<p>@jpy0817</p>
<p>I was involved in the Pre-AMSA and VN Cares at Davis. If you look at some of my earlier posts, I elaborated on where and how to find internships and research opportunities. The reason that I began teaching ESL is that the organization that I taught at helped my parents when they first came to America. It took almost 6 months for all the training and paperwork, but it was really worthwhile and I enjoyed it a lot.</p>
<p>Hi bmb!</p>
<p>Thank you for posting up this thread. It is really useful for aspiring med students like me! (:</p>
<p>Anyway, I want to ask you, besides the research internships and lab job, did you have any other extracurricular activities? For example, any clubs?</p>
<p>Also, I want to ask about getting letters of recommendations from professors. How many did you get and if you don’t mind me asking, who were they? </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Hi bmb,</p>
<p>Were you involved in any Honors Programs at Davis?</p>
<p>@iamnicole</p>
<p>See my previous posts about the clubs I was involved with. Besides research, clubs, and internships, I also volunteered in non-clinical environments. I also played a lot of IM sports, but sadly was never very good at any of them (hahaha).</p>
<p>To protect my letter writers’ anonymity, I will just tell you how many letters I got and from what departments. I got 6 letters: 1 MCB professor, 1 cellbio professor, 1 writing professor, 1 MD I worked with, 1 MD/PhD clinical researcher, 1 PhD that I did research with. </p>
<p>@jpy0817</p>
<p>No I was not involved with any of the honors program.</p>
<p>Thanks BMB! 
I didn’t really need to know who they are exactly but I wanted to see the variety of professors you had (for example must it be all science professors or can we get someone we worked for write for us?).
Any tips for getting professors who are willing to write letters of recommendations for you?</p>
<p>And also, I forgot to say it earlier but congrats on your acceptance to Georgetown! :D</p>
<p>@iamnicolle</p>
<p>Usually for most med schools, the minimum they require are 2 science professors who taught you and 1 non-science professor. It is also recommended that you get a letter from an MD (through volunteering) or your PI (your research professor). </p>
<p>For how to get letters of recommendations, it is often difficult to muster up the courage to go ask your professor for one. It was pretty difficult for me because there were not a lot of professors that I knew personally (since a lot of classes are lecture-style courses). However, if you find a subject that is interesting to you, attend office hours and get to know the professor. This allows them to know more about you and will allow them to write a stronger letter of recommendation. Usually students get professors, who don’t know them at all, to write letters which turn out to be bad because all the professor can write about is how the student did in his or her class and nothing about how this student’s temperament would fit the profession. </p>
<p>To get letter of recs, remember to ask your writers early. A lot of them are busy and can forget, so giving them ample time in case this happens and make sure to follow up with them periodically. When approaching the professor, try including the following: your personal statement, your CV (resume, list of your activities), a cover letter explaining what you sort of what them to emphasize, and a stamped envelope for them to send your LOR to. MOST IMPORTANTLY, ask the professor in person as it is more personal and it would be harder for them to ignore your request. If you ask via email, they can ignore you or it can get lost in the shuffle. Just ask them in person and remember to follow-up. Lots of professors are busy and they tend to forget these things a lot. That’s why it is best to ask for these letters early on so that you can factor in the professors forgetting to write the letter. </p>
<p>And thank you for your congrats!</p>
<p>@ bmb</p>
<p>What’s the difference between MAT17A and MAT21A? Based on my Math Placement Exam results (51 correct), their website says I qualify for MAT21AH (50 or more correct). However, getting only 1 more than the minimum requirements for MAT21AH isn’t very reassuring and makes me not want to take it for safety purposes. So I’m narrowed down between MAT17A and MAT21A.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>@jpy0817</p>
<p>MAT21 is more difficult because its more geared towards applications of calculus in an engineering sense, whereas MAT17 is geared more towards biological science application. The 21 series goes into a lot more depth and can get a bit abstract towards the end of the series. The 17 series deals more with word problems that deal with biology (ex. integrate an equation that represents velocity of blood flow or calculate how fast a population grows). It brushes past the difficult calculus subjects and touches only on the relevant mathematical functions needed for advance biological calculations (which is not that hard relative to engineering mathematics). </p>
<p>If you plan on switching over to engineering in the future, you should take MAT21 because MAT17 would not satisfy the lower division calculus required for the College of Engineering. However, if you plan to stick with the College of Biological Science, take MAT17 because it’s slightly easier and you would not have to encounter all the difficult calculus found in MAT21 that you would probably never use again in your life.</p>
<p>Hey bmb,</p>
<p>I am interested in the hbs lottery internships, particularly for pharmacy. I checked the ICC website, and I noticed that it gives only a broad location of where the pharmacy like in (W Davis, Stockton, Woodland, etc). Is there any way I can find out the exact location before registering for the sake of convenience?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>bump up…</p>
<p>@luckyrx</p>
<p>I’m so sorry for not seeing this before. If you want more information about the location, check with the ICC Office at South Hall for the exact location. I think they are trying to revamp the system so that you can see the exact location, but I haven’t been on the lottery website in some time so I don’t know if it has changed yet. Good luck.</p>
<p>@everyone who has PMed me</p>
<p>I’ve been a bit busy with med school recently, but I have some time to answer all your PMs this weekend. So I’m sorry for the delay, but I’ll try to knock them out for you.</p>
<p>bump for new Aggies</p>
<p>what was the hardest class you took at davis?</p>
<p>Also, is taking a class in the summer “easier” than in the quarter e.g. p-chem?</p>
<p>@luckyrx</p>
<p>MCB124 (Structure of Macromolecules) was the hardest class that I took. It was taught by Dr. Baldwin, who can talk for 2 hours straight without stopping. That compounded with the fact that protein crystallography is pretty difficult.</p>
<p>In general, classes in the summer are more fast paced since it needs to cover the same material as a quarter long course in a shorter amount of time. However, I believe that the majority of the summer classes are slightly easier than the same course offered during the year. I took P-chem during the year and I have to say that it was not as difficult as people make it out to be. Definitely more math, but doable.</p>
<p>Hi, I was wondering whether taking PHY7C, CHE118B, and BIS2C in one quarter would be too difficult. I know that there is 3 labs, so it’s time consuming, but do you think it’s do-able for someone who got a B in the CHE2 series?</p>
<p>or if I do skip a quarter, say take PHY7B Fall then PHY7C Spring, do you think it would be difficult with the break in between?</p>
<p>Also, what classes should you take before you take the MCAT?</p>
<p>@ coll3ges: BIS 2C is pretty easy IMO (unless memorization isn’t your best forte). My roommate is currently taking NPB 101 (which is difficult enough without the optional lab because there’s so much to know and since the class meets everyday, it’s easy to fall behind) and CHE118C and she’s managing well. It all depends on you though. Are you taking CHE 118B with Lievens or Nasiri? </p>
<p>And whether a quarter break between PHY7B and PHY7C would make it difficult depends on you. Are you good at recalling information from more than a month ago? If so, the break in between wouldn’t be too hard. For someone like me, though, I’d have to take a series one after the other so that I don’t forget (and it’s easy for me to forget concepts easily).</p>
<p>@coll3ges</p>
<p>Grouping Physics, BIS, and Ochem together is what I think what they want you to do at CBS, but for me, I think that’s a pretty bad idea. If this were the A part of the courses, then it wouldn’t be so bad, but you’re hitting the hardest part of each of the courses. BIS2C is pretty time consuming and it has slightly more rote memorization than the other parts of the course (and less interesting in my opinion). CHE118B is the hardest part of the Ochem series and it pretty much lays the groundwork for the 118C and pretty much a lot of the Biochemistry courses. 118C is pretty much the synthesis of 118B and 118A. As for 7C, I didn’t remember it being too difficult other than the tricky quantum mechanics stuff towards the end. </p>
<p>I have to admit though that 3 labs all together in one quarter is pretty tough. I was one of those people who pretty much ran out of gas at the end of every PHY lab (i always got stuck with the late labs). As for me, I have never grouped PHY7, CHE118, and BIS2 together in one quarter. </p>
<p>I was actually behind a quarter in terms of PHY7 series since I couldn’t for the life of me get PHY7A during the fall quarter of my 2nd year. So I actually had to take PHY7B in the Spring and then 7C in the Fall the following year. 7B and 7C pretty much does not have any overlapping topics and if there are, they would briefly go over it with you again since the majority of the students tend to clean out everything they know at the end of each quarter anyways. I believe you’ll be find taking 7B and 7C with a gap in between. </p>
<p>For the MCAT, I’m going to spew what the Health and Science Advising always probably will tell you. CHE2, BIS2, CHE118, PHY7 are the basics that you need. NPB101 is an absolutely must if you’re going take the MCAT since the BIS series does not teach you physiology at all. Other helpful but not necessarily important for the MCAT: BIS 101-102 (For the genetics and some of the biochem questions). CHE2 and PHY7 will pretty much cover all you need for the Physical Science section of the MCAT (you should pay close attention to 7C material since optics and waves are very very very high yield for this section). NPB101, BIS2A, BIS101-102 is pretty much all you need for the Biological Science section.</p>
<p>“NPB101 is an absolutely must if you’re going take the MCAT since the BIS series does not teach you physiology at all.”</p>
<p>When do you recommend taking NPB? The Biochem major already has a pretty full schedule in these first two years. </p>
<p>I’m thinking of getting into some sort of research or internship soon, what experience do the PI’s require? I’m pretty much a nub in lab/research experience so I have no idea what to look for.</p>