What does it take? REALLY Confused.

<p>First of all, thanks for reading! </p>

<p>So, I'm a high school senior and I decided that I am very sure that I want to go to med school. I'm heading to Tufts University (Yay for Jumbos!) in the fall for the Class of 2016, and I want to know how to prepare myself for the stress. I've heard getting into ANY med school is hard, and that scares me ... because, (I know, laugh all you want at the high ambition :D ) I want to get into Harvard Med School and now I feel that's utterly impossible.</p>

<p>I'm going to double major in Poli Sci and Biochem at Tufts, and I aim to, like high school, get a 4.0 UW, and a VERY high MCAT score. But, I know 97 percent of the Harvard Med School applicants have those stats. And yes, I know that this is an aim...it's hard to predict what will happen, I'm just preparing myself.</p>

<p>How do I distinguish myself for ECs? And what do med schools mean when they say they don't want the generic "I want to be a doctor to save the world/cure cancer/help the needy/help others/be a good human etc ... " I mean, I have a very personal reason, and I suppose they want personal wishes, right? </p>

<p>Anyhow, thanks for reading. I just want to know what I need :/. Right now? I have SOMEWHAT, but not much of a clue.</p>

<p>For the best EC’s, they want to see passion and talent, things you can’t just roll out of bed and do. That means you have to do shadowing, hospital volunteering, research, etc. But, anyone can do that. But, not everyone can roll out of bed and be a D1 athlete or a concert pianist or publish a paper or write a book or win the Fulbright. They’re looking for the 1-2 EC’s/awards that define each applicant.</p>