pre med program

Jun 19 2016

Pre-Med 101: Should I give up on pre-med because of one bad semester?

Being pre-med is tough! It is expected if you want to become a doctor you will have a hard road ahead of you. And with that, things will not always go your way. But what happens if you have a bad semester? Does that mean your dream of getting into medical school stops here? Let’s talk about that in this article.

Medical school is tough to get into. There are tons of competitive applicants fighting for the same spot you are. This means that having a bad semester could make the difference between getting accepted or not. This is why it is best to avoid the situation and stay on top of your studies, however life happens and that things don’t always go your way. So what if your semester doesn’t go the way you want and you made some bad grades? Is there still any hope for getting accepted?

The short answer is.. Yes!

While it does make it more difficult if you had a bad semester, it does not have to be the end of your medical career. Think about how many other pre-med students have had a bad semester or two and still can get accepted. It goes without saying that many pre-meds have had a few hard semesters and not every student makes straight A’s. It’s worth noting that you are not the only one in this situation, there are many in the same boat as you. So take a deep breath! There is definitely still is hope!

What you can do to improve your chances of getting accepted into medical school:

So now you are probably wanting to know how you can boost your chances of getting accepted despite having a bad semester or two. There are two main ways to compensate for doing poorly academically. The first is by making sure all the other aspects of your application shine. Such as having extra shadowing experience, more clinical experience, more volunteering, research experience, strong letters of recommendation, high MCAT score, etc. Medical schools want someone who is well rounded and has what it takes to be a doctor, this is more than just having good grades. The second method, which can be combined with the first, is finding a post-bac program to help you and/or considering going to a Caribbean medical school. For help finding a post-bac program, click here.

If you have a bad semester as a pre-med it doesn’t mean that it is game over. It means that you will have to work a bit harder and make other aspects of your application shine. Really focus on getting a lot of clinical experience and you will find many medical schools are still interested in you. There have been plenty of people who have had a bad semester or two and still got accepted. Don’t give up hope. Instead, focus on trying extra hard to make up for it. Also, consider looking into post-bac programs and going to a Caribbean school. If you give it your all, you will be surprised with how well you can do!

For more information check out our other article:

5 Ways to stay competitive with a low GPA

More helpful premed resources:

Get our free ebook, “The Pre-Med Beginner’s Guide”, which summarizes everything that a Pre-med must know!

Bonus:

Also get free access to our comprehensive lists of medical school rankings! Click here to download

Good luck on your journey to medical school! Premed Community is here to make that a reality!

Did you find this article helpful? Let us know!

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May 13 2016

How a Pre Med should spend summer to boost their medical school application

How a Pre Med should spend summer to boost their medical school application

While most students see the summer as an opportunity to relax and kick back, the pre-med should see it as an opportunity to boost their medical school application. Summer provides a great chance to boost your med school application and do things which can separate you from the average pre med. During the school year there isn’t always enough time to get done all of the many things a pre med should do. Making good grades usually takes priority over volunteering, shadowing, and research. Thats the great thing about summer, it gives the busy pre med time to get things done. And over the course of 3 to 4 summers , you can easily do everything you need to build up an amazing application. So what should you be doing during your precious summer if you want to get into medical school?

Six ways you can productively spend your summer to help make an awesome med school application:

Do a lot of volunteering
Shadow a physician
Get medical experience
Do research
Study for MCAT
Take summer classes

Do a lot of volunteering: One of the most underrated aspects of medical school applications is how many volunteering hours you have done. This is actually a huge deal to whether you get accepted or not. Applicants who have great GPA and MCAT scores don’t get accepted because they don’t have enough volunteer hours. This is great news for those who have lower and less competitive GPA’s because it helps even the playing field. Use summer as an opportunity to rack up a huge amount of volunteer hours and help give yourself a big boost to your application. Click here for help finding volunteering opportunities.

Shadow a physician: Every pre-med knows that shadowing a physician is very important for having a good medical school application. It is often very difficult to find a physician to shadow and also just as difficult to find the time during the week to shadow a doctor. Often most doctors start work early in the morning and a round can last several hours, which might interfere with your classes. If you have a busy school schedule then you might not have time to shadow during the school week and summer becomes the only viable time to do it. (Find out some of the best ways to find a doctor to shadow)

Get medical experience: Even if you can’t shadow a physician, just getting experience in a medical environment is definitely better than none. Working in the hospital doing almost any job, whether that is just desk work still counts towards medical experience in the eyes of the medical school. If you are doing desk work try to have a proper ergonomic office chair so that you take care of your posture. Most importantly , medical colleges want to know you have been exposed to the medical environment. Summer is a great time to get experience in the medical field while also earning some money. Things like being a tech or an EMT can be very rewarding but also hard to get into.Search online for possible job opportunities near by that will look good on your application.

Do research: This is another thing you can do to help spice up your medical school application. While it is not necessary to do research to get into medical school it is always welcomed and looks good. This could be what separates you from the other applicant they are considering. You can do research for one of your professors at school or you can find summer research programs. Check here for help finding research programs.

Study for MCAT: This might not be for everyone since some of you may have already taken the MCAT but for those of you who haven’t, summer can provide a great opportunity to prepare for it. The MCAT covers a lot of material so summer is a great because it provides the opportunity to really focus on the MCAT. There are many great resources for studying for MCAT and prep books that can really help. If you have the MCAT ahead of you , don’t waste this opportunity! (I will be posting a thorough guide on how to prepare for MCAT soon!)

Take summer classes: Summer classes are great for two main reasons. First, they will help you graduate and move through your pre-med program faster. This is important because it allows you to become a doctor that much sooner but also it might make a difference when you take the MCAT or you apply for medical school. It could mean the difference between getting in one year or the next. Second, summer classes provide a great chance to boost your GPA. Taking a class during summer is usually a lot easier than taking it during the semester. This is because during the semester you have to focus on about 5 different classes, while in summer you only have to focus on one or two. This gives you much more time to study and not be overwhelmed by too much coursework. Taking a class during summer can help give you an edge in making an A.

These are my recommendations on how you should spend your summer if you want to boost your med school application. I don’t recommend trying to do everything in one summer, while you certainly can, if you just focus on one or two things from this list you will do yourself a great favor. I hope this helps!

Tell us what you think by leaving a comment down below! For more pre-med tips and advice, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, twitter, and pinterest!

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Apr 22 2016

Pre-Med 101: What is the best major for getting into medical school?

Pre-Med 101: What is the best major For getting into Medical school?

This is a common question that many new pre-meds have. What is the best major for getting into medical school? As mentioned in our other premed 101 article (Is there a premed major?) , you don’t need to major in any specific degree as long as you get the premed required classes done. But even though you don’t need a specific major to get accepted into medical school there still might be some things worth looking into before deciding what you want to major in. There isn’t a “best” major but there are pros and cons to the different types of majors you can take. So let’s take a look at that, and you can decide for yourself what the best major for YOU is!

Generally speaking there are two types of majors you can major in if you are a premed. Science major or non-science major. So I will discuss the benefits of both.

Science major:

Pros:

– Helps prepare you better for MCAT and the rigors of medical school

– Will give you a headstart in medical school

Cons:

– More difficult curriculum, can hurt your GPA

– There are many science majors applying to medical school

Non-science major:

Pros:

– You can take a major on something you are really interested in and enjoy
– Will be better for your GPA
– Shows well roundedness and helps make you more unique on your application

Cons:

– Won’t prepare you as well for MCAT or rigors of medical school

These are the general pros and cons associated with either being a science major or non science major when it comes to being a premed. Science majors are better trained for doing well on the MCAT and in medical school because of the rigor involved in a science curriculum. However that same difficulty involved in studying the sciences can make it harder to maintain that great GPA. But it will prepare you best for medical school. On the other hand taking a non-science major might be a bit easier academically and thus be good for your GPA. But also it will not prepare you as well for the rigors involved with medical school and taking the MCAT. That being said its also important for you to consider what you would enjoy studying. And if medical school doesn’t work out and you chose a science major even though you don’t actually like science, that would be a bad position to be in. So you also have to consider what happens if you don’t get into medical school. But that won’t happen because you got premed community here!

Download a comprehensive medical school rankings report and get the free ebook, The Pre-Med’s Beginner Guide, right now!

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(You definitely want this!)

Apr 18 2016

Pre-Med 101 : Is there a premed major?

Pre-Med 101: Is there a premed major?

Welcome to our Pre-Med 101 series! Here we will go over all the basics it means to be a premed , answer common questions, and debunk premed myths.

Todays question is : Is there a premed major?

This happens to be a common misconception about being a premed. Many people think that you have to major in “premed”. But actually the term premed simply refers to your intention to go to medical school, it doesn’t say anything about what undergraduate major you are pursuing. In fact you can major in anything and still be a pre-med! Being a pre-med does require you to take certain classes and take the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test). These are whats known as the general premed requirements because almost every medical school requires them for admission. No matter what major you are you must still fulfill all of the premed requirements before applying to medical school. So what are the general premed requirements?

English (2 semesters)
Biology (2 semesters)
General chemistry (2 semesters)
Organic chemistry (2 semesters)
Physics (2 semesters)

These are the courses you need to apply to medical school. However, some schools may also require you to take biochemistry, calculus, genetics, or some other class. But the classes mentioned above are standard for almost all medical schools.

You can be any major as long as you take those classes. And sometimes being a non science major can be beneficial to your medical school application. It helps make your application standout and shows diverse set of interests. Medical schools want applicants that are well rounded. On the other side of the coin, being a science major gives you an edge for the MCAT and might better prepare you for the rigors of medical school. Whats important to know is that you can be any major you want and still apply for medical school! Just make sure to take the required pre-med classes and complete the other aspects of the application (volunteering, shadowing, MCAT, extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, etc.).

I hope this helps! If you haven’t already click here to sign up for our free membership and download our e-book , “The Pre-Med Beginner’s Guide” and get our comprehensive list of medical school rankings! Sign up and download your free ebook now! We post new content regularly, so make sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter to stay up to date! Thank you for reading! Check back later for more content to help you on your journey to medical school!

Apr 08 2016

Use study pages to help you ace your exams!

How to use study pages to help you ace your exams

So you have got a big test coming up and there is a lot being covered, you are feeling uneasy and anxiety is kicking in. With so much to focus on you don’t know what to do. Well don’t worry I got a tip that could help! And don’t worry I will be posting an example to go with it. Get ready to add another studying tool to your pre med tool belt!

So this is a technique that you can use for any test. I have found that it works best for science and math type classes or when there are a lot of key concepts that must be known. This technique is best for boiling down what really matters. Anyway on to the tip now!

What you do is to make a single page that summarizes everything you absolutely must know. This could include all relevant equations, terms, concepts, strategies for problems, etc. I will be going over tips on how to make this really useful and convenient.
You can and should use both the front and back of the page when making it. The reason for only using one page is that it forces you to focus on only what matters. Its a great way for you to figure out whats most important and deserves higher priority. This also makes for a great study aid for your final, helping you quickly review material from previous tests. So here’s some tips on how to make it good.

Tips on how to make it:

– Dedicate different parts of the page for different things. (One section for important formulas, another for key terms, another for concepts, etc.)
– Don’t just list a bunch of terms. Have variety in what you include.
– Don’t waste the page on things you already know. (Focus on things that you have a hard time remembering or are really important.)

Okay with that in mind lets take a look at an example!

Here’s an example:

For a Physics II test on circuits and magnetism. (Excuse the bad handwriting! Insert joke about having doctor handwriting )

Notice how the page is separated into different sections. Try and organize your study pages like this.

So notice how my study page has a lot of variety in it. I tried my best to ensure that I covered all of the most important things on the exam but also what I had a hard time remembering. Making these study pages also has the added benefit of showing you what you need to work on and helping you understand those things. And remember the best way to study for something is to digest it in as many different ways as possible (Hearing it, seeing it, writing it down, watching a video on it, etc.). The more ways you interact with the material helps you remember it better! So I hope you make use of study pages when you study for your next exam!

I have a ton more I want to share with you! I am going to lay out exactly how I have been able to maintain a high GPA in a tough pre-med program. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to get free access to all our exclusive premedical advice! Don’t forget to comment below and let me and all the other pre-meds know what you think.

More helpful premed resources:

Get our free ebook , “The Pre-Med Beginner’s Guide”, which summarizes everything that every premed must know!

Bonus:

Also get free access to our comprehensive lists of medical school rankings! Click here to download

Good luck on your journey to medical school! Premed Community is here to make that a reality!