Am I On Track?

[sunflower18]

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Hello! I am a second semester freshman, so I will be a sophomore in a month and a half or so. I just wanted to make sure that I was doing everything right in terms of extracurriculars. I'm having a hard time figuring out what the balance should be between getting involved and studying -- it hasn't been an issue this year, but I'm worried I'll need to have that boundary clearly defined for next year. I'm also concerned that I will be a cookie cutter applicant, and would like to fix that as soon as possible. Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated!!

English major
cGPA: 4.0
sGPA: 4.0
I'm on track to get three As and one A minus this current semester, I think. We'll see, though.

ECs:
- Pre-Med Intern for my college (hired to organize events, create resources, and basically revive the pre-med program)
- Volunteering to help teach swim lessons, but I plan to get my Lifeguard cert this summer so that I can teach my own classes
- Hospital volunteering; about 500 hours between 9th grade and now
- Shadowing; about 170 hours split between two specialties. Plan to add primary care this May
- First Responder for my campus' emergency medical response program
- Published 5+ poems in national literary magazines
- Staff member for campus literary arts magazine
- Volunteer counselor for government agency helping seniors learn about medicare
- Medical research full-time this summer

I feel very busy and involved, but I also don't feel like I stand out. What holes do you think I have in my application that I should patch up before I need to apply? I am applying to the Mt. Sinai HuMed program this summer, so it'd be nice to have my application as polished as possible before July, but that is a definite longshot. I more just want to be aware of what I need to add to my activities so that I will fare well in the normal application cycle. What things would you recommend I get involved in as far as research goes, or to emphasise my non-conventional major? Thanks so much!!

 

[sliceofbread136]

You are on track for the carribean. Maybe DO if lucky.

 

[sunflower18]

You are on track for the carribean. Maybe DO if lucky.

Yay for sarcastic first responses! Wouldn't be SDN without them.

I know I probably look desperate / gunnerish / neurotic, but I'm seriously concerned. It's scary to devote hours upon hours upon hours to something that has no guaranteed successes.

 

[gmcguitar4]

I think you are very aware of how you are doing and just want to see "wow impressive for only being a freshman." Well their you go.. Get over yourself!

 

[sunflower18]

I think you are very aware of how you are doing and just want to see "wow impressive for only being a freshman." Well their you go.. Get over yourself!

Nope, that is definitely not the case. At all. I am very worried that I look like a cookie cutter applicant, and want some genuine advice as to what I should do to extend the depth and not necessarily breadth of my ECs. I also am not sure which of my activities are the most important to continue in case academics become more overwhelming in future years. I would appreciate it if you were not unnecessarily harsh towards people who you don't know and are seeking honest help.

Thank you for your input though.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Yay for sarcastic first responses! Wouldn't be SDN without them.

I know I probably look desperate / gunnerish / neurotic, but I'm seriously concerned. It's scary to devote hours upon hours upon hours to something that has no guaranteed successes.

You have to understand how infuriating it is to see a post from someone with a 4.0 and a million activities wondering if he's "on track." You're an intelligent person, apparently, so can't you figure out on your own what the obvious answer is?

 

[sunflower18]

You have to understand how infuriating it is to see a post from someone with a 4.0 and a million activities wondering if he's "on track." You're an intelligent person, apparently, so can't you figure out on your own what the obvious answer is?

Infuriating? Seriously? What infuriates me is that this forum breeds insecurity and makes it fester in people, and then when they express such worries, they're mocked. That's not fair. I've heard so many times from so many people that you need to be interesting to stand out. They say that a nice GPA (I'm certain it won't stay at a 4.0) and some cute hospital volunteering won't cut it as far as getting noticed goes. I wanted to know what I should do so that I don't join the unfortunate ranks of people who thought they were doing the right thing but apparently weren't. I don't want to dawdle along, thinking I'm a shoo-in, to get rejection letters abound. Is that so bad? I'm sorry that you think so, but I think it's a reasonable request.

Again, thanks for your input I guess. Sorry I infuriated you, but I hope you had a good night regardless.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Infuriating? Seriously? What infuriates me is that this forum breeds insecurity and makes it fester in people, and then when they express such worries, they're mocked. That's not fair. I've heard so many times from so many people that you need to be interesting to stand out. They say that a nice GPA (I'm certain it won't stay at a 4.0) and some cute hospital volunteering won't cut it as far as getting noticed goes. I wanted to know what I should do so that I don't join the unfortunate ranks of people who thought they were doing the right thing but apparently weren't. I don't want to dawdle along, thinking I'm a shoo-in, to get rejection letters abound. Is that so bad? I'm sorry that you think so, but I think it's a reasonable request.

Again, thanks for your input I guess. Sorry I infuriated you, but I hope you had a good night regardless.

You've probably been sitting too long in pre-allo and have truly become neurotic. Just stay away from there completely. A lot of insecure people are there that like bringing others down because they haven't accomplished as much. Here's a serious answer since you seem to be genuine with your intentions:

You are doing fine. A 4.0 GPA can get you a lot further than can having a 3.3 with some EC that are atypical. The majority of students that matriculate into medical school are much more boring than you think you are. In fact, many have less activities than you by the time they graduate. Medical schools have seen everything: from Olympic gold medalists to suburban kids with good intentions. Both have been successful in entering. Will standing out in some EC activity help? Certainly, but you won't be at a significant disadvantage if you haven't broken a Guinness Record. The only thing you could add at this point is some research (2 summers should suffice). Maybe you want to stand out there by doing research in some topic that's not typical? For example, I did research in Entomology. So in sum, just keep doing what you're doing (+ research) and a top 10 medical school will be an open door for you.

Hope this helps.

 

[sunflower18]

You've probably been sitting too long in pre-allo and have truly become neurotic. Just stay away from there completely. A lot of insecure people are there that like bringing others down because they haven't accomplished as much. Here's a serious answer since you seem to be genuine with your intentions:

You are doing fine. A 4.0 GPA can get you a lot further than can having a 3.3 with some EC that are atypical. The majority of students that matriculate into medical school are much more boring than you think you are. In fact, many have less activities than you by the time they graduate. Medical schools have seen everything: from Olympic gold medalists to suburban kids with good intentions. Both have been successful in entering. Will standing out in some EC activity help? Certainly, but you won't be at a significant disadvantage if you haven't broken a Guinness Record. The only thing you could add at this point is some research (2 summers should suffice). Maybe you want to stand out there by doing research in some topic that's not typical? For example, I did research in Entomology. So in sum, just keep doing what you're doing (+ research) and a top 10 medical school will be an open door for you.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much. Really, that helps. I'm sorry I came off as ridiculous and like I was fishing for compliments or something. I definitely think that pre-allo has me a little bit freaked out, so some deep breaths might be good for me. Your advice was very helpful. Thank you 👍 🙂

 

[Catalystik]

Hello! I am a second semester freshman, so I will be a sophomore in a month and a half or so. I just wanted to make sure that I was doing everything right in terms of extracurriculars. I'm having a hard time figuring out what the balance should be between getting involved and studying -- it hasn't been an issue this year, but I'm worried I'll need to have that boundary clearly defined for next year. I'm also concerned that I will be a cookie cutter applicant, and would like to fix that as soon as possible. Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated!!

English major
cGPA: 4.0
sGPA: 4.0
I'm on track to get three As and one A minus this current semester, I think. We'll see, though.

ECs:
- Pre-Med Intern for my college (hired to organize events, create resources, and basically revive the pre-med program)
- Volunteering to help teach swim lessons, but I plan to get my Lifeguard cert this summer so that I can teach my own classes
- Hospital volunteering; about 500 hours between 9th grade and now
- Shadowing; about 170 hours split between two specialties. Plan to add primary care this May
- First Responder for my campus' emergency medical response program
- Published 5+ poems in national literary magazines
- Staff member for campus literary arts magazine
- Volunteer counselor for government agency helping seniors learn about medicare
- Medical research full-time this summer

I feel very busy and involved, but I also don't feel like I stand out. What holes do you think I have in my application that I should patch up before I need to apply? I am applying to the Mt. Sinai HuMed program this summer, so it'd be nice to have my application as polished as possible before July, but that is a definite longshot. I more just want to be aware of what I need to add to my activities so that I will fare well in the normal application cycle. What things would you recommend I get involved in as far as research goes, or to emphasise my non-conventional major? Thanks so much!!

You already plan to add primary care shadowing and research to your list of activities. It would also be nice to see you move up into a peer leadership role in one of your long-term activities, like an editorship, trainer, or using the PreMed Internship to develop committees to which you delegate tasks that you oversee.

Publishing in a national magazine 5 times helps you stand out. So would an unusual hobby or ongoing research activity that lasts more than a year. For the latter, the area of research doesn't matter, so long as it is hypothesis-driven and could potentially add to human knowledge. This could be science-related, or psychology, economics, linguistics, etc, among many other fields. Check the research listings of your school, see who's published what, and find something that triggers an interest that you might get involved in starting sohphomore year, if an ongoing relationship with the medical research team isn't possible.

 

[sunflower18]

You already plan to add primary care shadowing and research to your list of activities. It would also be nice to see you move up into a peer leadership role in one of your long-term activities, like an editorship, trainer, or using the PreMed Internship to develop committees to which you delegate tasks that you oversee.

Publishing in a national magazine 5 times helps you stand out. So would an unusual hobby or ongoing research activity that lasts more than a year. For the latter, the area of research doesn't matter, so long as it is hypothesis-driven and could potentially add to human knowledge. This could be science-related, or psychology, economics, linguistics, etc, among many other fields. Check the research listings of your school, see who's published what, and find something that triggers an interest that you might get involved in starting sohphomore year, if an ongoing relationship with the medical research team isn't possible.

Great suggestions! Thanks so much Catalystik!! I will be sure to incorporate those into my activities 🙂