<p>seems like most premeds do the common "study hard, volunteer, research" type of deal. Some may join clubs or start them but that seems somewhat common too. What kind of stuff can we do to stand out? I mean half of the premeds get rejected by the med schools they apply to. Besides the gpa/mcat..what kind of things can we do or activities we should undertake to help increase our chances? Any advice what we should do when we start freshmen year?</p>
<p>By far the most important thing you can do is to take the application process seriously. Apply early (not early decision, just calendar-wise early). Have your letters in on time. Apply BROADLY and APPROPRIATELY. Write good essays.</p>
<p>Generally, you should send out 15-20 primaries; more for lower-tier undergraduate schools/poor advising or competitive home states (CA). Do not apply to schools where you are below their average numbers (obvious exceptions for URM status). Pick schools with high admissions percentages. Spread out the competitiveness of the admissions metrics.</p>
<p>when you mean early, do you mean june of senior yr (since most deadlines seem to be octoberish) ?</p>
<p>Yes, the June before your senior year. Ignore those deadlines - they're ridiculous. This means you want your resume put together by the November BEFORE, your essay written by January, your letter-writers notified in March, etc.</p>
<p>i think atlantiz (and i also am wondering this), how do we stand out as applicants in the huge pool? almost all applicants to good or decent med schools have good gpas, high mcat socres, and very very similar ECs. what are some ways, besides writing an essay, do you have to do to stand out as an outstanding applicant, one that will make med schools go "woah, this kid looks good".</p>
<p>I understood the question.</p>
<p>my sources are a little shaky, but I remember being told that some of the top med schools want to diversify their med school classes, in regards to where the students came from undergraduate universities (for example, Harvard med school could easily take all the HYPS pre-meds, but they choose not to because they want some students from all the different undergrad schools out there). Therefore, it's really important to be able to stand out among the pre-meds at YOUR undergrad university. Is this true?</p>
<p>Does race/ethnicity play a role in the admissions game? I know it does for undergraduate admission just wondering if that also applies to medical schools as well.</p>
<p>yes it does.</p>
<p>hahaha i probably was not very clear on my question b/c all the answers Im getting arent really waht I was asking for.</p>
<p>To rephrase my original question...I was wondering what I can do AS A FRESHMAN IN COLLEGE, to stand out. I think the answers I got are more applicable to a SENIOR in college (like the advice about applying early and teacher recs).</p>
<p>sorry if i wasnt clearer earlier</p>
<p>
[quote]
What kind of stuff can we do to stand out? I mean half of the premeds get rejected by the med schools they apply to. Besides the gpa/mcat
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What I get from most people I've talked to that have been through the process is that if you have a high GPA and MCAT and have done research, you will get into med school. The 50% that don't get in are the ones that worked hard but whose numbers and scores probably fell just a bit short. All you have to do is work hard enough to put your numbers in the competitive range and you will get in. You probably don't need to worry so much about standing out by doing different things.</p>
<p>Lol, atlantiz, another UCSD freshman kid? :></p>
<p>So am I.</p>
<p>I'm actually wondering the same thing myself.</p>