On Delayed Posts

Once again, I must apologize!- I realize I've been lacking in blog posts these past few..months.. (and I think I mentioned this is a previous post as well haha) but every time I go on to write something, I end up responding to comments instead. For future blog posts, the topics I plan to touch upon include Beginning-of-Semester Update, Shadowing, Research (continued), future plans, Berkeley libraries, and a few tangents here and there :) If you have any suggestions or questions, please feel free to ask and/or comment! In the meantime, please enjoy a picture of a glass butterfly! :D 

-K

Dear Reader 49

Anonymous said...

I plan on taking Chem 3b, Chem 3AL and Physics 8A along with a easy r5b in spring 2013. Does this sound like a heavy load?

Dear Anonymous,

I apologize for the extremely late reply! 

In my opinion, chem 3B (without lab) and physics 8A will take up the majority of your time since both classes require a lot of attention. I'm not sure about r5b, but if it's like most english classes, I don't think it would take up too much time, and chem 3AL certainly won't. So overall, I think the load will be quite manageable (I also took chem 3B/L, physics 8A, and comp. lit at the same time and it turned out fine :) 

Best of luck! 

-K 

Dear Reader 48

Jaclyn said...

No problem =]

I have another question.
I know in a previous dear reader post that someone asked you about taking bio1a with lab and chem 3b in the spring, and then taking physics 8a and chem3bl in the summer, and that you said it's doable.

Would bio1a with lab and chem3b with lab also be doable in the spring? and then just physics 8a over the summer. Or is it better to just focus on one lab because bio1a I heard was super difficult?

Thanks K!

Dear Jaclyn,

My friend took both bio 1A + lab and chem 3b + lab in the fall last year, and he said if he had to do it over again, he wouldn't do them together. This is coming from a person who is very good at both ochem and bio haha. So while it is certainly doable, it won't be easy and you'll need to have great time management skills because both classes take up so much time to prepare for. If it were me, I would do them separately. You could take chem 3b lab with bio 1a/lab but I think you'll need to have taken chem 3b lecture first.. 8a over summer shouldn't be too bad since the material itself isn't too tough :) 

Best of luck! 

-K 

On A Guide to Help You Along the Way~

Dear Jaclyn,
Thank you for the recommendation! I hope you don't mind me posting this publicly on my blog! :) 
-K 

Jaclyn said...

Hi K!

I've been going through your blog, which is amazing by the way. It's so great of you to take the time to answer questions and give insight in the life at Berkeley. =D

To reciprocate your generosity I wanted to let you know of this book that could be helpful to all the premeds including yourself, because you are still also an undergrad student and must still have alot of questions as to what med school actually is.

The book is called "Med School Confidential, A Complete Guide to the Medical School Experience: By students, for Students" (Bissell DM M.D., Miller RH)
It's pretty much what it says, a guide. It has everything.

It helps with deciding whether or not to be premed as an undergrad, and for the late-comers as a postbac (because there are people who decide to premed after college; I didn't know that but now it seems obvious haha).

It gives some info on the MCAT, med school apps process, choosing a med school, how to handle acceptance/rejection, things to do before going to med school (once accepted), funding for med school, preclinical years, med school courses, actual clinical years, problems in the ward, clinical rotations, applying for residence... it goes on and on... just like the life of a med student haha.

It even has a section where it gives advice for spouses, partners, families, and significant others of med students so that should be helpful.

I haven't read the whole book since I'm just an undergrad sophomore here but the pages I've read were really helpful and helped me get a better sense as to what the career path actually entails.

If you've heard bad things about the book then feel free to bash on it. Haha =D

Thanks and your blog is much appreciated,
Jaclyn

Dear Reader 47

Jaclyn said...

Umm... I don't know if you got an answer to this already but here goes.

From what I've been reading in articles/books, non-traditional med school applicants are becoming more common. I heard that some students can't handle 4 years of med school right after college; many end up regretting not taking a gap year. Also I read that med schools actually prefer applicants who spend the gap year volunteering and gaining a better view of the real world outside college as opposed to an applicant fresh out of college.

Though I'm a bit confused about this subject from your post. I heard that when students take a year off they usually go volunteer (to organizations related to medicine/health) to get some experience and a better idea of how world and the people that inhabits it work. Some students even go abroad and volunteer for the Peace Corps or Doctors Without Borders or a similar organization.

What I'm confused about is that you said that if they wait til their senior year to apply then during their gap year is when they go on interviews, but then interviews wouldn't be possible for the applicants who decide to volunteer abroad. (What are secondaries?) So if the applicant wants to go volunteer abroad during the gap year would he/she still have to apply to med school during the junior year?

Thanks K! =]

Dear Jaclyn,

The medical school application process takes about a year- from sending in your primary application to matriculation. So, if you want to start medical school in the fall 2012 (for example) then you'll want to apply the summer of 2011 (a year before). The earlier the better, so I would say June is the best time to apply (in my opinion). Once you send in your primary applications, then the medical schools will decide whether or not to send you their secondary applications (applications unique to each school). If and when you send in your secondaries, they will decide to offer you an interview or not. Then if you get through all of those, and they accept you, you're ready to go! I'm not sure about the spacing between each step of the application process but I know it'll take about a year. For those who decide to volunteer abroad, they shouldn't apply until a year before they want to matriculate.   For example, if someone wants to volunteer with the Peace Corps (which is 2 years I think..) then he/she should not apply until he/she is finished with the program since he/she will need to be available for the year doing their secondaries and interviews. So Peace Corps + year for application process = 3 "gap years". However, let's say you want to work for two years instead of going abroad. Then you can apply after a year of working so you can start medical school right after working for two years. As to your final question, if the applicant wants to go volunteer abroad for a year (there would be no gap year in this case), then the applicant should fill out the application once he/she comes back. If you apply in your junior year, you will spend senior year doing your secondaries and going to interviews and will start medical school the fall after graduation. 

This seems like a complicated answer to a simple question haha. Sorry! Hope it helps somewhat! 

-K 

Dear Reader 46

Anonymous said...

Hi K! I had a couple questions:
1. How do I get a letter of rec? A lot of programs ask for one from my professors but I don't think they know me that well. I have no idea where to start because office hours are always jam-packed.
2. Since you're premed, have you taken classes that medical schools require such as psychology, etc? I have no idea what classes I'm supposed to take other than the basic science courses.
Thanks so much!

Dear Anonymous,

1. Truth be told, I'm not sure myself. For lower div classes, I think the best way to get a letter of rec would be through your GSI. Then your GSI can guide the professor on how to write the letter. That's how it is with Bio 1A/1B I  believe.. It should be better once you start upper divs since the classes are so much smaller and you can actually get to know your professors :) 

2. Do you mean "not required"- psychology is not a required class for med school :) But yes, I have taken classes that are not required for medical school. If you're L&S you're required to take 7 breadth classes and those are not part of the required medical school classes. I've taken a whole range of classes, from psychology to Asian American studies and anthropology. My humanity classes were fantastic and I learned a lot from them. As far as which classes to take, look at the L&S website for the required breadth classes and pick from there. A great thing about breadth classes is that you can take any that interests you while not being restricted to only science-based courses for (in this case) medical school! Take advantage of them! :) 

Have a great semester! 

-K