starting "pre" med in August...

[abstract]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I have been away from school for about 7 years, I am currently 25 years old. I am registered to start attending college for pre-med courses this fall. This will be the 1st time that I have ever attended college and as I ran into this board just recently, I think I could get some great help from all of you. I have a couple questions I was wondering if some of you would be able to help me on.

Since it seems alot of you are joining med school this fall or already in, what are some tips that you think wouldve helped you prepare for med school that you wish you wouldve done earlier???

What are some things I should be doing currently, as a freshman, to help me recieve acceptance when I do apply for med school?

Any advice at all, that you wish you wouldve known earlier in your college careers?

I guess all 3 questions relate to eachother and may seem dumb to some people, but I really dont know anyone that I can ask advice about this topic to. Books help a great deal, but I think hearing from people who have "actually" been through alot would be more ideal to me. Any response at all would be welcome. Im still relatively new to the alot of information on this board and as to becoming a doctor in general, but I have to start learning somewere and the sooner the better.

Thanks

 

[tBw]

hey, welcome to SDN. Questions are always welcome but be aware that you will also receive some bad advice here as well as good! 😉

The longer you are on the boards (ie here) the more you will learn about the process, so my first suggestion is to periodically revisit this place even if you are only applying 4 years hence. You can learn a lot from other peoples successes and mistakes.

The second thing is to remember to build a diverse application - clinical opportunities, community service, etc as well as getting as good grades as possible - but never let the clinical experiences stand in the way of your grades. You can do clinical stuff anytime - in vacations, on weekends, whatever. It doesn't have to be during the week before an important exam!!

Don't get too caught up in the whole pre-med syndrome. When you start pre-med there will be a lot of people just like you. Some of these won't go to med school - they will change their minds. So don't get intimidated by the competition, just keep going if thats what you want to do.

Contact your pre-med advisor early. Don't take his word as gospel but do listen to him. It's all about contacts and strong letters from professors and/or your pre-med committee is key.

Which is why you should get to know your professors. Go to office hours, talk to them, let them know you want to go to med school. One day you will have to ask these guys for letters of recommendation. Don't wait 4 years then go back and say 'remember me? I never talked to you just sat in the back of the class and snored. can i have a letter of recommendation?'

 

[Bethany]

I don't post here often, and as of late I don't really have much time to even read, but I have learned some valuable lessons from reading this board.
It seems obvious, but to keep your GPA up early on so that you do not have to play "catch-up" later, and it leaves room for some tough courses in which you may not do so well. Also, to take classes that you actually enjoy even if that means not neccessarily majoring in the sciences, as long as your prerequisites are covered.

I am also 25 and began college for the first time at 24. I plan on completing my bachelors in three years and my number one regret is not taking my sciences early enough to take a Junior year April MCAT. I still have not taken a single science course and due to this fact I will have to take time off between undergrad and med school since my MCAT will be taken a year late.

Also, I have learned to volunteer or get involved in health care somehow so that you can test the waters early on and maybe find a niche that you can enjoy for 3 years that will set you apart during the admissions cycle.

Good luck! 🙂

 

[TexasGuy41]

Hey,

Good for you for making it happen! You should be damn proud of yourself for heading to college, I've got tons of respect for people that do it as an older student.

Some cheap advice thats easy to follow: NERD IT UP and SIT IN THE FRONT of your science classes and get to know the professors real well. This may be easier for some to do (depending on your personality) - but I'm telling you - it'll be great to have a few profs to choose from when you need your recommendations. Remember, you need your recommendations from SCIENCE professors - which will either go to schools directly - or go to your pre-med committee when they write the letter for you. Either way, get to know them. Go to office hours (even if you don't have anything to ask - just think of something.) Don't like harass them or anything, obviously stay within normal social boundaries - but definitely get to know them. Its something you can do regardless of your academic abilities and it will help your application a ton.

Other things: take everything you read here with a grain of salt and NEVER let it get you down. People with 3.9 GPA's and 37 MCATs are definitely out there - but THEY ARE NOT the norm - so don't feel bad if you have much lower stats than that.

Get involved in volunteering EARLY - like NEXT year. It doesn't have to be a bunch of hours each week - I'd do like 3 hrs a week to start. Do it somewhere GHETTO too - med schools like it when they see that you've actually worked with the "real sick" type of patients - rather than in some cushy lab on campus. I'm sure your school has a list of local places to volunteer.

Absolutely NAIL your pre-med classes, and if I were you I wouldn't major in a science. You only need those four classes to apply med school. So take those - get an A in each one of them, and then study something you like that you will do well in. IF that happens to be science then go for it. But if history is your thing, then be a history major and just do the basic science pre-med classes.

Finally, don't forget to relax and live a little. Your process will be a LONG one - and you might as well smile a little along the way. You might get hit by a bus or something the day you get in, so don't forget to have your share of fun!

 

[Krazed_Medic]

hey, good luck! I'm right along with you. I have just completed my second semester of pre-med. It's gonna be a long road, but definately be worth it in the end. Once again, good luck! It should be fun!

 

[sunflower79]

Hi Abstract, welcome!

I too have a great deal of respect for older ppl like you going back to school. I also agree with a lot of the advice given here, including the stuff on:

-not getting caught up with pre-med syndrome. I was afflicted with that too and it actually set me back: I was more caught up in the competitiveness and the crazy rat race that I absolutely hated being a pre-med, one reason I didn't do as well as I could have in college.

-getting to know your professor. Having gone to a large university, doing so is relatively difficult. I don't know what size is your undergrad but since you are older I guess it is not your typical small liberal arts school (if it is, awesome!)

-getting clinical experience. I don't know what kind of exposure to medicine you've received so far, but IMHO it's important not so much for the application as for yourself, so you know what you're getting into (which is the point after all). It's also a great motivator for those o-chem exams 😀

I'll add a couple things:
-do something which you enjoy which is not related to school or medicine in any way. Do it on a regular basis. If you enjoy ultimate, or playing concertos, keep doing it. Not only will it help you when you are applying, but it will keep you balanced. 🙂

-the usual advice about not cramming applies, of course. But really, do try to set a studying routine and learn when and where you study best.

-for the science courses (and math), practice practice practice. Problem sets are the only way you overcome the physics and o-chem (this was the key to my doing well on mcat).

-don't overcommit yourself in school. This is VERY easy to do given the pressures to be superhuman as a premed. Quality of activities always over quantity. I guarantee your academic performance will be compromised. There's this old saying that of academics, social and sleep, you can only choose two out of three, but actually you can really choose only sleep and one other thing (unless you're one of those who don't need much of it). For me, lack of sleep ALWAYS catches up. Then again, I didn't drink coffee in college! 😀

Best of luck. You'll be well ahead now that you've discovered SDN early on!

cheers,
sunflower79

 

[abstract]

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate them all and wish for more responses. I have been reading this site non-stop the last couple days to make sure I know what I am getting myself into, and I guess I do because I already am pre-paring for the cut throat nature of pre-med. Not to get overly involved into it, but preparing myself for the mental toughness ill need over the coming years.

 

[uniqueseraph]

Welcome to SDN!🙂

Start volunteering to make sure medicine is right for you. I'm guessing you won't be used to the science load, so don't overload youself the first semester. You are coming back to college after all. Prioritizing and time management are key. And, keep contacts with people-classmates, profs, etc. It'll all help down the road🙂

 

[Doctor&Geek]

We should probably institute a study for the purposes of getting the word about SDN:

Applicants who visit SDN regularly have an x% increase in acceptance rate to medical school!

Best of luck!

Yours,

 

[spumoni620]

Originally posted by JPaikman
We should probably institute a study for the purposes of getting the word about SDN:

Applicants who visit SDN regularly have an x% increase in acceptance rate to medical school!

Best of luck!

Yours,

This is too true. I do think being an SDN member gives you a tremendous advantage. I stumbled upon this site too and have learned a GREAT deal in just 2-3 months. Definitely visit this site (but don't do it to procrastinate...allow yourself 2 hours of "SDN time" per day or something to prevent becoming addicted...although it will probably happen...)

Awesome that you are going forth w/college. As a somewhat 'late bloomer' myself I know it can be challenging and unnerving to make the leap...but it's worth it...

I'm not really in the position to give much advice since I haven't yet been accepted anywhere...plus I'm new here as well. But in terms of doing well in your classes and getting a high GPA, I do know a lot about that. And a lot of the advice that's been given already is exactly what I did. The one thing that I'd tell anyone taking science courses (what i'm telling my little sister now...) is GET TO KNOW PROFS....not for superficial reasons (i.e. he/she will write great recs, etc....) but because you really DO want to talk to them about latest research, their lecture in class, etc. Most (not all) pre-med professors are very warm and helpful...and can open doors for you as well. I could write pages on how some of my profs have changed my life. But don't worry, I won't....

Best of luck in your new endeavour. I'm sure you'll do great!