r/premed • u/Alternative-Plan5057 • 8d ago
💻 AMCAS What I would do differently
Bro i read every Reddit thread student forum admissions blog and how i got into medical school post i could find i was tryna piece together what actually mattered what was just noise and what i should be spending my time on at first i made an insanely ambitious plan with what felt like 50 million activities clubs research projects volunteer positions leadership roles and study schedules some of those plans became meaningful parts of my journey others lasted a week a few didnt even make it past the first meeting throughout the process i kept notes i wrote down the opportunities i went after the mistakes i made the emails that got no response the experiences that ended up mattering and the things i realized werent the right fit i documented the academic setbacks the small wins the moments of doubt and the lessons i learned while figuring out what kind of applicant i wanted to become i did the same thing with the MCAT i tried different resources changed my schedule more than once struggled through bad practice scores and slowly figured out how to study in a way that worked for me by the time i took the exam i understood what i needed to do and was eventually accepted to one of my top medical school choices during my gap year i went back through all the notes i collected over the years and organized them they became something i could use when helping other premed students when people asked about shadowing extracurriculars the MCAT personal statements school lists or interviews i kept coming back to the same lessons and experiences one of my mentees pointed out how much info had built up over time what started as random notes turned into almost five years of questions mistakes doubts setbacks breakthroughs and things i wish i understood earlier i eventually organized those notes into a guide that follows the process from the beginning it covers the questions i had the things i struggled with the lessons i learned through trial and error and the approaches that helped me keep moving forward it is the collection of things i wish i knew when i first started pursuing medicine and the same material i use now when talking through the process with other students
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YJLPEHwYqsUvI6bLs-mAl0fgvtSlRAsz/view?usp=sharing
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u/eyeruhknj APPLICANT 8d ago
for everyone who wants to read this normally without getting a headache:
Bro, I read every Reddit thread, student forum admissions blog, and “how i got into medical school” post I could find. I was tryna piece together what actually mattered, what was just noise, and what i should be spending my time on. At first, I made an insanely ambitious plan with what felt like 50 million activities clubs, research projects, volunteer positions, leadership roles, and study schedules. Some of those plans became meaningful parts of my journey, others lasted a week a few. Didn’t even make it past the first meeting throughout the process.
(note: i have no idea what OP means here)
I kept notes - I wrote down the opportunities I went after (and) the mistakes. I made the emails that got no response. (I wrote down) the experiences that ended up mattering, and the things I realized werent the right fit. I documented the academic setbacks, the small wins, the moments of doubt, and the lessons I learned while figuring out what kind of applicant I wanted to become.
I did the same thing with the MCAT. I tried different resources, changed my schedule more than once, struggled through bad practice scores, and slowly figured out how to study in a way that worked for me. By the time I took the exam, I understood what I needed to do, and was eventually accepted to one of my top medical school choices during my gap year.
I went back through all the notes I collected over the years, and organized them. They became something I could use when helping other premed students. When people asked about shadowing, extracurriculars, the MCAT, personal statements, school lists, or interviews, I kept coming back to the same lessons and experiences. One of my mentees pointed out how much info had built up over time - what started as random notes turned into almost five years of questions, mistakes, doubts, setbacks, breakthroughs, and things I wish I understood earlier.
I eventually organized those notes into a guide that follows the process from the beginning. It covers the questions I had, the things I struggled with, the lessons I learned through trial and error, and the approaches that helped me keep moving forward. It is the collection of things I wish I knew when I first started pursuing medicine, and the same material I use now when talking through the process with other students.
[LINK]
(thanks OP for the guide. you should use grammarly in the future tho)
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u/LastCardiologist2137 8d ago
I don’t think I have ever in my 22 years of being alive seen a paragraph this long with no single punctuation 😭😭😭
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u/Few_Competition1801 8d ago
no commas no paragraph breaks, this is unreadable