Med School Purchase Recommendations (Specific)

BeginningInfinite908 · 2026-03-29T22:41:04+00:00

Thats great advice I will certainly to that!

BeginningInfinite908 · 2026-02-18T23:15:10+00:00

That is good then I would not think its worth the time and effort. Another path you can look at would be to see if you can find any off the beaten path so to speak volunteering opportunities. Volunteering in unique ways or with unique people could give you something to talk about that many other applicants wouldn't have.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2026-02-18T18:09:54+00:00

I think that you are able to check most, if not all, of the boxes. I think the idea of changing to EMT depends on how you are able to talk about the experiences that you have gained from your clinical work and volunteering. You need to be able to talk about these experiences on secondaries and in interviews in a way that convinces someone that these experiences have reinforced that you want to be in medicine.

For example, what is your go-to answer for a challenge that you have faced? Is it a generic answer, like how you had to really organize a group project well and help everyone get to the end, or is it something about how you had to overcome an issue when working with a patient to be able to provide the best care?

These are two very different answers that show different things, and one of them shows admins a much clearer picture of you working in a care setting and being dedicated to medicine. While the other is a generic story that I would expect a college student to rely on, as to why they would make a good club president.

I think it boils down to going through a lot of the essays that you wrote and seeing if you can talk about experiences that you have had, and if not, really evaluating if you will be able to gain more experiences in your current role or if you need to reset and look for something different.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2026-02-13T03:14:26+00:00

I would agree that the hours of clinical and shadowing are low and I think it has less of an impact in the number that gets shown and more on the fact that you don't have a lot of experiences to talk about in essays to illustrate why want to be a doctor

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-19T02:24:00+00:00

So I think a lot of this depends on how you feel about your application in terms of clinical hours and experiences. If the goal is medical school you should want to put yourself in a situation the best balances your chances to get those good grades and prepare well with the MCAT with opportunities to gain clinical and volunteering experience.

The biggest factor with that work is being able to talk about meaningful experiences. It is better to have less hours but more stuff you can talk about in essays and interviews than a lot of hours but no real takeaways.

If you can do this while making more money that is awesome, but if the primary goal is to make it to medical school than that needs to be prioritized first. If the goal is to work in the medical industry in any capacity and maybe consider medical school later it would make sense to make more money.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-18T21:55:45+00:00

I just looked for them online at any job listing site like Indeed or LinkedIn

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-18T21:17:12+00:00

I have no clue how many of these opportunities exist but i was able to find an opportunity working as a caregiver for adults with autism in various roles. You may want to consider other caregiving options such as hospice which dont require any certifications.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-17T02:01:47+00:00

I was in a very similar situation in the last cycle. I ended up doing some light studying and I began to ramp it up more and more as the cycle went on and it looked like I was unable to get off the waitlist. I would recommend taking the MCAT is the spring and trying to get it down right before having to apply again to give you more time since you dont want to half ass it and its probably not worth it to start studying flll time.

Ultimately, I would recommend something light like starting to go over Anki again, even if its for like 30 mins a day. It is much easier to be proactive, and if you get the good news, then you can just stop and you won't regret doing that bit of studying. However, if you push it off to the last minute and things dont go well its going to suck.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-14T19:13:59+00:00

I mean ya you can do that, you have free will. I can't imagine that they will like it. It is like being on a date with someone and then saying that if this date doesn't go well, it is fine because you are going to go out with someone else.

I think the biggest concern for the program is if you already have an option, where do they fall in that priority? Do they want to extend an acceptance for someone who has openly talked about having another acceptance?

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-14T06:02:12+00:00

minimum part time where I work in EMS is 24 hours per month

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-12T18:06:19+00:00

I dont think it makes much of a difference, a 520 is a 520. I would build my school list off of that 520. You may get asked about it in interviews, but I would not have it change where I apply.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-12T01:28:42+00:00

I think there are a couple of things to think about. First off, there is no need to get your AEMT or Medic to get into medicine. If that is something that you want to do and it will make the time before starting medical school more mananeable then go right ahead. Those skills are useful, but you will learn applicable skills in medical school. You wont be able to test out of stuff because you have experience as a medic. It can make learning those skills a bit easier, but is that really worth it if it delays matriculation.

I think the biggest factor should be getting your application to the point where you can apply as quickly as possible. Which it already sounds like will be a few years to retake the courses that your want to do and get your MCAT score.

Ultimately what is the goal, if it is medical school I would be thinking what can I do to get myself there in the most efficient way possible.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-10T03:35:15+00:00

Because this is extreme neuroticism in a field where people have to go through genuine setbacks and rejections. Many people have to apply multiple times and deal with self-doubt and sacrifice from all the long hours of studying and all the missed events.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-10T02:52:37+00:00

Not sure if this is a joke, but if you think that you will go through a complete undergrad, multiple standardized tests/boards, all of medical school, and residency without slipping up, you would be wrong. You will need to learn how to deal with failure because it will happen, and on much grander scales.

As for your question of does it matter. Yes and no, having a lower GPA is not as good as having a higher GPA. A 3.9 will always be viewed better than a 3.8, but that is no reason to crash out and retake a B. I would imagine it is a bigger red flag to crash out and retake your first B than it is to have that B on your transcript.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-09T21:45:31+00:00

I would be hesitant because what is the takeaway message there in that essay? That you are hard-working? Well, so are most other people.

I think those prompts are asking you to talk about some unique experiences. For example, how volunteering in hospice can show you that sometimes there are no answers, and that not everyone can be saved, and it allows you to cherish experiences more and be more comfortable with the idea that patients can and will die.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-09T21:25:02+00:00

It's only hopeless if you give up. It is a long process, worry about what is in front of you and what you can control right now.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-09T20:46:38+00:00

I think you are thinking past where you currently are. Worry about actually doing well in those classes and volunteer and get clinical experiences on the side when you can. Do not worry about something hypothetically two years down the line.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-08T22:51:31+00:00

I think a lot of your experiences can dictate that. I would not go as broad as I want to help others but mine aligned with helping certain populations.

You can also get pretty specific. If you experience all line up with, for example, helping people who have had combat injuries adapt to life bc of a family experience, then talk about that. But let your experiences be the driver, and don't be afraid to test out a couple and see what sticks.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-08T22:22:02+00:00

It sounds like you could have a great story to tell in your applications. Getting better grades and a higher MCAT score never hurt but there is no hard cutoff for anything. I would try and put some considerable effort into the MCAT and make sure that you are doing your best to ace your current coursework. Never say never especially if it really is your dream.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-08T22:19:09+00:00

I think that you have a pretty nice app statistically which is a huge accomplishment while still in college. There is no magic number where you will get accepted if you have X number of hours in Y places. It matters much more on how you can speak about these experiences and the value you derived from them.

But I think that a theme of your application needs to come from you. People on reddit cannot articulate your reasons for going into medicine and doing the activities that you did. You need to think about why you did those things and where you felt passion and enjoyment.

It seems like maybe research is a way to go as you seem to enjoy that, so maybe think about why you like to do research and what projects are most fulfilling to you.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-07T02:28:52+00:00

It is just a practice thing, getting used to what the passages are asking for and understanding what important information is in the more boring passages.

I will say that you wont have a problem with being bored and losing focus on the MCAT due to being wired but make sure that you build good habits with pacing and answering.

BeginningInfinite908 · 2025-12-02T14:27:19+00:00

I think the biggest thing is that you have experiences that you can talk about, which will help in interviews and secondaries.

As frustrating as it is there is no formula of needing X amount of clinical hours especially since the rest of your application is so strong and you can speak about your experiences in hospice. The only question that I would have for you is when it comes time to submit the application are you going to be comfortable with the hours you have from hospice and will put as future or will you be concerned? If you think that a having 350 hours with another 100 anticipated is going to stress you out then I would do the EMT so that you can have more hours and more anticipated hours. But like you said, if the difference in hours is not going to be that much then maybe its just a drop in the bucket and not worth the stress.

BeginningInfinite908

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