do you have any advice for a pre med student?

im not sure i know what ur looking for in the way of advice, you seem to know what you ned to do.. do well on the gpa and mcat

- Join clubs, be active in them; if you can score a "leadership position," all the better
- Volunteer somewhere that involves clinical experience
- Shadow doctors
- Breathe

Other than that, GPA/MCAT like you already know, and you should be good to go.

I'll try to answer, but it is a very broad question. There are a million factors that make a good candidate for acceptance, so here are what I think you should try to do.

First, and most obvious, do well in your classes. But please don't have a heart attack if you get some B's. I always read pre-meds who freak out and think they are going to be cast into the lake of hell b/c they got a B on a test or in a class. Also, you are young, so enjoy life too. Make sure you go out with friends and have a social life. Work hard, but don't be afraid to reward yourself too. As said before, do well on the MCAT's, but please don't ask what is the lowest score you need to get accepted. That is just a stupid and aggravating question, and a bad way to approach the test. Have a minimum goal in mind and if you can get that, then great, if not, try again...no big deal. Also, get clinical exposure. This is weighed more heavily than what people may suspect. Try to get certified as an EMT or have a lot of shadowing under your belt. There is no better way to prove to both yourself and adcoms that you want to be a doctor than actually doing something like that. Make sure that you shadow a DO if you plan on applying to osteopathic schools. You don't need 100's of hours, but a day or two is fine, just so you can talk to the doc to understand osteopathy a bit more. Volunteering is good to, but you don't need to go crazy either. If you want to do research, go ahead. Enjoy your classes and see where life takes you.

Oh, and if you can take a human anatomy course, even just as a summer course at a comunity college, do it. I couldn't imagine doing med school without having taken that class. It has helped me make the transition to med school so much easier and I, along with many of my classmates, have said that taking a human anatomy course in the #1 class we would recommend to pre-meds.

Do not let the school consume you. That's the best advice I can give you. I'm at Univ of the Sciences, formerly PCPS, and know how hectic and horrid a health-professional school can be (first pharm school in America). Would I be happier anywhere else? No. Would I be as prepared? Maybe. But, this is the fit for me. That being said, be well rounded. Not everything has to focus around science (although it always seems to come back to it). Get involved with great ECs and get the physician shadowing underway in your 2nd semester of first year or after. Volunteer, do all that stuff. But first and foremost, don't succumb to the health-sciences field 100%. Do well, but also have a balanced life which will lead to a balanced application.

Get out while you still can.

I haven't seen this advice.... get to know your professors. It will help you get used to talking to "authority" types (good for the interviews) and it will be a lot easier to get LORs.

BIGGEST advice someone from here will tell you is this:
"NEVER....let your overall / science GPAs hit bellow 3.5"

Keep this rule with you all the time and one day, you'll make it into some MD school.

Disregard this rule (like me and obtain a 3.01 undergrad GPA) and suffer a few years doing post-bacc work which will BAIRLY move that GPA to 3.2-3.3...

I am not saying GPA is everything in life, other things matter too, however, GPA is the only one that takes ALOT of time and money to fix, so don't ever let it fall.

rcasey said:

Hi am a freshman at MA college of pharmacy and health sciences, they have a very rigorous reputation and is strictly a health science school. I am trying very hard, I just want to get somewhere in 3 years. Besides studying hard, what other advice can you give me? I know the higher the GPA the better but what is a safe point, I know that DO schools have a slightly lower GPA but I'll probably apply to both MD and DO. Thank you very much for any help

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...Strategy is as important as hard work when you are a pre-med. If you have a professor who is a hardass and takes great pleasure in making sure that large numbers of people wash out, merely drop the class and take it elsewhere. One thing I didn't realize when I was an undergrad was that by virtue of paying $10,$20, or $30 thousand dollars a year I'm a consumer of the educational product. There's no reason you should expect less from your school than the buyer of a Lexus expects when he drops $30k on a car lot.

If your school isn't measuring up on the customer service level, go somewhere else. There's no shortage of undergraduate colleges (and some of the smaller private ones are the best ones). Your desire is to go to medical school. It's the job of that institution to see you succeed, not to try and protect some admission % statistic.

Good luck!

Don't let the idea of going to med school "consume" you, and leave nothing of you. Always strive to get good grades, try to keep a balance and distance between your personal life and school.

Do some EC's in areas that you like, don't do certain extra curricular activities just because it will help you gain admissions because in the long run you might feel like you wasted your time dong EC's that meant nothing.

Volunteer within clinical settings so that you may gain experience and exposure, shadow doctors, try to make yourself "stand out" in your classes (not all) so that when the time comes to ask for a letter of rec, you will easily get a strong recommendation...

Take it slow, don't over whelm yourself before you've even been accepted (it happens a lot). When you feel like you need a short break take one!

Don't pull ALL NIGHTERS!! They SUCK!! So avoid these by always studying on time, MAKING time for studying, and starting studying early so that later you wont have to CRAM all that info at once... My 2 centzzzz........

Good Luck....

Honestly, if you ONLY goal is to get to medical school, then for the sake of your happiness, study what you love and would be able to accel in, not just science courses. I think everyone knows the hoops we all have to jump through to get into medical school, so why not have some sort of balance? I have a cousin who loves psychology, so is studying that, and picking up science classes on the side to prepare for the MCAT and pre-req's as well. I studied computers, enjoyed that, then went back for a post bacc.

If you love science, study science, if you love music, study that. Don't pick a major for the sake of only getting into medical school. As we all know, grades are the #1 factor in getting in, so do something you know you will do well in and play pick up on the side.

dont slack off. one bad semester could kill you in the long run. you'll save yourself a LOT of trouble later if you just choose studying over partying on certain days.

rcasey said:

thanks for all the advice everyone, see this school that i go to sucks because its a pharm and health science school. So my major is premed. I had no choice of classes for this semester, they picked them for me. The school is pretty hard, but I think im working to hard for what the school is worth. I just want to get somewhere after my four years here because Im sure there is so much I can do with a premed degree. Im trying hard but I don't think Im doing good enough to get into med school. I don't think grades is everything but it's a lot.

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Hi rcasey, I just wanted to tell you that you can do it! I just survived four years of undergrad as a pre-med student and I know how slim encouragement is during those years. You should know that you are in the same boat as countless others across the country right now, heck across the world for that matter. It always helps to remind yourself that you are part of a community of students who have the same goal as yourself.

So many times as a pre-med student I lost sight of the "light at the end of the tunnel" and just wanted to quit because I hated the stress and the mundane life studying books instead of helping patients. What I discovered through all of it, is that above all, DO NOT give up! Please do not give up! There are so many tempting times throughout those years that I'm sure you've already encountered, where you are ready to throw in the towel and pick something easier for your life. But, if you can, try to focus on the big picture. Every time you're beginning to doubt yourself, every time you get a terrible grade on an exam or in a class, brush it off and hold your head up high because this is your passion! Continually picture yourself in the future as a physician and have confidence that it will happen, because if you genuinely try hard enough, you will find a way. There are so many paths you can take these days to get your DO or MD, and it may not always be the path you originally planned, or happen when you want it to, but you must press on and know that it WILL happen.

I got tons of B's throughout my pre-med years and constantly felt discouraged and not up-to-par with the other students, and not intelligent enough to pursue my dream, but I've learned that you can definitely still become a doctor as a B or 'mediocre' student. Just try your best and keep your head up!

Old_Mil said:

...Strategy is as important as hard work when you are a pre-med. If you have a professor who is a hardass and takes great pleasure in making sure that large numbers of people wash out, merely drop the class and take it elsewhere. One thing I didn't realize when I was an undergrad was that by virtue of paying $10,$20, or $30 thousand dollars a year I'm a consumer of the educational product. There's no reason you should expect less from your school than the buyer of a Lexus expects when he drops $30k on a car lot.

If your school isn't measuring up on the customer service level, go somewhere else. There's no shortage of undergraduate colleges (and some of the smaller private ones are the best ones). Your desire is to go to medical school. It's the job of that institution to see you succeed, not to try and protect some admission % statistic.

Good luck!

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That's good stuff!

What an excellent topic!

Not to beat a dead horse, but I really think DancerDoc's post was great. Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Very helpful

Check out your pre health advising services. See if it's any good.

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This thread is more than 7 years old...

Explore other careers first.

Can we please stop the necro bumps

Frickin' SDN noobs!

DetectiveAlonzo said:

Frickin' SDN noobs!

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I was reading through it all like, "yeah! That's some good advice," Was going to make a joke and then I looked at the 8 year old date. :/ I hate people.

Edit: And OP's last post was in 07, so I can't see if they made it or not.

Lmao.

Reminder to check date of first post always from this point on.