Just a M2 that been through the Guanlet - AMA

[Iso4ane]

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I probably should be doing this right now (should be studying), but if you want to go into medicine you need to plan ahead and I am here to help. I will be in and out, so you may have to wait for a reply to question.

Just to start off I don't have much advice beside try to stay on top of your work. However, the biggest way to give yourself a leg up is have a four year plan set up, I know it seems crazy, but at least if you do the research for the plan you can figure out whether there are any bottlenecks (core major classes that are offered only in the spring or only in the fall, so you know which prereqs you have to get done by then). Additionally, try to found out which classes have hard prereqs, and which ones have soft prereqs.

Additionally, although it may be counterintuitive go hard from the get go. That way when junior/senior year comes around you have time to study for the MCAT or go on interviews without worrying about missing too much class work.

I posted my schedule recently, and you will see that I at minimum doubled up on science courses every semester. So that by junior year I could ease up a bit.

First year: Get bio; chem; and math out of the way; English
2nd year: Ochem and physics
3rd year: start busting out those core major classes (where as my classmates had physics as their second science, having already done that, I was doubling up cold courses.) + gen eds
4th year: Gend eds and whatever you have left.

By the end I was able to get 1.5 majors (Technically two, but they shared a lot of the same prereqs and I was able to double-dip it, so it was only two-three additional courses) and two minors.

I know I rambled a bit, but if you have additional questions I will try to answer them.

 

[Anon212]

I probably should be doing this right now (should be studying), but if you want to go into medicine you need to plan ahead and I am here to help. I will be in and out, so you may have to wait for a reply to question.

Just to start off I don't have much advice beside try to stay on top of your work. However, the biggest way to give yourself a leg up is have a four year plan set up, I know it seems crazy, but at least if you do the research for the plan you can figure out whether there are any bottlenecks (core major classes that are offered only in the spring or only in the fall, so you know which prereqs you have to get done by then). Additionally, try to found out which classes have hard prereqs, and which ones have soft prereqs.

Additionally, although it may be counterintuitive go hard from the get go. That way when junior/senior year comes around you have time to study for the MCAT or go on interviews without worrying about missing too much class work.

I posted my schedule recently, and you will see that I at minimum doubled up on science courses every semester. So that by junior year I could ease up a bit.

First year: Get bio; chem; and math out of the way; English
2nd year: Ochem and physics
3rd year: start busting out those core major classes (where as my classmates had physics as their second science, having already done that, I was doubling up cold courses.) + gen eds
4th year: Gend eds and whatever you have left.

By the end I was able to get 1.5 majors (Technically two, but they shared a lot of the same prereqs and I was able to double-dip it, so it was only two-three additional courses) and two minors.

I know I rambled a bit, but if you have additional questions I will try to answer them.

I'd be cautious about doubling up on the core sciences on day 1. You may want to talk to upperclassmen or your premed advisor about that. I was told very clearly at my school that most people who did that ended up doing poorly in both, because of how tough those sciences were (they were all weed-out classes for premeds). Math and a science is fine, but I'd do some research before taking on bio + gen chem or orgo +physics. I didn't do that and I still was able to graduate with 2 majors (with no double-dipping at all, totally different) and a minor. There is no way I would have been able to handle the double science workload as a freshman in college- though this depends on the person and the college.

 

[Eiot]

I probably should be doing this right now (should be studying), but if you want to go into medicine you need to plan ahead and I am here to help. I will be in and out, so you may have to wait for a reply to question.

Just to start off I don't have much advice beside try to stay on top of your work. However, the biggest way to give yourself a leg up is have a four year plan set up, I know it seems crazy, but at least if you do the research for the plan you can figure out whether there are any bottlenecks (core major classes that are offered only in the spring or only in the fall, so you know which prereqs you have to get done by then). Additionally, try to found out which classes have hard prereqs, and which ones have soft prereqs.

Additionally, although it may be counterintuitive go hard from the get go. That way when junior/senior year comes around you have time to study for the MCAT or go on interviews without worrying about missing too much class work.

I posted my schedule recently, and you will see that I at minimum doubled up on science courses every semester. So that by junior year I could ease up a bit.

First year: Get bio; chem; and math out of the way; English
2nd year: Ochem and physics
3rd year: start busting out those core major classes (where as my classmates had physics as their second science, having already done that, I was doubling up cold courses.) + gen eds
4th year: Gend eds and whatever you have left.

By the end I was able to get 1.5 majors (Technically two, but they shared a lot of the same prereqs and I was able to double-dip it, so it was only two-three additional courses) and two minors.

I know I rambled a bit, but if you have additional questions I will try to answer them.

This strat. works for born ass-kickers. The problem, though, is that a surprising amount of students bomb their first year or two of undergrad and have to take an extra year+ to make up for it. For an individual that won't be taking any more sciences after their prereqs (non-science major), this can be a problem. Especially with the MCAT placement in the junior/senior year. Like I said though, for a person with an inate ability for excellence, this is a great way to go.

 

[nysegop]

Second Year you ONLY took ochem and physics? Nothing else?

Neuroscience is very requirement heavy so I won't have a lot of flexibility 🙁

 

[Iso4ane]

Second Year you ONLY took ochem and physics? Nothing else?

Neuroscience is very requirement heavy so I won't have a lot of flexibility 🙁

Yeah, sorry got lazy and took a detour to get a Chinese minor, those were 5 units a semester and took up a chunk of time. + some Gen Eds.

Plus, all my other science reqs were dependant on that OChem.

So, like I mentioned before find your bottlenecks (mine was OChem), and find a way to deal with it.

 

[nysegop]

Organic Chemistry is much better than General Chemistry IMO. I just find it more interesting, probably because much of it relates to Biology, Pharmacology, etc. I wonder what I will think of biochem.

 

[Iso4ane]

let me define biochemistry for you: OMGOMGOMGLAZERGUNZPEWPEWPEWPEWPEW

At biochemistry is more NomNomNomNomNom (Catabolism) and you know, what happens at the other end (Anabolism).

With just variation on a theme between the two, like in speed, efficiency, teamwork etc..

 

[CerebroDad]

This strat. works for born ass-kickers. The problem, though, is that a surprising amount of students bomb their first year or two of undergrad and have to take an extra year+ to make up for it. For an individual that won't be taking any more sciences after their prereqs (non-science major), this can be a problem. Especially with the MCAT placement in the junior/senior year. Like I said though, for a person with an inate ability for excellence, this is a great way to go.

Agreed. The number one rule for anyone about to start their pre-med stuff: take care of that GPA! Nothing makes it harder to get into medical school than having a low GPA; my heart always goes out to people trying to get in with GPA's that are barely above 3.0. It's the hardest thing to overcome, IMO.