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- May 7, 2011
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Hello all,
I've been reading this site on and off during my high school years and I'm really appreciative to all the members who contribute to helping other people get into medical school. I'm going to be a sophomore at the University of Miami and I've already started to become a little stressed about this whole medical school thing.
I had a few questions on basically everything (lol). A really good friend of mine at Johns Hopkins told me for the top medical schools that lab research is probably the most important extracurricular activity, then comes clinical experience, then volunteering. After researching some forums, I have yet to find a definitive answer to this question. Personally, it would seem that clinical experience is the most important, with lab research "coming in 2nd" and then volunteering. I ask this because I plan on doing lab research during this summer at a hospital near my house and I also plan on doing research at Miamis medical school but to be quite honest, I used to go to the hospital with my parents when I was young (they're both physicians) and I'd love seeing what my parents would do, but my question was, what will medical schools value MORE of? lab research or clinical experience?
My second question was basically about GPA. I spent my freshman year at UMass, due to immaturity during my high school years, my high school grades weren't near my potential. That part of my life, however, is behind me and I am focused toward my future career goals. After taking Bio, Chem, English, and Calc I and II, my gpa was a 3.67 for the 1st semester and depending on my bio grade my overall first year gpa will either be a 3.71 or 3.74. I ended up with a B- in my bio class for the first semester.
This class isn't curved (none of them are for that matter) and the average was either a C- or a D+ and not only that (this may seem weird), but my teacher basically thought that he was the reincarnation of Charles Darwin. We spent maybe 4 weeks on biochemistry and photosynthesis/krebs cycle in September. I understand that evolution/ecology is covered in the curriculum for general biology but from October till now, all we've done is evolution. Unfortunately, the highest grade I can get in the second semester is a B+. My question is if I take higher level biochemistry and molecular/cell biology courses and get As in them, will that *sort of* alleviate this B I received in general biology? Will top medical schools (Harvard, Stanford, Duke, etc.) be lenient on this issue, or have I already blown it? Do these medical schools *care* about the prestige of applicants undergraduate institutions?
In addition to being interested in medicine, throughout my life I've been interested in technology and business. I've hacked/unlocked iPhones, done Google coding projects etc. A friend of mine and I also have business ideas we are working out for a startup. However, my main concentration is medicine. As you might be able to guess, my dream school is Stanford due to many reasons. Putting its reputation aside, I've visited the campus (a while ago), and its amazing. It's location, however, is unparalled. Being in the heart of Silicon Valley, I can not think of a more appropriate place for me to study medicine and business.
Which leads me to my next question. I do plan on doing an MD/MBA from a school that I get into. What is the most appropriate way to pursue this dual degree? Using Stanford as an example, do people usually apply to both the medical and business schools at the same time? I plan on taking the MCAT at the end of my junior year...this really wont leave me anytime to adequately prepare for the GMAT. I did read that students can apply in their second year to the business school as well.
Thank you for reading my longass post, and any feedback is very much appreciated.
I've been reading this site on and off during my high school years and I'm really appreciative to all the members who contribute to helping other people get into medical school. I'm going to be a sophomore at the University of Miami and I've already started to become a little stressed about this whole medical school thing.
I had a few questions on basically everything (lol). A really good friend of mine at Johns Hopkins told me for the top medical schools that lab research is probably the most important extracurricular activity, then comes clinical experience, then volunteering. After researching some forums, I have yet to find a definitive answer to this question. Personally, it would seem that clinical experience is the most important, with lab research "coming in 2nd" and then volunteering. I ask this because I plan on doing lab research during this summer at a hospital near my house and I also plan on doing research at Miamis medical school but to be quite honest, I used to go to the hospital with my parents when I was young (they're both physicians) and I'd love seeing what my parents would do, but my question was, what will medical schools value MORE of? lab research or clinical experience?
My second question was basically about GPA. I spent my freshman year at UMass, due to immaturity during my high school years, my high school grades weren't near my potential. That part of my life, however, is behind me and I am focused toward my future career goals. After taking Bio, Chem, English, and Calc I and II, my gpa was a 3.67 for the 1st semester and depending on my bio grade my overall first year gpa will either be a 3.71 or 3.74. I ended up with a B- in my bio class for the first semester.
This class isn't curved (none of them are for that matter) and the average was either a C- or a D+ and not only that (this may seem weird), but my teacher basically thought that he was the reincarnation of Charles Darwin. We spent maybe 4 weeks on biochemistry and photosynthesis/krebs cycle in September. I understand that evolution/ecology is covered in the curriculum for general biology but from October till now, all we've done is evolution. Unfortunately, the highest grade I can get in the second semester is a B+. My question is if I take higher level biochemistry and molecular/cell biology courses and get As in them, will that *sort of* alleviate this B I received in general biology? Will top medical schools (Harvard, Stanford, Duke, etc.) be lenient on this issue, or have I already blown it? Do these medical schools *care* about the prestige of applicants undergraduate institutions?
In addition to being interested in medicine, throughout my life I've been interested in technology and business. I've hacked/unlocked iPhones, done Google coding projects etc. A friend of mine and I also have business ideas we are working out for a startup. However, my main concentration is medicine. As you might be able to guess, my dream school is Stanford due to many reasons. Putting its reputation aside, I've visited the campus (a while ago), and its amazing. It's location, however, is unparalled. Being in the heart of Silicon Valley, I can not think of a more appropriate place for me to study medicine and business.
Which leads me to my next question. I do plan on doing an MD/MBA from a school that I get into. What is the most appropriate way to pursue this dual degree? Using Stanford as an example, do people usually apply to both the medical and business schools at the same time? I plan on taking the MCAT at the end of my junior year...this really wont leave me anytime to adequately prepare for the GMAT. I did read that students can apply in their second year to the business school as well.
Thank you for reading my longass post, and any feedback is very much appreciated.
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