<p>I'm currently a sophomore, and I plan to get into a BS/MD program. I go to a very small school (only about 8 high school students are physically at the location of the high school. My school also offers online courses so I don't know how many high school students are taking their coursework online.) My school offers NO AP classes and only two honors classes which are English and Biology, and I'm taking both honors. HOWEVER, I am going to dual-enroll next year to my local community college. I do not know if my school ranks, but if they do will bs md programs take me seriously with only about 8 students, or will they look at my community college ranking (if they rank)? I currently have all A's and I am volunteering at a hospital, and I will have 100 volunteer hours by the end of June or July. My school does not have any clubs, sports programs or anything of that sort, so I have to find opportunities outside of school. Does anyone know of any great services that a high school student can do that will help me in my EC's. My hospital volunteering is the only thing I'm doing right now, EC wise.</p>
<p>P.S. I wasn't sure where to post this, so I'm going to post it in the multiple degrees forum also.</p>
<p>Well, there HAS to be at least a clinic near by if not a hospital.</p>
<p>You should really have some sort of shadowing experience- you need to be hardened to the lifestyle of a doctor. It is immensely stressful, and you need to make sure that’s what you want to do. I’m sure you know that, but with some shadowing, that will be visible to admissions counselors as well. </p>
<p>I personally don’t have any research experience, but if you can’t do it with a professor, maybe you should try to enter the science fair, at least at a regional level…?</p>
<p>You need to show initiative. BS/MD programs want students who are go-getters, not those who want everything handed to them. I’m sure there are local colleges nearby. Email some of those professors for research opportunities. Email or call local physicians to see if you can do some shadowing. Get in touch with premed students at the local community college and see what kind of things they’re doing and if you can help.</p>
<p>This isn’t a knock against you but if I’m interviewing a student and their reason for not having any EC’s was that their HS doesn’t offer many EC’s, I would say this is EXACTLY the kind of student I wouldn’t want.</p>
<p>@Norcalguy, thanks a lot for the advice, but It’s not that I don’t want to do the EC’s It’s just I don’t know where to go, and what to do. If you have any other advice I would really really appreciate it. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Research is discovering new things in science. It’s what science is all about. Finding a problem/area of interest, forming a testable hypothesis, testing it through experiments/observation, and analyzing the data to see whether it supports/rules out your hypothesis. Like norcalguy said, you should talk to your professors to see if they have anything you can help with. There is some research you can do by yourself, as well.</p>
<p>wait…just to clarify I am a sophomore in high school, I don’t have professors. I’m not sure if you used that synonymously…but I just wanted to clarify…</p>
<p>“I am volunteering at a hospital”
1]Ask someone at the hospital if there are Drs that you can “shadow” this summer- follow them around for weeks to see what being a D is like. You can learn a LOT this way and this can be a stepping stone to other opportunities to work with Drs. Do this in addition to your volunteering there.
Ask if there are any research opportunities at the hospital that exist or could be created for a HS student. Show them how eager you are to learn all you can about medicine.
2]Sign up for online AP classes and take as many of them as you can handle and do well in, especially the science classes. EPGY, offered through Stanford, is one of the best and most recognized online AP programs.
3] After you start your CC classes, ask some profs there if you can do research with one of them-talk to them about what you are interested in, what areas of medicine grab your attention, etc. That is the beat way to get started doing research. Emailing a prof , who does not know you is not going to get you an opportunity. Profs offer opportunities for research to students at their college before any one else.</p>
<p>So should I take AP classes even though I am dual-enrolling? I think I saw a thread asking this before, and the general consent was that you don’t need to take AP classes, if you are dual enrolling. What do you guys think, considering that I really want to get into a BS/MD program? </p>
<p>Also, will professors take a junior high school student who is dual enrolling seriously for research, and also what exactly is this research supposed to do? </p>
<p>@norcalguy, if they do accept me, with whom will I be in the same lab with? Will they be people who are doing stuff related with pre-med…or with who?</p>
<p>@menloparkmom, I’m looking at the requirements to get into EPGY, but I can’t find where it says what SAT or PSAT score I need. Do you know what score I need to have to get into the program?</p>
<p>“So should I take AP classes even though I am dual-enrolling?”</p>
<p>It totally depends on the classes you can take at the CC vrs EPGY, how much time going to and from the college will eat up, and how self directed you are[ and what your budget is, though you can get FA from EPGY]. The EPGY classes are hard work and require real commitment- its harder to blow off a actual class than a online program. </p>
<p>“will professors take a junior high school student who is dual enrolling seriously for research” all you can do is ask. Profs usually love to work with an eager student. Better to show your enthusiasm, instead of hoping and waiting for an opportunity to present itself.</p>
<p>@menloparkmom, I’m looking at the requirements to get into EPGY, but I can’t find where it says what SAT or PSAT score I need. Do you know what score I need to have to get into the program?
NO but I imagine its pretty high, since they say this:
Students must demonstrate a high degree of mathematical or verbal ability (depending on the courses they are applying for) on the basis of standardized testing. </p>
<p>Haha. What I meant by that is that OP needs to understand that being a doctor is stressful. She doesn’t actually need to EXPERIENCE that stress.</p>
<p>OP, I think that rankings are irrelevent if there is only 1 other kid in your grade. So are there more teachers than students or something?</p>
<p>I don’t know…I’m just so confused, I’m at a horrible school right now, I am looking for all the volunteer and shadowing opportunities all of you have told me about, but I just don’t know what else to do… What else do all of you think I should do to be able to get into a BS/MD program?</p>
<p>honey, it is VERY difficult for ANY student to get into a BS/MD program. 99% of all Drs became Drs by first going to college, getting good grades there, and good scores on the Mcat , and then applying to Med schools, NOT by getting into a BS/ MD program. So calm down and stop feeling that you HAVE to get into one of those programs. Your don’t.
What you need to focus on is doing the best you can-take the hardest classes you can and do well in them, and do EC’s that you are excited about doing. ADmins do not judge all student applications like they were equal, but instead evaluate your application based the context of your school / location. College admins know that everyone does not have the same opportunities to take AP’s, do EC’s, and research.</p>
<p>thinking that you HAVE to get into a particular programs is like thinking you HAVE to get into Harvard, or Yale or Stanford. That kind of thinking is self defeating, because the chances are so small for anyone! Concentrate on getting into college. Take one step at a time.</p>
<p>so what should my EC’s be focused on if I want to go to an ivy league school? Should they be many non-related EC’s or should they all be somewhat familiar in regards to something such as medicine ex: Hospital volunteer hours, Shadowing…?</p>
<p>regardless of the colleges you apply to, having well defined interests and EC’s that show those interests /passion is going to help you more than having a bunch of EC’s that dont reflect who you are or what you care about. They do not all have to be about Medicine. Having a part time job is a highly valued EC. And stop thinking about Ivys. NOW. You need to focus on doing your best in your classes, regardless of where you take them- online, at a CC or at your HS, focus on getting the best scores on the ACT/ SAT, which you can prep for [ for the SAT buy the Collegeboard SAT test prep book and practice taking the test over and over] and not focus on the hope of getting into certain colleges that reject 90-95% of applicants.
Top colleges want students who have shown they have a passion and strong ability to learn and have taken advantage of every opportunity available to them to advance themsleves.</p>