The perfect pre-med?

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yoonjb

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  1. Pre-Health (Field Undecided)
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What is the perfect pre-med? By perfect, I don't mean having a perfect GPA and MCAT scores.

I mean an applicant who would get this sort of reaction @ Harvard or Johns Hopkins after an admissions officer reads his application: "This applicant would make an exceptional doctor. No need to discuss further - he or she is accepted."

I am asking this question because I have seen the really low acceptance rates to the top medical schools, for example, UCLA medical school accepts only 4% of applicants!

I am also aware that top students with regard to numbers (For example, a student with a 3.9 GPAs, 38+ MCAT, research, clinical experience) get rejected also. I'm confident that I can get a 3.9 GPA and a 38+ MCAT score - I have always done well in class and on standardized tests. However, I'm not too sure if I have the right personality or a calling for medicine that comes from the deepest part of my heart...and I don't want to pretend that I do if I find that I really don't.

1) What would be the acceptance rates at top med schools for applicants with numbers like those mentioned in the last sentence? (Hopefully substantially higher than 4%!!!)
2) For applicants like those mentioned above, why are they rejected? (Is it an issue of a lack of character, compassion? I think a big reason could be that the applicant comes across as disingenuous, fake, contrived)???

Thanks! I'm a freshman at UCLA and I want to learn more about what it really takes to be a doctor and a competitive med school applicant?
 
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Get a pizza and beer stat. and good luck with college, i wish i was a freshman again.
 
come back when you have a 3.9 GPA and a 38+ MCAT and i'll let you know.
 
yoonjb said:
What is the perfect pre-med? By perfect, I don't mean having a perfect GPA and MCAT scores.

I mean an applicant who would get this sort of reaction @ Harvard or Johns Hopkins after an admissions officer reads his application: "This applicant would make an exceptional doctor. No need to discuss further - he or she is accepted."

I am asking this question because I have seen the really low acceptance rates to the top medical schools, for example, UCLA medical school accepts only 4% of applicants!

I am also aware that top students with regard to numbers (For example, a student with a 3.9 GPAs, 38+ MCAT, research, clinical experience) get rejected also. I'm confident that I can get a 3.9 GPA and a 38+ MCAT score - I have always done well in class and on standardized tests. However, I'm not too sure if I have the right personality or a calling for medicine that comes from the deepest part of my heart...and I don't want to pretend that I do if I find that I really don't.

1) What would be the acceptance rates at top med schools for applicants with numbers like those mentioned in the last sentence? (Hopefully substantially higher than 4%!!!)
2) For applicants like those mentioned above, why are they rejected? (Is it an issue of a lack of character, compassion? I think a big reason could be that the applicant comes across as disingenuous, fake, contrived)???

Thanks! I'm a freshman at UCLA and I want to learn more about what it really takes to be a doctor and a competitive med school applicant?
Click to expand...
Start with shadowing early, and get experience just seeing the medical field. That should give you at least some idea of what medicine is like, and whether or not you'd have the heart or the character for it. It also looks pretty good on an application for the same reason.
 
yoonjb said:
What is the perfect pre-med? By perfect, I don't mean having a perfect GPA and MCAT scores.

I mean an applicant who would get this sort of reaction @ Harvard or Johns Hopkins after an admissions officer reads his application: "This applicant would make an exceptional doctor. No need to discuss further - he or she is accepted."

I am asking this question because I have seen the really low acceptance rates to the top medical schools, for example, UCLA medical school accepts only 4% of applicants!

I am also aware that top students with regard to numbers (For example, a student with a 3.9 GPAs, 38+ MCAT, research, clinical experience) get rejected also. I'm confident that I can get a 3.9 GPA and a 38+ MCAT score - I have always done well in class and on standardized tests. However, I'm not too sure if I have the right personality or a calling for medicine that comes from the deepest part of my heart...and I don't want to pretend that I do if I find that I really don't.

1) What would be the acceptance rates at top med schools for applicants with numbers like those mentioned in the last sentence? (Hopefully substantially higher than 4%!!!)
2) For applicants like those mentioned above, why are they rejected? (Is it an issue of a lack of character, compassion? I think a big reason could be that the applicant comes across as disingenuous, fake, contrived)???

Thanks! I'm a freshman at UCLA and I want to learn more about what it really takes to be a doctor and a competitive med school applicant?
Click to expand...

No offense but this sounds awfully naive (not that this type of stuff isnt tossed around on SDN all the time). Pursue your interests, exceed, be unique. There is no "perfect" premed. And certainly dont bank anything on a 38+ MCAT until you consistently score that and higher on practice tests.
 
yoonjb said:
I'm confident that I can get a 3.9 GPA and a 38+ MCAT score - I have always done well in class and on standardized tests.
Click to expand...

Yah, well I was confident I would have a 4.0 GPA and a 42 on the MCAT. It does not always turn out that way.
 
yoonjb said:
Thanks! I'm a freshman at UCLA and I want to learn more about what it really takes to be a doctor and a competitive med school applicant?
Click to expand...

Considering our classes start on the 25th of this month, I say relax.... you are 😱
 
daniellema13 said:
No offense but this sounds awfully naive (not that this type of stuff isnt tossed around on SDN all the time). Pursue your interests, exceed, be unique. There is no "perfect" premed. And certainly dont bank anything on a 38+ MCAT until you consistently score that and higher on practice tests.
Click to expand...

👍
 
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Learn to have fun with what you're doing, be it studying, shadowing, volunteering. Its also important to have fun with the people you're doing these things because if you don't you might end up being the doctor that no one wants to be around.

Also, in referral to the number crunching thats always around SND:
Whats more important to you: saving the lives of 150 people or the saving of each life?
 
yoonjb said:
What is the perfect pre-med? By perfect, I don't mean having a perfect GPA and MCAT scores.

I mean an applicant who would get this sort of reaction @ Harvard or Johns Hopkins after an admissions officer reads his application: "This applicant would make an exceptional doctor. No need to discuss further - he or she is accepted."
Click to expand...

The perfect pre-med is probably someone who has already graduated med school, completed residency, and has been practicing medicine for 10 years. That way the adcom could say "Well, I'm pretty sure this guy is cut out for medicine, but we'd better interview him just in case. Be sure to ask him what he thinks of abortion/physician assisted suicide/politics."
 
LossForWords said:
The perfect pre-med is probably someone who has already graduated med school, completed residency, and has been practicing medicine for 10 years. That way the adcom could say "Well, I'm pretty sure this guy is cut out for medicine, but we'd better interview him just in case. Be sure to ask him what he thinks of abortion/physician assisted suicide/politics."
Click to expand...

That reminds me of a post by PandaBear. He said something like, "At some point in the future, applicants to med school in the US will be required to have a medical degree from a developing country."
 
yoonjb said:
I'm confident that I can get a 3.9 GPA and a 38+ MCAT score - I have always done well in class and on standardized tests.
Click to expand...

Freshman year, we could do everything those days🙄. I remember i was certain that i was going to work 40hrs/wk and maintain a 15 crds course load.

Also, UCLA is an Ivy league????

Look dude, volunteer early, start shadowing early, and try to do good in classes. Thats all i can say.
 
  1. Find some 21+ friends who will buy you beer.
  2. Give them $50 for four 30 packs of Keystone Light.
  3. Invite as many girls as you can find over.
  4. GL
 
Calm the eff down
Take classes that interest and inspire you
Make friends that you enjoy spending time with
Sleep 7-9 hours each night
Pursue the subjects and questions that you find appealing
Shadow a couple of physicians and decide if you want to pursue medicine.
 
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The perfect Premed is an intelligent and dedicated individual without a stick up their ass, unlike most of them.
 
ChubbyChaser said:
The perfect Premed is an intelligent and dedicated individual without a stick up their ass, unlike most of them.
Click to expand...

Intelligent...Check. Dedicated...Check. Oh no! what if I have a stick up my ass? I shadowed a surgen for over 100 hours that removed sticks; is this good enough? Should I weave this into my personal statement just so the adcomm knows I that I know the value of having a stickless ass?

How would the prefect premed compensate for this flaw in their application?

Seriously though, I agree with the rest of the posters. Get involved, have fun, study hard, waste a bunch of time with friends, worry about your grades, and then accept that your application is not perfect. Believe me once in a while I wish I never recieved a "B', but then I remember all the good memories I have and know that those "B" were a fair price.

Also, maybe in a year or two you will decide you enjoy something more than medicine. Imagine, what a waste all that stress would be if that happened without enjoying the experience.
 
personally, i think we'd all like to be the "perfect premed." but i don't think that one standard out there exists. if you have the passion and the drive, you'll get there. if you don't really have the passion, but you have the drive... well, i'd question where your motivations come from. why do you REALLY want to be a doctor? if you find real inspiration, you'll have "what it takes" to be a doctor. thousands of people can go through the motions... only a few really care. where do you lie? life isn't about being a doctor, getting good scores, or whatever. it's about pursuing your passions and interests. find out what you really like to do.
 
Stanford is not an ivy. All ivy refers to is a LEAGUE. Like the PAC-10, Big-10, WAC, SEC, whatever.

and 3.9+, 38+? troll much?
 
Here's an equally answerless - but perhaps less thought - of question:

Is there a perfect admissions committee?

😕

Everybody is human, and most opinions are ultimately, subjective. There are plenty of limits in the field of medicine - that doesnt have to exclude what some people sitting at a table say - and while there is always work to be done, nothing is perfect, and nothing is guaranteed.

Keep an open mind - but engage it. If you want to read Plato, or take 5 years off after school to work regular jobs and reflect on your life, go for it.

But dont worry so much about what other people think of you. 🙂

just my thoughts!
 
PremedIowa said:
  1. Find some 21+ friends who will buy you beer.
  2. Give them $50 for four 30 packs of Keystone Light.
  3. Invite as many girls as you can find over.
  4. GL
Click to expand...

seconded. dude, just wait until you move into the dorms :hardy: put yo' party hat on!
 
yoonjb said:
I'm confident that I can get a 3.9 GPA and a 38+ MCAT score - I have always done well in class and on standardized tests.
Click to expand...

Your confidence will soon be shattered. If I recall correctly, a 38+ on the MCAT is in the top 99th percentile. You cannot just start college expecting to rule the classroom much like you did in high school. College is a different animal. The MCAT is not just like the SAT or ACT, it will turn you upside down. I promise.

Come back in three years and tell us what you make. That is, if the LHC doesnt kill us in the next few weeks.
 
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OP, if you ask me, the perfect premed is not a cookie-cutter individual. Which unfortunately, makes it impossible to tell you what to do. I haven't shadowed much at all and hardly have any clinical experience, but I've shown dedication to medicine in other ways. Now, I am in no way saying that i'm a perfect premed (I'm far from it), but I've been doing pretty well so far.
If you want to impress a Harvard or Hopkins committee member, then you've got to do some extraordinary things. I mean jaw-dropping things. So spend some time figuring out what those things are, see if the ideas make some jaws drop, and then do then. Oh, little side note, get a 3.9 and 38 at the same time.
 
The perfect pre-med is one who does not announce to the world that s/he is pre-med at every opportunity s/he gets.
 
i am the perfect premed. While taking the MCAT, I delivered a baby during the breaks.
 
yoonjb said:
I'm not too sure if I have the right personality or a calling for medicine that comes from the deepest part of my heart...and I don't want to pretend that I do if I find that I really don't.
Click to expand...

You need to answer this question for yourself before you worry about anything else.
 
Phillykid162 said:
Theoretically, the LHC might have destroyed us and that reality has branched off into another separate parallel universe.

</ nothing to do with topic>
Click to expand...

Nice point phillykid; now someone is thinking scientifically. :laugh:

.end thread-jack.
 
Find something you enjoy that is peripherally related to medicine. Excel in it.


...Then twiddle your thumbs while a 38+ MCAT and 4.0 GPA fall into your lap
 
Much of the admissions process is subjective, and someone who may seem like a "perfect applicant" to one adcom member may seem less than ideal to another. I doubt that there is any one type of person who would appeal to everyone equally. For example, one interviewer may love confident applicants, while another interviewer may find them arrogant. Even if the applicant has perfect stats, tons of experience, etc...they still won't appeal to that second interviewer.

The best way to become the "perfect applicant" is to do well on the things that go down on paper (MCAT, GPA, shadowing, etc) and pray that your interviewers like you. In other words...it's all skill and sweat mixed with luck.
 
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