I strongly disagree with this.
If you are struggling in school, you should be adjusting and figuring out your academics first. Learning how to study, learning how to manage your time, etc.
This is what I meant to imply, as OP gives no indication of his/her current academic background.
But, to say, "4.0 with ease or you should be studying more" is just silly. Grades are important, but sacrificing development because of them is pretty damn stupid.
I admit I shouldn't have been that harsh. I regret saying that as it gives the wrong connotation. But if you're not pulling an A average you are severely hampering your ability to be a competitive applicant. Freshman year is a big change of pace and OP should focus on acclimating first and foremost.
A more accurate statement would have been "If you're not pulling at least a 3.5." If you're not competitive academically, very little in the EC department will compensate (with notable exceptions). At no point did I insinuate professional development should be sacrificed, just delayed for acclimation purposes. To add to that I provided an anecdotal experience that I oft see, where people do silly things like skip ECs completely until application year, and I strongly suggested against it, even though a few successful applicants do it.
If you look at my post history you will see I'm an extremely strong proponent of making a holistic application, but that starts with solid academics. If you don't have that, people like you and
@LizzyM will never even see the application in the first place. That's why people like you aren't concerned with academics when reviewing applications. The end of my post clarified that point, ECs are very important, but you have to be eligible in the first place before they matter. I would never have been considered at a majority of the schools I applied to had I not had the academics to back it up in the first place. Again, OP is a freshman, not a current applicant, and that's why I stressed it as such.
The first question that you need to answer is, should you even by applying to medical school. Assuming that you are smart and driven enough to make it to medical school and survive it (pretty low bar to be honest), is medicine right for you? That is what a lot of ECs are for. It isn't about filling up an application. It is about personal and professional development that in turn makes you a more attractive applicant. Very few pre-meds or even medical students do something so fantastic that their ECs stand by themselves as a model of productivity. How the ECs shape you into a person that will be a good physician (outside of the mandatory academic requirements) is everything.
Agreed. But this quote as a whole becomes far more relevant as time goes on, and your bolded assumption removes the whole point I was making. OP is a freshman who did not give any indication to their current academic standing. It is most important that he/she acclimates to that environment and knows how well they are doing before they start going soul searching. 2 hours a week volunteering isn't a big deal, so OP could probably pull that off and since that's his original question, and should go for it given (s)he has the time. Same goes for shadowing. But anything truly intensive that I would consider significant personal and professional development (e.g. actually
working in a hospital) should probably wait until after freshman year. It's a "is the juice worth the squeeze?" type of situation for a Freshman.
As I've always been told it's a lot easier to maintain something than to build it from the ground up. Freshman year is a new experience, OP should embrace it, and should also be cautious of making him/her a less/non-competitive applicant. My original post was to heed caution, as dropped grades in Freshman year is a lot worse for an application than starting things like volunteering, shadowing, and clinical work a few months later.
I spent the morning reviewing applications and CVs for next week's interview day for our residency. When I was doing medical school admissions, it was the exact same process of reviewing academics and then looking at LOR/rest of the application. We have an endless supply of excellent academics.
That's because they've been screened for you already. Essentially what you're repeating is
you have to have the academics to even be eligible. Which is true. It's also why I'm saying OP should make sure academics are in check before making significant commitments. My "4.0" expectation was certainly too harsh, but an A average
is expected.
I picked out my top 5 applicants that I wanted one of my co-residents to review. What separated them from the others had nothing to do with classroom academics. It was all about what their clinical professors thought of them and what they did outside of their mandatory hours in the hospital.
I never disputed the fact that ECs are important, that would be a ridiculous thing to imply, and I never disputed that academics were relevant
once you're being reviewed by a person for a spot you're already qualified for. But for the typical person thinking about going to medical school it's going to be the first, and most important barrier to cross.
Edit: Discussion aside, the answer to OP's original question is simply, "The earliest you are comfortable is the optimal time." Comfort including many things, from academics to social interaction at their new residence.
ETA: I do want to thank you for pointing that out though,
@mimelim. I was too quick to type '4.0' as a standard, and was potentially advising a very unhealthy mentality.
