question about premeds

[Guest MangoPie1015]

hello,

 

I was just wondering what you guys (premeds) were like in high school.

Like what kind of grades did you get? and what kinda of extra-curricular activities did you guys do? im curious because in my school, i just realized that most of the 4.0 honours students would like to go to medical school; and these guys seem like they will be much more qualified than me. :eek i get straight A's but i dont do any volunter work or extra curricular activies. got any advice for me?

(sorry for bad grammer :lol )

[Guest Lactic Folly]

I did a bit of volunteer work and extracurriculars in high school, but not a lot, since my studies were my main focus then. Once I got to university, I found that opportunities opened up, both in terms of the range of (more interesting) activities, and being a senior student/older/more qualified for positions. Of course, if you're looking to get in after two years of university, it would be to your advantage to have been highly involved in high school.

[Guest CTU24]

I think high school experience/grades can be a little overrated.

 

But I would ask you how do you know you want to devote so many years of your life to becoming a Dr. without having seen what it is like?

 

I was a co-op student for the year in grade 12...and that helped me appreciate how many different skills a successful Dr. must master...plus how much I enjoyed developing these skills, which made the sacrifices that I made to get into med school worth it.

 

That being said, I changed a lot b/w high school and univeirsity...all I did in high sckool really was co-op and some political canvassing...and summer camp, which turned out to shape my leadership/teamwork skills a lot. My grades were great, but numbers meant close to nothing then, I think it was the worth ethic and work habits that I developed in high school that were most important.

 

After high school is when I changed the most. I traveled through Europe, worked more at the hospital, tutored, mentored, etc. Try not to do ECs just to get into med school...you should do them to have fun and to develop your skills as a future Dr.

 

ECs though are not overrated. It is relationships and doing new/uncomfortable things that shape our personalities the most. So dive in, figure out if medicine is for you, and abovew all enjoy

 

CTU24

[Guest aneliz]

In high school I did alright...didn't kill myself for marks...and could have worked *much* harder... (playing cards in the caf 101 was my favourite class...) At that point I had not thought seriously about medicine at all...I knew that I was a science person more than an arts person...but I still took lots of arts courses (French, German, History, Music) during Gr 12/OAC. I got good marks (>90's in most classes) but I didn't worry about them too much...

 

I worked after school and weekends at my local public library...went to church, played in a marching band and my school band. I was usually involved in the school's annual musical... but, beyond that, not much. Did some scattered volunteer work - but no real regular commitment.

[Guest coastal79]

I didn't study, and spent most of my time playing sports. I got A's and B's, and just kind of took it for granted that I would be going to university. I wanted to be an investment banker in grade 12, and a baseball player before that.

 

More and more high school kids seem to be doing more and more "stuff" to pump up their resumes. The competition is getting tougher. However, I also think alot of the stuff is bs (the candystripers at the hospital I volunteer at plant themselves in their text books and don't do a damn thing). I've seen kids who couldn't have been more than 15 dragged to hosptial volunteering info sessions, with a parent on each wing voraciously taking notes and planning their future son/daughter's medical career. I really think you can learn alot from volunteering, but you have to be open to learning. I volunteered in an ER for a year when I was 18/19 and in second year, and I've volunteered in an ER for another year, at 23/24. I've learned so much more this year than I did before because I'm more mature, more focused on my goals, and because the first time I did it I was doing it to "jump through the hoops" of getting into med school.

 

Now, all that said, what the heck do you do with your free time if you don't do any extracurricular activities? Study? That's no fun. Don't look at actually doing stuff as a means to the end of getting into medical school, think of it from the perspective that it enriches your life. It's a hell of a lot better than watching TV or playing computer games.

 

Cheers

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Like most things in life, including undergrad and medical school, I had as much fun as possible in high school. I did piles of extra-curriculars and school-related activities not b/c I was considering my medical school application at that point (trust me, my future was the farthest thing from my mind at that point!), but because I was genuinely interested in them and they were fun. I played varsity football, baseball, hockey, ran cross-country, was on the swim team, was in a pile of musical ensembles, coached a cross-country club for public school students and marched in a drum corps to name a few things I did back in high school. I never studied and just partied with my friends all the time- it was quite the life!

I agree with coastal79 when he says that it seems that a lot of people are doing ECs strictly to bolster their medical school admissions chances. Trust me, if this is your motivation for doing something, it will become very apparent during your interviews. I did stuff b/c it was fun and I was interested in doing it, and that's the way it should be, not too boost your chances of admission or b/c you might risk your high school "honour student" status. If you are devoting your life and activities to getting into medical school, I have one question for you- what will you do if you don't get in??? Enjoy your high school days, b/c they are some of the best times of your life and you should have fun with it- you only get one shot at it!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest daryn]

Hi there

 

In high school I really didn't care all that much. In my earlier years I would get marks mostly in the eighties, with math and science and random courses being 90+. Only in grade 12 and OAC had I decided to work a little harder and the grades reflected that. Also in high school I had no idea what I wanted to be. I just thought, well okay, let's see what courses I like and what courses I do well in. Very simple, but it works.

 

I did some filing/office stuff at a community based centre for four or five years. And I also was in SJA for a couple and had some leadership roles. I didn't volunteer at the hospital -- I thought it was rather pointless to be selling stuff at the giftstore.

 

Don't sweat it. It is only high school and you will get to know yourself a lot more as the years go by. You may hear this a lot here or elsewhere but do remember that it is true. Do the stuff you enjoy. Everybody here is going to tell you this because most of us have gone through it and we've seen it from ourselves and the people we know. Although it might sound idealistic or whatnot, just relax and enjoy those high school years.

[Guest ploughboy]

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I drank a lot... ;-)

 

 

Fully agree with the above posters. Don't get too uptight about ECs and somehow "keeping up" with other premeds. Enjoy highschool, take it seriously but not too seriously, get to know yourself, all those other cliches... There'll be plenty of time to stress out about these things when you're in university.

 

pb

 

 

 

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[Guest drews97]

I played a lot of sports in high school but did absolutely zero med related volunteering/work experience, research, etc. I got good marks but basically didn't study except for maybe a couple days before a test. I attended a public school in Alberta and went through the "standard" stream (ie://no AP, no IB). Seriously, high school is pretty unimportant if you want to get into medicine as long as you get good enough marks to ensure that you get accepted to the undergraduate porgram of your choice. The only other importance that high school marks may play is in determining wherther or not you apply for certain scholarships in undergrad. If you're still in high school have fun while you can...it only gets harder:S:rolleyes

[Guest chemgirl]

In high school, sooooo many years ago now, I basically played sports, hung out with my friends, dated, and had an awesome time. I also worked fairly steadily, starting from babysitting in grade 10, moving up to waitressing in grade 11, and cashiering in grade 12. I got decent marks but was not one of the "top of the class" so to speak. I remember being tired a lot from my jobs, but always super-psyched to go to school and see my friends.

 

This post has made me totally nostalgic!

[Guest cracked30]

I got A's

I was involved in athletics; football, track and field, rowing, sailing.

I volunteered as a ski patroller, and with the disabled.

I partied.

[Guest lothya]

I got B's & C's.

I wore a lot of black and hung out with the drama club.

I 'got through' instead of 'taking from' my classes, although I read for fun, took yoga classes during my spares, volunteered, and nearly dropped out for a semester to do an internship. I also took a year off to do a government youth program before I started university. By the time i got to university, i really wanted to be there, & i could see it as part of my life experience, and not *instead* of it.

 

This thread has been really great! It's fun to read others' stories!

[Guest Koppertone]

I was just about the opposite of the people on this board. I was always an A/B/C+ student up until grade 10 but then I started to make friends with the straight A students. That really brought on some competition and I spent a lot of my time studying so that I could supercede them. Ridiculous? Maybe. But it propelled me to the top of the class and I got the Governor General's medal at the end of high school. School never came easily to me until university and I had to work really hard to keep up with everybody who were just naturally good at retaining material. I used to feel like this made me miss out on high school as I only played on the rugby team for a year and didn't do many extra cirricics, but reflecting back I had a lot of good times as I had a pretty unique group of friends who were all really ambitious and interested in a range of things (at least unique in my hometown). Even though we all live in different cities now during school, we're all still great friends and meet whenever we can.

 

I always thought that maybe one day I'd enter medicine, but I always dreamed about programming computer games. That all changed in undergrad when I started volunteering and got some more "life experience" but that's a whole other story. Although many people on this board will tell you that high school grades don't matter (and I'll agree, once you're in undergrad they're pretty much useless) they DO matter when applying for university and getting scholarships. Just study to the point that you know you'll do good. Once I got good at studying in university, I usually did just cram the night before the exam (although I really needed to give up that habit in 4th year). And remember to be yourself but to challenge yourself with new opportunities.

[Guest RageoftheDragon]

Well, I was in IB, and still cased some damn high marks, but didn't give a damn about school. My only extracurricular stuff was done to satisfy IB points system. Grade 11 was spent drunk off my ass partying. Grade 12 I bootlegged and drank/partied away the profits. High school was pointless aside of socializing. Nothing in high school really provided me for life beyond. My time would have been better spent in classes on doing personal taxes, or automotive repair.

 

I entered Commerce in Uni, hated it, came premed. Still drank/partied lots for the 1st two years. Haven't done alot of volunteering. Worked in a lab for the past 2 summers. Done better in classes years 3 and 4. The partying was a blast and I miss it sometimes, but all part of growing up. I wouldn't be worrying about medicine in high school. Live life and enjoy it instead.

 

RotD

[Guest Steve U of T]

I actually hadn't heard of IB or AP until I got to university, and met people that managed to get exemptions from taking various 1st year courses. I went to a public school that didn't offer those programs, although I was in a gifted program. I managed to get mostly 90's.

 

As I think back to high school, I wonder how I actually spent my time. I wasn't involved in any volunteering, and a minimal amount of extracurriculars. I really only studied for a few hours the night before a test. I was so anxious to move on with my life that I didn't really take the time to enjoy myself. I finished in 4 years (back when doing a 5th year to complete OAC's was the norm), and haven't really looked back. University wasn't much different. I definitely became much more involved, and I wasn't in a hurry to leave, since I made the decision that I wanted to complete my 4th year before attending med school. However, I still think I didn't spend enough time just appreciating where I was in life.

[Guest Teemster]

Hmmm....

 

High school...I LOVED high school. I was never in a special program like IB or gifted, and I'm glad didn't put too much pressure on myself. I had great friends and fantastic teachers. I did all right throughout, but not exceptionally well until I entered OAC. (Let us leave out the algebra/geometry exam I failed in Gr. 11.) I had a lot of fun - not the drinking, partying, clubbing kind of fun, but more like the travelling, painting, poetry writing, movies, and beaches kind of fun. I missed that during university, but I found that university allowed me to discover what was really important to me, in terms of the kind of adult I wanted to become.

 

I strongly believe that one should use these years to try different things and discover what is important, what is defining. Don't set a course for yourself at 17 or 18, because you really have not experienced enough to etch your future in stone. You may think you know yourself, but you don't...not completely.

 

Peace,

 

T

[Guest physiology]

Hey Koppertone,

 

Whoa, your story sounded just like mine. After grade 9, I knew something was wrong and I went running everyday. I used the running to help me goal set. So I'd say to myself "Another 3 laps, and if you can do it, you're going to be better person." Now I love running. Nothing better than going for a run and sipping on some Powerade afterwards.

 

It sounds cheesy, but my grade 8 and 9 years were very dark ones for me. I blamed everyone else for my problems and I just really hated life in general. I was probably clinically depressed as well.

 

My previous friends were part of the problem so I ditched them and found a new group. This new group was very gifted academically and I tried to follow suit. In grade 11/12, I started "beating" these friends. However, I was NOT an overly competitive person. I'm not one of those "what'd ya get? haha..I beat you" kinda people.

 

Like you Koppertone, I won the Governor's General award.

 

My university life was dominated by volunteering. I have done a lot of work in inner-city settings (Downtown Eastside of Vancouver) and with many marginalized populations. Volunteering is truly a means through which to learn life experience.

 

I've gotten over all that junk about how volunteering makes you feel good inside, or how you're giving back to community, or doing it so you can put it on your resume, or apply to med school. If you get some quality volunteering under your belt you can truly learn from everyone with whom you share you time.

 

My work has given me insight into group homes and how f!#ked up they are, and why people often turn to the streets, and almost invariably become addicted to drugs, then turn to crime or the sex trade to pay for these drugs, and then, almost inevitably , become infected with HIV/HepC.

 

I don't go in with the attitude of wanting to "help" because it creates this gaping power dynamic, where I assert my superiority over these people, which is simply not true. It's very easy to fall into that trap.

 

Now, obviously I put these experiences down on my EC sheet for UBC med, but I put them down because I know that this type of experience would allow me to approach medicine from more of a social angle and make me a better physician, not so that it helps me get in.

 

That said, the line between those two isn't well-defined. Ultimately, these volunteer experiences, if you are truly passionate about them will help you to answer the one basic question that the interviewers have in their minds "Would I want this guy to be my doctor?"

 

If you go to the hospital and candystripe, or go to an old folks home and push people around, what's the point if you hate it? And if you do hate it and you are asked about it during the interview, you're probably not going to anything meaningful to say. Don't waste your time.

 

Your volunteer experience can truly mark you as unique and distinct, and will be VERY advantageous in the interview if done properly.

 

My 2 cents

 

Physio

[Guest ManitobaMed]

I attended a rural high school with very few extracurrics or courses offered.

 

Like many others in the thread, I did schoolwork only when I had an assignment or a test (on the bus in the morning for morning classes and at lunchtime for afternoon classes), but ended up with a high average despite the lack of effort.

 

Other activities:

- soccer

- piano (lessons, exams, and competitions, plus playing periodically as a volunteer)

- band

- cello lessons

- intramurals

- Dr. Mario

- informal tutoring of classmates

 

Of the above activities, Dr. Mario and the piano probably got most of my time during the winter, with soccer added in for the spring and summer. In other words, you don't have to be an all-star in high school to get into med. The only advantages to doing well academically in HS are that it makes 1st year a lot easier by providing a foundation of knowledge and you can get scholarships based on your grades. As for extracurrics in high school ... *shrug* ... they probably don't make a whole lot of difference outside of adding a little life experience. (I didn't really get into anything other than intramurals until my 3rd year of undergrad.) My suggestion: play Dr. Mario. It's good both for spacial reasoning and for thumb dexterity.

[Guest Koppertone]

Yes, but when you're red/green colorblind Dr. Mario can be a VERY frustrating game. As such, gameboy Tetris was always the one for me (this was when Gameboys were black and white). Truth be told, though, I think I played more Counterstrike than anything else.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Well, my High School experience was a bit unusual. . .

 

I had always been in one of those Gifted programs - think "Malcolm in the Middle." In grade 7/8/9/10, having just hit puberty and starting to notice the opposite sex, I noticed girls rarely go for straight laced top of the class gifted program type. So I rebelled. Hard. I'm not exactly proud of all my accomplishments during that timeframe (my Grade 9 science mark is a 52. . . almost lower than my absence total for that class) but it does go to show that, unlike what your guidance teacher tells you, struggling in early High School doesn't doom your future career aspirations. . . :rollin

 

I was pretty atypical at the other end of High School as well. Once I started actually studying and going to class, I found out I could do pretty well. . . in fact, my average went up about 10% each of the 5 years I was in High School! When High School mark ranking lists were put together (based on the old OAC courses) for scholarship purposes in my grade 13 year I was somehow #1 in the school.

 

By the way, that's not typical (though not unusual) for med students either.

 

There were 7 other individuals from my High School in the meds classes of 2002-05 when I arrived here at UWO. I don't think ANY OF THEM graduated at the top of their classes, even in the top 3 people (such info was often published in our yearbook.) My memory was that they were all students who maintained solid marks in the 80-90% range, but I don't think any of them had 95%+ marks. They were mostly (but not all) fairly well involved in extracurricular activities, but I don't remember any of them winning the awards for extracurricular involvement in High School.

 

In fact, I just recently attended a reunion for my High School two weekends ago. A fellow classmate had an unsual observation: many of the high achievers from (early) High School were underperforming what he thought they would have (a number of University dropouts, people taking 7+ years to finish their first degrees, one individual who is rumoured to have become a homeless crack/heroin addict) whereas many of the people who were obviously intelligent but didn't excel in High School were now graduating from Law School, Med School, doing grad school, or were about to start an MBA. Not sure why that is - maybe people burning out, but it's a trend I've noticed as well. And of course there are obviously numerous exceptions to this.

 

I think the point to realize is that marks aren't the be all and end all of High School. You have to make sure you have the studying skills to do well in University, and make sure you get the grades to get in the program you want (in my time, not usually more than 85% except for the VERY competitive programs) but beyond that High School grades only count for Scholarship $$.

[Guest MangoPie1015]

Thank you guys so much for your excellent posts. They have helped me out so much. But about the scholarships; have any of you guys actually got them? You guys talk about them like they are abundant, but only about 1 / 1000 people get them. The only possible money thats available is the passport things that people get every year, which is about 150 $ / year for top 30 % of the grade. And just a small conern. Im trying really hard in high school just to get these good grades. Can I expect it to be a million times harder in university? I have good work ethics, organization and study habits which your suppose to get in HS, but Im honestly kinda dumb... Again thank you guys for posts

[Guest Lactic Folly]

In Alberta, there are guaranteed scholarships for getting 80% in high school, and 3.5 in university. If you have 90%+, you will get extra $ from the UofA, probably enough to cover your first year- if you have 95%+, there are ~50 scholarships that will cover a good part (if not all) of your university education. A lot of other universities have similar awards to attract top students.

 

It's not just marks though - leadership scholarships (merit foundation, millennium) can also be quite substantial. Check out studentawards and scholarshipscanada, and keep current with your counselling office about things to apply for. Some awards have specific criteria that you might just fit, while others require you to write an essay.. There is a book by Ben Kaplan (I think it's something like How to Go to College Almost For Free) containing strategies for involvement- and essay- based scholarships.

 

And please don't yield to thoughts that you are dumb.. it can easily turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Perhaps you have had to work very hard in the past to maintain your grades, but as you go on, you will find that studying is a skill like any other, and as such can be improved. I was browsing through the library the other day, and found many study skills textbooks for high school and college students.. it may be worth your while to borrow one.

www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wad..._number=26 (just an example.. I haven't looked through these)

[Guest Koppertone]

Well after working so hard in highschool, I found university (well 1st and 2nd year) to be a breeze, and that's when I and a lot of my friends started to find way more time for extra cirrics and partying. I think most of us have probably gotten scholarships of some sort or another. I got an entrance scholarship to my local college which covered the whole year, and with passports and a few other scholarships that covered books. Then in university I got top science student scholarhip which covered 2 year and a transfer scholarship to UBC which covered my 3rd year. So yes, scholarships DO happen. But also remember... in highschool you have to apply for them.

 

The thing is, some people take the transfer to university a little harder than others. As somebody said, there IS a trend where high acheivers begin to underperform. I think a lot of it has to do with the increase in freedom and responsibility that they have which they didn't really have in highschool due to always studying etc. I did feel like I missed out on a lot of the highschool experience, but I never felt as though I had to overcompensate for it in university to make up for the fact. I figured I'd just ease into a more mature life and make time for friends and school. However there were a lot of people who, some of my friends included, who after not doing much in high school played catchup and became partying freaks in university. And a lot of people can't handle lower than perfect once they get into university and their self esteem really suffers. In highschool I got really used to being top of the class, but when you get into university you have to realize that if you can't get above 80 in a class it's not the end of the world. Some people can't grasp this and throw it all away as they think they're failures. I think if you can't adequately asses your own faults, though, you're not going to do very well in life regardless.

[Guest dr deelish]

Greg Allman, what did you do when life got you down? Me? I did a lot of drugs, married some broad named Cher, and I don't recommend any one of them.

 

That by the way is a quote from Family Guy, the single best show on TV ever. Reading these posts .. that's the first thing that popped into my head.

 

Scholarships: I did receive one scholarship in highschool .. at my commencement - $500 for being the nerdiest science student to enter a science program at university (or top marks, I forget which 8o ). But as far as I remember in high school, so long as you get the highest mark in a course, you get money. I don't know if things still work that way, but it was a sweet deal (although I never got any of these scholarships). University scholarships by far, I think, are easier to come by. Entrance scholarships are hurled your way if you have A's in high school (although that really depends on where you are applying .. chances are you'll get a lot more with an 85% at Nippissing than you would at Queen's) but unless you are a super-genius, they won't pay for your complete tuition. So long as you are involved in your community and school with lots of extra-currics, you can get a lot of scholarships that are both needs-based and academically-based, however, both types usually require a compliment of community involvement. I've never applied to any of those types of scholarships, because I have always felt that compared to other students, I probably don't have the strongest set of extracurrics (in retrospect, I wish I had though). There are opportunities to get money without applying for it--at UT, students in the top 10% of their faculty get U of T scholar awards (valued at $1500) and I'm sure there are equivalents at the other schools. Bottom line: be balanced--get your marks up there without sacrificing your social life or exploring the options.

 

For me, extracurriculars were always about seeing what's out there. I've been lucky enough to be involved with things that I really enjoyed, including stints with NGOs, camp involvement, tutoring, etc. The vast majority of my work was not directly medically-related, but all added to my resolve to pursue medicine. The UT adcom must have seen something in that, through an offer of admission, I'm that much closer to realizing that dream.

 

My advice to high school students is to keep your options open -- I know students who would flat out turn down opportunities to do great things just because the word "medical" wasn't attached to their title. That's just plain sad.

 

That concludes my daily rant.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Yeah, I was referring to university entrance scholarships. Many universities give out significant scholarships once your marks get over 85% or 90%.

 

I don't think my High School gave out more than a couple hundred bucks in scholarships, if that.

 

I have good work ethics, organization and study habits which your suppose to get in HS, but Im honestly kinda dumb...

 

How dumb is "dumb"?

 

If you're honestly too dumb to calculate the dosage of amoxicillin for my 30 kg kid with strep throat, then honestly I don't think I want you in medical school.

 

But I think you'd be surprised how many non-geniuses there are in medical school. As one of the department heads put it: "you don't have to be a genius to do well in medicine. You just have to be organized and be willing to work damn hard."

 

One of my friends in the class recently shared his IQ score. I was kind of surprised at that. I'd obviously never say who it was, but I will say he said he was somewhere in the 105-115 range. Not bad (certainly better than average) but not in the genius category. And you know what? He's one of the best students in the class.

 

Hope that helps.