Confused Freshman Pre-Med, Help Please!

[drpduck]

Hi, i'm a freshman, with biology as my major with a focus on Pre-Med. I have a few questions that I would really appreciated if somebody answered. 1) Do medical schools actually care about volunteer work or hospital internships? (I go to school in Baltimore, about 15 min. from Hopkins, and I'm thinking about doing volunteer work there) 2) Has anyone ever heard of/participated in a program where you follow a doctor around for a day, to really see what it is truly like? 3) Is a 3.5 gpa the min. for any given med. school in the U.S.?(Hopefully I will get a better GPA then that, but I'm curious) 4) And finally, does it truly matter where you go to med. school? (besides the fact that one school might be more prestigous than another, wouldn't subject matter be the same?) Thank you very much for your help, I truly appreciate it!

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[Sanman]

Well lets see if i can answer this being another pre-med freshman.
1. Yes, from what i've heard this is one of the most impotant parts of your resume.
Research would also be helpful.
2. I haven't done this personally, but I believe you just described shadowing a doc...so yes, many people do this.
3. Well 3.5 is the AVERAGE gpa for allopathic(MD) schools. It is a litle lower for osteopathic(DO) schools. But keep in mind that this only an average so there are lower and higher gpa's for every school.Just go for the highest gpa possible...thats what I'm doing.
4. Well if you want to just become a doctor than no. However if you want to pursue research or academic medicine or arguably get into a tough specialty than it can make a difference. While it not a givrn that you MUST go to these schools to pursue these goals it certainly will help.

Is there anything I missed guys?

 

[jdub]

hey donald,

sanman pretty much nailed most of that on the head.

there are allopathic med schools where the mean gpa is below 3.5, but there are not a whole lot. you pretty much want to get the highest gpa possible, i personally think you need to have a balanced college life though, get some extra curriculars like sports and volunteering to balance out a good gpa, don't just kill your self and study so hard that you don't leave room for other things.

also, a biology major is not necessary and you will have to do well on the mcats in a few years, but you have plenty of time to figure that stuff out.

i would also try to get involved with some research as soon as you can, schools seem to really like this on the app. also, just have a good time while trying to keep your gpa in the 3.5 + range.

best of luck.