I am an incoming freshman and am just trying to plan out my summers and extracurriculars to come. Do you guys have a general outline of how summers could be spent, where to put the MCAT and studying for it and what to do during the school year (in terms of research, shadowing, clinical work, etc.)
There is no road map for pre-meds. Every person walks a different path. I have 2 children who went to med school; each one took a different route to get there.
Summers can be used for a variety of activities–including working at a job. (D2 spent the summer after her freshman year working in Yellowstone National Park because she loves the outdoors and the chance to get paid while living in Yellowstone for free was too good to pass up. Her BFF from high school did the same thing at Yosemite. They’re both now med students. )
Some general advice:
Don’t overload yourself with too many classes or too many ECs as an incoming freshman. Adjust to a college work load first, then start gradually adding more things.
Don’t study for and take the MCAT until you are fully ready to do so. This means you have completed all the pre-reqs and have scheduled some dedicated study time for 6 weeks or so preceding the test. For many pre-med students this means some time during the the spring of junior year, although taking it in the fall or spring of senior year or even post-graduation is common too. Take the test when you feel you’re ready. Unlike the ACT or SAT, admission committees strongly prefer a good test score from one sitting over repeated attempts to achieve a good score.
Don’t be a “box checker”. A box checker who someone who participates in activities because simply because “they look good” to med school adcomms and/or who amasses activities without passion or enthusiasm for them for sole purpose of getting accepted into med school.
Do participate fully in your classes. This may mean going to your professor’s office hours even if you don’t necessarily need help with the class. You’ll need to establish relationships with your professors so you can later ask for the very important letters of evaluation required as part of the med school admissions process.
Do engage in the social side of college. Med schools want well-round individuals who are capable of holding a conversation on a variety of topics other than medicine/science with a wide variety of people, not academic automatons. The latter are a dime a dozen and not what med schools are looking for. (IOW, don’t be that person who spends Friday and Saturday alone in the library studying. With effective study habits you shouldn’t need to, and it’s socially isolating.)
Do find a charitable activity you enjoy and get involved with it. Adcomms want to see long-term community service to those in your local community who are less fortunate than you. Share your gifts with others. Tutor, coach, do community theater workshops for disabled kids, foster kittens, be Habitat for Humanity volunteer, stack groceries at the local food pantry–it doesn’t matter what you do so much as just doing something.
Do shadow physicians in a variety of specialties, particularly those who are primary care providers. (PCP = family medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, geriatrics, psychiatry, general internal medicine.)
Thank you very much @WayOutWestMom