pre-med noob

[nikefan13]

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Im a little noobie at this pre-med stuff. Im entering sophomore year and have thought about medicine. I was wondering during what year do most students apply during their undergraduate years( end of sophomore year,junior year,etc.)
and how does it matter what kind of research you do as long as you did research?

Thanks a lot! 🙂

 

[45408]

Most people apply after junior year, after the April MCAT. You should get some reading material though, because it would answer a lot of your more basic questions.

As for research, it doesn't really matter, but you should do it because you're interested, not because somebody told you that it was the right thing to do.

 

[nikefan13]

So, would 2 years of research and 2 years of volunteering look decent under extracurriculuar activities or do we need more? And if we need more, is there any easy extracurriculuar activitiy that we can write on our application cause there seems to be no time focusing on getting good grades, volunteering, studying for the MCAT, etc.
🙁

 

[UCBShocker]

Well, here are my two cents (I probably have change coming):

Research looks good, but if your not interested in the research aspect of medicine, your interviewer is probably going to see that anyway. I, for example, am not really passionate about research and choose not to do it. However I can not get enough of patient care, which after all is why I am going into medicine. Most of my activities have revolved around that. These would include working in an ER, directing a medical team for my school's martial arts team, and becoming an EMT. Though I tend to get really nervous in interviews, I feel I can project how passionate I am in these activities.

Now I can tell you its important to be efficient with your time, but I can't really tell you how =). All I can say is, recruiters are looking for a broken in boot, rather than a shiny and crisp new one. Ok I know that metaphore is bad, but what I mean is, you got to be well rounded and comfortable, not stiff minded and high strung. Stellar marks are not going to do it alone, and it would be better to have good marks with great extra curricular activities. From what my research has shown me, if you were involved in good activities that shows your dedication and can maintain a GPA above a 3.55 or so, then you have a pretty good chance of getting in to a medical school. (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, anyone who falls below this, DO NOT WORRY, the average matriculant GPA is lower, just do your best, do not let things like this get you down. If medicine is what you want to do, there is always a way).

I hope this helps somewhat.

 

[45408]

So, would 2 years of research and 2 years of volunteering look decent under extracurriculuar activities or do we need more? And if we need more, is there any easy extracurriculuar activitiy that we can write on our application cause there seems to be no time focusing on getting good grades, volunteering, studying for the MCAT, etc.
🙁

Don't look for something just because it's easy - they'll see right through that. Trust us - we're all busy.

 

[chef_NU]

try to decide for sure whether you want to do medicine the earliest you can. im kinda in bad shape because i didnt really decide until this summer (im going to be a senior). i had taken the mcat though, so i suppose im not in the worst shape possible.

 

[modemduck]

Hey dude,

Go get the book "essays that will get you into medical school"; it'll give you a good idea of what some of the top students did that made them unique, interesting, and everything that ad coms wanted...

oh and btw magic scores like 3.6+ GPA and 30+MCAT aren't required to make it into a good medschool but they sure as heck add the halo effect to your application and will save you a lot of stress and uncertainty about whether your app is strong enough during yer 4th yr

research? if you are not interested in it DO NOT do more than a summer... you can apply to lots of summer programs, these are called "summer undergraduate research fellowships" aka SURF; thus you show that you appreciate and understand research but that it may not be your main focus.

volunteering? the more varied and unique .. ie: overseas or inner city etc... the better... in the essays of the book I mentioned earlier you will get a good taste of some pretty cool experiences ppl had

g/l bro!
pm if you have any other ?'s