what can I do before undergrad?

[Mokthraka]

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so I wont be able to take most of my classes for a year, but I am incredibly bored and figure I might as well learn something instead of just be bored and watching TV

 

[Josh7]

so I wont be able to take most of my classes for a year, but I am incredibly bored and figure I might as well learn something instead of just be bored and watching TV

Shadow as many doctors as you can.

 

[Juxxtaposition]

so I wont be able to take most of my classes for a year, but I am incredibly bored and figure I might as well learn something instead of just be bored and watching TV

Volunteer at your local hospital, get a part-time job, take classes at a community college, tutor some high school students, get involved with some research, read a book, go to a park, go to some parties, play skyrim. You can seriously do anything.

If you have not started college yet, then it is perfectly okay to relax.

What I would do in your situation is to email a lot of professors at one of the unis closes to you and ask to be an undergraduate research assistant or something like that. In the meanwhile I would start "prestudying" for some classes. You don't need to go overboard, but listen to some lectures online, and do some practice problems.

edit: Josh7's suggestion is great too!

 

[Parklife]

in before "stfu high school student you'll never become a doctor go party and bang bitches!" posts.


Jokes aside, what they said. Get a head start in a different - I'd argue more important way.

 

[gearsofwar3]

if you haven't started undergrad and you want to be pre med, please take these advice.

1) Don't, under ANY circumstances, get yourself into a situation where you'll receive a disciplinary record/criminal arrest. If you have to avoid parties in order to avoid alcohol-related charges, then do so. Be EXTREMELY careful of everything that you do.

2) Just try to do what everyone else is doing. Contrary to popular belief, the best way to get into med school is to do all the cookie-cutter stuff and maintain solid GPA and MCAT. I tried to be unique and majored in music, and that's just say that that didn't turn out well. Also, all of my peers (who are the epitome of cookie-cutter) got into medical school without gap years. They didn't have anything that set them apart, but they didn't have anything that are red flags either.

3) DO NOT have ANY red flags. This includes but are not limited to: disciplinary records (alcohol, theft, fighting, cheating, stealing, noise violations, drug problems, etc), criminal records (arrests, charges, convictions), a pattern of low grades in particular courses (aka all Cs in biology, multiple Ws), etc.

If all you want is to get in somewhere, follow the template below:

GPA: 3.65
MCAT: 32

150 (1.5 years) of hospital volunteer
100 (1 year) of community service
some form of TA/club leadership involvement
some research (could be a single summer)
some shadowing
some other "interesting thing" - a hobby, unique major, etc
some international experience (study abroad, medical trips, etc)

if you follow all of the above and still can't get in, feel free to contact me and i'll give you $500.

 

[Mokthraka]

if you haven't started undergrad and you want to be pre med, please take these advice.

1) Don't, under ANY circumstances, get yourself into a situation where you'll receive a disciplinary record/criminal arrest. If you have to avoid parties in order to avoid alcohol-related charges, then do so. Be EXTREMELY careful of everything that you do.

2) Just try to do what everyone else is doing. Contrary to popular belief, the best way to get into med school is to do all the cookie-cutter stuff and maintain solid GPA and MCAT. I tried to be unique and majored in music, and that's just say that that didn't turn out well. Also, all of my peers (who are the epitome of cookie-cutter) got into medical school without gap years. They didn't have anything that set them apart, but they didn't have anything that are red flags either.

3) DO NOT have ANY red flags. This includes but are not limited to: disciplinary records (alcohol, theft, fighting, cheating, stealing, noise violations, drug problems, etc), criminal records (arrests, charges, convictions), a pattern of low grades in particular courses (aka all Cs in biology, multiple Ws), etc.

I am in school, at a community college. for the most part I am just taking a language and math classes. and maybe psych

I already work fulltime at a hospital. and I have no intention of getting any sort of records. But I do do poorly my first year in college, when I was leaning towords engineering(which I found out I hate)

But I am bored constantly. I have played skyrim like someone said 😛. but I want to learn. I hate not learning things.

I was thinking about maybe listening Khan Academy and semi-watching it while playing games. I figure I will remember something. Mostly I need to learn math, and some chemistry, since I never took it in high school.

 

[gearsofwar3]

skyrim is a **** game...dark souls is much better. i had enough with the whole Elder Scrolls formula after dumping over 100 hrs into oblivion

 

[Mokthraka]

skyrim is a **** game...dark souls is much better. i had enough with the whole Elder Scrolls formula after dumping over 100 hrs into oblivion

haha I enjoy it 😛. and I haven't played it in awhile. I did pick up Kingdom of Amular, but I have only played for like 5 minutes

 

[gearsofwar3]

i heard some good things about kingdom of amalur, especially its superb combat system. i dont hate skyrim per se, but the game is so full of bugs and glitches that it's almost like watching a comedy. and i played it on the PC, the version with supposedly the least amount of problems. i heard that the PS3 version is the worst by far, and based on how the PC version performed...

 

[Mokthraka]

i heard some good things about kingdom of amalur, especially its superb combat system. i dont hate skyrim per se, but the game is so full of bugs and glitches that it's almost like watching a comedy. and i played it on the PC, the version with supposedly the least amount of problems. i heard that the PS3 version is the worst by far, and based on how the PC version performed...

I play it on the Xbox, there aren't to many big bugs. at least not that I can find.

But back on subject! 😀

 

[TheShaker]

I am in school, at a community college. for the most part I am just taking a language and math classes. and maybe psych

I already work fulltime at a hospital. and I have no intention of getting any sort of records. But I do do poorly my first year in college, when I was leaning towords engineering(which I found out I hate)

But I am bored constantly. I have played skyrim like someone said 😛. but I want to learn. I hate not learning things.

I was thinking about maybe listening Khan Academy and semi-watching it while playing games. I figure I will remember something. Mostly I need to learn math, and some chemistry, since I never took it in high school.

Definitely don't do that. You won't be able to learn anything that way. Why not study when you study and play when you play?

I say just work and make money. Pre-studying for college won't really help much.

 

[Mokthraka]

Definitely don't do that. You won't be able to learn anything that way. Why not study when you study and play when you play?

because I remember stuff well. hell, there are a few episodes I can know word for word because I always watched it while playing world of warcraft.

 

[TheShaker]

because I remember stuff well. hell, there are a few episodes I can know word for word because I always watched it while playing world of warcraft.

Math and chemistry are active learning subjects. I highly doubt that you can productively learn anything in those subjects while playing games.

 

[MonkeyDRuffy]

Go to the gym, volunteer in the community, shadow doctors, volunteer at the hospital, join a rec sports league, travel, read, etc. Do something outside that will allow you to enjoy yourself and grow as a person. As long as your spending a lot of time outside go for it!

 

[Mokthraka]

Go to the gym, volunteer in the community, shadow doctors, volunteer at the hospital, join a rec sports league, travel, read, etc. Do something outside that will allow you to enjoy yourself and grow as a person. As long as your spending a lot of time outside go for it!

I know all that :/

But still, I dont learn anything... well I do. but I dont start school for 2 months. I hate having any down time and all my friends are either already at there schools or in the military. What do I have to do to shadow? I have heard you just cold call.

also, when people say gunner here, what do they mean?

 

[ShenanigansMD]

I know all that :/

But still, I dont learn anything... well I do. but I dont start school for 2 months. I hate having any down time and all my friends are either already at there schools or in the military. What do I have to do to shadow? I have heard you just cold call.

You could try the lukewarm call, by asking your primary care doc if he knows anybody.

 

[MonkeyDRuffy]

I know all that :/

But still, I dont learn anything... well I do. but I dont start school for 2 months. I hate having any down time and all my friends are either already at there schools or in the military. What do I have to do to shadow? I have heard you just cold call.

also, when people say gunner here, what do they mean?

I guess it varies. Cold calling is one thing, if you know any MD's or have some connections they could arrange something for you. If you have volunteered at a Hospital, check if they offer any shadowing. For me, my university had a job shadowing program which is how I get my foot in the game, so to speak. As for learning, what do you want to learn? Try this website: https://www.coursera.org/ Also khan academy is great resource as well.

 

[Mokthraka]

You could try the lukewarm call, by asking your primary care doc if he knows anybody.

I dont have a doctor at the moment. I guess I will ask my supervisors at the hospital.

is there a point on shadowing you hit where it doesn't matter if you get more hours, or is more always better?

 

[Nymphicus]

is there a point on shadowing you hit where it doesn't matter if you get more hours, or is more always better?

In my opinion, after 80-100 hours there's diminishing returns. It might be good to see if you can shadow more than one doctor as well.

 

[ur2l8]

Read some good books
Work out
Pray