Ask a Soon-to-be Med Student Anything

[xroc]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello everyone!

I recently graduated from a state university and will be attending a top 10 medical school in two months. Unlike many of you that browse this forum as high school students or freshmen in college, I was vastly uninformed about many topics related to medicine at those points in my life. You guys are already ahead

As I have a lot of free time now, feel free to ask any questions about being a pre-med, transitioning into college life, or anything else you believe I might be able to answer. While I may not be able to provide a lot of great insight into the field of medicine specifically yet, as many of the residents and attendings often do on this forum, I still feel like I may be able to provide some good information for incoming high school students 🙂

Ask away! 🙂

 

[JPodel]

What is the formula to get into med school? Also if you don't mind, can we have a little bit of info on your? Like Major, gpa, mcat, you don't have to reveal anything you think is personal but I think it will help us get to know you and what type of things to ask.

 

[xroc]

What is the formula to get into med school? Also if you don't mind, can we have a little bit of info on your? Like Major, gpa, mcat, you don't have to reveal anything you think is personal but I think it will help us get to know you and what type of things to ask.

I don't really believe in there being a formula to getting into med school necessarily. If you are a motivated, bright individual and you figure out that medicine is for you, you will find a way to get into a medical school (even if it's not on the first attempt). After having gone through this application cycle, I was amazed to see how many people were reapplicants or simply took 1,2,3 or even 10 years off after undergrad before pursuing medicine.

As for myself, I was a typical biology major. Non-urm and applied straight out of undergrad. I worked pretty hard in school and managed a good GPA (3.9+) and also scored 35+ on my MCAT.

I was the kind of kid that always did very well in high school but it didn't require a lot of effort so I just kind of cruised by with no speed bumps. Once I got to college, I realized that this stuff is actually challenging, so my first semester was a bit rough. After I adjusted, I started getting involved in some ECs and things just sort of started falling into place.

 

[JPodel]

Hopefully you can help me with this, I am going to be a senior next year and am starting to think about if I want to do the honors program at my state school... People have been telling me that adcom will not care at all and that if it hurts your GPA because of the harder courses, it will basically be a disadvantage. Do they really care or do you think its better if I do the honors program? Thanks! And one more thing, what do you plan on doing this summer before med school?

 

[I'm No Superman]

Hey man, thanks for doing this. I'm glad this place is (somewhat) active again.

So I have a few questions for you. As someone who is planning to take the MCAT late August of next year, should I take Physics II before I take it (It's my plan to take it before) or does it not matter that much?

Also, I plan on starting intensive studying after my finals, so late April, early May. Is that a decent time frame to study for it?

What study materials do you recommend?

Thanks, good luck in med school!


Edit: Hey, you go to the same school that I do. Any Michigan specific advice you could give me?
Double Edit: Nevermind, you go to the med school that's affiliated with my undergrad, that's awesome!

 

[amazing tekkers]

Mr. Superman, why are you taking MCAT that early?

To the med student, best experience you had in undergrad? worst experience?

Are you anxious for med school?

What do you wish you did differently?

What do you recommend for ugrads? anything not to partcipate in or do? any thing to partake in?

 

[JPodel]

Mr. Superman, why are you taking MCAT that early?

To the med student, best experience you had in undergrad? worst experience?

Are you anxious for med school?

What do you wish you did differently?

What do you recommend for ugrads? anything not to partcipate in or do? any thing to partake in?

I'm no Superman is a college sophomore and he's that he will be taking it in August of next year which will be August in his Junior year, the best time to take it...

 

[amazing tekkers]

I'm no Superman is a college sophomore and he's that he will be taking it in August of next year which will be August in his Junior year, the best time to take it...

Right.

 

[I'm No Superman]

Mr. Superman, why are you taking MCAT that early?

Taking it early partly because I'll have all my prereqs done, and partly because it will still be the old MCAT, which has plenty of study materials for it.

 

[PapaGuava]

Hey man, thanks for doing this. I'm glad this place is (somewhat) active again.

So I have a few questions for you. As someone who is planning to take the MCAT late August of next year, should I take Physics II before I take it (It's my plan to take it before) or does it not matter that much?

Also, I plan on starting intensive studying after my finals, so late April, early May. Is that a decent time frame to study for it?

What study materials do you recommend?

Thanks, good luck in med school!


Edit: Hey, you go to the same school that I do. Any Michigan specific advice you could give me?
Double Edit: Nevermind, you go to the med school that's affiliated with my undergrad, that's awesome!

I'm glad to see the community picking up as well. Its good for the seniors graduating and upcoming ones as well.

 

[xroc]

Hopefully you can help me with this, I am going to be a senior next year and am starting to think about if I want to do the honors program at my state school... People have been telling me that adcom will not care at all and that if it hurts your GPA because of the harder courses, it will basically be a disadvantage. Do they really care or do you think its better if I do the honors program? Thanks! And one more thing, what do you plan on doing this summer before med school?

I actually did an honors program at my state school. Some of the classes were honestly cool, others were kind of annoying but it really wasn't an overall bad experience for me. As far as it being an advantage for medical schools, of all of the interviews I have been at, it wasn't mentioned even once so I would agree along the lines that adcoms do not care much.

As far as for this summer, I'm just going on several vacations and enjoying being free before school starts 🙂

 

[xroc]

Hey man, thanks for doing this. I'm glad this place is (somewhat) active again.

So I have a few questions for you. As someone who is planning to take the MCAT late August of next year, should I take Physics II before I take it (It's my plan to take it before) or does it not matter that much?

Also, I plan on starting intensive studying after my finals, so late April, early May. Is that a decent time frame to study for it?

What study materials do you recommend?

Thanks, good luck in med school!


Edit: Hey, you go to the same school that I do. Any Michigan specific advice you could give me?
Double Edit: Nevermind, you go to the med school that's affiliated with my undergrad, that's awesome!

Hey! I actually didn't take physics II prior to my MCAT either and learned all the material necessary through Princeton Review. I think they do a fairly good job of covering/teaching the necessary MCAT material, so as a test prep company, I believe they're pretty solid. If you're not really an independent learner, this might not be a good idea, but with sufficient practice I think it's pretty easy to get an idea of the physics-related questions that come up on the MCAT.

I put in a solid 2 1/2 months of studying for my MCAT and I thought that was adequate, so I think you should be fine if you can stay focused and dedicated (a solid 6+ hours per day should suffice imo).

 

[xroc]

Mr. Superman, why are you taking MCAT that early?

To the med student, best experience you had in undergrad? worst experience?

Are you anxious for med school?

What do you wish you did differently?

What do you recommend for ugrads? anything not to partcipate in or do? any thing to partake in?

I'll start with my worst experience which was my freshman fall semester. I was pretty determined to do well in school and I was always good at gauging how much I needed to study to prepare adequately for exams but my study methods were not really up to par. In addition, I had a really crappy schedule (8:30 am - 4 p.m. Mon - Fri) so every day was pretty much school, homework/study, sleep.

I quickly learned a lot of things that semester and things got easier and easier as time went by, so I would say that the rest of my undergrad was a great experience. I would say my happiest moment of undergrad was getting my first medical school acceptance.

As far as med school goes, I know that it will be a lot of work so I'm trying to prepare myself mentally for that. I wouldn't say I'm anxious, however. I'm excited to start, but enjoying my short-lived freedom.

I think in hindsight, I wouldn't do many other things differently. Hard work alone gets you very far in this world. Four years ago, I would have never dreamed I would be in this place. My parents aren't doctors and unlike a lot of my friends today that have successfully gone through the pre-med route, I wasn't really "bred for medicine." It's hard to compete with people who do research and get published in high school, but in the end I learned that it's very important to live your life and not compare yourself to others.

Also, I know that this was beaten to death on this forum, but really it's very useful advice: pick something you like and stick to it. It doesn't matter what it is, but excel in it. Adcoms love to see dedicated people with a passion in something. As long as that passion isn't illegal, you can find many ways to tie it into how certain qualities will make you a better physician.

 

[JPodel]

Do you think that high school performance adequately foreshadows undergrad performance?

 

[xroc]

Taking it early partly because I'll have all my prereqs done, and partly because it will still be the old MCAT, which has plenty of study materials for it.

I think getting your MCAT out of the way early is a great idea IF you prepare for it well. The summer of my sophomore year, I didn't have anything planned, so I figured that I might as well study for it, and if by fall I was ready, I would take it (the bonus to that is if you don't do as well as you think you might, you have plenty of time to retake without being late applying). In the end, I think that was probably one of the best pre-med related decisions I have made.

 

[xroc]

Do you think that high school performance adequately foreshadows undergrad performance?

No, not necessarily. I'm sure there's some correlation, but college is pretty different imo. I personally know several people with either full rides or guaranteed med school acceptances (BS/MD) who lost these benefits in college due to poor academic performance.

I think there are a lot of traps people fall into. Some people have too much personal freedom and resort to drugs/alcohol. Other people who were successful in high school struggle in college because while they may be able to memorize a lot of material, they aren't able to apply concepts and think critically. Then there are people who just aren't willing to put in the required hours to do well.

 

[PapaGuava]

Did you see a lot of people get burnt out? I've always viewed Undergraduate as an endurance race rather than sprint. I'll be entering my first year of college in August. I'm very excited! 😀

How were labs? Similar to highschool procedure or completely different?

 

[xroc]

Did you see a lot of people get burnt out? I've always viewed Undergraduate as an endurance race rather than sprint. I'll be entering my first year of college in August. I'm very excited! 😀

How were labs? Similar to highschool procedure or completely different?

I don't think people really burn out in undergrad. Anything that takes 4 years is going to be an endurance race, but it's obviously doable. For me, and others, things actually get quite a bit easier once you adapt.

As far as labs go, they are highly variable based on which class they are associated with, and I would say they are pretty different from HS labs.

 

[I'm No Superman]

You gotta let me know how you like it up here. I'm sure you'll love Doctor Saint, he's great.

 

[silverwad]

The PROCESS is purposefully in place to "WEED" out the WEAK, no pun intended(WEED). When 60% premeds drop out of premed after the first ORG CHEM mid-term, the process is served! If you do not have a REFUSE-TO-LOSE mentality, you/we/them, barking up the wrong tree. If you trade a night in the library for a couple of cold ones, a few bong hits AND a wicked roll in the hay.........Wal-Mart is waiting for you!

 

[californicati0n]

Thanks for doing this! What extracurricular activities were you involved in your freshman year?

 

[xroc]

The PROCESS is purposefully in place to "WEED" out the WEAK, no pun intended(WEED). When 60% premeds drop out of premed after the first ORG CHEM mid-term, the process is served! If you do not have a REFUSE-TO-LOSE mentality, you/we/them, barking up the wrong tree. If you trade a night in the library for a couple of cold ones, a few bong hits AND a wicked roll in the hay.........Wal-Mart is waiting for you!

I agree with you. I think it's a difficult thing to find a balance for, which is why it's very important to be able to accurately self-assess your level of preparedness. Did you study enough? Good, now go enjoy yourself. You don't want to be partying all the time, but hitting the books 24/7 won't really make you a very sociable person either. I think a lot of people, however, go out too often and try and justify the latter reason.

 

[xroc]

Thanks for doing this! What extracurricular activities were you involved in your freshman year?

Like I said before, I had a pretty slow start. My first semester, I didn't do any ECs as I wanted to adjust to college life (in hindsight, it wasn't a bad idea). My second semester, I began working at a hospital (clinically-relevant job). I really started to build my CV sophomore year, however.

 

[xroc]

You gotta let me know how you like it up here. I'm sure you'll love Doctor Saint, he's great.

Will do. Enjoy your ugrad years, it's a great place to be!

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

Any mcat advice?

 

[loltopsy]

Any mcat advice?

Do the SN2 schedule or make your own. Devote at least a good month of studying. During that time, go to bed at 11 pm EVERY night. Wake up at 7-8 am every morning. This will train you so that the night before the exam, you will be less likely to lose sleep. It's a massive help.

 

[CHCOOH]

Did you ever get a C or lower in any classes?

 

[Mesinan]

Advice on what to major and minor in?
What is the best part-time job to get? What job would look good on a med school app.? Would Pharmacy technician look good?

 

[Hillo]

Working as a pharm tech sounds lame... just saying :x

 

[Dingo Mango]

Advice on what to major and minor in?
What is the best part-time job to get? What job would look good on a med school app.? Would Pharmacy technician look good?

Major and minor in literally whatever the hell you want. I was a music major and I got into my first choice med school. It doesn't matter what you do it matters whether you completely throw yourself into your education and do a great job at whatever it is you're doing.

I really enjoyed doing some tutoring through school for O Chem and tutoring really helps cement your own knowledge of stuff. Also research can be amazing if you find a good lab/mentor. Also I didn't do it because I didn't qualify but work study seems like it might be good because you can spend down time working on school stuff. But really anything that you sort of enjoy would be a ton better than a ****ty part time job that makes you miserable so just seek out stuff that is interesting if you have that choice!