sophomore year

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ali428

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I am a sophomore at Rutgers University busily trying to prepare for applying to med school. I know it's kind of early still, but I want to be the best prepared that I can be! Does anyone have any tips on what I can do now to start planning for acceptance to med school? What is helpful for studying for the MCATs? If anyone else is in the same sophomore boat as I am, I'd love to hear from you too! Thanks
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Obviously, the most important thing right now is to maximize your gpa, especially in the sciences. In addition, if you haven't already done so, it's a good time to start getting to know a few of your professors better so that you can get strong letters of rec. I'm assuming that at a school like Rutgers, a lot of the required pre-med courses are quite large, so this point is especially important.
Outside of academics, make sure you have some experience in a health care setting. It doesn't really matter where, as long as you get some exposure to the field. Many also recommend getting involved in a research project. I see this more as an issue of personal choice, although if you want to get accepted to the most competitive programs, it probably would fall under the "Required" category. It's also a good way to get one of those letters I mentioned before.
As for preparing for the MCAT, I'll defer to others, since my preparation for that test is hardly a model for others to follow.
 
Get a summer job next year in Patient Care. Full-time, hands on Patient care, if possible. This will be a HUGE boost to your resume, and an amazing and educational experience!
 
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Lucky for me, I already have a job in a health-care setting. I am a clinican at a pediatricians office during my summer breaks. I absolutely love it! Rutgers is so big, some of the professors say right out-get your TA to write you a recommendation, we won't do it-so for some classes i'm stuck with a TA's evaluation instead of a prof. My classes are getting smaller, so the chances of getting a letter are getting better.
 
The above posts have good advice, but my perceptive is that health care experience is not really a boost to your resume, it is expected of you and is basically a requirement, even though most med schools wont put that in so many words.

Of course, there are some who get in with no medical experience, but they are few and VERY FAR between. In that sense, working in health care won't really boost your resume, it is simply a required duty of being a premed (since your resume wont stand out from the thousands of others who also do health care work).

That being said, the ONLY way to know what being a doctor entails is to work in a clinical setting. Anyone who doesnt absolutely love this experience (and moves on to another field) is a thousand times more respectable and honest in my opinion, than a premed who doesnt truly enjoy treating sick people who somehow slips through the cracks of med school admissions and becomes a doctor.



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"There is nothing more powerful on this Earth as a man who has nothing to lose. It does not take ten such men to change the world--one will do." Elijah Mohammed
 
The above posts have good advice, but my perceptive is that health care experience is not really a boost to your resume, it is expected of you and is basically a requirement, even though most med schools wont put that in so many words.

Of course, there are some who get in with no medical experience, but they are few and VERY FAR between. In that sense, working in health care won't really boost your resume, it is simply a required duty of being a premed (since your resume wont stand out from the majority of others who also do health care work).

That being said, the ONLY way to know what being a doctor entails is to work in a clinical setting. Anyone who doesnt absolutely love this experience (and moves on to another field) is a thousand times more respectable and honest in my opinion, than a premed who doesnt truly enjoy treating sick people who somehow slips through the cracks of med school admissions and becomes a doctor.

Remember, many are called but few are chosen.

One more thing, get involved in activities that are vastly different than what normal premeds do.

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"There is nothing more powerful on this Earth as a man who has nothing to lose. It does not take ten such men to change the world--one will do." Elijah Mohammed
 
I completely agree with Baylor, especially his last piece of advice. In an applicant pool where so much is required (high GPA and MCAT's, clinical experience, etc.), it is essential to do some kind of extracurriculars that are NOT required to help make yourself stand out. So go do something you enjoy and don't even worry about making it relate to medicine; it will make you a more complete person and a better interviewee.


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Hercules

But there is also a time for sleeping.
-Odysseus in the Odyssey 11.330-331
 
You guys have been a great help! Thanks
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I too agree with Baylor. It is absolutely essential to get some clinical experience. And for me, that's working as a "health care worker" (official title, kind of like a nurse's aid). There are many premeds I know who have absolutely no clinical, but excellent grades (and some with not so great grades). My point is, they don't even KNOW what medicine is all about and they want to go into medicine...
 
Not to be following the herd, but I agree with Baylor as well... and would like to extend the last comment about slipping through the cracks of med school admissions. I really wonder what percentage of medical students out there really are in it for medicine, and not prestige, money (despite all the recent posts about how money isn't really an issue, given the IT get-rich-quick scheme), or any of those other negative goals. It'd be great if those few spots taken up by people not serious about medicine could be given to those who are and didn't quite make the cut.

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Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night,
God said "Let Newton be," and all was light.

-- Alexander Pope
 
I had an appointment with my Health Professions Advisor this week, and she said I'm right on track with everything so far. Thanks for your help guys! Anyone happen to have any study tips for organic chem???
 
Get one of those molecular model kits. They help a lot! Also, I used flash cards for reactions. Basically just memorize the rules, and then plug them in needed! Good luck, Mango
 
The model kit is actually required for my class...i do find that very helpful, we're even allowed to use them on exams. We just started reactions last lecture, and it looks a bit intimidating, so i plan on utilizing my 3x5s and 4x6s....Thanks mango!
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I have a bit of a problem....I asked a couple of instructors last semester to write me letters of recommendation...they still haven't submitted the letters, and now they are seemingly ignoring the emails I send them. Neither of them have office hours this semester, as far as I know, and I don't know how else to go about contacting them. Should I just give up on them and look for new people? Any suggestions??
 
I don't know what other people's experiences have been, but you might want to hold off a little on getting your letters of rec already. Some schools stipulate that they only accept letters written within a year of your application! I had naively asked for letters along the way throughout undergrad, so I had to end up recontacting some of these letter writers to "update" my letter this year. Ideally, I would recommend trying to get to know a few of your profs/TA's, make a personal connection, and then try to keep this connection up over the next year or so, even if it is just an email or two a quarter/semester. Also, the better you know your writers, the odds are more likely that you will get a really outstanding letter. I would plan on asking for letters around 6 mos. before you apply, ideally. Even though you feel pretty set on med school right now, a lot can change in the next 2 years, and you might take a more circuitous path to get there then you planned on -- in which case you definitely don't want to be stuck with letters that are 2-4 years old! Good luck.
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Organo Tips:
I did my year of hell last year.
All the above advice is good.
As much as you can, try to understand why the mechanisms behave the way they do. That way you can apply concepts to a reaction you have never seen before. If you can do this instead of memorizing the actual reaction, you'll be far better off. There are WAY too many reactions to memorize for that to be an efficient method. (this is especially true of the 2nd half).

With that said, flashcards are still very useful!

Cheers,
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by baylor21:
•The above posts have good advice, but my perceptive is that health care experience is not really a boost to your resume, it is expected of you and is basically a requirement, even though most med schools wont put that in so many words.

Of course, there are some who get in with no medical experience, but they are few and VERY FAR between. In that sense, working in health care won't really boost your resume, it is simply a required duty of being a premed (since your resume wont stand out from the majority of others who also do health care work).

That being said, the ONLY way to know what being a doctor entails is to work in a clinical setting. Anyone who doesnt absolutely love this experience (and moves on to another field) is a thousand times more respectable and honest in my opinion, than a premed who doesnt truly enjoy treating sick people who somehow slips through the cracks of med school admissions and becomes a doctor.

Remember, many are called but few are chosen.

One more thing, get involved in activities that are vastly different than what normal premeds do.

•••••so does this mean if you're a combat medic(pararescueman-only 300 of these men in the u.s. military), that will give a GREAT boost to your application? i want to know how much of a boost this is as opposed to other EC"s (being varsity swimmer, nih research, or a minority)?
 
and if you are this commando, should you also apply for nih, or no need to do any research then?
 
It depends on the experience and what you get out of it. If you do NIH research and have nothing to say about it, med schools won't care either. But if you can speak enthusiastically about and have learned from your experience, then that is best. So pj, there's no right answer to your question--just do whatever makes you happy, and med schools will see that.
 
thanks dr. and don't get me wrong, i'm all set on doing pararescue and probably will not have any time to do research anyway.
but i'd still like to know what looks better! considering 1 does well in the military and the other does well in the research.. something must score more points :rolleyes:
 
do the military thing....it's something unusual and interesting. Almost everyone has research and it gets repetitive..you want to stand out. Although I'm sorry to say, no matter how many times you ask, they don't usually judge your EC's on a point system as far as I know. (I know you weren't being literal, but I am). :wink:

what is pararescue? isn't it dangerous?
 
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