High School Sophomore Looking For A Bit of Guidance!

[S0CaLGuY]

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Hello fellow forum users! This is my first post here, but hopefully not my last! I'd first like to compliment the Admin on the great look and layout of the forum! I'd also like to introduce myself.

I'm Matt, I'm 16 and a sophomore in high school. I'm from Maryland, as you can see in my name. I'll just give a little about myself, nothing too long. I've lived here all my life, I play lacrosse, I'm passionate about cars (I know everything there is to know about them), I love lifting weights in my free time, and I've been interested in the medical field since I was a kid!

Medical School is a long ways away, but someday I hope to be a Surgeon. I like the fact that I would be able to completely better someone's life with just my own two hands. No medicine, no radiation, just an operation. Surgeons have to be very meticulous and that's something I'd say about myself as well. It's been my dream since I was a kid. I know it's an even longer ways away, but I think I'd be most interested in the Orthopedic specialty. But I have a lot if time to see everything in the flesh to decide!

Right now, I just have a few questions about college.

-Volunteer hours.
I'd like to start volunteering at a hospital or Dr.'s office, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for a 4 hour commitment every weekend. When should I get into this?

I play sports, I work 9 hours a day 5 days a week for the government during the summer, and have around a 3.8 GPA. I take the highest classes that I'm allowed to take. I got a 1760 on my PSAT without studying or preparing at all. I believe I can get in the 2000s with preparation.

I would love to go to the University of Maryland at College Park. How many hours should I shoot for when applying?

-Shadowing.
If I wanted to contact a Surgeon or Doctor to shadow them and see what their day is like, how should I go about doing that?

-Major.
I know the most obvious major is Biology. But is that the best? I thought about going for a Business major and taking the premed classes along with it. I would be able to start a private practice if I wanted to, then smartly run it with what my degree taught me.

I'm also very good at science, so I wouldn't have a problem in a science major. What is your advice on majors? Will a certain major strengthen your chances to Medical School or prepare you better?

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I think those are the few things on my mind right now. Thanks for your time. Matt.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Hi, so it looks like you're interested in joining me at Cutthroat univers... I mean UMD.

Hello fellow forum users! This is my first post here, but hopefully not my last! I'd first like to compliment the Admin on the great look and layout of the forum! I'd also like to introduce myself.

I'm Matt, I'm 16 and a sophomore in high school. I'm from Maryland, as you can see in my name. I'll just give a little about myself, nothing too long. I've lived here all my life, I play lacrosse, I'm passionate about cars (I know everything there is to know about them), I love lifting weights in my free time, and I've been interested in the medical field since I was a kid!

Medical School is a long ways away, but someday I hope to be a Surgeon. I like the fact that I would be able to completely better someone's life with just my own two hands. No medicine, no radiation, just an operation. Surgeons have to be very meticulous and that's something I'd say about myself as well. It's been my dream since I was a kid. I know it's an even longer ways away, but I think I'd be most interested in the Orthopedic specialty. But I have a lot if time to see everything in the flesh to decide!

Right now, I just have a few questions about college.

-Volunteer hours.
I'd like to start volunteering at a hospital or Dr.'s office, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for a 4 hour commitment every weekend. When should I get into this?
There's no need to start volunteering in medical related area's until your freshman year of college, but you can probably call a few hospitals around your area to see if they are looking for volunteers. You'll want at least a year of working at a hospital and around maybe 100-200 hours of clinical volunteering to be competitive for MD schools.
I play sports, I work 9 hours a day 5 days a week for the government during the summer, and have around a 3.8 GPA. I take the highest classes that I'm allowed to take. I got a 1760 on my PSAT without studying or preparing at all. I believe I can get in the 2000s with preparation.
That's good, very nice.

I would love to go to the University of Maryland at College Park. How many hours should I shoot for when applying?
I think you've got a decent amount of hours as is, but you can never go wrong with more I suppose.
-Shadowing.
If I wanted to contact a Surgeon or Doctor to shadow them and see what their day is like, how should I go about doing that?
You can blind call a few until one accepts you under their wing for a week or so.
-Major.
I know the most obvious major is Biology. But is that the best? I thought about going for a Business major and taking the premed classes along with it. I would be able to start a private practice if I wanted to, then smartly run it with what my degree taught me.
You can major in anything you want and still be premed. Doing biology may be easier as you satisfy half the requirements through the prereqs. Maryland also is a scheduling nightmare for double majors/ preprofressionals outside of bio ( I'm psych).

I'm also very good at science, so I wouldn't have a problem in a science major. What is your advice on majors? Will a certain major strengthen your chances to Medical School or prepare you better?
None are bad, none will impress, avoid ones you'll be bad in.
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I think those are the few things on my mind right now. Thanks for your time. Matt.

Good luck.

 

[CeeEstee0]

Serenade has given sound advice, I will add that volunteering does not need to be 4 hrs a week. The hospital I volunteer at is fine with 2 hrs a week, and shadowing can generally be done at your leisure. (Or on a day by day basis). Bottom line, starting in college is fine, but if you start now your total hours will be impressive. It will not make or break an acceptance for you, but it helps.