Dear Reader 38

Anonymous said...

the Alta Bates website says that "Collegiate is defined as those who are Juniors or Seniors in college or in graduate programs." Is there another type of volunteers for freshmen and sophomores? What are other good places to do volunteering near berkeley? Also, what are some good things to keep in mind when choosing what extra curriculars to do? What kind of stuff are med schools looking for?

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for stopping by! For alta bates, there is no other type of volunteer program for freshmen and sophomores unfortunately (but if you're a sophomore, it won't hurt to apply- I don't recall them asking me about my age or school year.. It might be riskier if you're a freshman though). For other volunteer programs near Berkeley, you could look into the Berkeley Free clinic, Tang Center, Suitcase clinic, Children's Hospital in Oakland and a ton more hospitals/clinics in Berkeley, Oakland, Emeryville, Richmond, and SF. When choosing what extra currics to do, keep in mind the time commitment. Devoting 15 hours a week to a program might sound good on paper, but in practice, it ends up draining a lot more time and energy than you'd expect (I had to learn that the hard way). Also, be cautious of extra currics that you might not stick with in the long run. You don't want to spend unnecessary time and energy on an activity and then quit a few months later. When searching for clinical experience, keep an open mind and test all the waters- don't limit yourself to one area of medicine- you may be surprised at what catches your interest :) Lastly, if you have a unique quirk/hobby, then devote time to it- it'll help you stand out in the long run :) 

Hope this helps! 

All the best,

-K 

Dear Reader 37

jay said...

Hey I have some quick questions for the interview process..
Did you have to list references in the application?
Are the first 30 basically hired?
Did you finish the application really fast when it opened at 9AM?
aaaaaaand I'm a guy, pretty clueless at interviews, so how would you say I should dress? Formally with collared shirt/khakis or casually with a tshirt/jeans?
Thanks in advance!

Dear Jay,

- No, we do not need to list references in the application

-Yes, to my knowledge, the first 30 (or however many apply) are pretty much accepted to the program

- I tried logging in at 9AM sharp but for some reason the page wouldn't open for me, so I had to wait a few minutes before being able to fill out my application (which I had no trouble doing).

-When in doubt, always dress up rather than down. No t-shirt and jeans. I would suggest a collared shirt (polo would be ok- doesn't have to be button down), and khakis would be perfect :) 

Hope this helps and good luck! :) 

-K 

Dear Reader 36

Anonymous said...

Hi! I have some few questions about clubs.
1. How do I join one
2. Is there a day where one gets to sign- up for clubs he/she is interested in?
3. How's Cal sorority/fraternity ?

Dear Anonymous,

1. There will be booths you can go to to sign up for the club you want to join. All you need to put down is your name and email address (I think...) and then go to their meetings when they email you :) 

2. Yes, there is a day when all the clubs have their booths out, but I'm not sure what day that is... Last year, it was on lower Sproul and every inch of the place was covered with club booths. If you can't make it, some clubs will continue setting up booths throughout the semester. Also, there's a website with all the clubs and their presidents' emails so you can always contact them if need be. 

3. I don't know much of cal's sorority/fraternity scene. I know they give out flyers like crazy though lol. But if you're interested in medical school, then I would suggest the pre-med frat/sor. I heard you get a ton of great networks, help build your resume, help with applications, and help you get great recommendations. But I also heard it's extremely time consuming as well. 

Sorry I can't be much help on this one! 

All the best! :) 

-K 

Dear Reader 35

Jason Chen said...

Hi,
Your blog is amazing! It really helped me out a lot when I was choosing classes. Anyway, I was wondering if you had any tips for Physics 8A. I have Deweese next fall, who I heard was pretty easy. But then again, I was terrible at AP Physics in high school haha.

Thanks,
Jason

Dear Jason,

Sorry about the late reply! Glad I can help! :D 

You're really lucky to be taking physics with Deweese. I took some of his tests for practice for my midterms and they were pretty easy- very straightforward. If you had Charman or Bordel, it would be a different story. I heard Deweese is also a very good teacher so I don't think you have anything to worry about as far as learning the material goes.. Tips for Physics 8A: As far as Deweese goes, you need to get the concepts down since his questions are simple and they test straight forward concepts- not highly theoretical/conceptual like Charman and Bordel, so actually doing the problems on mastering physics might be a good idea, instead of getting the answers off the internet like everyone else does (including myself! haha). I attempted mastering physics up until the first midterm and then slacked off for the rest of the semester. Although a lot of people view it as a waste of time, I regret not taking mastering physics seriously.. I think it helped me do well on the first midterm since I was so determined to get the mastering physics problems down, and thus, the concepts down. If Deweese's lectures aren't helping you learn the material, then find another way to learn it ASAP. That's what I had to do with Charman and it helped tremendously! Lastly, the class can go pretty fast, especially the second half of the course, so make sure you attend lecture or else you can fall behind. If you need extra help, remember that there's SLC and BioEHS study groups (BioEHS is better in my opinion- SLC problems are too easy). I hope this helps! And don't worry- I didn't do so well in AP physics either but I did alright in physics 8A :) 

Best of Luck! 

-K 

Dear Reader 34

YOLO said...

Do you have any specific tips for Bio 1A/L?
I feel like I'm going to die in those two classes (figuratively, of course). ;___; *shudders*

Dear Yolo (haha love the name),

Most premed/science majors dread taking bio1A/L. Personally, I'm glad it's done and over with. The lecture wasn't that bad- it was like AP bio, but more in depth. The lab portion, however, i hated.. The lab grade is broken down into three components: midterm, practical (which will be different for you guys- I heard they're changing the format), and quizzes. The prelab and postlab for each lab doesn't count towards your grade so I wouldn't worry too much about those. The midterm is worth more than the practical so make sure you do well on it (not that I have to tell you haha). The worst part of lab for me were the quizzes. The quizzes are based mostly on your lab manual, but my gsi added a lot of questions from lab lecture. As far as tips go, for bio 1A lecture, focus on the lecture slides and not so much the book- use the book for reinforcement but from my experience, the lecture slides are more important. For lab, memorize the damn lab manual, do as many practice problems as you can for the genetics portion on the midterm (it's pretty difficult, but once you get it, it's not that bad), start memorizing everything from the dissections in advance (take pictures!!) as well as the analogous parts/functions from various animals, and don't fall behind!! In all, it's not so bad haha. 

Best of luck! 

-K 

Dear Reader 33

Anonymous said...

I read it on the internet and some of my friends recommend taking summer classes so that I can make some space in my schedule for other classes that I want to take. But others say don't and I'm confused whether if it's okay to take science class during summer for pre-med student or not :(

Dear Anonymous,

Personally, I see no harm in taking science courses during the summer :) Many of my friends are taking/have taken premed prereqs over the summer, and in fact, I'll be taking physics 8B this summer as well! I'm not so worried about the summer class looking bad as much as I am worried about trying to fit all my necessary classes into my schedule haha. 

All the best! 

-K 

Dear Reader 32

Anonymous said...

I was planning on taking science class/ pre-med required classes at University of California Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) which is like Study Abroad but during summer that are connected to University of California. Credits are transferable to any UC universities. But some rumors say that med schools don't like students taking science courses during summer since its much easier. Is this a good idea?

Dear Anonymous,

I know many people who are taking/have taken their premed prereqs during summer, but it's usually at their university. I don't think it's a terrible idea to do your prereqs abroad but it might be slightly risky. Most people tend to take all of their premed prereqs at their own school since taking them elsewhere might look like a red flag to admissions. Taking the classes over the summer might be slightly easier than taking them over the semester but, once again, it should be fine as long as you take it at your college (which is Berkeley I'm assuming : ). Study abroad, i'm not sure about... If it were me, I would try to take my prereqs at Berkeley and take some other core/breadth classes abroad just in case... but that's me. To be super safe, you can even call admissions at the school you're most interested in and ask if taking the prereqs abroad would hurt your chances. Chances are, the response that med school gives you will be applicable to other med schools. At the end of the day, if you really want to take the prereqs abroad, then you should go for it (as long as it's not a community college abroad haha). It shouldn't hurt your chances all that much :) 

Best of luck!

-K