What should I focus on right now?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I am entering my first year in college and there are many things that need to be done.</p>

<p>(Is there a book thatll give me a timeline of the key things i should do and when to do them?)</p>

<p>What should be my primary concern right now besides my GPA/science GPA, and EC's? </p>

<p>As a freshmen, should I start purchasing the new MSAR 2008-2009 edition? Or should I not worry about books like that until my 2nd or third year? </p>

<p>Also, when should I start reviewing for the MCAT? </p>

<p>I ask this because I do not want to worry myself about things I don't have to worry over. Thereby, giving me a clearer and more focused mind. =)</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>1.) MSAR is for April of your junior year.</p>

<p>2.) MCAT is for two months before you take it, which will be sometime during your junior year.</p>

<p>3.) EC's matter immediately. Find some -- in particular seek out clinical experience, community service, and research projects.</p>

<p>4.) Focus on your courses.</p>

3

<p>is it a bad idea to start preparing earlier than 2 months before the mcat, like say that whole academic year?</p>

4

<p>Yes.</p>

<p>1.) Builds too much stress for test day.
2.) Distracts from more important goals.
3.) Is not necessary.
4.) If you're going to do that, may as well start studying for USMLE now.</p>

5

<p>what about taking a kaplan course thats a semester long?</p>

6

<p>stonecold23:</p>

<p>I did that. Turned out to be a great decision for me. I personally think only two months of MCAT prep is not enough, but anything over six months is overkill.</p>

7

<p>A semester's what, four months? Should be okay.</p>

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<p>The point is that the MCAT can be studied for in a matter of months. Some people take 2 months to study. Some take a full semester. No one should be prepping 2 years for it.</p>

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<p>Or, as we've sometimes seen here, six years...</p>

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<p>In which order should the EC be done?</p>

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<p>All of them. As much as you can. As soon as you can. As many as you think you can handle.</p>

<p>Whichever one you can get first, do first. Keep it as long as you can keep it and add ones whenever you can find them.</p>

<p>Obviously, at some point you will become too busy. Then you can start picking and choosing which ones you'd like to keep.</p>

12

<p>When you say not to prepare 6 months before the MCAT, do you mean to prepare for the test form and style?
What about training the reading skills? It takes many years to have good reading skills and sharp thinking (my opinion)? How can you improve your reading in 2 months?</p>

13

<p>You're exactly right. You should be reading WSJ, NYT, Economist, etc. as much as you can.</p>

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<p>Also, why are ECs so important to medical school? Volunteering MAY be a sign of altruism, Shadowing MAY be a sign of interest for the art of medecine, but how does being a symphony orchestra player, a president of a premed club, or a varsity sport player relate to our affinity toward medecine? If you could clarify that, it would solve many of my doubts.
Thanks!</p>

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<p>They probably wouldn't add a ton unless you were spectacularly accomplished in those fields. You'll notice I broke EC's down into three areas: volunteering, research, clinical exposure. Activities and recreation weren't on there.</p>

<p>That's not to say they're bad, or that they're not good. But they won't replace the big three.</p>

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<p>So can an ENORMOUS contribution to the "big three" overshadow the lack of recreation or leadership activities? I mean, a dearth of recreation and activities wouldn't hurt you as long as you participate actively in the "big three," wouldn't it?</p>

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<p>What are some examples of "volunteering" that's not part of "clinical exposure"? And what are some examples of "clinical exposure" thats not part of "volunteering"?
Can you give some insight to this obvious question?</p>

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<p>Non-clinical volunteering: MANY (working at soup kitchens, tutoring underpriviledged kids, basically any kind of volunteering that doesn't involve patients)</p>

<p>Non-volunteer clinical experience: most common one is shadowing; paid EMT, paid medical assistant, any kind of paid job in a clinic or hospital</p>

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<p>Yes, the big three (I guess I've invented a term now) are the most important bits, although of course other things won't hurt.</p>

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<p>Thanks BDM. Im going to e-mail my pre-med advisor tomorrow and see what "Big Threes" she has available for me... </p>

<p>Oh, and another question, a bit off topic, but... here is my schedule as of right now:</p>

<p>Bio 190-Gen/Eco/Evo
Gen Chem 151/151L
English 120 - Comp & Lit
Math 150 - Calculus 1</p>

<p>I still have more room to take one more course. I want to take a humanities or philosophy course but I'm afraid that it may compromise my performance. I have a feeling that the obvious answer would be to take it if I was completely confident in my abilities, or wait for this 1st semester to be over, then determine if i can take it 2nd semester. Or am i off? </p>

<p>Thanks in advance again.</p>