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Timetable for Premedical Students
First Year
- Meet with your premedical advisor. Sustain a relationship with this person
throughout your entire academic career
- Join the Pre-Med Club
- Find out about volunteer opportunities at hospitals, nursing homes and
other locations in the community.
- Start a journal. Write about your volunteer, research and classroom experiences.
This information will come in handy during the application process for medical
school.
- Save your textbooks and notes from your science classes; they will come
in handy when studying for the MCAT.
- Read novels, essays, newspapers, and journal articles. Enhancing your reading
and verbal abilities is the best way to study for the MCAT.
- Look for research opportunities and internships
- Visit professors during office hours with relevant questions about the
material.
- Be aware that one or more convictions for breaking the law may have a negative
impact on an application to medical school. Even one simple misdemeanor could
affect your future. Translation: if you are under 21, think carefully before
you set foot in a bar or open a beer at a tailgate party.
Second Year
- Surf the Internet: Look at Med school web pages. Explore the AAMC website
(www.aamc.org). Start looking through the MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements).
- Keep using your journal and keep it up to date!
- Make a plan to finish the premedical requirements prior to taking the MCAT
- Take a good look at yourself. Are you an excellent student? Do you thrive
on patient contact? Do you like a hectic, challenging lifestyle? Do you like
to help people? If not, perhaps you should reassess your goals now. Your premedical
advisor is there to listen. If you answered "yes," turn over this
page.
Third Year
- Plan for the MCAT. Study efficiently and steadily. Make yourself do as
many practice tests as you can stand. Do several full eight hour exams so
you feel comfortable with the timing. If you need a coach to be more productive
or to stay motivated consider a study buddy or enrolling in a commercial prep
course.
- Approach professors, advisors, employers and volunteer supervisors and
see who seems most enthusiastic about writing a letter on your behalf. Consider
who can write you a good letter of recommendation, not just a letter of recommendation.
- Decide whether the April or August MCAT best meets your needs. Both dates
have pros and cons. Talk it over with your pre-med advisor.
- Be optimistic, but also be realistic. Everyone needs an alternative plan.
Consider other graduate or career opportunities. Your college career services
office is a great place to explore a "Plan B."
- Download and print the AMCAS application worksheet as soon as it is available
online (usually late spring).
Summer after Junior Year
- Fill out your AMCAS application worksheet as soon as possible. Review it
with your advisor. Have several people proofread your personal statement.
- Submit your AMCAS application as soon as possible after the system opens
(Usually 1st week of June). Most schools have rolling admission's policies.
This means the sooner you have your application submitted, the sooner you
can schedule an interview and be admitted. Students who don't have their application
submitted by the time school starts find that their senior year is extremely
stressful.
Fourth Year
- Medical schools interested in you will send you secondary applications
after they review your AMCAS application. Complete and return all secondary
application materials promptly.
- Practice for your interview. Make sure you can answer the question: "Why
do you want to be a doctor?" Make an appointment to do a mock interview
at LAS Career Services.
- Be patient. Most students receive a letter of acceptance or rejection by
mid-March.
- Enjoy your senior year of college!
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