Future Plans and Premed School Search

  1. Excellent academics so far. (Have you taken physics? That's a requirement everywhere.) Couple that with a strong MCAT and you'll be competitive stats-wise for any school in the country.

2.) UCSF is a research intensive med school. You’ll need some strong lab-based or clinical research to be competitive for it. I’m not sure one summer plus one quarter will be enough.

  1. Clinical volunteering? How much and type? Physician shadowing? Have you done any primary care shadowing?

  2. Fund raising isn’t the right kind of community service. It’s remote and sanitized. Adcomms expect in person, hands on volunteering with the disadvantaged. This is a big hole in your application. Find a local organization that does outreach in your home community and start volunteering with it on a regular basis. Do it ASAP.

RE: LORs

Hopefully you’ll make a personal connection w/ your PI next year and will be able to get a LOR from him/her.

TA letters carry very little weigh with adomms because they are basically a peer letter. If at all possible, try to have the professor for the class co-sign any TA letter.

BTW, it’s OK if a professor’s letter is perfunctory because the prof doesn’t know you well. Tons of students have been admitted with LORs that basically say " John Does was student in my XX class. He earned and A grade and was an excellent student. "

RE: early graduation

Start planning right now how to use your gap year productively. Assess your ECs and see where you’re lacking. A research assistant position if you need more research exposure. A medical scribe/CNA/MA/patient advocate/AEMT etc position if you need more clinical experience & shadowing.