admissions

Hey Jae: What should I study in college if I want to become a doctor?

What should I study in college if I want to become a doctor? Whatever you love. I have classmates who majored in everything under the sun, including: French Biochemistry Piano performance Material science engineering Math Biology Chemistry English Neuroscience Take courses in whatever you’re interested in. I would push more for classes that teach you [...]

An open warning about admissions coaching services

Dear pre-med reader, It’s been brought to my attention that there are numerous online services that throw themselves at pre-meds, all promising top-notch personal statement support and advice, all for a seemingly “nominal” fee. I am hereby informing you, with utmost confidence, that they are all scams. My first tip-off to this was a comment [...]

Hey Jae: will a master’s degree improve my chances?

If someone has a relatively low undergraduate GPA, is it better to go for a master’s degree in a science/public health specialty (and do really well) or take more science classes (to raise the GPA) prior to applying to medical school? This is an extremely tough question, and it’s taken me much longer than usual [...]

Hey Jae: pre-med GPA concerns

Hey Jae, I was talking to an academic advisor and she recommended that if GPA is a concern (which it may be lol), I could major in something other than biology, but fulfill the premed requirements. With med school in mind. Any thoughts? That advice: bull. Changing one’s major does not necessarily imply a boost [...]

How to ace the med school personal statement

OK, so a lot of my friends are applying to medical school this year, and I’m getting requests for tips on how to write a killer medical school personal statement. I’ve read and given feedback on all of my friends…and honestly, I still don’t think I quite know how to distill the essence of a [...]