Pre Med Student wanting advice

[Jdizzle13]

Hello everyone,

I am a Junior at a small liberal arts school in SC. While we are a small school, we take pride in our academics and typically people find our courses to be very difficult.

I am really excited to apply to medical school. I have already started building a relationship with the pre-med advisers at my college as they will write a joint letter of recommendation for my application.

In terms of grades:
I am a biology major with a chemistry minor.
I have a 3.84 GPA overall (4.0 in my major and minor)

Extracurricular activities:
I play baseball at my college. We are a Division I program in the Big South Conference, and I have been a pitcher for our team both my freshman and sophomore years. I plan to play through my senior year.
I have about 100 hours of shadowing in various specialties at various hospitals in the OR. I plan to get a minimum of 100 more.
I had a research internship at a major hospital in Charlotte, NC that lasted 10 weeks.
I have volunteered in the community for about 150 hours dating as far back as 2014 (my senior year of high school). I plan to get a minimum of 100 more.

I will be taking the MCAT in June of 2018 and have a good study plan laid out that I think will fit my study style.


What advice does anybody have about ways to make my application stronger? More volunteering, shadowing, or anything I have not already done? Any and all help would be appreciated! I still have time before I apply, but I wanted to reach out to the good people on the SDN to see what else I could do to make my application that much better.

Thanks!

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[Goro]

You appear to have 0 hrs of clinical volunteering. Without this, your app will be DOA.

100 hrs of shadowing is gilding the lily. Stop it.

 

[Jdizzle13]

You appear to have 0 hrs of clinical volunteering. Without this, your app will be DOA.

100 hrs of shadowing is gilding the lily. Stop it.

Thanks Goro! Any advice on where to seek clinical volunteering experiences? What are some good places to look?

And, to be sure, you're saying that 100 hours is enough? (not familiar with that expression "gilding the lily" sorry) I only ask because others have told me to shoot for 200-300 hours...?

 

[Goro]

Thanks Goro! Any advice on where to seek clinical volunteering experiences? What are some good places to look?

And, to be sure, you're saying that 100 hours is enough? (not familiar with that expression "gilding the lily" sorry) I only ask because others have told me to shoot for 200-300 hours...?

For shadowing 50 hours is enough. Pray tell, were the "others" pre-meds??


Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics.

Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimers or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.

For non-clinical volunteering, if you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. Just get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.