Where to go from here

[freedoctor17]

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[Catalystik]

I'm currently a sophomore at a pretty academically challenging undergraduate university and I just wanted to get some advice on what else I need to do because my Pre-Med adviser hasn't been very helpful.

First a summary of what I do have: I currently have a 4.0 and should be ending this semester with a 4.0 completing orgo 1, physics 1, and most of my other basic requirements like bio (general cells and protein, genes, evolution and ecology, and development and physiology are the titles of the three bios I've taken so far) and gen chem. My problem lies in the fact that I only have about 100 hours of volunteering in a hospital, another couple hundred in an after school teaching program (though I know clinical is more important) so far and literally no research experience. I have pretty strong EC though, in multiple clubs and on exec board for one of them as well as a TA for gen chem at my university.

My dilemma is I know research is pretty important and volunteering even more than that but I was wondering if it was ok to push those off until junior year. Next semester I'll be completing all my premed requirements and taking the mcat over the summer so junior and senior year will be more relaxed. Would it be ok to wait until then to start doing research and get more volunteering in? It's not that I don't enjoy it but I can't seem to find time to do anymore on top of everything else without risking lowering my gpa.

I have gotten interest from a couple labs to start researching over winter break but I don't want to start only to bale on them as soon as the spring semester starts again. Do you guys think I should just wait until after I take the mcat this summer? I'm a bit worried because I know labs prefer younger students if they have no experience because they'll be there for longer.

It's sad because I really was interested in doing a research oriented med school program so maybe I should have placed more effort into getting research experience instead of keeping my gpa up 🙁

GPA should remain your first priority.

For general application purposes, a year (and often less) of research involvement would be fine. For highly-selective research-oriented schools, more would be desirable. If you are ambitious, you might consider waiting to apply until after you complete your senior year when you'd have two years to report.

 

[freedoctor17]

GPA should remain your first priority.

For general application purposes, a year (and often less) of research involvement would be fine. For highly-selective research-oriented schools, more would be desirable. If you are ambitious, you might consider waiting to apply until after you complete your senior year when you'd have two years to report.

Ok thanks, so you think I'm fine for focusing on gpa first? I always thought of it in the way that I couldn't change my gpa later but I could always do more research and volunteering. I'd really like to avoid a gap year though so if it won't be possible to get into a research oriented school I'd be completely fine with going with a general 4 year MD programs. I was planning on applying to both and seeing where to go from there.

Do you know how much research experience I'd need for a chance at those types of schools? I'd be able to dedicate lots of time over junior year as well as the summer of junior year and hopefully make some progress before applications.

 

[Catalystik]

1) so you think I'm fine for focusing on gpa first? I always thought of it in the way that I couldn't change my gpa later but I could always do more research and volunteering. I'd really like to avoid a gap year though so if it won't be possible to get into a research oriented school I'd be completely fine with going with a general 4 year MD programs. I was planning on applying to both and seeing where to go from there.

2) Do you know how much research experience I'd need for a chance at those types of schools? I'd be able to dedicate lots of time over junior year as well as the summer of junior year and hopefully make some progress before applications.

1) Yes, your reasoning is correct. It's much harder to repair a low GPA than it is to add missing ECs.
2) Two years or more of research where you have some decision-making capacity is best for research-oriented schools, with evidence of productivity, like posters, presentations, or publications.

It would be a mistake to delay one's application until completing a summer of research. The decrease in chances from a "late" application would not be outweighed by the extra three months of research. Plan to submit your application by early June if possible.

 

[freedoctor17]

1) Yes, your reasoning is correct. It's much harder to repair a low GPA than it is to add missing ECs.
2) Two years or more of research where you have some decision-making capacity is best for research-oriented schools, with evidence of productivity, like posters, presentations, or publications.

It would be a mistake to delay one's application until completing a summer of research. The decrease in chances from a "late" application would not be outweighed by the extra three months of research. Plan to submit your application by early June if possible.

Ok thanks a lot! (Edit: 2 years worth actually possible now so I'm considering these again)

 

[freedoctor17]

(deleted)

 

[freedoctor17]

Not sure if edits bump threads back up so just wanted to say I updated this with a bit of a changed scenario if anyone has some input please share!

 

[Catalystik]

Not sure if edits bump threads back up so just wanted to say I updated this with a bit of a changed scenario if anyone has some input please share!

How many hours of total clinical experience will you have by next June? How about shadowing?

Have you taken any full-length timed practice MCATs yet, and how did that go?

Otherwise, you're doing a fine job of developing your ECs. Do you have plans for upper-level science coursework during junior year? What?

 

[freedoctor17]

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[Catalystik]

1) I should have a little over 100 hours of clinical volunteering. Honestly I enjoy my other volunteering activities a lot more and I don't want to stop doing them just to get more in the hospital so will probably do once a week for 2-3 hours and then more frequently over winter break.

2) Shadowing not including doctors who are family friends I'd say potentially around 40+ hours? I wouldn't mind sacrificing a bit of time elsewhere for shadowing as the few hours I have were interesting and felt actually useful. Was hoping to shadow a doctor twice a week for a couple weeks around 3 hours at a time then maybe find a new doctor to shadow and get a feel for different areas.

3) I have taken 6 FL exams now and one of them was an AAMC one. I scored 519 on the AAMC exam 1 but I know that it's considered much easier than the real thing. My highest kaplan score was 513 so that might be more representative. I'll still be taking the AAMC sample test and FL2 closer to my exam date.

4) Junior year I'll be taking some upper level chemistry classes to complete my chemistry BA... honors pchem, analytical chem, analytical chem lab, a biochemistry lab, pchem 2 in the spring, and maybe inorganic chemistry (though many people at my school have told me I'm crazy for considering the last one).

1) I'd consider 100 hours barely adequate. Might you consider changing departments so as to experience another aspect of hospital volunteerig?

2) Again, I consider 40 hours to be a bare minimum. If you formally shadowed family friends, it's fine to include those hours, just so long as you don't ask one of them for a LOR. Ideally, one of the docs on your shadowing list is in primary care.

3) Sounds promising.

4) Remember that GPA is your primary consideration. Don't overdo it.

 

[freedoctor17]

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[Catalystik]

1) If I include family friends that I shadowed I'd be closer to 60 hours which I guess isn't much more. For volunteering I guess I will see if I can change departments, thanks! If I did twice a week I could probably get closer to 200+ hours especially if I do a lot over winter break. Would that be a better number? I just hate the fact that I'm doing it to get numbers for my application. The other volunteering I feel like actually makes a difference so it'll suck if I have to cut back on it to fit in more in the hospital.

2) I get that volunteering in the hospital is important to get interactions with patients but more often than not I felt like I was just bothering them while they were trying to rest.

3)Thanks! I'm hoping I can get at least a 515 on the real thing to stay at least a bit above the average at most of the schools I've been looking at.

4)If I take inorganic it'll be during my senior year after applications are sent and I won't have much of a heavy load. I really enjoy chem and like to think I'm rather good at it (at least on paper) so I'm fairly certain I'll be fine with pchem and achem. But yes I'll make sure to not overdo it especially so I can still have time for everything else. I'm taking a little less credits overall this semester so I can fit in all the extra stuff I'm behind on.

5) Also side note for volunteering, the hospital I go to uses a sign in system and the system crashed half way through the summer so we couldn't log our hours. In reality i have closer to 70 but the system is only showing 49.5 of them. I'm sure the head of our volunteer department could vouch for that if needed though, just wasn't sure how much of a difference it would make so might just be more convenient to report the amount listed.

1) I'm happy with 50 hours of shadowing and 150 of active clinical experience, which are about the averages listed by applicants.

2) I'm hoping that you might talk with other volunteers and find that a different hospital department provides more satisfying patient interaction.

5) Can you explore whether providing your personal records to the volunteer office might allow them to repopulate their data and correct it?

 

[freedoctor17]

Thanks a lot for all the help! Felt very lost at the start of sophomore year trying to plan things out and so many people on here have helped me figure things out!

 

[Catalystik]

Those sound very reasonable, I could definitely get that amount without having to compromise other things too much. If anything I could easily get 50 hours of volunteering and 20 of shadowing over winter break alone though I was hoping for a little vacation after this long summer 🙂

I actually have a friend who volunteers in the children's department of the hospital and it sounds like something I would enjoy more. Children may enjoy having someone there more than adults as well so I'll talk to them more and see if I can switch over to that department thanks!

I think they could probably manually correct it in the system. We also have a paper sign in sheet for the different rooms and patients we visit so it's all still recorded there just not online. I'll look into that when I start back up again this semester.

Thanks a lot for all the help! Felt very lost at the start of sophomore year trying to plan things out and so many people on here have helped me figure things out!

We're happy to help. Good luck with the hospital department transfer. I hope it brings back more enthusiasm for being of service to patients.

 

[freedoctor17]

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[Catalystik]

My GPA and MCAT are both great and all my EC's and stuff. I still have spring semester and my senior year of classes to take.

Should I take classes to help me prep for med school or would it be ok to take completely random classes I'm interested in (want to take some upper level math classes). I get this comes down to personal choice, but how much of a difference to some classes (like anatomy for example) actually help having taken it before getting to med school.

Another thing to consider is some of the math classes are pretty much guaranteed B's (at least one of the four I want to take) but the professors are well liked and I really would rather change things up a little rather than taking all science courses again considering that's what I'll be doing in med school.

You don't want to apply with a downward grade trend, so be careful to vet classes/professors carefully before signing on for either of the below options, or a mix of the two.

Anatomy probably won't help much unless you take it the term just before med school starts. IMO, getting a good foundation in other upper-level courses will help the MS-1 year go more smoothly, though, like Physiology, Cell Biology, and Genetics, as well as Immunology, Virology, and Embryology.

It's also fine to take completely random classes, as it will be a long time before you can indulge in an interest about another field.

 

[freedoctor17]

You don't want to apply with a downward grade trend, so be careful to vet classes/professors carefully before signing on for either of the below options, or a mix of the two.

Anatomy probably won't help much unless you take it the term just before med school starts. IMO, getting a good foundation in other upper-level courses will help the MS-1 year go more smoothly, though, like Physiology, Cell Biology, and Genetics, as well as Immunology, Virology, and Embryology.

It's also fine to take completely random classes, as it will be a long time before you can indulge in an interest about another field.

Thanks for the insight! Maybe I'll just take one random class I'm interested in and then focus the rest on things that'll help in medical school.