Freshman Advice

[CptnAwesome]

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I've been sort of lurking this forum for the past couple of days, and decided to post here. I know you probably see a bunch of threads like this, but I'm just looking for some general advice. I don't wanna seem like some nerdy-ass paranoid pre-med kid; I just want to go in a general direction during college, while having fun...having an idea early on seems pretty helpful, especially if it comes from people with experience.

I'm going to UT Dallas, and I'm a bio major. I had a 4.0 GPA during midterm, but then again, that's just midterm for freshman courses...I know it gets a lot harder. But it's not insanely hard to get a 4.0 here; I do know quite a few bio majors with that GPA.

Right now, I'm involved in 3 major EC's: pledging a fraternity (already in a leadership position for the pledge class, and will be in a different one for the fraternity itself), writing for the school newspaper (hope to be editor-in-chief by junior/senior year), and I run a web design company (which I've been doing since I was a freshman in high school).

I'm planning on starting volunteering at a hospital next semester, once I'm done pledging. If I can, I'm also going to try to shadow a physician starting then. Other than that, I might join a pre-health/biology club, and maybe one or two other clubs that I can become an officer in soon. I'm probably going to get into student government sophomore year. I also want to start tutoring, but I'll see about that sometime later.

EC's aside, I'm doing what the usual pre-med kid does: working hard for a good GPA, hopefully will be getting a good MCAT score, etc.

I'm just wondering, does this seem adequate? Because a lot of the threads I've read, it seems like people who seem impressive to me are lacking according to others on this forum. If I am lacking/can do something that will help, let me know. Like pretty much everybody else, I want to get into top tier med schools...hopefully Harvard or Stanford, specifically. I'd appreciate any advice.

 

[putyou2sleep]

I would say you're planning to do too much.

My experience with the medical school interviewing process, and speaking with our dean on a regular basis for the past 3+ years, is that among MANY qualified applicants, the difference is the interview. Meet a school's GPA and MCAT cut-off and have one or two activities that you 'actually' take part in, and you get an interview offer.

Once you get an interview, they KNOW they can teach you medicine. What matters at that point is interpersonal skills. They want to know you can be a good physician, which means you have to be an effective communicator, and empathetic individual. Convince them that you have those skills, and that you've put thought behind your choice to go into medicine and you're golden.

Now...the reason I say you're doing too much is that with all of those activities there will be no time for the true purpose of college in America - developing your personal identity, and those interpersonal skills that are the true difference maker between you and the other applicants.

 

[rhesuspieces]

Keep up the journalism and web design stuff. It's something different that will make your application stand out.

Don't join the pre-health club. Every freshman and their dog who thinks they're pre-med is in those clubs. Actually, don't worry about joining any clubs. The only reason to do so is to get leadership experience, which it sounds like you have plenty of already.

Do research if you want. You can get into Harvard/Stanford without research but it'll put you at a disadvantage.

Be a college kid.

 

[CptnAwesome]

Thanks for the advice. I definitely don't want to get into a pattern of all studying and no fun.

Anybody else have any suggestions?

 

[whoknows2012]

I'd ditch most of your plans except what you're doing now and hospital volunteering. What I suggest you also look into, is becoming an EMT and actually volunteering/working for an extended period of time as an EMT--but only if you think this would be an enjoyable worthwhile activity. It doesn't set you apart as an applicant, as many pre-meds are EMT's a, but if you do it for a longer period of time, like 2 or 3 years this does look very good. I did it for 3 years in undergrad and the time commitment was often no more than 10 hours a wk and it was a really great experience.

 

[CptnAwesome]

Being an EMT sounds interesting...I'll look into that. The thing is, I'm a Canadian citizen so I can't legally work in the US, so that might be a problem.

As for going home every weekend...I'd love to do that, but home, unfortunately, is 1700 miles away in Toronto 🙁 I'm going to go every opportunity I get, though.

 

[Playa]

Don't ever smoke weed and get drunk at the same time. It REALLY messes you up…..I found out the hard way. My head hurts just thinking about it.

 

[Forthegood]

I would say you're planning to do too much.

My experience with the medical school interviewing process, and speaking with our dean on a regular basis for the past 3+ years, is that among MANY qualified applicants, the difference is the interview. Meet a school's GPA and MCAT cut-off and have one or two activities that you 'actually' take part in, and you get an interview offer.

Once you get an interview, they KNOW they can teach you medicine. What matters at that point is interpersonal skills. They want to know you can be a good physician, which means you have to be an effective communicator, and empathetic individual. Convince them that you have those skills, and that you've put thought behind your choice to go into medicine and you're golden.

Now...the reason I say you're doing too much is that with all of those activities there will be no time for the true purpose of college in America - developing your personal identity, and those interpersonal skills that are the true difference maker between you and the other applicants.

This should be a sticky. In fact, it should be a requirement to sign up for SDN.