Soon to be sophomore: Am I doing things right?

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Arcsine

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Hi, I wanted to know what the SDN'ers think about my progress toward my dream of becoming a doctor as a incoming undergraduate sophomore. These are the things I have done so far as a college freshman. My current goal is to take 0 gap years.

GPA: 4.0
(includes pre-reqs such as biology, organic chemistry, and english writing)

Non-clinical volunteering:
Nursing home volunteering (~25 hours), started January
Free tutoring for poor middle/elementary schoolers: (~20 hours), started last October

Clinical volunteering:
Patient/visitor greeter and navigator (~40 hours), started this March

Leadership: Elected president of a volunteer service/disease awareness club

Shadowing: None

Research: Secured a lab position as an incoming sophomore with a professor at my university.

I have some other hobby related stuff I guess.
I obviously need some shadowing, but I was thinking perhaps I need to add more volunteering (especially clinical)? I'm not sure. What do you think? Thank you so much!
 
It seems you're on the right track.
-> Keep your GPA high and try to take all your remaining pre-reqs before the end of your sophomore year, if possible, especially courses that have high-yield MCAT content and you haven't listed here (e.g. biochemistry, physics, general chemistry).
-> Keep your commitment to your volunteer activities so that you have more hours/experience; ideally more than one year for each activity.
-> When you look for shadowing opportunities, make sure that a significant portion is with primary care. The remainder of shadowing is up to you.
-> Do well on the MCAT when you take it.
 
It seems you're on the right track.
-> Keep your GPA high and try to take all your remaining pre-reqs before the end of your sophomore year, if possible, especially courses that have high-yield MCAT content and you haven't listed here (e.g. biochemistry, physics, general chemistry).
-> Keep your commitment to your volunteer activities so that you have more hours/experience; ideally more than one year for each activity.
-> When you look for shadowing opportunities, make sure that a significant portion is with primary care. The remainder of shadowing is up to you.

Primary care? That's like a family doctor, right?
 
Primary care? That's like a family doctor, right?
Family medicine and internal medicine are primary care, so yes, you're family doctor is primary care and you can ask for shadowing (or if he can connect you to another colleague you can shadow).
 
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