Should I just lower my expectations for top tier med schools?

[masterMood]

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sorry if im intruding on these forums, don't answer if i'm being an ass but i've found that the top tier schools (like top 20) generally accept those from at least middle tier to top tier schools. I feel like the american dream or the shell it used to be is kinda gone in a sense because i'm losing the motivation to work harder than i really should at my state school. i go to suny geneseo and i ended up with a 3.94 gpa first semester, and not only is it very difficult to get into top med. schools, i am overrepresented, and a bio major. Sorry about being a pessimist but don't fields like neurosurgery, opth, derm, urology, etc. require you to be at the top of your class and go to at least a middle tier med. school? Reason why i ask this is because i could go through suny buffalo or suny upstate early assurance, but i looked at suny upstate and foudn that its students go into fields like anesthesiology, derm, etc. less @ .5 percent. I know I shouldn't be thinking about this stuff so early on in the game, but like in high school I don't want to do more work than I should really do if all I know i can do is end up at SUNY med (not that there's anythign wrong with it, they just have different goals). Basically, I was disappointed the first time when I got into Cornell undergrad, NYU undergrad, and Emory undergrad, and realized that after 70,000 dollars of debt it was just plain impossible --- all the e.c.s the honors classes and the shiny 1450 sat score were nothing.Bah I have too much free time, I need to go back to school so I can't think about these things.

 

[DrBowtie]

UMICH gives auto interviews with 3.8 36 MCAT OOS.

Your MCAT will determine alot so until that point keep working hard.

 

[quideam]

I graduated from Rutgers (NJ state school - nothing special) and currently attend a top 10 medical school. Get good grades, do some research, and make youself stand out (this is KEY) - add on an interesting second major, study abroad, do unique research, etc. The "american dream", if this is what you mean by it, is by all means not dead - you just need a more creative approach to achieve it. Keep up the good grades, do well on your MCATs, but don't focus soley on pre-med classes and clubs: that's rather boring, and won't really get you noticed. In the end, you have to sell yourself, and going to a SUNY school won't help or hurt you in that regard, but that means you need other things to help you.

Good luck.
Q

 

[dynx]

You're a joke.

 

[dynx]

...sorry, my post "you're a joke" wasn't sharp enough:

You're a F-ing joke

 

[deuist]

What's with the pre-meds posting their stress stories on the allopathic board this week? Look, you have a great GPA. It's better than 90% of pre-meds out there. Focus on school, continue to do well, ace the MCAT, join some extracurriculars, and take a Valium. You'll be fine.

Most alarming is your statement

I don't want to do more work than I should really do

.

Immediately I'm questioning your motivation for studying medicine. I've seen lots of gunners go down later in college or even once in medical school because their motivation was in the wrong place. Are you here because you like the patient interaction and don't mind the self-sacrifice? Or do you want prestige, money, and your parents' approval?

 

[uptoolate]

My friend from SUNY Geneseo went to Hopkins Med and did a Hopkins residency.

 

[masterMood]

What's with the pre-meds posting their stress stories on the allopathic board this week? Look, you have a great GPA. It's better than 90% of pre-meds out there. Focus on school, continue to do well, ace the MCAT, join some extracurriculars, and take a Valium. You'll be fine.

Most alarming is your statement

.

Immediately I'm questioning your motivation for studying medicine. I've seen lots of gunners go down later in college or even once in medical school because their motivation was in the wrong place. Are you here because you like the patient interaction and don't mind the self-sacrifice? Or do you want prestige, money, and your parents' approval?

Well what i mean was that I did so much work so many activities during high school, and I got many accolades, did well on sats through my own hard work, etc. and throughout high school my parents always told me that i will be going to a suny school because they can't afford anything else, but my guidance counselors, friends, and everyone else said that if you work hard enough you will get it. Well I got it by getting into the undergrad schools but it really did sting when i realized i could have had more free time and relax or do whatever i wanted because i could've ended up at the same place easily (like a state function ha ha dorky me). I'm not miserable now but i was during my senior year of h.s. because everyone else around me who had money got into better schools because they had money.

As to the motivation for medicine, I don't think there is anything else I could do. Money is a factor but not as much as to make me a glutton. My parents actually didn't want me to go into medicine and go into something like teaching or computer engineering but it was just too boring. But I'm just afraid that I could work 20 times as hard, be a super student, be very dedicated, etc. and end up at the same school as my colleague who partied all the time. Of course this is only what I think, and I hope that you don't think of me as a tool for thinking this because id on't go around whining to people, it's just how i feel. I guess I'm afraid of repeating high school in a sense all over again high hopes but limited outcomes because I've seen so many brilliant asian guys with high mcats, great e.c.s, gpa, etc. and end up at an alright school.

 

[oompaloompa]

sorry if im intruding on these forums, don't answer if i'm being an ass but i've found that the top tier schools (like top 20) generally accept those from at least middle tier to top tier schools. I feel like the american dream or the shell it used to be is kinda gone in a sense because i'm losing the motivation to work harder than i really should at my state school. i go to suny geneseo and i ended up with a 3.94 gpa first semester, and not only is it very difficult to get into top med. schools, i am overrepresented, and a bio major. Sorry about being a pessimist but don't fields like neurosurgery, opth, derm, urology, etc. require you to be at the top of your class and go to at least a middle tier med. school? Reason why i ask this is because i could go through suny buffalo or suny upstate early assurance, but i looked at suny upstate and foudn that its students go into fields like anesthesiology, derm, etc. less @ .5 percent. I know I shouldn't be thinking about this stuff so early on in the game, but like in high school I don't want to do more work than I should really do if all I know i can do is end up at SUNY med (not that there's anythign wrong with it, they just have different goals). Basically, I was disappointed the first time when I got into Cornell undergrad, NYU undergrad, and Emory undergrad, and realized that after 70,000 dollars of debt it was just plain impossible --- all the e.c.s the honors classes and the shiny 1450 sat score were nothing.Bah I have too much free time, I need to go back to school so I can't think about these things.

pardon the bluntness, but you did ask for it. you're making a LOT of assumptions. You can't seriously make these kind of plans halfway through your freshman year 🙄 Just to give some perspective, it sounds like would need to finish an entire degree with high honors, rock the MCAT, interview well, get your first choice of med school, kick ass in all your classes, rock the USMLE(hint: its a bit harder than the SAT), get high honors on all your rotations, and be overall a top performer. 😱 what the hell, let's say you do. what makes you think you want to go into one the aforementioned competitive specialties anyway? Hell, I'm halfway through my third year of med school and I don't know what my specialty will be, haven't the foggiest idea.
I know I'm being a dick, but seriously I mean well. It's good to have goals, but as a college freshman, your short-term goals should be definate and your long term goals more vague, not the other way around. For example, you should concentrate on making an A in Biology, not on becoming chief of neurosurgery at [blank] university with [blank] honors. Don't worry so much, try not to think about the years 18 - 25 just as the "path to becoming a doctor" but as an important part of your life, for me, the best part.
A little preachy, I know -- but like I said, I mean well. Good luck and God bless.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

pardon the bluntness, but you did ask for it. you're making a LOT of assumptions. You can't seriously make these kind of plans halfway through your freshman year 🙄 Just to give some perspective, it sounds like would need to finish an entire degree with high honors, rock the MCAT, interview well, get your first choice of med school, kick ass in all your classes, rock the USMLE(hint: its a bit harder than the SAT), get high honors on all your rotations, and be overall a top performer. 😱 what the hell, let's say you do. what makes you think you want to go into one the aforementioned competitive specialties anyway? Hell, I'm halfway through my third year of med school and I don't know what my specialty will be, haven't the foggiest idea.
I know I'm being a dick, but seriously I mean well. It's good to have goals, but as a college freshman, your short-term goals should be definate and your long term goals more vague, not the other way around. For example, you should concentrate on making an A in Biology, not on becoming chief of neurosurgery at [blank] university with [blank] honors. Don't worry so much, try not to think about the years 18 - 25 just as the "path to becoming a doctor" but as an important part of your life, for me, the best part.
A little preachy, I know -- but like I said, I mean well. Good luck and God bless.

I've so gotta ditto this one. I've also got to add that most of the super gung ho premeds I knew who had their whole medical future planned out when they were 18 wound up not even going. College is a great time to figure out what you want out of life -- you miss out on that whole thing going in with a hard 20 year plan.

 

[quideam]

Hmmm... i would actually counter what the last few posts have said, and say that I think it's GOOD if you have a general idea of what you want to do (i.e., medicine vs. business vs. law, etc). This way, you're not wasting time and money figuring it out, applying to schools, dropping out of those schools, working random jobs, etc. I think that method works for some, but if you already know that you're interested in a particular field, that's a plus. The key, however, is not lot let that knowledge take over your life. It's very easy to become a crazy pre-med, and some people, i think, acutally enjoy this, but if you already know that you want to go to med school, then you already know that:
1. You need to take certain pre-requisites
2. You DON'T (and shouldn't unless you REALLY want to) need to major in a science
3. You'll take the MCATS in the spring of your junior year

And so on... actually, knowing that you want to go to med school frees you up in some ways: other than taking the prereqs, you can take whatever classes you feel like... philosophy, poetry, languages, whatever. You don't have to worry about how these classes will be applicable to getting a job later, because your 'job' will be applying to med school and that's covered with the pre-reqs.

So, go ahead and be confident with your decision, so long as you're sure about it (you've shadowed doctors, spend time in clinics/hospitals, generally like science, etc). Just don't forget to enjoy your time in college too!

 

[fun8stuff]

UMICH gives auto interviews with 3.8 36 MCAT OOS.

Your MCAT will determine alot so until that point keep working hard.

actually it's 3.6, 33

edit: just saw the OOS (out of state).. didnt see that before. you're probably right on that one. it's 3.6,33 instate

 

[DrBowtie]

actually it's 3.6, 33

That was in-state.

 

[DocIn2012]

I'd love to know how many 'American Dreams' there are - there seems to be one for every occasion.

 

[BOOURNS]

If it matters, I am currently at Keck USC (not sure if it is really considered "top tier"), and I graduated from the university of oregon with a 3.2 GPA, and its not exactly a prestigious institution. Any brain=dead, bong-smoking, red-diaper-doper-baby can get B's at the U of O...

 

[wtwei02]

What the heck does being asian have to do with anything???

Dude, you need to chill out and relax. We don't need to know your SAT score or your GPA to the hundredth. It's ok to have lofty goals, as long as your enjoy the ride. It sounds like you're a little jealous of your colleagues who party all the time. And what's with the "over-represented" crap? I hope you realize that the average "under-represented" hispanic or african american student has much less in way of support, role-models, family structure and finances than the average "over-represented" asian candidate. If some kid can make it out of Compton to go to college, and take the mcats, I'd gladly give up my seat in medical school to him even if his mcat score was 5-6 points lower than mine. Please don't make any excuses, it doesn't change anything, and its only role is to make you feel better about yourself temporarily. Either way, good luck to you.

 

[radioh3ad]

If some kid can make it out of Compton to go to college, and take the mcats, I'd gladly give up my seat in medical school to him even if his mcat score was 5-6 points lower than mine.

o rly?

kudos to your generalization too.

 

[Law2Doc]

sorry if im intruding on these forums, don't answer if i'm being an ass but i've found that the top tier schools (like top 20) generally accept those from at least middle tier to top tier schools. I feel like the american dream or the shell it used to be is kinda gone in a sense because i'm losing the motivation to work harder than i really should at my state school. i go to suny geneseo and i ended up with a 3.94 gpa first semester, and not only is it very difficult to get into top med. schools, i am overrepresented, and a bio major. Sorry about being a pessimist but don't fields like neurosurgery, opth, derm, urology, etc. require you to be at the top of your class and go to at least a middle tier med. school? Reason why i ask this is because i could go through suny buffalo or suny upstate early assurance, but i looked at suny upstate and foudn that its students go into fields like anesthesiology, derm, etc. less @ .5 percent. I know I shouldn't be thinking about this stuff so early on in the game, but like in high school I don't want to do more work than I should really do if all I know i can do is end up at SUNY med (not that there's anythign wrong with it, they just have different goals). Basically, I was disappointed the first time when I got into Cornell undergrad, NYU undergrad, and Emory undergrad, and realized that after 70,000 dollars of debt it was just plain impossible --- all the e.c.s the honors classes and the shiny 1450 sat score were nothing.Bah I have too much free time, I need to go back to school so I can't think about these things.

If you really crank on the MCAT, and the rest of your app is strong (good ECs, LORs, etc), you will get looked at by some decent schools. But the percentage of folks going into derm, etc. even from the top ten schools isn't all that high. You haven't even gotten into med school yet, and you are already assuming you are going to be the top 10-20% of your class and on the boards -- not realistic. And you don't pick a field just because it's competitive or well compensated -- you wait until you see more stuff and then pick what you enjoy -- it's going to be the rest of your life. There is no amount of money that can compensate you for spending long hours doing something you do not enjoy. Being a happy FP beats a miserable dermatologist any day of the week.

 

[silas2642]

sorry if im intruding on these forums, don't answer if i'm being an ass but i've found that the top tier schools (like top 20) generally accept those from at least middle tier to top tier schools. I feel like the american dream or the shell it used to be is kinda gone in a sense because i'm losing the motivation to work harder than i really should at my state school. i go to suny geneseo and i ended up with a 3.94 gpa first semester, and not only is it very difficult to get into top med. schools, i am overrepresented, and a bio major. Sorry about being a pessimist but don't fields like neurosurgery, opth, derm, urology, etc. require you to be at the top of your class and go to at least a middle tier med. school? Reason why i ask this is because i could go through suny buffalo or suny upstate early assurance, but i looked at suny upstate and foudn that its students go into fields like anesthesiology, derm, etc. less @ .5 percent. I know I shouldn't be thinking about this stuff so early on in the game, but like in high school I don't want to do more work than I should really do if all I know i can do is end up at SUNY med (not that there's anythign wrong with it, they just have different goals). Basically, I was disappointed the first time when I got into Cornell undergrad, NYU undergrad, and Emory undergrad, and realized that after 70,000 dollars of debt it was just plain impossible --- all the e.c.s the honors classes and the shiny 1450 sat score were nothing.Bah I have too much free time, I need to go back to school so I can't think about these things.

I think that instead of spending all this time and energy figuring out how the hell you're going to get into a "top" medical school, you should put some time and effort into figuring out why you want to go into medicine. If it is for the prestige or the money, then get out and get out now. Not only will your patients and colleagues be completely miserable, but so will you.

 

[beefballs]

Hey I am going to go to school w/ little name recognigition and I could care less-I get to pursue the proffession I desire, isn't that the main point-to be a doctor. Nothing against the creme de le creme schools but I am thrilled with the opportunity and I don't think that my future patients will think less of my me because I couldn't get in to Harvard. (NOT even close)
Chill out & figure out what you want out of life. Shadow and talk to some docs, use undergrad as an opportunity to broaden your knowledge and scope-teaching, computer engineering and medicine are not the only vocations open to you.

 

[DocIn2012]

Hey I am going to go to school w/ little name recognigition and I could care less-I get to pursue the proffession I desire, isn't that the main point-to be a doctor. Nothing against the creme de le creme schools but I am thrilled with the opportunity and I don't think that my future patients will think less of my me because I couldn't get in to Harvard. (NOT even close)
Chill out & figure out what you want out of life. Shadow and talk to some docs, use undergrad as an opportunity to broaden your knowledge and scope-teaching, computer engineering and medicine are not the only vocations open to you.

oh yeah. well said.

 

[big_smiles]

Does the undergraduate school really matter? What matters is what YOU make out of your undergraduate experience. Youve read the above advice. Work hard, actually, work your ass off to be a competitive applicant and apply to those med schools you want to get into. For a residency, they are not going to look into what undergrad college you went to. And you don't have to go to Harvard or Yale or John Hopkins to get into the most competitive residencies, sure there are top-tier schools, but there are many of them. You're a SUNY student, what about Buffalo or Stony Brook or Upstate? Their students also get matched. But don't worry about match day yet. Worry about what you are doing now- -your undergrad coursework. You may very well go to a prestigious medical school (but if you do, good for you). But SUNYs are impressive as well. You'll have to look at the options when they come, but you're not to the applications process yet - - so don't worry about that yet. Focus on this upcoming semester: grades and meaningful experiences. And good luck.

P.S. Don't put down Geneseo! I go to Brockport! SUNY schools are fine, a good education for less $$ 😀

 

[NapeSpikes]

Bah I have too much free time, I need to go back to school so I can't think about these things.

Schoolwork as an escape and yet you only want to work as hard as you have to, hmm? And weren't you the one a couple months ago to whom I gave advice about following your passions and interests so you don't show up at an interview with no personality?

If all this thinking far into the future isn't doing you any good, you should probably just chill and take each day as it comes. To start, enjoy your winter break starting now!!! 👍

 

[Super Rob]

You gotta point.

Going to Big Shot U will give you an advantage with getting into places over someone from Never Heard of U or even State U. For every state kid that gets into a medical school renown for its contributions to the scientific community, there are like twelve from Big Shot U that deserve to get in and they do. Same with state medical schools. It's mostly Big Shot U graduates that interview.

BUT

Me? I didn't take much science in high school. Don't think I learned much either. I wasn't even sure if I was gonna go to college after high school, but my stats landed me some fine, financial incentives to attend the state university. It was a no-brainer and I became the college guy in my family. I studied a little bit of everything, including basic science. Did very well but took me forever to decide on a major (not your typical premed major either). Got involved with all sorts of non-science related stuff. Worked odd jobs. Took advantage of the schools unparalleled social reputation. Did research in a non-science field. Worked at a hospital without thinking I would one day be a medical student. Thought about med school around the time I graduated. Went back to school to finish the few classes I needed to take and then took some challenging science electives. Hard work prevailed on the MCAT. Got into the program that I wanted to attend and it's got the reputation of a top research school.

There are big shot professors at almost every university. Research and extracurricular opportunities can be plentiful and rewarding no matter where you go, and there are many reasons apart from reputation and money to attend a school. There are also incredibly gifted and determined students at your state schools, and you sound like one of them. Most med schools want people with your experience, including some of the big shot research institutions. Some don't and that's life. I got snubbed royally at one interview. Oh well. Try your best. Getting into any medical school is very hard. There are no dumm-dumm schools. No "party" medical schools. No slacker schools. A school with a low research rank will have brilliant students who will make good doctors and procure competitive residency spots. I go to big name med but I don't wanna be a dermatologist or surgical subspecialist.

Make the most out of what you have and don't sell yourself short. Only go to med school if you wanna be a doctor, and any med school you can get into will make you one.

 

[KevinZ]

IMO, Your perspective is likely harmful for you to succeed as a pre-medical student.

I, like you, go to a public state university. I, like you, am also Asian. My parents are not upper-class either. They occassionally help with rent, but tuition is on me. The three medical schools I'm choosing among for next year are now UMich, Hopkins, and Harvard (won't hear from Harvard until March, but I was already accepted to the other two).

College is what you make of it. If you go in and ask how every minor detail is going to make or break your application, you're going to do three things:

1) Burn yourself out through stress
2) Be generally unhappy and unmotivated in those activities
3) Lose sight of the big picture of what medicine is about and what you want in life (and I don't mean just the touchy-feely aspect of medicine, but also the science of what is important and importance of new discoveries).

It's good to know what you want, but be willing to change as well. I pulled tons of all-nighters in college, worked endlessly for extracurriculars and volunteer groups (even at the expense of studying), and worked 4 part-time jobs in one semester. I think the difference between us is that I don't regret a minute of it. Could I have done less and gotten into Hopkins or Michigan? Yeah, probably. But I've enjoyed meeting new people, helping others, discovering my interests, and growing as a person.

I've got solid numbers, but they don't define me.

 

[gary5]

You can start by wording a question with less than 500 words

 

[jbone]

You can start by wording a question with less than 500 words

no doubt.

 

[Will Ferrell]

you've probably been reading too much mdapplicants.com. i get the false impression that only kids from top 25 universities and LACs are getting into the most selective med schools. It's not like that in real life. Check out Johns Hopkins Med's undergrad representations : http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/students/academics/catalog05/MCATstudents.pdf . Very different from what you'd expect from mdapps.

 

[chef_NU]

Just to echo what some of the other posters have touched on:

Speaking from experience going through college, taking a year off, and eventually getting into school: try to make up your mind what you are interested in for a career as early as possible in college (or even high school). Then take the easiest path there. Take the easiest classes you can. I have friends who followed this to the decimal point. One of my roommates from last year was the laziest, fattest, chain-smoking kid I ever knew (he was still really fun to hang out with). He never went to class, did the minimum he had to, and now has a 4.0 and landed a job with a top investment banking firm. Point is, he knew what he wanted to do, and didn't fuddle around with things he knew he didn't need to do. College was great for him, very low stress, and he still got great grades from a top university.

I, on the other hand, had no idea what I wanted to do coming into college. I took the hardest courses and the hardest schedule possible and paid for it, too. I took several difficult classes I ended up not needing to take and had more stress in college than I needed. Granted, I still partied a bunch and had great fun in college, but I could've had a much easier time by deciding what I wanted earlier in life.

No matter what you want to do, just pick it early. If you want to go to a top school and get a competitive residency, you can do it. All you need is planning. You don't have money? Rock the MCAT, get a summer internship at Mayo, and get accepted there. You won't be hurting from debt after that.

 

[DeadorAlive]

Just to echo what some of the other posters have touched on:

Speaking from experience going through college, taking a year off, and eventually getting into school: try to make up your mind what you are interested in for a career as early as possible in college (or even high school). Then take the easiest path there. Take the easiest classes you can. I have friends who followed this to the decimal point. One of my roommates from last year was the laziest, fattest, chain-smoking kid I ever knew (he was still really fun to hang out with). He never went to class, did the minimum he had to, and now has a 4.0 and landed a job with a top investment banking firm. Point is, he knew what he wanted to do, and didn't fuddle around with things he knew he didn't need to do. College was great for him, very low stress, and he still got great grades from a top university.

I, on the other hand, had no idea what I wanted to do coming into college. I took the hardest courses and the hardest schedule possible and paid for it, too. I took several difficult classes I ended up not needing to take and had more stress in college than I needed. Granted, I still partied a bunch and had great fun in college, but I could've had a much easier time by deciding what I wanted earlier in life.

No matter what you want to do, just pick it early. If you want to go to a top school and get a competitive residency, you can do it. All you need is planning. You don't have money? Rock the MCAT, get a summer internship at Mayo, and get accepted there. You won't be hurting from debt after that.

Or.... you could challenge yourself because you like to be challenged, and still get everything you want in life. The "easiest" path might be fulfilling for some, but it wouldn't have been for me. And, I didn't choose a major until junior year, because I was too happy just exploring the 7,000 things I am interested in. It hasn't hurt me for medical school -- or career -- purposes in the slightest, and I respect myself more for it.

I am a good test-taker etc. so that's an advantage, but I still had plenty of time to go out, party up a storm, have friends, relationships, see my family, etc. There are lots of ways to do well, and only you can decide what path to take.

Feeling sorry for yourself or "wronged" in some way by top schools won't help. You can only do so much, so make the best of any situation you're in. I'm shocked by the attitude that some on the boards take as if they were entitled to interviews at top schools. Even with MCAT and GPA in the 99th percentile, it's still up to the school to choose - as fair or unfair as it may seem, there's nothing you can do about it from your shoes now, so feeling indignant is a waste. This is more in response to the thread title than anything else - lower your "expectations" for top schools? What do you EXPECT? I guess this is why I also fall into the "thank you notes are the right thing to do" camp - I'm actually thankful.

 

[Law2Doc]

Just to echo what some of the other posters have touched on:

Speaking from experience going through college, taking a year off, and eventually getting into school: try to make up your mind what you are interested in for a career as early as possible in college (or even high school). Then take the easiest path there. Take the easiest classes you can. I have friends who followed this to the decimal point. One of my roommates from last year was the laziest, fattest, chain-smoking kid I ever knew (he was still really fun to hang out with). He never went to class, did the minimum he had to, and now has a 4.0 and landed a job with a top investment banking firm. Point is, he knew what he wanted to do, and didn't fuddle around with things he knew he didn't need to do. College was great for him, very low stress, and he still got great grades from a top university.

I, on the other hand, had no idea what I wanted to do coming into college. I took the hardest courses and the hardest schedule possible and paid for it, too. I took several difficult classes I ended up not needing to take and had more stress in college than I needed. Granted, I still partied a bunch and had great fun in college, but I could've had a much easier time by deciding what I wanted earlier in life.

No matter what you want to do, just pick it early. If you want to go to a top school and get a competitive residency, you can do it. All you need is planning. You don't have money? Rock the MCAT, get a summer internship at Mayo, and get accepted there. You won't be hurting from debt after that.

Strongly disagree. It's never a bad thing to try different things and challenge yourself. When you get to med school, you will see that the career changers are some of the happiest ones to be there, having already tried other things and more comfortable in their own skin. The ones most confused and unhappy tend to be the traditional matriculants who decided they thought knew exactly what they wanted very young, focused in very early, only to question later whether they are on the right path.

 

[Brainsucker]

Step back a little and try to figure out what you want in medicine. Once you know, do what you can now to go that way. If you're interested in the science, get yourself into a lab so that you can see if research is for you. (You gotta be picky about finding the right lab, but that's a different topic. Summer programs for undergrads are usually designed so that you'll have some intellectual involvement in the work going on. Other programs you end up as a lab tech, which sucks.) If you're more interested in community service stuff, volunteer. This early in the game, you might consider getting an EMT cert and working in an ambulance or ER. I never ended up getting to use my EMT cert for anything since I did it a little late, but I know people who had a great time.

Also, if you're lazy, avoid as many curved science classes as possible and find yourself a grade-inflated humanities major. (If you do this, you should know that your med school prereqs are suddenly that much more important because they pretty much make up your science GPA.)

Another comment about big name school representation: Part of it is that selective schools have students that are better students than non-selective schools. Those students naturally score higher MCATs, write better essays, and are often more motivated. It's only natural that those schools are well represented in medical school classes.