What should I do starting in Freshman year?

[Runner500]

So I'm starting freshman year (not the best pre-med school).

I want to know what I should do to increase my chances of getting into Med School. Specifically volunteer work, jobs, and all the extra stuff.

Obviously I need a solid GPA and MCAT. What else can I do to help solidify my chances of being accepted into Med School.

Lastly I have 2 specific questions.

1. Does it matter what I major in? I'm thinking Biological Sciences, but I kinda want a second major in business. Just to fall back on. As of right now I can't see myself as anything but a Doctor.

2. When should I start being concerned about the MCAT? Like I said, not the best pre med program. Should I get the kaplan books and study over time? Or study 2-3 months prior to taking the MCAT?

I will do anything it takes to get in to Med School. I just need a better idea from those more expierenced.

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[xerei]

So I'm starting freshman year at u of m Dearborn (not the best pre-med school).

I want to know what I should do to increase my chances of getting into Med School. Specifically volunteer work, jobs, and all the extra stuff.

Obviously I need a solid GPA and MCAT. What else can I do to help solidify my chances of being accepted into Med School.

Lastly I have 2 specific questions.

1. Does it matter what I major in? I'm thinking Biological Sciences, but I kinda want a second major in business. Just to fall back on. As of right now I can't see myself as anything but a Doctor.

2. When should I start being concerned about the MCAT? Like I said, not the best pre med program. Should I get the kaplan books and study over time? Or study 2-3 months prior to taking the MCAT?

I will do anything it takes to get in to Med School. I just need a better idea from those more expierenced.

Personally, I would worry about grades for at least your first freshman semester, and maybe through the whole year, depending on your strengths/weaknesses. You do have time to volunteer, shadow etc later on, and your science GPA can really suffer if you don't do too hot in your intro science classes. Furthermore, freshman year is a very transformative and important time, and I think focusing on the transition is in itself a lot of work.

1. Major doesn't matter. This advice applies to majoring but also to everything else on your application - do stuff (and major in something) that interests you, because come application & interview time, they can tell what you're passionate about and what you did just so it looks good to an adcom. With that said, having a second major that can land you good jobs as fallbacks is not a bad idea (a chemistry major can get you a good gap-year job if you need, etc.)

2. Don't worry about the MCAT until at least the end of sophomore year. At that time, you should have some idea as to whether or not you're applying at the end of junior year "traditional" or taking a gap year, and that will be the deciding factor as to when you'll take your MCAT. The better you do in gen chem, bio, o chem, the better you'll do on those sections on the MCAT. So basically, if you focus on your pre-req classes, you are actually prepping for the MCAT indirectly.

 

[yeezuswest]

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/358460/data/premed.pdf

Major in what you like, just make sure you complete all of your pre-med requirements. Getting A's in all of your class should be your #1 goal from the start. Get a 4.0 your first semester of college, and don't let it get under for the next 4 years (3.8-4.0 is good enough). Don't think about your MCAT until the end of your sophomore year at the earliest.

Also, it's not necessarily about "doing whatever it takes" to get to med school. If you really want to be a doctor, just do well in all of your classes, volunteer, help out your community, shadow a doctor, and hope that you get in. At the end of the day it's just a job, so make sure you don't end up doing something you hate.

 

[deleted577188]

Get A's.

 

[ReadyforMed]

Volunteer somewhere where you actually want to volunteer. Don't just volunteer at the hospital with hundreds volunteers because everyone else is there. On the same note, don't volunteer at a place where no one else is volunteering just to be novel. Find something you are passionate about and get on that volunteering train. Also, I wouldn't start volunteering right away. Learn what is surrounding your community. Upperclassmen are great. I would not be volunteering where I am now (and have for almost 3 years) had I not quit my first volunteering gig at a hospital and listened to upperclassmen.

If you find your ECs are negatively affecting your academic performance, take a step back. You don't have to be perfect and sleep is beneficial. Your mental health is more important than getting into med school on the ideal timeline.

MCAT is something to think about after you are done with all of your pre-reqs. I know someone who started hard core studying after freshman year (like 2 hours a day) and failed o-chem. They wasted those hours studying what they already knew instead of things they should have focused on immediately. They are no longer going to med school.

 

[WedgeDawg]

1. Figure out how to study efficiently and effectively. This does not necessarily mean studying for 8 hours/day in the library. If that's what works for you, then do that, but based on purely anecdotal evidence, I don't think that's the best way for most people to study. The sooner you figure out what works best for you, the sooner you will start getting solid grades and have more free time to do other things.

2. Figure out whether you want to get involved in research or not. In order to get the most out of a research experience, you should start early and try and find a lab that suits your interests and your personality. The earlier you start, the earlier you can figure out if you need to switch labs/fields or not do research altogether. If you find you enjoy research and/or want to continue to pursue it throughout college, consider doing a full-time summer or semester in the lab. Every PI I've had/talked to has told me that you really won't get the full research experience unless you do a long-term full time stint in a lab, and after having done two of them, I would definitely agree.

3. Find things that you enjoy doing / are passionate about and excel in them. This can be anything from musical performance to outdoor rock climbing to a team sport to working with kids - really anything, as long as it interests you. This is not only a great way to make you an interesting person, but it will also keep you happy and fulfilled throughout college.

4. Find some sort of clinical exposure and volunteering options. If your school is affiliated with a hospital, these will be plenty. Look for something that intrigues you and get involved. It doesn't have to be a heavy time commitment - some people do like 3 hours per week whenever they have time. This will ensure you don't have to scramble for these positions junior year when everyone else is.

5. Enjoy and challenge yourself! College is about growth. Make sure you devote enough time to personal endeavors to help facilitate this.

 

[Carmiche]

1) does not matter what you major in. do what you enjoy and are genuinely interested in. It will result in a higher GPA than if you tried to go bio, but don't have an interest in bio.

2) don't worry about the mcat at all. Study smart and focus on getting a great GPA; you will retain a lot more information than you expect when it comes time to prepare for the MCAT. You can start light reviewing before 3 months out, but in my opinion anything over 6 months in advance is a little overkill.

As for getting involved, join some clubs that you are interested in. Starting a club looks great as well. If you have extra time try to secure a volunteer position at a nearby hospital. If you score a killer GPA and think you can get some solid rec letters after your first semester, it wouldn't hurt to apply to some summer medical research programs in December/January.

Don't overwhelm yourself with EC's. Take on what you can handle. Don't let them get in the way of your grades.

 

[panda16]

I co-sign most of what's been said already, with the additional emphasis on getting early clinical experience (shadowing local docs or volunteering at a local hospital), non clinical volunteering, getting A's and, VERY IMPORTANTLY, enjoying your undergraduate experience.

 

[beeboops]

1. Get great grades. Your grades are your main focus during freshman year, and if you do well, it'll set the stage for later success throughout college. Develop good study habits but also recognize that you'll want to have time to socialize and meet people. All work and no play makes Johnny a boring pre-med.

2. Don't focus on the MCAT just yet. Also, I wouldn't suggest studying for the MCAT more than 3-4 months from when you take it. This is because you're not just studying the material, which you'll cover in your classes, but you're also studying how to take the test, and this is something that is best kept fresh in your mind, especially for the verbal portion of the MCAT.

3. Find clubs/societies that you're interested in and become involved in them. The best thing that you can do for yourself in terms of medical school applications is to find something that you're passionate about and commit to it for a long time, even taking on leadership positions. This does not necessarily have to be medically focused. In fact, if it's not, I feel that this will give you a greater breadth of experience to talk about in your eventual applications/interviews.

4. Though freshman year should be about grades, get clinical experience as early as you can, maybe the summer after freshman year. Or you could start with something that's not too time-consuming like shadowing. Anything other than that and maybe some once weekly medical volunteering would be too much, I think. You can start adding more and more experiences as you start getting more used to the difficulty of college and develop good, efficient study habits.

5. Stop getting hung up on the fact that your undergrad is "not the best pre-med school". This does not matter in the least when you begin applying to medical schools. Begin to understand that your experience in college is what you make of it and not what the college makes of it. It is completely on you to get good grades, seek out help when you need it, and get involved in clubs or clinical activities. This kind of attitude that your undergrad will determine your success in getting into medical school or even being a good doctor is toxic. My undergrad is best known for political science and international relations. People were surprised when I told them I was a biology major because they didn't even know we had a biology program. I used to resent this and worry about my chances of getting into medical school because of it. But then, I realized that since my program was so small, I could waltz into one of the most popular labs in the department and get stellar letters of recommendation because my professors knew me so personally. Your success in college, and beyond, is totally dependent on what you put into it.

 

[DrDorianTurkleton]

If I could go back to freshman year and have this advice, I would have been ecstatic!

Just one other thing to add that I failed to do early on (sorry if someone mentioned this, I skimmed and did not see it) is to build relationships with professors. Even if you have no questions on course material, stop in to office hours every now and then just to talk with the prof or ask questions if you do have them. This will really help the professor put a name to a face and if you need references for summer programs, jobs, or medical school, these professional relationships will be very helpful. Also, if you are looking into research this is a good way to snag a position.

Continue to do this throughout college because it becomes even more important for your higher-level classes since med schools like to see letters from professors who have taught you in upper level coursework.