Help please

[Claud05]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I just finished my first semester of college with a 3.46GPA
PreCalculus= A
English Comp I= b
Gen Chem= A
Chem Lab= B
Ethics=B
I would really like to get into med school one day in the near future and i was just wondering if any of the most experienced members had any suggestions...
some questions i have are what GPA should I be aiming for? What classes should I take? Any good books out there that can help me out? Should I do some volunteering work, if so, what kind?

Thanks for your time.
I really hope someone can help me out 🙂

 

[CaliGirl14]

Get the highest GPA possible. Do volunteers over the summer, since you can't seem to handle both right now with your grades. I'm not trying to be mean, just being honest.

 

[Claud05]

No, i like honesty so thank you for your reply. To be honest, i did not study much in my first semester of college, but I'm really starting to change my mentality during my 2nd semester(Now). Right now i am currently enrolled in Chem II, Chem II lab, Bio I, Bio I lab, Calculus & Eng Comp II, and so far i am getting A's in all classes. I will try to go to the hospitals around my area and see if they have any volunteering work available.

PS- Should I start preparing for the MCATs now? Or should I wait a year or two before I start preparing for it? Also, i've been reading articles about people doing research and other things to improve their chances.. if that's true, where could I find such opportunity? (University or Hospitals?)


Thank you once again for your reply.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

I just finished my first semester of college with a 3.46GPA
PreCalculus= A
English Comp I= b
Gen Chem= A
Chem Lab= B
Ethics=B
I would really like to get into med school one day in the near future and i was just wondering if any of the most experienced members had any suggestions...
some questions i have are what GPA should I be aiming for? What classes should I take? Any good books out there that can help me out? Should I do some volunteering work, if so, what kind?

Thanks for your time.
I really hope someone can help me out 🙂

Well you should always shoot for As of course, but don't kill your life in the process. What should your GPA be? Well, that depends on which schools you are aiming for. Stick with 3.5+ for MD schools. For DO, you should at least be pulling a 3.0+. (These are just my own figures, some would give you other numbers.) Which classes should you take? At least the bare minimum, the pre-reqs. Some would say to take upper division science courses like immunology, histology, etc. to show that you can handle more difficult classes. What volunteer work? Some where you can see health care in action. Hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices. Maybe you could also do non-healthcare work like volunteering at a shelter. Some would say that you should also get some leadership skills. This can be done through other volunteer work. I can't think of any off the top of my head. I've never done that myself. Looking back now, I wish I would have gone to the leadership skills programs/seminars that my university offered. You should look into that because those programs can set you up with some extracurricular activities where you act as a leader in some capacity.

 

[Claud05]

Well you should always shoot for As of course, but don't kill your life in the process. What should your GPA be? Well, that depends on which schools you are aiming for. Stick with 3.5+ for MD schools. For DO, you should at least be pulling a 3.0+. (These are just my own figures, some would give you other numbers.) Which classes should you take? At least the bare minimum, the pre-reqs. Some would say to take upper division science courses like immunology, histology, etc. to show that you can handle more difficult classes. What volunteer work? Some where you can see health care in action. Hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices. Maybe you could also do non-healthcare work like volunteering at a shelter. Some would say that you should also get some leadership skills. This can be done through other volunteer work. I can't think of any off the top of my head. I've never done that myself. Looking back now, I wish I would have gone to the leadership skills programs/seminars that my university offered. You should look into that because those programs can set you up with some extracurricular activities where you act as a leader in some capacity.

Thank you so much for all that info. Are there any books you would recommend? anything that helped you out during your pre-med days?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Thank you so much for all that info. Are there any books you would recommend? anything that helped you out during your pre-med days?

i recommend chilling out...Iirst semester with a 3.5 gpa 😕 where the problem? No need to read any particular books, though i would recommend reading at least 1 book for fun every semester. I also think that your doing fine, you should more or less try to have fun; college years are the best of your life. Also on this topic are you a biology major, what most pre-meds dont know is that you can study what ever you want and still get into medical school. I personally love psychology so as such i am majoring in psychology, if you love a specific topic major in that field.
Also i recommend discovering the search function, welcome to SDN.

 

[Claud05]

Thanks for the welcome man...and I'm just starting to learn the site's functions..haha

 

[aker321]

You also don't need to worry about studying for the MCAT until the few months before you take it. Consider your Physics I/II, Bio I/II, GenChem I/II, and Orgo I/II as your "studying" before that, since those are the subjects tested on the MCAT.