I basically just became pre-med about four months ago, after I tried shadowing, and was looking for advice about what I should be doing to make myself a competitive applicant. My school doesn't have pre-med advisors so I figured this was the next best place to ask. I'm a white female, and I'll be taking the MCAT this summer.
GPA: 3.9ish after first quarter of junior year at a top public school (sGPA: ~3.85).
Shadowing: 30 hours (primary care physician)
Research: Two years now in a psych lab (psychobiology major here), studying mental health literacy. I've presented posters at two conferences. By the time I apply, I'll likely be second author on one or two publications.
Work: I work part-time at the front desk and in the mailroom of the athletics department on campus, basically doing security and customer service. I'm also a huge sports nerd (former D1 soccer hopeful, until I got injured; currently training for a marathon), so I spend maybe more time than I should volunteering for the marketing department there (flyering, game-day set-up, and yell crew kind of stuff). I figure everyone needs a hobby. It's certainly not something I could do full-time, though.
ECs: I didn't think I was pre-med my freshman year, so I didn't look into doing anything clinical. I did, however, spend two quarters volunteering with Special Olympics every other week (~40 hours), where I coached young adults with mental disabilities in soccer and basketball. During my second year, I volunteered at a local hospice as a patient care volunteer. Basically, I would provide emotional and social support with the patients - watching TV with them, working puzzles with them, just talking, etc. The patients understandably would tire quickly, so I could only spend an hour or two with them per visit. I did ~50 hours in nine months. I left this volunteer position because the hospice was, frankly, not well-organized, and after the social worker I was reporting to left, they never hired at that position again and I couldn't really get in contact with anyone about what I should do. However, after this experience, I realized I wanted to explore medicine as a career option, and I've started volunteering doing patient transport and wayfaring at the local Veterans Administration hospital. I've done 83 hours so far, and plan to keep doing this until I graduate next year.
Since I started pre-med so late, I constantly feel like maybe I'm missing something or behind where I ought to be, so I was just hoping to get some feedback! Thanks in advance!
GPA: 3.9ish after first quarter of junior year at a top public school (sGPA: ~3.85).
Shadowing: 30 hours (primary care physician)
Research: Two years now in a psych lab (psychobiology major here), studying mental health literacy. I've presented posters at two conferences. By the time I apply, I'll likely be second author on one or two publications.
Work: I work part-time at the front desk and in the mailroom of the athletics department on campus, basically doing security and customer service. I'm also a huge sports nerd (former D1 soccer hopeful, until I got injured; currently training for a marathon), so I spend maybe more time than I should volunteering for the marketing department there (flyering, game-day set-up, and yell crew kind of stuff). I figure everyone needs a hobby. It's certainly not something I could do full-time, though.
ECs: I didn't think I was pre-med my freshman year, so I didn't look into doing anything clinical. I did, however, spend two quarters volunteering with Special Olympics every other week (~40 hours), where I coached young adults with mental disabilities in soccer and basketball. During my second year, I volunteered at a local hospice as a patient care volunteer. Basically, I would provide emotional and social support with the patients - watching TV with them, working puzzles with them, just talking, etc. The patients understandably would tire quickly, so I could only spend an hour or two with them per visit. I did ~50 hours in nine months. I left this volunteer position because the hospice was, frankly, not well-organized, and after the social worker I was reporting to left, they never hired at that position again and I couldn't really get in contact with anyone about what I should do. However, after this experience, I realized I wanted to explore medicine as a career option, and I've started volunteering doing patient transport and wayfaring at the local Veterans Administration hospital. I've done 83 hours so far, and plan to keep doing this until I graduate next year.
Since I started pre-med so late, I constantly feel like maybe I'm missing something or behind where I ought to be, so I was just hoping to get some feedback! Thanks in advance!
