What you wish you had done differently

[UCIPMED]

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Hey guys. I am only a second year so I was wondering if you guys who are applying now had any thoughts on things you wish you had done differently as a pre-med, pre-application time. I'm doing all the research, volunteering, keeping up the grades, etc I can, but are there things you guys never even thought would help/hurt your chances that you wish you could go back and do/undo? Thanks for all your help.

 

[darkcity998]

get your recommendations after taking your classes!

many of mine have retired or moved to another university. i wasn't able to get a rec from my TA'ing and holding office hours.
or, it's just awkward sometimes to ask a professor if they remember me.

 

[Adapt]

I would have scored higher on my MCAT.

 

[Heal&Teach]

Higher score on MCAT (try to do it right the first time)

More research experience (only have a 7-wk bench experience and a semester of social/behavioral research)

More specific volunteer experience (lots of varied volunteerism, one shot deals, no long term i.e., beyond a couple of month, experiences)

Add: And get your transcripts in early for AMCAS

 

[lisa13579]

Is there anything you are good at or enjoy that you have put on hold for premed stuff? A talent like music or art for example might help you to stand out as long as your other stuff is good (grades, MCAT, volunteering, etc.)

 

[spumoni620]

i would have spent less time and stress studying for the mcat. i was so nervous when i was studying for the mcat that i basically committed myself to no life and hours of studying each day for 6 months. yuck. 🙁 to the extent that i let other relationships and priorities in life suffer. even with all that studying, i still didn't do quite as well as i'd wanted. yes, it's important to study and all, but i think it's important (for your sanity) to stay calm and have fun even during the terrible study period. i would also have taken the week (or at least 2-3 days) off before the exam and gotten a good night's rest. 🙂

 

[efex101]

Here is what I did and it helped a lot:

1. Submit AMCAS ASAP specially if you took the April MCAT.

2. Have all envelopes ready to go for your LOR writers with their return address and the medical school address and the stamps. So all they have to do is put the LOR inside and send it. I went with an envelope to the post office and put about three pieces of paper in it and had them weight it and price it. I bought all the stamps and everything went perfect.

3. Know your LOR writers well. Meaning, get to know your professors know w/o being a pest. So when they do write the letter it is very personal because they know you well.

4. Send in secondaries ASAP, my return time was immediate no longer than three days. It proved to work, I was getting interview invites as early as August.

5. Get involved in something meaningful to you soon in undergrad do not wait until the last minute just to put it on AMCAS. Adcoms are not stupid.

6. Get clinical experience early on as well, so you know that this is the right choice for you and you can speak about your motivation during interviews.

7. Do well in school period, no excuses. One or two bad grades is okay but get good grades.

8. If you would like to go to a top ten school research does help. Think about it.

 

[PreMedPoohBear]

I'm not applying this year, but I'm in my second year of undergraduate too and just wanted to say that it's really no point in trying to think about things you would have changed. Though I haven't been in this process as long as all those who are applying this year, I already know that you can't take back what you've done. You can only try to move on and improve. Too much time is spent on "what could have beens". Just do what you can to be a strong applicant, and do things that you enjoy in the process.

 

[mosfet]

I regret that I wasn't a premed.....I would have had a much easier time. I ended up doing engineering and messin' up my gpa (3.2). Now I am paying for it.

Unfortunately, I didn't plan on becoming a doctor until later into my college career.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Even as Junior who hasn't yet applied to med school, I wish I had started doing volunteering and EC's freshman year, instead of waiting until after sophomore year.

 

[thackl]

Originally posted by mosfet
I regret that I wasn't a premed.....I would have had a much easier time. I ended up doing engineering and messin' up my gpa (3.2). Now I am paying for it.

Unfortunately, I didn't plan on becoming a doctor until later into my college career.

I'm glad I wasn't a pre-med. Are you studying microelectronics?

 

[XCanadianRagwee]

I would have picked my butt and nose. 🙄

 

[evines]

Great question.
I wish I would have found out about SDN earlier.
I wish I would have kissed up to my profs more so I could get LOR's.
I wish I would have researched what LOR's different schools want. I assumed just about all wanted 2 science, 1 non-science, but NOT true. I had to scramble after receiving secondaries.
I wish I would have done all of the things you are already doing, so keep it up. I made the pre-med decision late (end of sophomore year), and have been racing to catch up ever since.
Last, I wish I wouldn't have worried so much. Yes, this process is hard, but worrying just makes it harder. If it's meant to be, it will be. But it's still up to me, you see. Gee. No more rhymes now. I mean it . . .

 

[mosfet]

Originally posted by thackl
I'm glad I wasn't a pre-med. Are you studying microelectronics?

Well, its not like I don't like engineering....infact I really enjoyed the classes but I just don't see my practicing engineering for the rest of my life.

And yes, I am a EE graduate, specialized in Analog and microelectronic circuits.

 

[AverageMan]

I wish I had taken an MCAT prep course. I did ok studying on my own, but if the course could have squeezed 2-3 more points onto my score it would have definately been worth it.

 

[Tbonez]

The school I was originally applying to requested evaluation forms instead of actual LOR's from the undergrad prof's, pre-med committee. Other schools I applied to later were more preferential to actual letters, which I didn't have. I ended up getting interviews anyway due to a high GPA, MCAT, and great clinical exp. However, it was the one thing I was worried about the most.

 

[pyau03]

I regreted doing a double major in Bio and Econ. Should have made up my mind and decide on one instead of spreading myself thin. Just my two cents.

 

[oldtimer]

Definitely submit your AMCAS and do your secondaries as fast as humanly possible. If you do that, then you might be lucky enough to be sitting on multiple acceptances by this time.

 

[Radiohead67]

I wish i would have not taken a kaplan mcat review course. I did terrible on the MCAT the first time and scored much better studying on my own the second time.
I also regret being a biology major. If i had known my first two years of college that I could have been a Music or English major and still gone to medical school i would have done that.

 

[metabolite]

1. I wish I wouldn't have killed my grades with overloaded science classes
2. Any classes that I did below C, I should have repeated (like...Gen Chem I! duh)
3. When applying to medical school after being out of undergrad for over 7 years, I should have first checked my pre-med committee whether they would update my letter rather than asking my grad professors for individual letters directly to schools (gor messy)

 

[BubbleWand1]

I'm a junior and took the August MCAT's and planning on retaking them in April to get about 3-4 points higher...even just looking back at the past two and a half years...

- get involved earlier - no one really realizes until middle of sophomore year what it is you really need to do, at least i didn't...volunteer, get clinical experience at a hospital, get yourself out there

- don't put your life on hold for the mcats or med school admissions...this is your time to have fun...yes, you must get good grades and you must do well on the mcats, but don't be neurotic about it because you will be a doctor regardless 🙂

 

[funkless]

1. Send your transcripts in BEFORE your MCAT scores are reported.

2. Ride your recommenders like Zorro.

3. Pay heed to that whole "life outside school" thing. You shouldn't have to
track down a hobby late in the game.

4. Yeah, do well on your MCATs. But you'd be surprised how little they
matter when you have lots of other stuff to offer.

5. Learn Spanish.



The first two, I didn't do. I wish I had. The other two are pretty intuitive. Good luck, and don't believe anything you read on the SDN! 😎

--Funkless

 

[efex101]

Yes, listen to Funkless about the transcripts. I had those submitted like three times from about the beginning of May until the end of May because they kept telling me that they had not received them. So for sure submit all transcripts ASAP specially those military folks! make sure that you send in AARTS (Army) and SMART (Navy) because if not they will not even start going over your application at AMCAS.

 

[acab]

Efex,

You're a great applicant and got accepted to 9 so far (and more to come) based on all your accomplishments. Despite of many say, I believe your ethnicity/race did not get you these acceptances. Your hard work did! I know lots of URMs with good numbers (not excellent) that have not even interviewed anywhere. More power to you!
On my part, I'd be elated to have you in my class. We need more mature premeds (and I don't mean age).

 

[Md 2b In TN]

Originally posted by UCIPMED
Hey guys. I am only a second year so I was wondering if you guys who are applying now had any thoughts on things you wish you had done differently as a pre-med, pre-application time. I'm doing all the research, volunteering, keeping up the grades, etc I can, but are there things you guys never even thought would help/hurt your chances that you wish you could go back and do/undo? Thanks for all your help.

1) Taken the MCAT in APril....once maybe twice. Not 3 times in August

2) Not taken a semester off

3) Taken less B's when just a litlle more effort would have gotten me an A.

4) Party alot more