Harvard Med Student - AMA

[angelino]

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All your career decisions such as competing in sports, Major, etc should be done because you want to. There is no significant and rage to majoring in A vs B but there is a huge advantage when you’re passionate about what you do because you’re more likely to do well and work harder. Applications are a balance, if you don’t have as much of A then having a lot of B helps.


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Ok, thank you. I am just torn because I have to choose between sports and a good school. Secretly, I think I was hoping to hear yes, sports will help you get an edge even if research is light and school isn't top 30. Actually, research may not be light after all, the school told us that they have plenty of opportunities and we should be able to find something that fit our schedules so that may be not a concern, but the not top 30 still is, based on your earlier reply that 3/4 acceptance are from top 30. Anyway, I get what you mean. Thank you for replying.

Not really getting into Harvard advice but more life advice - major in something that has good job prospects post grad.

Thanks for the advice! I was thinking that too. I am very much into clean diet to maximize sports performance so nutrition science would be a subject that I am interested in and it has job prospects in case I can't cut it in premed. Just wasn't sure if it would be good UG major but sounds like it doesn't matter. The medical field that I hope to go into would definitely involve working with athletes in some way, shape or form.

 

[MaxPlancker]

Bluntly, yes if you’re very high level sports it will help a lot to where not having much of research etc is passable. Depends on how high level though.


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[LeaveNoTrace]

Is it national or international competition? It'll help you a lot. Division I? That's a decent boost. Anything less will add some color to your app and show that you're not just a lab rat.

 

[notretired]

Secretly, I think I was hoping to hear yes, sports will help you get an edge even if research is light and school isn't top 30.

Since you are hinting at being recruited - I would never turn down the experience of playing big time div 1 sports for something that may or may not pan out many years down the road. Live in the moment dude/dudette, there's plenty of med schools not called Harvard that churn out great MD's. Unless you are obscenely talented, prepare to be humbled by the obscene talent you will undoubtably find at the next level. I don't want to say you need to pick between sports and school, but to reach the highest levels of anything you need to be pretty one dimensional - in part that's what makes All-American caliber athletes who also have academic chops so unique. Essentially what I'm trying to say is be good at sports to be good at sports, not to catch the eye of an adcom mulling over your EC's four years from now.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Make sure to keep your GPA up, though, if you want to go to medical school: better to have a 3.7 and not play Division I than to have a 2.5 and have played. Not much harm in playing your first year and then leaving if it pulls your GPA down too much, though.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Make sure to keep your GPA up, though, if you want to go to medical school: better to have a 3.7 and not play Division I than to have a 2.5 and have played. Not much harm in playing your first year and then leaving if it pulls your GPA down too much, though.

 

[notretired]

Make sure to keep your GPA up, though, if you want to go to medical school: better to have a 3.7 and not play Division I than to have a 2.5 and have played. Not much harm in playing your first year and then leaving if it pulls your GPA down too much, though.

Or leaving pre-med once you discover that big 10 athlete life

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Medical school isn't for everyone, and it's perfectly fine to decide against it; however, even Olympic medals will not suddenly make someone with a 3.0 a competitive MD candidate.

 

[notretired]

Medical school isn't for everyone, and it's perfectly fine to decide against it; however, even Olympic medals will not suddenly make someone with a 3.0 a competitive MD candidate.

3.0/510/Div 1? Prob not, but throw an olympic medal in there and I'd bet on a few A's. 100% agree on the not for everyone tho ...and the fact that that's perfectly fine.

 

[MaxPlancker]

3.0/510/Div 1? Prob not, but throw an olympic medal in there and I'd bet on a few A's. 100% agree on the not for everyone tho ...and the fact that that's perfectly fine.

Indeed, the rarer something is (in a positive way), the more value it holds.


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[angelino]

I would never turn down the experience of playing big time div 1 sports

Make sure to keep your GPA up, though, if you want to go to medical school: better to have a 3.7 and not play Division I than to have a 2.5 and have played. Not much harm in playing your first year and then leaving if it pulls your GPA down too much, though.

Or leaving pre-med once you discover that big 10 athlete life

Thank you for the replies. I have decided to accept the offer. It is a year-to-year contract so I can make the decision after the first year, vs now. I won't be doing research until sophomore year anyway so it gives me a year to poke around to see if it's possible to find research projects that work with the schedule (the school says yes so I am hopeful) and decide whether I am able to manage the workload. That way, I would still have experienced playing college sport if I have to walk away sophomore year. I didn't consider that option before so thank you for suggesting.

I've trained my whole life for a spot on a D1 team. It is a dream come true. It isn't football so it isn't at all glamorous. It actually is a lot of hard work, dedication and requires a lot of grit. Being in sports and having sustained many injuries are what inspired me to want to go into the medical field. Harvard is a crazy long shot but I have to aim for the highest, it's my way to keep motivated.

Thank you, your replies gave me ideas and help me gain perspective. I really appreciate you taking the time.

 

[landy1130]

@angelino

A little late to the party, but maybe just some helpful perspective.

I was lucky enough to be recruited/play at a large division 1 school/sport and now hopefully will matriculate to medical school come 2020. I wouldn't trade my sports experience for anything, mostly due to the commitment/life long friends/team/effort that I put in to get there in the first place. Your experience will also allow you to have a unique perspective of undergrad that makes writing some essays quite easy. Two words of caution/advice.

1. Not everyone likes or understands sports, let alone the D1 commitment/effort. This will be frustrating and you will have moments where you are like "What the %$%#", why is this not seen as substantial in the eyes of individuals within the healthcare/scientific community.

2. GRADES GRADES GRADES. I can say without a doubt that sports impacted my grades. I was more focused on starting/playing than school and this was reflected in my grades. I was basically a B+ student (no failing grades, but few As) and the difference in the eyes of medical schools between a B+ (3.3) and an A- (3.7) is legitimately uphill battle vs. competitive. In line with this... I am not sure of your future school, but many D1 schools have SO MANY resources for athletes (be aggressive about using these from day 1). Will make your life much easier.

Best of luck! I had some of the best times of my life so enjoy it.

 

[angelino]

@angelino

A little late to the party, but maybe just some helpful perspective.

I was lucky enough to be recruited/play at a large division 1 school/sport and now hopefully will matriculate to medical school come 2020. I wouldn't trade my sports experience for anything, mostly due to the commitment/life long friends/team/effort that I put in to get there in the first place. Your experience will also allow you to have a unique perspective of undergrad that makes writing some essays quite easy. Two words of caution/advice.

1. Not everyone likes or understands sports, let alone the D1 commitment/effort. This will be frustrating and you will have moments where you are like "What the %$%#", why is this not seen as substantial in the eyes of individuals within the healthcare/scientific community.

2. GRADES GRADES GRADES. I can say without a doubt that sports impacted my grades. I was more focused on starting/playing than school and this was reflected in my grades. I was basically a B+ student (no failing grades, but few As) and the difference in the eyes of medical schools between a B+ (3.3) and an A- (3.7) is legitimately uphill battle vs. competitive. In line with this... I am not sure of your future school, but many D1 schools have SO MANY resources for athletes (be aggressive about using these from day 1). Will make your life much easier.

Best of luck! I had some of the best times of my life so enjoy it.

Hi. Thank you for your response. This gives me hope!

I get it the intellectual community probably don't appreciate athletics. Many of my smart classmates think I am the odd duck! The perpetuation of the dumb jock stereotype in the media doesn't help either. It isn't much of a hook for apps, I realize now. I was also worried about how it might negatively affect my studies and research, etc. Did you find it difficult to participate in research projects with your travel and training schedule?

I will definitely make grades my priority! I know going to a large state school means I probably have to prove myself even more! This is a big sports school/big conference so they also have a lot of resources for athletes and I will need all the support I can get! Thank you so much for your advice and sharing your experience!

Good luck to you in getting into your dream medical school! I hope you will keep me posted in your admission journey. It will an inspiration to me to know that it can be done!

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Yeah, in your shoes, I’d go for it my first year. Adcoms are most forgiving of low grades early on. If it’s impacting your grades, focus on that instead. Good luck with everything; if you pull off a 3.7 or better and play DI sports adcoms will look favorably on that.

 

[notretired]

@angelino
1. Not everyone likes or understands sports, let alone the D1 commitment/effort. This will be frustrating and you will have moments where you are like "What the %$%#", why is this not seen as substantial in the eyes of individuals within the healthcare/scientific community.

It's definitely a mixed bag but there are definitely those in medicine who appreciate it. One of my interviewers was the prog director of the school's gen surg program who told me point blank that collegiate athletics was something they looked for in their residency candidates.