just getting started need advice.

[prettybyrd]

---

Members do not see this ad.

i am just getting started in college i am doing my first semester at a cc and i am hoping to get my aa and transfer to my desired uni to get my bac. i know what i need prerequisite wise for the md progam but what other things should i be doing to help with my application. My advisors at my school are completely unhelpful and ive read about volunteering and shadowing doctors for your first four years and what not and i am at a loss i am completely clueless. thanks so much for your help!

 

[jwrigh69]

Eek.. ease up on the abbreviations haha.

First off, focus on getting the grades.

Secondly you'll want to participate in ALL of the following during your undergraduate time:

1. Shadowing
2. Volunteer Work
3. Research
4. Some type of employment

Those are in no particular order, the order of importance you should place on these would be determined by the programs you intend to apply to (i.e. research heavy institutions value research highly, primary care institutions may value shadowing/healthcare volunteering a bit more highly) and the career specialty you intend to pursue (m.d/phd, etc.)

I would suggest taking a look at http://www.mdapplicants.com/ and looking at the profiles of many of the students to get an idea what you will need to do to at least put yourself on the same level as other applicants. Good luck.

 

[LaCasta]

The best favor you can do for yourself is to maitain the highest GPA possible. Just focus on that for now. A bad GPA is the hardest thing to fix for a med school app, so help yourself avoid the problem.

P.S.

Don't take cc classes lightly, because they will still count towards your GPA when you apply for med school.

When you become a physician, I think you should look me up and pay me $10K for this advice. 😀

 

[clinicallabguy]

Agreed. Keep a high GPA.

One thing that really helped me starting out was budgeting the time that I had with the things that I wanted to accomplish. I was really insane about this, because it gave me peace of mind to know where I stood. And, I reevaluated it just about every semester.

For school, I made a list of all the courses I needed or wanted to take, and I placed them in the semester that I thought they fit best up until graduation. Planning this far in advance helped me to plan the lightest semester possible for when I took the MCAT.

Then I filled in the extracurriculars that I wanted to do, and the semesters that I wanted to do them.

I almost wish I would have kept a journal while I was doing it. Nothing too involved, but an occasional blurb. I think it would have helped me to crystalize how I felt while I was doing certain ECs. This might have made the personal statement and/or secondary applications easier when I was thinking of experiences to write about.

 

[MedicineMike]

I wish I had this website available to me when I was your age...Or better yet, I wish I knew i wanted to get into medicine when i was your age! Would have made things a lot easier on me...

Like the previous posters said...FOCUS on getting GOOD grades!!! That is the biggest thing. You can shadow, volunteer, research anytime you want to make your application stronger, but you cannot take back a bad grade you got while in college.

Live life as a youngster in college too! Go out and party and have fun (if you are into that stuff) but never party too much that it will affect your grades. In the end, that good ol GPA is irreplaceable

 

[prettybyrd]

thank you! i have a infant and i've been trying to do as much as possible and i work but not doing anything that would help me on my application. i have been completely baffled at how to approach this whole thing and i appreciate the advice. what sort of job looks good? and i am looking into doing some shadowing and volunteering at the hospital up the road. noone in my family have ever been to college as it is...im just trying to figure things out thanks again

 

[jwrigh69]

ANY long term job will help you on your app.. so you really need to concentrate on the most meaningful EC's. I would definitely try to get some shadowing experience first and while your in school really pay attention to the research opportunities. Those are extremely important.

 

[argonaute]

thank you! i have a infant and i've been trying to do as much as possible and i work but not doing anything that would help me on my application. i have been completely baffled at how to approach this whole thing and i appreciate the advice. what sort of job looks good? and i am looking into doing some shadowing and volunteering at the hospital up the road. noone in my family have ever been to college as it is...im just trying to figure things out thanks again

Congratulations for being a first gen college student. It's definitely something to be very proud of, and also will help you on your applications.

You'd be surprised what jobs help on medical school applications. We've had several statements from admissions committee members saying that you should definitely put even the most seemingly unglamorous jobs on the applications. Service sector jobs help people learn how to deal with people, other jobs like construction show you're not afraid to go and do some real work.

But in general, some jobs that look really good are jobs in healthcare, such as being an EMT (emergency medical technician), CNA (certified nurse assistant), phlebotomist, or a patient care/ER tech job. These jobs often require certification, so you may have to take classes at your community college and then get certification before you can do them, but if you're interested we see a lot of people working in these jobs who say they've been very rewarding.

 

[RK.md]

Just to add on to what everyone else has said, don't try to enroll yourself in every extracurricular activity at your school. Join those organizations/clubs and participate in other off-campus activities where you will be likely to experience something profound or eye-opening, whether it deals with medicine or not. Not only will it give you something to use as the cornerstone of your personal statement/interviews, but you'll be effectively using your time.

 

[prettybyrd]

how do i find a premed advisor? does that come when you are in university?

 

[sindadel]

For now, just concentrate on getting good grades - only take as many classes at a time as you can handle. The pre-med advisor at your university may or may not be helpful - you'll find out when you get there.

 

[captain bhangra]

thought id throw in some thoughts since im a cc student also.

1. i honestly dont think you should get an aa if you have to take extra classes for it, they never seemed worth it to me but thats because i would have had to take extra classes. i recommend concentrating on transferring
2. select your major as early as you can, itll save you time and youll know what classes you need to take. try and finish as many of the prerequisites of the major that the university you want to transfer to wants (ie- if your major is biology, the university will probably require 1 year general chemistry, 1 year biology, 1 year organic chemistry, etc...)
3. find out the university's General Education (GE) requirements and finish as many of those as you can at your CC since it will also save you time to complete your degree at the university
4. if your CC is anything like mine, the advisors will be useless. come here for information you need is my suggestion

hope it helps