What should I do with my summer?

[hookemhorns123]

Hello! I’m currently a sophomore pre-med student majoring in Neuroscience and Health and Society. I’m about to start the summer between my sophomore and junior years of undergrad. I’ve been given two opportunities for the summer, and I can only really choose one route to go with. I’ve been pretty torn on this decision for the past few days, so I’d appreciate guidance on what you all think would be the best choice for maximizing my chances of medical school admission.

Route 1
I’ve been accepted as a tour guide for the admissions center of my college. This is something I do feel pretty passionate about, since I’ve always loved the idea of welcoming prospective students and families to our campus. It’s a part-time paid position which would allow me to also spend time engaging in clinical volunteering, shadowing positions, and MCAT preparation as well. The only thing is, I’m not sure how admirable the tour guide position would look to Med School admissions committees.

Route 2
I’ve also been accepted to a full-time research internship in my hometown focused on biotechnology. As a Neuroscience major, this is also something I’m really passionate about since the field of biotechnology is really innovative and can have outstanding implications on human experience. If I take on this role, I would have time to study for the MCAT, but probably not enough time to pursue clinical volunteering and clinical shadowing experiences. I’m pretty sure this opportunity would look great on Med School applications, but the drawback is that it’s really time-consuming.

Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed with this? I’ve honestly been torn over this decision for the past few days, so any guidance would be appreciated. Just for reference, these are how many hours I have in clinical volunteering and shadowing so far

Clinical Volunteering: ~ 180 hours
Clinical Shadowing: ~65 hours in Family Medicine and ~ 20 hours in Cardiology
Current Research Experience: Working on qualitative research for a med school's Department of Family Medicine since summer of 2020, and working on clinical research for a med school's Department of Orthopedic Surgery since Fall of 2020. Both of these experiences have primarily involved virtually reviewing data-sets due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This summer internship would be my first opportunity to engage in wet-lab research in-person.

Thanks in advance!

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[LizzyM]

If you have a strong GPA at this point (particularly if you've taken o-chem and done well), and you are hoping to attend a top research school, then resesarch experience the summer after sophomore year is a good choice. Having time to study for the MCAT is a bonus and not to be discounted.

Being a tour guide is not going to impress adcoms. You have enough clinical exposure and shadowing such that adding more, but not having research, will not boost your application. While you don't want to just check the boxes, there is something to be said for checking all the boxes.

You mentioned that the tour guide position would be paid employment. Is the research internship paid or do you get college credit for it or something else? If you really need the income to survive and only one of the options is paid, then you know what you need to do.

 

[hookemhorns123]

Thank you for your helpful response! I definitely see what you're saying. Just for background (sorry, I should have included this in the original post), I do have clinical research experience in the fields of Family Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery. However, this experience has primarily been virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has mostly involved me reviewing data-sets and such. This summer research internship offer is my first opportunity to engage in wet-lab research in-person. I am fortunate to say that I have a pretty strong GPA at this point (>3.95) and am almost done with o-chem (A in o-chem 1, and *fingers crossed for the final* in o-chem 2). I am really interested in attending a research institution!

Also, I forgot to mention that both the tour-guide position and research internship is paid employment. I am lucky to say that I don't need the income to survive, but having it is definitely a bonus haha!

Thanks again for your help! It definitely seems from your response that going with the research internship in biotechnology would be the wiser route.

 

[LindaAccepted]

Hello! I’m currently a sophomore pre-med student majoring in Neuroscience and Health and Society. I’m about to start the summer between my sophomore and junior years of undergrad. I’ve been given two opportunities for the summer, and I can only really choose one route to go with. I’ve been pretty torn on this decision for the past few days, so I’d appreciate guidance on what you all think would be the best choice for maximizing my chances of medical school admission.

Route 1
I’ve been accepted as a tour guide for the admissions center of my college. This is something I do feel pretty passionate about, since I’ve always loved the idea of welcoming prospective students and families to our campus. It’s a part-time paid position which would allow me to also spend time engaging in clinical volunteering, shadowing positions, and MCAT preparation as well. The only thing is, I’m not sure how admirable the tour guide position would look to Med School admissions committees.

Route 2
I’ve also been accepted to a full-time research internship in my hometown focused on biotechnology. As a Neuroscience major, this is also something I’m really passionate about since the field of biotechnology is really innovative and can have outstanding implications on human experience. If I take on this role, I would have time to study for the MCAT, but probably not enough time to pursue clinical volunteering and clinical shadowing experiences. I’m pretty sure this opportunity would look great on Med School applications, but the drawback is that it’s really time-consuming.

Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed with this? I’ve honestly been torn over this decision for the past few days, so any guidance would be appreciated. Just for reference, these are how many hours I have in clinical volunteering and shadowing so far

Clinical Volunteering: ~ 180 hours
Clinical Shadowing: ~65 hours in Family Medicine and ~ 20 hours in Cardiology
Current Research Experience: Working on qualitative research for a med school's Department of Family Medicine since summer of 2020, and working on clinical research for a med school's Department of Orthopedic Surgery since Fall of 2020. Both of these experiences have primarily involved virtually reviewing data-sets due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This summer internship would be my first opportunity to engage in wet-lab research in-person.

Thanks in advance!

I'd say go with Route 2. You have clinical and can (and should) get more during your junior year. Just make sure that this position will still allow you the time you need to do well on the MCAT. Have a great summer!

 

[proudofmykids]

#2!