is this worth it or change in plans?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>I don’t think I’m at such a good position right now. I’m currently an international student (though I reside here; my visa status says Im international, and I dont know how soon that will change) and an Asian. I’m an Echols scholar at UVA but here’s the thing… I still have a chance to mess around with the fall semester’s schedule and after doing more research on the pre-med deal, I don’t know if I should go ahead and just continue with the advanced chemistry and biology sequence or just drop down to the intro level ones. I found my advanced chemistry classes really hard last year because half the class was from thomas jefferson HS for science and technology… and they’re some smart people. And I’ve been in the A-/B+ range (and B+/B range for lab)… I don’t know if that’s a sign I should switch to the intro level and shoot for A’s to avoid the scary curve in my current sequence (and for the sake of my GPA/science GPA). I’m especially considering this after reading numerous people say that it doesn’t really make a significant difference whether you take adv/honors classes or not… but then again, I don’t know how it would look to med schools if I end up dropping down to intro level sequence, would that matter?</p>

<p>Also, I haven’t done too much extracurriculars my first year. I did do stuff outside of classes but they were mostly music related, like orchestra, chamber music, playing at the hospital as musician volunteers, etc… do those count at all? Also, I didn’t do much this summer… I mean, I did study and read my orgo book but nothing like volunteering at the hospital or anything (bad choice). Will that really look badly on my application? :frowning: or is it something I can make up for with volunteering and research and all that stuff for the next couple of years/summers?</p>

<p>Lastly… I haven’t really made any good/close relationships with my professors last year… and I don’t really know how to go on about doing it. I mean, science classes are huge, and how would I approach my professor? Just go in during office hours and ask random questions? start a non-class-related conversation? I don’t want to seem like I’m bribing or anything…</p>

<p>Any words on any of these would be greatly appreciated!</p>

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<p>from my understanding med schools don’t care that you take advanced classes in place of the intro classes it’s all based on performance. so if you feel you can do better in intro classes then by all means drop down but i am not sure how dropping down will look.<br>
as far as extracurriculars yours are fine you could probably get away with doing more hospital related stuff but as long as it’s something you are passionate about med schools will appreciate that.<br>
and developing a relationship with profs is really easy…go to office hours, few people actually do. my profs at Vandy were constantly encouraging people to come to office hours even if it was just to talk even about no class related stuff. def. don’t start off topic conversations in class that’s disrespectful and will not win you any points come rec time. questions about how med schools view dropping down are good starters for your talk with profs b/c undoubtedly your aren’t the first person to have this concern or dilemma. bottom line just go talk to them they are people too.</p>

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<p>Would a fleuncy in a foreign language help (not Spanish or Chinese though)? My first language isn’t English so I am fluent in an Asian language but I took 2 semesters of French last year and I’m wondering if continuing will do me any good. I don’t have much room left in my schedule and I’m wondering if it would help me any to continue French or if I should try other things like econ, politics, or anthro/sociology…</p>