Premed plan for freshman: advice?

[NeuroticPremedSadge]

Freshman year - get into hospice volunteering (once a week, 3 hrs), serving breakfast for community members (once/twice weekly, 2/4 hrs), look for research (a few months in), obviously hobbies

Sophomore year - freshman ECs, Meals on Wheels (once weekly, 1-2 hrs), join clubs I’m interested in (maybe try to get leadership?)

Summer: take/study MCAT

Junior year: freshman and sophomore ECs, maybe look into mentor programs for upcoming undergraduates?

Summer: application stuff

Senior year: continue ECs

Note: for med schools I am hopeful to apply (and be competitive) at any med schools around T30s. As for focusing on tuning in my study habits since college isn’t like high school, I would say that I have streamlined studying through notes and making high quality anki cards. I also plan to keep on my anki for prereq classes to lighten the burden for the MCAT when it comes. For shadowing, I have a parent who is a doctor (unfair I know) so I should be able to do it over breaks.

tl;dr: I will shadow and study through anki.

Any thoughts/advice? Am I shooting too high? All of these things listed I am passionate about but not through a significant life experience just through interest I guess. I also thought my ECs would be more cookie cutter but wanted to show passion through long-term commitment.

tl;dr: these ECs I am passionate for.

Also, what about committee letters? (this is what my undergrad says)

(Like most large, public universities, there are far too many candidates at [college] for a central evaluation by a single advisor or committee. So, you should seek letters from people who've directly supervised you in the classroom and profession-related activities.)

What should I do?

Any advice for research (what do I need to know besides biology and statistics, advice for finding a good PI)?

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[JimKimSlim]

First of all, pursuing medicine is a huge commitment, but you don’t have to make that commitment as soon as you start college. I wasn’t premed until my junior year of college and still got into med schools. IMO, you should center your college experience around exploring different career fields and trying new things. If you set your path on medicine that early, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment after you realize medicine is just not right for you, which is totally fine!

Second of all, with that being said, your roadmap looks good but you shouldn’t worry too much about where you’re going to apply until after you have a good idea of gpa and MCAT. Committee letter is made by made by your school’s premed advisor and is a compilation of LoR’s from 4 or 5 professors who know you well through research or interactive classes. If they really like you, they might occasionally offer you to write a letter, so id say go with the flow.

Finally, for research, it’s good to have and a must for MD/PhD but don’t spend too much time on that since clinical and community service experiences are more important than research for MD. To find a “good “ professor who publishes a lot, you just look up their names of google scholar and find their citation number. Anything more than 1000 means they’re active, and anything more than 5000 means they’re pretty well-known in their field. To find a professor who cares about their undergrads, you really need to ask your upperclassmen.
TL;DR have fun in college with an open mind. But if you have more questions, feel free to ask here or DM me.

 

[NeuroticPremedSadge]

First of all, pursuing medicine is a huge commitment, but you don’t have to make that commitment as soon as you start college. I wasn’t premed until my junior year of college and still got into med schools. IMO, you should center your college experience around exploring different career fields and trying new things. If you set your path on medicine that early, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment after you realize medicine is just not right for you, which is totally fine!

Second of all, with that being said, your roadmap looks good but you shouldn’t worry too much about where you’re going to apply until after you have a good idea of gpa and MCAT. Committee letter is made by made by your school’s premed advisor and is a compilation of LoR’s from 4 or 5 professors who know you well through research or interactive classes. If they really like you, they might occasionally offer you to write a letter, so id say go with the flow.

Finally, for research, it’s good to have and a must for MD/PhD but don’t spend too much time on that since clinical and community service experiences are more important than research for MD. To find a “good “ professor who publishes a lot, you just look up their names of google scholar and find their citation number. Anything more than 1000 means they’re active, and anything more than 5000 means they’re pretty well-known in their field. To find a professor who cares about their undergrads, you really need to ask your upperclassmen.
TL;DR have fun in college with an open mind. But if you have more questions, feel free to ask here or DM me.

As for research, I was hoping to start reaching out around January to start during Summer and work throughout the school years! Definitely not trying to overload first semester.

Also, I won’t worry too much about what schools since most USMD schools are good anyway. I just want to shoot for the stars! As for the Committee letter, does that mean that it is actually a collection of letters and not one individual letter?

thanks for the feedback!

 

[wysdoc]

Freshman year - get into hospice volunteering (once a week, 3 hrs), serving breakfast for community members (once/twice weekly, 2/4 hrs), look for research (a few months in), obviously hobbies

Sophomore year - freshman ECs, Meals on Wheels (once weekly, 1-2 hrs), join clubs I’m interested in (maybe try to get leadership?)

Summer: take/study MCAT

Junior year: freshman and sophomore ECs, maybe look into mentor programs for upcoming undergraduates?

Summer: application stuff

Senior year: continue ECs

Note: for med schools I am hopeful to apply (and be competitive) at any med schools around T30s. As for focusing on tuning in my study habits since college isn’t like high school, I would say that I have streamlined studying through notes and making high quality anki cards. I also plan to keep on my anki for prereq classes to lighten the burden for the MCAT when it comes. For shadowing, I have a parent who is a doctor (unfair I know) so I should be able to do it over breaks.

tl;dr: I will shadow and study through anki.

Any thoughts/advice? Am I shooting too high? All of these things listed I am passionate about but not through a significant life experience just through interest I guess. I also thought my ECs would be more cookie cutter but wanted to show passion through long-term commitment.

tl;dr: these ECs I am passionate for.

Also, what about committee letters? (this is what my undergrad says)

(Like most large, public universities, there are far too many candidates at [college] for a central evaluation by a single advisor or committee. So, you should seek letters from people who've directly supervised you in the classroom and profession-related activities.)

What should I do?

Any advice for research (what do I need to know besides biology and statistics, advice for finding a good PI)?

Some colleges have a pre-health committee that puts together composite letter or letter packet for med school applicants, other colleges don't.
If your undergrad doesn't have one, it's not a detriment to you. Get letters from profs who know you well.

Taking MCAT after sophomore year might be too soon, you'll want to wait until after you have taken organic chem, biochem, & physics. Getting cell bio/some genetics behind you will help too.

 

[NeuroticPremedSadge]

Some colleges have a pre-health committee that puts together composite letter or letter packet for med school applicants, other colleges don't.
If your undergrad doesn't have one, it's not a detriment to you. Get letters from profs who know you well.

Taking MCAT after sophomore year might be too soon, you'll want to wait until after you have taken organic chem, biochem, & physics. Getting cell bio/some genetics behind you will help too.

But if you want to apply for AMCAS first day or first few days, doesn’t that mean that you have to take the MCAT before then. Moreover, don’t you want to study for the MCAT full-time for a few months (which you can’t do during the school year while doing ECs)?

 

[drstranger]

But if you want to apply for AMCAS first day or first few days, doesn’t that mean that you have to take the MCAT before then. Moreover, don’t you want to study for the MCAT full-time for a few months (which you can’t do during the school year while doing ECs)?

yes, but you could take the MCAT between sophomore and Junior year when you have completed the pre-recs and then apply during senior year to start the year after. To be honest more and more students now take a Gap year. For right now I would just worry about taking a full course load and adjusting to college at least for your first semester, maybe add in some ECs. I think 90% of my BIO 101 class was premed but by the end of the semester 1/3 had switched majors. Take your time its a marathon not a sprint

 

[NeuroticPremedSadge]

yes, but you could take the MCAT between sophomore and Junior year when you have completed the pre-recs and then apply during senior year to start the year after. To be honest more and more students now take a Gap year. For right now I would just worry about taking a full course load and adjusting to college at least for your first semester, maybe add in some ECs. I think 90% of my BIO 101 class was premed but by the end of the semester 1/3 had switched majors. Take your time its a marathon not a sprint

that makes sense! It is just that I am trying to streamline the premed process rather than just going with the flow.

 

[candbgirl]

Hospice is a great experience. But you don’t need 4 years of it. Diversify. Find a clinic for the underserved or work in a hospital. It will be helpful to have a parent as a doc but shadow his friends or associates not him. Since you seem to know very little about the process just slow down. I’m not sure there is a way to streamline the process . It is what it is. And try to enjoy college. Do things you like to do, make friends, grow up, take classes that interest you. You have plenty of time - med schools have been around a very long time. They aren’t going anywhere. Good luck as you start your next journey.

 

[deleted1017120]

I'm gonna echo what JimKimSlim said.

You need to try to enjoy your undergraduate time more.

Undergrad will be the most free time of your life. You'll have easy access to nearly unlimited academic topics as well as an obscene amount of EC's to try, all while having far, far more freedom than when you were in high school but far, far less responsibilities than a "real" adult. Unless you already know that medicine is literally the only thing that you want to do with your entire life (and that just isn't healthy), hammering out your entire college plan like this will keep you extremely restricted and you'll probably resent yourself and this entire process.

It's good to plan ahead but you don't want to plan ahead so hard that you aren't able to take advantage of new opportunities or adjust for setbacks. You don't even know if you'll be able to get into the exact classes you want in any given semester. I would also strongly suggest against planning as if you must apply to medical school and get in immediately after college. Gap years are really good for both giving someone real-world experiences outside of student life and letting one mature overall.

In terms of suggestions for your actual plan, I agree with people above; diversify your volunteer experiences and don't take the MCAT so early. You'll almost certainly want to make sure you take O-Chem/Physics/Biochem before it (which you often can't do that early), and it's definitely suggested to take cell bio/genetics before then as well. Also, make sure you shadow someone aside from your parent. You also didn't list any employed clinical experience (that I saw). Go for something like scribe/CNA/CMA/EMT/ER Tech/Psych Tech. For research, I know that a lot of undergrads do it by just emailing PI's or otherwise asking around for potential spots. PI's like it when undergrads start early (freshman/sophomore year) since it gives them more time to train you and get some meaningful work out of you.

Finally, I would highly advise that you not look at these various activities as "I need this for my med school application". That is 1) very easy to notice and 2) will make your performance notably worse. Aside from hard requirements (e.g. physics, O-Chem, etc.), make sure you are taking classes that you are actually interested in, and make sure that you are doing EC's that you are really interested in. Don't pursue leadership in something that you aren't passionate about; it will burn you out and it will also do a disservice to those that you are leading.

I'm far from an authority on this topic, but the impression that I've gotten from being in a lot of academic circles throughout the years is that applicants that actually take things that they're passionate about, pursue those things and gain meaningful experiences, and make them into something special for their applications are far more interesting and successful than applicants that plan their academic/professional careers around crafting a particular application.

 

[NeuroticPremedSadge]

I'm gonna echo what JimKimSlim said.

You need to try to enjoy your undergraduate time more.

Undergrad will be the most free time of your life. You'll have easy access to nearly unlimited academic topics as well as an obscene amount of EC's to try, all while having far, far more freedom than when you were in high school but far, far less responsibilities than a "real" adult. Unless you already know that medicine is literally the only thing that you want to do with your entire life (and that just isn't healthy), hammering out your entire college plan like this will keep you extremely restricted and you'll probably resent yourself and this entire process.

It's good to plan ahead but you don't want to plan ahead so hard that you aren't able to take advantage of new opportunities or adjust for setbacks. You don't even know if you'll be able to get into the exact classes you want in any given semester. I would also strongly suggest against planning as if you must apply to medical school and get in immediately after college. Gap years are really good for both giving someone real-world experiences outside of student life and letting one mature overall.

In terms of suggestions for your actual plan, I agree with people above; diversify your volunteer experiences and don't take the MCAT so early. You'll almost certainly want to make sure you take O-Chem/Physics/Biochem before it (which you often can't do that early), and it's definitely suggested to take cell bio/genetics before then as well. Also, make sure you shadow someone aside from your parent. You also didn't list any employed clinical experience (that I saw). Go for something like scribe/CNA/CMA/EMT/ER Tech/Psych Tech. For research, I know that a lot of undergrads do it by just emailing PI's or otherwise asking around for potential spots. PI's like it when undergrads start early (freshman/sophomore year) since it gives them more time to train you and get some meaningful work out of you.

Finally, I would highly advise that you not look at these various activities as "I need this for my med school application". That is 1) very easy to notice and 2) will make your performance notably worse. Aside from hard requirements (e.g. physics, O-Chem, etc.), make sure you are taking classes that you are actually interested in, and make sure that you are doing EC's that you are really interested in. Don't pursue leadership in something that you aren't passionate about; it will burn you out and it will also do a disservice to those that you are leading.

I'm far from an authority on this topic, but the impression that I've gotten from being in a lot of academic circles throughout the years is that applicants that actually take things that they're passionate about, pursue those things and gain meaningful experiences, and make them into something special for their applications are far more interesting and successful than applicants that plan their academic/professional careers around crafting a particular application.

I was not planning on shadowing my parent and was planning on using colleagues.
Also, I am doing these things out of passion and not for solely “checking the box.” Therefore, I am trying to do things to make it a more enjoyable process and gain meaningful experience.
Moreover, this plan is malleable where I am not solely set on it. If it requires sacrificing or adding more things, I am very willing to do so especially if I am not as passionate for an activity.
I am not against the idea of a gap year but do not want to take if not necessary, hence the plan starting somewhat early.
As for clinical experience, I don’t see how I would be able to juggle all ECs, studying, research, and an additional 20+ hour time commitment per week without taking a gap year (which I am not opposed to, but would it really make it THAT much more competitive?)
as for diversification, I thought volunteer experiences were better if they were longitudinal rather than a wide variety of things but shorter commitment.
Lastly, regarding the MCAT, if I want to put in the application first day(s) of opening on AMCAS, I would have to take it either during April/May of Junior year (studying during school year) or between sophomore and junior hear (studying during summer). Therefore, although I will definitely try to take all prereqs, I don’t see how I would be able to study for mcat during school year.

 

[NeuroticPremedSadge]

Hospice is a great experience. But you don’t need 4 years of it. Diversify. Find a clinic for the underserved or work in a hospital. It will be helpful to have a parent as a doc but shadow his friends or associates not him. Since you seem to know very little about the process just slow down. I’m not sure there is a way to streamline the process . It is what it is. And try to enjoy college. Do things you like to do, make friends, grow up, take classes that interest you. You have plenty of time - med schools have been around a very long time. They aren’t going anywhere. Good luck as you start your next journey.

I don’t NEED 4 years of it, but surely if I am passionate about it and can gain meaningful experiences, then it wouldn’t be detrimental, right?
I am not planning on shadowing my parents but his friends/colleagues.
As for diversification, wouldn’t longitudinal experience in 1 experience be better than shorter experiences in 2-3 things?
I would rather be doing something like Hospice than greeting patients at a free clinic. As for passion? I would say I do have a personal reason that I want to volunteer.
thanks for the feedback! I am trying not to be argumentative if it comes out that way… just corroborating through past advice given to me!

 

[deleted1017120]

I was not planning on shadowing my parent and was planning on using colleagues.
Also, I am doing these things out of passion and not for solely “checking the box.” Therefore, I am trying to do things to make it a more enjoyable process and gain meaningful experience.
Moreover, this plan is malleable where I am not solely set on it. If it requires sacrificing or adding more things, I am very willing to do so especially if I am not as passionate for an activity.
I am not against the idea of a gap year but do not want to take if not necessary, hence the plan starting somewhat early.
As for clinical experience, I don’t see how I would be able to juggle all ECs, studying, research, and an additional 20+ hour time commitment per week without taking a gap year (which I am not opposed to, but would it really make it THAT much more competitive?)
as for diversification, I thought volunteer experiences were better if they were longitudinal rather than a wide variety of things but shorter commitment.
Lastly, regarding the MCAT, if I want to put in the application first day(s) of opening on AMCAS, I would have to take it either during April/May of Junior year (studying during school year) or between sophomore and junior hear (studying during summer). Therefore, although I will definitely try to take all prereqs, I don’t see how I would be able to study for mcat during school year.

I don't think that anyone has a definitive answer, but in my experience, I've been told that diversifying your volunteering looks better.

Since you're starting so early, you'll be able to get plenty of volunteer hours out of any experience that you do. If you do volunteer 3 hours per week that already gets you in the ballpark of 150 hours in your first year (assuming you do it during the summer). That is a good amount of hours, and if you start to switch it up, it'll give you both depth and breadth in volunteer hours. If you are really passionate about a particular volunteering project, you could even continue that (maybe just reduce your hours in later years?) but take advantage of short stints of volunteering for unrelated things in the community around you.

As for employed clinical experience, yes, it makes you notably more competitive, unless you've gotten significant patient care experience somewhere else, which I don't see in your current plan. Schools want to know that you actually understand what it means to work in the healthcare field, and I don't think that shadowing or volunteering really gets you that. It also shows a basic understanding of what it means to be employed and working as an adult, particularly while you juggle other responsibilities. It's definitely worth it, and you should potentially consider cutting some other stuff in your junior or senior year to make room for that employment.

Concerning the MCAT, remember that you don't need to have your MCAT score in immediately to submit your application, and you don't need your application in on literally the first day to be successful. Finally, a disclaimer; I am absolutely NOT the person to emulate concerning MCAT study and test-taking habits, but I have numerous acquaintances that scored in the 518+ range and they all studied for the MCAT during spring of their junior year and then took it in the latter half, getting their scores shortly before they submitted. With how organized and motivated you are, I get the feeling that you should be able to do this as well. Don't short-change yourself.

 

[wysdoc]

I was not planning on shadowing my parent and was planning on using colleagues.
Also, I am doing these things out of passion and not for solely “checking the box.” Therefore, I am trying to do things to make it a more enjoyable process and gain meaningful experience.
Moreover, this plan is malleable where I am not solely set on it. If it requires sacrificing or adding more things, I am very willing to do so especially if I am not as passionate for an activity.
I am not against the idea of a gap year but do not want to take if not necessary, hence the plan starting somewhat early.
As for clinical experience, I don’t see how I would be able to juggle all ECs, studying, research, and an additional 20+ hour time commitment per week without taking a gap year (which I am not opposed to, but would it really make it THAT much more competitive?)
as for diversification, I thought volunteer experiences were better if they were longitudinal rather than a wide variety of things but shorter commitment.
Lastly, regarding the MCAT, if I want to put in the application first day(s) of opening on AMCAS, I would have to take it either during April/May of Junior year (studying during school year) or between sophomore and junior hear (studying during summer). Therefore, although I will definitely try to take all prereqs, I don’t see how I would be able to study for mcat during school year.

Lots of people study hard over a long winter break and take their MCAT after the new year, or study summer/take it in late summer.
No reason to have a gap year, you can apply during senior year if you're ready. My initial point was that you will do much better if you have had the major courses behind you before testing. Sounds like you have a plan!

 

[candbgirl]

OP you seem to have it all figured out. And you don’t seem to be open to suggestions or possible tweaks in your plan from people who have been through the process. And that’s fine if that’s what you want to do. If you figure out how to successfully streamline the premed process hopefully you’ll share that with SDN. Try to enjoy college.

 

[NeuroticPremedSadge]

I don't think that anyone has a definitive answer, but in my experience, I've been told that diversifying your volunteering looks better.

Since you're starting so early, you'll be able to get plenty of volunteer hours out of any experience that you do. If you do volunteer 3 hours per week that already gets you in the ballpark of 150 hours in your first year (assuming you do it during the summer). That is a good amount of hours, and if you start to switch it up, it'll give you both depth and breadth in volunteer hours. If you are really passionate about a particular volunteering project, you could even continue that (maybe just reduce your hours in later years?) but take advantage of short stints of volunteering for unrelated things in the community around you.

As for employed clinical experience, yes, it makes you notably more competitive, unless you've gotten significant patient care experience somewhere else, which I don't see in your current plan. Schools want to know that you actually understand what it means to work in the healthcare field, and I don't think that shadowing or volunteering really gets you that. It also shows a basic understanding of what it means to be employed and working as an adult, particularly while you juggle other responsibilities. It's definitely worth it, and you should potentially consider cutting some other stuff in your junior or senior year to make room for that employment.

Concerning the MCAT, remember that you don't need to have your MCAT score in immediately to submit your application, and you don't need your application in on literally the first day to be successful. Finally, a disclaimer; I am absolutely NOT the person to emulate concerning MCAT study and test-taking habits, but I have numerous acquaintances that scored in the 518+ range and they all studied for the MCAT during spring of their junior year and then took it in the latter half, getting their scores shortly before they submitted. With how organized and motivated you are, I get the feeling that you should be able to do this as well. Don't short-change yourself.

Okay! I guess it would be true that I am lacking significant patient interaction, something that scribing would fix. When the time gets there, I will seriously consider whether I can juggle scribing without sacrificing GPA/mental health.
Also, I will try not to tunnel vision on submitting first day

Side note: considering that the gen ed classes are most likely easier than the junior/senior classes, do you think it would be a better alternative to start scribing freshman or sophomore year VS junior or senior year?

 

[deleted1017120]

Okay! I guess it would be true that I am lacking significant patient interaction, something that scribing would fix. When the time gets there, I will seriously consider whether I can juggle scribing without sacrificing GPA/mental health.
Also, I will try not to tunnel vision on submitting first day

Side note: considering that the gen ed classes are most likely easier than the junior/senior classes, do you think it would be a better alternative to start scribing freshman or sophomore year VS junior or senior year?

In my opinion, you should leave this entirely up to when you feel you can fit in the work experience.

I'm very much a non-traditional student, but I found the earlier semesters of both of my B.A.'s to be much easier than the later semesters. The later semesters had more upper level courses but they were all courses that I thoroughly enjoyed, whereas the earlier semesters included a lot of gen ed's and other prerequisites that I very much disliked.

This also depends on when you can get into certain classes at your institution; I know it was pretty difficult to get into several classes as an underclassman during my first degree, and this messed with a lot of pre-med students' coursework timelines.

 

[NeuroticPremedSadge]

Lots of people study hard over a long winter break and take their MCAT after the new year, or study summer/take it in late summer.
No reason to have a gap year, you can apply during senior year if you're ready. My initial point was that you will do much better if you have had the major courses behind you before testing. Sounds like you have a plan!

That makes a lot of sense since I would probably want the prereqs behind me especially the more conceptual ones. Do you think that a better plan of approach would be doing light content review and ECs the summer between sophomore and junior year (content review on the classes I have already taken)? Then, after that, I could ramp up slightly during the school year via the classes I am taking junior year and start FLs and such during the breaks/weekends (this would mean I take the class around march/april/may)?

 

[NeuroticPremedSadge]

In my opinion, you should leave this entirely up to when you feel you can fit in the work experience.

I'm very much a non-traditional student, but I found the earlier semesters of both of my B.A.'s to be much easier than the later semesters. The later semesters had more upper level courses but they were all courses that I thoroughly enjoyed, whereas the earlier semesters included a lot of gen ed's and other prerequisites that I very much disliked.

This also depends on when you can get into certain classes at your institution; I know it was pretty difficult to get into several classes as an underclassman during my first degree, and this messed with a lot of pre-med students' coursework timelines.

Gotcha! I will definitely keep that in mind!

 

[NeuroticPremedSadge]

OP you seem to have it all figured out. And you don’t seem to be open to suggestions or possible tweaks in your plan from people who have been through the process. And that’s fine if that’s what you want to do. If you figure out how to successfully streamline the premed process hopefully you’ll share that with SDN. Try to enjoy college.

Sorry if I came out that way! I am taking all of the advice seriously and don't want to come off as arrogant or a know-it-all... and I will definitely try to enjoy the process!