Pre-med Freshman advice University of Illinois

[BrightStar2543]

Hi everyone, I'm posting tonight to ask for advice on how to pursue medical school. I am a freshman at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Currently, I am undeclared; however, I plan on studying Biology. I'm hoping to graduate in 3 years. I am doing so because I have received a good amount of AP credits that has taken care of all my gen eds after this semester. Additionally, graduating a year early would be financially better in my situation.As for some things that would be useful to know regarding my schedule:
Fall 2015:
Calc I
English 161
Gen Ed class
Chemistry 112 (gen chem 1 w/lab)
GPA: 4.0/4.0

Spring 2016:
Bios 100 (bio w/lab)
Chem 114 (gen chem 2 w/lab)
Physics 105 (physics 1 w/lab)
Gen Ed class

As for my ECs:
~50 hours shadowing
~50 hours volunteering
~100 hours EMT
~240 hours clinical experience at NMH
*No research
As for my spring semester, I know 15 credits of science is a heavy load, but I believe I'm handling it very well at the moment.I also spoke to my advisor in regards to my 3 year track. This includes taking two 200-level biology classes, orgo, and a 200 level psych class next semester. Although, I know this is rigorous, I am not frightened by the workload. In fact, I'm not scared by putting the work needed. However I'm absolutely frightened about making a strong application that involves good ECs. I got certified as an EMT a few months ago and tried to take advantage of the clinical experience that comes with the job. I also applied for a summer research position because I've heard research is huge. Exactly how huge is research? Also, I was wondering if there is anything else that can strengthen my application. And if so, how do I accomplish it? Is it really that bad to graduate in 3 years?Thanks for all the help everyone!

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[frosted_flake]

Great GPA and ECs so far... Keep that up, score well on the MCAT and you will be just fine

Importance of research depends on your target schools... are you looking to get into top 20 schools that heavily emphasize research? Or your state school that may not value research as much?

It does not matter if it takes 3, 4 or 5 years to graduate, but make sure that you do not rush things and risk messing up your GPA. Protect that at all costs (i.e. drop an EC if you feel like your studies are taking a back seat). Make sure you do not overload yourself. You have to have time to enjoy life too, or you will crash and burn out quicker than you realize! As many people on here say... this is a marathon, not a sprint!

Hope that helped!

 

[BrightStar2543]

Great GPA and ECs so far... Keep that up, score well on the MCAT and you will be just fine

Importance of research depends on your target schools... are you looking to get into top 20 schools that heavily emphasize research? Or your state school that may not value research as much?

It does not matter if it takes 3, 4 or 5 years to graduate, but make sure that you do not rush things and risk messing up your GPA. Protect that at all costs (i.e. drop an EC if you feel like your studies are taking a back seat). Make sure you do not overload yourself. You have to have time to enjoy life too, or you will crash and burn out quicker than you realize! As many people on here say... this is a marathon, not a sprint!

Hope that helped!

Thanks for the response! It was just the advice I needed! I'm really close to my family and would love to stay in Illinois. With that being said, I plan on applying to every medical school here including Pritzker, Feinberg, UIC, Loyola, SIU,etc. Is that where research comes in play?

 

[SpartyParty1992]

Thanks for the response! It was just the advice I needed! I'm really close to my family and would love to stay in Illinois. With that being said, I plan on applying to every medical school here including Pritzker, Feinberg, UIC, Loyola, SIU,etc. Is that where research comes in play?

Applying to SIU is pretty pointless if you are from the Chicagoland area.

 

[BrightStar2543]

Applying to SIU is pretty pointless if you are from the Chicagoland area.

Can you please elaborate?

 

[SpartyParty1992]

Can you please elaborate?

They are a mission based school for Central and Southern Illinois and usually end up taking people from those regions because they are more likely to practice their.

 

[BrightStar2543]

They are a mission based school for Central and Southern Illinois and usually end up taking people from those regions because they are more likely to practice their.

Fair enough. Just curious is there any benefit in general to being a UIC student when applying to UIC School of Medicine?

 

[Sgucci]

Fair enough. Just curious is there any benefit in general to being a UIC student when applying to UIC School of Medicine?

No, undergrad bias is low for them, but you being in-state helps because they're a public school.
As for SIU - do you have any ties to central or southern Illinois? If you have any ties or have lived there then you can probably play them up.

 

[rilte4]

Just don't leave the state if you want to attend UIC for med school. That OOS tuition is insanity.

 

[BrightStar2543]

No, undergrad bias is low for them, but you being in-state helps because they're a public school.
As for SIU - do you have any ties to central or southern Illinois? If you have any ties or have lived there then you can probably play them up.

Not really, I do live down south;however, I'm like 40 minutes away from SIU.

 

[BrightStar2543]

Just don't leave the state if you want to attend UIC for med school. That OOS tuition is insanity.

Yeah for sure, I've lived in Illinois my whole life and plan on finishing my education at UIC.

 

[BrightStar2543]

I know this is really early, but is there a list of schools I should have on my mind?
As of right now it's:
UofC
Feinberg
UIC
Loyola
Rosalind
SIU
Rush
Those are really good schools, but I know I'd be an idiot if I applied to less than 10. Is there any other good recommendations? At least then I can look up the pre reqs needed for those schools so that I least have all the criteria met.

 

[piii]

I know this is really early, but is there a list of schools I should have on my mind?
As of right now it's:
UofC
Feinberg
UIC
Loyola
Rosalind
SIU
Rush
Those are really good schools, but I know I'd be an idiot if I applied to less than 10. Is there any other good recommendations? At least then I can look up the pre reqs needed for those schools so that I least have all the criteria met.

Let's wait until you have more grades and an MCAT under your belt to have this conversation