<p>I do a lot of ECs and will continue them through undergrad wherever I end up for undergrad (hopefully an ivy but given my current sat II scores WHO KNOWS??)...any advice- I try to read a lot and I am taking Intro to Bio at Harvard SSP right now to prepare for the MCAT Biology.
To prepare for MCAT Verbal IN HIGH SCHOOL YES IN HIGH SCHOOL I am not waiting till college what should I do? I read philosophy along with dense scientific theories--> Should I continue to do this??? Any other advice? What science competitions should I do? I love science and love experimenting...</p>
<p>How about take all the classes first then focus on studying. If you start this soon you will burn out really quickly. Having great MCATS doesn't guarantee you Havard Med. , its more of the whole package which you present. Just focus on having fun learning about medicine and keep your interest peaked in it for now. Worry about the MCAT you Soph year in college.</p>
<p>The screen name HYPER seems to be well deserved. Take a breath kid.</p>
<p>The four year separation of HS and Med school means that virtually nothing you did in HS will matter when it comes time to apply to Med. Your course load won't matter, your ECs won't matter, your APs won't matter, the recc from your third grade teacher won't matter.</p>
<p>If you look at the undergrad colleges of Harvard Med acceptees you will also see that attending an Ivy undergrad doesn't get you in either. Of course you need excellent GPA, MCATS, reccs, and Med related EC's. That's why they have a 5% acceptance rate.</p>
<p>The MCATs require reasoning, not factual recall. Reasoning requires a variety of learning experiences that are brought together to solve a problem. If you short circuit the process you will know all of the facts and none of the answers.</p>
<p>Stay on task but take tonight off. Harvard doesn't care.</p>
<p>"The screen name HYPER seems to be well deserved. Take a breath kid."</p>
<p>I am not really insane- I just stuffed a lot of questions into one post. It's just the earlier I know stuff the better I do at that stuff because I have a chance to prepare- I've done MCAT verbal questions and found them not terrible....just any extra reading might help, which I'm doing, so that will not be problematic either.</p>
<p>"Reasoning requires a variety of learning experiences that are brought together to solve a problem."
I know I am getting a lot of new experience in my current HSSP class that is much more profound in nature than any I had prior to this summer. I reason through a lot of different situations, or at least I try to. </p>
<p>Other Questions:
--->What about the other stuff needed to get into medical school? Like really good ECs and Science Competitions? What competitions are available in college? I know for high school that there is Westinghouse and Intel STS.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I HAVE PASSION FOR SCIENCE, BUT WOULD LIKE TO FUNNEL THAT PASSION THROUGH MEDIA OF SCIENTIFIC EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY OR SCIENCE COMPETITIONS..</p>
<p>Hyper,</p>
<p>Do you know why you want to go to Harvard Medical School? Do you have any clue why you want to be a physician?</p>
<p>For goodness sake, you're 17! Worry about getting your BA/BS first. At this rate, you'll be dead from heart failure...</p>
<p>
[quote]
What about the other stuff needed to get into medical school? Like really good ECs and Science Competitions?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Kid, "science competitions" stop in high school. In college, it's called research. The fact that you're still in high school even in terms of what you're thinking of doing for medical school is a red flag that you should slow down. Take a breath, and enjoy your first couple years of college. You cannot prepare for the MCAT now at the level you will be able to once you get some college level courses under your belt. </p>
<p>PLEASE, just trust in the wisdom of people who have experience you don't have.</p>
<p>I'm not overly stressed- I'm just doing a little thinking-</p>
<p>MCAT-
I am not referring to HARDCORE prep. BUT given that the test is 90% reading comprehension, I could certainly use long-term reading prep strategies (like reading a lot of difficult material)</p>
<p>Research- sounds awesome! I look forward to it eagerly...</p>
<p>Harvard Med. School Rocks...</p>
<p>Do I have a clue why I want to become a physician? Of course, I love science and medicine and would work well with patients...I also want to be a researcher...</p>
<p>Why not wait until you possess the proper tools to truly excel at the test, instead of worrying about it now?</p>
<p>Would you tell a middle schooler to start worrying about the SAT II in biology?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Research- sounds awesome! I look forward to it eagerly...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's what most people say until they realize it means sitting in a lab for days and days doing the SAME thing over and over again. You should talk to researchers and see if it's really "awesome."</p>
<p>
[quote]
Harvard Med. School Rocks...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Wrong reason. What does the program offer YOU as a future physician? Don't want to go there just for the name. Have a legitimate reason.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Do I have a clue why I want to become a physician? Of course, I love science and medicine and would work well with patients...I also want to be a researcher...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>These are very conflicting reasons. First of all, doctors are not really research scientists. Enjoying science is a good thing, but it's not the heart of modern medicine. You sound like you might be more interested in medical research. In that case, plan on pursuing both an MD and a PhD, and never seeing anyone you love ever again.</p>
<p>My guess is that our young Hyper friend has had a close encounter of the Harvard kind and has realized that he is not competitive for Harvard as an undergrad. I assume what this early frenzy is all about then is the natural desire not to repeat the experience in the next round.
It is certainly commendable.</p>
<p>It's commendable, and he certainly deserves applause for his eagerness and obvious hard work, but 17 is still way too young to worry about Harvard Med.</p>
<p>I'm not worrying, I just don't want to screw up pre-med. </p>
<p>I'VE SEEN RESEARCH DONE= I know it takes days I have EXPERIENCE with it...It still appeals to me...
"In that case, plan on pursuing both an MD and a PhD, and never seeing anyone you love ever again"
AS I SAID EARLIER I enjoy both research and contact with patients...RESEARCH DOES NOT MEAN TURNING INTO A ROBOT- that's just a flawed stereotype...</p>
<p>As for Harvard Medical School I have a lot of reasons I just did not give them in the previous post....my previous post is not a full-fledged defense of my position, just something spit out quickly. My real reasons involve a number of things: including specific facilities, materials, people and professors there, research opportunities there and nearby, and numerous other factors...
MCAT- understandably I'll wait till 2nd year college to prep for sciences..
Prepping for the MCAT is FUN in my perverted test-loving mind- It's like a game you just can't wait to beat</p>
<p>MCAT- I starting prepping for ONLY THE VERBAL part fall of junior year...By prepping i mean getting an idea of the material and doing practice questions that I faired pretty well on in verbal.... I know a bunch of people that are high school students my age who are also starting PREP for the MCAT...</p>
<p>There's nothing wrong with prepping for just verbal part</p>
<p>Actually I'm certainly not out of the running for Harvard Undergraduate- I have very good extracurriculars and reccomendations but just need to retake a couple standardized tests...the SAT IIs are the only thing that could really destroy my chances...; of course there's only 1/10 chance of acceptance but I'm not a reject just yet....
I've dedicated myself to what I really like in high school, all of which was done before I developed a desire for any ivy league- influencing national policy, science research, community service, creating newsletters, writing articles for newsletters, doing a lot of math and science competitions and receiving numerous awards at these competitions, etc.
IN FACT, I WAS NOT EVEN INTERESTED IN HARVARD OR ANY IVY UNTIL LATE JUNIOR YEAR (4 MONTHS AGO) WHEN A CAMPUS VISIT AND A LETTER MAILED TO ME APPEALED TO ME...</p>
<p>
[quote]
RESEARCH DOES NOT MEAN TURNING INTO A ROBOT
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Tell my friends in the labs that...</p>
<p>Listen, I'm not telling you to not prep, but keep in mind that you're still 17, and you have plenty of time to worry about changing the world.</p>
<p>HMS isn't god. There are better schools around. Also there is no formula for ANY med school in this country. You can have the grades and not get in anywhere! Its more of a package thing, your package of grades,mcats,research,volunteering,shadowing, personality, and interview is basically what determines if you get in med school. Having just grades won't help. At the same time even if you have everything above and it is awesome you still may not get into HMS, let alone any med school, it is that unpredictable.</p>
<p>its not that unpredictable, people that really have in them to be a doctor becomes doctors, people that says they want to be a doctor for the attention, and persues it just to show that they can take hard classes dont become doctors.</p>
<p>If only that was true... But its not, thats why some people have to resort to going to Europe or the Carib for med school. Do you think they do it because they don't really like medicine. Plenty want to be a doc and try as hard as they can, often they don't make it in anywhere. It sucks but its true.</p>
<p>Why don't you focus on undergrad right now? If you focus all this energy into college then you will surely have great stats for Harvard Med.</p>
<p>im in the same position as u(rising senior) and heres what Im doing.</p>
<ol>
<li>preparing for my senior course load, and sat</li>
<li>Reading research papers, and aritcles to see what kind of research i want to participate in college.</li>
<li>ordered 1 mcat test, when it comes I will do what I know see what I get.</li>
<li>relax and enjoy the summer</li>
</ol>
<p>loganr....
sounds like a good plan.
enjoy your summer.</p>