Choosing premed in junior/senior year of undergrad

[smf123]

Hi there, I'm in my senior year of undergrad (graduating with a BS in Biochemistry soon) and only began to seriously pursue med school at the start of last summer. I'm hoping to apply next cycle (2026 matriculation) and would greatly appreciate any sort of advice moving forward. Apologies for the obnoxiously long post ahead.

Major: Biochemistry
GPA: 3.85 (by year: 3.97 / 3.74 / 3.78 / 3.86)
sGPA: 3.81 (by year: 3.95 / 3.68 / 3.83 / 3.77)
MCAT: plan to take in January

Long story short, I was pretty aimless/unmotivated during my first three years of undergrad due to a combination of immaturity/mental health stuff. In spring of my junior year, my grandmother passed away; we were very close and I took it really hard. It was made more difficult because I had to move back home for a while and take care of my little brother while my parents went overseas to sort things out with family. My grandmother's passing really changed my perspective towards the direction my life had been going and I became interested in pursuing medicine, particularly after some experiences I had while shadowing and later scribing in the ED.

To sum up what I've done since the beginning of senior year:
- shadowing (EM, cardiology, rheumatology)
- ED scribe
- just began volunteering in homeless shelter, women's center/assault hotline, and after-school program for disadvantaged kids

I plan to continue these activities in my gap year and I'm considering getting a CNA certification to have more patient-facing experience. I also have some club involvement, tutoring, and non-clinical employment from my first three years of undergrad. Is there anything else that you'd recommend? Should I try to find a research position? How many hours of nonclinical volunteering are recommended for normal vs service-based school?

I also have question about my grades; I took 3 W's in my Junior spring as a result of my grandmother's passing, two in heavy science classes and one in a TA course. Will this be a red flag? I've since retaken the two classes with decent grades, and I've also TA'd for two additional semesters. (I'm not super happy about my GPA in general; lots of regret over how I approached my sophomore and junior year. I wanted to absolutely smash my senior year to show that I can handle the rigor of med school, but my sGPA doesn't seem super convincing.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond! I feel pretty clueless and behind in the whole process compared to my peers so any help is greatly appreciated.

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[AJS59]

You're off to a good start; be sure to clear 50 hours of shadowing, 150+ (ideally 250+) in the ED scribe role and 150+ on volunteering. If you're targeting a service based school, then frankly maximize your volunteering hours; many of the jesuits and Rush look at several hundred to sometimes thousands of hours of service.

For reference, if you're looking to apply by 2026, much of what you do in your gap year (i.e. after June 2025) won't have much weight, mainly because it'll be projected hours. Try to clear the above benchmarks by June 2025 at the latest.

Research is a nice boost, but not a necessity unless you're looking at breaking into the T20s. I'd keep the focus on the other activities and if you have time between that, your academics, and your MCAT prep, then commit to it.

Your GPA numbers are actually quite good, I got in with numbers worse than that. The withdrawals are fine and you give your explanation for that in some of the secondary essays schools offer.

 

[LizzyM]

Your GPA is not so high that any one will suspect that you took the Ws to avoid hurting a 4.0 GPA. It is those perfectionists that worry us.

 

[LindaAccepted]

Hi there, I'm in my senior year of undergrad (graduating with a BS in Biochemistry soon) and only began to seriously pursue med school at the start of last summer. I'm hoping to apply next cycle (2026 matriculation) and would greatly appreciate any sort of advice moving forward. Apologies for the obnoxiously long post ahead.

Major: Biochemistry
GPA: 3.85 (by year: 3.97 / 3.74 / 3.78 / 3.86)
sGPA: 3.81 (by year: 3.95 / 3.68 / 3.83 / 3.77)
MCAT: plan to take in January

Long story short, I was pretty aimless/unmotivated during my first three years of undergrad due to a combination of immaturity/mental health stuff. In spring of my junior year, my grandmother passed away; we were very close and I took it really hard. It was made more difficult because I had to move back home for a while and take care of my little brother while my parents went overseas to sort things out with family. My grandmother's passing really changed my perspective towards the direction my life had been going and I became interested in pursuing medicine, particularly after some experiences I had while shadowing and later scribing in the ED.

To sum up what I've done since the beginning of senior year:
- shadowing (EM, cardiology, rheumatology)
- ED scribe
- just began volunteering in homeless shelter, women's center/assault hotline, and after-school program for disadvantaged kids

I plan to continue these activities in my gap year and I'm considering getting a CNA certification to have more patient-facing experience. I also have some club involvement, tutoring, and non-clinical employment from my first three years of undergrad. Is there anything else that you'd recommend? Should I try to find a research position? How many hours of nonclinical volunteering are recommended for normal vs service-based school?

I also have question about my grades; I took 3 W's in my Junior spring as a result of my grandmother's passing, two in heavy science classes and one in a TA course. Will this be a red flag? I've since retaken the two classes with decent grades, and I've also TA'd for two additional semesters. (I'm not super happy about my GPA in general; lots of regret over how I approached my sophomore and junior year. I wanted to absolutely smash my senior year to show that I can handle the rigor of med school, but my sGPA doesn't seem super convincing.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond! I feel pretty clueless and behind in the whole process compared to my peers so any help is greatly appreciated.

Keep up what you're doing.

I also suggest you start journaling about your activities, but not just what you did: Note what impressed you. What you learned. What you achieved and how you contributed. Record the results of your actions and surroundings both on you and others.

That journaling will really help you when you sit down to write your primary and secondary applications.

 

[smf123]

Thank you all for the advice! I think I'll try to get in some research just so that nothing will be glaringly "missing" from my application, and I will definitely approach my activities with mindfulness/introspection.

Your GPA is not so high that any one will suspect that you took the Ws to avoid hurting a 4.0 GPA. It is those perfectionists that worry us.

Thank you for the reassurance regarding the W's. I do have a question regarding my GPA/trends - I wanted to do very well in my senior year to offset the optics of taking three W's my junior year, but with finals coming up, it's looking more likely that I'll get B's in pchem and genetics This will bring my cumulative GPA's down to roughly cGPA/sGPA 3.81/3.75 - from what I can tell, this is not terribly low among all applicants, but my senior GPA might end up being the lowest out of all four years at 3.71/3.54. Fall semester was great, but this semester I overextended myself with a combination of my hardest undergrad classes, the new job, and emotional difficulties associated with the anniversary of my grandma's passing. Obviously there are no excuses and I need to develop better coping strategies, but that's a bit of explanation.

Are my cumulative GPA's good enough to overshadow my negative trend and questionable performance this last year? I potentially have the option to delay graduation and take a couple more classes at my undergraduate institution; should I do this or can I just move on and focus on my activities/the MCAT?

Apologies for what's probably neuroticism, always happens during finals.

(edited to add senior year gpa)

 

[AJS59]

Thank you all for the advice! I think I'll try to get in some research just so that nothing will be glaringly "missing" from my application, and I will definitely approach my activities with mindfulness/introspection.



Thank you for the reassurance regarding the W's. I do have a question regarding my GPA/trends - I wanted to do very well in my senior year to offset the optics of taking three W's my junior year, but with finals coming up, it's looking more likely that I'll get B's in pchem and genetics This will bring my cumulative GPA's down to roughly cGPA/sGPA 3.81/3.75 - from what I can tell, this is not terribly low among all applicants, but my senior GPA might end up being the lowest out of all four years. Fall semester was great, but this semester I overextended myself with a combination of my hardest undergrad classes, the new job, and emotional difficulties associated with the anniversary of my grandma's passing. Obviously there are no excuses and I need to develop better coping strategies, but that's a bit of explanation.

Are my cumulative GPA's good enough to overshadow my negative trend and questionable performance this last year? I potentially have the option to delay graduation and take a couple more classes at my undergraduate institution; should I do this or can I just move on and focus on my activities/the MCAT?

Apologies for what's probably neuroticism, always happens during finals.

I think you'll be fine; I got in with a worse cGPA and sGPA than that.

I guess you could take a few more, but not sure if that would make a measurable impact on your GPA, especially with regards to cost. If you kill it on the MCAT and activities nothing will be in doubt.

 

[LizzyM]

Everyone knows that the only thing worse for your GPA than o-chem is p-chem. Adcoms will not worry about it.

 

[smf123]

Alright, thank you so much! Honestly astonished at how much knowledge and assistance can be found on this site; it is greatly appreciated. Back to studying now.

 

[thaidakar]

Hey my timing was very similar to yours. Just make sure you crush the MCAT and don’t take it until your practice tests are where you want them. Honestly I wouldn’t apply without minimum 200-250 each of clinical experience (not counting shadowing) and non-clinical volunteering. It’s better to have all those hours across 1-2 experiences rather than 20 hours in 10 activities. Common advice on this site is that 150+ is fine but this process gets more competitive each year and some schools will likely score your app based on your number of hours since they will need something to separate you from the hundreds of other applicants who will have the exact same GPA/MCAT as you. If that means taking an extra year then do it as it beats having to reapply (speaking from experience lol)

 

[Alejandro]

I assume you will probably apply to your state institution, and many of them have a primary care agenda-I would make an effort to shadow a FM/Peds/IM physician in clinic as that can be helpful. I think many premeds come into medicine through the ED (ironically thats how patients also get into the hospital too, lol). Diversity in exposures is helpful-it helps us know that you've looked into this profession since there are no guarantees in terms of what specialty you will pursue later (no matter how qualified you are).

Do not worry about the GPA. work on the MCAT (take it once, do it right-taking it again is such a pain in the arse) and get good reflections on your activities. We want to see what you did outside of the ivory tower will help you as a physician. Hint: It doesn't have to be "medical" to be useful as a physician. But YOU need to make that connection how.