- Joined
- Dec 28, 2011
- Messages
- 105
- Reaction score
- 51
Last edited:
Advice For A Soon To Be Freshman?
- Thread starter BrothaX
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2010
- Messages
- 6,208
- Reaction score
- 36
Keep high GPA, get a high MCAT, do excellent EC, etc. are all the obvious things.
Use ratemyprofessor.com and make sure you take the best professors possible.
Don't allow having fun to get in the way of your grades, but also don't let your grades get in the way of having fun. It's better to keep a balance in college than to finish 4 years later and have missed out on one entirely.
Use ratemyprofessor.com and make sure you take the best professors possible.
Don't allow having fun to get in the way of your grades, but also don't let your grades get in the way of having fun. It's better to keep a balance in college than to finish 4 years later and have missed out on one entirely.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2009
- Messages
- 1,158
- Reaction score
- 1
Do well in classes and stay off from SDN until you have to take MCAT.
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2011
- Messages
- 570
- Reaction score
- 2
keep that gpa high!
High GPA is essential. Don't fall into the trap of "but I have a 3.5" - maintain a 3.8 minimum through all 4 years. My cumulative GPA was 3.9+, including the science classes. Don't be lulled into thinking that a 3.5 is "good enough."
Start your first semester with a lighter load - say 12 hours. Don't do what so many do, loading up with 18+ hours.
And slow down on the rush to take the MCAT. Man, that is another huge mistake people make. Just look at all the people who end up taking it 3 or 4 times. The MCAT should only be taken ONCE, and only when you are fully prepared for it.
Realize that for every 10 people who enter college as a pre-med, by the time they hit the 2nd semester of the soph year, more than half of them have fallen by the wayside for a variety of reasons, but poor grades, especially in the pre reqs, is usually the culprit. Of the pre meds still standing, only about 1 in 3 make it to med school. The competition is fierce.
Finally - you should major in something that really motivates you, and that you can make the highest GPA in - thus it doesn't have to be traditional pre med, science, etc. Then do something like a Fulbright, and follow that up with post bacc classes to get all the pre med stuff. I know somebody who did this - ahem - and it was his golden ticket to a top 20 med school...
Don't be a dime a dozen, cookie cutter pre med.
Good luck - break away from the pack - stay out of the thundering herd of pre meds - because most of them are going to be trampled into the dirt.
Start your first semester with a lighter load - say 12 hours. Don't do what so many do, loading up with 18+ hours.
And slow down on the rush to take the MCAT. Man, that is another huge mistake people make. Just look at all the people who end up taking it 3 or 4 times. The MCAT should only be taken ONCE, and only when you are fully prepared for it.
Realize that for every 10 people who enter college as a pre-med, by the time they hit the 2nd semester of the soph year, more than half of them have fallen by the wayside for a variety of reasons, but poor grades, especially in the pre reqs, is usually the culprit. Of the pre meds still standing, only about 1 in 3 make it to med school. The competition is fierce.
Finally - you should major in something that really motivates you, and that you can make the highest GPA in - thus it doesn't have to be traditional pre med, science, etc. Then do something like a Fulbright, and follow that up with post bacc classes to get all the pre med stuff. I know somebody who did this - ahem - and it was his golden ticket to a top 20 med school...
Don't be a dime a dozen, cookie cutter pre med.
Good luck - break away from the pack - stay out of the thundering herd of pre meds - because most of them are going to be trampled into the dirt.
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2011
- Messages
- 1,375
- Reaction score
- 15
keep a balance schedule.
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2010
- Messages
- 6,907
- Reaction score
- 82
party
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2010
- Messages
- 908
- Reaction score
- 12
Wait and take the MCAT when you should...after all pre-reqs, normally in the Spring of your Junior year.
Yes, this means you take the new exam, but otherwise you 1) won't be ready and 2) will have your scores expire if you don't get in your first cycle and have to take the new version anyways.
Yes, this means you take the new exam, but otherwise you 1) won't be ready and 2) will have your scores expire if you don't get in your first cycle and have to take the new version anyways.
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2011
- Messages
- 560
- Reaction score
- 5
Take all prerequisites before taking the beast. I don't blame you for avoiding the 2015 MCAT. I would not want to be one of those individuals taking a 7 hour grueling exam.
The proposed 2015 version of the MCAT will include four (4) major test sections:
Molecular, Cellular and Organismal Properties of Living Systems;
Physical, Chemical and Biochemical Properties of Living Systems;
Social and Behavioral Sciences Principles; and
Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
The MCAT for 2015 will have a lot more Biochemistry ouch! and more Natural Sciences on top of whatever is tested right now. The addition of Social and Behavioral Sciences come on!! the MCAT is already hard I feel like they are purposely trying to rape premeds.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/4/11/students-mcat-new-more/
The amount of Science material will doubled. A huge content change will cause Students to be taking their prereqs earlier, compressing them, and taking more at the same time. Man good luck! if I were you I would avoid this exam at all cost. Try to take the current version which seems to be a walk in the park. I can't even imagine testing double the material for 7 hours straight, I think my brain would just fry.
The proposed 2015 version of the MCAT will include four (4) major test sections:
Molecular, Cellular and Organismal Properties of Living Systems;
Physical, Chemical and Biochemical Properties of Living Systems;
Social and Behavioral Sciences Principles; and
Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
The MCAT for 2015 will have a lot more Biochemistry ouch! and more Natural Sciences on top of whatever is tested right now. The addition of Social and Behavioral Sciences come on!! the MCAT is already hard I feel like they are purposely trying to rape premeds.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/4/11/students-mcat-new-more/
The amount of Science material will doubled. A huge content change will cause Students to be taking their prereqs earlier, compressing them, and taking more at the same time. Man good luck! if I were you I would avoid this exam at all cost. Try to take the current version which seems to be a walk in the park. I can't even imagine testing double the material for 7 hours straight, I think my brain would just fry.
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2009
- Messages
- 316
- Reaction score
- 19
Don't neglect social or academic opportunities. They are equally important.
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2010
- Messages
- 2,340
- Reaction score
- 17
go to class, do your homework, get tutoring if you need it. Just don't fall into the pitfall of "I had a bad freshman year, can I still be a doctor?" It's the worst situation to put yourself in and you should avoid it at all costs. Trying to dig yourself out of the hole you made will make for an extremely stressful 3 years and God knows that being a pre-med student is stressful enough as is
- Joined
- May 19, 2011
- Messages
- 600
- Reaction score
- 2
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2011
- Messages
- 392
- Reaction score
- 4
Don't make being a pre-med stressful! Work hard, get good grades, and learn! Best advice I ever received was in my first college class. My professor basically said focus on learning the material and understanding it. If you do that from the start, the grade will come and you will have earned whatever grade you receive. I am a 3.7-3.8 student, but I can confidently say I have learned. That is what matters to me, not achieving an A and knowing NOTHING (which irritates me). Even in gen. ed. requirements I try and learn something, not just sleepwalk an A.
With that said, use ratemyprofessors.com wisely. It is a great tool for finding easy gen. ed. classes, but often useless at core classes. One of the best professors I have taken courses with has many reviews of "RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!" He expected his classes to learn, big whoop. It's college, you better learn. Often times, students think learning is the devil.
Make some sacrifices to keep a high GPA, but don't let the quest for medical school consume you. Get involved with something, but always remember to be social. It is undergrad. after all, make friends, have fun, and be safe.
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2007
- Messages
- 6,874
- Reaction score
- 1,357
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2011
- Messages
- 261
- Reaction score
- 1
First: HAVE FUN! Medical school and your professional goals are incredibly important, but DO NOT forsake the college experience. Really, that's CRITICAL. HAVE FUN. Don't be another machine-like premed.
Get a great GPA. The best thing you can do for your application while still in college, and it makes studying for the mcat easier.
Probably don't want to take that at the end of sophomore year. You can definitely do it, but it makes it one year closer to "expiring," as far as the application cycles go. You'll never know what you want to do later. Also, you might benefit from moving the required courses around your four years a little bit so you don't have to kill yourself working one semester.
Find a handful of activities that you will truly enjoy, and get as involved in them as you possibly can. These can be medicine related or not, as long as you have a true passion for them and would be able to share that in essays or interviews
Then get involved in one or two less fun activities that you "need" (IE, research).
Good luck!
Get a great GPA. The best thing you can do for your application while still in college, and it makes studying for the mcat easier.
Probably don't want to take that at the end of sophomore year. You can definitely do it, but it makes it one year closer to "expiring," as far as the application cycles go. You'll never know what you want to do later. Also, you might benefit from moving the required courses around your four years a little bit so you don't have to kill yourself working one semester.
Find a handful of activities that you will truly enjoy, and get as involved in them as you possibly can. These can be medicine related or not, as long as you have a true passion for them and would be able to share that in essays or interviews
Then get involved in one or two less fun activities that you "need" (IE, research).
Good luck!
