Standing Out in Pre-Med Admissions with a UPenn MD Candidate

Webinar Transcription

2025-04-17 – Standing Out in Pre-Med Admissions with a UPenn MD Candidate

Lydia: Hello everyone. Welcome to, “Standing out in Pre-Med Admissions with a UPenn MD Candidate.” My name is Lydia Hollon and I am going to be your moderator tonight. I’m a senior advisor at CollegeAdvisor and have been with the company for about four years now. And in addition to advising students, I’m the co-captain of our essay review team and a proud graduate of New York University.

In addition to my work with CollegeAdvisor, I’m an education consultant and a former high school teacher. To orient everyone with the webinar timing for tonight, we’re going to start off with a presentation, then answer your questions in a live q and a on the sidebar. You can download our slides and start submitting questions in the q and a tab.

We’ll also be recording this session so that you can review the webinar again later. Now let’s meet our presenter.

Mattia: Hi everyone. My name is Mattia Mahmoud. I am a, um. Fourth year MD PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania. So I’m in the, uh, medical scientist training program. Um, I’m originally from North Carolina.

Um, I did a undergrad at Harvard College where I studied applied mathematics, and then between undergrad and studying med school at University of Pennsylvania, I did a master’s in philosophy in epidemiology at the University of Cambridge in England. Looking forward to being here to present the slides, the information, and then answering any questions people may have.

Lydia: Great. So before we get into the presentation, we’re gonna do a quick poll to get an idea of who is joining us tonight. And, uh, while you all, uh, say what grade you’re in, I’m curious, Mattia, what was your favorite thing about attending Harvard College and how do you think it prepared you for your MD program?

Mattia: Yeah, that’s a great question. Um, I have to say I’m very biased, but I love my four years at Harvard. Um, it was like an amazing college experience. I would say one of the highlights of going to college at Harvard is, um, the housing system. So, um, after your first year, you’re placed into one of the 12 houses, um, at Harvard College.

Um, and so I lived in Adam’s house for three years and it’s wonderful. Like, I would say like a mini community within the larger college community. It’s like a home with. A home away from home. And so I got really close with the other people that lived in, in my house. So I would say the housing system is a huge plus.

Um,

Lydia: great. Um. Yeah, that, that sounds awesome. I, I know that, um, people that I know that attended Harvard and other schools that have similar kind of housing systems speak highly of it. That’s great. Um, so looking at the responses to the poll, we have 2% in eighth grade, 32% in ninth grade, 29% in 10th grade, 29% in 11th grade, 6% in 12th, and 2% in the other category.

So I’ll go ahead and pass it off to you. And remember, as we go through the presentation, you all are free to continue submitting questions on the q and a tab. We’ll just get to those at the end of the presentation. Awesome. Oh,

Mattia: sorry, I think we were both looking at the same time. Go ahead. Um, awesome. So, um.

Like Lydia said. So I was pre-med in college, um, and so I knew that I wanted to go to medical school and so, um, there’s a wide range of what it means to be pre-med. Um, and we’ll go over some of the basics here, but, um, just know that it’s not a one size fits all. Um. So just before I get into the nitty gritty, I just want you to, you know, feel prepared that when you go to college and you decide to be pre-med, um, there’s a variety of different ways to go about it, um, after you do kind of the core classes.

So what does it mean to be on a pre-med track? Um. Basically the short answer means that you attend, you intend to go to medical school after your undergraduate studies. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re gonna go directly after undergrad. You could take anywhere from zero to however ever gap years you wanna take.

But the idea is that you’ll be going to medical school after your undergraduate studies. Um, you don’t have to do a specific major or. Um, in the case for me, going to Harvard concentration, um, to be pre-med, uh, rather, you just need to do a set of required and recommended courses that give you the foundational knowledge and skills needed to not only get accepted into medical school, but also to do well in medical school.

Um, so you can be pre-med and study sociology, pre-med and study English, pre-med study chemistry, um, really, you know, your major is what you wanna study in college. And then pre-med is just the class that you have to take to. You know, do well on the mcat, apply to medical school and also do well in medical school.

Um, can you pursue a pre-med path without being an official pre-med major in college? Again, there isn’t necessarily anything such as a pre-med major. Um, there are some majors of course, that can overlap heavily with the pre-med requirements that you have to take. So, for example, at Harvard’s, like some, um.

Concentrations such as, um, integrative biology or human developmental and regenerative biology. A lot of the requirements for the concentration overlap with what you need to do to apply to medical school. And so, you know, they had a little bit more elective time to take, you know, courses that weren’t necessarily in their major, but they were interested in exploring and learning.

Um, but I just want to reiterate that there isn’t such thing as a pre-med major. Um. However, you do have to take certain courses, um, to apply to medical school. Um, so things such as biology, chemistry, oftentimes you have to take two semesters of biology, two semesters, I think sometimes two or three semesters of chemistry, uh, you know, two semesters of physics, math, English, and then a biochemistry course depending on if your school has sort of an integrated chemistry, biochemistry sequence.

Um, and so again, I would say there’s no such thing as a pre-med major. You go, you study what you wanna study in college, and then you also take your pre-med classes. Um, in terms of picking a college, that will set you up for success in the pre-med track. Um, a lot of people, uh, go to coll, um, go to medical school depending on whatever college they went to and their college background.

So I’d say the biggest thing is, um. I am sure for a lot of the people in this call, the college that you’re applying to will have people who have successfully applied to and gone into medical school and are now medical students or beyond. And so I would say look at your colleges of medical school acceptance rates and alumni network to kind of get a sense of, um.

You know what percent of people go straight to medical school after college, take a couple gap years. What do they do in those gap years? Um, in what ways do the schools sort of support students who are pre-med? Because oftentimes this information isn’t readily available. And so, um. You’ll have to kind of ask your, um, the schools that you’re interested in and maybe some students that you know at those schools to kind of give you a better sense of what it’s like to be pre-med at the school.

But for most of, most of the time, um, your school will have a specific sense of, you know, what you have to do. Generally recommended, uh, sequence of courses and semesters that you take certain pre-med courses in order to set yourself up well for the next step. Um, are there any specific college programs or resources, um, you should look for if you want to become a doctor?

Again, it’s so varied and which is awesome ’cause you know, you can kind of pick and cater certain activities and extracurriculars, um, for your personality, for your interests within medicine. Um, and so I would say the biggest thing is just getting that exposure. Shadowing doctors at your local hospitals or clinics to kind of get a sense of what the workflow is like in being a doctor.

Um. Volunteering, um, at health clinics as well, so you can kind of get a firsthand experience of what it means to be, you know, patient-centric in a patient-centric field. Research opportunities as well, I think is an opportunity to get a sense of what it means to ask a clinical question and then follow through from the beginning to the end.

And then, of course, there’s dedicated pre-med advising programs and career services that you, um. Can reach out to, um, in college specifically, maybe less so at your stage, um, in high school. But I would say the biggest thing is, um, just kind of getting a sense of, is this career right for me? And if so, then getting a sense of okay, sort of what are, what are my interests within medicine?

Um, ’cause it’s very important to sort of start crafting your narrative of why medicine and having a why medicine answer that’s, you know, unique to your background and your experiences. So in terms of high school courses that will best prepare you for being pre-med track in college, again, with the courses that you have to take in medical school that help you, uh, sorry, in college that help you prepare for medical school, similar courses like that in high school will help then prepare you and to set you up for success in doing well in those pre-med required courses.

So anything like honors or AP biology, honors chemistry. Physics, um, calculus is a big one. A B, B, C or maybe even higher depending on what my classes, your, uh, high school offers. And then statistics in English, having strong reading and writing comprehension, um, and strong analytical skills are very important to doing well, um, as a pre-med in, in college in the future.

Sure.

Lydia: All right, so we’re gonna do another quick poll to figure out where you all are in the application process. I’ll go ahead and open that, and while we give you all a chance to answer that question, I’m curious, what was the thing that surprised you most about going to medical school that maybe you didn’t expect when you were a pre-med student?

Mattia: Yeah, that’s a great question. I would say the biggest thing I, that shocked me was the volume, the sheer volume of material that we were given at the beginning. The um, I think oftentimes people joke that, you know, going into medical school that first semester is like drinking from a fire hose is just a lot and it’s very intense, very fast paced.

And I would say the. I was thankful that, you know, I had started even in high school developing strong study habits and sort of test taking strategies and stress management, uh, skills that helped me be able to not just cope the first semester, but like do well and thrive. And so I would say the biggest thing is like, I.

At the high school stage, and even in colleges, like getting a sense of how you best study. I know some people they best study in the morning, some people best study in the evening. Some people you like use flashcards, some people take notes. So I would say like, um, to your, to your question, I think a big takeaway for people now, it’s just getting, you know, having really good study habits.

Um, because the first semester it’s a lot of material and it, and it gets better. You know, everyone is then at that same stage in the beginning.

Lydia: Yeah, that’s really helpful context and yeah, I think, I think a lot of us have heard that it is really intense in medical school, but I think it’s helpful to those who are interested in potentially pursuing that path to get an idea of, you know, ways that you can prepare even as a high schooler for that.

For that, um, experience. Mm-hmm. So looking at the responses, we got 33% have not started, which isn’t too surprising since we’ve got a lot of underclassmen. 51% are researching schools, 7% are working on essays, 5% are getting their application materials together and 4% are already almost done. So I will go ahead and pass it back to you to continue with the presentation.

Cool.

Mattia: Um, so I know a big question that everyone has at this stage is, you know, how important are grades and standardized test scores in high school for future pre-med, um, path? And I would say the biggest thing is, um, they’re helpful. I. Especially now for college admissions, right? So taking things one step at a time, you know, focusing on getting into college and doing really well.

Um, but it’s not the end of the roll road. If you have, quote unquote a bad score, maybe an average score, I would say what I alluded to before is like just really honing in on good test taking strategies, good study habits. Because you know, what you start now is how are you gonna continue on in the future.

And I would say that, um, you know. Oftentimes the people who, you know, really diligent about studying hard and, you know, having good tests, taking strategies in high school, they kind of build on that in college. And then what you learned in college, you might refine it a little bit then, then helps build for medical school and beyond.

Um, and again, it also just builds confidence as well, knowing that you know how to take tests. You know, going into medical school, being a doctor, you’re gonna be a lifelong learner, right? And so understanding how you learn best and your time management skills are so, so, so important.

Um, what should I demonstrate in my college application to demonstrate interest, um, in pursuing a career in medicine? So again, everything we’ve talked about up to this point, having strong grades, especially in the sciences, volunteering, clinical shadowing, doesn’t have to necessarily be that specifically, but just having reasons for why you wanna be a doctor and showing people that, Hey, I’ve.

Put myself in situations that are patient centric. Patient, patient facing, excuse me, that show, you know, I. Um, that you’re able to, you know, work well with other people, use your analytical skills, um, and things like that, that you learned in high school and eventually in college. And the last thing, um, is having a cohesive narrative.

It’s so, so and so important to be able to explain and articulate why medicine and having your reasons, um, because I think that you’re gonna get asked that a lot. And so I think just already kind of having in the back of your me, like head, like, why is this important? You don’t necessarily need to know.

What specialty you wanna do at this point in, um, in your career and your learning. But I think just again, having a well-rounded narrative to be able to articulate from anywhere from a doctor that you shadow in the hospital clinic or to a classmate, to a family, me member y medicine. Um, in terms of the extracurriculars, again, that’s the second thing.

After grades, people often wanna know what extracurriculars can I do to, um, make myself shine in my application for pre-med colleges? Um, again. Clinical shadowing, volunteering, things that show admissions committees that you specifically have tried out and have had exposure to people in the medical career.

Um, I would say that that’s super important. Um, community service, again, this is a patient-centered, um, career and so showing that you. Love and you have a passion for helping other people and meeting the needs of other people is gonna be important. Leadership, again, doctors are often pillars in their community.

So having some sort of leadership, um, having experience with being a leader in your club or in your community, or if that’s a faith-based organization, I think that that’s important. Um, and then I just threw in some examples, you know, science, so. Whether that’s science Olympiad or things like that, um, I think you can show interest in your, in, in using analytical skills and then other extracurriculars such as debate and public speaking, sports, um, arts, music or any creative pursuits, things that make you show that you’re human.

You’re not just a robot who you know wants to out patients, but that you have other interests outside of medicine that will make you a better doctor, that allow you to relate to your future patients. In terms of thinking about, um, who to ask for letter of recommendation for a pre-med program, this is so important.

I would say that you wanna choose quality over quantity. That’s the name of the game. Um, and you want to. Have people who know you well, who will write strong, enthusiastic letters on your behalf to write you a letter for a pre-med program. People who know you best. Um, and I would say another thing is try and get people in different spheres of your life or maybe different classes, or have seen you in different settings, write you your, uh, letters recommendation.

You don’t want all the letters to say the same thing of, you know, as an example, you know. Johnny was, um, great at math. You did well in school. Like you don’t want all the letters to say the same thing. You want each letter to highlight different strengths of yours and different aspects of your personality.

Uh, that again, will all add up to a cohesive narrative about who you are and what you’re about. I.

In terms of final financial aid work for pre-med students and what resources are available? It’s still, it’s pretty standard nowadays. It’s just like any other college student. Nothing has changed at this point. Um, so you might look at things such as federal or school-based or private scholarships or private loans.

When you think about financing, um. Uh, college at this stage of the game, I would, again, I would say at this point, just doing your research about what private scholarships are available, what loans are available, and then the school that you’re interested in applying to has any spec, school specific scholarships and loans.

You should definitely, um, ask around and do your research about that.

Lydia: Okay, so that concludes the presentation portion of the webinar. I hope that you found that information helpful. Remember, you can download the slides from the link in the handouts tab. Now we’re gonna go into the live q and a where I will read out some of the questions that you all have been asking and.

We’ll get an opportunity to answer them. Uh, also, I know that there are a lot of people joining us tonight, so just keep in mind, we may not get a chance to get to everyone’s question. Um, but we are working as hard as we can to try and answer as many questions in the chat and in the live q and a as possible.

So the first question that we have, um, this is kind of related to what you were talking about with, um, being able to major in a lot of different things when it comes to being pre-med. Um, this student wants to understand what made you want to major in math and what are some of the best majors to choose when deciding to be pre.

Mattia: That’s a great question. So again, like I alluded to at the earlier part of my presentation, I really picked a major that, you know, I was interested in. Um, I like growing up, I always like loved math and you know, I was always kind of like the girl in high school that just tried to max out on the math classes that were available to me in high school.

So I think. Going into college, it was like no different. I knew I wanted to be pre-med, but I also wanted to continue to really sharpen and hone in on my, um, uh, analytical skills. And so that’s kind of why I picked math. Um, it didn’t overlap tremendously with the pre-med courses that were required that I have to take, but I definitely enjoyed, um, studying applied math.

Um, in terms of just figuring out what major is best, again, pick purely off your interest. I have some friends who were pre-med. We were pre-med together in college and they studied anthropology. They’re medical in medical school now. So it really just depends on what you’re interested in. Um, and you want that passion to really bleed out.

So when you’re applying to medical school and you interviewers ask you about certain classes and letters or recommendation, you really want your personality to shine through.

Lydia: Okay. So another question that we’ve got is, um, do you think that it is feasible to participate in multiple extracurriculars that align with pre-med as well as doing something like a sport? Is it difficult to do both of those things or is it not an issue if you primarily focus on something like a sport while also doing extracurriculars?

If you wanna be pre-med.

Mattia: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think that’s honestly like the million dollar question of, you know. Especially thinking about pre-med, like, you know, we’re all multifaceted people. We have very different interests. But again, thinking about that co, co cohesive narrative, so at least for me in high school, I was on sports teams.

I played musical instruments. Um, I was involved in, um, my local church. I did other extracurriculars at church and um, at school, excuse me. And so I would say the biggest thing is really time management and figuring out like what is priority right now. Versus what are some things that you can have like sort of in the long term in the background and so things like shadowing and pre-med related extracurriculars, you know, they don’t need to be super intense over one year.

You can kind of spread them out over your college, uh, sorry, excuse me. Your high school career versus maybe, for example, if you’re a fall sport, that’s when you super intense during the fall season, but the winter and spring you have a little bit more time. So I would say the biggest thing is, you know, figure out what you’re.

Interested in, you’re excited about, but kind of have a sense of maybe what are some things that you can prioritize maybe during this season, but then the next season you can maybe it it’s, you know, less of a priority, you can bring out other things that are important. Um, I feel like that’s kind of like the best way to, you know, do all the things that you’re interested in without, you know, burning out.

So.

Lydia: Got it. And are there any lesser known opportunities that you would recommend for students that are interested in pre-med? For example, summer programs, internships, volunteering?

Mattia: Yeah, I would say there’s usually some specifically for, I know colleges in the summer, it’s, you know, no one other than people who are maybe doing summer school or whatnot.

Oftentimes they have. Know summer enrichment programs for students who are maybe interested in the sciences or engineering. Um, and just maybe wanna learn a little bit more about that particular school. So I know for me, my, between my sophomore and junior year of high school, I did a four week, uh, science enrichment program at Princeton.

And so it allowed me to be on printed campus for the summer. While also, you know, being with other high schoolers, meeting other people from other places around the country in the world. And I thought that was a great opportunity to kind of get my feet wet a little bit in terms of maybe the rigor of college, um, classes while also being with other people in my, uh, sort of my age group.

So things like that, I think, you know, doing your research early, ’cause oftentimes those applications happen. Uh, the year, the year before, um, maybe the summer before. So things like that. I would say the biggest thing is just kind of getting a sense of maybe what you wanna do over your summers and, um, plan ahead.

I think that’s the best way to go about with some of these extracurriculars that are not as well known or advertised.

Lydia: And related to extracurriculars. Um, I’m seeing a few questions about if extracurriculars are the most important thing or not that important when it comes to college applications. Um, is that something that could potentially make up for maybe a weaker GPA?

Mattia: Um, I think that’s a great question. Again, I think thinking about. You know, grades in school, standardized test scores, letters, recommendation extracurriculars, they all kind of add up to that cohesive narrative of who you are. Like college admissions are gonna, you know, take all these things into consideration.

And so I would say like that is a great way to maybe, um, I. Sort of boost your chances of getting into particular school. Maybe your standardized test scores aren’t so high. I would say the biggest thing is really make sure that you can have strong letters, recommendation from people who know you and highlight different aspects of who you are.

And then also making sure that your extracurriculars really stand out and, um. Your passion bleeds through them. I would say the biggest thing, like I wouldn’t do an extracurricular just for the sake of doing it. Like you really wanna be passionate about it, and so that when you write about it in your college application, whether the extracurricular section or in your personal statement, it.

You know, it, it’s evident to the people who read it like, oh, this student is really passionate about this and wants to enact change in this way. So I think that’s a great way, but I would just say, just be mindful of making sure that whatever extracurriculars you do, they line up with what you’re interested in, your passions and things like that.

Lydia: Yeah, I completely agree. And I think, you know, a lot of students think that if you wanna be pre-med, there’s like a cookie cutter route. Yeah. But there are so many students that Yeah. Can pursue the pre-med route, even if they didn’t necessarily do the, you know. HOSA and research and all, all, all of those things that everybody thinks of, but you definitely want there to be a clear example of why you’re pursuing medicine before you’re applying as pre-med, whether that’s, you know, volunteering that you’ve done or just a general interest in science that you’ve demonstrated or research.

Um. There are a lot of ways to get there, but you want there to be a clear, um, connection to the extracurriculars

Mattia: that you’ve done. Mm-hmm. Or shadowing, or if there’s an extracurricular that’s pre-med related, maybe having that supervisor, whoever is in charge of whatever that extracurricular is, write you a strong letter of recommendation.

’cause then it brings out that, that aspect of you that maybe isn’t, you can’t see on a transcript, you know, or test score. Yeah.

Lydia: And, uh, another question that we have related to research is the students saying, you know, I’ve applied to upwards of 50 research labs and have been getting rejected by all of them.

Do you have any recommendations for how someone can find their way into research opportunities?

Mattia: Yeah, that’s a great question. Also, I’m sorry that you’ve had to apply to so many. 50 is a lot. Um, I would say the biggest thing is, um, I’m not really sure who you’re applying, like. If this is at your school or other places, I would say maybe you cast a wide net, doesn’t necessarily have to be at your particular school or institution.

Maybe apply to maybe other schools in the area. And I think that can kind of broaden your network of, you know, people and mentors that can write you letter and recommendation. And then also it’s like if it’s opportunities maybe in the email when you’re reaching out to maybe. Meet over Zoom or meet in person, I would say maybe I would encourage you to do that as well.

’cause I think oftentimes it’s a lot harder to reject a person when you are face to face with them and you kind of see their interest in your passions versus, you know, just an over a cold email and they may not recognize, you know, your email address or things like that. So I would say start with, you know, kind of branching out a little bit more.

Lydia: I am seeing a lot of questions here about AP courses. Should I take AP Bio or AP Chemistry? Do I need to take APS at all? Mm-hmm. How important are AP classes and should you be prioritizing certain kinds of AP courses if you wanna be pre-med?

Mattia: That’s a great question. Um. I would say, um, try high school is a great opportunity to really challenge yourself.

Um, and so I would say depending on, you know, your interests within the sciences, for example, um, if you’re interested in biology, take the honors biology, take the AP biology. If you’re not so interested in chemistry, you can take the honors chemistry. You don’t necessarily have to do AP Chemistry. But I would say the biggest thing is really challenge yourself and push yourself in the interests.

And things that you’re interested in. I know for me, for example, I pushed myself, made sure I was able to take all of the math that was available, and then I was also in the IB program, so I took all the IB classes that were available and tried to maximize as many AP classes that I took. So I would say definitely, I would less see it as a, oh, do I have to?

But figuring out what you’re interested in and challenge yourself in those areas.

Lydia: Definitely. And as someone who’s worked with a lot of students who, uh, wanted to be pre-med mm-hmm. Or went to college and ended up being pre-med, I can say that taking AP Science courses can be a great way to figure out if that’s something that you actually wanna do.

Mm-hmm. Um, and you know, I’ve worked with students that maybe really struggled in their AP science classes and that kind of caused them to evaluate, is this something that I actually want to spend? Eight years of my life doing between undergrad and medical school before I actually get to work with patients.

Um, so not to say that you have to be, uh, strongest in math and science in order to be pre-med, but it’s definitely important to make sure you’re challenging yourself in those areas to prove not only to colleges, but also to yourself that you’re ready to take on that kind of rigor that you’re gonna be required to do for pre-med and medical school.

Mattia: Mm-hmm.

Lydia: Definitely. Um, so another question that we have is, do you have any specific resources that you would recommend for students that are looking for volunteer opportunities?

Mattia: That’s a great question. I would say struggling, starting with maybe emailing doctors and specific specialties that you’re interested in at local hospitals or clinics that like near where you live.

I would say that’s the biggest thing. Again, I would say that with a lot of the questions that we’re getting, it’s like. How do I do this? How do I do that? I think really asking yourself, what am I passionate about? What am I interested in? And then having that really guide, you know, your next steps of who you email, who you shadow, things like that.

And so for me, I knew I was, um, potentially interested in surgery when I was in high school. So I emailed, uh, local breast surgeons at the hospital near where I lived. Um, and. You know, was able to shadow in the OR and in the clinic and really talk to them when I was shadowing and having them see my interest in, you know, my background.

Like that really helped in connecting with those people. So I would say the biggest thing is, um, emailing people in specialties that you could be interested in at this point, again, you don’t need to know exactly what you wanna do, but I would say just get a sense of what you might be interested in. Just start emailing.

You can email. It doesn’t have to necessarily be exactly, um, medicine related, but things that are kind of medicine adjacent, things that are, again, helping people patient centric. Um, so I would say you can start out with thinking about those things.

Lydia: Yeah, I agree. I think, you know, reaching out to doctors’ offices and mm-hmm.

Um, you know, medical institutions, whether that’s a hospital or a senior living facility or things like that can be great options. Mm-hmm. Um, but also, you know, not every volunteer opportunity that you pursue in preparation for pre-med has to be in a hospital or some sort of healthcare setting, you know?

Getting experience, just serving your community can also be a really compelling part of your application. And I think sometimes students, regardless of what they planning, they’re planning on studying in college, kind of assume that if you’re going to major in something, if you’re gonna do pre-med or pre-law, that means that every activity that you do has to be perfectly aligned with that specific thing, but that’s not necessarily the case.

You can be pre-med, but also be really passionate about dance, or you can be pre-med. And also do volunteering that isn’t always related to healthcare. Mm. You definitely wanna have some alignment with that. That shows that you’ve spent time really thinking about it and exposing yourself to that. Mm-hmm.

Feel confident that that’s the path that you wanna pursue, but that doesn’t mean that everything that you do has to be 24/7 revolving around STEM all day, every day.

Mattia: Mm-hmm.

Lydia: So, um, another question that we have, I know you were talking about specialties. Um, and I know you said that that’s not something that you have to decide just yet, but we, I have seen a few people ask, how do you decide which specialty you’re going to pursue?

Is that something I should be thinking about right now?

Mattia: That’s a great question. I would say the biggest thing is short answer is no. You don’t need to know now. You honestly don’t even need to know. Officially until your third year of medical school. So I would say at this point, I would highly recommend just sort of being as undifferentiated as possible and really just getting exposure, what you like, what you don’t like, and kind of just taking notes of that so that when you get to medical school, the decision to choose one specialty over the other becomes more clear because you’ve had that exposure.

You kind of know what the day-to-day operations are like. Is it more patient facing? Is it less patient facing? Are you in the or are you mostly in clinic? So I would say just, you know. Keep an open mind at this point. Um,

Lydia: yeah. Uh, I’m also seeing some questions about majors again and. How should you think about what to major in, in the case that you maybe don’t get accepted into medical school?

How should you think about what your plan B should be?

Mattia: Yeah, I think that’s a, I think, honestly, that’s a great question. Um, I would say the biggest thing is, again, go with your interest. Lead by your interests. Um, especially if people are applying to more liberal arts colleges and universities. Um, there’s so many different majors that you can do and I think college is such a unique time in one’s life when you can really study what you’re interested in, um, and really learn and grow, not just in the classroom, but also outside the classroom, doing extracurriculars, doing hobbies, doing activities that will allow you to grow and learn and, um, have that exchange of ideas with classmates and professors.

Um. Before, you know, do graduate school or potentially if you decide not to be pre-med, you know, enter into the workforce. And so I’d say the biggest thing is really just asking yourself, what major am I interested in? But like, what major will also allow me to have the opportunities to be exposed to certain ideas, um, or travels or whatnot or, you know, lab opportunities that not only would help me in a potential pre-med career, but also in just a career in the workforce.

Um, if you decide not to be pre-med. Correct.

Lydia: Yeah, definitely. You know, go, go with the things that you’re interested in. You know, think ahead about what could you see yourself doing if you’re not in medicine. So if you really are passionate about science, like major in that, um, or if you see yourself maybe doing something that.

It’s not really related to medicine. If you don’t end up being, um, a doctor, you can major in things outside of the STEM realm and still be a pre-med student. I’ve seen students that are business majors. I was a politics major when I was pre-med. Um, and there are ways to still balance. Yeah. So it doesn’t have to be I’m a biology major or chemistry major, physics major.

Um, those aren’t your only options if you a premed student. I’m seeing lots of questions about passion projects and do we, and about if you need to do one in order to be competitive for college and also if there are any suggestions maybe that you have about what might be some good passion projects for students that are interested in pre-med.

Mattia: Yeah, that’s a great question. I would say, um. Think about, you know, feasibility. Like, I think figuring out what passion project you’re interested in executing largely depends on where you are in high school career. Are you a freshman or are you a senior, or are you a junior? Um, your bandwidth in relation to the other extracurriculars and sports and music and arts that you’re interested in.

And maybe there’s a way that you can combine them. So I’ll give an example. This is not something people necessarily have to do, but something that. I know friends that I have currently have done in the past is in high school. I had a friend who, um, she was, you know, had. Been trained classically in violin for most of her life.

And she knew she was pre-med. She wanted to go to medical school eventually. And so she decided on Saturday mornings for just a couple hours, like every other Saturday to, you know, play music to um, uh, sort of older folks at the nursing home. And so that was a great way to combine her interest in music, but also something that, you know, was more me patient facing.

Um, and she had to practice anyway, so she was like, let me just go in, you know. Playing music to people who maybe don’t really have visitors in their nursing home or maybe just need to have a simple conversation and just, you know, be with someone who is like, doesn’t see them every day, just like a new face.

And so I would say just maybe find ways to combine, uh, interest that you already have, that you’re already doing, um, so that you’re not necessarily thinking of something. From the ground up. And so that was just a great way that was, you know, low preparation for her. Um, and then also wasn’t a large time commitment for her.

It was like maybe, you know, twice a month for maybe anyone from one to three hours. She would just go in the morning and play music, answer any questions about music or the songs, or take recommendations and then just hang out and then go, so.

Lydia: Yeah, I, I would say when it comes to passion projects, there’s not a right or wrong answer.

Mm-hmm. For what you can pursue. Even if you are pre-med, that doesn’t mean that you have to limit yourself. Um. I think sometimes people forget the passion part of Passion project. It really should be something that you feel strongly about. Um, because what makes a passion project stand out isn’t that it focuses on a specific issue necessarily, but that it’s something that you clearly care about enough that you are willing to really pour yourself into it.

When you are willing to pour yourself into something and spend a lot of time dedicated to that work, that usually manifests in you having successful results. So whether that’s like the example that you gave Mattia of, you know, playing music at a senior senior care facility, um, and having a real passion for, you know, medicine and music, or it’s something like, you know.

Maybe conservation and you create like a program where you, um, do beach cleanups every Saturday or something like that. It can really be anything, but it needs to be something that you care enough about that you’re willing to invest a lot of time into it. Um, I think some of the best passion projects that I’ve worked with students on, um, are ones that they.

Identified a real gap, um, or a real need in their community, and they focused on addressing that. So whether it’s, you know, oh, there are some patients at this, uh, senior care facility that I’m volunteering at, that they just never get visitors, and they seem to really be having like a lower quality of life as a result of that because they’re not getting interaction, I’m gonna play music for them.

Or it’s, you know, seeing that there is like a large, um, homelessness issue in your community and you decide to. D drives to collect, um, essentials or, you know. Toiletries and things like that for the people in your community. It’s seeing, um, you know, an issue and taking the initiative to create a system to address it.

Um, and then also finding a way that you can scale it so that it can possibly be something that’s bigger than just you doing it, but it could include. You know, the rest of your community or your classmates, and maybe even be something that can be a legacy even after you graduate high school, if there’s a way for it to carry on after you’re gone as well.

Um, those are some of the, you know, kind of a guideline for how passion projects can be taken to the next level. I, um, another question that we have is, when thinking about wanting to go to medical school, how important is it what school you went to for undergrad?

Mattia: That’s a great question. Um, I would say the biggest thing is like.

Doing well in undergrad. Like I, you know, people often think that, oh, if I go to X school compared to this school, it’s gonna give me a better chance of getting into medical school. And that’s just simply not true. I would say doing well in your undergrad classes, you know, try to get as many a’s as possible.

Have a high GPA. Doing well on your mcat, having strong letters of recommendation. Um, if you’re interested in research, having strong research experience, strong research, mentorship, um, I would say those are the biggest things. Your narrative things that you, you know, starting to think about now, you know, and you’re building upon that in undergrad.

That will then help you be successful in medical school admissions. So it’s not a, oh, if I go to this school, I’ll have a better chance than compared to this school. I take, the biggest thing is just trying to maximize the resources of the school that you have in showing that you’re taking initiative, that you’re challenging yourself, that you have good leadership skills, um, people re recommending you highly for medical school.

Good exposure. I would say those are the most important things, um, to set yourself up for, uh, getting into a great medical school.

Lydia: I completely agree. Um, when I’m working with students who are applying to medical school or interested in going to medical school down the line, but are currently applying to undergrad, what I tell them is that.

The college that you go to, um, and its effect on your ability to get into colleges is kind of similar to how the high school that you go to can affect your ability to get into undergrad. You know, it’s not going to make or break it, it’s not like, you know, a college is gonna see that you went to a specific high school and automatically say yes or no to you based on just that fact.

So you could go to Harvard and still not get into most the medical schools that you to, you go to. Hardly anybody knows about, they can get into the medical school of your dreams. Um, but like Mattia said, it’s about taking advantage of your resources. Um, and so if you go to a high school right now, maybe they don’t offer many extracurriculars and they don’t offer any AP classes, you can still get into a really competitive college.

But it’s about demonstrating that you, you’ve taken every opportunity that you have been afforded. You know, maximize that as much as possible and try to create opportunities for yourself with the, uh, resources that you do have. And it’s the same thing in college. You know, if you are given. An option of different colleges to go to and you’re not sure which one to pick?

I think I would say that ideally choosing a college that you feel confident you’re gonna be able to develop strong relationships with professors so that you can get those strong letters of recommendation will be important. Um, going to a college where there will be actual research opportunities so that you can show that that’s something that you’re capable of is definitely helpful.

Um, you know. Going to a college where maybe if you learn better in smaller classes that have smaller class sizes so you can really, um, retain the information more effectively. Those are all things that can be really helpful. Um, but again, that doesn’t mean that you have to go that route. But what I would recommend for most students that are interested in pre-med is.

Don’t necessarily focus so much on the name, but focus on is this school going to give me the opportunities to be the best candidate that I can be? Whether that’s building relationships, taking classes that are gonna prepare you effectively, um, and, you know, getting opportunities outside of the classroom like research or extracurriculars or volunteering that will make you competitive down the line.

Um, another question that we have is kind of personal to you. So what kinds of extracurricular activities did you do when you were in high school that really highlighted your passion for medicine and maybe made you a stronger candidate?

Mattia: That’s a great question. I would say. For me at least, shadowing was a huge part.

Um, and I actually got one of the people that I shadowed in high school to write me a letter of recommendation for college. So shadowing and then, uh, I volunteered a lot, particularly at my local homeless shelter in North Carolina. That was one thing that was important to me. And then also things that are, you know, I was already interested in, in doing.

I found a way to. You know, talk about the extracurriculars and that was interested in, and how, you know, they would make me a great leader in whatever career path, which I knew was pre-med at the time, um, in the future. So, you know, I, I played soccer, I played golf in high school. Um, I played clarinet, I played piano.

Um, I volunteered at, uh, the church that I attended. So all, all things like that I felt like made me a well-rounded person. Um, and gave me a lot of different things to, to talk about in my, um. College essay or in, um, my college interview.

Lydia: Great. So we’re gonna just take a quick pause from the q and a for us to talk a bit about CollegeAdvisor.

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4.1 times more likely to get into Vanderbilt, and 2.7 times more likely to get. Harvard. So increase your odds and take the next step in your college admissions journey by signing up for a free 45 to 60 minute strategy session with an admissions specialist on our team using the QR code on the screen.

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Okay. So another question that I’ve got for you is how can you write an essay that really helps you to stand out from all the other pre-med students that are applying?

Mattia: Oh my gosh, that’s a great question. It’s a highly personal question. Um, I would say it’s, I think, you know, writing the essay. Like that personal statement is a huge part of your college application.

But I would say even before you start writing your essay, like doing some soul searching and kind of figuring out like, what do I want colleges. To know about me, what do I wanna convey? What am I most passionate about? I think if you’re not sure, just like maybe even look at your calendar and see like, what am I spending the most time on?

What am I thinking about the most? I think that will kind of help you, give you some inspiration of what you wanna convey in your college essay. Um, I talked about, um, how. You know, I went on a family vacation to China during the 2008 Summer Olympics, and I talked about the, my experiences there and how it shaped me of who of shaped the sort of person I became after the trip.

And so I, that was a huge part of. My college personal statement and my love of travel and exploring different cultures. And so I would say the biggest thing is just kind of figuring out like what you’re passionate about, like what you wanna convey. It’s so, so, so important. Um, and I don’t think there’s one type of essay that you have to write to assure that you’ll get into a great college.

I think that there’s. You know, different ways that you can go about it. And also feel free to write different drafts, like different subject areas. Um, I, I, before I settled out on my college essay, um, I wrote like four different versions and kind of. Sat and thought about which one felt the made the most sense.

I even also asked my parents, I asked, you know, mentors in high school to kind of get a sense of, you know, what do you think I should write about? Do you have, do you see anything in me that you think is interesting and unique that I can convey to colleges? So I would say also just use the network of people that are in your life to also bounce ideas around.

I think that’s also important.

Lydia: I think that’s great advice. Um, and I know, um, I, I’m the co-captain or one of the co-captains of the essay review team, and so, you know, I think sometimes students get really hung up on, oh, well, is my essay unique enough? Um, and I think focusing on, like the example that you gave mate of like a specific, um, ex, a specific experience that you had can really be helpful in trying to.

Write a story that is different because there are a lot of people who wanna go to college for the same reasons that you do or who want to be premed for the same reasons that you do, but only you have lived your life. Only you can tell your story. So focusing on the specific experiences that brought you to this point.

Can be really compelling and sometimes tell a more unique story than just saying, I wanna be a doctor because I wanna help people. Right. Um, and even with a reason like that, there are a lot of different ways that you can help people. Why is Medicine App that you wanna take in order to do that? And so that takes a lot of introspection.

And I also think the recommendation that you gave about, you know, asking the people in your life, um. You know, how would you describe me? And things like that can be a great starting point to figure out maybe what are the things that would be, um, best for you to talk about in that, um, in that application essay.

Uh, another question that we have is, what are some things that a student should consider to determine whether or not pre-med is the right path?

Mattia: I would say, you know, get as much exposure you can shadow, talking to doctors, asking them why did they pick medicine? Asking them is there things that they wish they knew about being a doctor before they became a doctor.

I think asking them those questions, um, will help give you some perspective of, am I willing to be in training? Am I willing to be in school a little longer than maybe my peers who just go to college and, um, they start working right after? Like, I think these are things that. Um, again, it’s hard to tell at this stage, um, as a teenager, but I would say the biggest thing is just trying to get as much information as you can.

’cause I think the more information you have, the better informed your decision will be, whether you decide to continue to be pre-med or you decide on another career path.

Lydia: Uh, a question kind of related to that, uh, is on student asks, how accurate are shows like Grey’s Anatomy or the Pit on HBO in depicting what it’s like being a doctor?

Mattia: That’s funny. Um, I haven’t personally seen the Pit, so I can’t speak to that show. I have watched Grays and I for a really long time, and I still watch Grays. I will say, I mean, some of the, the cases are, you know. Real life cases, but I think it’s, I wouldn’t look at the daily lives of the residents and think that that’s what your life is gonna look like as a resident.

Um, I think it’s very different. Um, especially like surgical residents for example. A lot of interns will do floor work and then a lot of them, like past intern, year, year in the or. So I wouldn’t look to Grey’s Anatomy to make an informed decision about whether you should be pre-med or not. Um, but I think, I mean, the dramas.

Interesting. Funny, but I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t look to that as your source of exposure. Definitely talk to doctors in real life and shadow. Um, so.

Lydia: Um, another question we have is about letters of rec. So who should I be asking for my letters of recommendation? I’ve heard you’re supposed to ask a science teacher and then a humanities teacher. Is that true? Or should you just pick whoever you know best?

Mattia: I think that’s a great question. Um, I would say p pick people who know you best.

If you’re thinking about a class, uh, a teacher recommendation, think about people. Who knew you well, but also did well in their class. So for me, for example, I asked my math teacher, he actually taught me for pre-calculus and then calculus A, B, B, C. And then also I took calculus three in differential equations my junior year.

And then I did IB for their math. So he taught, he’s seen me from like. Summer before sophomore year and then senior year. So he knew me. He knew me super well, and I also asked my AP US history teacher from junior year to ask me a letter of my recommendation. I thought he knew me well, and he really challenged and pushed my writing and really reading comprehension skills and also did really well in the class.

And then I asked, uh. Uh, someone from the local homeless shelter who was like the, um, volunteer coordinator. I asked him because he knew me well, and then I also asked, um, my clarinet teacher to write me a letter of recommendation. So I felt like it was sort of a well-rounded, um, sort of application going into college.

Lydia: Yeah. And I would say, you know, it, it doesn’t have to be the cookie cutter. Um, yeah. You know. I’m going to go and ask my English teacher and then ask my biology teacher. Um, but like you said, having asking teachers that you have a strong relationship is really important. And that’s why I tell students, you know, if you’re a freshman or a sophomore, think now about, oh, am I like doing enough to really engage with the teachers mm-hmm.

That are teaching me so that they’re gonna have something to say when I’m a junior, like in my. Towards the end of my junior year or senior year, and I’m coming and asking them to write things. You know, as a former teacher, I had a lot, uh, especially in being an English teacher, I had a lot of students that asked me to write their recommendations and I would always try my best to write them.

But sometimes you have a student that, you know, never really stayed after class, never really spoke up during class discussions. And for teachers it can be kind of hard to write a really strong letter of recommendation when you don’t really have any. Or memories with that student. So make sure you’re taking the time to foster those relationships early on.

Um, whether that’s going to their office hours or tutoring in their class. Just speaking up more in class discussions. All those things can really help you. Um. And you know, if you happen to be lucky enough to have a teacher that teaches a subject that you did well in and they’re a sponsor for a club or something like that, and so they’ve been able to see you in an additional capacity, that can also be really helpful as well.

Um, and I saw some one student ask if you can ask like a coach or something like that as a letter of recommendation. Um, and Mattia, I think you mentioned. Yeah, you can. That’s great.

Mattia: Yeah, you can. Yeah. Yeah. And I, yeah, I think just, you know. Thinking about again, your narrative, what do you want colleges to know?

Um, and think about you when they see their, your application. And I think that can also be a great way to guide who you ask to write you a strong letter of recommendation.

Lydia: Yeah. And um, something to know is not every college is going to necessarily take the same amount of letters of recommendation or have the same requirements for letters of rec.

So what I usually tell students is identify two teachers that you feel really good about. That would be good recommendation for you. And then that third person could be another teacher, or it could be, you know, someone that you are involved with in a different capacity, whether that’s a boss or a sponsor for a club or a coach.

Um, but usually you want at least two teachers, um, that you can go to who will write you a recommendation because that’s the primary perspective that colleges are looking for. Um, but then once you have this. Three recommendations you can always choose, um, which of those three you actually wanna send to a specific college based on the requirements that they have or how many they actually accept.

Um, another question that we have is about BS MD programs. So. Um, what suggest, what recommendations would you have for students that are interested in the BS MD path rather than just regular pre-med? And is that the right choice for anyone that’s interested in medicine?

Mattia: Um, I would say if you know that, you know, that, you know that you wanna be pre-med, um, and that you wanna go to medical school, I think.

Applying your BSMD program is a great way, um, to kind of jumpstart that process, um, that you automatically get, um, admissions to a medical school and a lot of the times you don’t have to take the mcat, which is a medical school entrance exam, which I think is, you know, a huge perk. Um, so I would say definitely apply to that.

I would say. Um, any advice for people applying to BSMD programs like. I personally didn’t apply to any. Um, but in my experience as especially advisor, working with people who’ve applied to BSMD programs really, you know, hone in on the personal statement of why medicine and really let the admissions committee know that you’ve had experience, um, shadowing or volunteering in healthcare.

And you really ask yourself the hard questions of do I want to help people through the career of, uh, medicine? Right. There’s. Many different ways that you can help people. And there’s many different careers that you can do that. But really honing in on the why medicine is gonna be very, very, very important.

So that, I would say my biggest piece of advice. And then also honing in on the pre-med classes, the science classes, um, really showing that you have strong reading, writing, communication skills, um, and doing really well in those science classes. I would say that’s my biggest pieces of advice.

Lydia: Got it. Um, so we’re gonna go ahead and wrap up, but before we do, I just wanna remind you all that, you know, there are so many ways to pursue mm-hmm.

Medicine. There are so many, you know. Different factors that play a role in determining your eligibility. So if you have specific questions about, you know, is my GPA strong enough to get into this school, or should I be applying to this college versus that college? That’s why CollegeAdvisor is here. So I encourage you to scan that QR code if you have specific questions like that.

Um, but we’re gonna go ahead and wrap up and thank you so much, Mattia, for sharing your experiences and just. Getting more light on what being a pre-med student is like and what students should be thinking about as they prepare for that path.

Mattia: Awesome. Well, thank you all, um, and happy to answer any other questions that people may have.

Lydia: Okay. All right. Thank you all so much for joining us and have a great night. Bye.