Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

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new000
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Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by new000 »

Looking for suggestions from experienced med professionals for current sophomore student intending to study medicine. We r in Nj.
His GPA is 3.97 and is
Volunteering at hospital and senior center as well as health science relared associations


Thank you
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climber2020
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by climber2020 »

Keep getting A's.
Do well on the MCAT.
Get good grades in the required science classes, but no need to major in Biology or Chemistry like every other pre-med student. You'll use almost none of it. I didn't particularly enjoy science, so I majored in music and everything worked out great.
Where you do your residency is far more important than where you go to medical school, so don't take out half a million dollars in student loans.
Wakefield1
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by Wakefield1 »

As undergrads,rent out a house with some other students who are interested in studying and doing coursework for the future,not wasting all of the time on partying and drinking,watching TV or playing video games. Don't take your chances on random roommates you might get by choosing to live in the dorm-although the U. may allow joint roommate applications to live in the dorm,if so,choose wisely. Try for a private bedroom-or at least a shared room which is used for sleeping and not entertainment by other people.
In other words,choose your roommates carefully. That goes for Lab partners also.
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climber2020
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by climber2020 »

Oh- one other thing that really helped me a lot. Mock interviews. The college's counseling center can help with this. Back then I didn't naturally interview well, so doing lots of practice interviews helped me fake my way through it well enough to make a decent impression.
uclalee
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by uclalee »

Not really an admissions pointer, but please make sure he explores many other career options (even within healthcare). The pathway to being a physician is very long and comes with a high cost (both financial loans and delaying starting a family/life). In retrospect I wish these things had been pointed out to me.
DrGoogle2017
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by DrGoogle2017 »

I have 3 nephews and nieces who are/were med students. I notice the same thing with other friend’s kids. High GPA and high MCAT are no longer the only criteria. So you may want to expand in other areas to strengthen your application. Two kids we know who graduated from UCLA with 3.90 and above didn’t get accepted to any UC medical schools, all in state for California kids, while the students with similar GPA from lower rank schools like at a Cal State got accepted to UCLA medical school.
Last edited by DrGoogle2017 on Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
livesoft
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by livesoft »

I worked in a hospital (not a volunteer, got paid) as a nursing aide. I got to give enemas, shave patients for urological surgery, feed them, change bed sheets, clean up the fresh dead, and lots of other things.

So I recommend getting a job now in the health care field.

I decided not to apply to medical school. :)
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new000
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by new000 »

All your responses are helpful, thank you so much.
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JPH
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by JPH »

I served on the admissions committee for several years. The model used was that another faculty member and I interviewed students separately then got together to negotiate a final score. I always looked at grades and test scores, and he always wanted to talk about their personality and temperament. If grades like you cite can be sustained then he will have a choice of schools. The volunteering will be a minor consideration. Admissions committees hear those things constantly and consider it sort of weak indicator of interest in the field. What is considered important is anything at which the student has truly distinguished himself/herself. A few examples still come to mind. One candidate had won an Olympic medal. One had established a tiny gold mine in Alaska and mined enough gold each summer to pay most of his college costs. One established a nonprofit agency that raised money to send medical supplies to impoverished parts of the world. Not everyone can do such things, but each one started early on something they considered important, set a goal, stuck with it over time, and made a success of it. It's easy to interview those students. They come to the interview with something to talk about, and their excitement and pride naturally come through.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by dollarbillz »

Agree with all of the above. I’d add:

Though getting in seems like the biggest obstacle RIGHT NOW, understand that getting into medical school does not guarantee specialty of choice; does not guarantee a good residency spot; does not guarantee a desirable job.

Once in, I can not overstate the importance of USMLE Step 1. Results of that exam stick forever and largely determine career (and in turn, lifestyle, income, etc).

Bottom line, the level of intensity/dedication required to get into medical school needs to be sustained for a long period of time. Be prepared for this.

I agree with everything else already said, especially early exposures to health care volunteering/job, MCAT, GPA, etc.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by raveon »

Be prepared to have a mortgage after graduation but no house.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

One of my son's friend is currently working while applying to med schools. Hearing what he's going through, some of the questions he needs to answer on the med school applications have hit him. Get applications now and look at what they ask. In my son's friend's case, he's done no volunteering. Just volunteered at a hospital to check that box.
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new000
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by new000 »

Jack FFR1846 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 2:35 pm One of my son's friend is currently working while applying to med schools. Hearing what he's going through, some of the questions he needs to answer on the med school applications have hit him. Get applications now and look at what they ask. In my son's friend's case, he's done no volunteering. Just volunteered at a hospital to check that box.
Sure, will do, thanks for the suggestion
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new000
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by new000 »

raveon wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 1:59 pm Be prepared to have a mortgage after graduation but no house.
Lol
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new000
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by new000 »

dollarbillz wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 1:10 pm Agree with all of the above. I’d add:

Though getting in seems like the biggest obstacle RIGHT NOW, understand that getting into medical school does not guarantee specialty of choice; does not guarantee a good residency spot; does not guarantee a desirable job.

Once in, I can not overstate the importance of USMLE Step 1. Results of that exam stick forever and largely determine career (and in turn, lifestyle, income, etc).

Bottom line, the level of intensity/dedication required to get into medical school needs to be sustained for a long period of time. Be prepared for this.

I agree with everything else already said, especially early exposures to health care volunteering/job, MCAT, GPA, etc.

Got it, thanks for thr insights
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new000
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by new000 »

JPH wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:52 pm I served on the admissions committee for several years. The model used was that another faculty member and I interviewed students separately then got together to negotiate a final score. I always looked at grades and test scores, and he always wanted to talk about their personality and temperament. If grades like you cite can be sustained then he will have a choice of schools. The volunteering will be a minor consideration. Admissions committees hear those things constantly and consider it sort of weak indicator of interest in the field. What is considered important is anything at which the student has truly distinguished himself/herself. A few examples still come to mind. One candidate had won an Olympic medal. One had established a tiny gold mine in Alaska and mined enough gold each summer to pay most of his college costs. One established a nonprofit agency that raised money to send medical supplies to impoverished parts of the world. Not everyone can do such things, but each one started early on something they considered important, set a goal, stuck with it over time, and made a success of it. It's easy to interview those students. They come to the interview with something to talk about, and their excitement and pride naturally come through.
Really appriciate the valuable pointers
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by 4nwestsaylng »

dollarbillz wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 1:10 pm Agree with all of the above. I’d add:

Though getting in seems like the biggest obstacle RIGHT NOW, understand that getting into medical school does not guarantee specialty of choice; does not guarantee a good residency spot; does not guarantee a desirable job.

Once in, I can not overstate the importance of USMLE Step 1. Results of that exam stick forever and largely determine career (and in turn, lifestyle, income, etc).

Bottom line, the level of intensity/dedication required to get into medical school needs to be sustained for a long period of time. Be prepared for this.

I agree with everything else already said, especially early exposures to health care volunteering/job, MCAT, GPA, etc.
All that volunteering in health related areas unfortunately is resume window dressing that committees are wise to. You might appear more well rounded if you had a summer job as a fire lookout in the Forest Service, or worked on a fishing boat, or worked for the Park Service or something. If you really, really are interested in the health volunteer work, fine, but I suspect you have selected it for the resume, as most students do.

Yes, there are 3.9 GPA students from places like UC Irvine and elsewhere not getting in to medical school, and there are legitimate other factors that committees look at. All of that usually falls into the "diversity" category. I believe there is a major lawsuit currently against Harvard regarding this.

As another poster mentioned, finishing medical school is just the beginning. If you don't get into the specialty you want, you could have a very unhappy medical career. Just sayin.

Finally, remember, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
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one word: specialize

Post by Socrates »

Dont spend all that money and time being a GP. Focus in on the extra time to specialist in cardiology, allergy, surgery, psychiatry.......you will triple your income
“Don't waste your time looking back. You're not going that way.” ― Ragnar Lothbrok.
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Re: one word: specialize

Post by 4nwestsaylng »

Socrates28 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 9:35 pm Dont spend all that money and time being a GP. Focus in on the extra time to specialist in cardiology, allergy, surgery, psychiatry.......you will triple your income
Many good medical students from the 80s and 90s took Family Practice residencies, which is admirable. Unfortunately, many Family Practice groups now are hiring Nurse Practitioners or Physician Assistants so the senior partners don't have to pay another new physician. It is not automatic that you can just go into cardiology or a surgical field. Depends much on your performance in medical school. Again, most medical students are very smart, but,regardless, there is still going to be a class ranking within that group, and good residencies will be selective based upon that ranking.

Medical school is where you will part from the social development and life of your undergraduate friends. They will move on to perhaps graduate school for a couple of years or will be out in the job market, forming families and buying homes. You will have little in common with them, and after medical school and residency you will commence "life" about ten years after them. That is the way it is. It is very tough. I have seen many casualties of the often vicious medical education system. Sometimes those casualties emerged 5-10 years after they finished their training. Like many high achievers, they had excellent skills, but they never understood "Life 101".
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by Joe Nathan »

As my wife would say, dont! Haha, just be prepared that it's a ton of time and money that you are investing. My wife had a total of 15 years in doing tons of hard work along the way, to now only work even harder now that shes been an attending, and still have to listen to office managers making shitty schedules and getting little say in how her day goes. Yes its decent money, but she has already said she wont encourage any of our kids to do it. Patient care aside, getting an MBA and getting on the management side of healthcare is way more lucrative for the investment. Hospital CEOs make a way better living. If that's your passion, do it, but it's one of those things I'd want to have job shadowed and make sure that's what you want before spending that much time and money on it.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by jgdsss »

My friend runs a premed podcast/mock interview. He’s a non practicing dr and his wife is a neurologist. They’re young, under 40. Really great concept and I know he’s up to date with current admissions, guidelines advice, etc.

https://medicalschoolhq.net/pre-health- ... verything/
fasteddie911
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by fasteddie911 »

Try to get involved with research, either at their school or nearby academic hospital, clinical or basic science research, paid or unpaid. Just another extra-curricular for the resume that carries more weight than volunteering or shadowing, imo.
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Re: one word: specialize

Post by JPH »

4nwestsaylng wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 9:56 pm
Socrates28 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 9:35 pm
Medical school is where you will part from the social development and life of your undergraduate friends. They will move on to perhaps graduate school for a couple of years or will be out in the job market, forming families and buying homes. You will have little in common with them, and after medical school and residency you will commence "life" about ten years after them. That is the way it is. It is very tough. I have seen many casualties of the often vicious medical education system. Sometimes those casualties emerged 5-10 years after they finished their training. Like many high achievers, they had excellent skills, but they never understood "Life 101".
This is an important point that I will second. I used to tell students that medical school prolongs their adolescence. Friends will be making money and starting their adult lives. You will have your butt parked in a little desk taking stupid tests. It can be very frustrating.
While the moments do summersaults into eternity | Cling to their coattails and beg them to stay - Townes Van Zandt
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by BolderBoy »

climber2020 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:27 amWhere you do your residency is far more important than where you go to medical school, so don't take out half a million dollars in student loans.
Wiser advice you'll never get.
"Never underestimate one's capacity to overestimate one's abilities" - The Dunning-Kruger Effect
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by zhy0916 »

livesoft wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:27 pm I worked in a hospital (not a volunteer, got paid) as a nursing aide. I got to give enemas, shave patients for urological surgery, feed them, change bed sheets, clean up the fresh dead, and lots of other things.

So I recommend getting a job now in the health care field.

I decided not to apply to medical school. :)
Lol - I worked at law firm as a litigation paralegal and decided not to get a JD..
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by livesoft »

zhy0916 wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:57 pmLol - I worked at law firm as a litigation paralegal and decided not to get a JD..
Nevertheless, I have been invited to give 8 lectures in a course at the local medical school. And I get paid for it, too! :)
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by rjbraun »

zhy0916 wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:57 pm
livesoft wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:27 pm I worked in a hospital (not a volunteer, got paid) as a nursing aide. I got to give enemas, shave patients for urological surgery, feed them, change bed sheets, clean up the fresh dead, and lots of other things.

So I recommend getting a job now in the health care field.

I decided not to apply to medical school. :)
Lol - I worked at law firm as a litigation paralegal and decided not to get a JD..
Ha. I deferred my law school acceptance for two years, before finally declining. I figured if I couldn't get myself to work as a paralegal, in an effort to get a feel for what life may be like as a lawyer, I shouldn't let myself spend the money (and associated lost opportunity cost) to attend law school.

Decades later, I still wonder how my career, and life, may have differed had I gone to law school. But it's one of those binary decisions, it's impossible to know. And, in that regard, I would say, no regrets.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by zhy0916 »

livesoft wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:06 pm
zhy0916 wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:57 pmLol - I worked at law firm as a litigation paralegal and decided not to get a JD..
Nevertheless, I have been invited to give 8 lectures in a course at the local medical school. And I get paid for it, too! :)
Good for you! Likewise, I have been invited to talk at law schools about accounting and law.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by zhy0916 »

rjbraun wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:20 pm
zhy0916 wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:57 pm
livesoft wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:27 pm I worked in a hospital (not a volunteer, got paid) as a nursing aide. I got to give enemas, shave patients for urological surgery, feed them, change bed sheets, clean up the fresh dead, and lots of other things.

So I recommend getting a job now in the health care field.

I decided not to apply to medical school. :)
Lol - I worked at law firm as a litigation paralegal and decided not to get a JD..
Ha. I deferred my law school acceptance for two years, before finally declining. I figured if I couldn't get myself to work as a paralegal, in an effort to get a feel for what life may be like as a lawyer, I shouldn't let myself spend the money (and associated lost opportunity cost) to attend law school.

Decades later, I still wonder how my career, and life, may have differed had I gone to law school. But it's one of those binary decisions, it's impossible to know. And, in that regard, I would say, no regrets.
Agree - I sometimes wonder about that, too; but I think I made the right decision, at least one that worked for me.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by Katietsu »

I understand the comments about how generically volunteering at a hospital does not carry much weight. However, at least some schools are concerned that the applicant knows what they are getting into. You can be docked therefore if you have not volunteered, worked or shadowed in a medical setting.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by go_mets »

Joe Nathan wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 10:14 pm If that's your passion, do it, but it's one of those things I'd want to have job shadowed and make sure that's what you want before spending that much time and money on it.
My cousin is a neurosurgeon and I know how busy and hectic his life is.

Don't go into medical school for the status or the money or any other reason other than that you have a passion for medicine.

.
Last edited by go_mets on Thu Jan 17, 2019 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by chessknt »

Is this for a college sophomore or high school? If it's high school nothing he's doing really matters except maybe some extra curricular activity if they are particularly Impressive. Let him enjoy life--half the premeds at my college ended up doing something else, a quarter didn't get in--that's 75% attrition at a public ivy. Medical school admissions suck, no need to stress this early especially if he hasn't explored other areas.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by bestplans »

Many understand or even overestimate the intellectual demands, but not the physical toll. Be emotionally prepared for both.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by Rwsawbones »

If you played high school or even worse college football try to not inform medical school admissions people of that fact. It takes a long time to educate and train a physician. Medical schools do not relish producing physians with symptomatic loss of brain tissues in their 50s. All people lose brain tissue with age but starting with as symptomatic brain damage in one’s teens does add to the natural slow loss of brain capacity.
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Re: one word: specialize

Post by Dunder Mifflin »

Socrates28 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 9:35 pm Dont spend all that money and time being a GP. Focus in on the extra time to specialist in cardiology, allergy, surgery, psychiatry.......you will triple your income
I recommend plenty of job shadowing to try to get a full grasp on medicine as a potential career. Medicine is rapidly changing thought and today's view may look vastly different 12-15 years down the road once undergrad, medical school, and residency are completed.

Continue to work hard and maintain an excellent GPA. The MCAT and GPA will get you the interview, but I agree with the comments on finding something that makes you stand out from everyone else. When it comes to medical school admissions everyone has similar academic profiles.

As a "GP", don't write the field off. I think it can be one of the better kept secrets in medicine if done right. Family medicine gets a bad wrap, most of the bemoaning I hear comes from my older partners talking about the "good ole days". They have not adjusted well to the electronic health record, its hard to blame them, but its not going anywhere. If your a young computer savvy physician, you can be a Rockstar! Physician income is transitioning to payment for quality over quantity these days which is a giant shift in how physicians were previously compensated.

Regarding the thought of NP's and PA' taking over primary care, I call non-sense. I respect my NP and PA colleagues, but fully understand their limitations and firmly believe the American public wants physician lead care and often demands it. I hear it daily from patients.

I am as busy as I want to be, work 4 days a week 8 am to 6 pm, take one week of call a year, am home all nights and holidays. I get to enjoy 4-5 weeks of vacation a year while making >$200,000 a year (on pace to be in the $250,000 range for the year, maybe more pending quality bonuses). Sure my job has headaches and frustrations, but what job doesn't? My specialist colleagues out earn me, but I also know many of them work way harder and much longer hours than me.

Do what you love and the money is just the cherry on top. Good luck and always keep the ultimate end game in sight!
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by ncbill »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Pr ... ip_Program

Had a close relative do the above in their mid-30s...retired O-5 after their 20 years, now does the same in the civilian world.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by DrGoogle2017 »

BolderBoy wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:14 pm
climber2020 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:27 amWhere you do your residency is far more important than where you go to medical school, so don't take out half a million dollars in student loans.
Wiser advice you'll never get.
Sometimes these kids don’t have choices. My coworker’s daughter and my niece would like to stay in state for cheaper medical cost, but despite having high MCAT and high GPA from UCLA, they were offered expensive choices like WashU, well known medical school but private and expensive school. They be glad to go for the low tiered UCs but they were not given that option.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by letsgobobby »

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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by White Coat Investor »

new000 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:02 am Looking for suggestions from experienced med professionals for current sophomore student intending to study medicine. We r in Nj.
His GPA is 3.97 and is
Volunteering at hospital and senior center as well as health science relared associations


Thank you
Do something interesting. So far all you've listed is what everyone does. Is he on the football team? Did he start an orphanage in Guatemala? Did he find a cure for cancer in the Biochemistry lab? Was he a violin major? Did he fight his way out of a drug-infested slum? Did he grow up in a country that he had to escape due to genocide?
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy | 4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by White Coat Investor »

JPH wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:52 pm I served on the admissions committee for several years. The model used was that another faculty member and I interviewed students separately then got together to negotiate a final score. I always looked at grades and test scores, and he always wanted to talk about their personality and temperament. If grades like you cite can be sustained then he will have a choice of schools. The volunteering will be a minor consideration. Admissions committees hear those things constantly and consider it sort of weak indicator of interest in the field. What is considered important is anything at which the student has truly distinguished himself/herself. A few examples still come to mind. One candidate had won an Olympic medal. One had established a tiny gold mine in Alaska and mined enough gold each summer to pay most of his college costs. One established a nonprofit agency that raised money to send medical supplies to impoverished parts of the world. Not everyone can do such things, but each one started early on something they considered important, set a goal, stuck with it over time, and made a success of it. It's easy to interview those students. They come to the interview with something to talk about, and their excitement and pride naturally come through.
Exactly. My experience on an admissions committee as well. You get 400 people whose grades are good enough to get into and through med school. Then you have to choose 100 of them based on something.
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy | 4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by stoptothink »

DrGoogle2017 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:20 pm
BolderBoy wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:14 pm
climber2020 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:27 amWhere you do your residency is far more important than where you go to medical school, so don't take out half a million dollars in student loans.
Wiser advice you'll never get.
Sometimes these kids don’t have choices. My coworker’s daughter and my niece would like to stay in state for cheaper medical cost, but despite having high MCAT and high GPA from UCLA, they were offered expensive choices like WashU, well known medical school but private and expensive school. They be glad to go for the low tiered UCs but they were not given that option.
What do you mean "not given the option"? They chose where to apply. FWIW, Texas is a really good place for reasonable medical school costs. I currently have 4 employees (former full-time, now doing remote contract work) in medical schools: Stanford, Baylor, UT Southwestern, and UT-San Antonio. The one at Stanford got serious scholarship money and Baylor got a very good offer too, the other two are in Texas because they were accepted to some pretty elite programs but it was significantly cheaper in Texas.
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Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by livesoft »

A relative of mine did not get into med school until the 3rd try. Probably the working experience after college finally paid off. I don't know how unusual that is.
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toofache32
Posts: 2349
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:30 pm

Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by toofache32 »

stoptothink wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:30 pm
DrGoogle2017 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:20 pm
BolderBoy wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:14 pm
climber2020 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:27 amWhere you do your residency is far more important than where you go to medical school, so don't take out half a million dollars in student loans.
Wiser advice you'll never get.
Sometimes these kids don’t have choices. My coworker’s daughter and my niece would like to stay in state for cheaper medical cost, but despite having high MCAT and high GPA from UCLA, they were offered expensive choices like WashU, well known medical school but private and expensive school. They be glad to go for the low tiered UCs but they were not given that option.
What do you mean "not given the option"? They chose where to apply.
Not given the option because applicants are not accepted everywhere they apply. Therefore, not everyone has the option of attending a cheaper school.
toofache32
Posts: 2349
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:30 pm

Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by toofache32 »

stoptothink wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:30 pm
DrGoogle2017 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:20 pm
BolderBoy wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:14 pm
climber2020 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:27 amWhere you do your residency is far more important than where you go to medical school, so don't take out half a million dollars in student loans.
Wiser advice you'll never get.
Sometimes these kids don’t have choices. My coworker’s daughter and my niece would like to stay in state for cheaper medical cost, but despite having high MCAT and high GPA from UCLA, they were offered expensive choices like WashU, well known medical school but private and expensive school. They be glad to go for the low tiered UCs but they were not given that option.
What do you mean "not given the option"? They chose where to apply.
Not given the option because applicants are not accepted everywhere they apply. Therefore, not everyone has the option of attending a cheaper school.
toofache32
Posts: 2349
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:30 pm

Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by toofache32 »

White Coat Investor wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:26 pm
new000 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:02 am Looking for suggestions from experienced med professionals for current sophomore student intending to study medicine. We r in Nj.
His GPA is 3.97 and is
Volunteering at hospital and senior center as well as health science relared associations


Thank you
Do something interesting. So far all you've listed is what everyone does. Is he on the football team? Did he start an orphanage in Guatemala? Did he find a cure for cancer in the Biochemistry lab? Was he a violin major? Did he fight his way out of a drug-infested slum? Did he grow up in a country that he had to escape due to genocide?
I agree. Now that I am on a residency selection committee, I am amazed at all the Beakers and Test Tubes that interview....they have off the chart scores but cannot carry on a conversation. When you ask them what they do with leisure time it’s just a blank stare. I see it every single year.
DrGoogle2017
Posts: 2528
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:31 pm

Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by DrGoogle2017 »

stoptothink wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:30 pm
DrGoogle2017 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:20 pm
BolderBoy wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:14 pm
climber2020 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:27 amWhere you do your residency is far more important than where you go to medical school, so don't take out half a million dollars in student loans.
Wiser advice you'll never get.
Sometimes these kids don’t have choices. My coworker’s daughter and my niece would like to stay in state for cheaper medical cost, but despite having high MCAT and high GPA from UCLA, they were offered expensive choices like WashU, well known medical school but private and expensive school. They be glad to go for the low tiered UCs but they were not given that option.
What do you mean "not given the option"? They chose where to apply. FWIW, Texas is a really good place for reasonable medical school costs. I currently have 4 employees (former full-time, now doing remote contract work) in medical schools: Stanford, Baylor, UT Southwestern, and UT-San Antonio. The one at Stanford got serious scholarship money and Baylor got a very good offer too, the other two are in Texas because they were accepted to some pretty elite programs but it was significantly cheaper in Texas.
The UCs didn’t give them a spot. Somehow these kids didnt apply to any schools in Texas. Perhaps, the heat scared them. They didn’t look there for undergrad either.
Last edited by DrGoogle2017 on Fri Jan 18, 2019 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DrGoogle2017
Posts: 2528
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:31 pm

Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by DrGoogle2017 »

toofache32 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:41 pm
stoptothink wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:30 pm
DrGoogle2017 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:20 pm
BolderBoy wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:14 pm
climber2020 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:27 amWhere you do your residency is far more important than where you go to medical school, so don't take out half a million dollars in student loans.
Wiser advice you'll never get.
Sometimes these kids don’t have choices. My coworker’s daughter and my niece would like to stay in state for cheaper medical cost, but despite having high MCAT and high GPA from UCLA, they were offered expensive choices like WashU, well known medical school but private and expensive school. They be glad to go for the low tiered UCs but they were not given that option.
What do you mean "not given the option"? They chose where to apply.
Not given the option because applicants are not accepted everywhere they apply. Therefore, not everyone has the option of attending a cheaper school.
Not at the UCs, that’s what I meant. They want to stay in state to minimize cost. But one kid did end up at WashU, but she had other private options too. Just not in-state. She also was very nervous even going to school so close as UCLA for undergrad, according to her dad, she didn’t like living away from home.
O2sats
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun May 24, 2015 8:04 pm

Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by O2sats »

livesoft wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:31 pm A relative of mine did not get into med school until the 3rd try. Probably the working experience after college finally paid off. I don't know how unusual that is.
I didn't get into medical school until the 3rd (and final) attempt. I had to re-take my MCAT to improve my score, and submit my applications earlier in the process. It was the improved MCAT and extracurricular activities that earned me acceptance.

But I do not think it is that common. Partly because people who have already been rejected twice don't re-apply a 3rd time. They move on with their lives.
stoptothink
Posts: 15368
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:53 am

Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by stoptothink »

DrGoogle2017 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:49 pm
toofache32 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:41 pm
stoptothink wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:30 pm
DrGoogle2017 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:20 pm
BolderBoy wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:14 pm
Wiser advice you'll never get.
Sometimes these kids don’t have choices. My coworker’s daughter and my niece would like to stay in state for cheaper medical cost, but despite having high MCAT and high GPA from UCLA, they were offered expensive choices like WashU, well known medical school but private and expensive school. They be glad to go for the low tiered UCs but they were not given that option.
What do you mean "not given the option"? They chose where to apply.
Not given the option because applicants are not accepted everywhere they apply. Therefore, not everyone has the option of attending a cheaper school.
Not at the UCs, that’s what I meant. They want to stay in state to minimize cost. But one kid did end up at WashU, but she had other private options too. Just not in-state. She also was very nervous even going to school so close as UCLA for undergrad, according to her dad, she didn’t like living away from home.
Not a physician myself, but as science director for a large health company, I have a ton of employees ultimately leave for med school. The first piece of advice I give them is to research costs before applying. Like university education in general, the costs for medical school can vary dramatically. 6 of the 10 cheapest med schools in the country are in Texas and they are well respected programs. Interestingly, although I am in Utah, both of my employees currently at U of Texas med schools are from Southern California, as is the one at Stanford. The young man at Baylor is from West Virginia.
DrGoogle2017
Posts: 2528
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:31 pm

Re: Any admission pointers from pre- med/ med students?

Post by DrGoogle2017 »

stoptothink wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 8:35 pm
DrGoogle2017 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:49 pm
toofache32 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:41 pm
stoptothink wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:30 pm
DrGoogle2017 wrote: Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:20 pm

Sometimes these kids don’t have choices. My coworker’s daughter and my niece would like to stay in state for cheaper medical cost, but despite having high MCAT and high GPA from UCLA, they were offered expensive choices like WashU, well known medical school but private and expensive school. They be glad to go for the low tiered UCs but they were not given that option.
What do you mean "not given the option"? They chose where to apply.
Not given the option because applicants are not accepted everywhere they apply. Therefore, not everyone has the option of attending a cheaper school.
Not at the UCs, that’s what I meant. They want to stay in state to minimize cost. But one kid did end up at WashU, but she had other private options too. Just not in-state. She also was very nervous even going to school so close as UCLA for undergrad, according to her dad, she didn’t like living away from home.
Not a physician myself, but as science director for a large health company, I have a ton of employees ultimately leave for med school. The first piece of advice I give them is to research costs before applying. Like university education in general, the costs for medical school can vary dramatically. Interestingly, although I am in Utah, both of my employees currently at U of Texas med schools are from Southern California, as is the one at Stanford. The young man at Baylor is from West Virginia.
Those are well known medical universities, I don’t know if they did apply to those or not. But I know for sure they applied to all UCs.
Also my brother, nephew, and one niece all prefer to live in the Northeast vs somewhere in the South. My brother transferred from a school in Florida to New York. Perhaps the lure of being in New York or near NewYork City was another factor too.
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