<p>So recently I’ve decided that I may want to go to medical school. I’m a physics major going into my junior year at Brown U. To make things simple, here are currently my pros/cons:</p>
<p>Pros:
I have a 3.9 GPA in physics (and maybe even a 4.0 if you round).
Standardized tests are my thing and I’ll probably score quite well on the MCAT.
That’s about it.</p>
<p>Cons:
I don’t have many extra-curriculars. Really only three things: Olympic weightlifting (which soaks up a huge portion of my time), pilot training (I’ve gotten a private and instrument license as an undergrad), and I did some tutoring sophomore year. And I have a front desk job at Brown this year if that counts.
I have precisely zero volunteer work. I’m looking to change that this semester, but I think it’s still relatively late in the game.
Since Brown has an open curriculum, I have VERY poor course distribution. By which I mean I’ve literally taken courses exclusively in the physics, computer science and math departments up until now. The only exception to that was a freshman humanities course. That’s it. This was fine before because I figured I’d go into engineering or physics or whatever. And in the remaining two years I have left at Brown I don’t really have any time (nor desire) to diversify myself except for taking the required chemistry/biology/biochemistry courses. </p>
<p>So I guess I’m looking for a recommended course of action to put myself in a better position and whether working from my current position is actually a viable option. </p>
<p>well first off I think going straight through to medical school is out. There’s really no way you’re going to get everything done by the end of the coming school year which is when you would be applying if you wanted to start med school the fall after graduating.</p>
<p>When you say olympic weightlifting, do you mean you actually competed in the olympics or just olympic style? If it’s the former, that will be a HUGE boost. And the only ECs you need at this point are ones that demonstrate that you actually know what you’re getting yourself into with medicine. You need some shadowing, some medically related volunteer work and maybe some research (although it could be physics research if you wanted).</p>
<p>If you just mean olympic style weightlifting then you probably need stuff on top of what I just described because it’s just not that impressive if it’s not high level competition, and if you’re not part of a team, you probably need some EC that shows you play well with others.</p>
<p>The diverse coursework is not necessary - just make sure you fulfill the requirements.</p>
<p>^^^
why are you bumping someone else’s thread?</p>
<p>To the OP…</p>
<p>If you are training for an Olympic sport, then I think that med school adcoms won’t care as much that you don’t have a bunch of ECs. However, I think you should start shadowing because, at LEAST it will show that you’ve seen what a doctor’s day is like so it won’t be unknown to you. </p>
<p>Do have space in your schedule to fit in the premed prereqs, including any new ones like psych or sociology? Do you have Frosh Comp courses? Do you have any AP credits? Some med schools will accept AP credits for Frosh Comp if you have another Intensive Writing course.</p>
<p>Quote from mom2collegekids:
‘Do you have Frosh Comp courses? Do you have any AP credits? Some med schools will accept AP credits for Frosh Comp if you have another Intensive Writing course.’</p>
<p>What does this mean? Medical school requires English/Writing as premed requirements? I checked a few schools, they did not say that. Only bio, chem etc. </p>
<p>I got 5 on my AP Language, so the college waived my English/Writing. Normally it requires 2 semester writing class for the degree. Does it mean I should take an advanced writing class to prepare for the medical school?</p>
<p>One year of English is a requirement. Whether the colleges accept AP is upto them. Here is a document prepared by Rice University but may not be upto date.</p>
<p>The English and writing requirements are not an issue for all students at DS’s college, where none of AP/IB credits could be used to fulfill the core education requirements. When two writing courses and two humanity courses are required to take only at your own college and nowhere else, the English and writing requirements for applying to med school are automatically satisfied.</p>
<p>This actually became a headache for a premed student at DS’s college who is overly lopsided toward math/science but is too weak in humanity courses as compared to other more well-rounded students. This is because he could never get an A in these required courses.</p>
<p>I think one CCer posted a while ago that, unlike at a tech school, at most top private colleges or LACs, the reading and writing skills are much more important than the math skills. It is because this is mostly what they do in their core education part of the education.</p>
<p>mcat2: I don’t quite follow. Humanity courses count toward English or Writing? I was waived 2 writing courses with AP Lang, but I need to take 2 humanity, 2 art, 2 social science courses. If that’s the case, I am OK. I don’t need to take extra writing course for pre-med.
Thank you!</p>
<p>At DS’s school, a humanity course can be considered as a writing intensive course or not, depending on how the school (or professor) categorizes it.</p>
<p>A humanity course could be an English course (if offered by the English department) or not (if offered by the classic, philosophy, etc., department.)</p>
<p>The key to understand this logic is that while the English department is one of the humanity departments, but all humanity departments except one, the English department, are not a English department.</p>
<p>The most strict version of medical school English/writing requirement is that the applicant needs to complete two English courses in college, and one of them should be a writing/composition course.</p>
<p>So, the safest is to take two classes from the English department, and one of the two courses is considered as a writing course by your college.</p>
<p>Please note some med schools may also require their applicants to complete several humanity courses.</p>
<p>But some med schools could relax the standard a little bit. But this depends on how each medical school sets the rule.</p>
<p>Thanks mcat2 for the advice. Now it’s very clear what I should do. </p>
<p>Has your kid or current MD student kept the text books like bio, chem, physics etc for preparing the MCAT test? Or he/she just bought MCAT books, no need to keep the text books.</p>
<p>Both D1 and D2 bought MCAT prep books AND kept their textbooks. (Kept textbooks included: Ochem, biochem, genetcs and A&P, but not intro bio, physics or gen chem.)</p>
<p>Also check with your school, some colleges offer writing intensive classes that aren’t humanities. (For example, D2 took a course designated ‘writing intensive’ thru the math dept. D1 took a technical writing class–required for her degree–through engineering. Both classes fulfilled their second writing class requirements for med schools.)</p>
<p>Buttbutter, you should go to the premed advisor office ASAP and see what Bio and chemistry courses you need for them to write a letter of rec for you. You will still have to have some exposure to these courses to score well in these sections of the MCAT.</p>
<p>Being at Brown they will have some input into who is recommended for Alpert Med School. In Brown’s BA/MD they might just require one semester of Organic, I can’t remember. Caveat is most Med schools demand it.You could take gen chem in Spring and summer and take another bio with lab in the summer. Senior year take Organic, Biochem and genetics. It is a shame you didn’t act on this in early summer.</p>
<p>For the lack of physician shadowing you could tell them you are interested in being a physician researcher or physician scientist and work with patients in a clinical setting. Make sure you are able to take the old MCAT otherwise you will have to take more psych and sociology courses. Good luck and don’t give up.</p>
<p>BB - you seem like a great applicant, and I encourage your interest in medicine.</p>
<p>A slight majority (>50%) of pre-meds take a year after undergrad to strengthen their applications, even if they knew from Day 1 they were going into medicine. Such a year will only help if it is used for research, volunteer service, interesting public health travel or similar. </p>
<p>You might want to consider this. It will give you a chance to complete your required pre-med outstanding courses (bio, genchem, orgo, probably biochem (many schools are requiring biochem) and writing intensives) in a more relaxed pace during junior spring, summer and senior year, have time to prepare thoroughly for MCAT during senior year, get some shadowing and medical experience,and have more flexible schedule for fall interviewing after completing your undergraduate degree. It will place you in a position of maximum strength for med school application. </p>
<p>Trying to jam self-study, MCAT prep, and shadowing into this year, when you have not taken bio, chem, orgo, biochem, psych, statistics or sociology seems like you are making it too hard on yourself. You are competing with very bright interesting students like yourself, but they have been doing all those things for the last 2 years already.</p>