Lives of Potential Med Scholars

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
41

<p>Ok, so it looks like you go to the schools that don't offer every Pre-AP/AP course and colleges understand that. See at my high school for example, it is essentially a GT track, if you want to call it that, which you can enter or leave anytime, so for example if someone who took regular classes in high school took:</p>

<p>English I (9), English II (10), English III (11), English IV (12) then a Pre-AP/AP student would take Pre-AP English I, Pre-AP English II, AP English III (Language), AP English IV (Literature).</p>

<p>World Geo (9), World History (10), US History (11), U.S. Govt (12), Economics (12) then a Pre-AP/AP student would take Pre-AP World Geo, Pre-AP World History, AP US History, AP U.S. Govt, AP Economics</p>

<p>same for the progression of Math, and Science. The only exception is Foreign Language which the first 2 years are regular then it's the GT track: Spanish I, Spanish II, Pre-AP Spanish III, AP Spanish IV.</p>

<p>Colleges want to see that you went above and beyond the regular curriculum. That doesn't mean if you take 3 when you had the chance to take a max of 5 that year, then the person who took 5 is wonderful and you're a piece of ****. It's not black and white like that. Obviously the best scenario would be take as many honors/Pre-AP/AP classes that fit in your schedule. But, if you can't continue to make good grades then you have to see how much you can handle as your rank is very important. Hopefully, your Honors courses are weighted, i.e. A = 5.0 grade points in an Honors course vs. A = 4.0 in a Regular course, which helps when it comes to rankings, thus giving greater weight to those who took the initiative to enroll in Honors courses. You also have to realize a lot of these programs look at SAT, SAT IIs, and CV type of stuff. Ideally, colleges would like you to take the most rigorous courses (which are usually denoted by the word Honors or Pre-AP or AP) available at your school and have you do well in them. Obviously, this isn't reality, which is why this rule isn't so cut and dry.</p>

<p>Remember these programs include places like Northwestern Medical School, Brown Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, thus naturally it's going to be very competitive. As a 10th grader, things I would concentrate on:
1. Standardized exams - SAT and when you plan on taking SAT IIs (esp. Chem which is frequently asked for)
2. Bulking up on your CV with regards to school organizations (w/officer positions), community service, awards, healthcare experiences, etc.
3. Keeping up with your rank</p>

<p>If you don't do this stuff now, you'll be doing the same routine in a normal premed program in college, so either way, you have to do it.</p>

<p>No matter what field you decide to go for, if you're going to go for fields, with higher prestige/money/etc as compared to the average person, whether it's Law, Business, Medicine, Engineering, Dentistry, etc. they all come to where you have to have to have good time management skills to balance fun and studying to keep up your grades.</p>

<p>If however, for you, wanting to have fun is a high priority (and there is nothing wrong with that) but you still want to pursue medical school , then 4 years of college and then doing 4 years of medical school is probably best for you, which is the way 98% of students do it anyways.</p>

<p>I think most of the pressure you're putting on yourself is you're comparing yourself to other people WAY too much. First off, you never know how well you will do if you're scared and don't push yourself a little bit, to work harder then you did previously. Grades won't come easy, like they did in middle school. Concentrate on what YOU have to do, not your classmate as his/her performance has no relevance to the job you have to do to learn and do well. The moment you start organizing your time, and stop feeling like you're going to lose your entire social life because you push yourself a little more than usual, not realizing that most likely everyone else is going through the same thing as you and not actually living the huge social life you think they have, is when you will excel academically.</p>

42

<p>Yes, thank you for the honest response! But will the colleges mind? I mean me taking 5 APs vs someone else taking 10 APs. Because I'm guaranteed that I won't be able to do it. The honors classes I'm taking right now take a lot of my time!
So what are my options? Taking many APs and having minimal extracurriculars or taking APs within reason and then doing the amout of extracurriculars that I want to do. Honestly, I like doing extracurriculars more than APing my butt off because it's really fun and I'm doing something different, something that could potentially help my community.
I don't want to take tons of APs, but I feel that programs are going to look down on that.</p>

43

<p>I'm intense, but I can also be pretty go with the flow.</p>

44

<p>O, and I'm actually focusing on the UCSD Med Scholar program. It's that or nothing. I don't want to go out of state. I want to stay close by to home.</p>

45

<p>What are you talking about 5 vs. 10 APs? You are only taking 6 classes a year.</p>

<p>I don't understand, as this year you said in your sophomore year, the only Honors classes you are allowed to take are science, math, and language (which by I guess you mean foreign language): which you took 2 out of 3 as Honors and the rest of your classes you have no choice but to take regular classes (I guess you aren't allowed to take anymore Honors sophomore year or they just aren't offered?)</p>

46

<p>Well when it comes to BA or BS / MD programs, you shouldn't be too picky to say it's that or nothing for one program, ESPECIALLY when it comes to California. You do have a higher chance being from California. I understand taking into account the entire state but one city?</p>

<p>UCLA has one with UCR: UCR</a> Division of Biomedical Sciences - Home
UCSD: UCSD</a> Medical Scholars Program - Home
USC Keck: USC</a> College : Baccalaureate/MD</p>

47

<p>no when i say taking APs, i mean in junior and senior years. i was comparing this years load and next years load. how can i take 10 APs (junior and senior year combined) if I spend a lot time doing two honors classes worth of HW? That's what I'm talking about.
As for language, this is the one I'm taking is the highest you can take unless you're a native speaker. That's what I mean by chosen.
Plus, with math, you're already on a track so there's nothing really to choose. Our track was chosen in the 7th grades and from there you follow it.</p>

48

<p>If you can't handle it, don't do it. Just remember that the other applicants can, and will also have hundreds of hours of ecs in addition. W/O a rigorous schedule, it seems as if you can't handle the rigors of these programs.</p>

49

<p>There's always a choice. If you want more math or more foreign languages, you can always take an evening or online community college course, if your tired of being stuck on a track. California has wonderful community college system, doesn't it? And if you don't like football, I guess UCSD is a good choice 'cause there's no football team. You won't be able to go to the game on Saturday and scream, "Go Tritons !!!" (ROFLM Buttocks Off!)</p>

<p>On the other hand, if you like USC/Keck and don't mind downtown LA, you've got Pete Carroll, the Coliseum, and the legendary USC football program ... now that could be tempting.</p>

50

<p>Only 4 days away !!!
Saturday night, 8pm EST, on ABC!!!
Hope we have a WHITEOUT in Columbus at the 'shoe !!!
GO JOE PA !!!!</p>

51

<p>HOLY *<strong><em>ING *</em></strong>!</p>

<p>gomez posted something WITHOUT referring to the football team and/or JoePa!</p>

52

<p>az1698, is very much correct with his post. For example, just on schedule wise: to give you an idea of my classes in high school, in my junior and senior year, and I went to a public school:</p>

<p>11th grade
1. AP English Language
2. AP US History
3. Pre-AP Precalculus (I was one year ahead in math and thus took Pre-AP Algebra I in middle school)
4. Pre-AP Physics I
5. AP Spanish IV (I took Spanish I in middle school and progressed from there)
6. AP Environmental Science
7. AP Biology</p>

<p>12th grade
1. AP English Literature
2. AP U.S. Govt (1st semester); AP Economics (2nd semester)
3. AP Calculus BC
4. AP Physics B
5. AP Spanish V
6. AP Chemistry
7. AP Statistics</p>

<p>And there are tons of copies just like me who have the same highly demanding schedule esp. by the time they hit their junior year - which is considered to be the time you really show your stuff, it's the last grades on your transcript when you send it to colleges originally. The reason why senior year is not as much, is because sometimes senior year grades don't make it on time to your transcript to make a difference in admissions.</p>

<p>And I had extracurriculars and awards. I'm not trying to brag (seriously), but the point az1698 and I are making is, if you say, I can't handle this or I won't have time, there will be someone else who does all that and more, not necessarily because they are smarter than you as you seem very smart (although you seem less confident than most), but bc they put more hours in to it, and time manage and sacrifice some things for other things. You'll never know unless you try and concentrate and not let anyone tell you otherwise. Will you have to give up somethings yes. Is it going to feel like prison, of course not.</p>

<p>At your school, you said 10 AP classes are offered in total right? Meaning, each year of 11th and 12, 5 APs + 1 regular, right?</p>

<p>And zzzboy, you posted too late, check Gomez's post.</p>

53

<p>Okay wow, I must say, your schedule was extremely intense. But, see, the thing is is that you were trained for it. It was tracked. My school isn't like that. People generally take only 1 AP and many stay up late in the night to complete that homework. This is the case for me. I wasn't trained to take 7 or 8 APs a year. There's so much information given in 1 AP that it will take me at an hour a night to pick up all that information. So how did you do it? Plus, I will be taking summer classes.</p>

54

<p>I am taking 10 AP classes by the end of high school, and it wasn't easy. The main thing I had to get over was how to manage my time, and how to "cut corners" on the things that weren't as important. In addition to this, I still managed to be on the Varsity Football team as well as the track team, plus did volunteer work and research. The biggest tip I can give you is this: Most ap teachers assign "week work". Take advantage of it</p>

55

<p>Okay, I don't quite understand. "Week work"? How will this help me? I stay ahead of the schedule based on the day? Because if that's the case, I already try doing that. It will still be overwhelming.</p>

56

<p>Nice last post. Excellent coaching advice. Perhaps you could say it was a "goal post" (???) Anyway, you kicked it right through the middle. 3 points!!!</p>

<p>And speaking of goal posts, make sure you catch the game this Saturday, 8pm EST on ABC!!!</p>

<p>Go JoePa !!!</p>

57

<p>LOL. Gomez you kill me. I hope for your sake you get into PennState's program, with as much enthusiasm as you have for that program.</p>

<p>For Sangeetha,</p>

<p>What are you talking about "thing is is that you were trained for it. It was tracked"??? Did you think I went through some College Board Advanced Placement exercise video or an AP Gym to get used to the work? Of course not. You just take the classes and schedule your time well. Even if they are AP courses, they can't give you an inordinate amount of homework that's due immediately the next day. They will probably give you a longer term assignment that is due by the end of the week or in a few days after all they have to have enough work for you to do for 36 weeks from the middle of August to the end of May. The key is to stay on top of things and not just do things when you're assigned but being proactive enough to get the assignments in advance that your teacher already knows. When you are proactive like that, your teacher sees you care, and you can better schedule your time rather than WAITING for your teacher to assign the specific problems and then doing it.</p>

<p>I really think you're blowing out of proportion how much work you THINK you get in AP courses. What makes AP more rigorous is: a textbook that is in much greater detail (hence college level), more reading, more rote-memorization and detail oriented.</p>

<p>I usually averaged 1-1.5 hours per class after coming home. School ended at 2:30, got home by 3:00. Some may take a little longer, others take less, but it worked out. Not to mention, I also prodded my teachers to tell me what the HW assignments were in advance, thus showing that 1. I had initiative and 2. I was able to complete them in a manner conducive to my schedule. I hope you are not procrastination on HW, bc maybe that's why you're having problems as I've never heard 1 AP class being given so much HW to the point that it takes all night to do it (unless of course, you wait to the last minute and procrastinate and then that's the deal breaker on that).</p>

<p>Also, WHY, in God's name, are you taking summer school classes? It's just going to bring down your GPA and rank, also instead of spending that time again in school in the summer, you need to spend it recharging your batteries and even doing community service stuff that doesn't require studying can be fun. Is 36 weeks of school not enough for you?</p>

58

<p>OMG if you are this knotted up over high school homework and extracurriculars what is it going to be like when you are applying to college?</p>

59

<p>By week work, I meant that they give you a sheet w/ the work on it for a week. Plan your time wisely, and you should be set</p>

<p>Happy, I'm pretty sure gomez is already in psu program</p>

60

<p>okay i see. happytograduate, no, of course not. i mean than once you're placed on a track, you get used to the workload, thus being fully prepared and more able to handle the AP workload.
in my school's case, we're pretty much forced to take regular classes and then all of the sudden forced to take AP classes. so the pressure on us is far greater because we're not as used to the load. or perhaps i'm wrong?
as for oreo45, i'm not stressed, believe me. i just want to be informed before i jump into something and be completely taken by surprise. time management as all of guys say.
so please just lay off.</p>