r/PreMedInspiration

I am a non trad immigrant that all of my clinical experience is outside US in a non English country. (Clinical dietitan for 3 years). Every advisor tells me I need clinical experience in US and I can't find MA or Scribe or any jobs in Boston. Even volunteer positions don't have clinical duties(only patient transport or admin stuff). Then how the hell am I going to get clinical experience here? I'm so frusterated I'm even willing to work as a MA non paid but no one wants me.

I'm an incoming freshman planning on majoring in bio/public health on a premed track. I have dual enrollment credits through Richard Bland College of W&M from a few classes that I took in high school, including AP Chem which granted me both sems of Gen Chem credits. However, I just learnt that the grades I received in a few of these sems will negatively impact my GPA come med school application time (amcas requires you report all college courses/grades), and was wondering if I should redo gen chem my first year to pull up my GPA as the grades will be averaged out or if I should just jump straight to Orgo? What would med schools prefer? I've also heard that there's a semester-long course of advanced chem that I could take in prep for orgo - would this be a viable option?

Hi everyone,
I’m currently navigating a challenging path toward my dream of becoming a physician. As an expat living in Saudi Arabia, my options for medical school are extremely limited and prohibitively expensive, and full scholarships for medicine are nearly impossible to secure.
However, I have an opportunity for a fully funded nursing (RN) scholarship at a specialized private college here in Riyadh. The program is excellent, but it comes with a mandatory service commitment to work at their affiliated hospital for a few years after graduation.
I’ve been considering a strategic alternative to the traditional "Pre-med" route. Often, it’s assumed that one must major in Biology or Chemistry to be a competitive medical school applicant in the US or Canada. However, I’ve realized that admissions committees don't necessarily prioritize the major itself; they prioritize the completion of the required science prerequisites (like General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, and Biology).
My plan is to pursue the Nursing degree, which provides a solid clinical foundation and guarantees immediate employment. I intend to complete all necessary science prerequisites during my undergraduate studies. However, I’m concerned because my college is quite small and the schedule is very intensive; I’m not yet sure if they will allow me to take extra courses, summer classes, or overload my schedule to fit in those specific science prerequisites.
If the college doesn't allow me to take those extra science courses during my degree, I am considering taking them as a "post-bacc" or through community college/online courses after graduation while I fulfill my service commitment.
I would love your honest feedback on this

Is the "RN to MD" pathway considered a sound and realistic strategy, even if I have to complete some prerequisites after my nursing degree?

Would my clinical experience as an RN provide a significant advantage in the medical school application process, or could it be seen as a distraction?

Given that I might not be able to fit the prerequisites into my nursing curriculum, do you think this approach is still viewed favorably by admissions committees?

I truly appreciate any insights or personal experiences you can share. Thank you!

I am currently booked for an MCAT on August 21, I began my journey testing at a 494 in January and got up to a 505, on January 23 but then while back at college for the Spring I did a minimal amount of study. 3 weeka ago I began reviewing content and scored a 502 and with just under 7 weeks until my planned exam date my goal is still to score 512+ and I can give 40-50+ hours a week and I guess I am looking for both assurance that this goal is possible and secondly any advice on how to go about it. I am going to begin the AAMC question banks and maintain my flashcarding and Anki daily as well as trying to passively read content in the evenings. I honestly think I still have content I am struggling with but if I spend more time reviewing and notetaking I fear it is time taken from improving my test taking skills.

I am a student athlete and capable of working hard but I want to know if people think this is achievable. My goal was originally 515+ but I think that could take a miracle at this point lol. any advice or support would be appreciated. I have access to all the kaplan resources + AAMC and Anki.

Thank you for anything you have to share

Hello, I’m a Chemistry Major, who just finished his sophomore year, and I’ve recently developed a passion for Medicine. I currently have a 3.1 gpa and no clinical hours or extracurricular activities of PreMeds, only real thing I do is being a hospice volunteer at a local hospital, but I have no clue if that counts. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get in the right path, especially for someone who’s willing to start this journey as late as a 20 year old college sophomore lmao, but I want to know and do whatever it takes to be a Pre Med here on out, and I’m also taking an extra college year to hopefully have more time to better my GPA. Any thoughts on what I could do next?

Hi TMDSAS peeps! I was hoping we could all reply to this post with cycle updates when we get them, mostly because I’m anxious and like hearing how everyone else’s cycle is going. This would include when you were verified, when you submitted secondaries, and what schools you get interviews and when. I’ll start! I was verified 6/15, submitted all secondaries 6/30 + UTMB Video response 7/1.

I think I need more karma to post on a different subreddit. It keeps getting taken down. Thanks!

Hi there,

I was just wondering if anybody had any advice/course materials for these two courses. I am super scared to take them this semester and really need to get As in these classes. How long did you have to study for each course? Does having previous background in the material help?

Also, does anyone have experience with professor talwinder singh for phys 2211/prof. doyle barrow for chem 1211? I was debating between Mr. barrow or Dr. Ahuja for chem. Please let me know if one is better than the other.

Thank you!

Originally had what I thought was a good list, but I'm realizing most of these schools are reaches and I don't have enough target/safety options. Built my updated list using a combination of admit.org, Claude, and MSAR data, but want a human sanity check before I pay to add all of these to my AMCAS.

I already applied to 24 schools and I'm keeping all of them since secondaries are basically done — just adding target/safety schools to balance it out.

Stats:

• IL resident
• cGPA: 3.91 | sGPA: ~3.97
• MCAT: 514 (CP: 130, CARS: 125, BB: 129, PS: 130) — 89th percentile
• Clinical hours: 1,100 (CNA at two long-term care facilities)
• Research hours: 1,000 (undergrad lab + NIH summer internship)
• Non-clinical volunteering: 56 hours
• Shadowing: 0 hours, but have some things lined up for end of summer
• Publications: None
• 6 LORs: PI, post-doc in my lab, two bioengineering faculty, director of the institute I studied abroad at, DON at the nursing home I work at

Background: Bioengineering major, Spanish + Chemistry minors, UIUC, graduating May 2027. Socioeconomically disadvantaged/first-gen. Gilman Scholar, studied abroad in Costa Rica.

Primary submitted: June 7th (still awaiting verification)

REACH (17): Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Yale, Penn, Duke, WashU, Hopkins, Northwestern, UMich, UChicago, Mt. Sinai, UVA, Case Western, Vanderbilt, Mayo, BU

TARGET (11): Emory, Brown, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Carle Illinois, Kaiser Permanente, NYU Grossman Long Island, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Georgetown, Tufts

SAFETY (10): Loyola, Rush, UIC, Rosalind Franklin, SIU, Wayne State, Temple, MCW, EVMS, Morehouse

Does this look reasonably balanced, or am I still too reach-heavy? Many of the reaches I already have secondaries done so am just going to keep them. Any schools with in state preferenes or targets/reaches that i'm missing. Thanks for any advice!

Years ago I was on academic probation. Now I'm a medical student, after a second undergrad, a master's, and a lot of trial and error figuring out what actually matters in this process versus what just sounds good in theory.

I've posted about parts of this journey before last year (linked below if you want the longer version), and since then I've had a steady stream of DMs, questions about the MCAT, CASPer, how to recover from a bad GPA, what to actually do after a rejection, how to structure an application so it tells a story instead of just listing activities. It's clear a lot of people going through this have more anxiety than information, and that's not really their fault. The information out there is thin.

I also spent some time working alongside a few well-known names in the pre-med advising space, and it gave me a pretty clear look at where the gaps are. A lot of the advice, paid or free, is the same recycled stuff: do well on the MCAT, get clinical experience, write a strong personal statement. None of that is wrong; it's just surface-level. It doesn't tell you what to actually do with a rough GPA on your file, or what a CASPer scenario is really testing, or why your rejection last cycle happened even though you "did everything right."

I've been helping people work through this stuff informally for a while now, friends, students, people who found me through those earlier posts, and I'd like to keep doing that. Specifically:

* How to reframe a rough GPA or academic setback so it reads as growth, not a red flag
* What CASPer scenarios are actually testing, and where people trip up
* How to break down a rejection and figure out what to actually change, not just guess
* Ontario-specific application strategy, since a lot of general advice doesn't account for how different our schools are from each other

If any of this sounds like where you're at, drop a comment or send me a DM. Happy to talk through your situation, and if it turns into something more structured down the line, we can figure that out too.

\-----------

Earlier posts I’ve made

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/premedcanada/s/HvL93Opx6x\](https://www.reddit.com/r/premedcanada/s/HvL93Opx6x) 
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/premedcanada/s/Qrf1zasasN\](https://www.reddit.com/r/premedcanada/s/Qrf1zasasN) 
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/premedcanada/s/sJnvpkDQoT\](https://www.reddit.com/r/premedcanada/s/sJnvpkDQoT) 

Is medical school worth the time and effort in 2026? Does anyone have any regrets doing medicine?

I’ve lived my whole life being told by my parents and family that I should go to medical school and bring in some honor and good money to our family. Over time, I’ve gotten used to it and honestly even want to attend medical school now. That said, I just finished my first year of college, zero clinical volunteering done, I’ve failed my second semester gen chem class and reading through endless Quora and Reddit posts about how medical school is a very very rough path and incredibly difficult. My current GPA sits at 3.0, I’m retaking the failed class this summer and will get an A, but I don’t know if medicine is truly for me, or if I even have a choice outside of medicine. I do love the idea of medical school, treating patients and especially working in hospitals, but these classes and the insanity behind this path is driving me up a wall. I could really use some feedback.

Hi everyone, I am looking for some guidance….. any suggestions welcome.

I am currently a 25yo teacher. I have recently come to the conclusion that this is not the profession for me for many reasons. I enjoy the aspect of helping people, but I am looking to expand my career and recently have been considering pursuing the field of medicine. I’ve always thought about it, but went a different route for personal reasons, but now I regret it.

I am a long ways from med school, but I’m trying to come up with ideas on how to gain experience/beef up my resume in hopes of applying for a premed program in 2-3 years while I save up money to go back to school. I’m wondering if anyone here has any suggestions as to what that might look like. I’ve thought about job shadowing, or looking into EMS training, but any other thoughts are appreciated.

I’m also looking for advice on books to read or podcasts to listen to in the meantime to prepare myself, as I am someone who enjoys learning and I’m on summer break with plenty of time to enjoy those things.

Any advice, suggestions, or hype is appreciated! Thank you!

My first preference is DTMU. Any senior suggestion, support for the process? Or any good trustable agency suggestion? Ig I am already late for sept intake but still can I make it in these few months ?

As I contact the acadfly but then here I am seeing lots of negative feedback. I really want to know what to do next whether it's by applying through agent or by own.

Suggest me, I really need to know now.

Thank you.

stats:

Male, Asian, Texas Resident, rising senior

uw:3.87
w:4.5
Academics: max course rigor (9 AP’s taken and 6 DC classes taken) *have taken pre-med essential classes like ap chem, ap bio, psych
rank: not sure but def not great (semi-competitive school)

PSAT: 1450 SAT: in progress (expect low 1500’s)
def commended and likely national merit (max English score)

Ec’s
HOSA President(maybe next year) /Vice President/Historian (4 year member) — coordinated two local blood drives

National English Honor Society President (can only join as a junior) — will likely start a book drive and implement college apps support for the club (pls give advice)

Published independent research on parental influence as a predictor for twin and non-twin self-esteem (currently trying to get another project going)

Internship at Mind4Youth (world’s largest student run non-profit) + volunteer program + awarded Gold Presidential Award

Science Olympiad Coordinator (implemented international neuroscience competition into my school — Brain Bee)

Volunteering/Shadowing 100+ hrs at veterans hospital and 350+ community service hrs

Shadowing Ophthalmologist (still in process ~60 hrs)

DECA State Finalist

GLHC Summer Program at John Hopkins (~9% acceptance rate)

Currently working on Associates Degree in Health Science Professions (may not be done before college apps)

Faith-led article published

Mu Alpha Theta Treasurer

Member of 5 honor societies (SHH 4yrs, Mu Alpha Theta 3yrs, NHS/NEHS/SNHS 2yrs)

Should I even apply to BS/MD’s or DO programs? Which ones? Please give advice on how I can improve my stats and how well suited I am for these programs.

Thank you!! Any and all advice is appreciated.

Hello,

I'm a Canadian high school student and I'm thinking of attending a UK university for family med (straight out of high school). However, I come from a low income family and aren't a UK citizen, thus meaning that I'll have to study as an International student. Like mentioned before, I come from a low income family and studying as an international student can be very expensive. I was wondering if anyone can tell me if their are any grants/scholarships available. I know that since I live in Ontario I'm eligible for OSSAP and federal grants, but that will only cover a maximum of $10,000-$12,000 (CAD) and I'll need about $80,000 + living expenses yearly. I have a good grade 11 average 90+, but I didn't take any AP courses. I was wondering if anyone can help me out and give me some advice since I'm really passionate about being a doctor and med school in Canada is really competitive.

Thank you!!!

I haven’t started my course which is geography but after my gap year and having time to seriously think about I want to switch to medicine. But I don’t currently have the grades for it though i have studied biology through out my whole school life including A level. While I do well during internal exams and normally get Bs and As. I always get severe test nerves on the day and drop like 2 grades and end up being so sweaty during the actual test. While I nearly always get As for course work regardless of the subject as i get time and can research.

So does anyone know the best way to go about getting the grades to reach becoming a doctor? Also yes I’m aware it will be incredibly hard I’ve been thinking about it for years.

If you have advice I’d really appreciate it.

I just

currently taking summer classes (not difficult but definitely busy work) to raise my gpa while balancing mcat studying. i'm debating dropping one or two so i have more time for mcat prep but not sure if this is smart because if so, i wont be able to get to a 3.7 by the time i graduate. should i prioritize getting up to a 3.7 or focus on mcat more?

Just finished my orgo chem 1 summer class at a 4 year university. Can I take the lab at a Community College? I’ve seen some posts saying that med schools look down on science prereqs taken out of a 4year college. Thanks in advance for your advice