Looking Back: Advice to Undergrads

[rewindthemovie]

I, and I know other aspiring students, would love to know what you did, would've done, wouldnt've done, etc.. during your undergrad career.


I'll give you some background on me. I'm a freshman @ SLU for Pre-med Investigative and Medical Sciences. I want to be a doctor more than anything I have ever wanted. I am willing to put forth the effort and the sacrifice to do my best. I am really looking for ideas for what to do during my undergrad career. I already know that getting published is a big deal, and I love researching anyway, so it should be fun I just don't know what all the available things are that I could get involved with. Even if you didn't go to a school in St. Louis, I'm sure whatever you had available, I have available (It is St. Louis after all ).

Thanks in advanced!

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[uic1999]

Getting published is a nice addition to an application but it certainly isn't necessary. Get good grades, decent MCAT score and, here's the most important one, realize there's more to life than getting into medical school.

 

[rewindthemovie]

here's the most important one, realize there's more to life than getting into medical school.

like......?


















j/k

 

[futuremsfdoc]

travel a lot (even if it's just weekend trips to a state park or something) and don't take your friends for granted. for most people, college friendships seem to be the best ones they ever have.

 

[JunkintheTrunk]

i started volunteering at a hospital the last year of undergrad....maybe a bad idea, cuz it probably looked like i did it just for the applications. everyone always thinks they're SOOO buuuussssy during undergrad, and of course there's always the hard class here and there (o-chem, physics, whatev) where you make an excuse for yourself not to put forth the extra effort. on a different note, i also would have tried harder to have FUN during undergrad instead of being such a friggin bookworm. but, don't party so hard that your grades suffer (i got a 3.2 freshman year, almost losing my scholarship, having to raise it up for the next 3 years, all because of a little...ok, A LOT of partying ). remember: THE KEY TO LIFE IS BALANCE!!!! i hope i don't make the same mistakes in med school! i'll try not to study too hard

 

[Bones2008]

learn how to drink and hold your alcohol. also practice going to class hung over. oh yeah, do well in school too. and volunteer at a hospital or something.

 

[care bear]

study hard! and study on a good schedule. there's no need to stay up late in undergrad (unless you are working a close to full time job or something of the sort)- or unless you are staying up late to have fun!

but honestly, there's nothing inherently better about finishing a paper by 5 am rather than finishing by 5 pm the day before, putting away your schoolwork and
then relaxing.

wish i had followed that pattern more often.

push yourself to your potential. . if you are an A- student, don't just say 'good enough' and go off to play with your sorority. learn what it takes to be an A student and try that.

i guess a lot of this advice is already second nature to a lot of premeds. however, i'm sure there are those out there who like I used to, tend to live life in undergrad with a lot of whimsy and very little discipline. this advice is for you

p.s. reading the original post, i realize that the OP seems to be wanting non-academic advice. well, what I *did* do well that i think helped for med schools was to throw myself into a lot of extracurriculars. i can't prescribe anything for you, but just find what you are passionate about and do it. Outside of science/medicine, I am passionate about Christianity, injustice, and music, so a lot of my service/ activities had to do with one of those three things.

p.p.s. i forgot one really important thing that i *really* wish i had done: GET TO KNOW PROFESSORS WELL! i doubt most of my LORs were all that stellar just because I wasn't really the type to build relationships with profs in classes, and i didn't do research until my senior year, when i was already applying. so do what it takes to build some relationships.

 

[Howard Roark]

Getting published is a nice addition to an application but it certainly isn't necessary. Get good grades, decent MCAT score and, here's the most important one, realize there's more to life than getting into medical school.

Exactly. Good grades, good MCAT, good letters. Research is nice. I did not have any research when I applied (and got into good schools). I did have, however, several years working in the healthcare field after earning a master's degree in a specialty related to rehabilitation sciences. Good luck.




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[bewitched1081]

just remember that medicine isnt for everyone, and by no means are pre-meds who supposedly "make it" superior than everyone else. dont look at your classmates as competition. the characteristics that make a good student or physician have nothing to do with beating the competition. if you were made to be a physician, you will become one. if not, you will become something equally as important.

for those of you truly know that you are to become a physician, run the race until the end. there are many people who start to give less than 100% towards the end. dont be one of those people.