I am a sophmore, majoring in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry. I have a 3.8 GPA and am almost 50% done with my degree. I have 51 hours at school. I have almost no hours shadowing but i will start doing that soon. I plan to go ahead and start going over some stuff for the MCAT, would that be totally useless?. i just need to get on the right track of things to make sure I hopefully get into medical school by the time i am 22. Anything would really help. I just need to see what all needs to be done from here on out! I have also heard that sticking to things for long periods of time shows your dedication to certain things rather than changing all the time. Would having the same job for 4 years help?
What are my Chances!!
- Thread starter lore827
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2006
- Messages
- 35,575
- Reaction score
- 15,503
Shadowing, a passive observership, is not an immediate priority, as it can be done at the last minute without consequence. More important would be to start gaining clinical experience, where you volunteer, work, or do clinical research that allows for interaction with sick folks, as 1.5 years for at least 150 hours is average. Nonmedical community service, even if only for 1-2 hours a week is helpful; ideally this would be for a cause you care about. Next on the list is research, for which a year is average, though even a summer's worth is helpful. If you plan to aim for highly selective schools, two years would be better. Leadership and teaching are other activities that strengthen an application.
What is your job?
Thank you so much. I plan on volunteering at a hospital this summer. Right now things are hard. I have two jobs and go to college full time. Time is something that I do not have enough of. However, I will try my best to fit volunteering in. As for research, could you elaborate on that? I am very new to this I am sorry. Thank you so much for your help!
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2006
- Messages
- 35,575
- Reaction score
- 15,503
I am not talking about the type of research you'd do for a term paper. Rather, the kind where a hypothesis is formed, a protocol designed to test it, data collected, and conclusions drawn. You might ask your advisor or past science profs if they know of any labs that could use some help. Research can be done in the basic sciences, or in linguistics, psycholgy, economics, agriculture, in a clinical context with patients, etc. Your goal would be to add to human knowledge. When a lab first takes you on, you start with basic helpful tasks, learning as you go. If you are there long enough, you might eventually get your own project. You can do this as a volunteer, for pay, or for class credit.
