Found this on SDN

I am also a second year and I only have 30 hours shadowing for one specialty, 0 clinical hours, 0 research, 35 hours volunteering 💀 how do people accumulate so much hours in one year? Second year of college just started and I remember my first year being stuck on campus with no way of getting out to do these sort of opportunities. All the hours I have were racked during summer and even then, I couldn’t get a clinical job so I had to work as a dishwasher

I've kinda had the idea that I'll figure out what specialty to pursue in medical school. But before then, my idea of a doctor was kinda just family med/internal med. I also think emergency is pretty cool. But honestly, I'm not sure if I want to spend like several years past a 3 or 4 year residency trying to pursue a different specialty. I've heard that internal med and emergency med are not super competitive, and honestly the idea of just chilling through med school and then doing a short residency sounds pretty cool.

I do have a few research interests I might want to pursue, but otherwise I'm not sure if I wanna be doing a million things in med school to be able to match in neurosurgery or something. On the other hand, I like having my options open. I'm guess im curious about what mindset is the best to have when entering into med school.

I think I was slightly off topic for many questions and for the other they are hard to answer😭 for instance when they ask me what would be factors when I’m choosing medical school I started with meeting patient early on etc. and then I was off topic to “why this school”

will i be okay? this is for my dream program and having an earlier interview really matters for this school since it is a very small program. i cannot reschedule the surgery it needs to be done asap.

feeling so disheartened because i already feel unprepared as i just got the ii a few days ago and the interview is so soon, and now i’ll be missing so a few days of prep. but both dentist and oral surgeon advised that i can’t wait on this.

any tips on the narrative process? by narrative, i mean finding your story when writing your essays

has anyone with like high gpa (3.8+) and low MCAT (508-509), absolutely bombed their interview, ate on their secondaries, and then someone gotten in? By bombed I mean rambling and not articulating thoughts clearly but still coming off as grateful kind and smart just nervous

Hey everyone, I just started a post bacc (I graduated 2 years ago with a 3.77 so it’s not necessarily for GPA repair but just because I didn’t do some classes in undergrad because I wasn’t sure of medical school yet).

Unfortunately, less than a week after the drop deadline my alternative caregiving arrangement for my grandmother who I take care of fell through; attending classes is an all day ordeal since I have to take two buses and I can’t leave her alone all day for 3 days a week.
I’ve tried to arrange something else for the last couple weeks since I didn’t want to lose the money I spent on the courses but it hasn’t worked out. A family member said that they’re willing to move to help me but they can’t move until next semester due to their job.

Is it bad if I have two Ws on my transcript from this or should I risk basically getting B- at best since attendance is mandatory? I have 5 Is and a W from college (two different semesters where I had medical issues that have since completely resolved themselves) already so I was hoping my post bacc transcript would look cleaner.

I hope to attend a T20 since I got a 527 MCAT and have good ECs otherwise but is that a possibility with this transcript?

How much per year would yall consider to be relatively cheap for med school tuition?

Title.

I thought my hours were okay, I’m planning on no gap years, applying as a traditional student

I feel like I could get my volunteering up pretty quickly from now to may when apps open, and ofc continue my research position, shadowing, but I keep seeing posts on here that say that these hours are pretty underwhelming and theres a chance these extracurriculars are not enough

Im planning on applying to both MD/DO mostly because I’m not interested in competitive specialties multiple reasons that i dont need to divulge in

Could I get some opinions?

Wayne State just sent out a ton of As and I didn’t receive an email, should I assume no more are going out today? 🥲

My interview was extremely informal. I knew it was going to be conversational but basically the woman was playing solitaire before we started lol and then I walked in and she wanted to talk a lot about our shared interest of tennis (i played in college) and we talked about so much random stuff like ...what are my fav tennis shoes or which books i am reading now, and i think i am very bubbly and personable so we laughed a lot and conversation flowed easily but the whole time i am like... is she gonna ask me why i want to be a physician??

I wanted to leave the impression on my interviewer that i will make a good doctor because of so and so but I felt like it was more like i left the impression of being a nice person to talk to (she said at the end "this was very fun and enjoyable")

anyways, am i being neurotic ?! they better not fucking waitlist me bc the whole interview seemed more like a vibe check

I'm trying to think about not giving a very generic answer for this question, and I was curious about talking about my discomfort in silence. It's a genuine weakness of mine, and my anecdotes pertain to not connecting as much as I'd hope with students I tutored because I would over explain/ask too many questions instead of leaving space for more natural conversation and what not. And I talk about as an overnight PCT how I've had patients ask me to talk less when I get their vitals.

I'd talk about how it's a habit I try to be cognizant of, especially in situations that make me anxious because that usually makes it worse. And then tying in the importance as a physician and delivering bad news and needing to give families and patients time to process and all that.

Obviously will clean this answer up, but want to make sure it isn't something that would be seen in a poor way. Obviously, there are a ton of very "safe" answers I could otherwise go with.

I will probably end up deleting this at some point. I know I am lucky to be where I am, so I know I'm just complaining about an overall good situation. I got my first (and only) out of state acceptance the same day I got rejected from my state school, which was my top choice. I would have gone to it in a heartbeat over any other school if given the chance.

Of course I knew this was a possibility and I am lucky to go anywhere, it is just hitting me that I will have to move on.

I have lived in this area all my life and my family is still here. I am a non-trad student so I have spent about a third of my life in the city and at my in-state school that has now rejected me. Over the course of living, working and volunteering here, I have made friends and connections I cherish a lot. Even though overall I should be happy, I am devastated that I have to leave now. I know plenty of people do it and they survive and ultimately, I will be better off. But now that the absolute elation of acceptance has worn off, I'm left with a looming, sinking feeling where I have to leave this area that I have known all my life. I left volunteering and I walked my usual route and realized that there was a distinct deadline in less than a year where I wouldn't be doing that anymore. That all the things I thought would continue had a finite span and it would be a long time when I could walk my favorite paths again.

So people who were in a similar situation and had to leave their home area, how did you cope? How can I just be happy for my success instead of being preoccupied with the idea of moving on.

I hope this is okay to post here. I do not mean to sound ungrateful in any capacity and I hope everyone has a great cycle. It feels difficult to convey with my friends and peers, who are primarily not premeds and will not be going through anything similar.

I’m sure this question has been asked a billion times. I interviewed early with two schools and heard nothing back even though they sent out acceptances recently.

Does this mean I’m screwed? I’m high stat, decent clinical hours, decent research, decent story, and practice interview feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Is it possible to get accepted if they already passed over my app once? I feel hopeless.

Hey everyone, ima current pre-med undergrad. Right now
I have an avg sGPA (3.2) and know that I have to do excellent in my next stem courses. I’m still in Junior year, but I was alr thinking about a gap year opportunity to support my GPA. I was looking at a few programs that have linkages, but I saw that some of them provide grad level course work/are masters. My advisor said that I’d want to boost my undergrad GPA, so it would be better to just take more classes in undergrad just upper level ones. How true is this, and is if still worth it to consider the grad school programs or is it true that it will not reflect the same?

Got my first A today and realizing I'm not letting myself enjoy it because of financial uhh... stuff.

Given federal loan cap I'm going to need private loans, my credit score is sitting at lower bound of good, not a chance for co-signer.

With the cost of the school it will be in the ballpark of 20k/yr.

Haven't talked to banks yet but pretty anxious despite not having heard any stories where anyone didn't end up matriculating at all because of something like this.

Reassurance? Lol

Edit: Thanks everyone for the comments. I already have contacted schools financial aid office to speak sometime next week. And yes the 20k/yr would be on top of federal loans. I wouldn’t turn down the acceptance nor shy away from a risky loan if offered, more so concerned I wouldn’t get one in the first place.

Hey everyone!

I’m currently a non-traditional pre-med student enrolled in the Harvard Extension School pre-medical post-bacc program, and I’m hitting a wall with the pedagogy. To be candid: the courses feel deliberately engineered to wear students down rather than teach foundational science. The professors are great, but the exams and problem sets are massive, open-ended time sinks with custom multi-variable proofs that don’t resemble standard textbook problems or what I understand to be on the MCAT. Instead of synthesizing the material, it feels like triage—just trying to survive a non-stop barrage of obscure questions. I know plenty of people stick it out, but this teaching style conflicts with how I learn best.

I'm realizing that staying here to chase an institutional name while risking my science GPA makes zero sense. I’m seriously considering stepping away and doing a DIY non-degree post-bacc at UMass Boston.

Before I finalize this pivot, I’d love to hear from anyone who has taken pre-med prerequisites or done a DIY post-bacc at UMass Boston:

1. Class Structure & Pedagogy: How linear and standardized are the introductory science sequences (Gen Chem, Bio, Orgo)? Are exams multiple choice and aligned with standard ACS frameworks and textbook problem sets, or are there idiosyncratic curveballs?
   
2. Quality of Instruction vs. Manageability: What is the actual workload and teaching quality like? Is it realistic to take two laboratory sciences in the same semester without burning out?
   
3. Admissions Perceptions: For those who applied with post-bacc credits from UMB: Did admissions committees treat UMB as a drawback? If you paired a high post-bacc GPA (3.8–4.0) with a strong MCAT score, were upper-tier or T20 programs still within reach?
   
4. Logistics & Registration: How difficult is it as a non-degree student to secure seats in daytime or evening lecture and lab sections?

Any honest feedback from non-trads, career changers, or Boston-area pre-meds who navigated this transition would be appreciated. Thank you!

I'm really struggling this semester, I'm taking Biostatistics , Physics 2, Organic Chemistry and a random class for my major. While doing research and working. Normally I'm an A/B student but I'm currently holding 2 B and 2 Cs. I don't even know why I'm struggling so hard right now, I've done the usual stuff I do to get out of a funk and its not working. Anyone have any similar experiences/advice?

i’m a freshman at ucsd currently majoring in math-cs, but i’ve been seriously considering switching to human biology or biochemistry for premed.

i’m pretty good at math and subpar at coding academically, but i don’t particularly LOVE either. my bigger concern with cs is that doing well in classes isn’t enough to get a good job. i’d also need to work on personal projects, grind leetcode, build my resume, apply to internships, network, and develop my skills outside of school. i’m honestly rly bad at self-directed stuff like that, and the thought of constantly having to work on projects and learn things independently sounds exhausting. also lwk cs job market is horribly fucked😭

medicine seems more appealing because the path feels a lot more structured. obviously i know it’s much longer, harder, and more expensive, but i like having clear steps to follow, like taking the required classes, maintaining a good gpa, studying for the mcat, applying to med school, and eventually completing residency. plus, i’m good at school and actually lowkey enjoy it too.

i don’t know if i’d actually like medicine yet, but i’m interested in specialties like radiology and dermatology. i’m planning to try shadowing physicians, although i’m not really sure how to go about it. i also have basically no medical background or experience, so i’m worried i might already be behind compared to other premed students who’ve been preparing since hs.

another concern is that i already have a ton of transfer credits and am pretty far along in my math-cs requirements. i’ll basically be done with my lower divs next quarter, so switching to biology would mean taking a lot more classes and potentially losing that progress. ideally, i’d want to graduate in 4 years and go straight to med school without a gap year, but idk how realistic that is.

i’m planning to take intro bio and chem next quarter to see how i feel about both subjects before making a decision.

tldr: should i switch from math-cs to biology as a freshman with no medical background?

i’d rly appreciate any advice pls!!

I am a sophomore in college and I’ve been working as a 1:1 sitter for a bit now, and I do like it! But I was chatting with some more experienced pre-meds the other day and they made it seem like medical schools actually want to see you administering active procedures in your clinical hours, like an EMT or MA and that while being a sitter was technically clinical it wouldn’t actually do much to help my application.

Most of my job consists of keeping people calm and trying to help them de-agitate if they aren’t, making sure they don’t pull things out/off or otherwise harm themselves, and helping with day to day tasks like eating, mobility, repositioning in bed, hygiene, etc, I’m not really allowed to do much beyond that like administer medications, occasionally I might be asked to take some vitals but that doesn’t happen very often. What I’m worried about is that this is too “passive”.

As I said I do like my work and would like to continue with it if possible, however I would like to know if what I was told is true as I haven’t really been able to get a clear answer from searching, and if it is what is my best course of action for getting “real” clinical hours?

Well, as the title implies, as a non-trade/career changer, how are you finding your clinical hours? First, I graduated with a B.A. I was unhappy in my corporate job for 2.5 years and saved enough to cover future medical school tuition and my living expenses. To sum it up, I'm currently doing a postbacc and was wondering: for all fellows who are career changers or postbacc fellows, how did you guys find opportunities for clinical hours? It doesn’t matter whether it is paid; did you get a certificate, or did you find opportunities without one?

Edit: I'm also located in SoCal, so if anyone knows about volunteering or clinical hours around here, please let me know!

For a little background I am applying to a school that is heavily in-state favored (58-62/72 students are in-state). The average MCAT is 508-509. They are also have a heavy focus on rural primary care.

I am an ORM that has lived in this state my whole life. I feel I have an above average ECs in the time and I have a 4.0 GPA. The only problem and the main reason that I am stressing is that I unfortunately got a 502 MCAT. My interview is next week and I heard you at least get a response from this school in mid November. Does it seem like I have a chance on getting an A or is the best I am looking at this early in the cycle a waitlist? This all effects if I would have to start rebuying things for retaking the mcat.

URM, 3.9 cumulative 3.8 sci gpa, 1000 hours and more anticipated clinical hours (CNA+ volunteering at a clinic), 200-300 volunteer hours+ more anticipated, financial barriers and a lot to talk about in distance traveled

I’m planning to apply to medical school in Spring 2028 after graduating from college in Spring 2027. My plan for my gap year is to study for the MCAT, continue working as a CNA, and volunteer.
I have a strong GPA and substantial clinical and community service experience, but absolutely no research experience. I’m considering summer research programs to strengthen my application, especially since my in-state medical school is fairly research-focused.

However, I’m genuinely burnt out and recovering from a lot personally and academically. I’ve taken classes every single summer, and I’d really like to use Summer 2027 to rest, spend time with family, travel, and recharge before my gap year. but every research program i’ve come across are in the summer.

I’m worried that skipping research could put
me at a disadvantage. How competitive can I be at a state medical school without research, assuming i have strong academics and clinical experience? Is research that important? Or can I get away with not doing it

i reallyyy want to get in to med school and am willing to put my head down for another summer if required