Extra Curriculars

[fallingDeeper]

I'm a freshman at UCLA, and I have just decided that I want to go to med school. My GPA so far is around 3.95, I had a 4.0 before i got an A- in chem 14B with Lavelle last quarter. I have been doing all the med school requirements, since they overlap with the neuroscience major prerequisites, so I'm not too worried about academics right now.

I am, however, lost when it comes to extra curriculars. Since I basically decided to go premed over spring break, I haven't done much in terms of extra curriculars. I did join a Premed club, and I got an internship for a board position, and I'm doing Relay for Life with them, but I feel like I need more.

I just applied for a volunteer position at Ronald Reagan Memorial Hospital, but I don't think I'll get in because my application essay was 400 words, but I was just told they won't even consider applicants with an essay shorter than 500 words. Mine was orriginally 550, but I thought 500 words was the max, so I cut out a lot of bs from my essay. I regret everything... :'(

so now I'm just kinda lost on what to do about extra curriculars. I want to get into UCLA or UCSD, and mayybeeee UCSF (let me dream).... yeah.... should I give up on pre-med? I feel so lost right now.

I just really need guidance. help me please

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[rednote]

I'm a freshman at UCLA, and I have just decided that I want to go to med school. My GPA so far is around 3.95, I had a 4.0 before i got an A- in chem 14B with Lavelle last quarter. I have been doing all the med school requirements, since they overlap with the neuroscience major prerequisites, so I'm not too worried about academics right now.

I am, however, lost when it comes to extra curriculars. Since I basically decided to go premed over spring break, I haven't done much in terms of extra curriculars. I did join a Premed club, and I got an internship for a board position, and I'm doing Relay for Life with them, but I feel like I need more.

I just applied for a volunteer position at Ronald Reagan Memorial Hospital, but I don't think I'll get in because my application essay was 400 words, but I was just told they won't even consider applicants with an essay shorter than 500 words. Mine was orriginally 550, but I thought 500 words was the max, so I cut out a lot of bs from my essay. I regret everything... :'(

so now I'm just kinda lost on what to do about extra curriculars. I want to get into UCLA or UCSD, and mayybeeee UCSF (let me dream).... yeah.... should I give up on pre-med? I feel so lost right now.

I just really need guidance. help me please

Pre med clubs are almost always universally a joke. I suggest you find more meaningful organization to spend your time on. Student run volunteer organization, undergraduate journal editorial board, cultural clubs etc.

Find other clinical volunteering. At the very least start doing some shadowing. Also start some non clinical volunteering; nursing home, homeless shelter, or whatever else you find passionate about to help your local community.

Oh and I suggest you look for research opportunities as well.

 

[eteshoe]

Calm down. You have plenty of time to build up your profile. As far as ECs, join a club you're passionate about (maybe a neuro club or something). Get involved in some research + what @rednote said.

 

[rajp98]

Shadowing, research can come later. You have plenty of time. For now focus on finding a good hospital or clinical site where you can volunteer. It can be anywhere. And pre-med clubs, although great should not be used as the only source of getting involved. Look for other things you might be interested in, find activities that you like to do and see how you can make it an extracurricular.

 

[GiantPanda1]

First and foremost, welcome to the PreMed life. Next...

Right off the bat, you need to prove that you at least kind of know what you're getting into. Shadow a few docs for 50 to 100 hours (total). Grab more clinical experience. Consider becoming an EMT, scribe or clinical researcher. LizzyM once said something along the lines of if you can smell them, it counts.
Volunteer work is critical but not as much as clinical experience. It's really hard to say why you want to be a physician without knowing what it at least partially entails.

You and every person at UCLA wants to stay in California for med school. I think the statistic was that the premed students at UCLA could fill every spot in California and then some. You'll need a killer GPA and MCAT score but worry about the MCAT later.
If I recall correctly, the schools you want to go to are pretty research-heavy. Whether its clinical or basic science research, get some. UCLA is a research powerhouse so it shouldn't be too difficult... Don't get stuck doing the lab monkey work like cleaning glassware or taking care of Drosophila all day without actually being a part of the project. Research is an opportunity to flex your creative thinking and intuition muscles outside of lecture. Enjoy doing your research or else its just going to be miserable. Find what you love and pursue it. The passion will be self-evident.

Good luck, don't burn out and very importantly, enjoy your undergraduate years.

 

[fallingDeeper]

So research seems to be something I should be doing. I found two labs that I have all the qualifications for (which means barely any at all, I cry) and am genuinely interested in. The SRP workshop is tomorrow, so yay, good timing. What can I expect from research? Any tips?

 

[frosted_flake]

First off, I am jelly of you getting to do research at UCLA. You will likely have some great mentors/experience... Take advantage of this!

Expect to learn about the scientific method in a real life application. Learn that science takes time and data collection doesn't happen at the drop of a hat. Have a good, can-do attitude. Depending on how much you are allowed to do you may be doing anything from washing dishes to running blots or actually designing and carrying out your own experiments with the help of your PI (not likely but you never know!). I think this all depends on your level of maturity/reliability in the eyes of your PI.

Good luck!

*TIP: If you ever mess something up, TELL SOMEONE! They will be much more understanding if you tell them when it happened versus later when it can mess with their data/results. Accidentally put too much buffer into a reaction? Water instead of buffer? TELL SOMEONE.

 

[RhinB]

I'm a freshman at UCLA, and I have just decided that I want to go to med school. My GPA so far is around 3.95, I had a 4.0 before i got an A- in chem 14B with Lavelle last quarter. I have been doing all the med school requirements, since they overlap with the neuroscience major prerequisites, so I'm not too worried about academics right now.

I am, however, lost when it comes to extra curriculars. Since I basically decided to go premed over spring break, I haven't done much in terms of extra curriculars. I did join a Premed club, and I got an internship for a board position, and I'm doing Relay for Life with them, but I feel like I need more.

I just applied for a volunteer position at Ronald Reagan Memorial Hospital, but I don't think I'll get in because my application essay was 400 words, but I was just told they won't even consider applicants with an essay shorter than 500 words. Mine was orriginally 550, but I thought 500 words was the max, so I cut out a lot of bs from my essay. I regret everything... :'(

so now I'm just kinda lost on what to do about extra curriculars. I want to get into UCLA or UCSD, and mayybeeee UCSF (let me dream).... yeah.... should I give up on pre-med? I feel so lost right now.

I just really need guidance. help me please

I think what you really need is simple exposure to the different types of opportunities that are out there.

The typical /broad categories for pre-med are:

• Community Service (Clinical or Non-Clinical)
• Shadowing experiences
• Research experiences
• Teaching/Mentoring
• Work Experiences

All of the other information you might and will ever need is on SDN and you'll find eventually. As many other people on this website will tell you, keep calm and stay collected. Take a breath and a step back and realize you've got many years ahead of you.

My PERSONAL advice for a successful pre-med life style is: Find something you're interested in and remember to connect that interest into medicine. Whether it's engineering, health policy, business - they all have a role in medicine. I think what medical schools are interested in are folks who have an interest, pursue it, and can pursue it successfully.

With all of these premed organization, clubs, generic activities etc, don't be "average" at them. Show you've done something with that activity, whether that be a promotion, a leadership position, a grant, a publication. You need to demonstrate that your work and your effort has come to some sort of fruition.

Anyway, that's all from me. Best of luck and try not to stress out too much.

 

[Bones 2020]

Find something you love/are passionate about that can help needy demographics. Do not do EC's just for the sake of "checking the box"