<p>Do premed and prelaw applicants whose applications display a preprofessional stance have any admissions advantage? That is, all else being equal, would the application of a premed applicant who volunteered at a hospital shine brighter than that of a premed applicant who volunteered at a library?</p>
<p>I only half know what I am talking about, but I would imagine that it would not. If you have a passion for medicine and your volunteering was just one step in that process, then maybe, but if your application shows a passion for teaching and helping others to learn, and you volunteered at a library to excersize that passion, then that would be a better experience for a pre-med student then just volunteering in a hospital for the sake of it.</p>
<p>I tend to believe that Amherst is much less specific about admitting certain students for each 'major' then other elite schools. Since we have no seperate colleges for Business, Medicine, Education, etc, everyone receives the same degree in the end. The open curriculum of Amherst encourages exploration and possible changing of majors, emphasizing personal freedom.</p>
<p>Therefore, I would say that a prospective pre-med major who volunteered at a hospital would get a minimal advantage. The admin people might say "hey, this person wants to be pre-med and works at hospital. they sound like they mean business with the whole pre-med path (btw, premed is NOT a major at Amherst)"</p>
<p>But they will not give much more than a minor psychological edge. Therefore, if you really want to work at a library, go for that instead, as long as you're dedicated and passionate about whatever it is thatg you're doing.</p>
<p>Here's my take on this, though I've never heard anyone at Amherst voice it this way:</p>
<p>Don't be preprofessional. Amherst is a LAC, and its job is to "train you for nothing, but prepare you for everything." If you JUST want to be a doctor or lawyer, go somewhere else. BUT --- if you want to be a doctor because you have a passion for molecular biology and are hell-bent on finding the cure to disease "X", and can back-up your claims by showing that you've spent summers working in labs or clinics... OR if you want to be a doctor because you have a deep sense that healthcare is not adequately delivered to underserved populations and you've volunteered at inner city clinics and have written a report on disparities in healthcare delivery... OR if you have a deep commitment to the fair treatment within the legal system of children or mentally ill adults or other people without the means to defend themselves and you have volunteered with social services or pro-bono legal services to back-up this claim... THEN being at Amherst as a preprofessional makes sense. </p>
<p>In other words, don't go to Amherst if you JUST want to be ANOTHER doctor or lawyer. Go there is you have a passion to change the world, to help others, to make a difference, and medicine or law happens to be the vehicle to get you there.</p>
<p>not that this adds anything to the topic, but that was a very well said response, Alum81.</p>
<p>Preprofessional is not huge at Amherst, since it's not a major, just a path you can take and probably get a chem or bio degree along the way. And there is absolutely no pre-law, although there is the LJST major</p>