Building a Competitive Pre-Med Profile Before Senior Year

Webinar Transcription

2026-04-20 – Building a Competitive Pre-Med Profile Before Senior Year

Lonnie: Hello everyone. Welcome to CollegeAdvisors webinar, “Building a Competitive Pre-Med Profile Before Senior Year.” My name is Lonnie Webb and I will be supporting you as your moderator for this webinar to orient everyone with the webinar timing. We will first begin with our presentation and then we’ll have an opportunity to answer your questions through a live q and a.

So if you have any questions at any time, feel free to go to that q and a tab and you can go ahead and place your question there accordingly. Also, we do have the slides available for you to download, and you can download them by visiting the handouts tab. Now with, um, now we’re now gonna move into our presentation, but before we do so, let’s first meet our presenter.

Dr. Ishaani: Hey everyone, my name is Ishaani. Um, I am an internal medicine resident in New York City. Um, I was a graduate of Brown’s eight year BS and MD combined program. It’s called the Program in Liberal Medical Education. So I did four years of undergraduate, um, time at Brown. I majored in computational biology and then I also did four years of medical school as well.

Um, and I’ve been in the college advising space since I was a sophomore in college, so about seven or eight years now, which is something I’m really proud of. Um, you know, when I was applying to uh, college, I was applying, kind of knowing that I wanted to be a pre-med. Knowing that I wanted to apply to some of these BSMD programs like Brown’s play me.

So I’ve, of course, granted this was maybe like 10 years ago, but I’ve applied to schools at or under like undergrad institutions as a pre-med. I’ve also advised students through it with my experience over the last seven to eight years. And also last year, um, as a fourth year medical student, I actually read applications, um, in Brown’s program and liberal program for liberal medical education.

So I’ve really, you know, experienced, like I’ve, you know, done it myself. I’ve advised people through it and I’ve also been on the other end and I’ve read, uh, applications as well and evaluated them. So with all that in mind, I feel like I have a lot of expertise to share tonight about applying to, um, undergrad as a pre-med and or BSMD programs.

Lonnie: Nice. I would absolutely agree. You are experienced, which means that our audience, they’re gonna gain so much from this presentation from you. So with that said, let’s first get a sense of who is in our virtual space with us live. So we would like for you to fill out our poll, allowing us to know what grade you are in.

It just gives us moments to ensure that we are speaking directly to those who are viewing the presentation. Okay, I’m gonna give it a few seconds. You all have already started inputting your responses. I love the eagerness. Really appreciate it. And with that said, I am now going to close the poll and I’m gonna read out loud the responses.

We have 36% of our live audience is in the 10th grade. Then we have 32% that’s in the ninth grade. I love that. I love seeing our freshmen, um, in the presentation. And then followed by that we have 27% that are in the 11th grade, and then we have about 4% that are 12th grade and others. So we have equal representation across all grade levels.

Thank you all so much for filling out the poll, Dr. Ishaani, I’m gonna turn it over to you to kick us off. And what does it mean to be pre-med?

Dr. Ishaani: Of course. So I think before I start talking about building a competitive pre-med profile, I think it, uh, makes sense to first talk about, you know, what does it even mean to be pre-med, um, in college.

So being pre-med essentially means you’re preparing yourself to, um. Be in medical school and become a doctor. Um, so you’re interested in not just a career in healthcare and, but specifically a career as a physician. Of note, there are two types of, uh, degrees that make you a physician, an MD or a do a doctor of, um, allopathic versus osteopathic medicine.

They’re really quite similar, uh, training paths. Um, there’s a lot more do schools in the past decade or so. Um, at the end of the day, like MDs and DOS are able to apply to the same exact residency positions. The only true difference in like where you end up, um, is like, especially in the past to dos, were considered quote unquote less competitive schools.

So, um, or less competitive programs to get into. And as a result, sometimes when you’re applying to like very, very competitive specialties such as like dermatology or orthopedics, um, et cetera, I think it. You have to be an extra strong do candidate to, um, get into those positions. And honestly, with those competitive, uh, specialties, you also have be a very strong, um, empty candidate as well.

That being said, that’s getting very, very ahead of us. Um, and one thing that I always like to remind students is that there are so many careers in healthcare, um, that I feel like I wasn’t even aware of when I was in college. I think now that I work in a hospital, I’m very aware of like all the important people on our team that are not MDs.

So for example, you can get, you can work in healthcare by being a physical therapist, by being an occupational therapist, by being a speech language pathologist, um, by being a PA or a nurse practitioner. Um, we also have amazing colonies of course. Who are our nurses? Like our nurses are essential to the healthcare team.

Um. So there’s just a lot of, you know, I think a lot of people think, oh, I wanna work in healthcare, therefore I must be a doctor. That’s not the case. There are a lot of like fulfilling amazing careers in medicine.

Um, so that kind of answers like what pre-med is, you know, pre-med is you’re trying of telling colleges I’m gearing up for a career in medicine and going to medical school. Then, um, you know, when you think about what do pre-med programs look for an applicant? So I think one thing to recognize is like pre, there’s no pre-med program.

So when you’re a pre-med in uh, undergrad, you’re just saying, I’m gonna complete these prerequisite courses that are like the pre-med coursework, but you can still major in whatever you want. So you could be an English major who takes, who ensures that they take the pre-med, pre-med prerequisites classes and then can apply to medical, you know, does the MCAT.

Does, um, the extracurriculars and then applies to med school. You could also be a computer science major and take all those computer science classes, do the pre-med classes. Um, and then I think the thing that really ties together the pre-med experiences is that the prerequisite courses you have to take as a pre-med, you know, you want of course get in certain activities as well, which like I’ll speak to as well.

And then also taking the mcat, that’s what like the pre-med experience is as an undergrad. So there’s no pre-med program per se, but it’s like kind of you identifying that, Hey, I wanna go to Career in medicine, so you’ll be taking the MCAT in those courses. Um, but I think one thing really important to remember is you should have your own niche.

So for some people it might be, you know, I’m majoring in English or I’m majoring in biology or neurology. You can really major in whatever you want. And that’s something that I remind, uh, students. Also remind them that a lot of people think, oh, like I’m pre-med. I’m sure medical schools want me to major in biology, so I look extra committed to medicine.

And I wanna remind people that’s actually not the case. I think oftentimes, um, people who major in other things sometimes stand out a little bit more because they’re doing something more unique and off the beaten path and it shows that they can like bring a new lens or perspective into medicine still.

Now looking a little bit more to the high school level, what, like when you’re tell applying to, uh, a college and you like, are making it clear that you want a career in medicine, what are these colleges looking for your, in your application? So especially the BSMD programs, they’ll be really explicitly asking, why do you want to go into medicine?

Um, and it’s really important here to have a clear story of like, why do you wanna be a doctor? Um, I think it’s. I think oftentimes when people write these essays about like, why you wanna become a doctor, but they, sometimes something to avoid is like, regurgitating your resume. Like, we can all see your resume.

Think it, think of it, not so much as like saying all the things you’ve done that make you wanna become a doctor, but think of it more as like weaving all those pieces of the story together. So really try tying together all your enter interests and making like, um, parallels between them. And as a reminder, all your interests and extracurriculars, they don’t have to be explicitly related to medicine.

Um, for example, I know I’ve really read fantastic essays about people like, who volunteer in their local library reading for kids and how that, that experience like really makes ’em enjoy working with kids and realize how important like childhood and development is. And that’s why they want a career in medicine and they’re maybe leaning towards pediatrics so.

That’s another thing to keep in mind as well. And then as with any application for anything ever, I always kind of, when you’re applying to anything, whether it’s a job, college, et cetera, your application should be answering two questions. I think always. First of all, why should this program or whatever you want, why do you wanna go there?

Like what will add to your career journey? What will you gain from it? And then think about that relationship the other way. Like what is this program gonna gain by having you? Like what do you bring to the table? Why are you really unique candidate? And how will you do things at this institution that’ll kind of advance its mission?

So think about this like symbiotic relationship of like, Hey, why does program X want me and why do I want program X? And always be thinking about applying, answering those two questions. Um, and that goes beyond college applications. That’s for job applications. Um, just really anything in life I’d say. Um, another thing you should, you know, I know I advise a lot of high school students who are interested in pre-med or BSMD programs, and the question I often get is like, how early in high school did you start shaping your pre-med profile?

I think I remember when I was in high school, I remember how it felt like I had to like know exactly what I wanted to do. And again, this is coming from someone who applied to a BSMB program. So coming from someone that kind of knew they wanted to be a doctor early on, one thing that I’ve really realized as I’ve, you know, gotten farther in my career, I have a lot of classmates that came to medicine, quote unquote, like a non-traditional way.

IE there are people that sometimes had like prior careers in finance or in tech, and then they realized a couple years in that they wanted to get a post-baccalaureate degree and pivot into medicine. So I wanna always remind people that. There’s really no rush to like know what you want to do in your life in high school.

There are people that make career pivots after college. There are people that make career pivots during college. I know people that come into, um, college being like, I’m gonna be pre-med. And then a month or two in, they realize they love the computer science classes and they totally pivot. There are people that, um, total opposite come into, um, college and be like, I wanna be a poli-sci major.

And they end up realizing like, wow, you know what? I should consider pre-med. And they become, um, doctors. So. Just a reminder, there’s really no rush. I think one piece of advice I’d really impart on all of you, this is like more life advice, is take time to really be thoughtful and explore other careers. I think, um, someone’s just mentality of like, oh, I just like will become a doctor.

But it’s important to remember as someone just like very early in their career in medicine, but still in my career, medicine’s a very long journey and it’s a really big commitment. Um, I’d really only consider a career in medicine if you’re like a really sure if it’s what you want and you, I think more importantly, you feel like you’ve explored other interesting options.

So if you have, like, if there’s something that interests you about economics or poli sci or government or computer science, really try, you know, try that out. And then if, if you still like, you know, I, my brother be a doctor than this, um, go for it. It’s always okay to pivot to other fields and high school and college and beyond.

Um, so that’s, this is more life advice, but to answer the question of how early, it’s never too early, but it’s also never too late. Um, so just start thinking about it.

That being said, if you’re someone that’s like, you know what? I know I want to be pre-med Ishaani, can you gimme some concrete steps of what can I do in high school to really like, show that when I apply to colleges, I’m also happy to answer that question. Um, I think the, when I think about medicine as a whole, um, I like to think of it as like the art and science of medicine.

So I think sometimes people, I remember I had this like conception when I was in high school that like, oh, the person who’s the best doctor is like the person that’s like the smartest and has all the answers and like knows everything. And then now as I reflect to someone who’s like actually a doctor, um.

Obviously being smart and knowing things is, and having the knowledge that makes you a great doctor, but also something that makes you a great doctor is, especially depending on what your specialties and how people facing is just, it’s also the people skills as well. I think medicine inherently is a, uh, service oriented career.

It’s a people facing career. Um, so if you don’t like thinking about talking to people, if you don’t like interacting with people, um, if you don’t really care about the human condition, you might be the smartest person in the world, but maybe like something that’s a little bit more like basic science and a PhD could be maybe a better suited for your career.

Um, so, so I think I always tell people that, that being said, there are definitely some careers of medicine that are more people facing. There are some careers of medicine that are less people facing. Um, so. I think you could find any, as you kind of go through medical school, you kind of realize how much patient you want patient interaction to be part of your practice of medicine and what kind of patient interaction you can kind of pick your career from there.

Um, so how can you prepare then to again, go back to be a pre-med student? I kind of think about it in with these like art and science of medicine. Try exploring both of those things. So first with like kind of this, the science of medicine, try gaining clinical experience. If you’re telling these colleges like, Hey, I wanna be a doctor, you should have shown that you have some inkling of like what being a doctor is and what a clinical environment looks like and what like a physician does.

So, you know, I always recommend that people try shadowing if they’re able to. I know it’s really easier said than done. Getting shadowing opportunities is very challenging and I, I understand that. Um, but if you’re in an area with like a. Hospitals that you can volunteer in, um, doctor’s offices, you can volunteer in.

I know sometimes age is kind of a limit, so you have to like wait till you’re 16. I know during COVID it was obviously very challenging because people didn’t want people shadowing if they weren’t like absolutely clinically necessary, which made sense at that time. Um, but I think now obviously like COVID is, you know, hopefully it’s like fully in the past.

So I think it’s a lot easier for people to shadow. And then as you’re shadowing these positions, um, if they have time, try asking them, you know, about their career journeys, how they ended up, where they are, what they love about their job, what they wish they could change about their job. Just to give you a sense of like what being a position is.

I also want to add that, you know, I think medicine is a very large field. There are a lot of people that have very different practices of medicine based on the specialty, based on the setting in which they practice. So like someone who’s working in. An academic research center and does, you know, 6% of their time in clinical and 40% of time doing research versus somebody who works full-time clinical in a private practice, they’re gonna have very different looking careers.

So you might, you know, shadow one or two people, but remember as that the practice of medicine, your, in, maybe your practice of medicine could be very different than these people’s as well. That’s also something that’s fun about the career of medicine. It’s like very like choose your own adventure and there’s a lot of ways you can go with it.

So in high school, I’d recommend trying to game this clinical, um, experience and then also leaning into those two aspects of the art and science of medicine. So at the Art of Medicine show that you’re doing volunteering opportunities that are very people facing, um, you know, show that you are volunteering at, um, an assisted living facility that you’re volunteering, playing piano for.

Um, like a certain wing in the hospital that you are reading to, um, young students are doing like afterschool programs for people in the neighborhood. Um, so that’s kinda like the art into medicine, like the volunteering. And I think something that’s like stands out to me especially is like more direct community work, I think of like, sometimes people are like, oh, I, I volunteer by like raising money for this cause, but if you don’t, I think sometimes I find when I read applications, when I see people doing more like direct volunteering as like I worked with X, y, Z people, I even find that a lot more compelling than, um, like the indirect bonding, which is still important of like raising money just because you know that that doesn’t show.

The connection to the people you build and show your people skills in the same exact way. And it doesn’t show that you’re actually like seeing the people that you’re helping. And I think that’s what medicine is so much about, like being at the bedside, like being there. Um, and then also with the science of medicine, you know, if you’re able to get involved with research opportunities at local institutions or community colleges or the like, just something that shows that you have academic curiosity and the desire to like kind of see a project or an idea or answer a question end to end.

So much of medicine, and I am really realizing this now, is so much of it is, is choose your adventure. But because of that it’s very self-directed in your learning and your career goals. So if you’re the kind of person that like needs to be told to do something in order to do it, um, obviously you kind of build bad skills.

You get older too. So I mean, if you’re in high school and you feel that way, I did as well. I need like a clear path in front of me. But you know, medicine is looking for those kind of people that are willing to like just try stuff out and do things and see how things go. And just take initiative is, I guess what I’m getting at now.

Thinking a little bit more about the coursework, so if you’re interested in pre-med, what do you think about coursework wise in high school, I would definitely recommend taking the most challenging science classes that you can. So taking that advanced biology, chemistry, and physics. If you have APs, try taking your AP classes at your school, like just the most advanced and highest level that you can.

Um, one thing I also wanna remind students is, uh, I think sometimes people are like, oh, like I go to a high school that only offers like, let’s say like less than 10 APs and I, so therefore I can’t take that many APs. Like, will this, will colleges view me worse compared to someone who like went to high school with like all the APs and they’re taking like, they took 20 APs because they can took them since like their freshman year just as an FYI.

When you apply to college, your high school also sends you like, sends. Such like a little informational, like couple pages about like their high school. And in that, those few pages they explain like, hey, like this school offers x many AP classes and like, you know, and in your recommendation letters they kind of show like that.

Like, oh, like so and so is taking like the hardest class at the school or et cetera. So don’t think that you know, your own school. I don’t think that’ll necessarily hurt you. People will be comparing you to your, your classmates. Um, and kind of understanding that like not every high school is the same. So you’re not gonna be competing with someone who goes to like an in, in high school that has tons of AP classes.

Um, if you go to a school that doesn’t have that many offered. That being said, again, take those science classes as advanced as you can. I think if you have to prioritize any too, I think ones are like probably the most helpful for medicine or biology and chemistry. Of course. That being said, like I took AP chem and AP physics in high school.

I didn’t even take AP bio ’cause I just, I don’t, this is, I didn’t really like biology class. I took in high school that much. I think medicine’s fascinating and I love it. Um. I just didn’t like AP bio. I didn’t like care for cell biology and molecular biology that much. Um, math classes, you know, take those advanced STEM classes in general humanities, again, medicine is a lot of thinking and reflecting as well.

So taking advanced humanities classes and then beyond those things, you know, follow your own personal interests. Um, like I said, having a niche within medicine is something like a new perspective within medicine will make you stand out. So if you like are like, I love computer science, I wanna take like a take a computer science you kind of lens into medicine, that’s awesome.

If you’re really into social studies, if you’re really into activism, if you’re really into, um, anthropology or government and like health policy, you know, you should have your own area of interest and think about ways you can bring that or kind of like combine that with medicine. I think that’s what make people really stand that when they apply, um.

Now I, I talked a little bit about the coursework. Now I’m talking a little bit more about the extracurricular activities, which I, I spoke a little bit to in my prior slide. Again, when it comes to, I divide them again to like art and science, and then the, the science of it is like clinical research, um, and then, or clinical extracurriculars, and then also research and science related extracurriculars.

I always remind students, like, I think a lot of people are like, oh, clinical research means I have to work at a hospital, and if I work, I live in an area where there’s like one hospital, they don’t have any volunteering opportunities, then like, I’m stuck. I can’t do anything related that’s like clinically related.

And I always try to remind people to take a very broad definition of health. And, um, something you learn about in medicine is like the social determinants of health and recognizing that so much. And honestly, most of health is due to variables that are outside of. At the hospital in the clinical setting.

Um, so again, like I kind of keep going back to this example, but the example of like the, the reading and the afterschool, uh, class that one of like an applicant that I, whose story I read that was like a really great example of that ’cause it’s recognizing that like, you know, health is related to health literacy and people’s education, et cetera.

And she was contributing to the education of like young people in her area by volunteering in that space. Um, I also encourage people to like look at community health centers or places I’ve had students like talk about how they volunteer at, um, like community action programs that help people navigate Medicare and Medicaid enrollment.

Um, so those are also like really important places, um, that contribute and affect people’s health so much, but it’s not necessarily like in the hospital. So take a very broad definition of health. And you’ll hopefully be able to find something. So look at those like kind of public resources in the community action centers around you as well.

See if you can volunteer in those spaces. Um, so that’s like the clinical things and there’s also like the science and research, um, bit as well. So if you’re able to research at a nearby institution, that would be something I’d encourage. Um, I could probably give a talk of itself of like, how do you actually like find those research opportunities?

What I would do is just go, you know, have like two tabs open on your computer, one that’s up the Google Sheet spreadsheet of like these people you wanna reach out to. One is the actual institution itself. And then from there, just go through it and like find, you know, go through the blank University’s biology department list and like look into all the different PIs, just kinda skim their lab websites, see what seems interesting to you, and go from there.

Um, so that’s again, the science of medicine. Also touched on the volunteering as well, and then the volunteering as well, which can be clinical, but also like volunteering at community things in your area or starting community initiatives in your area. Um, I think a question I get a lot is like, okay, like I think I understand that as a high school student, it’s really hard to do, um, extracurricular activities when you’re in school.

So sometimes people are like, okay, summer is this like golden opportunity for me to just focus on one activity and really make the most of it. Um, so what should I be doing over the summer that will make me a strong pre-med candidate? Uh, again, volunteering. I’ve said it so many times, I’m not gonna go into it again, but volunteering is definitely something you can consider over the summer.

Research shadowing, and then this idea of passion projects. So I’m gonna talk a little bit more about passion projects and what that means to me. So I think Passion Project is kind of thinking about. What’s something that you wanna explore, you wanna understand and what’s like a tangible outcome that you can have from this that like shows like, okay, like I did a lot of reading in this space, or I did a lot of research or understanding.

So for some people it’s like, I’m gonna start a blog, or I’m going to write and contribute to a magazine or submit something to my, like local newspaper, et cetera. So that’s what a, a passion project is. It could be like, I’m gonna create a website, I’m going to start a nonprofit, et cetera. Um, that’s really just your area of interest.

I always, this is I think where you can kind of show like something that’s like unique and makes you sparkle. Um, and I always recommend when people are like, kind of like, okay, like, well, what should I do with my, my passion project? I always recommending their brainstorm. I. I ask them like, okay, well what, what excites you?

And think, again, think outside of medicine, you could be like, oh, I love playing the violin. Or, um, I really like singing or dance is super important to me. Or I really like love woodworking. Um, and then think, take that and think about how could you, you know, apply it to, and make it into a project. So like violin, um, could you play violin in for people in a hospital?

Could you start a program where you taught violin to, um, you know, students of who like, don’t really, can’t really afford, um, like private in like music instructor classes, um, for dance. Like, could you make a, like in your community rec center, could you make a like. Dance class for older adults that help with like mobility and flexibility and is like, is that how you wanna give back?

Um, for so just to kind of be creative and think, okay, like, I like this. How could I actually, what can I do with that to make it like an, something like tangible, something I’m proud of and like I’m excited to show? And

this is another really good question. So how do you avoid, like you’re just looking like you’re just checking the boxes and you’re just like doing the things to doing the thing for, to do the things, um, in a pre-med program. I think when it comes to like looking like you’re checking the boxes, I think to me one of the biggest, not like red flag, but the thing that I keep out my eye out for is like someone who does like 10 different activities, but like relatively shallowly.

I’d much rather have someone that does like five to seven activities, but you can tell that like. They do them really thoughtfully and really deeply. Um, and honestly, even when it comes to all your, your resume bullet points in your essays, you’ll probably speak to like one to four of them really deeply.

You’re not gonna speak to all of them. So remember, quality is really, really over quantity. I know this is something that I didn’t like, recognize. Um, it’s much better to just do a couple things really well and like be able to like, speak to it in like create depth and great detail than to be like on like in the leadership group for like five different clubs.

But like, you didn’t really like actively contribute, but like, yes, you’re in five different leadership clubs. Then people ask you like, oh, what did you do for club one? You’re like, oh, we did this project related to that. And someone’s like, oh, how did you contribute? And you’re like, oh, I was just kind of like on the email threads, you know?

So rather than that, just do one thing really well. Um, especially since as I spoke about you don’t regurgitate your resume and the essay. So if you can. Pick one to three things that you can kind of like take a story from, or like pull us in the moment that’ll look a lot stronger and like read more exciting.

Um, that being said, a lot of like, especially the BSMD programs where you kind of do have to check a lot of boxes to even like get into that like stage, you are gonna check a lot of boxes of like, you took all these hard science classes, you have great standardized test scores. You are the, you know, you’re really strong in your math and science extracurriculars and you’ve done the research.

So there of course will be some box checking, but what makes you look like someone that’s not just checking the boxes is how you write about things in your essays.

So the next question is, I’ve talked a lot about, you know, how do I make. Pre-med programs, like get excited and like me now kind of centering the conversation back on yourselves. How do you figure out what pre pre-med programs you like? Um, so think a lot about, and again, you’re just in high school, but try thinking about like what you kind of niche in medicine.

And this is kind of going back to that topic I was discussing earlier of what do you wanna major in? Like if you wanna major in English and you want your whole thing to be like, oh, I like, I want healthcare journalism. Like I wanna be a writer who’s a doctor. Um, you should probably go to, you know, um, an undergrad that has a really strong English program and has, um, really strong opportunities to get involved with writing.

Like if you’re, if that’s you, then that’s what you should do. And think about how you wanna combine that with medicine. Um, so just think about, even just pre-med agnostic, think about what you want to do in college and does that undergrad institution like kind of align with those goals? So like if you’re like, oh, I want to be, you know, like this healthcare journalist kind of person, should you pick the, like, the place that’s like the best pre-med place, but as like, it’s like a really stem heavy place.

It doesn’t have a great English department. No. You should probably pick a place with a better English department. Um, also keep an eye out for institutions with like pipeline or like early acceptance programs. Um, these are essentially like programs where you can apply as a sophomore or junior to like kind of get pre accepted into their medical school.

Um, also, you know, I think something that’s really important that I like I when I talk about medicine, um, is just how, you know, medical school and undergrad combined, it’s, it’s really expensive. Um, the tuition is, is quite a bit for eight years of school and then it’s not like the second you leave, you finish medical school, you’re able to pay off that debt because you’re working as a resident physician or you’re like working.

Usually like 60 to 80 hours a week and making between like 60 and 80 KA year. So you’re not gonna be, you don’t have time to like do side hustles and make extra money really during residency. So you really don’t have like, it, it’s, it’s financially it challenging to be a doc a like the process itself.

Like once you become an attending it’s great. But, um, I think it’s really important to keep in mind like scholarship opportunities going to state schools for lower tuition. I think something to like really seriously consider. Um, also when you look at programs and think about the strength of the pre-med advising, um, that’s, so that’s like really hard to suss out from just like looking at a college’s website.

So if, you know, like any friends or friends who are current students at the school, try asking them what they think and go from there. And then again, another kind of common theme is you have to be very self-directed and motivated to like, wherever you go. It’s not where you go to call it, it’s what you do there.

So. You know, I think a lot of people put a lot of pressure on themselves. Like, I had to go to X College or a top whatever number it might be college. I’ve seen students go to like, quote unquote lower tier colleges, but they do amazing things there. And they go to the best medical schools just because they have like a lovely story to tell.

Um, but then there’s some people that go to really hyper competitive undergrad institutions and they struggle with the competition. So you have, you have to think about that as well too.

My final, like 2 cents that I’ll leave you guys all with, um, I think thinking about yourself and what’s unique about you and what you bring to the table as a physician is really important. Um, I think medical training as a whole is very rote, it’s very challenging. Um, and it’s very like structured and kind of the same-ish everywhere.

So what’s gonna make. We all go through the same medical training. So what makes you a unique doctor is what you bring to the table before going through that kind of like pipeline of medicine. Um, so think about that. I think, again, the quality is so much more important than quantity of extracurriculars, um, adding to this explicitly that much for this talk.

But of course, you know, maintaining strong grades, great GPA, if your high school ranks, of course that’s gonna help. And especially try being like cognizant of your grades and science classes and then standardized testing. And then last piece, last 2 cents. If you’re willing, willing to put in the hard work, you can become a physician.

And I, I truly believe that, again, I’ve known so many people in medical school with like these non-traditional paths into medicine who took five, who did five years in this career, then shifted into medicine because I realized they wanted a career in medicine. Um, people that like really struggled in undergrad, people that.

Got a major in something totally different than into post back degree. And then they matched into like really competitive, amazing specialties. So once you get to med school, like everyone’s really, like, it’s, it’s a level of playing field all over again. Um, so a lot of people think like, oh, if I wanna be a doctor, that means I have to be like the smartest kid in my high school, or like the top X percent.

That’s really not true at all. So if, if you wanna become a doctor, I think you will find a way.

Yeah. And that’s all I I have for you guys. I’m really excited for q and a and to answer any questions you might have.

Lonnie: This was awesome. Thank you so much for sharing all this great information with our audience. Now is the time we’re gonna move into our live questions and answers. And thank you to all who have already started to ask questions.

We’re gonna do our best to get to as many questions as possible, um, but we may not answer everyone’s, but we will try. Okay. Dr. Ishaani, are you ready?

Dr. Ishaani: Mm-hmm.

Lonnie: Okay. So we’re gonna move to the first question, which actually kind of ties to something that you just shared in your last slide. Um, but someone wanted to know how much do grades matter compared to everything else?

Dr. Ishaani: Um. Like when you’re in high school, I think they, obviously grades matter. I think grades and like your GPA in high school is kind of like what’s gonna be a big predictor and, um, you know, what kind of school you’ll be going to. That being said, you, you know, it’s about what you do at Z School. Um, so you can be a pre-med at like a smaller college or a bigger college or an academic or a less academic school and you, you can find a way, um, to become a doctor.

But grades, I mean, to point of college, like grades are obviously like a, a big key variable in the college application process.

Lonnie: Absolutely. Okay. Next question. How do you find your why medicine if it’s unclear to you right now?

Dr. Ishaani: I think that’s a really excellent question. Um, I, I mean I’ve been reflecting, like I, I wrote a Y Medicine essay when I was.

Well, like 17, 16. Um, did I truly understand what being a doctor entailed? Like No. Um, I think you find your why medicine by like seeing people who are doctors and seeing what makes them happy about their career and trying to like envision what that might look like for you. I think you, you kind of also have to think about what, like why, why do you wanna go into medicine?

I think, I think a lot of people, it, it’s always gonna come down to like the people aspect of it. So I think that’s also a key piece to highlight. I think if you’re, why medicine doesn’t mention like, taking care of patients at all and if it’s all about the science and the biology, then people might read it and be like, oh, it, based on that, maybe you should consider getting a PhD and being like a monthly biologist, which is such an important career.

Um, so yeah.

Lonnie: Okay. So, um, I got a few questions that’s inquiring about you personally and your application experience, which I know was quite some time ago.

Dr. Ishaani: Mm-hmm.

Lonnie: Um, but do you mind just sharing a little bit with our audience around what your extracurriculars looked like for you Yeah. In high school that you feel like helped?

Dr. Ishaani: Yeah, I know it’s been so long now, but I do remember what my extracurriculars were. So I think my big extracurriculars where I was a member, actually like a captain of my high school’s fencing team. Um, I also play, I think music was like a big part of my high school experience and it’s still a part, big part of my life.

And now I really love music. So I was a, a bass player in both the orchestra and the jazz band. My whole Common app essay was actually like a, a parallel between like talking about jazz versus classical and like, you know, in classical you’re told what notes to play and jazz or some improvisation and how I like extrapolated.

Improvisations, like dealing with ambiguity of life and there’s oftentimes a lot of gray areas and you don’t know what right turn, what step to make. And that’s like what being an adult is. And I think I still kind of agree with that. Um, so that, so jazz fencing, I was also like one of the leaders in my women for like in STEM club.

Um, so those are like my big three like things I did in school. And then I think the things I did more curricular. So like volunteering wise, I volunteered at an assisting living facility that was just like a couple blocks away from my house. I would just like pop in like once a week and like talk with the people that lived there.

Um, in hindsight it was like, I think I, you know, as like a 16, 17-year-old did I see that many people that were like actually sick and like in that way if I hadn’t gone there. No. So I think it was really like. Good exposure for me.

Lonnie: Okay.

Dr. Ishaani: Um, and then I also did of re so I lived in, grew up in the tribal land area.

I did a research, um, summer at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Lonnie: Nice. Nice. Thank you for sharing with our audience. Um, approximately how many hours is good is a good benchmark for high school students when it comes to shadowing?

Dr. Ishaani: That’s a really good question. Um, again, shadowing is more for like your development.

So like, no one’s gonna be bragging, like no one’s gonna be putting on their resume. I showed it for 20 hours. I showed it for 50. Like, people reading your application don’t actually like, really care about how much, many hours. They don’t like weigh that highly. I think what people care about more is like how you speak to that experience and if you speak to it thoughtfully and maturely.

Um, that being said, I, as someone who’s like reviewed a lot of essays from people, uh, applying to like BSMD programs. I always recommend if you know someone who’s a physician, give them a chance to proofread it. There’s definitely been times where I’ve read through essays, like, again, remember that all the people, especially when you’ve applied to these like BSMD programs, everyone reading your application is someone who’s a doctor.

So if you say something that doesn’t make clinical sense or just seems kind of like, does this make sense? You know, people will be like, uh, like again, no one, it’s, it’s kind of unfair to expect a high school student to like understand like the complexities of like clinical medicine, right? But like, if you read something that like reads kind of off, like there are people’s essays that don’t read off and people’s essays that unfortunately do.

Um, so that’s something to keep in mind. I know one example to me was like, I read this story and someone was talking about like how her grandpa had gotten an, an antibiotic that unfortunately like had affected his hearing, which is like a side, a side effect of like some antibiotics. But I feel like when she wrote the story, she made it seem like she was like blaming the doctors, and she’s like, they picked the ran wrong antibiotic.

Um, and that’s why he lost his hearing. It was like a very like blamey confrontational kind of like energy that came from it. And as someone who’s like actually a physician, and it’s like, and that probably was just like a, and like that was like the medically indicated antibiotic and has like a really sad side effect.

And I’m sorry that happened, but that is something like, that’s an example of something that like read very off to me. Um, so if you’re gonna talk about clinical scenarios, ideally have someone in medicine, like just give it a ki quick look through.

Lonnie: Wow. That’s great. That is great feedback. Um, I am going to give the doctor a break from all the sharing that she’s been doing because I would love to pause and share some real student stories.

Um, so the first one is DJ, who grew up wanting to be a physician. As many of you all on this call are aspiring to be as well. He was active in relevant extracurriculars and sought out challenging coursework. As a scientist, writing narratively was challenging, so the college essay style didn’t come naturally to him.

He signed up to work with college advisor and was accepted to five colleges, including John Hopkins, where he received an institutional scholarship of around $61,000 a year. So that’s just one student story. I also wanna share another student story with you all. Um, this student, her name is Abby. Abby reached out to us because she was a inspiring first generation college student, meaning she was the first one in her family to apply and attend college.

Her immigrant parents had no experience applying to US colleges and she wasn’t receiving much support from her teachers or school counselors. So she felt alone in the process. She was thinking ahead and connected with US College advisor as a sophomore, she ended up applying early decision to Cornell where she was accepted and received full financial aid.

These are just two examples of the 10,000 clients college advisor has guided through the application process. Our team of over 300 former admission officers and admission experts is ready to help you and your family navigate the college admissions process in one-on-one advising sessions and essay editing.

To learn more about how you can get started with US CollegeAdvisor, scan the QR code to sign up for a free 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team. During this meeting, you’ll receive a preliminary assessment of your academic profile, along with some initial recommendations on what you can do to stand out.

At the end. You’ll also learn more about the premium packages we offer that pair you with an expert who can support you in building your college list, editing your essays, and much more. We’re here for the whole process. All right, so now we’re gonna go back to our q and a, um, but the QR code will remain on the screen for those who haven’t had the opportunity to scan it yet.

Okay. Dr. Yani, are you ready for the next question?

Dr. Ishaani: Yep. I got some water, so I’m ready.

Lonnie: Okay, perfect. So the next question is.

For research, when you’re reaching out to faculty or people doing research, do you just ask that you are interested in researching with them or do you have to state what you want to research at the beginning?

Dr. Ishaani: Great question. Um, I think, you know, like obviously showing something like that, that you’ve like, read their website, you’re actually like being like, hi Dr.

So and so, I wanna research with you warmly, ani, um, like, okay, I’m really interested by your research in X, Y, z. I would love to contribute to it. Um, I’m a high school student and who’s done excellent in these related classes like biology, chemistry, et cetera. Um, and I, I look, you know, I’d love to be paired with one of your PhD or graduate or master’s students to work with them on like one of their projects.

Lonnie: Nice. Thank you. Okay. I’m going through all these really great questions that are being asked, and I know you, you touched on this, but this is very important. Um, how important are the SAT slash ACT scores?

Dr. Ishaani: Um, very important, unfortunately. Um, yeah, I, that’s really the answer. Uh, they’re definitely important.

Again, like I think your GPA and your SAT HD are like probably the, probably like some of the biggest factors in your control, um, that will influence like where you’re able to go. Um, yeah. That being said, like you can be a pre-med at like so many different colleges that you don’t have to go to a top 20 school to be a pre-med.

That’s just not the case.

Lonnie: Yes. Kind of just, um, attaching onto the last thing you that you said, um, someone asked when evaluating colleges for pre-med. What factors matter most beyond prestige and rankings?

Dr. Ishaani: What, when it’s like, when you’re assessing like hood, Hmm. Do I wanna go here for college? Like, would it make me a good pre-med again?

I think what I’ve kind of realized is like, especially like I have co, I have colleagues and co-residents have been to like a variety of different colleges. It’s not like everyone in my residency program went to an Ivy League institution or went to like a top blah, blah, blah institution. But we’re all at the same place now.

Like, it doesn’t, like we’re all here at the same place. Now. Again, it’s, it’s what you do there and like, it’s about your initiative and self-motivation. Um, and like what, you know, do you pursue extracurriculars there? Do you like start new clubs? Really important initiatives while you’re there? That’s what makes you stand out.

Um, so you should think about your interest to like. Hey, I am really interested in like activism in medicine. You probably shouldn’t go to a school that’s like, has no activism, steam. If you’re interested in like that kind of journalism example, you shouldn’t go to like a super stem heavy school. So think about your interests within medicine and does like just as a college as a whole fit with those interests?

Lonnie: Yes. The next question is, what are some big tips you have to get better with writing these type of essays? Uh, since they don’t follow traditional ways like we have to write in school.

Dr. Ishaani: That is such a, actually, such, such a good question. Um, and something that I’ve actually thought long and hard about is I like, have read so many, um, essays as both an advisor and when I was a reader for the, um, for ESE applications.

I, you know, not everyone gets the same education in English. Um. Like, you know, like some schools like, are like high schools. Like they, you even tell that students have like a better, uh, like they’re, they’re, they kind of like tend to have like a more intense and rigorous English. So then like their students are better essay writers, how to actually get better at writing these kinds of essays.

Honestly, I remember when I wrote my college essays, this is the first time in your life that you’re really applying for something in that way. I mean, maybe like when you applied to like an internship, there’s probably a couple internships I applied to in, in high school, but college is the first time you’re actually doing it in your life.

Like kind of applying to something saying how to get good of those things. So I think remember like this is the first time you’re doing it in your life. And the first time of many, you’ll write so many cover letters. When you get into college, you’ll write these same essays again. But for medical school and medical school, you write these same kind of like, why do I wanna go hear essays for residency and residency, write them for fellowship.

Um, so how to actually get better at them is just. To like write them. Um, I think also like reading good essays, uh, I always recommend like, if you wanna be a better writer, you know, the words that come out of you are kind of affected by the words that you put into your brain. So I always recommend, um.

High school student. And that’s what my parents kind of quote unquote made me do. But I’m really grateful for it. It made me read a lot of creative nonfiction as in high school. So they would kind of like force me to read like a New York Times article every single day. Um, and at the time I was like, oh, it’s so annoying.

But they’re like, no, you just have to like read these strong creative nonfiction short form pieces. ’cause that’s like how much so much of writing and they can be in like the business section, the fashion section, the art section, the opinions. So just trying to read like how do people write? Well, it’ll make you a better writer.

Lonnie: That’s an excellent tip. I love that. That is great. I hope you all, um, definitely got that really valuable piece of advice. Um, our next question says, what should I consider when choosing between a traditional medical pathway or BS MD program?

Dr. Ishaani: Yeah, I think. First of all, it’s really important to like apply to BSMD programs.

Like if you can, it’s great, but don’t have the mindset of BSMD or bus. Like most doctors do not go to BSM through BSMD programs. It’s just like a very small group of us, um, who are lucky enough and to get into these programs, um, when we’re in high school. Um, but other than that, like just I think with BSMD programs, just try your best apply to them.

But remember that they’re ultra competitive. They’re like, like I think, you know, like they’re, they’re, they’re kind of at the same, uh, competitiveness level as like an any Ivy League school, you know, the acceptance rate, probably like less than 5%. Um, so just apply, do your best, and then if you don’t get into them, then you can do the normal preread amount, which is what most people do.

So, yeah.

Lonnie: Great. Um, a lot of curiosity still about your application when you were a high school student.

Dr. Ishaani: Mm-hmm.

Lonnie: Um, so what do you think made you stand out as a strong applicant?

Dr. Ishaani: Yeah, I think what made me stand out is I think I had a variety of, like, I, I kind of put you guys my extracurriculars. They’re as, as you kind of like heard, they’re like in a lot of different unrelated spaces.

So I think in my application to Brown, I was really kind of sh able to show myself as like this very like, multifaceted person. Like not very much a one trick pony. Like I talked about, you know, in fencing, like there’s sort of like unique personalities and how you kind of, but used to like jelling with people of like really like unique and like quirky ways.

I talk about like how jazz kind of, and improvisation made me like better with dealing with ambiguity and there not being right or wrong answers just in life in general. Um, I talked about the women in STEM club and like how I love being a woman in stem. Um. But I think what really if I was like to like really reflect in hindsight, like what made me stand out, I also in high school did, I took AP computer science as a junior and I um, did like I, my high school this thing called like we respectively were a senior and you like TA’ed classes as in the high school level.

So I kind of like TA’ed, um, my AP computer science class as a senior. So I was able to kind of like speak on this computer science background and how I wanted to bring computer science and like be at the intersection of computer science and medicine. And I think that like having that niche is what made, really made me stand out.

Lonnie: I love that. Thank you for sharing. I know there was a lot of curiosity, um, about that. So thank you for answering. And our next question is someone, uh, asked how can I balance the path of medicine along with my personal life?

Dr. Ishaani: That’s a really great question and something that I’m trying to answer every single day.

Um, it definitely can be done. I don’t think medicine, um, negatively impacts your personal life. But of course, I think like with every career you make, like, uh, you know, it’s, I don’t, how do I answer this question? I think it’s like a, it’s like a very thoughtful and insightful question from a high schooler.

This is, I definitely was not thinking about this in high school, um, about my personal life. Um, uh, I think he, like every, every like, you know, like high achieving career, you’re gonna be working hard in your twenties, and that’s true of people in finance. That’s true of people in tech. That’s true of people.

Maybe tech depends on where you’re in tech. Um, and then also people in medicine, like you’re working your butt off in your twenties. Um, I always tell myself I’d rather really work really hard in my twenties and take a little bit easier in my like forties than have it the other way around. Um, but how do you balance it with your personal life?

You just kind of make it work. You find the time, you realize what’s important to you. That’s a lot of like what maturing and, and growing up is, is like what you’re willing to sacrifice and what you’re not. And I think for different people it’s different things. I think for some people in medicine, like who they really want a certain career in a certain way, they’re gonna be working as a resident like 78 hours a week and going home and doing research on top of that.

Um, ’cause it’s important to them. Or if there are people that are like, you know what, I just wanna clock in and clock out and be an amazing doctor and like clinically be fantastic, but I don’t, I don’t care to do research as a physician. They’re not gonna go home and doing research. Um, and as you get old you kind of realize what things are important to you.

Um. And I think, like, did I think about this when I was 16, 17? No. Did I think I wanted to be just the best at everything because I just wanted to be the best. Like I, I think when you’re younger, you wanna be amazing for the sake of being amazing, but then as you get older you kind of realize that takes time.

And if you’re like willing to put in that time and if that’s worth it for you. So very thoughtful question and something that I’m like definitely reflecting on when I think about my own career every single day.

Lonnie: Yeah. And then, I mean, kind of on the personal life, someone wanted to know, like when you are in medical, medical school, like do you have a personal life or is it just really all schooling?

Dr. Ishaani: Oh my God, no. Medical school, I had a, I had so much fun in medical school. I had such great friends. I had such a, I had like a lively social life, um, medical school. I mean, I’m in residency now, which. The hours are so much worse. So medical school in hindsight, cakewalk, the hardest part of your career in medicine will be residency.

It will not be medical school, I promise you. Um, I think medical school is stressful in its own ways and it’s like hurdles of like, but I mean residency, like right now, like when I’m working these hours and that’s like what’s really putting me through the ringer. I feel like my personal life has been most affected as a resident, not as a medical student.

Lonnie: Yes, yes. Good luck. Good luck. Hang in there. You’re, you’re, you’re making impact and I love what you shared just around like being in your twenties and like really working hard so that when you get into your later years in life, you kind of can take things a little more at ease. I love that. That was great.

Um, I think this will be our last question for our webinar and it says I want to be a doctor in the future, but I’m not very interested in the maths or biology aspect of it. Would I still be able to follow my goal?

Dr. Ishaani: I think a hundred percent, yes. Um, like if I ask, if you asked me how much math and like high school level biology used in my work day to day right now, like zero.

I think clinical medicine, like, I, I think what’s kind of silly about medicine is all these prereqs you have to do is like a pre-med, like organic chemistry and like physics. Like if you have physics pre-req, I use zero physics in like I am sure maybe someone who’s like a radiation oncologist, like has a lot of physics underlying their work.

But I use zero physics. I use, I don’t think about organic chemistry ever. Um, that being said, are they like pre-reqs that they kind of like mean weed out courses that are just part of the pre-med journey? Just ’cause. Yes, but as long as you, you can do good enough on them, but you shouldn’t feel like if I’m bad at them, therefore I cannot, I can’t be a doctor.

Like it’ll make me a worse doctor. That’s not true at all.

Lonnie: Great. Awesome. Thank you for answering that and audience, that now moves us to the end of our webinar. Thank you Dr. Ishaani, for all your insight, your expertise, going down memory lane to share about your application process. I know that everything you shared was valuable to our audience.

And with that said, everyone, this now concludes our webinar. There will be an additional prompt at the screen if you were not able to download the QR code, which again allows you to have a free 60 minute, um, assessment with our admission specialist. With that said, thank you all. Have a great night. Bye.

Dr. Ishaani: Bye everyone.

Bye bye.