Im going to be a 1st yr college student, what activities should i partake in?

[alee_25]

Im going to UC berkeley next year and i was probably thinking of majoring in mabye nutritional sciences (since its easy), with a minor in mabye chem or bio.

But anyways what activies should i start doing to look favorably among the admissions committee at Med school?

I would like to try to get a jump start early, because i know that im going to have to stand out from the rest of the hundreds of premeds at berkeley.

thx in advance

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[Papa Smurf]

All I gots to say is stay the hell away from Scooby. He's taken. :wink:

 

[ValleyGal]

uh, do stuff you like. that was an easy one

 

[THE instiGATOR]

After class P Chem elective studies!!! <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" /> Med schools LOVE people who do that, let me tell ya!

You ask a question like that, you get an answer like the one I've provided. :wink:

 

[watto]

Son, partake of wholesome activities such as the square dance and barn-raising clubs, but avoid seedy organizations like that flashy performance choir. Jazz hands are the work of the devil.

 

[THE instiGATOR]

Why don't you provide your interests. People from Berkeley might be able to help you then.

 

[Joe Joe on da Radio]

if you want to REALLY stand out, i suggest...

learning swahili and then volunteering on medical missions to east africa.

at least, that's what i would have done if i had to do it all over again.

 

[Yogi Bear]

like others have said, what's ur interests?

if u wanna get some clinical experience, start volunteering in a hospital or something where u can get to know the people for 4 solid years. if u're working at hospitals, remember to volunteer on weekdays if u can. i've only volunteered on weekends and there's always different employees each weekend, so it's hard to get to know someone.

besides health stuff, try to get some extracurriculars like tutoring that aren't health related.

u'll also want to do research. if u don't have any particular interests, then get into a project that can have clinical correlates. it'll be easier to tie into your application/personal statement.

 

[alee_25]

hmmm i dont see what so wrong with my question that it deserves such sarcastic remarks.

I was just wondering what activities that (either you guys/girls) did that helped you stand out at med school admissions.

Im not really looking to find something that im highly interested in doing, but if it scores me some points with admissions, ill willingly do it.

mabye you guys are being a little too hard on the new guy. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

 

[THE instiGATOR]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by alee_25:
•Im not really looking to find something that im highly interested in doing, but if it scores me some points with admissions, ill willingly do it.•••••This is why you got sarcastic responses. If you only do things to make others happy, you'll never enjoy life.

Do you have ANY interests? If you love cooking, volunteer your services to a homeless shelter or your local hospital's kitchen. Do you have an interest in a particular field of medicine? If so, seek out a physician in that area to shadow. Do you like being a leader? Then find ANY campus organization that you would like to act as an officer for. Etc, etc, etc...

 

[alee_25]

i was under the impression from many of the people on this fourm, that in order to get into a good med school one should sacrifice doing what he/she loves (ie instead of doing enginnering go do an easier major to get a higher gpa) and doing somthing which will benefit them in the future.

Am i wrong about this?

 

[THE instiGATOR]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by alee_25:
•Am i wrong about this?•••••Yes.

I've never advised someone to do something they aren't interested in for the sake of impressing a committee. I have told them to do something they are interested in and know they can excel at. If you're going to do something, you'd better like it and you should be able to do it well.

 

[Yogi Bear]

as others have said,

if you want to score big, go to a developing country and volunteer for a summer.

from an old volunteer poll, 10% of SDN people haven't even volunteered in college. 40% have volunteered less than 100 hrs. 5-10% have volunteered over 800 hrs. if you want to be like a machine and do whatever looks good, find yourself something health related and get those hours down! however, if u're just doing it for ulterior motives, the adcoms will surely know during your interviews, secondaries, etc. when u can't show/reveal the right reasons for engaging in those activities. the level of enthuisiams/motivation will be reflected in how people evaluate you for the things that u do.

IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT/
If you got into cal by academics, keep on studying to get top gpa/mcat. if you were a complete well rounded person, continue doing similar activities. i think u'll be a much stronger candidate if u can say: "i did this in hs" and "i continued to do it in college".

 

[ValleyGal]

Please do some serious thinking. The road is more important than the destination. All of us premeds have totally enjoyed our medical experiences and leadership opportunities in preparing us for medical school. If working in a hospital, teaching, helping others, leading, do not excite you, then another profession is calling your name. Do not just be a doctor to be a doctor, because you will be so unhappy as the work required to become one is immense. You never sacrifice yourself to others -- doing good does not mean that you are unhappy in the process.

If you do not enjoy the path to your goal, and you never achieve your goal, then you have wasted your time. But if you love what you do in working towards becoming a doctor, then you will find that the goal was ultimately unimportant.

 

[vixen]

alee...if you do something just to impress adcom's, they'll see right through it...there are 1000's of cookie cutter applications out there. Do something you're interested and you'll shine through...show them you have interests besides medicine...do something you enjoy and excel at it!!

 

[tater tot]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by alee_25:
•i was under the impression from many of the people on this fourm, that in order to get into a good med school one should sacrifice doing what he/she loves (ie instead of doing enginnering go do an easier major to get a higher gpa) and doing somthing which will benefit them in the future.

Am i wrong about this?••••• OH BROTHER! yes, you are very wrong! Why are you even choosing a career medicine?? Do you have your OWN reasons and interests or what?!
always follow your passion, do what YOU want, and what YOU enjoy.
never do "what's easy" or what "looks good".
otherwise don't choose medicine. Sorry, but I wouldn't want a doctor like that......

 

[dude7]

do only 3 or so activities, but become heavily involved with them. Remember, the activities do not make you as a person, you make yourself depending on what you do with the activities.

 

[alee_25]

i do want to be a doctor, but im just thinking, you really cant be a doctor if you cant get into med school.

So i was thinking that i should put med school first, because im going to have the rest of my life to pursue what i love

 

[vixen]

listen, theres a lot of good advice just been given to you...USE IT!!!!

 

[THE instiGATOR]

Ok, this is getting annoying.

If you do something you enjoy, you will excel (you should, at least). If you excel, you will look good in the eyes of the ADCOMs. If you look good in the eyes of the ADCOMs, you will get in.

If you do something that 50% of all other applicants have done, you will bore the ADCOMs. Concurrently, if you do something you don't enjoy; you won't necessarily excel at it. If you don't do well (hence, you won't get great letters of rec from you supervisors) and you bore the ADCOMs, you won't get in.

If you want some examples of how I've made my application unique, I'll provide them. You probably will find them boring, but I thoroughly enjoyed them.

1) Because I was born with a chest-wall deformity and have since had it corrected, I shadowed a surgeon who corrects chest-wall deformities for a year.

2) I've used my education in the sciences and an acute marketing ability in attempts to convince companies that they need to license technology that my university produces. You're probably snoring right now, but it was fun.

3) Demonstrated dedication by working at a restaurant for 5 consecutive years. Yes, not essential to the training of a physician...but it is something I enjoyed (I wouldn't have stayed for 5 yrs if I didn't) and it taught me a lot.

etc, etc, etc...

Any of those sound like things you want to do? Probably not.

Sorry to get all pissy, but you need to find your own niche.

 

[vyc]

always do the activities that you love.
try to explore some career paths you might be interested in so you can develop a dream.

foster your individual personality and your application will make itself.
admissions committees are looking for unique individuals with something to contribute.
so don't fall into the trap of thinking there's this one magical formula to success.

 

[willy]

How about a writing program so you learn never to end a phrase with a preposition. None of you people, especially Brandonite, write well.

 

[THE instiGATOR]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Litespeed is better:
•How about a writing program so you learn never to end a phrase with a preposition. None of you people can write well.•••••It's a discussion board. Most of us don't really care. I earn my paychecks writing, so I'll have to disagree with you.

 

[watto]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Litespeed is better:
•How about a writing program so you learn never to end a phrase with a preposition. None of you people, especially Brandonite, write well.•••••Hey! I write good.

 

[joehuf]

This is nuts. There's no magic activity that you can do that will get you into medical schools. Read all the posts on "medical school diversity". Medical students have varied backgrounds depending on his or her interests. It's important to volunteer in a medical field, not because it impresses AdComs but because you need to experience the medical field. It's easy to decide you want to be a doctor when you watch ER or Discovery Channel. It's much different when you meet residents that drive a 1972 Datsun station wagon and live in an apartment that's nastier than yours is. It's easy to feel like Albert Schwitzer while your sitting on your couch, but much different when your getting puked on by some drunk in the ER. Other than that, do things that you like. The only reason that med schools look at extracurriculars is to see if you have a life outside of school, so do what you're interested in! As far as majors, its been my experience that I do better in classes that I'm interested in, regardless of inherent difficulty, than I do in supposed "easy" classes that I find ridculously boring. Oh yeah, and the most important piece of advice I can pass down is DRINK LOTS OF BEER! It gives you a great view of the world that is essential for medical school.

P.S. I'm sure that my grammar sucks too. This is a message board not an essay contest. Anyone who proofreads their posts that much needs to get out more.

 

[MorningLight2100]

Posts like this really, REALLY sadden me.

alee, let me put it to you this way: if you keep this up, with this "what activities do I do to get in" attitude, chances are you will have a *more* difficult time getting into medical schools!

The people who sit on adcoms are very smart, and very sensitive to people who go into something because they are passionate about it. . . and those who choose an activity to pad their resume, or as you're saying, to "get in." They want the former, not the latter.

Yes, you need to get into medical school to be a doctor. But is a career as a physician entirely determined my medical school? If you attend a good medical school, will you automatically be a good doctor? What about communication skills, critical thinking ability, compassion, generosity, determination. . . all of the skills and talents that you could be cultivating RIGHT NOW, through activities that broaden your horizons? The practice of medicine doesn't have to begin when you enter medical school. . . it can begin right now, your freshman year, this moment, just through your interactions with others and what you choose to do with your time. It depends on whether or not you make choices that MATTER. . . that enhance YOU in some way. Choices that leave impressions that last far longer than the flimsy resume paper that all will forget in four years.

I feel very honored, and actually lucky, to have been accepted to medical school. I'll tell you right now that my scores were not outstanding. . . but you know why I finally received the thick envelope? I not only did a lot during my undergraduate years, but I did everything PASSIONATELY. I love what I do. And not only am I happy, but I believe that my experiences have molded me into a better person.

alee, when people on this board advise you to do that which interests you, they are not being sarcastic. They're being honest. Please, please listen to them.

 

[moo]

Listen alee, when I first started out as pre-med, I made a pact to myself that I would NOT DO ANYTHING just to impress some adcom. I didn't major in biology or chemistry... I majored in physics and math because I love math... ever since HS when I took all those math contests (I still did it in college). I haven't volunteered excess amounts, and when I got sick of studying I just pack it in... That probably explains why I don't have a 4.0... which probably eliminated me from the Harvards, Hopkins and Yales of the world right off the bat.

Don't get me wrong, though, I think it's important to do things in undergrad, be active. But don't do some mundane activity that will brand you as some fake pre-med... I've seen too many of those in undergrad. That's why I shied away from biology classes and the premed club. If you do things you enjoy, and are good at it, trust me you will get into med school.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

alee--don't listen to all of these negative posts to you. I wish I had thought about this stuff 4 years ago. Since you are just starting out, how could you know all of the reasons why you want to be a doctor and what to do to get there?? That's why you should just ignore the people that
bitched at you!

When I started college, I was premed b/c I had gotten As in science and Bs in English. I volunteered at different hospitals/clinics to get a feel for what a sceince major could bring me in the future, and that's how I discovered why I wanted to be a doctor. I also liked tutoring, since I had always tutored my sister and brothers, so I did a lot of that as a volunteer as well. I liked learning about other cultures, so I joined a program for that helps out immigrant children.

So try a wide range of activities that interest you, or that could potentially interest you. As soon as you find something you really love, continue with it. It's great that you are starting early.

Don't worry too much about what adcoms want, b/c they'll be happy as long as you pursued your interests and learned from them.

Best of luck to you!

 

[alee_25]

thank you for the insight everyone (espeically doctora foxy - i was beginning to have second doubts with everyone yelling at me).

mabye i didnt phrase my question right, or mabye i sounded insincere and just was a person who wanted to go to med school, or something like that but what i was mainly just asking what types of things out there will give me a competitive edge..thats all.

 

[megkudos]

Well to start out....
Make sure to get some clinical experience (area of your choice). This is essential so you can be sure you want medicine.
Try to do some volunteering (area of your choice). It's true that not everyone does it, but that makes me wonder a little. Most do. We are entering a field where it is important to want to help others.
Later on CONSIDER doing reserach if it interests you (area of your choice). AGain not everyone does it. And I wouldn't worry about it till later.

Other than that I will echo the other posters in do what you like I know it's hard and very vague, but you'll see when you get to college that there are lots of oppotunities. First, decide something you are interested in. For instance, I really like kids, so I chose to do research in psychology with infants and loved it and also I was lifeguard, where I get to interact with families and their kids. I also really like to help incoming students so I helped with orientation at my school all through college, taught a first year classs my senior year, and worked with incoming memebers of an honors society on the executive board. Start out with a beginning interest then find out what you can do with it.

Hope that helps a little and good luck.