Just trying to see if I’m on the right track/get some advice. My ultimate goal is to be able to start medical school immediately after finishing my bachelor’s.
Stats
–Freshman at the University of Alabama, hoping to graduate in the spring of 2022
–Double major in Biology and History
Grades so Far (3.96 GPA after first semester)
–Honors General Biology 1: A-
–Honors General Biology 2: looking to be in the B+/A- range
–General Chemistry 1: looking to be in the A-/A range
–Liberal Arts Foundations: A
–Liberal Arts Possibilities: A
–American History (306): A
–Spanish 1: A+
–Freshman Composition: A-
Extracurriculars
–Freshman leadership program
–Just got a volunteering job at the local hospital for the summer
–Work 40 hrs/week as a waitress (I’m on my own for college)
–Waiting to hear back from a research lab on campus to be a summer intern
Does this look good so far? I’m really stressed about medical school and getting in… there’s nothing else I want to be except a doctor and I don’t want to have to wait forever and do 30 other degrees before I can get accepted
It sounds like you are off to a great start! At some point you should start trying to find doctors to “shadow.” That is different from other kinds of clinical volunteering hours. You find one or more doctors who will let you follow them around to learn what the life is like. This isn’t always easy. Your pre-med advisor might have some suggestions on how to get started sending out emails and making contacts. If you are working in a hospital volunteering, you may be able to make connections there.
Also, you will want to have some community service with underserved populations. You don’t have to do all of this every year, but you should try to have a good amount of each. Its a lot to juggle! But you are well on your way.
Good luck!
Med schools, in part, want people who have characteristics they think MDs should have (eg compassion, altruism, etc.) Look at p 14 below. Research is of not of highest importance to adcoms. Unless you have strong interest in research and/or are just doing it to check boxes, maybe instead of searching for research experience, spending more time volunteering/community service would be a better addition to you ECs. Good luck.
https://www.aamc.org/download/462316/data/mcatguide.pdf
I think you are ok with the first semester. But I do not know that much about UAB, @mom2collegekids is well versed in UAB premed, care to comment? Also, there is a UAB pre med graduate who is pretty active here on CC, but I forgot his alias starts with purple,