<p>Hey everybody.
I wanted to clarify something about the MCAT and getting into colleges.
I understand that the MCAT is changing as of 2015. I hear that there will be a more social and psychological side to the exam that will help medical schools determine more rounded people. I wanted to confirm that this change is starting in 2015 and will continue until 2018 or 2019 when I take the MCAT. </p>
<p>Secondly, I wanted to ask what classes would look good for colleges and medical schools. I am currently in high school and do not want to take any necessary DE classes like Organic Chemistry because that is recommended to be taken at the University itself. Is there any other smaller electives that are recommended?</p>
<p>I can’t think of a single thing you can take in high school that would be of any interest to a med school unless you’re applying to a direct admit program.</p>
<p>Worry about the MCAT when you get to college. Your pre-med advisor will be able to tell you everything you need to know, that’s what they’re paid for.</p>
<p>Yes the “new” MCAT will be around for quite a few years. It requires you to take psychology, sociology, two English composition classes (but most colleges require that: one freshman seminar, one writing-in-your-major), classes that expose you to the diversity of human experience such as gender studies, diveristy-focused classes, American studies, study abroad, foreign language classes with a cultural component, etc. Because medicine isn’t just science, it’s also relating to people who may be very different from you.
So if you’re looking for a dual enrollment class that would be useful for med school without being negative for your GPA or too advanced, I’d recommend for this year a first-semester class in American studies, Gender (or Women’s) Studies, or for your senior year Psychology 101, or for any semester see if there is a “cultural” class in English about another country or continent or a 3rd/4th semester language course (as those typically include cultural elements - you’ll be expected to compare elements from your culture and elements from the culture you’re studying). Do take very good notes though because all of this will come in handy 4 years from now (and you’ll have forgotten it all but it’ll be easy to remember the process and general ideas, plus it may give you the opportunity to take an extra class in that area compared to most MCAT takers who will only have taken one, and free up space for more science classes).</p>
<p>Literature (British, American or any other culture)–because reading and understanding literature helps one develop analytic and interpretation skills, and because it helps develop theory of the mind–the ability to percieve and understand viewpoints other one’s own </p>
<p>Spanish language (if you have the aptitude for it) because it’s useful to have when dealing with patient populations in many areas. (Even a little bit is useful.)</p>
<p>It is funny that anybody think that you could develop human skills (which are extremely important in medicine, I would say that they are more important to develop in UG than getting some science background) thru taking classes. Not possible, period. One needs to make sure to spend time with the diverse crowd. By diverse I mean from all aspects, racial, economical, interest wise, artsy vs nerds, schience vs music, preferrably from very very different backgrounds. Reading books about it is not going to help. You need to know how to connect to a person who might have absolutely nothing in common with you and who might be in great distress and even dying. You have to make efforts to meet very different people than your normal pre-med crowd. Many are coming to Med. School without this skill. Reading book is like reading about music and expect to be able to play piano after that.</p>
<p>^ Have to disagree with that quite vigorously. Reading books about history, religion, different cultures, racial strife, etc. is beneficial to understanding other people and their backgrounds. Avid readers pick up social skills and cultural knowledge by reading both fiction and nonfiction. That is one major reason we assign literature to kids- to build bridges into the lives of others. It is NOT at all like reading a book about music and expecting to play the piano-- which no one would do. </p>
<p>I would also think the vast majority of premeds interact with others and have knowledge of other people/cultures-- at least in CA we do.</p>
<p>^Good for those who could remember. If I do not have experience, it goes out of my head. I do not know anybody who study for exam few years before exam. They study right before. there is a reason for that.
" would also think the vast majority of premeds interact with others and have knowledge of other people/cultures"- Opposite, majority do not. I know that CA has huge number of Asian pre-meds. the reason I know is because they apply to Med. Schools in Midwest in very large numbers and are very successful at getting accepted. We are very happy that this very hard working group is coming to other places and bringing the knowledge and hard working attitude with them. But when I mentioned variety of people, I did not mean that at all, I meant VARIETY.</p>
<p>Agree with camomof3 on this. Reading and intellectual discussion can be effective tools for teaching cultural competency (the buzz word in medicine) with regard to interacting with people from different backgrounds in addition to actually interacting with people from different backgrounds. Especially if someone comes from a very sheltered/undiverse area, they may be so incompetent that people may not want to interact with them and getting a foundation in a more structured setting may be very beneficial to allow them to then have meaningful discourse with other people later on.</p>
<p>They will be better off spending time with diverse crowd than reading about them. Extremely important and many do not seek these opportunities, actually most. You have to make an effort on your own, classroom is just not enough.<br>
I am happy that my kid is done with her UG…without Sociology, instead she was helping those in great distress, she actually received the training in that and vast majority of these people were from the very different crowd that regular pre-meds are surrounded by…ans she was the ONLY pre-med there, for 3 years also. She still think about it as one of the most valuable and rewarding activity (saving life, extanding it for few minutes until professionals can interfere is extremely rewarding and unforgettable). And again, this was one of the many other activities that pre-meds should be looking to get engage, but time and again, what was seen is that many eye openning experiences were lacking pre-med crowd…because they were pressured by academics, they were reading books…adding more books into the academic mixture cannot be helpful.</p>
<p>That’s great that your daughter had such a positive volunteer experience; however, not all volunteer experiences are created equal and it’s also important to learn how to interact with people from diverse backgrounds outside of the context of service. No one is saying avoid actual human interaction, but you are saying avoid books - they can’t teach you anything, and that is wrong.</p>
<p>All who seek will find whatever. If not available in one place, it will be availble in another. My D. actually had very limited access to volunteering activities…we have such bad economy, so many volunteer, that it is near impossible to find something in a summer time, they have permanent volunteering crowds. When she was looking, we were shocked that many places had waiting lines to voluneer and they indicated that it takes several months to get position.<br>
I am not saying to avoid books. I am saying that too much of reading will lead to more restricted time for out of classroom valuable life learning, personal growth experiences. The pre-meds time is already pusched and that is why you do not see many pre-meds outside of “regular pre-med ECs”.
Another concern, another prospective. K -12 education is down right at the lowest level that it could be. I mean I have talked with parents from Africa (out of all places) who are dismayed to the point of thinking about sending kids back to Africa to get better schooling. If anybody thinks that immigrants kids are smarter - wrong, they have a great inut from their parents who received their HS education outside of the USA.
I just hope that colleges do not follow in the same path, that would be devasting.</p>