Here are some things to consider:
Does the school have a hospital attached to it?
If it does, then you might be able to do hospital volunteering during the school year and get your clinical hours that way.
Is your school known for being academically rigorous?
Getting good grades at a harder institution sometimes means more, but at the same time, you should consider whether a school has grade deflation and how that may adversely impact your grades.
Does your school have good pre-medical counseling?
Maybe this doesn’t matter to you if you are planning on getting a private medical school counseling service, but this is something to keep in mind. Sometimes smaller schools might have less opportunities for hospital volunteering, but they may have more rigorous counseling opportunities.
If you decide to switch out of the pre-medical track, will you be able to get a major you want?
If you're just entering college, you might think this doesn't apply to you, but the unfortunate reality is that a lot of students enter on the pre-medical track and end up switching career tracks. Considering a backup track and which school will support that can be a factor that is important to you.
Does your school accept AP credits?
There are several pre-medical pre-requisite course requirements that you have to take. If your university allows you to use your AP Biology or AP Chemistry credit to test out of certain pre-requisites, it can save you crucial time in your undergraduate journey. Most medical schools will accept your AP credits, but if there are schools that you are particularly interested in applying to, make sure you check their specific requirements online.
One exciting aspect about being pre-med is that you can choose whichever major you want to! Here are somethings to consider when deciding on what major you want to pursue:
Will it be challenging to balance the demands of your major alongside your pre-medical courses?
Are you going to enjoy doing the major that you chose?
If for whatever reason you do not get into medical school, are you okay with pursuing your major as your backup career?
How does your major elevate your overall application?
Ultimately, your grades matter so much. I cannot even begin to stress how much your GPA will impact your application. Specifically, ensure you are getting good grades in your science classes because medical schools look at that to determine if you will academically succeed in their programs. If nothing else, consider this when deciding your major because usually what you enjoy studying will also yield the best course grades.
Every school has pre-medical coursework that they specify usually online. Generally, this comes out to 2 biology classes with biology labs (1 upper level course + 1 upper level lab), 2 physics classes with labs, general chemistry, 2 organic chemistry courses with labs, biochemistry, and some sort of math or statistics course. Schools also encourage students to take sociology, psychology, anatomy, physiology, and sometimes genetics in their coursework. It can be important to see if schools will accept AP credit because that can get you out of certain general chemistry and introductory biology classes that will free up your schedule for other courses. Most medical schools will accept your AP coursework to satisfy course requirements so this could help you out.
If you have a low GPA, you can either take science classes at a community college to raise your science GPAs, opt to do a Masters before attending medical school, and/or, most importantly, get a very good MCAT score to offset your GPA.
When I entered college, I thought I wouldn’t take a gap year. Before my senior year, I thought I would only take one gap year, and then I realized that I would have to take two. This really depends on where your application is and what your plans are for the future. If you want to go straight through you should plan on taking your MCAT the summer before your application cycle. So for example if you are applying in May 2025, take your MCAT August 2024 so you have enough time to prepare. Try to finish your prerequisites before you take your MCAT. Remember that if you take one gap year, you won’t necessarily be able to put a lot of what you do during your gap year on your application. So if you need to boost your application through shadowing, clinical experiences, additional coursework, or taking the MCAT, consider those factors.
I would recommend making a four year plan the summer before you start college (keep in mind that your plan may change several times over the course of your undergraduate journey). I made an excel sheet to balance out my class load especially because as a data science major on the pre-med track, I had several classes I needed to account for. Though the classes I took did shift slightly, it helped me ensure that I was going to take all of the classes I needed before graduating. Also consider when you want to take your MCAT and add that into your plan. This will help you chart out whether or not you will need to take 1 (or more) gap year eventually.
No matter how challenging your high school was and how much academic pressure you think you may have experienced, I would say that you should take a relatively lighter course load your first semester of freshman year. I say that because you are going to be experiencing a completely new environment (and if you’re like me and you go out of state, you’re going to encounter cultural differences as well). Alongside all of this environmental change, you are going to have to discover a new way to learn and manage your schedule. College is no longer an 8:00am - 3:00pm school day. Now you have control over your 24 hours and it can feel overwhelming. You have four years of school; don’t overload yourself in your first semester. Instead, take classes you know you have an inclination towards and maybe take one challenging class. Don’t max out your credits and dive in headfirst all at once. Instead, use your additional time to figure out which extracurricular clubs you want to join and try to get a research position.
Your grades matter so much. If you’re just starting out, then you might not know this, but your medical school application will have 2 GPAs – your cumulative GPA and your science GPA. Your science GPA will have all of your science pre-medical coursework (biology, chemistry, physics, and math classes). Your cumulative GPA will be largely dependent on what major you choose so if you want to do a challenging major, keep in mind that you may have to work harder because ultimately medical schools care a lot about your grades. It is one way that they determine whether or not you will be successful academically in their schools. At the same time, college is your time to explore so if you are passionate about a certain subject, pursue it!
I cannot stress the importance of having mentors, especially those who have already gone through the medical school process. I have so many people that helped me on my own journey which was especially invaluable as I am not related to anyone who has applied to medical school in the United States. I hope this website can provide some of the insight that a mentor can but make sure to also find these mentors. They might be classmates, professors, research assistants, or doctors.
A large part about being pre-med is asking for favors – asking for a research volunteer position at a lab, asking for shadowing opportunities, asking for letters of recommendation, etc. Start building relationships with faculty and professors in your class early on. One way I did this was by converting a class to honors. By doing so, I met with the professor 1:1 every week to discuss a paper and worked on an end-of-year project to present it to the class. The relationship I formed with this professor was invaluable and after taking more classes with her, she agreed to write me a strong letter of recommendation for medical school.
One thing that was very important to me was being involved in research. Through my high school, I had the opportunity to have a plant biology internship at UC Berkeley before entering college. After having a great time and knowing that research is an important component of the medical school application, I applied to an undergraduate program at my university that helps place undergraduates into research positions. When I didn’t get in, I reached out to my former UC Berkeley lab research advisor, and she connected me with a friend of hers at my university. I also went through my network to get in touch with a biomedical engineering professor. Both contacts offered me research positions, and after spending a year at the biomedical engineering lab, I tried sociological research during the pandemic. Finally, I transitioned to staying at a clinical database medical research lab where I continued working on projects.
I’ll talk more about research elsewhere, but my biggest advice is to find a research lab early. They want freshmen and sophomores who can commit to staying at the lab longer because then they don't have to continuously use resources in training new volunteers. If you don't have a university specifc program you can apply through or contacts, then you should approach your class professors to inquire about their research or try cold emailing as well. Make sure that your resume is one page and highlights your key research skills.
In your first year, try out several different clubs because eventually you will need to fill out a work and activities section in your medical school application. Besides research experience, try to have some tutoring, non-hospital volunteering, clinical experience, and shadowing experiences. Aside from that, make sure to try out clubs for fun as well such as Irish Dancing (would recommend) and also on-campus jobs and internships. This is one of the most fun parts of the application, but remember to start early so you can show continued interest and progress to leadership experiences eventually.
This is probably the most important piece of advice I can give you. Medicine is a long, hard path. After getting into medical school, the stress continues to build so make sure you really want this! I have had several friends start on the healthcare track and then discover it’s not for them and they’re so much happier now. Though you may be entering college “pre-med,” it’s totally okay if you decide that it’s not what you want after all. College is a time when you should explore all of your avenues so remember to stay open for whatever happens!