Pre-Med: 7 year medical programs

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
1

<p>Hey guys!
So I am currently a Sophomore at a competitive high school in central PA and I am an Indian female.</p>

<p>I really want to get into a 7 year medical program at a good university like Boston, Northwestern, Brown, etc.</p>

<p>Freshmen Year courses are as follows:</p>

<p>AP World History (got a 4 on the exam) - B
Intro to Comp Sci/ Visual BASIC - A
H German III - A
H Algebra II - A
H Biology - A
H English - A</p>

<p>Sophomore Schedule:</p>

<p>AP German IV
H Pre-Calc
AP Government (semester 1)/ AP Economics (semester 2)
AP Physics
H Chemistry
Comp-Sci (C++)
H English</p>

<p>I am doing okay in my classes, the only class that's troubling me is AP Government
My GPA currently is UW: 93.5% (will definitely get it up) W: 101.28
Rank is 30/583 (will definitely get it up into the top 25 and eventually top 20</p>

<p>This is what I am thinking for my Junior year:</p>

<p>IB German
AP Calculus AB
AP Human Geography
AP Biology
H Anatomy/ Physiology
AP Comp Sci (JAVA)
English (i am not strong enough for AP English)</p>

<p>Senior year:</p>

<p>AP Calculus BC
AP Statistics
AP US History (maybe, thinking about taking college prep, but it's far away, so i am not too worried)
English
AP Chemistry
Independent Comp Sci
H Bio-Chem</p>

<p>I know it's too early to think about my junior and senior year schedules, but I really want to make sure that I get all my classes that are necessary for Pre-Med.</p>

<p>Please suggest me any other courses I should plan to take that will be good for Pre-Med.</p>

<p>Here are my clubs that I am doing and will plan on doing:</p>

<p>Math Club(9)
Quiz Bowl(9,10,11,12)
Key Club(9,10,11,12)
FBLA(9,10,11,12) - Vice President in 10th grade
German Club(10,11,12)
TSA(10,11,12) - Sergeant-at-Arms in 10th grade
CV Africa(10)
Friends Helping Friends - a community service club (10,11,12)
I plan on applying to NHS in my junior year of high school, hopefully I will make it.
trying to get into Science Olympiad, will do it regulary if I make it</p>

<p>I am a 1st degree Black Belt in Tang Soo Do and I will get my 2nd degree during high school. I really want to continue it even in college. I am a part of my karate school's demonstration team and I regularly help out my master with various tasks after class. I am an assistant instructor. I have judged various karate tournaments as well. I really do love martial arts and it's a big, big part of my life. I have won around 15-16 trophies in the past 2 years. I plan to continue competing as well. I really want to start my own school as well in the future when I am older. I would like to help girl's who might live in a city or place with a lot of crime, or some other situation in which they need to learn self-defense. </p>

<p>For community service, I will apply to volunteer at 2 different local hospitals and I plan on getting at least 100 hours this upcoming summer. I volunteer at the local library around 10 hours a month. I have also applied and been selected to volunteer at a Alzheimer's Association chapter near where I live. I plan on getting a lot of hours there. I am also part of my school's Key Club and I get around 30-40 hours each year in it. I genuinely love volunteering and I don't do it just for the sake of doing it, one of my goals in life is to help people who are unfortunate and don't have basic needs. I really want to help children from poor families become educated.</p>

<p>As for awards and honors, I have a lot of Martial Arts awards and certificates. I have won awards for FBLA. I plan to win some stuff in TSA and Science Olympiad, and we are working hard in Quiz Bowl to win the regional tournament. What are some other awards or certificates that might look good on my application? I was thinking of the Congressional Award? Is it good? I also really love Comp Sci and I am currently working on thinking of an idea for iPhone app. </p>

<p>I work as a tutor at my school. I tutor a 9th grader in geometry.</p>

<p>As for pre-med, I want to do it because I really love helping other people and interacting with them. I really want to be able to also travel around third-world countries and help those who can't afford to go to the doctor. I think that if my efforts can improve even one person's life, then I will be happy. I want a better future for everyone.</p>

<p>I really want to get into a good medical program, because I really want to seek the best education for myself so that I can use that to the best of my abilities to make a small difference in the world. </p>

<p>So if all of you can please give me any tips and suggestions on how I can improve my high school career, so that I can get into a good college. I really want to do this and help people.</p>

<p>Also, please advise me on how to score a very high score on the SATs. That's a really big concern for me. </p>

<p>Please do help me and share any experiences, tips, or suggestions on anything that you feel is missing, or too much, anything! I really want to do this, and I know it might be too early according to some, but I really care about this, which is the reason why I am thinking early. Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>Don’t over do it. I tell all of my aspiring pre-med students to have a life and enjoy it. I promise you, medical training will be more brutal than you can imagine. Find enjoyment in what you are doing instead of acing the necessary classes you believe will get you into medical school.</p>

<p>Helping people is not a reason to want to go into medicine. There are so many ways to accomplish this without being a doctor. However, being passionate about life sciences, academics, solving puzzles, and interacting with people is a much better enjoyable path to medicine. You won’t become one of those angry doctors who hates patients if you are enjoying the process.</p>

<p>Spend as little money educating yourself as possible. Money is an overriding issues for physicians. Don’t screw your future by making poor financial decisions early in your career.</p>

<p>You do these things and you will be a much happier physician when you get there whether if it is an accelerated program or not.</p>

<p>IMHO, your SAT score is a function of how well you prepared. An avid reader will naturally build his or her reading skills as a process of reading a lot of quality books. You practice enough of the SAT math problems, you will learn the patterns and techniques to perform well. At the end of the day, you need to practice for the exam, learn the test taking techniques and do so very early in the process.</p>

3

<p>thank you so much frugaldoctor! </p>

<p>and I really think that you are right, i don’t want to make it hard for myself or my parents, i just really want to seek the best education for myself</p>

<p>and I don’t want to become a physician, just to help people
I really do enjoy learning about the human body and life sciences, and i like learning in general</p>

<p>thank you so much for ur tips! I will definitely keep what you said in mind</p>

4

<p>bump it please!!</p>

5

<p>Brown’s program is 8 years, not 7.</p>

6

<p>oops…i knew that but most are 7 years…so that’s what sometimes naturally comes out…sorry!</p>

7

<p>Heads up, your current GPA is on the very low side for a combined program. Also, consider why you want to go to medical school. If your only reason is that you want to help others, you should consider nursing or physician’s assistant since they have much more direct interaction with patients. I’m not trying to be mean, but when I was interviewing, that was always something I would have to answer and explain.</p>

<p>If you have lots of research experience, consider applying to RPI/AMC (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Albany Medical College), Drexel’s various programs, Penn state/Jefferson, and some other ones that may not be as obvious as Brown or Northwestern.
Feel free to ask me any questions, since I’m currently a freshman at a 7 year program.</p>

8

<p>You still have a good amount of time in high school but it seems like you are on track for some lower/mid tier programs (AMC programs, Drexel programs, PSU/Jeff, BU, UMiami, etc.) as long as you can follow through with the medical experiences you plan on having, continue to take a rigorous course load while doing well, and do well on the SAT (shoot for at least 2200, 2300+ would put you in an excellent position). I would also consider contacting research professors to see if you could do a little research as well.</p>

<p>For the higher tier programs like Northwestern, Rice/Baylor you almost have to be HYP-caliber which would include being at the very top of your class, having tons of leadership experience, and gaining recognition through significant activities. Brown has a little different criteria, looking less at academic and scientific achievement with more emphasis on non-science activities and essays. </p>

<p>You have some time so think about what you can do.</p>

9

<p>To “ace” your SAT’s, do ALL of the practice exams from the blue official SAT book under the simulated condition with a timer and without any distractions or interruptions except short breaks( 5 min.) after completing 2 or 3 sections from the practice test. Then you need to check your answers using Tutor Ted’s SAT Solutions Manual or other solutions manual and try not to make similar mistakes on next practice test. To get the best result, you need to repeat this process till you finish ALL of the practice exams. I recommend start this process during the summer between Soph. and Junior year with the intent of taking the test on Sept and Jan of Junior year. By doing this, you do not need to study for PSAT which is important for the merit scholarship opportunity if you are selected as a national merit finalist. For now, start reading either New York Times, Wall Street Journal or Economist to improve reading comprehension and to accumulate vocabulary cards every day… you only need to find 2-3 words daily. By the time you are ready to take SAT test… you will be ready !!! For SAT subject tests, take one test per year during June. If you taking a class on Chemistry that year, then take SAT Chemistry and so on… Try to take SAT subject tests on Chem/Bio/M2. </p>

<p>Good Luck!!</p>

10

<p>Really depends on the school. And yes your GPA and class rank should be a bit higher for a better chance. Good luck!</p>

11

<p>it’s great that you’re planning early. I’m sure your passion will shine through during the process</p>

12

<p>Thank you so much to everyone! I will definitely keep in mind all the tips and advice that everyone has given me :slight_smile: Thanks so much! :)</p>