Feeling Discouraged

Pre-Med & Medical School High School Student Topics
1

<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>I'm a HS senior and have decided to tackle pre-med while in college. Like most students, the thought of attending a prestigious medical school (I know ANY medical school is an accomplishment) such as an Ivy makes me drool. I feel that I know what it takes and want to start preparing to build a competitive application day one out of HS. I know it's going to take intense studying, research, and volunteering. I've already outline how i'm going to do all three.</p>

<p>The thing is, I feel really discouraged by my performance as a high school student. I'm most likely going to end up at a small, private college with a 40%-50% acceptance rate. My SAT was only around a 1950 and I had a 3.9 GPA my junior/senior years. </p>

<p>I guess my question is, does your performance in high school really reflect how you will do as an undergrad? Is it possible to make some serious changes as far as academic habits? Like I said, I really want to prove everybody wrong and make it to a big medical school but i'm afraid that my motivation alone will not be enough.</p>

<p>Also, does being first generation/hispanic/low-income contribute to a med school application?</p>

<p>Thanks for any replies in advance.</p>

2

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</p>

<p>No, not always. It’s a very individual thing. College courses will be much more challenging than high school courses. You will need to step up your game in college. </p>

<p>Some suggestions (and these may will sound like common sense but you’d be surprised at how many students don’t get this.)</p>

<p>1) don’t skip classes, including recitation/workshop sessions</p>

<p>2) read assignments before going to class. Take notes as you read.</p>

<p>3) do homework in advance of its due date (so if you have trouble, you have plenty of time to get help)</p>

<p>4) if you are having problems with a homework, get help ASAP. Go to your TA’s or professor’s office hours, go your college’s tutoring center (it’s free!), find a peer tutor/study group</p>

<p>5) study new material regularly, don’t cram the night before</p>

<p>6) find a quiet study area–this may not be your dorm room</p>

<p>7) don’t overload yourself with lots of hard classes during your first semester. Give yourself time to get used to college</p>

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</p>

<p>Yes, but it take a lot of self-discipline to do so. </p>

<p>If you need help with study skills, your college’s academic support center probably offers study skill classes/support.</p>

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</p>

<p>Yes and no. Yes, your background will be noted as part of your application and you may get a little bit of extra consideration by adcomms. No, it won’t make up for subpar grades or MCAT or a lack of ECs.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/321512/data/2012factstable25-1.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/321512/data/2012factstable25-1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>@WayOutWestMom</p>

<p>That was much better advice than I was hoping to receive. It’s really sad how often I find myself day dreaming about being an HMS student…</p>

<p>Thank you so much.</p>

4

<p>2) read assignments before going to class.</p>

<p>I have done this both ways (i.e. do the reading before class or after class) and I found that which one is better depends on both the professor and the book. As long as the readings are done timely and consistently in a way that one of them (reading or lecture) is reinforcing the other one in a short time frame the advice is effective. I think typically before is better, but I have found that if the professor highlights that the book goes much more in depth than he requires or says something similar about the book not being so great then reading after class is better since you can focus on the lecture material and you don’t waste your time reading other things.</p>

5

<p>@Carotid get started on research. I’m a high school senior as well and have already first authored two publications. Research, MCAT, and GPA are what med schools care most about. Volunteering comes next and being able to speak more than one language is definitely a bonus (not a necessity by far) these days.</p>

6

<p>Research and publications are only heavily emphasized at schools that have research as a prominent part of their mission. Not all medical schools have a research mission. </p>

<p>I’m not saying that having research experience isn’t valuable; rather, that research (with or without publications) is not a panacea for mediocre stats, nor will having extensive research necessarily make you an more attractive candidate everywhere.</p>

<p>Please see this report from AAMC–Medical School Admissions: More than Grades and Scores</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/261106/data/aibvol11_no6.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It is compilation of responses from med school admission deans and adcomm members that rank the factors they use when both deciding to tender an II and again when making an offer of admission.</p>

7

<p>@WayOutWestMom top US medical schools place a heavy emphasis on research, especially those that have earned NIH funding for MSTP. I do disagree with your statement that “extensive research [will not] necessarily make you an [sic] more attractive candidate everywhere.” It will drastically increase one’s odds of being admitted over students who lack said experience (assuming one’s grades and test scores are not mediocre). I myself have spoken with a number of different board members and directors from various medical schools and hospitals around the nation (respectively), and they have affirmed my statement, heavily emphasizing the increasing importance of research in today’s day and age.</p>