What did you do....

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rochagurl89

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...the summer between Freshmen/Sophomore year??

Do you think it would be ok if I went to India this summer from July to August (btwn fresh/soph yrs) and either volunteered at an orphanage or blind school?

I know that this doesn't directly correlate to medicine but I think it would be a very rewarding experience in the long run.

I have shadowed a doctor in India last year for about two weeks. Should I do this again instead?

I plan on taking genetics for the first half of the summer before I leave. Do you think this is worth doing? It costs about $3000 at my university.

I was originally planning on taking physics over the summer and perhaps getting my EMT certification but under some circumstances that came up, it would be best for me to go to India this year.

I know I posted this in another thread but I wasn't getting answers to it and I need to figure out what to do prty soon..

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I worked at a retail store and volunteered once a week at the hospital... oh and took an online class (wooooot Econ)
 
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took a full courseload :thumbdown: :rolleyes:
 
Played on a basketball traveling team, slept, and ate tons of junk food.
 
Summer school and played lots and lots of video games.
 
Chilled out with friends for the first half, then worked on a research project at a school other than my undergrad the second half.
 
Moved back home to work a s*** job at a gas station 300 miles from my girlfriend for 3 months. Yeah, it sucked. :thumbdown:
 
I worked as a Medical Assistant in private pediatric practice. Great job!
 
I enjoyed my summer, went to the beach, etc.

I didn't do anything until summer of Junior/Senior year. Did some research. I never shadowed anyone either.

I got into the top med school in my state.

But doing more is better than doing less, so give it a go and beef up your resume.
 
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I plan to get my EMT certification, shadow twice a week at an orthopedic surgery clinic and visit Thailand for two weeks.
 
Went to Europe and traveled.
 
I think I was a bit of a bum if I remember - I know I went to the gym a lot and worked at my dad's office filing and shadowing him. Other than that, I remember that was the start of AIM so I spent a lot of time chatting with my college friends as well.
 
Lifeguarding at a community pool. I just pretty much sat in the sun all day long :)
 
Fresh/soph summer = took english lit class at comm. college and went to the beach a lot
soph/jun = took some electrical eng. classes that were prereqs for other classes I had to take later, shadowed a lot
jun/sen = full-time research
sen/med school = NOTHING academic, had lots of fun before signing my soul over to med school
 
:DWorked construction with 3 of my friends. Lots of demo work which was awesome.
 
i took gen chem 1 and 2 plus the labs for each. 6 hrs a day, 4 days a week. Ugh. Between sophomore and junior years I worked in an OR and between junior and senior years I was in the middle of my semester abroad in Japan. I highly recommend study abroad btw.
 
doing a summer program (smdep) this summer :)
 
I did nothing. I would wake about around 1pm, sit on my *** all day playing San Andreas, stay up til 3AM most nights drinking beer and having a great time. I’m glad I just chilled. But hell, India sounds cool, I’d prolly go.
 
Worked in a hospital and went to summer school full-time.
 
I was a golf caddy that summer.:thumbdown: But I also took summer school, got Calc II out of the way.
 
Did a 2 week medical mission trip to Nicaragua and a 10 week internship doing neuroscience research at Emory. I would've rather sat on my *** at home and enjoyed one of my few remaining summers, but I couldn't say no to those opportunities.
 
This summer I'm doing a clinical internship at Baylor provided by JAMP and I'll start working on prepping for the MCAT. I may also take a summer class in July depending on how much motivation I have left.
 
Watched Wedding Crashers and 40 Year Old Virgin over and over again...
 
any thoughts on my revised question??
 
any thoughts on my revised question??

Any of your options will be fine. Do what you most want to do. As evidenced by peoples' answers, they did a variety of things during their first summer in college. You've got great activities to choose from, so do whichever ones you want to do most.
 
any thoughts on my revised question??

I think international experience is always a great thing, and they don't expect you to do clinical work every single summer. Besides, it will make your application stand out. You'll be that girl who helped blind kids in India ;)

And personally, I took a health policy internship. The fact that so many people do nothing is precisely why you should do something--so you'll stick out.
 
I think you should totally go to India and work with kids. It sounds awesome. I am going to a summer program.
 
I worked in dietary at a nursing home and was a black belt instructor in Tang Soo Do Karate. That was pretty much my summer between frosh and soph year.
 
between fresh/soph- nanny and trip to Hawaii

soph/junior- nanny, study abroad in europe, and worked a camp for kids with crohns disease

this summer- nanny, study abroad belize, either a class or research, and hopefully will be at camp for kids with diabetes.
 
Fresh/Soph -- at home, and a family vacation to Italy/Spain
Soph/Junior -- Trip to Germany, see family in Illinois, mission trip to Australia
Jun/Sr1 -- summer school (Physics) at home
Sr1/Sr2 -- traveled to Greece, hung out in London (after study abroad year)
after grad -- MCAT
 
Worked two jobs (abercrombie + busboy) and took summer school to get in state residency oh yeh and partied all summer
 
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