Shabie's Tips for Pre-Meds

It has been my dream to become a surgeon. I remember when I was a child I would purposely pop off the legs, arms, and even heads of my Barbie dolls just to make believe that they were my patients and I was helping them get better.. lol... that may seem kind of violent and creepy but I really like "fixing" people. Over the years my longing to become a surgeon only strengthened. I LOVED all of my science classes in junior high school and high school. In my high school we had to choose "majors" just so we take special classes for the field we were interested in, and I ended up choosing biomedical sciences. This had a great influence in me wanting to be pre-med in college. Taking organic chemistry, genetics, AP biology, and anatomy in High school made me realize that I really love this field. I was never much of an economics, government, and god forbid the math type. The sciences intrigued me and I felt comfortable studying these theories and discoveries.

Changing into my scrubs at 6:30 AM in the VA hospital to watch some surgery ♥


I can honestly say that my dad being a Pediatrician had no influence in me wanting to pursue a career in the healthcare field. Yea, that probably sounds like a bunch of BS considering the fact that I am south asian.. lol.. but truthfully, my parents never pressured me into this field, nor did I want to do it because its the "brown" dream. I chose this field because I respect it and I want to be a part of it. So its kind of sad when I saw some of my peers in college being forced to give up their dream majors and becoming pre-med just because their parents wanted them to become doctors. I hate it when I see parents living the lives of their child. But whatever... anyways, while I was in college there were many times that I felt like giving up because of how tough it was to be a pre-med. I remember feeling hopeless and like a failure because I didn't have a 4.0. It was sometime during the middle of my sophomore year I decided to "man up" and just give this my all. It was then when I realized how important it is to have a positive outlook when it comes to school. Before I was telling myself that "I wasn't smart or good enough" to get into med school and my pessimism not only affected my state of mind, my grades were also suffering since I wasn't giving it my all. Once I changed my mindset not only was I much happy and less anxious, my gpa was sky-high! lol. Just study hard, be organized, and think positive. To me that is the formula for success. I see my sister (who is a pre-dental student) going through the same issues I faced and I always remind her to just take a deep breath and study her butt off! I understand what she's going through and try to just give her positive pressure!

I ♥ my two-faced scrubs!


So the whole reason for this post is because one of my subscribers asked me about the whole applying to med school process. She wasn't the first to ask and I know its pretty confusing because I went through this stressful process not to long ago. So here's my tips for you pre-meds!

1. Make sure you keep your GPA high and don't give up if you fail or get a C in a class. I'll be honest, I failed my General Chemistry 2 class. This was one reason why I felt as if I should give up. I remember my lab partner, who was also struggling with the class, completely dropped her science major and ended up doing accounting instead. When you do bad you will hear lots of your classmates giving up, or just being negative by talking about the statistics of people who get accepted to med school. I HATE THOSE KINDS OF PEOPLE! They act like little freaking know-it-alls and all they want to do is make you feel bad. Ignore them! If you do bad in a class try and take it over to get a higher grade. I retook my GenChem 2 class and ended up getting an A- the second time around. When you take it over again and get a better grade, try to ask that professor for a letter of recommendation, and in the letter the prof can talk about how you overcame your fear for the class successfully. Also, if your GPA seems as if it's stuck that may be because you are getting lots of B's. If this happens to you just take some more science classes and try to get A's in them.

2. Start Shadowing ASAP!!! I can't stress how important it is to shadow. I was always told by people to shadow that way I knew what to expect, but for some reason I held it back until after I graduated. Shadowing not only made me love this field even more, it popped my little perfect image of what the healthcare field is like. People don't just go to the hospital and get better... they have to worry about insurance, knowing if they are covered for certain procedures, and just the stress of finding a good doctor that helps you understand what you're going through. I had no idea about all the "politics" that go on in a hospital, and shadowing really opened my eyes to this new world. Also, don't just shadow one doctor.. try and shadow a couple... at least 2-3 that way you get a good feel for how the job is really like because remember, not all doctors are the same... they each have a different view point about their job. Also, try to shadow in a private practice and a hospital... these two will give you a completely different feel because the environment is soo different. Shadowing made me realize that owning a private practice is like running a business. And plus, more shadowing experience will not only look good on your application, it will give you more to write about in your personal statement and can also help when you are interviewing. And you can also get a letter of recommendation!

3. Do NOT save letters of recommendation for your senior year. Sometimes professor stop teaching, they are super busy or hard to reach, or they are just plain mean and don't want to write you a letter. So while you're taking a class or right after you get your grade, try and ask the professor for a letter of recommendation. You can try e-mailing them first, but honestly I found that asking them personally face-to-face is a much for effective technique. Also, some professors might ask you to write the letter and send it to them. Don't get intimidated by this. One of my lab professors told me that he wrote all of this letters of recommendations from college to grad school. Just because the professor asks you to write the letter yourself doesn't mean that he or she doesn't like you.. they just might be too busy or they just might not know what to write. This is why it is important to always keep an updated resume/CV. You can also look up templates for letters of recommendation online. Don't you just love the internet!

4. Make sure you have a very good personal statement! From the hundreds of applicants, your personal statement is what's supposed to make you stand out and shine above the rest. So, don't take this lightly. You can also look up sample personal statements online just to get an idea of how to exactly organize your essay. Try and talk about something that affected your life and made you realize that you really wanted to pursue this field as a career. Don't just say that you want to help people (don't firefighters do that also!) lol... You can talk about being injured, seeing someone be injured or sick, or a childhood experience that really drew you to this job. Try and be creative with it. Also remember that since you will be submitting your application online that there is a word limit... so don't go on and on like I did! Editing my personal statement was the hardest part! Try and be straight forward in a nice eloquent way and stay away from fluffy details!

5. Don't wait for the perfect time... JUST APPLY! I'm a perfectionist, so I was waiting for my profile to be perfect so then I could start applying. I did this because I didn't want to be lacking in any area. Although this seemed like a really good idea, I was actually wasting lots of time. When I went to open houses, the med students who were giving us a tour of the school always told me to just apply... at that time I didn't understand what they meant, but now I do. We all want to be perfect just so we avoid getting rejected. But sometimes waiting for the "right time" is just another form of procrastination. Now is the perfect time. So work on that personal statement NOW, study for your MCAT NOW, get those letters of recommendation NOW, start going to open houses NOW, shadow a doctor NOW, start your online application NOW! Actually doing the online application is a pain in the butt because you have to manually in put all of your classes, the number of hours and credits, and your grade. They then verify all of this when they receive your transcript in the mail. So don't tell yourself that you're going to start your application soon... do it now! There's no harm in starting early!

6. Make sure you practice interviewing! The interview is extremely important because this is where they evaluate you according to your personality. Think about it, they chose you out of all other other applicants for an interview only based on your gpa, letters of recommendation, and personal statement. Now they want to see if the actual person is as charming as his or her profile. So this is where they weed out potential students based on personality. I practiced for my interview from using the Student Doctor Network. If you haven't heard of SDN, you have been missing out! SDN has forums where pre-health students can interact with each other and medical students. But watch out, sometimes there are these over-achieving students that can make you feel bad... for example, they will ask "I have a 4.0 and a 37 on my MCAT, what are my chances of getting into med school".. lol.. don't let comments like that put you down. One really good feature of SDN is their Interview Feedback section. This section has links to different types of interview questions that were asked during the interview for that specific school. The students also tell you about how they liked the school and how the interview went. So I basically went to my school's page and printed out the questions that were asked and wrote down my answers for these questions in my notebook just so I wouldn't forget anything and I wouldn't stutter during the interview. After I came up with my own responses to these questions, my boyfriend practiced with me by having mock interviews. This not only helped me remember what to say, it gave me more confidence. I would have been screwed if I didn't have SDN!

7. Make sure you are dressed in Professional Attire! Men MUST wear a suit and women have to wear either a pant suit or a skirt suit. This is a must! Remember that you have to be professional because the person who is interviewing you might be your colleague soon and they need to take you seriously. So try to stay away from the trendy stuff. You want them to remember you as the girl with a great profile and personality, not the girl with the crazy hair clip, or the girl with the super bright lipstick. So try and keep things simple and classy. You can add in your own flavor by wearing a nice blouse, but remember it has to be conservative and not to flashy or trendy. Also remember to wear comfy shoes because you will probably have a tour of the school, so leave your cute high heels at home.. pick more practical footwear, such as flats, kitten heels, or pumps that are comfy and aren't sky high. I mentioned in my last post that I bought my suit from Ann Taylor. Buying a suit is something you shouldn't save for the last minute because you have to also get it tailored. So for my interview I wore a pant suit from Ann Taylor, I bought a grey silk blouse from H&M, black leather kitten heels, and I took my cute Rebecca Minkoff covet ostrich satchel that my sister gave me for my 24th birthday.


Also remember to keep your makeup neutral. I picked neutral colors for my eyes, such as Naked by Urban Decay and Buck by Urban Decay. I had to wear my black eyeliner and my beloved Yves Saint Laurent faux cils mascara. Ofcourse I had my MAC Studio Fix Fluid and my Studio Finish Concealer topped off with my MSF. I put on some light blush, something like Milani luminoso baked blush or MAC Spaced out. And finally I wore a neutral lip color, I forgot which color I wore but it was probably MAC Freckletone or MAC Jubilee. And don't forget to get a manicure! I had on Essie Jazz just so I looked professional. I call Jazz my lucky color because the lady who was interviewing me complimented my nail polish, thus it was probably the reason why I got into med school... lol jp! But she really did compliment my nail polish! So remember not only do you have to answer their questions with confidence, you need to stand tall and look classy!

8. STAY POSITIVE! This is key to success... If you have bottled up emotions, just let them out.. work out, scream, cry... just make sure you do it before or after your interview.. lol...Letting your negative feelings go will make you feel as if a fat hippo just hopped off your chest. Its ok to cry.. I do it all the time.. lol.. Also have a good answer to why you want do this with your life... everybody is going to ask you "why do you want to be a doctor".. so its important to have a good response. And finally just be yourself! You don't want to be seen as a drone... let your personality shine!

As for books and supplies for med school, such as skeleton sets, every school is different.. some school provide this to you, others don't, so you will find out about these things when you are at your orientation for medical school ☺

I hope my tips are helpful!! Good luck with this whole process to whoever is going through this... I know how stressful this whole process can be, just remember that it will all pay off at the end!


XOXO,