Countless students every year coming out of high school known before setting foot on campus they want to go to medical school, almost none of them however realize just what that entails. For anyone contemplating coming to Clarkson for the upcoming fall semester that wants to be a pre-med, here's ten things to keep in mind:
1) Pre-med isn't a major, nor is it a minor. It's a group of classes ( namely General Bio 1 and 2, General Chemistry 1 and 2, Organic Chemistry 1 and 2, and Physics 1 and 2.) You can major in anything you want to go to medical school. The majority of students planning on medical school major in Biology or Chemistry because it already encompasses those classes, but it's not necessary. Majoring in something like Business, Political Science, or Engineering could make a more diverse and well-rounded candidate for medical school admission. Being different from the norm can only help you stand out.
2) Your first year should be about grades, and really only grades. Lots of students do poor or average their first few semesters and subsequently have to dig themselves out of a hole before applying to medical school. Don't try taking on volunteering and physician shadowing until your Sophomore year. Shadowing a neurosurgeon your first year of college might be cool, but won't have much impact at all on your application.
3) The pre-med core classes are important. If you enter Physics or Organic chemistry with the mind-set that you can memorize, cram, and forget you'll be at a serious disadvantage when preparing for the MCATS (entrance exam for medical school.) Take the time to learn all the concepts well, it'll make your life much easier later in your college career.
4) Don't have a one-track mind. If you feel like going to medical school is for you go in that direction but be open to change. There's a lot of great careers in health care that should at least be considered including Pharmacist, Physical Therapist, Physicians Assistant, Optometry, Podiatry, etc. Most of these require most of the same core classes, so it would be easy to explore different career paths and change your mind. For one reason or another a lot of pre-med pick other paths in medicine, and find their much happier.
5) Getting a C isn't the end of the world. If you feel like getting below an A in any class will derail your whole career you'll probably end up in the office of a Psychologist. You're going to get C's and B's, it's pretty much a given. Medical school's care about your overall GPA, overall Science GPA, and you're MCAT scores. They also look at trends, if you get a 3.5 your first year, a 3.1 your second, and a 2.8 your third, that looks rather badly. Be consistent and always try to improve from semester to semester.
6) Getting involved is so important. Join a club, do some volunteer work, or both. Getting involved in volunteering is a big factor for admission committees, but don't do it just for that reason. Don't join something with that mindset of how it will look . . . you'll be unhappy and unsatisfied. Find something that's interesting or means something to you and invest some time and effort. On the flip side don't join a bunch of clubs to put on your application.
7) Avoid burnout. Undoubdtly you'll begin to resent the difficulty of the pre-med classes. Every pre-med at some point or another begins to question how general chemistry is related to being a doctor. You have to walk before you run, and all those classes are necessary to understand upper level material. After your first couple of years you can take Anatomy, Immunology, Microbiology, Genetics, all of which you'll find more interesting.
8) Do research. You're second semester on campus start asking professors about research opportunities. Once and a while a professor will take on an ambitious freshmen, but you're second year on campus is when you'll most likely get a chance to be involved in some type of research. Get you're foot in the door early and try to consistently be involved for the rest of your time on campus.
9) Make a plan. Within your first year on campus make a general sketch of your four years. Get a general idea of when you'll start shadowing, when you'll begin preparing for your MCATS, when you'll start preparing for the application itself. Lots of things will change, but if you don't at least have some type of plan you'll end up really behind when the time does come to apply. Run you're plan by the Pre-med Adviser and ask for input.
10) Get help. There's nothing worse then finishing a class knowing you could have done better. When you don't understand concepts or problems, go to your professor or the tutoring center. Your professors will help you to understand better than anyone else, and it's just a good idea to get to know them. Make an effort to talk to all your professors at least once or twice.
Well from someone that's starting their senior year at Clarkson, this is what I would say are the most important things. Regardless of everything else your grades are the most important. Don't take on anything else until you've been able to consistently do well in school. Don't stress out however if you don't get straight A's. There's so many options for medical school for students with lower GPA's. Welcome to Clarkson and good luck !
