I would also strongly discourage rushing… Pledging takes a lot of time out of your schedule and there is a huge stigma of pre med students in frats “switching to business” because they begin to fail their classes.
As far as classes go, I began with General Chemistry 1 with Lab, Art Appreciation (Humanities Credit), What is the Good Life, and an online computer class that was super easy. My schedule was pretty easy for me, but usually students throw calculus in with gen chem and thats where it all goes downhill… I came in with all but one of my General Education requirements filled, so I don’t need any English courses to fulfill my writing requirement, like most students usually need to do their first few semesters (although I will be taking some professional wiring classes later down the road).
Volunteering-wise, I mostly had to do it on my own! There’s a lot of resources you can find to help you get involved on campus, trust me!! Just start looking right away. I didn’t start volunteering until this spring semester, but I am now volunteering in two clinical areas and will (hopefully, depending on my application) begin to shadow as well as volunteer non-clinically building houses with a local organization.
During Preview, there is SOME one on one time, but it is a complete gamble. Some preview advisors will be amazing, and give you everything you want. For example, I told my preview advisor I wanted a certain chemistry professor (because she’s THE BEST at UF) and she clicked me right in, but I’ve had friends whose advisors have tried to convince them to not even go the pre med route. My one friend’s advisor tried to convince her to major in history instead of biomedical engineering… So just stay strong and keep a clear mind through the process. Know what you want!!