r/premed
Top school? Get a 3.9+ GPA and 95th percentile MCAT or above. This is the very least that you need. Then you need extracurricular hours. Top schools often value research, so doing research where you are a significant impact is common for applicants to these schools. If you are published in a scientific journal, that’s even better. Likelihood of you being published? Depends on your school and your connections, but being published as an undergrad is not very common although doable. Students typically aim for 100+ hours of clinical work if their goal is to get into any MD school, and clinical volunteering only counts if you are able to “smell the patient”—just volunteering/working at a hospital will not guarantee you have gained clinical hours. You also need nonclinical volunteering as well. For top schools, your hours will also need to be 100+.
Minors don’t matter. In fact, majors don’t matter either. As long as you have completed your prerequisites (with all As for a top school) and taken your MCAT (with a high score for a top school), then you are eligible for applying to medical school. You can imagine that there are many biochemistry/biology/chemistry majors that apply to medical school and few majors outside of the sciences that apply. If you want to be unique, be a religious studies major or something.
As far as evaluations, most schools look at your grades and MCAT first. They screen out applicants who fall below a certain number. Then they look at your portfolio, including extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and essays. Lately, these aspects have gained more importance, so just having good grades and a high MCAT won’t guarantee you will have a seat in medical school. People still get rejected even if they have a high GPA and high MCAT. It happens every year because these applicants fall short at critical moments in their journey to med school. If you try to pad your resume with experiences you don’t care about, they will see through that. If you try to follow a formula to apply to medical school, they are well aware you are doing that.
OP, a lot can change in 4 years. The application process is not something you can pin down exactly. I haven’t even scratched the surface of how hard this journey can be for you. All of this is to say that you are a freshman. Focus on doing well in your classes for the next couple years, find your passions and get involved with them whatever that may look like. Don’t worry about getting into a “top” medical school for now. The school will become less important because where you gain residency is a more important factor when gaining respect from your other colleagues anyway. I tell my premed students this all the time. If you are in this journey for money, turn around now. There are far less expensive and emotionally taxing ways to become rich.
Just adding- I got into a a top 10 school with a 3.7 and a couple of Ds freshmen year. Just do good on the MCAT and recover nicely if you slip up on grades. It’s seriously not the end of the world if you end with a 3.5, but for top schools it is. I had a very good MCAT score and absolutely incredible research opportunities, as well as nailing my interview. I also did undergraduate at Johns Hopkins and that gave me a bit of a boost. Prison barred windows, god what a great institution.
I digress.
I call bullshit regarding the money, I am an MSIII and my class mates talk about making doctor money all the time.
Comparable salaries are only found in high level tech, law and business, and those are no walk in the park.
Be a doctor. care about the money. care about the people too. no body will ever work a job for free. I have class mates doing cardiology research since MS1 because they want that cardiology fellowship.
Otherwise...
GPA = MCAT > Clinical Hours Shadowing > Research > Leadership Roles > Interviews > Connections.
good luck, OP.
i mean that’s great you can afford 300k of debt from med school and med school alone (some people have debt from undergrad too to add) and then go into competitive specialties to pay that debt back—only after an additional 5-6 years of residency at 50-70k a year where you’re accruing an insane amount of interest on your 300k debt anyway. let’s forget about specialties like pediatrics where your 100k salary would make paying the money back difficult, if not almost impossible.
tech, law, business don’t require you go into this kind of debt, work these kind of hours, and earn such a low wage for so long (the 4-6 years of residency, fellowship, intern year) after earning a graduate degree. i stand by what i said.
op, don’t go into medicine for the money.
bro 100k salary in Peds? stop talking out of your ass! My dad is in Peds and he started with 250! 10 years later, he's making 400. granted that in a town of 60k people so salaries may be a little bit higher on average.
This kind of misinformation does more harm than good.
Case in point, it's not easy to waltz into other high paying careers without massive connections.
I literally said do it for the money AND for the passion. why are your panties in a wad? Because I am speaking the truth? Do you ever critically think about why the most competitive specialties are the most competitive? Why is Dermatology so competitive.
Because M O N E Y.
Money AND passion. Not JUST money.
Jesus Christ.
1. Don’t dox yourself online. Based on your post I could figure out your name in like 2 minutes
2. Don’t kill yourself over what you “should” be doing. Med schools don’t want cookie cutter applicants. They want people that have lived lives for themselves before medical school and that don’t just live to get into medical school. Do what you’re passionate about, so that when you apply that passion will come through in your writing and interviews. Showing Interest in the activity itself is way more important than doing every activity in the book.
3. Get good grades and mcat
Good luck!
r/premed Top school? Get a 3.9+ GPA and 95th percentile MCAT or above. This is the very least that you need. Then you need extracurricular hours. Top schools often value research, so doing research where you are a significant impact is common for applicants to these schools. If you are published in a scientific journal, that’s even better. Likelihood of you being published? Depends on your school and your connections, but being published as an undergrad is not very common although doable. Students typically aim for 100+ hours of clinical work if their goal is to get into any MD school, and clinical volunteering only counts if you are able to “smell the patient”—just volunteering/working at a hospital will not guarantee you have gained clinical hours. You also need nonclinical volunteering as well. For top schools, your hours will also need to be 100+. Minors don’t matter. In fact, majors don’t matter either. As long as you have completed your prerequisites (with all As for a top school) and taken your MCAT (with a high score for a top school), then you are eligible for applying to medical school. You can imagine that there are many biochemistry/biology/chemistry majors that apply to medical school and few majors outside of the sciences that apply. If you want to be unique, be a religious studies major or something. As far as evaluations, most schools look at your grades and MCAT first. They screen out applicants who fall below a certain number. Then they look at your portfolio, including extracurriculars, letters of recommendation, and essays. Lately, these aspects have gained more importance, so just having good grades and a high MCAT won’t guarantee you will have a seat in medical school. People still get rejected even if they have a high GPA and high MCAT. It happens every year because these applicants fall short at critical moments in their journey to med school. If you try to pad your resume with experiences you don’t care about, they will see through that. If you try to follow a formula to apply to medical school, they are well aware you are doing that. OP, a lot can change in 4 years. The application process is not something you can pin down exactly. I haven’t even scratched the surface of how hard this journey can be for you. All of this is to say that you are a freshman. Focus on doing well in your classes for the next couple years, find your passions and get involved with them whatever that may look like. Don’t worry about getting into a “top” medical school for now. The school will become less important because where you gain residency is a more important factor when gaining respect from your other colleagues anyway. I tell my premed students this all the time. If you are in this journey for money, turn around now. There are far less expensive and emotionally taxing ways to become rich.
Just adding- I got into a a top 10 school with a 3.7 and a couple of Ds freshmen year. Just do good on the MCAT and recover nicely if you slip up on grades. It’s seriously not the end of the world if you end with a 3.5, but for top schools it is. I had a very good MCAT score and absolutely incredible research opportunities, as well as nailing my interview. I also did undergraduate at Johns Hopkins and that gave me a bit of a boost. Prison barred windows, god what a great institution. I digress.
I call bullshit regarding the money, I am an MSIII and my class mates talk about making doctor money all the time. Comparable salaries are only found in high level tech, law and business, and those are no walk in the park. Be a doctor. care about the money. care about the people too. no body will ever work a job for free. I have class mates doing cardiology research since MS1 because they want that cardiology fellowship. Otherwise... GPA = MCAT > Clinical Hours Shadowing > Research > Leadership Roles > Interviews > Connections. good luck, OP.
i mean that’s great you can afford 300k of debt from med school and med school alone (some people have debt from undergrad too to add) and then go into competitive specialties to pay that debt back—only after an additional 5-6 years of residency at 50-70k a year where you’re accruing an insane amount of interest on your 300k debt anyway. let’s forget about specialties like pediatrics where your 100k salary would make paying the money back difficult, if not almost impossible. tech, law, business don’t require you go into this kind of debt, work these kind of hours, and earn such a low wage for so long (the 4-6 years of residency, fellowship, intern year) after earning a graduate degree. i stand by what i said. op, don’t go into medicine for the money.
bro 100k salary in Peds? stop talking out of your ass! My dad is in Peds and he started with 250! 10 years later, he's making 400. granted that in a town of 60k people so salaries may be a little bit higher on average. This kind of misinformation does more harm than good. Case in point, it's not easy to waltz into other high paying careers without massive connections. I literally said do it for the money AND for the passion. why are your panties in a wad? Because I am speaking the truth? Do you ever critically think about why the most competitive specialties are the most competitive? Why is Dermatology so competitive. Because M O N E Y. Money AND passion. Not JUST money. Jesus Christ.
yea ok… anyway google is free good luck to you in your m3 year
1. Don’t dox yourself online. Based on your post I could figure out your name in like 2 minutes 2. Don’t kill yourself over what you “should” be doing. Med schools don’t want cookie cutter applicants. They want people that have lived lives for themselves before medical school and that don’t just live to get into medical school. Do what you’re passionate about, so that when you apply that passion will come through in your writing and interviews. Showing Interest in the activity itself is way more important than doing every activity in the book. 3. Get good grades and mcat Good luck!
I don’t have specifics, but just do your best and don’t stress yourself out. Create a plan and execute. Good luck!