Hi! I’m a freshman at Alabama on the national merit scholarship. After a LOT of flip-flopping around, I’ve decided to major in chemistry and minor in mathematics.
I was mapping out my classes and realized that if I take a summer class or two, I can finish my degree in 3 years and do the accelerated master’s program, earning a master’s in chemistry (biochemistry) in 4 years, all completely paid for. Alternatively, I can get a second major (probably microbiology) and/or another minor (probably global health, microbiology, or music).
Which would look better for medical school? I feel like the master’s sets me apart, but if I take it slower and do a second major instead, I may have more free time for extracurriculars, I’ll be able to take a wider variety of classes, (especially in the humanities), and I’ll get to take more “just for fun” classes. I have really enjoyed chemistry so far though. I’ll talk to my advisor too of course, but I was wondering if anyone on here had any insight.
It’s a long shot, but I’m hoping to go to either a highly regarded medical school or get a bit of scholarship money at a less prestigious one (I am aware that is extremely rare and am prepared to handle the full cost). The main goal is to get into any medical school on the first try. Thanks!
Premed classes are going to be full of very strong students, and will be tough. My first thought is that you should focus on doing very well in your coursework. You will of course also need to complete quite a few hours in a medical environment, most likely volunteering.
Both daughters had majors that overlapped quite a bit with premed classes (one is currently getting a DVM, the other is currently getting a PhD in a biomedical field). They have both mentioned how tough the classes were, and how strong the other students were in their premed classes. One daughter for example mentioned that the class average on the first midterm exam in their first premed class was 45 in spite of there being a lot of very strong students in the class. There were a few particularly strong students who got an 80 or 85 on that same test. I took this to be an example of the professor doing students a favor: Most students who start off thinking “premed” end up doing something else. The sooner the ones who weren’t going to make it figured this out, the better off they are. Of course there were also a few students who did well in these tough classes but just decided that they want to do something else (such as biomedical research and a PhD, although some will also switch to an unrelated major).
The majority of students who start off thinking “premed” end up doing something else. Both chemistry and math are useful for some very reasonable forms of “something else”.
Good grades, a good score on the MCAT, good medical experience, and good references will help to “set you apart” for medical school admissions. Good grades are going to require a LOT of effort. Good medical experience will take a lot of time and effort.
It sounds like you have the right goal (for you) in mind. It also sounds like you are doing very well. However, I would expect that you will find your classes to be quite challenging at some point.
Right now I’m working on good grades and involvement because that’s all I can really do. I’m a little concerned because at Alabama a 90-93 is a 3.67, not a 4.0, so I could have “straight As” and still have a 3.75 gpa. Will need schools take that into consideration or will I need to try to get a 94+ in every class instead of a 90? Obviously I’ll do the best I can.
As far as organizations I’m volunteering 32 hours/month as a medical advocate at a sexual assault center (staying with the victims and talking them through the medical process if they would like as a friendly face basically). I’m also a member of and volunteering with an organization that supports students who had unplanned pregnancies (and the fathers) and I plan to gain a leadership role there. I’m on track to be in the premed honors society and I attend the meetings. Starting in October, I’ll regularly volunteer reading to kids in the hospital. I’m also in a club that learns about an area of medicine for a semester, then at the end has a “competition” where each person pretends to be the doctor and diagnoses a patient (actor). The main goal is to practice bedside manner and the soft skills of medicine. It’s cool! I’m thinking about working 4-16 hours/week at the local hospital as a lab tech next semester if I have time, but I’ll see how the semester goes when I get more into it. I’m also getting involved in an anthropology lab researching maternal mortality disparities in the Hispanic population. Does it sound like I’m on track to be doing enough? I’m so worried and no one in my family is in the medical field so I’m going in blind.
Why not wait until you’ve completed your first semester before getting caught up in what happens next?
Don’t overload yourself. That’s key. You don’t know yet what you can handle-- so keep it simple for first semester. A terrible outcome (for you) would be to knock it out of the park with your various volunteer commitments and community service but to discover that your grades are slipping due to lack of sleep, irregular meals, lack of focus, etc.
So use this first semester to get used to and enjoy college. I promise that the world isn’t running out of chemistry, or master’s degrees, or volunteer opportunities with medically relevant population. These things will all be there down the road once you’ve acclimated to college, have made friends, have learned to juggle all your other commitments, etc.
Like Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”. For you, that means “Everyone is premed until they take organic chemistry”. So slow down!
Okay. For now it’s been fine, but I can ease out of a lot of them if needed. Many of the clubs are a once a week meeting type thing with optional volunteer opportunities. I’ll be careful though!!
Ps I’m in a sorority and have full season home football tickets so I’ve had lots of opportunities to have fun too
Is your transcript going to list a percentage, or is it going to list A, B, … grades?
I remember an exam in graduate school where an 85 was an A+ (the second highest grade on the exam was a 75). The resulting entry on the transcript only had the A+, and did not mention the 85. I remember another exam in graduate school where any positive grade on the midterm was a passing grade (not everyone passed). Sometimes exams are so tough that they have to be graded on a curve.
I think that if you have a lot of A’s in tough premed classes, then this will help you for medical school admissions regardless of how the GPA is calculated. Of course other factors will be very important.
I do not know if any of us are ever entirely sure how we got accepted to graduate programs. However, my daughter who is getting a DVM and I both think that her experience and her references were the biggest reason that she got multiple acceptances to very good programs. To me it looked like her grades were good enough for schools to think that she could do the academic work, and her experience and references made it clear that she would actually be a good veterinarian.
You are putting a lot of time into gaining experience in a medical environment. I think that you need to be careful about not going too much, but I also think that this experience is going to help you.
My older daughter referred to organic chemistry as “the most difficult B- that I ever had in my life”. This was however before she got to graduate school. The fact that she (and her sister, and her mother) waited and took organic chemistry in their third year of university probably also helped them, compared to taking it earlier.
Yes, there are some tough classes still to come. @elise123 I think that you can do it, but do not underestimate how tough some of your classes will be. I think that you are doing a lot. If you can do this well and avoid overloading yourself it looks like you are likely to be successful.
Here’s the thing- people who don’t get into medical school on the first try- but do on the second try- end up being physicians. They are gynecologists and surgeons and urologists and dermatologists, just like their colleagues who got in on the first try. People who take Art History and Music theory and Anthropology and Greek Tragedy as undergrads instead of loading up on yet more chemistry, bio, and other “relevant” subjects-- STILL get into med school, still end up as physicians.
Focus on remembering “I don’t know what I don’t know” and keeping an open mind- and you’ll be fine. Very few happy adults end up following the path they laid out for themselves in HS or as freshman in college- and that’s ok too.
As noted above…I think you are going way too fast. Remember- this is not a race, and I would take the time to make new friends, adjust to your classes, attend office hours etc.
To answer your question about which will help you “stand out,” in my opinion you should choose the path that makes you happy and that you have an interest in (no rush to decide today). I know medical students with double majors/minors, and I know medical students who entered with a masters degree and other experiences.
Take it slow, enjoy yourself, sleep, and do well in your classes- there is no race to the finish line.
If I’m going too fast, which things should I back off on? I’m just remembering high school when I didn’t get involved in much freshman year to give myself time to adjust, then by sophomore year my classmates were already getting leadership roles. Not getting very involved freshman year made it very difficult to get involved later on, and I don’t want to repeat that. I just don’t feel extremely busy at the moment, but I know it will get worse later.
And the next time I pick a dr on where they went to school will be the first.
I’ve just seen many for a recent issue - from the unknown / DO to Northwestern. And at this prestigious university hospital, the residents often come from regular flagships like Kansas.
You want to go to med school. That’s hard.
The where doesn’t matter short of an endowed program like NYU/JHU.
Talk to your advisor.
You have 5 years to play with. Enjoy the time.
Whether you do undergrad in three or four. And if a masters interests you, you can do that in the 5th.
But you just started. Take a breath for now.
And these are great questions for a pre med advisor ahd or a med school admissions person.
Unfortunately, no. I originally thought I’d major outside of the college of arts and sciences, so I was not eligible to apply. Now I am, but by the time I changed my major, it was too late and the program was full.
That’s OK. There are still many ways for you to pursue your interests. I do agree with others…you don’t need to make your mind up about your degree aspirations right now.
I agree that you may be burning the candle at both ends.
It’s not how many activities you can do for med school, it is the activity that you do well, consistently, that will be noticeable.
My daughter went through medical school during Covid.
She had activities that aligned with each other. She was selected for a lab position because she had had previous experience working with lab equipment. She also spoke near native Spanish which was helpful with many patients. Most of her classmates were near native speakers of Tagalog, Spanish, Russian, ASL, Persian, Arabic, Mandarin/Cantonese and one was Navajo.
The PI was a colleague of her O-Chem professor. From what I understand they spoke back-and-forth about our daughter and were pleased with her work and work ethic. Her recommendations were exceptional.
With our experience, rarely was there a medical school that would provide merit scholarships. That’s because every single one of the candidates would qualify. They don’t have that kind of money. They put their funds into their schools and their research. My daughter worked about 10 hours a week to meet her daily living costs, both in a lab and at a pharmacy.
Her seven roommates were all on loans loans and more loans or used the Bank of Mom and Dad to pay their medical school fees.
There are so few spots for medical school students. I don’t know how you would distinguish a prestigious medical school from any other school. Most students would be happy to get into any one school.
My advice would be to take pressure off yourself in general. Study what interests you. Enjoy life. Do not put off following your interests, or doing fun things because you think something will “look better” to some med school admissions person. Because 1) they won’t care about details like double major vs masters or anything like that. 2) Medicine as a career already has enough delayed gratification and “doing things because you have to” baked into it. Don’t add extra.
Honestly, I would focus on extracurricular involvements and take the minimum course load each semester, and graduate in 4 years. This advice goes for every major honestly. It will allow you to get better grades (v important for med school), and then also have strong extracurricular involvement to stack your resume. This has worked well for me as a computer science major (disclaimer).
Accelerating academics may come at the expense of ECs, especially patient facing/clinical experiences. It’s already difficult for those coming directly out of undergrad (potentially MS program in your case) to compete with med school applicants who take 1-2 years post graduation to gain additional full-time clinical hours/experience, so something to keep in mind.
Many schools have this GPA framework. I will let @wayoutwestmom comment on this too.
