Advice to an incoming college freshman? (majors, MCAT, ect)

[n00dlez]

I've decided to attend UW Seattle. I initially applied for DA to BioE. I didn't get it, but I was in the top 10th percentile of my class, got in the 99th percentile on my ACT, internships with research experience, and basically had 12 hour school days. I'm pretty frustrated. It seems like all my hard work went in the trash. Now I'm afraid I won't be an amazing student at UW because most of my UW-bound peers got DA into their other engineering majors. I'm wondering if I should continue to pursue BioE at UW or opt for neurobiology (something I'm also very interested in). I feel like I could've easily gotten DA to neurobio, but I didn't apply. I regret it a lot. I know BioE is more challenging, but what's better? I feel like I could achieve a higher GPA in neurobio and maybe have more time to study for the MCAT, but I don't even know how that works. I have to find research experience too. My friend is donating her old MCAT books to me so I can figure out how this works. I'm also planning on getting work experience as a medical scribe this summer as opposed to an internship (I've been interning at top companies for the past two years). On top of that, I'm taking summer courses to get ahead on my coursework. I'm in full panic mode, in all honesty. I sit in calculus class and look around at all the people who got DA feeling like a failure. It makes me wonder if the same thing will repeat in med school and whether I should just give up now or not. I want to stand out amongst my peers, how should I go about doing that?

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[neurophil5]

Which do you feel like you'd enjoy studying more? If medicine doesn't work out, bioE would be a much better back up than neuro. Nuero would most likely lead to a higher GPA however.

In terms of standing out, try finding a volunteer experience that you're passionate about. This will probably be non-clinical and can be a good way to stand out.

Don't give up though! Sometimes life is unfair, but that's just the way it is. Try to use this experience for good and strive for your goals!


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[byrdhouse]

100% do what you would enjoy more. Dont try to make yourself the perfect candidate for medical school, because there isn't one. Sure, high GPA and MCAT are important, as are other aspects, but there is no perfect candidate. Rather, you should take time to enjoy your undergraduate experience and live! College is a time when you get to learn about you and expand your world view.

You will always have people that are going to be better than you academically. A medical school class is composed of students who are used to be top 10%, being phenomenal at everything they do, and always getting the highest scores. These students have a rude awakening when they realize that they are not top dog anymore, and they might even be mid/lower pack. It is nothing to be ashamed of or feel like a failure about. All you can do is your best, and I know that sounds hella cliche, but as long as you are a better person tomorrow than what you were today, in whatever measurement, then you are moving in the right direction.

To answer your question about standing out: volunteer, do research, get involved in extracurriculars (theater/drama? debate team? synchronized swimming?), do things to expand your worldview and develop some sort of empathy.

 

[Dandine]

@n00dlez

First thing to put things in perspective: you are not alone. As posters above have mentioned, when you are surrounded by other talented people, it's easy to feel like you haven't accomplished much. It's something a lot of students feel, even if they don't show it.

As far as MCAT goes, really the best prep is learning it the first time in class and then, come review time, taking lots of practice tests/question sets and focusing on your weaknesses. The MCAT at least in most people's experiences about best to get the in-depth knowledge first in your pre-reqs and focus on other points when you start studying for the big exam. Some people love prep courses for review; not a bad idea if you feel you need one. But you'll get to studying for the MCAT in time; for now focus on your classes.

What do you like to do or want to improve on? If anything those are the things that will help you start the process of standing out. Just bear in mind the pre-req and clinical experience reqs that schools look at.

Hope that helps a little. Best of luck!

 

[gyngyn]

What's DA?

 

[moggat]

I've decided to attend UW Seattle. I initially applied for DA to BioE. I didn't get it, but I was in the top 10th percentile of my class, got in the 99th percentile on my ACT, internships with research experience, and basically had 12 hour school days. I'm pretty frustrated. It seems like all my hard work went in the trash. Now I'm afraid I won't be an amazing student at UW because most of my UW-bound peers got DA into their other engineering majors. I'm wondering if I should continue to pursue BioE at UW or opt for neurobiology (something I'm also very interested in). I feel like I could've easily gotten DA to neurobio, but I didn't apply. I regret it a lot. I know BioE is more challenging, but what's better? I feel like I could achieve a higher GPA in neurobio and maybe have more time to study for the MCAT, but I don't even know how that works. I have to find research experience too. My friend is donating her old MCAT books to me so I can figure out how this works. I'm also planning on getting work experience as a medical scribe this summer as opposed to an internship (I've been interning at top companies for the past two years). On top of that, I'm taking summer courses to get ahead on my coursework. I'm in full panic mode, in all honesty. I sit in calculus class and look around at all the people who got DA feeling like a failure. It makes me wonder if the same thing will repeat in med school and whether I should just give up now or not. I want to stand out amongst my peers, how should I go about doing that?

Ok first, if you continue like this you will 100% burn out long before you can even get to medical school. You have GOT to find some balance in your life.

I'm also planning on getting work experience as a medical scribe this summer as opposed to an internship (I've been interning at top companies for the past two years). On top of that, I'm taking summer courses to get ahead on my coursework.

Don't do this. If you do decide to pursue medical school, you may not have any free summers left. You got into college, a competitive, high-achieving one, congrats! Take some time to appreciate that. Take the summer off, do something fun, and figure out what you really want to do. You're 17 or 18, and trust me, it all seems really overwhelming right now, but you have SO MUCH TIME to figure this stuff out. You don't need to rush into it all at once.

You're not a failure for not getting into DA BioE, in fact, you're clearly qualified to study whatever you want at one of the best schools in the country. Getting into medical school is not a sprint, and most of the time it's not even a straight line. Right now, not getting into DA BioE may seem like the end of the world, but it honestly might be a blessing in disguise; now you have the opportunity to give some thought to what interests you the most and what you might like to do for the rest of your life if medicine doesn't work out.

To answer your actual questions:
1. "I know BioE is more challenging but what's better?" -- you get literally 0 points for doing something thats more challenging. you get negative points for doing something more challenging and failing. Pick a major that you LIKE, something that you will genuinely enjoy, so that when you're stuck in the library at 3AM studying something you hate, at least you can look forward to the rest of the classes you do like.

2. "I feel like I could achieve a higher GPA in neurobio and maybe have more time to study for the MCAT, but I don't even know how that works." -- I dont think BioE and neurobio will be sufficiently different in difficulty to make a huge difference in your potential GPA; Engineering is notoriously grade deflating, neuro can be too. As for MCAT, you SHOULD NOT start studying for the MCAT as a freshman, it will be literally useless; you wont have any of the background knowledge and you cant take the MCAT that early anyway. Most people choose to take the MCAT in the spring/summer of their junior year (if applying directly) or senior year. Studying during the summer and taking it in the fall the year before you apply is a great choice too. When you get there, there's a whole MCAT forum with suggestions for study plans--3 months is typically enough. Until then: don't worry about it.

3. "It makes me wonder if the same thing will repeat in med school and whether I should just give up now or not. I want to stand out amongst my peers, how should I go about doing that?"-- You sound like a driven student, so I suspect you'll be perfectly fine in medical school. However, if you don't take things a little slower and find some balance, you're going to drive yourself insane and never get there. Luckily, the solution will also help you stand out amongst your peers! FIND A HOBBY. There are SO MANY different clubs in college entirely devoted to just doing fun things--intramural sports, music, strange academic interest groups, board games, video games, crafts, ballroom dance, underwater basketweaving. None of these things will be found on a pre-med checklist, but they will make your life so much better AND have the added benefit of making you a better applicant. I have no doubt you'll find research, volunteering, and shadowing to develop as a student. What you also need to do is make sure you develop as a person. No one wants to work with robots. A ton of the questions I got on interviews were about the things I did in college that werent remotely academic or medically related.

Take a breath, slow down, have some fun. You'll be fine.

 

[Domepiece]

What's DA?

Since we are dealing with an incoming undergraduate freshman, this probably is short for direct admission to a major.

Kudos to @moggat for imparting some phenomenal advice. I would definitely read his response @n00dlez

Some additional pearls of wisdom I'd add are:

I didn't get it...I'm pretty frustrated. It seems like all my hard work went in the trash. Now I'm afraid I won't be an amazing student at UW because most of my UW-bound peers got DA into their other engineering majors.

Failing sucks, but a little secret is that this is far from the last time you will fail. This is more like a delay than a failure in a lot of ways. The majority of freshman change their major. This is not a setback for anything you want to achieve.

I'm wondering if I should continue to pursue BioE at UW or opt for neurobiology (something I'm also very interested in)...I know BioE is more challenging, but what's better?

Do what you are more interested in. As was stated earlier, BioE will give you more job potential should the med school thing not work out/not even be your desire at the end of your college career (which happens a lot). Majoring in something with practical real life applications is a consideration often lost on premeds. It isn't emphasized a lot, especially on these forums, but should you find yourself in the job market with a prototypical bio degree or similar, you are going to get railed by supply-demand economics.

I feel like I could achieve a higher GPA in neurobio

You are probably not wrong here. I won't get a lot of points for saying this, but med schools don't give two ****s about how hard your major is. They want to see success. Many of my engineering friends had the mentality that schools will see they were an engineer and be more lenient with their lower GPA. Nope. You have complete control over choosing an area you want to study and your subsequent success in that area. If you don't succeed, the perception will be an incompetence in work ethic, decision making, intelligence, or some combination thereof, despite the reality of 'having harder classes' or 'grade deflation'.

more time to study for the MCAT...I have to find research experience too. My friend is donating her old MCAT books to me so I can figure out how this works

The MCAT books are going to be a heavy paperweight and much of the material may become obsolete by the time you take the test. Would recommend ditching those. Also, it sounds like you are implying that the MCAT books will allow you to figure out how to find research experience, which they will not. Don't worry about research experience until you are assimilated and accustomed to college academics.

I'm also planning on getting work experience as a medical scribe this summer as opposed to an internship (I've been interning at top companies for the past two years).

Scribing and internships are both viable, but worry about this after your matriculate and are used to how college works. You don't need to scribe before college.

It makes me wonder if the same thing will repeat in med school and whether I should just give up now or not.

Not getting in and failing are not analogous. I took two tries to get in. Am I a failure? I don't feel like one.

I want to stand out amongst my peers, how should I go about doing that?

I wish when I first started college someone had emphasized how uncommon it is to display sustained excellence in academics across the entirety of one's collegiate career. Similar to choosing a major, select extracurricular activities that you actually have a passion for, not the prototypical 'research, premed club, TA/tutoring' ECs that you feel you should have (if you have a passion for those though, go ahead and crush it). Quality over quantity; consistency of excellence.

You'll do great if you take it one step at a time. Priorities as a freshman:

1) Maintain mental sanity and don't get sucked into premed assumptions
2) Become comfortable and consistent in academics (>3.5 GPA); maintain for 4 yrs
3) Slowly add in passionate activities; display consistent excellence in these
4) Matriculate to med school

 

[gyngyn]

Since we are dealing with an incoming undergraduate freshman, this probably is short for direct admission to a major.

Kudos to @moggat for imparting some phenomenal advice. I would definitely read his response @n00dlez

Some additional pearls of wisdom I'd add are:

Does this confer some benefit?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Does this confer some benefit?

Some schools give you direct admission to a major, which lets you start that major right away and may give you earlier opportunities for internships and relationships with your professors. Not getting DA at some schools means you have to take gen courses and essentially prove you deserve a spot. Not sure how UW works.

 

[gyngyn]

I've decided to attend UW Seattle. I initially applied for DA to BioE. I didn't get it, but I was in the top 10th percentile of my class, got in the 99th percentile on my ACT, internships with research experience, and basically had 12 hour school days. I'm pretty frustrated. It seems like all my hard work went in the trash. Now I'm afraid I won't be an amazing student at UW because most of my UW-bound peers got DA into their other engineering majors. I'm wondering if I should continue to pursue BioE at UW or opt for neurobiology (something I'm also very interested in). I feel like I could've easily gotten DA to neurobio, but I didn't apply. I regret it a lot. I know BioE is more challenging, but what's better? I feel like I could achieve a higher GPA in neurobio and maybe have more time to study for the MCAT, but I don't even know how that works. I have to find research experience too. My friend is donating her old MCAT books to me so I can figure out how this works. I'm also planning on getting work experience as a medical scribe this summer as opposed to an internship (I've been interning at top companies for the past two years). On top of that, I'm taking summer courses to get ahead on my coursework. I'm in full panic mode, in all honesty. I sit in calculus class and look around at all the people who got DA feeling like a failure. It makes me wonder if the same thing will repeat in med school and whether I should just give up now or not. I want to stand out amongst my peers, how should I go about doing that?

I have every confidence that a talented student can overcome whatever adversity this decision may seem to have dealt you. You can be sure that we don't know the difference.

 

[Domepiece]

Does this confer some benefit?

Earlier access to major specific coursework and advising. From an anxious freshman point of view, a huge deal. From a pragmatic point of view, there is no real benefit as most freshman need to knock out GE reqs and discover their actual interests during the beginning of their collegiate experience anyways.

 

[cactusman]

Does this confer some benefit?

Depends on the program. For instance, I think the UIUC CS major requires a 3.76 college GPA if you want to apply to switch into it. Getting a 3.7 cGPA wouldn't keep someone out of med school, but it might keep them out of their desired major.

However, I doubt UW BioE is quite as competitive.