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Webinar Transcription

2026-5-20-Building a Pre-Med Profile That Stands Out – Research, Clinical Experience, and Beyond

Anesha: [00:00:00] Hi, everyone. Welcome to tonight’s webinar. My name is Anesha Grant. I’m a senior advisor at AIɫɫAdvisor, and I will be your moderator today. Today’s webinar is, “Building a Pre-Med Profile That Stands Out: Focusing on Research, Clinical Experience, and Beyond.” Before we get started, just to orient everyone with the webinar timing, we will start with a brief presentation, and then we will open up to answer your questions in a live Q&A.

Anesha: On the sidebar, you can go ahead and download our slides under the handout tab, and you can start submitting your questions whenever you’re ready in the Q&A tab. But first, let’s meet our presenter, Adonis Rubio. Hey, Adonis, how are you doing?

Adonis: Doing all right, doing all right. Uh, hello, everyone. Uh, yeah, so my name’s Adonis Rubio.

Adonis: Um, I, um, am from Southern California. I applied to colleges just like you all are planning to do. Ultimately went to Stanford for my undergraduate, um, where I majored in biology. I was pursuing the [00:01:00] pre-med track, as we will talk a decent am- bit about today. Um, and through that process, I completed all the requirements for medical school and medical school admissions, but then decided that I actually wanted to pursue research, so then I, um, decided to do a PhD.

Adonis: So I’m currently finishing my PhD here at Stanford in immunology, where I do a lot of infectious disease research, and I’m still very heavily connected to kinda the biomedical space and medical, medical space. Um, and most of my friends are currently graduating from medical school and starting their residency.

Adonis: Uh, and I advise a lot of students who are interested in the pre-med track, who are applying to, you know, pre-med majors or BS/MD programs, so happy to be here today to talk through, um, some of, yeah, some of what we have to say about the pre-med track.

Anesha: Awesome. Uh, before we let you get started, we just wanna know who is in the room with us.

Anesha: Um, so please go ahead and let us know what grade level you are in. If you’re a parent or a teacher, we welcome you. You can go ahead and select the Other button. As we’re waiting for some responses to come [00:02:00] in, maybe you’ll get into this a little bit, but, uh, what was the deciding factor of PhD… of, of moving away from the medical track and going into the research track?

Adonis: Yeah, so I had, you know, um, very interesting. So for me, um, I, uh, did research during college, um, you know, to look good for medical school applications. Um, and actually, one of the biggest things that came up to me is when thinking about applying to medical schools, one of the big questions that they ask you, like you’ll be asked for your, you know, general college admissions, is, “Why medicine?”

Adonis: Right? “Why do you wanna go to medical school?” And I remember telling my friends, you know, “I love patients. I love helping people. Um, but I love research a lot more, and I can’t give a really strong reason as to-” You know, why medicine or, like, why kind of the medical pathway, but I could give you, exaggeration, but 1,000 reasons why I would love to be in the research lab working in the lab doing what I do.

Adonis: So it kinda came down to one of those gut, you know, what do you en- what do you s- like spending your time doing? [00:03:00] Um, and so happy to talk more about that as well. Um, yeah.

Anesha: No, thanks for sharing. I’m glad you took a moment to have that kinda gut check, to be like you know- And, and I think the essay, the writing also is an opportunity to say, like, “Why am I writing this?

Anesha: Is this really what I want?” Yes.

Anesha: Um, so yeah,

Anesha: no, um, thank you for sharing that. All right, well go ahead and close our poll. We have about 60 folks in the room with us. Uh, we have o- one eighth-grader. Welcome, we’re, we’re happy you’re here and thinking about this early. Uh, 13 ninth graders. Our biggest group are 10th graders, about 24 of them.

Anesha: We have seven 11th graders and four 12th graders as far as, uh, and then I think I’m the one other. Um, so I- … I don’t think we have any parent or teachers with us. Um, so all students ranging from eight through 12, with the majority of folks being in the 10th grade, just for your context. Um- Awesome … I will stop talking to you, hand it over to you, and, um, be back a little bit later for our Q&A.

Adonis: Sounds great. Uh, yeah, well welcome everyone. Um, you know, no matter what grade you’re in, as Anesha mentioned, right, it’s, you know, good to begin to think about, you know, college, you know, [00:04:00] when you can and begin to think about what do you wanna pursue ultimately. Um, and one of the biggest things that we will talk about throughout is that you do not need to have everything figured out at this exact moment, whether you are an eighth grader, whether you’re a 10th or 11th grader, right?

Adonis: Um, this is all a process. Um, so first things first, what does it mean to be pre-med, right? How do we define pre-med? So one of the biggest misconceptions I think that a lot of students have, um, you know, is when they kinda say, you know, “I’m gonna apply as a pre-med major,” or, “I’m gonna apply to the pre-med major.”

Adonis: And in reality, um, you know, pre-med itself is not a major at colleges. I think you will… There may be one or two colleges out there that have pre-medical sciences as a major that you can apply to and be in, but otherwise pre-med itself refers to more so a track or an academic path that you can take through college, right?

Adonis: Um, and just like with any track, it comes with its own set of requirements that are supposed to mirror what medical schools will [00:05:00] ultimately want you to have by the time you graduate college, right? So pre-med kind of encompasses that college curriculum that satisfies the requirements for medical school.

Adonis: So because of that, you can be whatever major you want to be if you’re interested in going to medical school. You know, I think a lot of students choose to pursue more of the biological science majors, so biology, chemistry, microbiology- Whatever you’d like, because that, those majors tend to overlap pretty well with what is required for the pre-med curriculum.

Adonis: That being said, y- you know, there are tons of people who have done history or English as their major and gone on to medical school. Right? The, the more important thing is that you are satisfying the requirements of medical school on top of your major. If it’s already built into your major, you know, great.

Adonis: So that’s just kinda one thing I wanted to clarify right away, right, is, you know, pre-med is not a major. You know, it’s a path, um, and you can choose any major you want. So more interestingly, it’s what does [00:06:00] this path encompass? So, you know, for those of you who are on this call, you probably have some semblance of this already, which is why you’re here, but besides being a prerequisite for medical schools, the path itself is really for students who are interested in science and human health, and importantly, who want to take that interest, um, and help and serve other people.

Adonis: Right? So I think it’s one of the biggest things where, you know, pre-med is tying into, you know, both the science and the medical interest, but also into helping people and kind of wanting to, to give back to the community. So there is a huge level of service as well as kind of science, um, and medicine tied in.

Adonis: And, um, you know, again, for those of you who are earlier on in your career perhaps, you know, you may be really interested in pre-med because you want to be a, a medical doctor, so that’s an MD degree. Um, in which case, you know, it’s, it’s typically the canonical [00:07:00] doctor you think of when you think of a doctor.

Adonis: But the pre-med path, um, can also prepare students for a range of healthcare and science-oriented careers. So the same requirements that exist for medical school, um, are usually overlapping with some of the other requirements for tracks such as nursing, if you wanna be a registered nurse or a nurse practitioner, or if you wanna be a physician assistant, a PA, go on to do your PhD like I did, if you wanna work in pharmacy, genetic counseling, public health, dentistry, physical therapist, right?

Adonis: All of these are different components of the healthcare that you may, you know, you or your family may get at some point. And so the pre-med path actually does prepare you for a lot of these different, um, opportunities and careers. Um, it just tends to be that we think mostly about the medical, uh, the MD as the, the end goal.

Adonis: But of course, any of these, um, are, are good goals for on the pre-med path. Um, so what [00:08:00] exactly do pre-med programs look for in, in applicants? And I love the word exactly in this question because it’s really trying to get at, you know, uh, you know, Adonis, what is the secret sauce to get me in, right? And you know, and the reality is that things, um, have changed a lot, uh, over the last couple years.

Adonis: They’ve changed a lot in the last year, right? So one of the biggest things that I think a lot of students may hear is, you know- That pre-med, you know, to go into the pre-med track, it’s a grind, right? You need to have things figured out, you need to have, you know, this many research papers or, you know, being in Science Olympiad, you know, volunteering in the hospital, all these kind of things.

Adonis: You need to have all that in high school by the time you apply to college. Um, and I’m here to tell you that, you know, all of those things, of course, are great if you have access to them, but you really do not need to have your entire career figured out in high school, right? First and foremost, you know, make sure that you’re actually enjoying your time in high school, um, because at the end of the day, the goal [00:09:00] for college admissions in general, but especially for pre-med, is that you’re demonstrating the quality traits that would prepare you for medicine, right?

Adonis: There’s only so much you can do as a high school student, right? So i- they’re not looking for students who have performed surgeries, ’cause obviously you can’t do that. They’re looking for students though, who have the aptitude or interest, the passion to do these things. And so that’s kind of what, you know, delineates how you should think about what extracurriculars you’re getting involved with, or how you’re doing those things.

Adonis: So what are the key components and how do those get broken down? So, um, you know, truly, truly, I do believe that, you know, for pre-med majors and admissions, they really are looking for well-rounded students. And because of that, they’re looking at a lot of different aspects of your application. So of course, you’ve probably heard that academics are really important, and that is true.

Adonis: You wanna be performing extremely well in your courses with a particular focus on ex- performing well in your STEM coursework, so your [00:10:00] biology, your chemistry, and your math classes, right? They wanna see that you have a strong foundation in the sciences. But apart from the academics, um, extracurriculars also becomes a really big thing because as I mentioned, pre-med, you know, it can sometimes seem daunting, and that is because, right, you know, once you go to college, you have your four years of doing your major, then you go to medical school for another four years, and then after that, depending on what specialty you wanna do, you may need more further training, right?

Adonis: So it is a rather long career path ahead, or I should say training path ahead. And for that reason, when they’re looking at students who are interested in pre-med, they wanna know that you’ve had some exposures that make you understand what does it mean to be in medicine or in clinic, right? So this is kind of where you, for extracurriculars, it’s important to get exposure to medicine related activities as much as possible, right?

Adonis: Um, and again, this looks very different depending on, you know, what is available to you. [00:11:00] So we’ll talk about that. Other things to consider, um, are recommendations. So again, you can be the top of your class, you know, doing every possible extracurricular, but they also want to know who you are as a person.

Adonis: So it does become really important, you know, what your teachers and mentors will say about you. Um, and not only kind of, you know, this student showed up to class and, you know, got the top score- But why you are set up to thrive in the pre-med track, right? So again, you know, forming connections throughout high school.

Adonis: So for those of you who are eighth grade, ninth grade, 10th grade, you know, identifying teachers that you can get close with, um, so that eventually they’ll be able to speak to your, um, caliber as a student and as a medic- you know, a pre-med, you know, applicant. That would be great. And then lastly, one of the biggest things that is really important, and I would say you should give considerable time to, is what is your story, right?

Adonis: Um, you know, for pre-med, there’s gonna be a lot of students who, you know, will have the great [00:12:00] academics, will do the extracurriculars, um, will have the recommendations. So what really sets you apart from each of those students is now how do you talk about all those things? How do you synthesize those together to present to the admissions committee, “This is who I am and why these extracir- extracurriculars really impacted me, or why I still really wanna go into medicine.”

Adonis: Right? So it’s a lot of different components. There are some things that, yes, you kinda wanna check off and have, but then there are some things that you can really personalize and that you should personalize to really stand out in the application process. So how early should you start shaping a pre-med profile?

Adonis: Uh, again, we have a wide range of students on the, on the webinar, which is amazing. Again, I’m glad that you’re thinking about, you know, this early. And the biggest thing that I would say is there really is no single timeline that works for everyone, right? But the earlier you start, the more opportunities you have to explore in depth what medicine looks like.

Adonis: So that being said, if you’re a [00:13:00] junior or senior who all of a sudden is realizing, “Hey, I might really like medicine”, that’s okay, right? It doesn’t mean that you’re too late in any means. If you didn’t get a chance to do a lot of, you know, medicine related extracurriculars, when you go to your application, think about, “Why am I making this switch?

Adonis: Why am I interested in medicine?” And talk about that. Or pull from the existing extracurriculars that you have and talk about how they represent quality traits that might be important in the medical pathway, even if the, the extracurriculars themselves are not medicine related. So again, there’s a lot of different ways to think about how do I shape my story.

Adonis: But for those of you such as in eighth grade, ninth grade, um, you know, one of the, the, the biggest ways, the general ways to think about preparing for pre-med, um, is, you know, you can use your freshman and sophomore years in high school to explore. Get involved with clubs at your school. Um, you know, if your school has a HOSA club or if your school has some, you know, public health or, [00:14:00] you know, medicine aspirational clubs, you know, get involved with them.

Adonis: Go to a couple meetings, see what it’s about, see what it looks like. Get involved with some of the clubs that do more so volunteering, or if your school offers medicine related clubs… Or, um, sorry, courses outside of just- Biology, let’s say they offer, you know, a health anatomy class. You know, take those classes if you can.

Adonis: Get a little exposure to that. So freshman and sophomore year is really is kind of where you cast a wide net and explore what you’re genuinely interested in. And I say this as if you’re interested in medicine, great, explore that. If you’re interested in other things too, try to explore those things at the same time, right?

Adonis: And get a feel for what is actually interesting you. Now, if you’re still really interested in medicine after those first years, you know, your junior and senior years are really when you begin to dive deeper, I would say. Here’s where you wanna start thinking about, “Okay, how can I demonstrate now that I’ve gone through and explored, and now I really wanna go further.

Adonis: I wanna take on leadership roles within [00:15:00] this. I want to, um, you know, um, take on more internships that will give me more responsibilities and opportunities.” So freshman and sophomore year, exploration phase, really getting a feel for things. S- Junior and senior year really becomes, you know, how do I kind of show the commitment?

Adonis: How do I show the depth in these activities? And, um, you know, again, while I said you don’t need to have everything figured out, was, uh, which is 100% true, um, it is important if you, you, if you are starting early and you want access to certain opportunities, to be aware of deadlines, right? So if you’re interested in some of these summer programs or internships that happen during the summer, these typically, the applications typically opens, or, or are open and are due sometime between January and February.

Adonis: So if you’re looking for something the summer after your sophomore year, that’d be January or February of your sophomore year. If you’re looking for something summer after your junior year, January or February of your junior year. So again, something to keep in mind as you, as [00:16:00] you think about extracurriculars.

Adonis: But at the, at the core of it, what you wanna be prioritizing for your pre-med profile is consistency. So if you’re getting involved with, you know, medicine related activities, continue to do so. Growth, they wanna see that you’re growing, whether that means your interest is growing. Maybe you started at a club that was, you know, broadly medicine, and then you begin to really get more involved in clubs that are surgery related, because now you’re really interested in that particularly.

Adonis: Or growth in the concept of taking on more leadership positions, taking on more roles, mentoring other students. And lastly, they really care about authenticity. So again, you know, I, you know, quality over quantity. Don’t feel that you need to be doing every possible extracurricular there is that is medicine related if you’re not actually enjoying it.

Adonis: If there are some that you enjoy more than others, stick to those. Commit more time to those, because when you talk about these activities in your application, that authenticity will also be something that stands out [00:17:00] to the admissions committees, right? So again, you know, you wanna make sure that what you are doing throughout your high school, you’re enjoying it, so that you can talk about it in a, in, in a strong way when you actually get to that part.

Adonis: What high school courses should students prioritize? Um, so again, this is something that you’ll definitely hear a lot of in terms of, you know, you need to be taking the top courses. And I will say that that’s not untrue, but there is a balance to be had, right? So at the core of it, STEM coursework is highly, highly required, right?

Adonis: So throughout your high school, you wanna be taking, um, the STEM coursework that your school offers. And one thing that I would say that’s kind of here on the bottom is, when you apply to colleges and when your applications are reviewed, you are evaluated in the context of what your school offers, um, and broadly kinda like your district.

Adonis: So what’s important is that you are maximizing the curricula that exists at your school, right? So [00:18:00] if your school offers 20 AP courses and you only took one, that might seem really odd to the admissions committees. They might be wondering, “What’s going on here?” On the other hand, if your school only offers two APs and you took one, the admissions committees will be like, “Great.

Adonis: They, you know, took the one that was related, AP Biology, and maybe didn’t take another one that wasn’t related.” So it’s all relative to what is offered to you. Now that being said, um, you know, you want to also think about challenging yourself appropriately. So you wanna demonstrate that you are not only doing well in courses, getting As, things like that, but that you are also progressing in the series.

Adonis: So that might mean, like, starting at Geometry, going to Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, right? So you wanna show that you’re progressing. So I see a question that just came in about would AP Calculus or AP Statistics be more helpful. Um, you know, in reality, you know, if you’re thinking about competitiveness, um, or [00:19:00] rigor, AP Calculus is a more rigorous course than AP Statistics.

Adonis: So I would usually advise my students to do AP Calculus to show that they are maintaining that rigor in their s- in their s- in their schoolwork. Um, now, where I would caution that or where that may be different is if you know that Calculus may not be your strongest, you know, s- course and you’re worried about getting a, a, a grade that might reflect poorly, this might be where you might consider, okay, you should still take a math course, take AP Statistics, um, where it won’t hurt you too much, right?

Adonis: At the end of the day, you will probably take some of these courses again as part of your major in college anyway. But if you’re thinking just about rigor, AP Calculus would probably be the one to go. So again, prioritize STEM coursework, um, where at all possible. Try to be taking on science, um, related electives if you can.

Adonis: So again, you know, show the, the admissions committees that you’re seriously considering this pathway, but also for you, again, to explore what are things that I’m genuinely interested in. Um, so again, these are kind of things that [00:20:00] I would say to prioritize. Of course, you should always, you know, still have your other courses, um, available and, and things like that.

Adonis: You know, if you’re thinking about- Um, I see a lot of questions coming in about specific courses. Um, so AP Biology versus AP Physics one, which one is better? Um, A, you know, you wanna… If you’re going for medicine or, you know, pre-med, biology, you know, if your school offers both AP Biology and AP Physics and you didn’t take AP Biology, that would look quite weird.

Adonis: Um, sorry, maybe weird’s not the right word. Um, but you wanna prioritize the bio- like, biological science related, so the closest that is to the human body, right? So biology would probably be highest, highest preference, um, then chemistry, then physics, in terms of if you had to choose between those. But if you’re able to take all of them, again, and your school offers all of them, you know, they can always kind of, um, you can, you can do those.

Adonis: All right. So the next one: “What makes an extracurricular profile stand out for pre-med [00:21:00] applicants?” So, um, again, one of the biggest things that makes your application stand out, but also really comes across, is genuine interest and passion. So when you’re doing all these different extracurriculars, if you are doing a lot of extracurriculars, going to the hospital, volunteering, things like that, you know, you’re gonna report your extracurriculars on a list so the college will see them.

Adonis: But where it becomes personalized is where you actually talk about them in the supplemental essays. And here’s where colleges wanna see, okay, so if I have 10 students who have all volunteered in a hospital, you know, yours is gonna stand out if you talk about why that experience meant so much to you or what you learned in that experience.

Adonis: Even if it’s, you know, I actually learned that I don’t really like, you know, dermatology or kind of that, that, but I was really interested in emergency medicine, right? So again, genuine interest and passion is, is what stands out in, in these things. They wanna see that you are trying things. And again, everyone knows [00:22:00] that you’re not gonna like everything you try, but it’s about what did you take away from that experience?

Adonis: Other things, again, that stand out are leadership, initiative, and meaningful contributions. So again, you know, if you’re enrolling in, you know, six extracurriculars that are health-related and all of them meet maybe once a month, you know, compared to a student who is involved in one extracurricular that is, you know, meeting weekly, hosting drives, you know, those…

Adonis: You know, they’re gonna like the student who is in one activity but doing a lot with that activity over one who’s maybe stretched a bit too thin and not really making as much of an impact in all of their different extracurriculars. So this, again, becomes down to when you’re thinking about extracurriculars and which ones are worth your time, think about ones that you genuine- genuinely are interested in, but also which ones can you actually do a lot with?

Adonis: Where do you have more opportunity? Where do you have more that you can show for on a personal level? Not just, “This is what this club does broadly [00:23:00] in our community, but I led this part of our club and did this. I helped, you know, this nursing home,” things like that. Um, and again, with leadership, it doesn’t need to be healthcare related.

Adonis: Obviously, there can only be one president or vice president of a certain club. Um, so if you, you’re worried about leadership or not having strong leadership in medicine related things, then do leadership in other things. You may have interests elsewhere outside of medicine maybe that you don’t wanna pursue in college, but that you’re good at.

Adonis: Maybe you like playing guitar and you wanna start a guitar club. Great. Founding a club looks great to, to colleges because it shows that you’re taking an initiative to create an opportunity where one may not exist. Um, so same thing with, you know, if you’re worried about your school not having super rigorous STEM coursework, thinking about is it possible to perhaps take some at a community college.

Adonis: Um, you know, it’s, it’s a risk and it’s, it’s new, but it’s you taking the initiative, and colleges would like that because it shows that you’re trying to really, you know, seek out an [00:24:00] opportunity so that you can improve yourself. Um, of course, uh, the extracurricular profile, you know, you want to, if you have the means, you really wanna try and explore healthcare, um, through various ways, whether that’s volunteering, shadowing, internship- internships or research, right?

Adonis: So you really wanna kinda be trying to get as close to the medical system as you can to be able to, in your application, speak to why this is interesting to you. And we, we, I think we’ll talk a little bit more about that. And then, um, again, thinking about depth and long-term commitment are usually prioritized, um, over just joining every possible opportunity to look good, right?

Adonis: Again, um, you wanna be thinking about where can I make the most impact, where can I showcase the most, and where can I, you know, have the most fun with what I’m doing, okay?

Adonis: So how important is research and how can high school students realistically get involved? So I bel- you know, this is something that over [00:25:00] the last couple years has become more and more prevalent in terms of people telling students who are interested in, in pre-med tracks that they need to be doing research of some sort.

Adonis: Certainly, if you do research in some capacity, it looks amazing for colleges because you are developing a level of critical thinking that is gonna be championed not just in college, but in medi- in medicine, right? But I wanna be clear that it’s not necessary. So if you’re worried about the fact that you don’t have formal research opportunities available to you, it will not be, you know, penalized for you if that’s what you’re thinking.

Adonis: Um, so I will say that for most of what I’ve been saying up until now, this is focusing a lot on, you know, um, pre-med tracks broadly. Um, some of you may have heard of these kind of BS/MD programs, which are a joint combined program where you can, you know, apply into a college to get your bachelor’s degree and at the same time either continue into the medicine component- Those are a bit more…

Adonis: [00:26:00] Those are very competitive and will typically, you know, those would be ones where I would say really try to get that research experience. But if you’re just thinking about medicine, um, you know, it is not absolutely critical that you have it. If you can find a way to do it, great, right? If you can set up an initiative, great.

Adonis: So how does one do that in the first place, right? Um, again, as a high school student, you’re a bit limited in what you can do for safety reasons, for legal reasons, so, you know, try small and build your way up. So reaching out to local universities, um, hospitals or, or teachers at your current school, right?

Adonis: Asking them, “Hey, I’m really interested in this. What… Do you have any recommendations for how I can get involved with that?” Um, honestly, Google works wonders. If you try Google searching for things like, “What are some Stanford research labs that do organ transplantation work”, right? If you know that you’re genuinely interested in that, start to type this in.

Adonis: And again, the more specific you are, sometimes the better it can be helpful for you in terms of what it returns. [00:27:00] Um, or looking for high school specific programs at universities. A lot of universities, um, host these programs where you can come for the summer. Some of them, they provide you a stipend, and they provide you housing to come and do research while you’re there, and then others, you know, you have to pay for them.

Adonis: So this is where, again, I, I tell students, right, if you’re really on the, on, on the, I’m trying to decide whether or not to do this extracurricular, keep in mind, you know, what is feasible for you, um, either from a financial landscape, a time landscape. Um, if you’re not able to do formal research, you know, that is okay.

Adonis: Think about how are other ways I can show my interest. That might be an independent study with a teacher, where you meet with them once a week outside of the class to talk about your interest in medicine, and they can write a strong letter, you know, to that point. Or a passion project. So, um, you know, that’s something that I help my students with is how do we devise something that is flexible to their schedule that they can put together to [00:28:00] showcase to colleges like, hey, this is a swimmer, he’s really interested in mus- muscle atrophy because it affects, you know, his teammates, and this is the kind of research he did into that.

Adonis: He compiled a literature review. You know, it never got published, but again, this is showing the, the admissions committees that they are taking it seriously and they’re, that they’re interested in this pathway. Um, what counts as clinical experience? So clinical experience, generally, when we’re talking about this, this is different than research in that we’re typically talking about having some access to patients or a patient care setting.

Adonis: Now, that doesn’t mean that you’re actually gonna be doing things with those patients, but it means that you’re at least able to see what is the interaction happening between the patient and the clinic clinicians, um, or nurses or things like that. So examples of this could be volunteering at a local hospital or a medical clinic.

Adonis: Again, a lot of hospitals typically have some form of volunteering program open. So sometimes that means, you know, submitting an application. And if there are, you know, none that exist, reach out. You know, go to the, [00:29:00] the hospital, go to a nearby nursing home or a hospice center and ask. Say, “Hey, I’m really interested in medicine.

Adonis: Um, I would love to volunteer if it’s at all possible. Is there any way I can do this?” This is something I did in high school. I, I volunteered at a, a senior center, um, when I was in high school because I was really interested in medicine, but there was a backlog of volunteers at the hospital. Um, so I did that for a couple years, and actually it turned into a part-time job during high school, um, which was great, and it wasn’t directly medicine-related, but it got me a lot of exposure into, you know, taking care of older patients and what that might look like.

Adonis: Um, apart from volunteering, you might be able to shadow physicians. So this is where you actually, as the name implies, you go around with a physician or healthcare professional in their day-to-day to see what is it like to, to, to work. You’re kind of like a fly on the wall in that regard. You kind of just are observing everything as it happens.

Adonis: If you’re able, there exists opportunities to get an EMT or CNA license. So EMT is an [00:30:00] emergency medical technician, so these are people, like param- you know, th- there’s a difference between EMTs and paramedics, but it’s essentially y- you can imagine, like, people in the ambulances helping stud- um, helping patients.

Adonis: And a CNA program is a certified nurse assistant. So again, you’re gonna be working with nurses, but y- you’re getting incredible exposure in the clinical setting. And these tend to be… These programs can be more restrictive in terms of the age requirement, um, or they might have a fee, uh, involved with getting a certificate, so that’s just something to be aware of, but these programs exist.

Adonis: So at the end of the day, a clinical experience is having some sort of meaningful, um, patient interaction and reflection. And when I, when I mean by patient interaction, again, I don’t mean that you have to be directly interacting with the patient. If you can, great, but more so you wanna be able to have reflections by the end of it of what was it like to see how patients are taken care of.

Adonis: Um, and this is often, again, what will speak much louder in the application, is what you took away from seeing how patients are cared for, how doctors work together [00:31:00] over prestige of programs, right? Um, at the end of the day, it’s about how you talk about these activities and what you took away from them.

Adonis: Um, kinda have been talking about this throughout, but how can students tell a compelling story? Um, so again, the reality is that a lot of the applicants will have very similar list of extracurricular activities, um, because these are just baseline things that you should do to get exposure to medicine. So what separates you now is how you talk about these things, um, how you talk about the activities that you’ve done, and also more importantly, what they mean to you.

Adonis: So again, I’ve really been kind of trying to Emphasize this, but it, you know, what are the lessons that you learn through these activity? Whether that is, “Oh, I thought medicine was like this before, and now seeing it, you know, I’m realizing it’s not so much like that.” Um, and, and, and so what, right? Does that me- make you want to do it more?

Adonis: Does that make you wanna do a s- particular type of medicine now? Um, nothing here is binding. You know, you’re not saying, [00:32:00] “I’m gonna…” You don’t need to say, “I’m gonna be a dermatologist,” or, “I’m gonna be a, a cardiologist.” Um, if you have had experiences where you kinda know that’s where you’re leaning, great.

Adonis: Then talk about those things. Talk about why that interest exists. Um, and again, something that I, I tell a lot of my 11th graders and 12th graders, if you weren’t able to have clinical experiences, whether it because you just didn’t have the time, you don’t have the resources, all of that is okay. Then how do we take your existing activities, your sports, your part-time jobs, non-health related clubs that you’re involved in, and highlight key traits that you were able to showcase in those that are, y- you know, extremely valuable in medicine, right?

Adonis: So again, this is kind of taking that narrative into your own hands and beginning to tell that story. Um, so how can students assess what pre-med programs are best for them? So, you know, this, this truly for me goes, um, across not just pre-med programs, but colleges in general. You know, [00:33:00] look for programs that offer the support, opportunities, and fit for you, right?

Adonis: Um, I know a lot of students really are interested in going to the most prestigious universities and, you know, that’s great. Um, you know, going to Stanford, I got a lot of amazing opportunities and, uh, experiences in research, in medical volunteering, in hospital work, um, that the curriculum of my major wasn’t, you know, as great as I would have thought it would be, right?

Adonis: So there are trade-offs, right? Thinking about that. Some metrics that can be helpful for how, how to think about these programs are class sizes. How big is the average, um, you know, chemistry class or biology class? ‘Cause at the end of the day, all the pre-meds are gonna be taking those same classes. So would you rather take a class that has 500 students in it, like some of the bigger public schools do, or would you like a class that has, you know, 50 to 100 people in it?

Adonis: Um, and that kinda leads into access to professors. If you have a smaller class, typically you can make better connections with the [00:34:00] professor. Um, so there is something called a student to faculty ratio that you can look up for each school that gives you an idea of, you know, kind of the breakdown of how easy is it to kind of access a, a teacher.

Adonis: Um, particularly if you’re interested in medicine, one thing to think about for programs is what is the proximity to hospitals or research institutions so that you can continue to pursue this in college, right? So again, um, you know, for Stanford, you know, there’s the undergraduate campus, and immediately next door is the medical campus, so you can bike over to volunteer at the hospital, um- And do that.

Adonis: In other universities, um, you may have your undergraduate campus, but then your medical campus is across the city. Um, and there may be public transportation that, you know, some people may use cars, but that’s just something to consider. W-will it be feasible for you, um, to be able to maintain, you know, doing, you know, being involved in the clinic or in the hospital while you’re in, in college?

Adonis: So ultimately, choose a place that you think you’re gonna thrive in. Um, and that, that can be for all sorts of [00:35:00] reasons. Um, okay. So by grade level, what should students focus on right now? So if you’re in ninth grade, you know, really s- you know, st- try to focus on your academic journey now, right? So, you know, you’re adjusting to high school.

Adonis: Um, it’s a little bit different than middle school. Um, you know, begin to think about starting your coursework really well, uh, and that’s your science coursework, staying on top of that, getting good grades. You know, schools will look heavily at your 10th and 11th grade, um, grades. But your ninth grade, you know, a lot of these courses will become the foundation for your 10th grade and then your 11th grade.

Adonis: So doing well in your ninth grade will, you know, get you set up for your 10th grade. So ninth grade, do those courses. Begin to f- form good study habits that work for you, because that may not work for everyone. Um, so that when you get into 10th grade, what you should begin thinking about is how to challenge yourself academically.

Adonis: So here’s where we begin to think about, should I take this class over that class, right? Where, which one shows more of a, a [00:36:00] challenge, um, in taking the high level coursework? Begin to give more energy into extracurriculars that you’re excited by, whether that’s, you know, clubs, volunteering. And here’s also where you can begin to consider thinking about summer programs, volunteering, and things like that.

Adonis: If you can get started on those early, great, but if not, beginning to think about them for your 11th grade, where here you’ll take on more leadership roles in some of these activities, and you might wanna pursue more intentional opportunities such as research, clinical exposure, and service, right? And then 12th grade, like I said, um, before, right?

Adonis: It’s not too late, you know. Now is really the, the point in time to think about, “How do I package all this up?” So focus on, how do I best present y- my, you know, my activities to the admissions committee, whether that be all my healthcare related ones or a mix of all of them. Um, and you wanna continue to challenge yourself academically here.

Adonis: So even though schools will not see your grades for your 12th grade when they, you know, evaluate your application, they will ask for the cla- the classes that you are enrolled in. So they will wanna [00:37:00] see that you’re still challenging yourself even through your senior year, okay? Um, so final tips, ’cause I wanna make way for, of course, the Q&A.

Adonis: Um, focus on growth, authenticity, and consistency over perfection. Um, I think this is a good, you know, tip for life, but especially for pre-med. You’re gonna hear a lot of things about how you need to be doing all these different things, all of that. If you’re able to do that, great, um, but always be guided by what you’re interested in.

Adonis: Um, and this is a personal tip, um, but take care of your own mental health and try to avoid burnout. It’s a long road ahead if you’re interested in medicine. Um, it’s not, you know, limited to just high school, but, like, take care of your mental health as you’re going through this process, and adapt based on what you’re able to, to take on.

Adonis: Um, you know, you’re gonna be… I- once you go to pre-med, you become part of this cohort of people who are all trying to do medicine. It’s gonna be really easy to compare yourself to others, and that can be very difficult. Everyone’s journey is [00:38:00] gonna be unique. Um, at the end of the day, like I said, you can be whatever major you want and still go to medical school.

Adonis: That also means you can do whatever order of these things, different extracurriculars, and still get to med school, right? So every student’s journey is unique, so try not to compare yourself too much to what your peers are doing. Use it as a guide maybe or as a template, but don’t feel like you need to be doing exactly what they’re doing if it’s not feasible.

Adonis: Um, and lastly, really think about why you’re interested in pre-med, um, and spend some time, you know, using that to personalize your essays when it comes to the application. Okay. So I think I’ll pass it back over now.

Anesha: All right. Sorry. Thank you so much. Um, thank you for that presentation. I was trying to get one last kind of answer in, um, via the chat. All right. So we are gonna move over into our live Q&A. The way that it will work, I will read through the questions that you all submitted in the Q&A and share them with the public so [00:39:00] that others can see them, and then read them aloud to give Adams an opportunity to answer.

Anesha: Just if your Q&A tab is not letting you submit questions, double-check that you joined the webinar through the college advisor custom link in your email and not from our webinar landing page. You might have to log out and log back in in order to be able to submit your questions. But if not, just know that, um, the webinar’s being recorded, so you can view it at a later time.

Anesha: Um, all right. So our first question for you is the first question I have up here. Okay, I like this question. “What does work-life slash w- what does work-life or school-life balance look like for you in the med pathway, especially if you have other passions besides medicine, that you wanna continue to prioritize through- your career in education?”

Adonis: Yeah, certainly. Um, so, you know, again, y- you may not like this answer, but it depends on each person. But it is an important part to have, right? Um, I think as you do medicine, especially in college, like I said, there will be a decent amount of requirements in terms of your coursework, extracurricular. But a lot of my friends and I, like, I have a lot of friends who are [00:40:00] musicians- Um, and or who are in choir, they still carve out time to make sure that they’re doing that because they know that that brings them joy and it’s not medicine related.

Adonis: ‘Cause also at some point you’re gonna want some outlet that’s not medicine related to really balance out your life, right? So one of the things is what does that look like? Um, it actually is gonna depend on you, right? Once you get to college, you get actually a lot of flexibility, uh, in terms of your courses, in terms of what time of day your courses are, um, and also what extracurriculars you’re involved in.

Adonis: So starting early in high school thinking about, you know, do I need to sacrifice, you know, playing the violin or doing a sport so I can do all of these medic- you know, medicine related extracurriculars? Well, you should still do the things that are, you’re really interested in, that give you joy, but now how do you fit some of the medic- medicine related extracurriculars in there as well,

Anesha: right?

Adonis: So it is, like you mentioned, it’s a balance, and it’s something that everyone struggles with, honestly. Um, I struggle with it to this day, I struggled with it in high school and [00:41:00] college, but there are times where I have a better handle on that, on that balance, right? Uh, so yeah, definitely important, very personalized to each person.

Anesha: I just like that someone’s thinking about work-life balance this early on in their career. Yeah. So yeah, no, I hope, I hope you’re able to figure it out. Um, someone asked, this is like I think a quick question, but is AP, AP Environmental Science useful at,

Adonis: at- Um, I think, um, again, this is one of those questions where like if you’re, if you’re asking should I take AP Environmental Science or AP Biology?

Adonis: No, take AP Biology, right? But if it’s like I’ve maximized all the sc- the STEM coursework at my school, and the last course is AP Environmental Science, and I have a free period- Yeah … then I would say take it, because you’re showing that you’re taking an AP course, which is a higher level course, um, and things of that nature.

Adonis: So it, it’s again one of those that you wanna take it into context of what’s offered at your school. If it’s at the sacrifice of one of the more core STEM courses, then [00:42:00] I would say it’s not that useful. Um, unfort- or you know, I think it is useful to show that you are being competitive in that you are taking courses that are offered to you.

Adonis: Um, so that’s what I would say for that.

Anesha: Yeah. Um, someone asked, and I was gonna ask this later, and we talked about this yesterday in our, in our other webinar, but, um, what are realistic ways for a high school student in Texas, they said specifically, to find research opportunities outside of competitive summer programs?

Anesha: I’m gonna open it up to say folks who just might be in more rural settings or just have less opportunities easily available to them.

Adonis: Yeah, certainly, and this is again something that is very real, and I have, um, and I think the, the panelists yesterday also, we advise a lot of students, um, who are in similar situations, right?

Adonis: So again, the reality is that you may not have access to a lot of research opportunities immediately, right? So here is where, you know, trying to develop something called a passion project, which is very oriented to just, you know, what is available to you, whether that means… So for me- I was in AP Capstone in high school.

Adonis: It was in the early days of the program. [00:43:00] Um, everyone wanted to do, you know, psychology or sociology-related research. I wanted to do something that was lab-based. Long story short, wasn’t able to do it, but I was able to put together a literature review of, you know, medical treatments that were interesting in a particular way, right?

Adonis: And for me, that was my ability to show the colleges, like, I’m really interested in this. I’m really excited. I don’t have the resources to do the experiment I wanted to do, but I’m reading all this literature to show that I’m really interested in this. So passion projects are ways that you can kind of develop kind of an independent study or independent project.

Adonis: This might look like making a website of information that you’ve learned over the course about a particular disease because it impacts a family member, right? So, um, if you’re able to apply to those summer programs, do it, um, by all means, but if you don’t get into them, it’s not the end of the world.

Adonis: Think about, um, you know, how can I, um, still show to colleges that I’m doing what I can to, to, to see what’s interesting.

Anesha: Yeah, I think, yeah, you just have to be, um, creative at that point. Um, which is hard to hear, but, um, also [00:44:00] necessary. Um, someone asked… Oh, oh, you kind of just mentioned this. Someone said, “Do I need a passion project?”

Adonis: No. I would say you don’t need one. Um, if you have a pos- a passion, do it. And, and you’re excited about it, great, do it. But, you know, I, like, I, if I were in your shoes, I’d be like, “I, I don’t have anything else that I can develop a passion around,” right? And that’s just the reality for me in high school. So you don’t absolutely need one.

Adonis: Again, this goes back to prioritize things that you’re genuinely interested in and that you, you know, are, you know, y- you foresee being useful to you. Um, if you don’t have any research experience or any ability to be in a clinic, then yes, you know, having a passion project will be incredibly important.

Adonis: But if you have a lot of those other things and you’re like, “Do I need to spend time on passion project?” Probably not, right? Um, focus your energy elsewhere that, that you might be more interested in.

Anesha: Okay. Uh, I’m gonna say here, folks, I would appreciate it if you stop asking this versus this kind of question because it really is, like, dependent on your situation, your circumstance.

Anesha: Should I take this versus… I [00:45:00] don’t know. Like, ultimately that is a great question for an advisor for you all. We can kinda give you scenarios, but, um, it’s just not a great line of questioning for us in this particular context. So if I’m ignoring your question, that is why, because it’s, it’s kind of a little bit of a false, false equivalency that you’re asking us to determine.

Anesha: Um, all right, someone asked… I saw a question that I liked. Da, da…

Anesha: Um, it, it’s a lot of this versus that questions, unfortunately. Okay. Oh, okay. Here it was. Someone asked, um, if they were in HOSA or activities like that, do they have to place in the competitions in order for the, for the club to be considered

Adonis: valuable? No, no. Um, again, if you’re able to, great. Um, but at the end of the day, there’s only, you know, there are only certain people who hold those place rankings, right?

Adonis: So the reality is more so, again, this is where- You know, even if I have a student, uh, or an applicant who says, “I placed in all these competitions,” but when it comes to talking about what HOSA [00:46:00] meant to them, they don’t, you know, there, there’s not much they can say versus a student who didn’t place, but talks about how they learned a lot through the process and really studied about this particular thing, right?

Adonis: That’s gonna stand out to me more actually, because I’m like, wow, this student, yeah, maybe they didn’t place or anything, but they put in a lot of effort to, to make this extracurricular theirs and to, to gain a lot from it. So this again goes back to making it your own. And also, in any case, you should be showcasing all of the things you’ve done on your application, right?

Adonis: So it’s gonna make it on your application. The question is now how do you highlight that in your application? But it is definitely still worth talking about, I would say.

Anesha: Absolutely, ’cause part of it isn’t just did you win everything, it’s like how did you spend your time? That is why they’re asking about your extracurriculars is sort of outside of your classroom, what were you doing?

Anesha: How are you engaging with things? All right, uh, I’m gonna take a just a quick little break. We’ll absolutely get back to questions, but just to talk a little bit more about AIɫɫAdvisor and highlight some of our student success stories. So the first one is DJ, who grew up wanting to be a physician. He was active in relevant extracurriculars and sought out challenging coursework.

Anesha: As a scientist, though, [00:47:00] writing narratively was very challenging, so the college essay style didn’t come naturally to him. He signed up to work with AIɫɫAdvisor and was, and was accepted by five colleges, including Johns Hopkins, where he received an institutional scholarship of around $61,000 per year.

Anesha: Another student, Abby, um, reached out because she was an aspiring first-generation college student. Her immigrant parents had no experience applying to colleges, um, in the US, 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 AIɫɫAdvisor in her sophomore year.

Anesha: Um, she ended up applying early decision to Cornell, where she was accepted and received a full financial aid package. Um, these are just two examples of the 10,000 clients that AIɫɫAdvisor has guided through the application process. Our team of over 300 former admissions officers and admissions experts, like Adonis, are ready to help you and your family navigate the college admissions process through one-on-one advising sessions and essay editing.

Anesha: To learn more about, um, getting started with AIɫɫAdvisor, you can scan the QR code that is on the [00:48:00] screen for a free 60-minute strategy session with an admissions 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.

Anesha: At the end, you’ll also learn more about our premium packages and be paired with an expert who can support you in building your college list, editing your essays, and much more. We are here for the whole process. Uh, I will say that some folks also talk about BS/MD programs. We absolutely have folks who are specialists, BS/MD advising.

Anesha: Um, I’m excited for my student who got into the BS/MD program this year. Um, uh, but yeah, no, it’s, it’s challenging, and I think the support is really, really important. Um, so reach out for it if you can. All right. Um, let’s see.

Adonis: I’m just trying to answer some of these while you’re doing that. Yeah,

Anesha: no, no worries.

Anesha: Um, there’s a lot coming in. Um, I, I, I guess I’ll, I’ll take this one. Someone asked, “Would co- would cold emailing professors be beneficial in getting into a college in the long run?”

Adonis: Um, if you’re talking about cold emailing professors at a [00:49:00] college you wanna get into, probably not. Um, if you’re talk- Like, you know, this is kind of where it becomes…

Adonis: One, I’ll be honest, college professors are really busy. Um, so what they are gonna respond more to is if you’re showing, you know, again, if you’re coming to them being, “I’m really interested in your research. Would love to pair with you to talk about kind of that work and how I can maybe get involved,” they’ll be more interested in that than just, you know, uh, you know, “I’m a student,” you know?

Adonis: It, it again, this goes back to how you cold con- cold call, uh, cold email them. Um, but also, um, I wouldn’t go into it with the expectation that that will get to the admissions office in some way and, and get you in, right? It’s, uh, I would say do it more so because you genuinely want to know things from them or about their research rather than, “I, I want to, to show this to the admissions that I’ve done it.”

Anesha: Yeah, I was reading that also in the context of, I think, sometimes students looking for research opportunities. And I will say cold, cold emailing professors has worked, but it’s a volume game. Like, you have to be emailing a lot of people, a lot of professors, um, in [00:50:00] order for it to be, I think, worthwhile. Um, and so it’s a matter of do you wanna invest the time to email as many people as you would.

Anesha: Um, but for an admissions game, yeah, I, I agree. I don’t know that it would be the most, uh, valuable use of your time. Um, someone is asking about, I guess, the balance between extracurricular activities, having strong research experience, but not having the strongest GPA. How do you think that that, I guess, balances out for students?

Adonis: Yeah. So, you know, this is, um, something that’s a reality, right? Like, um- And I just answered a question about this, of like what happens if I have, you know, not the greatest grades in ninth grade, right? Yeah, grades are sometimes difficult, and there are a variety of reasons why you may not get an A in a class, right?

Adonis: Whether it be the teacher, uh, whether it be the, it’s a heavy workload and you weren’t prepared for it. Whatever it might be, right? Um, first things first, they really prioritize 10th and 11th grade, so they, you know, because they know ninth grade you’re transitioning, you’re getting used to coursework in high school.

Adonis: Um, but again, when I talk about progression in terms of series, I also meant in terms of grades. If you can show that you bounced [00:51:00] back from a semester where you had really rough grades, again, colleges really like that because it shows to them that you didn’t give up, that you were kind of pushing in there, um, and that kind of stuff.

Adonis: But back to the, that question, yeah, if you’re, if you maybe don’t have, you know, the, the highest GPA, this is kind of where you, um, balance out your profile by, by kind of padding in a couple more extracurriculars or activities and really wanting to kinda cover your bases, showing that, yeah, while I struggled a bit in classes, I am really interested in this as a pathway and this is why.

Adonis: I’m doing these other things, right? For s- for example, this may be a reason to use the, um, uh, uh, additional information section on your application. Let’s say you’re taking care of family or you have a part-time job because, you know, you need to help at the house, and that, you know, is a, is a detriment to your studying.

Adonis: That is something that you should genuinely tell the admissions committee, you know, so that they’re aware that, okay, this student wasn’t just slacking off, that they have other responsibilities that are important. So again, this can be a case by case basis, but there are ways to recover, if [00:52:00] you will, from a, a not amazing GPA.

Anesha: Yeah, showing growth, um, over time. Yeah. Um, uh, someone asked is, uh, BS/MD a good path to go rather than the normal path, I guess. Um. So I the use of the word normal, um, but, um- Yeah … but I guess what are your thoughts on BS/MD versus what I would call traditional pathway, um, pre-med?

Adonis: Yeah. I would say for BS/MD is if you are 100% you know you wanna go into medicine, you’re like y- you, you, you, yeah, you’re just really set, BS/MD would be a great opportunity to apply to.

Adonis: Um, keep in mind that a lot of these programs you’re gonna do four years of undergrad, and usually you’ll do another three years of medis- like in their medical school. Usually there’s a contingency that you have to get a certain MCAT score or keep certain grades, so there’s a, a, a there is a, a chance that they might drop you if you don’t meet those, but they say what those are.

Adonis: Um, but keep in mind, the pre-med track already is gonna be rather intense in reality. So the BS/MD track is also a little bit [00:53:00] more intense for that reason, right? It’s also incredibly competitive. So again, this goes back to, you know, if I’m advising students, I will be very honest with them of, you know, “Hey, you know, is it worth your time to apply to all these BS/MDs given your profile?

Adonis: We might be better off, you know, applying to these other schools,” right? So it really is for you to evaluate whether it’s worth it in your case. Um- But, but yeah, I would just say it’s, it’s a little bit more rigid perhaps. That’s the only other downside I would say. Um, yeah.

Anesha: Yeah. I f- I’ve, I’ve found my students are most successful when they are definitive about it.

Anesha: I have a lot of students who come into senior year and be like, “I think I might wanna do this.” You shouldn’t. If that, if that’s your take on it, then I, I feel like, I don’t know that it would be the be- the best pathway for you. Um, but that’s my harsh, uh, reading of it. Um, someone asked, “Would you recommend any literature or reading aside from the academic that can assist in the pre-med pathway?”

Anesha: I found this interesting. Are there, are there… Is there anything you would recommend that students read in order to, like, think thoughtfully about the pre-med pathway?[00:54:00]

Adonis: No.

Anesha: Uh, I mean- Put you on the spot.

Anesha: I

Adonis: mean, I was gonna say, like, I have in the, in, in my, in my days, I’ve read some really good books by doctors that are quite interesting that talk about their experience in medicine, whether that be- Yeah, yeah … their thoughts on the political system. Um, so you know, if you’re in a bookstore, take a, take a look at, um, the science section and see if there are any books written by doctors.

Adonis: It might be a good opportunity to read them, um, and see what that’s about. Because again, obviously keep in mind this is one person’s opinion who’s writing the book, but it can give you insight into what their, their, yeah, experience has been like. But nothing off the top of my head that I would immediately endorse, I would say.

Anesha: I mean, the book that comes to mind for me, uh, is When Breath Becomes Air. Yeah, that

Anesha: was the same one for me.

Anesha: Yeah, I mean, because that, that is, like, the definitive book of, like, people reading it and deciding, like, “I absolutely wanna be a doctor,” or, “I knew that becoming a doctor wasn’t for me.” It’s a very sad, sad story.

Anesha: Yeah. And please, like, get your parent’s permission, uh, before you read it. But, [00:55:00] um, yeah, it’s a, it’s- It is … it’s, it’s a very revelatory, it’s a very thoughtful journey and experience. It al- also, I think, is a quick read. But, um, yeah.

Adonis: Yeah. And I will say that that actually w- did the opposite for me. It made me realize I wanna do a PhD, ’cause I wanted to focus more on developing new drugs- Yeah

Adonis: and helping, you know, advance medicine. So again, yes, I would say When Breath Becomes Air. And we’re not just saying that ’cause I’m at Stanford. But When Breath Becomes Air, I would definitely read it. Uh, it is a good book.

Anesha: No, no. And short. I mean, I found it before Stanford, and, uh, actually my student recommended it to me when he decided he was going to go into econ and not pre-med.

Anesha: Um, so it maybe it’s a book that makes you change your mind. I don’t know. Um, or it, maybe it provides a ton of insights. But anyway, um, When Breath Becomes Air might be an option. Um, okay, this is a interesting question. Similar back to the l- work-life balance, someone asked, “How do you recommend balancing taking challenging courses and doing extracurricular activities?”

Adonis: Sorry, can you repeat it real quick?

Anesha: How do you recommend balancing taking challenging courses and doing extracurricular activities? [00:56:00]

Adonis: Yeah. Um, so in the high school context, I imagine, right? So this is kinda where when I was saying, um, you know, the earlier you start the better. Um, you don’t absolutely need to start early, but it helps, right?

Adonis: Because you can begin to map out, okay, maybe I won’t take- AP Bio, AP Chemistry, AP World History all in the same year if I know that those are very intense classes at my school, right? Maybe I’ll spread it out. I’ll take AP Bio this year, take it… Right? So like, beginning to kind of, if there’s that flexibility, beginning to kinda move things around in your four-year schedule to accommodate that, right?

Adonis: So again, if, if, uh, you know, if you already know 11th grade’s gonna be kinda hectic, what are some things you can offload or begin to kinda move around? Um, that being said, this is why ninth grade, um, again, I s- really emphasize this ’cause it wasn’t really emphasized to me, is this is your time to develop good study habits for you, because that will help you in 10th and 11th grade so you’re not playing catch-up in those grades to figure out, “How do I study for an AP exam?

Adonis: How do I do this?” Right? ‘Cause once you know how you study best, then you can be more [00:57:00] efficient, which will allow you to, you know, get to bed on time and do other extracurriculars and things like that. So, my biggest advice for balancing in high school is, one, at the end of the day, do what you’re able to do.

Adonis: Don’t push yourself too much. Um, and also really emphasize those study habits for yourself and, and finding out what works for you.

Anesha: My only two cents I would add to that, I’m gonna let you answer this question, uh, live that I know you keep trying to answer me in the chat. I’m gonna ask you, but, um Oh, okay.

Anesha: Um, but I was just g- I was just gonna say, um, to… Oh, I think eighth and ninth graders, you’re in the best position to- so that you can think long-term about all of your high school life choices and the pathway that you’re on to make sure you can get into the AP classes, the AP Calc, AP Bio, et cetera. All right.

Anesha: So, um, the question is, “Do you have any advice for people interested in biotechnology or biomedical engineering?”

Adonis: Yeah. So yeah, I was trying to type an answer for that. Thanks. Um, yeah, no, it’s a little bit different. If you’re really interested in… So once you kind of write the word or, like, have the word engineering in [00:58:00] your major, um, I will say that, you know, the biggest thing I- immediate comes to me is make sure that you’re doing well in your math classes.

Adonis: Math and physics. So, this is kinda where we begin to shift that focus of, okay, prioritize AP Biology, AP Chemistry for health, like healthcare-related majors. If you’re thinking bioengineering or, um, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, I would say maybe try to start, or, you know, try to prioritize the math and the physics courses, and showcasing strong in those, while also doing biology.

Adonis: So this is where maybe AP Chemistry can go off the wayside, right, and you can focus on bio and engineering, right? So, um, I would say that that’s kind of, yeah… The biggest thing I would just say is more of a foundation in math. In terms of extracurriculars, I mean, it shifts a bit. Like, you might wanna do more robotics if you’re thinking BME.

Adonis: Biotech, if your school has a biotech club, get involved with that. But otherwise, it’s the same general principles of, you know, show interest by doing clubs at work. [00:59:00] If there’s not a biotechnology club at your school, maybe start one or start with a group of people who wanna talk about biotechnology, right?

Adonis: Um, and again, that showcases initiative, leadership, and that you wanna do these things.

Anesha: Yeah, uh, we are getting a lot of questions, I guess, that are like, feel very pathway specific about like what you want to study as a doctor potentially, and I think that’s great, but folks are like six years too early, um-

Anesha: as far as like trying to pick the courses that you need to take in order to become a surgeon or, or the specific pathways. Mm. So, um.

Adonis: Yeah, like certain pathways in medicine, you’ll get all that in college.

Anesha: Yeah, and in medical school. In medical- I mean, I haven’t been, but like that, that is what I’ve- That’s okay

Anesha: I’ve heard, is that there’s a whole opportunity for you to figure out, and I’ve not had any friends who did the pathway that they thought they were going to go into once they actually started medical school. Um, okay, let’s see. Looking for our last question. I’m gonna switch this up and someone asked what was the main extracurricular that you feel got you into Stanford.

Anesha: I’m just gonna ask you, what do you feel like was your most meaningful extracurricular, [01:00:00] either in high school or in college, that you feel set you on the pathway that you’re on right now?

Adonis: Yeah, um, I think for me, um, not weirdly, it was actually my part-time job. So like I said, I started as a ninth grader volunteering at a, a senior center in my community.

Adonis: Um, I mean, ’cause it was across the street from my house and I was like, “What’s going on in that building?” So I, I went over and I was like, “I wanna volunteer here.” But that turned into four years of working with, um, senior citizens, their families. Um, eventually I got a part-time job there, and working with people that were twice my age, um, even more sometimes, right?

Adonis: Like, for me or, yeah, I think that this was something that I was deeply committed to in, in, um, in high school and showcases a lot. So again, part-time jobs, things like that, they can showcase maturity. They can showcase, you know, your ability to work in a workspace, right? But also, I got to talk about what it was like seeing, you know, while they were not patients for acute care- Mm

Adonis: seeing senior citizens who are dealing with different medical conditions [01:01:00] as they age, right? So again, I think that was a big thing for me because I did it for a long time, and I really spoke heavily about it in my application as to what it meant to me, not just as I got paid, which was great, um, which was, but it was this is what I took away from that activity.

Adonis: So again, at the end of the day, and I know a lot of questions in here too are of like is debate useful, is this useful? All these extracurriculars, if you’re interested in them, do them by all means because there’s always gonna be a way that you can talk about how those extracurriculars can prepare you for medicine, whether it being better communicator to talk to patients, whether it be, you know, caring about how the environment and patients interact.

Adonis: So, you know, do those if you’re genuinely interested. Again, growth, consistency, and authenticity. Those would be the key things that I would say to, to try to prioritize in your application.

Anesha: Love it. We will leave it there. Thank you so much for, uh, answering questions in the chat while answering questions aloud.

Anesha: Thank you all for your questions. Uh, we hope that you gained some context on how to prepare a thoughtful pre-med profile that encompasses a diverse range of extracurricular activities. [01:02:00] We hope that you’ll join us for our future webinars, but until next time, take care and have a great evening, everybody.

Anesha: Thank you so much.