How do I build an application if I'm in college but underage?

[hiiiihi]

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Hello everyone, I am graduating high school early, and I will be turning 16 after this school year. I was wondering if I was anyway I can improve my application without this harming it? I would truly appreciate any insight. To clarify I turn 16 the June before my freshman year of college starts. My goal is to pursue a tier 1 medical school

Educational background: I did high school accelerated (started 14 and ended at 15) but I did a ton of college credits. In college, I plan on Majoring in Biology, Minor in Economics, and I also want to transfer credits back to a Community College and then CLEP out of major specific requirements to get an associates in spanish from my local community college. I kinda have too much credits so the plan is to go to university for 3 years and then take 1 gap year or more if necessary

Ethnic background: moved to the US in 2018 from vietnam so I'm an orm I think. And I'm bilingual, not sure if that matters. I also live in Texas

Clinical hours: For clinical hours, so far, I have volunteered at my hospital and have around 100 hours, I will have 160 by the time college starts and I want to continue this in college so that the hours count all together (this is the advice i heard?)

I really need advice on what I can do for more professional clinical hours. Based on the advice i received, I need better types of clinical hours. Can I get y'all advice? I can start at a PCT at 17 but that will be during my second year, is there anything I can start during first year and continue all the way?

Shadowing: I was able to contact one doctor so far. I plan on shadowing him for 50 hours and then finding someone else, he's not the type of doctor i'm aiming for but I think it will help right?

Research: My mentor started me off with doing letters to the editor so right now I have 7 pubmed indexed letter to the editor publications multiple in Q1 journals. I've submitted 7 reviews and 2 original research papers and am waiting for a response. I only started this in october so I haven't heard back for anything except for the letters. Regarding college, my plan is to get a lot of publications so that I can get into a good lab as soon as I start to ensure productivity. I plan on joining an undergraduate lab about neuroscience or a medical school lab about it if they'll have me.

Leadership: I have a nonprofit that I'm very passionate about which I started last year. I want to build it all years of college. Furthermore, I will join organizations to get nonclinical hours and try to get a leadership position there as well.

Please let me know if there are good clinical jobs for my situation or if there is anything else I can do as I want to have a really solid application. Thank you so much for your help in advance!

Have a good day, my friends.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Stop rushing. Many opportunities won't be available to you until you become 18. Unless you are tracked into a guaranteed acceptance program, it's very important to remain focused on grades and be fully sure about your purpose and role as a physician.

Have you connected with your prehealth advisors?

Building a Prehealth Foundation at Small Colleges: A Conversation with Dr. Chloe Lash - SDN

The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.

www.studentdoctor.net

Also don't screw up.

Don’t Look for Trouble: How Freshman Year Mistakes Could Doom Your Path to Medical School | SDN

Access free resources, expert advice, and tools to advance your medical career.

www.studentdoctor.net

Community College and Vocational Certifications for Prehealth Applicants | SDN

Higher education has seen a demographic shift, with more high school students or graduates taking community college coursework before entering

www.studentdoctor.net

 

[hiiiihi]

Thank you! But do you have specific advice? I think competitive applications start freshman year; I don’t want to fall behind either (and I have no reason to not be doing anything?). Regarding rushing, I guess I graduated high school early but I won’t be rushing at all during college as I will be spending 4 years total at least (3 years in uni 1 gap year. I am taking a minor on purpose so I can stay 3 years instead of 2.). I don’t want to work with the assumption that I will spend more than 1 gap year because I think that’s a bad mindset? Do you have any recommendations? Clinical jobs seem to be the only age restricted aspect of this as far as I know. Regarding grades, I have a 4.0 and I hope I won’t get weeded out as a freshman lol. I took Anatomy & Physiology 1 in college via dual credit and that kinda helped me a lot regarding studying so I think Biology will be way easier.

 

[AJS59]

Hello everyone, I am graduating high school early, and I will be turning 16 after this school year. I was wondering if I was anyway I can improve my application without this harming it? I would truly appreciate any insight. To clarify I turn 16 the June before my freshman year of college starts. My goal is to pursue a tier 1 medical school

Educational background: I did high school accelerated (started 14 and ended at 15) but I did a ton of college credits. In college, I plan on Majoring in Biology, Minor in Economics, and I also want to transfer credits back to a Community College and then CLEP out of major specific requirements to get an associates in spanish from my local community college. I kinda have too much credits so the plan is to go to university for 3 years and then take 1 gap year or more if necessary

Ethnic background: moved to the US in 2018 from vietnam so I'm an orm I think. And I'm bilingual, not sure if that matters. I also live in Texas

Clinical hours: For clinical hours, so far, I have volunteered at my hospital and have around 100 hours, I will have 160 by the time college starts and I want to continue this in college so that the hours count all together (this is the advice i heard?)

I really need advice on what I can do for more professional clinical hours. Based on the advice i received, I need better types of clinical hours. Can I get y'all advice? I can start at a PCT at 17 but that will be during my second year, is there anything I can start during first year and continue all the way?

Shadowing: I was able to contact one doctor so far. I plan on shadowing him for 50 hours and then finding someone else, he's not the type of doctor i'm aiming for but I think it will help right?

Research: My mentor started me off with doing letters to the editor so right now I have 7 pubmed indexed letter to the editor publications multiple in Q1 journals. I've submitted 7 reviews and 2 original research papers and am waiting for a response. I only started this in october so I haven't heard back for anything except for the letters. Regarding college, my plan is to get a lot of publications so that I can get into a good lab as soon as I start to ensure productivity. I plan on joining an undergraduate lab about neuroscience or a medical school lab about it if they'll have me.

Leadership: I have a nonprofit that I'm very passionate about which I started last year. I want to build it all years of college. Furthermore, I will join organizations to get nonclinical hours and try to get a leadership position there as well.

Please let me know if there are good clinical jobs for my situation or if there is anything else I can do as I want to have a really solid application. Thank you so much for your help in advance!

Have a good day, my friends.

Whoa there.

To answer your question about clinical hours: None of your hours before college are really going to count...sorry. It's worthwhile experience of course and if it's with the same hospital in the same position, maybe you might be able to count it? But if this is an experience that happened entirely in high school you may as well toss those hours in the trash. With respect to clinical hours, you might need to continue in the volunteer realm for at least your first 2 years of college. The bread and butter premed jobs (CNA, EMT, MA, Scribe) are likely beyond your reach because you need to be 18 for those.

Other notes
-Shadowing: I think you'll find shadowing 1 doctor for 50 hours rather mind numbing; my best advice would be to split it up amongst multiple doctors in different specialties. If you do, be sure to include primary care as one of those
-Academics: I'm not sure I really understand your CLEP plan to get an associates in Spanish. Please be advised that if you're going to CLEP (or AP or otherwise) place out of prerequisites for premed you must replace those with higher level courses - thinking particularly in biology, chemistry and physics.
-In general: I'm really not sure there's much you can do at this very moment to tip this scale, and even if you could, I'd ask the question of why? You seem to be rushing towards a predetermined finish line (get into med school) and while that's great, there's a hell of a lot of life to be lived between now and the earliest age most people start med school (~21 in my class).

Spoiler alert: You're a kid once and only once. The last thing you want is to be in your 40s stuck in your career and wishing that you had gone backpacking in Europe, or tried out a new club or activity just for fun, when instead you threw your time entirely into getting ready for med school.

Tl;Dr - My best advice is do literally nothing between now and the time you start undergrad. Maybe do research if you want but I doubt those papers will significantly move the needle. Go outside, enjoy time with your friends, play video games, do whatever it is the kids are up to these days (as long as it doesn't involve criminal activity or illicit substances), etc.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it" - Ferris Bueller

 

[hiiiihi]

Whoa there.

To answer your question about clinical hours: None of your hours before college are really going to count...sorry. It's worthwhile experience of course and if it's with the same hospital in the same position, maybe you might be able to count it? But if this is an experience that happened entirely in high school you may as well toss those hours in the trash. With respect to clinical hours, you might need to continue in the volunteer realm for at least your first 2 years of college. The bread and butter premed jobs (CNA, EMT, MA, Scribe) are likely beyond your reach because you need to be 18 for those.

Other notes
-Shadowing: I think you'll find shadowing 1 doctor for 50 hours rather mind numbing; my best advice would be to split it up amongst multiple doctors in different specialties. If you do, be sure to include primary care as one of those
-Academics: I'm not sure I really understand your CLEP plan to get an associates in Spanish. Please be advised that if you're going to CLEP (or AP or otherwise) place out of prerequisites for premed you must replace those with higher level courses - thinking particularly in biology, chemistry and physics.
-In general: I'm really not sure there's much you can do at this very moment to tip this scale, and even if you could, I'd ask the question of why? You seem to be rushing towards a predetermined finish line (get into med school) and while that's great, there's a hell of a lot of life to be lived between now and the earliest age most people start med school (~21 in my class).

Spoiler alert: You're a kid once and only once. The last thing you want is to be in your 40s stuck in your career and wishing that you had gone backpacking in Europe, or tried out a new club or activity just for fun, when instead you threw your time entirely into getting ready for med school.

Tl;Dr - My best advice is do literally nothing between now and the time you start undergrad. Maybe do research if you want but I doubt those papers will significantly move the needle. Go outside, enjoy time with your friends, play video games, do whatever it is the kids are up to these days (as long as it doesn't involve criminal activity or illicit substances), etc.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it" - Ferris Bueller

Yeah sorry! To clarify, I will live in the same place because I'm going to my local uni so that I can use fin aid on the tuition so I can live at home (since i'm broke, low income but also underage lmao). So yeah for the volunteer hours it will be the same activity, location, etc.

For the CLEP, yeah I'm not going to clep out of any prereq courses. (Like I said, I am not rushing college, just high school.) I'm taking all my prereqs at university, only clepping stuff like spanish associates if possible.

I was honestly stumped regarding the clinical hours situation. I will do what you suggested with sticking to volunteering and getting a ton of hours there first before moving on. Do you think I can get into a competitive school regardless? A school I'm gunning for is Baylor Medical School because I live in texas and its pretty close to where I live.

For shadowing, TBH Idk if i just need to improve my confidence. The reason I said I wanna do 50 hours with 1 person first is because I assume it will hard to find another doctor to shadow.

For the papers, I don't know what you mean by they won't move the needle? I understand, lets say the professors won't be impressed regardless so I have no idea if I can get into a lab or not. I agree, but there's nothing I can do about it right? Also I think publications aren't ranked high in impact but more competitive schools care right? Lets say it doesn't really matter for these, it will still add to my publications when I do my ERAS application and having 20 for example, even before college, will surely help add to the total number...

Regarding outside life, thank you very much for your concern! I do in fact spend a lot of time for sports specifically taekwondo (and brawl stars lmaooo). But yeah that is besides the point of the post so I did not include it. I also have other hobbies such as singing and stock investing and watching a lot of anime

 

[Arbitas]

There is no need to rush.

The average age of matriculation of medical students in the US is 24. A good majority of medical students will have arrived having taken at least 1 of not 2 gap years. The data clearly shows a growing preference for students who have had lived life experiences.

Trying to "check off the box" is only going to lead to high levels of burnout and will not give you the reflections needed to convince adcoms and most importantly yourself why you wish to become a doctor.

 

[AJS59]

Yeah sorry! To clarify, I will live in the same place because I'm going to my local uni so that I can use fin aid on the tuition so I can live at home (since i'm broke, low income but also underage lmao). So yeah for the volunteer hours it will be the same activity, location, etc.

For the CLEP, yeah I'm not going to clep out of any prereq courses. (Like I said, I am not rushing college, just high school.) I'm taking all my prereqs at university, only clepping stuff like spanish associates if possible.

I was honestly stumped regarding the clinical hours situation. I will do what you suggested with sticking to volunteering and getting a ton of hours there first before moving on. Do you think I can get into a competitive school regardless? A school I'm gunning for is Baylor Medical School because I live in texas and its pretty close to where I live.

For shadowing, TBH Idk if i just need to improve my confidence. The reason I said I wanna do 50 hours with 1 person first is because I assume it will hard to find another doctor to shadow.

For the papers, I don't know what you mean by they won't move the needle? I understand, lets say the professors won't be impressed regardless so I have no idea if I can get into a lab or not. I agree, but there's nothing I can do about it right? Also I think publications aren't ranked high in impact but more competitive schools care right? Lets say it doesn't really matter for these, it will still add to my publications when I do my ERAS application and having 20 for example, even before college, will surely help add to the total number...

Regarding outside life, thank you very much for your concern! I do in fact spend a lot of time for sports specifically taekwondo (and brawl stars lmaooo). But yeah that is besides the point of the post so I did not include it. I also have other hobbies such as singing and stock investing and watching a lot of anime

With respect to research — you're at a minimum, 8 years away from applying to residency. It's not like having more research will hurt you (everything seems to be a rat race nowadays with respect to that) but my broader point is basically stop worrying about med school. Seriously.

You have approximately 7ish months (maybe a little less if you're starting with summer classes) before undergrad. Is there any big adventure, anything that you dream of, that you'd want to do with this time? Or even if not, take the time to enjoy your sports and get better at singing, stream all the anime you want to your hearts content, go on dates, etc. If nothing else, it will help relieve burnout - you can't sprint the (for you) 11-17 years until you become a full fledged attending.

 

[atriablack]

I'm not going to tell you to slow down, because when you are in a certain go-go mindset/groove it will be unreasonable to expect you to suddenly take off and do a passion project. Especially at 16. At 16 what you can do very easily is school, so it is understandable. (but also, don't waste your senior spring and summer worrying about college and future plans, there is plenty of time for that).

I agree with you that college should not be rushed, and I would give you the same caution given to all freshman, take the first semester easy. Do the minimum or just above the minimum level of req credits. Give yourself time to adjust. Given your tract history, could you possible take more? Probably, but you don't need to, especially given your graduation projection. Take an easy course load, and explore some clubs and orgs, decide which ones you want to stick with throughout undergrad. If any spark interest, those could possible clubs you pursue leadership in later.

You seem like a planner, so take a look at the pre-req courses, and map them out to each semester. I would recommend taking no more than 2 hard STEM classes per semester and filling the rest with easier, interesting classes that intrigue you. Your goal should be keeping a manageable course load so that your grades don't dip. As AJS59 said, most likely you will need to "re-do" some of the pre-reqs (ex. a college elevate bio class in high school won't check off the Bio requirement, you will still need to do more Bio in college. You can choose to do a higher level or repeat it at the same level (what I chose to do for an easy A in chem)). If you are having trouble understanding the pre-reqs, schedule a meeting with your pre-med advisor (they are notoriously hit or miss for advice, but generally can help with concrete advice like the list of classes you need to take). While you are doing classes, for ECs do what is available to you. Volunteer, do your hobbies. In my interviews I was most asked about my hobbies and passions (for ex. cartooning is unrelated to medicine, but I was asked about in every single interview). In the summer you could perhaps do a research stint if opportunity presents (some labs might be iffy about underage). At 18, your options will open up and you can add on the clinical and shadowing aspects. You do not need to do it all at once. I went straight through (no gap years), and I front loaded my pre-req courses, got most done by sophomore year. Did MCAT that summer, and focused my junior year on clinical ECs, some major req, research, and having fun. Be on the lookout for opportunities life presents, study abroad, a year in a new city doing research, working on a local project etc. There will be times in college where you can take breaks, and given your age you will be well suited to pursue them. Relax, if you want to be super planned out about anything, do it for your course load. The rest? Do it as time permits and opportunities arise. Have fun in college. Explore interests, you never know what sparks joy until you have tried it. Medicine is a long hard journey and you have the blessing to take time to smell the roses. It's a marathon, not a sprint and thats why you are seeing a lot of words of caution from others. Listen to yourself and don't overextend yourself, there is no template timeline you need to follow.

 

[AsclepiusAdvisingLLC]

Hello everyone, I am graduating high school early, and I will be turning 16 after this school year. I was wondering if I was anyway I can improve my application without this harming it? I would truly appreciate any insight. To clarify I turn 16 the June before my freshman year of college starts. My goal is to pursue a tier 1 medical school

Educational background: I did high school accelerated (started 14 and ended at 15) but I did a ton of college credits. In college, I plan on Majoring in Biology, Minor in Economics, and I also want to transfer credits back to a Community College and then CLEP out of major specific requirements to get an associates in spanish from my local community college. I kinda have too much credits so the plan is to go to university for 3 years and then take 1 gap year or more if necessary

Ethnic background: moved to the US in 2018 from vietnam so I'm an orm I think. And I'm bilingual, not sure if that matters. I also live in Texas

Clinical hours: For clinical hours, so far, I have volunteered at my hospital and have around 100 hours, I will have 160 by the time college starts and I want to continue this in college so that the hours count all together (this is the advice i heard?)

I really need advice on what I can do for more professional clinical hours. Based on the advice i received, I need better types of clinical hours. Can I get y'all advice? I can start at a PCT at 17 but that will be during my second year, is there anything I can start during first year and continue all the way?

Shadowing: I was able to contact one doctor so far. I plan on shadowing him for 50 hours and then finding someone else, he's not the type of doctor i'm aiming for but I think it will help right?

Research: My mentor started me off with doing letters to the editor so right now I have 7 pubmed indexed letter to the editor publications multiple in Q1 journals. I've submitted 7 reviews and 2 original research papers and am waiting for a response. I only started this in october so I haven't heard back for anything except for the letters. Regarding college, my plan is to get a lot of publications so that I can get into a good lab as soon as I start to ensure productivity. I plan on joining an undergraduate lab about neuroscience or a medical school lab about it if they'll have me.

Leadership: I have a nonprofit that I'm very passionate about which I started last year. I want to build it all years of college. Furthermore, I will join organizations to get nonclinical hours and try to get a leadership position there as well.

Please let me know if there are good clinical jobs for my situation or if there is anything else I can do as I want to have a really solid application. Thank you so much for your help in advance!

Have a good day, my friends.

The best thing you can do right now is to truly determine why you want to go into medicine. Why not become a scientist? Or an economist? The financial sector? Brilliant students have many industries that they are eligible to engage with and be successful in, so one must expose themselves to many different experiences in order to persuade both themselves and an admissions committee why you want to dedicate your life, career, and services towards improving the betterment of humanity by battling sickness, disease, or injury. Many colleagues will say to slow down, and the reason for this is because many qualities that make good physicians come with time and experience. There is no check-box that will qualify any individual as a good physician. Developing empathy, patience, insight, and other qualities germane to the profession are components to a physician that will take different individuals a different amount of time to develop, but nonetheless it will take time.

My suggestion to you is to expose yourself to as many DIFFERENT professions as possible for the time being. Prove to yourself that you want to go into medicine. Admissions committees WILL ask you why you want to be a physician, but they will also ask you why you DON'T want to be something else. It is insufficient to say that you have not tried anything else because you are passionate about medicine. Instead, one might say they have worked and participated within other career paths, and that although they developed a great array of skills they CHOOSE to pursue medicine because it is where they want to spend their lives. Take the other skillsets with you. Apply them towards advancing modern medicine. These are the keys to a successful application but also to a successful career as a physician. Please do not hesitate to ask more questions, it is wonderful that you are engaging in the community and learning how to better yourself and achieve your goals.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thank you! But do you have specific advice? I think competitive applications start freshman year; I don’t want to fall behind either (and I have no reason to not be doing anything?). Regarding rushing, I guess I graduated high school early but I won’t be rushing at all during college as I will be spending 4 years total at least (3 years in uni 1 gap year. I am taking a minor on purpose so I can stay 3 years instead of 2.). I don’t want to work with the assumption that I will spend more than 1 gap year because I think that’s a bad mindset? Do you have any recommendations? Clinical jobs seem to be the only age restricted aspect of this as far as I know. Regarding grades, I have a 4.0 and I hope I won’t get weeded out as a freshman lol. I took Anatomy & Physiology 1 in college via dual credit and that kinda helped me a lot regarding studying so I think Biology will be way easier.

In addition to the articles???

Pick a good college. Make sure you are set on becoming a physician. If so, look up early admissions tracks.

Applying Earlier? Health Professions Admissions through Early Assurance | SDN

Access free resources, expert advice, and tools to advance your medical career.

www.studentdoctor.net

Everyone else's advice is also applicable. Gap years are normal features of the most desirable applicants for medical school.

 

[LizzyM]

I strongly recommend a semester abroad. You have the luxury of planning that around your pre-med pre-reqs. Also consider applying one year after college graduation (thus 2 gap years) during which you can be working in a clinical setting or in a research setting if you find that research really floats your boat.

 

[hiiiihi]

I strongly recommend a semester abroad. You have the luxury of planning that around your pre-med pre-reqs. Also consider applying one year after college graduation (thus 2 gap years) during which you can be working in a clinical setting or in a research setting if you find that research really floats your boat.

Ok thank you so much!! I don’t think I can do a semester abroad because of the monetary aspect though?

 

[hiiiihi]

On this note, do you guys know how JohnHopkins prereqs work? I want to plan my courses so that I will be able to apply to almost all medical schools but John Hopkins is very puzzling in two ways:

AAMC says they require 24 credits of humanities. However, on their website, they include social science, history, government as well? I was worried but if this is true I should be good. Could someone confirm this for me please?

Furthermore, AAMC says they require 6 credits of calculus specifically but the website said 6 credits of statistics/calculus. Does this mean I only have to do calculus 1? I’m not trying to avoid courses but really dont want to waste time/money.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

On this note, do you guys know how JohnHopkins prereqs work? I want to plan my courses so that I will be able to apply to almost all medical schools but John Hopkins is very puzzling in two ways:

AAMC says they require 24 credits of humanities. However, on their website, they include social science, history, government as well? I was worried but if this is true I should be good. Could someone confirm this for me please?

Furthermore, AAMC says they require 6 credits of calculus specifically but the website said 6 credits of statistics/calculus. Does this mean I only have to do calculus 1? I’m not trying to avoid courses but really dont want to waste time/money.

Thank you in advance!

You could always email the admissions office.

Of course, they could also change the prerequisites between now and your application cycle.

6 credits = 2 courses. I would interpret what you mention as, "yes, you should probably take calculus if it's their requirement." Of course they also hedge and says you should take stats, but I think two semesters of stats is ... not common.

 

[LizzyM]

Frankly, given your age and the fact that you are going to live at home to make college affordable, I highly recommend that you get a job as soon as you turn 16. Ideally, the job should involve interfacing with customers in a retail or food service situation. This will bring you in contact with people different from yourself and who may not be at their best (upset that something is wrong) and take you out of your comfort zone which seems to be very academic/research oriented. It may also give you an idea of whether you want to deal with people on a daily basis which is much of what medicine is about.

The second advantage to a part-time job (or even full-time the summer before college starts) is that you will earn some money that you can use toward enriching your college experience including travel, study abroad, and fun with peers.

Do at least some customer service work. You can always transition to HS and college tutoring which can be lucrative if you are in a high income area where people will pay $$$ for test prep and remedial tutoring.

 

[eigen]

I won’t be rushing at all during college as I will be spending 4 years total at least (3 years in uni 1 gap year

FWIW, this is definitely rushing college. 3 years is graduating early, and a gap year doesn't really make up for rushing during school.

If it were me, I would personally recommend that you do something other than school for a few years before starting college. Get a job. Meet people. Do things that are not school.

Without hesitation the strongest, most prepared, overall best students I get as college freshman are the ones who did not come straight from HS and worked for a year or two. They've had a break, they approach school (and life) a bit differently, and they have practical experience all of their classmates lack.

You may very well not listen to me, but I figured I'd mention it since you asked for advice.

 

[anon2]

I'll disagree on the rushing school part, from personal experience. I have literally taken >60 credits in a single year, for multiple years. (PM me for more details)

The biggest problem with getting school over with as quickly as possible isn't going to be whether you're prepared, given you've already had early enrollment success. It's that this path isn't necessarily the best for fastest *entry to medical school*. GPA is king, in that you can always beef up your ECs later, but fixing a tanked GPA takes a lot of work and the black mark remains (you're stuck asking for people to recognize reinvention vs just have a 3.9x).

Course overloads, experimentation in taking different courses, the most challenging courses: these things are NOT rewarded in med school admissions. Get your entire application, including transcript, right the first time building it, which is not the same thing as optimizing for earliest graduation. My path took >2 years of transcript repair. (Then again, I don't think 3 years is that fast anyway.)

OTOH, I have plenty of MD friends who did get in straight after 3 years of undergrad, so it can be done. Heck, look at 3-year MD programs if you want the speed record.

I have zero customer service job experience on my record, and I'm doing fine in EMS clinical work. But that's substituting with >15 years tutoring, a professorship, and >10y engineering, plus the fact that I'm well above 30. The maturity is what counts. So beware age discrimination from admissions when it is partly a real effect. Patients (and interviewers) will, consciously or not, respond differently to someone who "looks too young".

I have friends who got their PhD before age 20. This, unfortunately, is unlikely to fly for MD.

 

[LunaOri]

Frankly, given your age and the fact that you are going to live at home to make college affordable, I highly recommend that you get a job as soon as you turn 16. Ideally, the job should involve interfacing with customers in a retail or food service situation. This will bring you in contact with people different from yourself and who may not be at their best (upset that something is wrong) and take you out of your comfort zone which seems to be very academic/research oriented. It may also give you an idea of whether you want to deal with people on a daily basis which is much of what medicine is about.

The second advantage to a part-time job (or even full-time the summer before college starts) is that you will earn some money that you can use toward enriching your college experience including travel, study abroad, and fun with peers.

Do at least some customer service work. You can always transition to HS and college tutoring which can be lucrative if you are in a high income area where people will pay $$$ for test prep and remedial tutoring.

I will second this advice! Working as a restaurant server, barista, receptionist, or other public-facing job will allow you to build the “people skills” and maturity that you need.

 

[hiiiihi]

I'll disagree on the rushing school part, from personal experience. I have literally taken >60 credits in a single year, for multiple years. (PM me for more details)

The biggest problem with getting school over with as quickly as possible isn't going to be whether you're prepared, given you've already had early enrollment success. It's that this path isn't necessarily the best for fastest *entry to medical school*. GPA is king, in that you can always beef up your ECs later, but fixing a tanked GPA takes a lot of work and the black mark remains (you're stuck asking for people to recognize reinvention vs just have a 3.9x).

Course overloads, experimentation in taking different courses, the most challenging courses: these things are NOT rewarded in med school admissions. Get your entire application, including transcript, right the first time building it, which is not the same thing as optimizing for earliest graduation. My path took >2 years of transcript repair. (Then again, I don't think 3 years is that fast anyway.)

OTOH, I have plenty of MD friends who did get in straight after 3 years of undergrad, so it can be done. Heck, look at 3-year MD programs if you want the speed record.

I have zero customer service job experience on my record, and I'm doing fine in EMS clinical work. But that's substituting with >15 years tutoring, a professorship, and >10y engineering, plus the fact that I'm well above 30. The maturity is what counts. So beware age discrimination from admissions when it is partly a real effect. Patients (and interviewers) will, consciously or not, respond differently to someone who "looks too young".

I have friends who got their PhD before age 20. This, unfortunately, is unlikely to fly for MD.

Thank you for your insight. I do have a 4.0 college GPA and I agree with the fact that rushing is bad but I’m spending 4 years total after high school. I’m not aiming to rush but get into a medical school thats competitive for neurosurgery. However, I can’t do anything about bias vs young age except gap year then if I need

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Adding

Community College and Vocational Certifications for Prehealth Applicants | SDN

Higher education has seen a demographic shift, with more high school students or graduates taking community college coursework before entering

www.studentdoctor.net

 

[hiiiihi]

I wanted to get you guys' advice on what you would do in my situation as it is kind of unique. These are some key points about my situation:

- I am graduating high school at 15

- I will be pursuing a Major in Biology and minor in Bioinformatics next year at university for 3 years because I took a lot of college credits in high school (I made sure to take 0 premed prerequistes)

- I will only have to take 13 credits per semester for 3 semester in college so I'm basically graduating uni in 3 years, but I don't want to rush it so I want to take 1 gap year. I also wanted to take limited credits and spend time on ECs

- I might sound like a pretentious **** for saying this i guess but I really want to get into a t20 medical school, or even a t10 i dare say, and am a bit confuzzled due to some circumstances.

What do you guys suggest I do to achieve these goals? Here are some more specific things about me:

- My parents are very busy with work and we're from a low income immigrant family so I can't really do things outside very often but I guess that doesn't matter since I'm a high school senior currently. I'm only doing two things currently that will be affecting my med school app: Volunteering at hospital (I will continue this same activity at the exact same place in college and will put it as one continuous activity spanning from high school) and contacting a ton of medical students, which allowed me to work on and be authors in Systematic reviews, case reports, experimental Research etc...

- The problem lies in the Clinical hours aspect of my application. I am getting clinical hours from my hospital, but it is capped at 3 hours per week. Unfortunately, I am unable to get a job because I am underage and clinical jobs at my state requires you to be 18. Except for PCT, which has a 17 age requirement. What should I do here? I know this is a huge aspect of medical school application and I don't know what I should do. If i get a pct certification during the summer after my first year at University, I won't be able to start until second year of university. Let's say I do this, what should I do freshman year to make up for the lost time?

- I would appreciate advice on other aspects of my application as well, but since those don't have age restrictions, except for being 16 which I will be, I guess any other advice in this subreddit already applies to me.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm a little confused because...

Previously

Thread 'How do I build an application if I'm in college but underage?'

Jan 7, 2025

Hello everyone, I am graduating high school early, and I will be turning 16 after this school year. I was wondering if I was anyway I can improve my application without this harming it? I would truly appreciate any insight. To clarify I turn 16 the June before my freshman year of college starts. My goal is to pursue a tier 1 medical school

Educational background: I did high school accelerated (started 14 and ended at 15) but I did a ton of college credits. In college, I plan on Majoring in Biology, Minor in Economics, and I also want to transfer credits back to a Community College and...

• hiiiihi
• clinical hours freshman leadership research shadowing underage student
• Replies: 24
• Forum: Pre-Medical (MD)

 

[AJS59]

I'll reiterate what I've said previously:

-In general: I'm really not sure there's much you can do at this very moment to tip this scale, and even if you could, I'd ask the question of why? You seem to be rushing towards a predetermined finish line (get into med school) and while that's great, there's a hell of a lot of life to be lived between now and the earliest age most people start med school (~21 in my class).

Spoiler alert: You're a kid once and only once. The last thing you want is to be in your 40s stuck in your career and wishing that you had gone backpacking in Europe, or tried out a new club or activity just for fun, when instead you threw your time entirely into getting ready for med school.

I'm going to be brutally honest: I think if your goal is for top tier medical schools (which T20/T10 don't differ THAT significantly in clinical education from other MD schools), I think you should be planning on more than 1 gap year after you finish university. You're not going to get a bonus/leeway from admission officers just because you'd be applying at age 18, when the other applicants in your cohort will often be 5-7 years (and in some cases many more) older and will have had the time to accumulate more clinical experiences. And also, fair or unfair, but there is some bias against teenagers applying to med school — many adcoms believe that they're simply not mature enough yet to handle those burdens

I think what'd probably be most beneficial for you is take your freshman year relatively chill, with the exception of the research and volunteering, and then maybe add on the PCT later. That would get you probably around 500ish hours by the time you apply, which is a good start. Then after graduation, I'd consider working for 1-2 years as an EMT/CRC/other clinical job. This will help you build even more hours and get you some money in the meantime.

 

[stew_md]

I agree with the above, ease into this process. You are very young and you shouldn’t try to rush things. Take it easy and secure good grades and ease into your ecs.

Also get some more shadowing hours I don’t see this mentioned in your post. How have you come to understand that this is the career for you at such a young age?

 

[GoSpursGo]

I've merged your duplicative threads.

As others have said, a gap year would enhance your application.