Dear Reader 70

AnonymousMay 25, 2014 at 8:30 PM

Hi,

I just wanted to ask you for an opinion. This may be pretty bad, but I really don't know what to do at the moment. I'm 21 set to graduate next year with a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing, but now I want to become a physician. I don't have a great GPA (cGPA 3.59) and the only experience I have so far is volunteering at a PICU for ~150+ hours. I was wondering... Should I work as a registered nurse for experience and do premedical requirements at a later time? I really don't know what I'm looking for as to your response, lol. Just looking for advice I guess.

Dear Anonymous, 

Thanks for stopping by and sorry for the late response! 

First, I think that's a good GPA- especially from berkeley- and you have another year to raise it even higher! 

As for premed requirements, i'm not sure how much more work and time is required to become an RN.. I wish I had more information so I can give you better advice. But I'm wondering if it wouldn't be easier to stay an extra year at Berkeley and complete the premed requirements instead of going into nursing and spending more time and money on taking the exams and having to re-enroll in university, etc... (sorry for the run-on sentence). If nursing isn't what you want to do, then my advice would be try and go straight into med school instead of spending extra time and money on that route- but that's just my $0.02 :) 

Once again, I wish I had better advice to give, but I wish you the best of luck- and either way, you're going to be a physician right? haha :) 

-K 

On Delayed Posts

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of posts this past semester. This being my last semester, I've had to take a heavier course load than normal (ironically..) and do a honors thesis, so I haven't had much time for my blog. But I do have many posts lined up for post-graduation, so stay tuned!

Future posts include: Last semester update, honors thesis, graduation, MD & DO apps, letters of rec, and gap year plans! :)

Good luck with finals!

K 

Dear Reader 69

RainieApril 15, 2014 at 4:08 PM

Hi! I'm currently debating between UC Berkeley Regents and USC Trustee. The $ isn't a huge factor in my case, thankfully. I'm really conflicted; I visited both campuses and loved them each. I'm considering premed but I'm not 100% set on it, especially at UC Berkeley where I fear that I may end up with a low GPA (I do not want to apply multiple times to medical school if I can help it, as med school+residency is already so drawn out). I guess...my question is...what are the options for UC Berkeley premed students? Should I pursue economics as a major to avoid assimilating within the extremely competitive and homogeneous pool of Molecular Bio premed students? That major also has good career prospects, I believe...just in case premed doesn't work out. And I could take a minor in Chemistry to help with the premed requirements, perhaps. My counselor wants me to select my major this week, so we can start discussing my college options, but I've no idea...I love East Asian languages but that would probably be more of a minor...
Linguistics, cognitive science...those are intriguing as well. Do you know of successful premed students who have taken those majors? So far I've only met molecular bio and integrative bio majors at ucb pursuing the premed tract.
thanks for listening to my rambling, and love ur blog :) i've been poring over its post for the past hour since i've discovered it!

Dear Rainie, 

Thanks for stopping by and congratulations on your accomplishments! 

Now that I think about it, I don't think I know any premeds who are not some form of bio majors either. I used to know many people who were other majors and were thinking about doing premed, but I think they dropped premed in the end. I suppose it's because, like you said, people going into other majors besides bio see that they have many career options and eventually find one that they like better than medicine. But that doesn't mean there aren't non-bio premeds out there haha. You could definitely go into econ, but many econ majors are also pre-Haas, which is just as competitive as pre-med here unfortunately so keep that in mind! East Asian studies would be a great minor- I really enjoy my east asian class this semester! The only risk for non-bio majors, which I believe you're already familiar with, is that if you do poorly on one or two of the premed prereqs, then it's very difficult to raise your science GPA without having the major science classes to buffer your grade. However, I don't think that'll be a problem for you, so if you decide to come to berkeley (or wherever you decide to go), then I would not fear exploring other majors :) Also, berkeley doesn't make you declare until end of sophomore or beginning of junior year so there wouldn't be any rush here, since  the possible majors you're thinking about are all in the college of letters and science I believe. I'm not sure how USC works... Regardless of what college or major you choose, you'll have a great experience! 

Best of luck! 

-K 

Dear Reader 68

Hi K,

I really like your blog. Thanks for posting up so much stuff! Anyway, since you were graduating soon, I started looking around for other blogs to follow too, you know just in case haha. Are there any you recommend? I want to avoid the official Berkeley-sponsored blogs. Also, I found http://cal-mcber.blogspot.com and was wondering what you think about it. I know it isn't a pre-med blog, but do you think a lot of the advice still applies?

Thanks!
A

Dear A,

Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words! :) 

A few have asked about that blog, and I think it's great! It provides a ton of great information and advice so yes, I recommend it! Unfortunately, I don't know any other blogs that specifically cater to berkeley science majors :/ 

I'll still be answering questions on here after I graduate and posting about the application process as I go through it so feel free to leave questions/comments! 

Best of luck! 

-K 

Dear Reader 67

JMarch 28, 2014 at 7:25 PM

Hi K,

I'm currently a third-year IB major who works in a research lab. Can you write about your experience working on an honors thesis for IB? Thanks!

Dear J,

Yes, I will write about doing an honors for IB as soon as I finish! The good, the bad, and the ugly.. :)

K 

Dear Reader 66

AnonymousMarch 25, 2014 at 3:14 PM

What do you think about taking Physics 8A over the summer? The professor teaching this summer, 2014, seems to have a pretty high rating. I have never taken physics before though, so I don't know what to expect.

Dear Anonymous, 

Thanks for stopping by! 

One of my regrets at Cal was taking physics 8b over the summer- I hated it. It was extremely accelerated and having lab twice a week was torture. Just based on my experience, I would recommend not taking 8A over the summer, especially since it's your first time taking physics. This is something you're going to have to revisit for the mcat so make sure to learn it well the first time haha. I found that because the summer class was so accelerated, I didn't have time for the material to marinate before moving on to the next topic. Also, physics 8A is a very conceptual class, where you have to apply a lot of equations to one problem- critical thinking. This, for me anyway, takes a lot of practice, so it might be difficult to master over summer. However, with that said, if the professor teaching over the summer is a "summer professor" (only teaches in the summer) and is known to be a great professor who doesn't have harsh curves, then perhaps it won't be so bad. But once again, I am very biased about summer classes haha 

Good luck! 

K 

On Looking Back: Insight & Advice for Sophomore Year

My Sophomore Year:

Sophomore year, for me, was the start of being a 'responsible pre-med'. It was the year that I began doing research and volunteer work and started looking toward finishing up my prereqs for my major. It was the year that I moved into an apartment with my previous dorm roommates and made many good memories (as well as some not so good ones haha), and it was the year that I took the one class I most regret taking at Cal- stats... But other than that, my sophomore year was a big blur- I was always tired from school and lab, and I remember panicking a lot that year about gpa and ECs haha.

So if I can give myself some advice for sophomore year, I would say:

-Don't panic/stress so much. The future might seem bleak but it'll get better- just take it day by day and enjoy the time you have with your friends and roommates :)
-Going to lab for 20 hrs a week with a full course load and volunteering might be too much at once, so be wary of time management (either hold off on lab for another semester or find a lab that will be flexible with your schedule/commitment hours)
-Don't take physics 8B that coming summer- it's very accelerated and seemed more difficult that it would've been had I taken it during the semester (take mcb 102 instead perhaps?)
-Use your winter break wisely- it's a unique time to gain more experience in healthcare, whether it's shadowing or applying for an externship/internship (I think I went to Korea that winter, which I don't regret since I got to spend time with my grandparents haha)
-.... don't take stats... (specific advice I would give the old me haha)

I think that's about it for my sophomore year- very short, but once again, sophomore year was a blur so I don't remember doing too much. If you have advice for upcoming sophomores, please don't hesitate to post a comment!

Good luck on midterms!

-K