Choosing medicine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Freshmen year. If no gap year, kid would be applying junior summer.

What would they start freshman year?

Everything, need to take gen chem at a minimum, that a full year course. Also need to get started in shadowing, research, volunteering,etc. . .

The premed classes, I know.

How do they find these other opportunities so quickly once they get on campus?
Do they need to start volunteering/research first semester of first year?

Many kids start in high school. If they don’t want to take a gap year, they need to start at least by freshman year. Which is why many kids take a gap year, they need more time.

This is not true. I know more than one med student who came into college undecided and started non coursework stuff for med school after sophomore year.

With no gap year? That’s one year to get all the non coursework stuff done. Extremely unlikely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Freshmen year. If no gap year, kid would be applying junior summer.

What would they start freshman year?

Everything, need to take gen chem at a minimum, that a full year course. Also need to get started in shadowing, research, volunteering,etc. . .

The premed classes, I know.

How do they find these other opportunities so quickly once they get on campus?
Do they need to start volunteering/research first semester of first year?

Many kids start in high school. If they don’t want to take a gap year, they need to start at least by freshman year. Which is why many kids take a gap year, they need more time.

Please don’t say things you don’t know about. While some may start in HS, med schools won’t consider any activities prior to HS graduation.

Lots of kids get cna or ent certification prior to college and/or establish relationships with a lab. That gives them a head start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When is this gap year people are talking about?

After college graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid is considering med school but not totally sure - by when do they have to start doing the things required to apply? I don't mean the premed classes. I mean the research/clinical/etc? I know they can take many gap years, but if they don't want to take more than one gap year (or ideally none), by when do they have to get started on those things in college?

2nd question - should research be medical, or can it be any science or engineering research?

Start freshman summer at the latest for no gap year. Your DC should read AMCAS website and read their college premed advising thoroughly. Read the other recent thread that has lots of tips. Any basic science research is fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Freshmen year. If no gap year, kid would be applying junior summer.

What would they start freshman year?

Everything, need to take gen chem at a minimum, that a full year course. Also need to get started in shadowing, research, volunteering,etc. . .

The premed classes, I know.

How do they find these other opportunities so quickly once they get on campus?
Do they need to start volunteering/research first semester of first year?

Starting freshman summer or fall of sophomore year is enough time, with no gap year, but it is better to start freshman year as sophomore is O-chem and physics usually which is harder than freshman premed classes (gen chem 1-2, calc 1-2/stats, bio).
shadowing only needs a couple of weeks; research can be with any faculty or at another college, applications for paid research in the summer. open to premeds are due jan-february. It is tight but doable for the right student to get all clinical hours plus adequate volunteer and research done by Aug 1st of junior summer(in time to apply) starting fall sophomore year if all winter breaks and summers are maxed out and the student has the bandwidth to work 10-15 hrs outside of class during the semesters and can also juggle MCAT studying with all of this. This is why people start freshman year when the goal is no gap.