful than, say, a history major in finding a job in case this pre-med stuff doesn't work out.

See this thread for yesterday's discussion of this exact topic:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/show...light=freshman

Also, I know you're a newbie, but in the future it's good netiquette to always do a search of topics before posting you own.

Only come to SDN after the semester is over or before it begins.

Focusing on your schoolwork is your #1 priority.

Eat healthy. You don't want to be a fat ass at your interviews.

Volunteer if it won't compromise your grades.

Major in whatever you want, not necesarily biology or for that matter, any other science.

Gun it!

What everyone else said and emphasis on the

...stay away from SDN for now.

Honestly, when I first started the senester I was on here for hours a day and by the end of the first semester I hadn't posted in weeks because I didn't have enough time for it.

Now I'm on break though, I anticipate good grades, and I can post on SDN.

See, then you can eat your cake and have it too (it's not reversed, that's the appropriate phrase).

Ah hell, I'll give you three more:
1. Go to class
2. Don't get drunk and piss in front of Dr. Pepper's doorstep (damn you!)
3. Find some good friends

-Dr. P.

Get a 4.0
Score > 35 on the MCAT
Volunteer at hospital
Cure cancer

That should do it