Okay guys so i’m a newly senior in high school but i’m in college as well through the dual enrolment program. So throughout my college career (i been doing this for three years) (i’ve taken 9 classes total) i have been taking classes to get my associates in pre nursing because i wanted to be a emergency nurse practitioner now i have changed it to being a pediatric surgeon. I have taken many bios and english 101 and 102, sociology and psychology. Basically i wanna know what should i do as far as class wise and degree. Also give me opinions on my choices. I’ve been told to get a degree in biology and chemistry , pre med.
Yes, you need to take General Chemistry with lab.
A degree in chemistry has more prodpects than a degree in biology.
To get into med school you need to have as many As as possible. You need as close to a 4.0 as you can manage.
You also need to volunteer with patients. Your activities and leadership will matter greatly.
If you are hoping to head to med school, stop taking anything pre-req for pre-med in DE. Med schools don’t like to see those except from 4 year schools. For the Bio classes you have already taken I hope you have As. If not, it’s not going to help. You’ll need to take at least one more in depth class at a 4 year school.
All college grades you already have will count for med school admission in your GPA - again - I hope they were As. It’s too late to change any.
Apply to four year schools with any major you like - med schools don’t care about that. They want to know you can study “something” in depth and do well in it. They care about your GPA (overall and science - sGPA) and they’ll care how you score on your MCAT.
Then they will want to see a lot of shadowing and volunteer hours, plus see some ECs that aren’t even related to medicine, but show you’re some sort of “neat” person with a life. Some schools also want to see you were involved in research of some sort - doesn’t have to be medical - they just like to see that you know what it entails and have done some.
Overall, you need to be a smart, busy person who can do it all and still get grades, while having shown you know what the job entails in the nitty gritty. That way they feel you can handle med school and the job afterward.
Only 42% of applicants make it in according to the latest stats put out by the AAMC, so it’s wise to pick a major that can help with your Plan B if you need to fall back on it. Look at the following stats of applicants and percentages who made it and not. Everyone needs a Plan B. There is no sure combo of grades and MCAT that make it in.
https://www.aamc.org/media/6091/download
And I’ve found these profiles to be useful. If you look at both, and google some others from this school, you’ll see it’s a template of what they look for in successful applicants. It’s one med school, but I tend to think most med schools are looking for the same things overall. Be someone the school that accepts you can write about. I put the newest one first if you only want to read one.
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You’ve gotten good advice above.
to reiterate:
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Don’t take any more pre-reqs as DE.
Some med schools simply will not accept DE or CC credits for admission. Those med schools that do accept CC credits expect applicants will have taken higher level coursework at a 4 year college in the same dept as any CC credits. (This means you’ll need to take additional UL bio electives when you get to your 4 year college to supplement the coursework you already have.) -
Check to see that your DE coursework meets med school admission requirements.
Some colleges and many CCs have a dual tracks in the sciences–one for science majors and one for allied health sciences (nursing, dental hygiene, nutrition, athletic training, etc.) Med schools will not accept the allied health science version of science classes. -
Pick a major you will enjoy and do well in.
It’s also smart to pick a major that offers strong Plan B career options since the vast majority of freshman pre-meds never make it to med school. (In fact, most will never even apply to med school.) Bio and specialty bio majors tend to have poorer employment outlooks than chem, math, physics, engineering, data science, etc. -
Make sure you get all your pre-reqs done.
1 year of general bio w/lab
1 year gen chem w/lab
1 year intro physics w/lab
1 year ochem w/lab
1 semester of biochem
1 year of “college level” mathematics, one semester of which must be stats for science majors or biostats
2 semester of “writing intensive” classes
1 semester intro psych
1 semester intro sociology
Some medical schools have additional requirements—please check their admission pages for details. -
get your ECs done.
Med school are looking for applicants who have demonstrated leadership skills, have engaged in physician shadowing and clinical experiences to show they understand what a physician’s life is like, have shown compassion for their fellow man by doing non-medical community service with disadvantaged communities, have done hands on research where they have applied the scientific method by developing a thesis and testing it. -
have a life outside studying and pre-med ECs
Med schools are looking for interesting, well rounded individuals, not 4.0 GPA automatons. (Those are a dime a dozen.) Also, college is 4 years of your life that you will never get back. You should enjoy them. Have fun. Meet new people. Join some clubs or a fraternity/sorority. Play a sport. Pursue hobbies. Take a class just for the fun of it.
And I have to make one comment-- no one and I do mean no one should plan on going to medical school so they can become a certain type of a physician. There are no guarantees that you’ll qualify for any particular specialty. You go to med school to become A physician, not neuro-thoracic pediatric derma-oncology surgeon or whatever. If you wouldn’t be happy as family medicine physician or a general internist, think hard why you’re pursuing pre-med.
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