Not enough medical 'stuff' for PLME?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>I’m a rising sophomore who is hoping to go to Brown as a PLME. However, up till now, I haven’t really done that much ‘stuff’ related to the field of medicine. Some basic info (this is NOT a what are my chances thread; it is a what else do I need to do thread):</p>

<p>Freshman Year (completed already)</p>

<p>Freshman English (required course)- Got an A, A-, A in the three terms
Freshman History (required course)- Got an A-, A, A in the three terms
*Precalculus (fall term)- Got an A
Precalculus for BC (winter and spring terms) (a course where the Precalc material is finished by mid-March and the rest of the time is spent on BC Calc material)- Got a B+ in winter, A in spring</p>

<p>*Honors Chemistry- Got an A, A-, A
*Spanish 4,5,6- Got A-, A-, A (the levels vary from school to school, I know.)</p>

<p><em>The rest of my schedule</em></p>

<p>Sophomore Year</p>

<p>Sophomore English (required course)</p>

<p>Honors European History (the same as AP Euro, they just don’t call it that)
AP Calc BC
AP Chemistry
Advanced Spanish Readings</p>

<p>Junior Year</p>

<p>Junior English (required course, but will be taking AP Lang and AP Literature at the end of the year)
AP Econ
Multivariable Calc
AP Bio
AP Spanish</p>

<p>Senior Year</p>

<p>Senior English Electives (Probable Dostoyevsky for a term, and then some other electives)
AP US
Linear Algebra
AP Physics C: Mechanics (The highest level offered by my school)
Intro to Ethics for a term, Into to Philosophy for a term, and then some other elective for a term (these are all required to graduate, because we have to take at least 2 religions courses or something like that)</p>

<p>ECs that I have at this point (these will undoubtedly grow)</p>

<p>Member of the Youth Orchestra of Central New Jersey- Lead Saxophonist in the Sax Choir and Wind Ensemble</p>

<p>Completed the 8th Grade level of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) curriculum: passed 8th Grade with merit. </p>

<p>Will be completing studies for (at the very least) a DiplomaABRSM (DipABRSM) by the time I apply to college. A DipABRSM is the level that one is expected to be at after completion of the first year of a three year music college. </p>

<p>Self-studied for the AP Music Theory exam during my 8th Grade year and received a 4. Subscores of 5 on the Written Exam and 3 on the Aural Exam.</p>

<p>Will have over 650+ hours of community service by the time I apply to college (this is not wishful thinking. I have committed to be a camp counselor every summer until I graduate, including this current summer, and I will be volunteering during the year as well. For those of you who were cynically questioning my commitment, yes, I actually like doing it.)</p>

<p>Red Cross Certified Lifeguard</p>

<p>Eagle Scout</p>

<p>There’s some other stuff in the works but I won’t discuss it here.</p>

<p>As you can probably see, very little that I have so far is actually geared towards medicine. I’m fairly sure this will hurt me. What kinds of stuff would you guys recommend I do to make up for the deficit?</p>

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<p>Then how do you even know you want to be a doctor?</p>

3

<p>Well, you seem to be going towards fantastic grades. You're really way ahead in math. Although you have a predicted 650 hours of community service, are any of them going to be in a hospital setting? amor has a very good point, hopefully you're not choosing PLME just for prestige.</p>

4

<p>thanks for the replies. I know I want to be a doctor because I was able to help out in a clinic last summer in florida, and I found cardiology and neurology to be pretty fascinating. </p>

<p>Very few, if any, will be in a 'hospital' setting. The reason for that is because most of the hospitals in this area only allow 'junior volunteers' to do filing and stuff. I worked at a hospital here for about 3 weeks this summer and I literally spend my 6 hour days filing and alphabetizing stuff. However, a bunch of the volunteer hours will be coming from a nursing home, where I help take care of residents and such.</p>

5

<p>Well the only thing that really matters directly to PLME is showing significant interest in being a doctor, and this comes from two places-- hospitals and science research related to the field of medicine (pharmacology, toxicology, for instance). From my understanding, and I admittedly know only a little, they're looking for peopel who actually have the experience to know that medicine is for them, which a summer in 8th or 9th grade that made a subject appear "fascinating" is really not enough. What about being EMT certified and volunteering at a fire department, things like that which will defintiely give you experience. I have a friend who's an EMT who works at the PNC Arts Center (major concert venue/indoor staidum thing in Jersey) as an EMT on call.</p>

<p>You're going to need exactly what you're thinking--"medical stuff" for PLME. BUt really, make sure that you want to be a doctor, because even though the program isn't binding (from what I know), it's quite unfair to compete for a spot and then toss it away when someone else could have used that.</p>

6

<p>Melody, being an EMT helps in combined degree programs? I didn't know that! Do you think if I became certified as an EMT my senior year it would still help (my school offers an elective in that), or should it be done earlier to actually make an impact on admissions?</p>

7

<p>linear algebra as a senior - after taking Calc AB/BC? Try taking a math course at the local community college, if possible.</p>

8

<p>He's taking multivar junior year if you read it... linear algebra or diffeq are usually the classes after multivar</p>

9

<p>I'm not the all knowing authority, but I'd imagine experience working in emergency medical situations would qualify as showing significant interest in working in fields of health, like becoming a doctor-- it's a connect the dot thing, not a, "I know this percentage of PLMEs are EMTs and that hte EMTs did better in admission by x%".</p>