No clue what I'm doing

[shortstoptodoctor]

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I'm currently a sophomore neuroscience major in college and I basically have no clue what I'm supposed to be doing to stay competitive for med school. My GPA is a 3.6 and I've heard a million different opinions online on whether that's good or not (help?). I'm not sure what my science GPA is right now, but if I had to guess I would say it's around 3.4. I'm in the honors college at my school, so some of these science classes are honors and harder to get a good grade in, but so far I'm pretty sure that wouldn't matter to anyone and probably wouldn't be worth mentioning in an interview.

I have 40 hours of volunteer experience in an emergency room under my belt from this past summer and I'm planning on volunteering more, but I don't know how many hours I should have. I'm thinking around 100? I don't have much community service at all, but I'm not sure if my volunteer hours in the hospital tie into that. Should I be doing more community service outside of the hospital?

I also have no shadowing done and from what I've found online I'm considering shadowing 3 different doctors for 20 hours each. Possibly one over winter break and two over the summer. I'm thinking about shadowing an anesthesiologist (she offered to let me shadow and I'm not too interested in this field but thought it would still be worth getting the experience), an obstetrician (my mom offered to get me in contact with her), and a neonatologist (I'm most interested in this field, but have no connections to shadow so far). I've heard that I should try to shadow a primary care doctor, in which case I would prefer to shadow a pediatrician as I'm also interested in pediatrics. I most likely won't have time to shadow 4 different doctors for a total of 80 hours, so is there a combination of 3 of the 4 specialties I've listed that would be more appealing to med schools?

I'm also wondering whether extracurriculars matter to med schools at all. I've been playing recreational softball and I'm planning to play intramural basketball and softball (low comp) at my college this year. I doubt this would have any effect on an application, but I figured it's worth asking anyway.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Goro]

The median GPA for MD acceptees is 3.7

Therefore, you are doing fine.

Read this book:

Med School Rx: Getting In, Getting Through, and Getting On with Doctoring Original Edition

by Walter Hartwig

ISBN-13: 978-1607140627

ISBN-10: 1607140624

 

[Doctor-S]

My GPA is a 3.6 and I've heard a million different opinions online on whether that's good or not (help?). I'm not sure what my science GPA is right now, but if I had to guess I would say it's around 3.4.

I also have no shadowing done and from what I've found online I'm considering shadowing 3 different doctors for 20 hours each. I would prefer to shadow a pediatrician as I'm also interested in pediatrics. I most likely won't have time to shadow 4 different doctors for a total of 80 hours, so is there a combination of 3 of the 4 specialties I've listed that would be more appealing to med schools?

I'm also wondering whether extracurriculars matter to med schools at all. I've been playing recreational softball and I'm planning to play intramural basketball and softball (low comp) at my college this year. I doubt this would have any effect on an application, but I figured it's worth asking anyway.

Thanks for any help!

Here are my comments:

1. Competitive GPA.

Agree with @Goro concerning competitive GPA for MD applicants (median GPA 3.7 for accepted applicants).

Keep your GPA strong and competitive.

2. Shadowing 3 Physicians.

It is advisable to shadow at least one primary care physician (IM, FP, OB/GYN, PEDS) as well as two other physicians (any medical specialty is okay).

It's your choice.

3. Extracurricular Activities - Voluntary Clinical and Non-Clinical ECs.

It is advisable to engage in meaningful extracurricular activities, including voluntary clinical as well as non-clinical ECs. Research projects are good, too.

[Recreational softball and basketball are hobbies for enjoyment. Fun and social. However, these "recreational" sports are not the same thing as participating on a competitive NCAA D1 or D2 team at your school for which you are held accountable for team practice, team competition, etc.]

Suggest you find some voluntary clinical ECs that are sincerely interesting to you. There are probably lots of them in your local vicinity.

It's your choice.

4. MCAT.

In addition to maintaining a competitive GPA for MD school, it may be advisable to complete undergraduate electives that will assist for MCAT preparation.

[You stated your science GPA is currently 3.4 and that you're enrolled in the honors program at your school. If your honors science classes are rigorous, you may score well on the MCAT. That's good. Otherwise, it won't matter to me that you were enrolled in honors classes at your school.]

Bottom line: be prepared to do well on the MCAT.

 

[•Syzygy•]

to answer some of your other questions:

-shadowing is shadowing. they want you to do it and don't care what kind of doctors you watch. though, i'd recommend shadowing a primary care doctor because that will give you the best overall picture of what doctors do all day

-100 hours of clinical volunteering is fine. aim for 150 hrs or more of service to the underserved, and try to get this over a long period of time to show commitment

-EC's like sports can be very important. if you are juggling work or sports during school and still doing well, schools look at this very favorably

 

[PreMedMissteps]

I'm currently a sophomore neuroscience major in college and I basically have no clue what I'm supposed to be doing to stay competitive for med school. My GPA is a 3.6 and I've heard a million different opinions online on whether that's good or not (help?). I'm not sure what my science GPA is right now, but if I had to guess I would say it's around 3.4. I'm in the honors college at my school, so some of these science classes are honors and harder to get a good grade in, but so far I'm pretty sure that wouldn't matter to anyone and probably wouldn't be worth mentioning in an interview.

I have 40 hours of volunteer experience in an emergency room under my belt from this past summer and I'm planning on volunteering more, but I don't know how many hours I should have. I'm thinking around 100? I don't have much community service at all, but I'm not sure if my volunteer hours in the hospital tie into that. Should I be doing more community service outside of the hospital?

I also have no shadowing done and from what I've found online I'm considering shadowing 3 different doctors for 20 hours each. Possibly one over winter break and two over the summer. I'm thinking about shadowing an anesthesiologist (she offered to let me shadow and I'm not too interested in this field but thought it would still be worth getting the experience), an obstetrician (my mom offered to get me in contact with her), and a neonatologist (I'm most interested in this field, but have no connections to shadow so far). I've heard that I should try to shadow a primary care doctor, in which case I would prefer to shadow a pediatrician as I'm also interested in pediatrics. I most likely won't have time to shadow 4 different doctors for a total of 80 hours, so is there a combination of 3 of the 4 specialties I've listed that would be more appealing to med schools?

I'm also wondering whether extracurriculars matter to med schools at all. I've been playing recreational softball and I'm planning to play intramural basketball and softball (low comp) at my college this year. I doubt this would have any effect on an application, but I figured it's worth asking anyway.

Thanks for any help!

If you're going to be a traditional unhooked applicant, then you need to target a 3.7+ GPA in both cum and BCPM.

Looking at what the avg GPA of accepted students can be worthless since that includes nontrads and hooked applicants.

 

[LizzyM]

Do you want to be a doctor because you want to help others? Show us that you like to help people by helping people now in a setting that is non-clinical. That can be tutoring kids or being a "big brother/big sister" through an after-school program, serving in a shelter, soup kitchen or food pantry, helping newly arrived refugees, coaching a low-cost or free youth sports team or serving as an assistant scout leader.

Do you want to be a doctor because you like science? Show me your curiosity and drive to advance the field by getting involved with research.

Keep your GPA up and get your science GPA above 3.5.