@Pierre Escargot
Oh thank u so much .. I actually had ap in terms of my a levels so I already have 22 credits. Maybe I can apply after completing 30. May I ask from where u did your pre med and what I should do to be a good pre med. thank you
I'm in my final year of premed at SUNY Buffalo and I'll be attending there for medical school also, starting next year.
Really, there's nothing too complicated about being a good premedical student. While I am by no means the perfect premed student, and although I'm sure others might have better advice, I'll do my best to be helpful by offering the following pieces of advice:
1. Academics come first, always. Arguably the most important aspects of your application will be your GPA and MCAT score. You'll have to do much more work to do well in college than you did in high school, so go in with that mindset and be prepared to work significantly more than you did for the past four years. That's not to say you won't have any free time -- compared to medical school, undergrad is way, way less work from what I've heard from medical students and physicians on these forums and in real life -- but when you've got exams or assignments, do your absolute best and get the highest grades that you can, and even when you don't have exams, ideally you should be keeping up with your readings and attending class regularly. Undergrad is extremely doable in terms of academics as long as you're driven and willing to put in the work.
2. The same goes for studying for your MCAT. Find resources that help you (I personally used the Kaplan review book, which I thought was great). Complete your prerequisite courses of Bio 1+2, Chem 1+2, OChem 1+2, and Physics 1+2 so that you've covered all of the topics involved, and then study hard using whatever resources you've chosen, whether it be a review book, a class, a combination of the two, or something else. I also encourage you to take courses pertinent to the new MCAT, which, in addition to the aforementioned courses, would be psychology and sociology, I believe.
3. In your free time, partake in extracurricular activities. There are a large number of activities you can partake in. Shadowing physicians is pretty much a necessity so that you can show admissions committees that you know what a physician's day is like and what you're getting yourself into. A great deal of successful applicants also volunteer in hospitals and other clinical settings. Research is also an excellent extracurricular to partake in. Nonclinical volunteering in its various forms is a good way to supplement your clinical volunteering/shadowing. This can be done through a local church or other organization, for example. Ask your advisor about opportunities for all of these extracurricular activities and pursue them to add color to your application and show that you are an altruistic, compassionate human being who would make a good physician.
In summary: Academics first (GPA and MCAT), extracurriculars second. And of course there's the obvious 'stay out of trouble and make responsible decisions,' but I'm sure you don't need to be told that. So that's my 2 cents. If anyone has anything else to add, or would like to correct me, by all means, please do so. If not, hopefully my advice has helped a bit. I wish you the best of luck.
