Here is the final update for my DS’s UG journey as premed.
As you all know he gave up 2 BSMDs, UPenn and JHU BME for Vanderbilt with CV scholarship. He is fully aware of the risk he was taking and stayed focused from day one. In fact he secured research position even before committing to Vandy (that was one of the deciding factors). He chose to hard sciences major given his strength in Biology and Chemistry and CS related minor. Our plan was to kept it simple i.e. no double majors or double minors (briefly considered second minor), didn’t use any AP/IB credits except math (he did IB HL so got more math credits), mixed science classes with liberal arts classes (requirement) and cruised to practically 4.0 GPA (A- in 1 credit lab course). Did moderate prep for MCAT and took it spring of junior year after completing all premed courses.
As per ECs, main focus was on research. He did computational research in one of the big labs in the country with several post docs and graduate students. His PI knowing his previous HS research experience gave him his own project and indicated he could get a first author paper in 2 years, but with some changes in lab, systems issues paper was completed recently only. Even though he didn’t have paper his PI’s LOR was extremely strong and that was one of the reasons for success at T5s. He didn’t do popular EMT or Medical scribe given the time those takes and chose to do a public health project in a Spanish speaking country and then used the Spanish skills to become an Spanish interpreter at a free clinic. As per non-clinical he came up with new curriculum for STEM teaching to middle schools in Nashville. Again both ECs he didn’t spend crazy amount like others. In fact on SDN he was told his service hours are not good enough. He also won a scholarship to do research in an European country for summer. With all these ECs, Vandy premed advisor was very confident about his chances and also gave strong committee letter.
DS applied to 23 schools all within T30s, received 11 interviews, 5 acceptances, 4 WLs and 2 Rs. His goal going into UG is to get into UCSF, Hopkins,Harvard,Stanford and UPenn. He ended up getting 3 out of 5 in his list and pretty happy about it. He didn’t expect scholarships from UCSF and UPenn.
For those who are looking for advice here are my two cents.
- Pick right UG school (schools like Cornell, JHU, UCB, UCLA, Princeton are known for grade deflation). Medical schools love to show Harvard and Stanford in their press releases so there is some bias towards them.
- Stay focused from day one
- Plan classes carefully (no need for double majors and triple minors, medical schools don’t care).
- Use AP/IB credits wisely. If you use them you need to show good grades in higher science classes.
- Start with research and ECs from second semester of first year. Focus on one or two ECs and rest can be box checking. If you do couple of hours a week you will have enough hours by application time.
- Engage in some social activities (DS participated in dance programs even though he never danced before)
- Pick proper school list, apply on first day and start working on essays early (some schools may need personal statement for committee letter)
- If you get multiple acceptance go to medical school that is fit for you and don’t go into loans for prestige.
In conclusion, with careful planning and execution success thru traditional path is not extremely difficult.
Good luck to all future applicants!