Building a Resume

cwalker8 · 10-16-2006, 08:44 PM

I am currently a freshman at the University of Rochester. I am looking at the future in hopes of building a very competitive resume for the best medical schools in the country as well as hopefully obtaining a MBA in healthcare management. Right now, my priorities are as follows: Keeping as close to a 4.0 GPA as possible (but hopefully keep 4.0); do extremely well on MCAT's; major in Biomedical Engineering (debatably hardest major at the university) as well as minor in Spanish and concentration in Economics; Biomedical Engineering Research; Clinical Volunteering; Shadow Surgeon; already elected as Biomedical Engineering Society class rep and plan to continue throughout undergrad. These are my plans and goals to obtain by the end of my four years. Is there anything else that will help me build my resume to be the best possible so that I can get into a great medical school? Thanks

norcalguy · 10-16-2006, 08:59 PM

hmm...keep a 4.0 in biomed engineering. Do "extremely well" on the MCAT's. Get loads of research, leadership, clinical experience. Get an MBA along the way. Sounds like a great plan. All you have to do is execute it.

shades_children · 10-16-2006, 10:44 PM

It's a good plan, but I think what norcalguy is saying is that your plan is unlikely to succeed exactly the way you think. What you've suggested is an extremely vigorous course of study, and you're unlikely to do all of those things well. Doing the hardest major in your school will likely dampen your GPA without getting you any "brownie points" come application time. I think your ambitions are admirable, but perhaps consider adjusting your plans so they're more realistic.

If I were you, I'd focus on doing what I loved, not doing what I thought would please an adcom. If it just so happens that what you love doing also qualifies you for medical school, then consider applying.

bluedevilmike · 10-16-2006, 11:07 PM

Do you really want a comprehensive list of everything that would conceivably help you along?

Medical schools are looking for any number of a lot of things. You could win prizes for your research, win academic awards, found community service organizations, write grants for overseas research, fight for human rights internationally, etc.

Pick a path that you think makes sense to you and run with it.