Class of 2018
Major: Physiology and Neurobiology
Studying at Drexel University College of Medicine in the MD Program
Q: What are some meaningful extracurricular activities that you were involved in while at UConn?
Percussion (snare drum) consumed all of my time, whether it was in band or drum corps or teaching high school. This taught me essential skills of leadership, teamwork, and coordination that I believe is beneficial to the field of medicine.
Q: What did you do during your growth year(s) and what did you learn?
I took one year to do research and gain more experience in the clinic setting. I did some clinical trial research at Yale and was a scribe and MA at a private practice office, where I learned what the day to day is really like in outpatient medicine.
Q: What are some ways that you take care of your mental health and overall wellbeing?
I play drums and piano, walk my dog, lift, and play lots of video games.
Q: What advice do you have for aspiring pre-health students?
Pre-reqs are not fun but they're important. They may have nothing to do with medicine but it builds foundations for science as well as how to study. Multiple choice questions are highest yield. Do not spend too much time in passive content review (reading textbooks). Content builds a foundation, but mastery comes from experience in questions.
Q: What’s something you wish you knew in college?
I wish I took my MCAT much earlier, like after sophomore year or during junior year. My plan was that I wanted to take it after I had taken every class that the MCAT would cover, but this means that the most high yield content like organic chemistry and biochemistry (which I took during my sophomore year) was no longer fresh in my mind. Other than these classes and the pre-requisites before them, there's not much else needed in order to ace the MCAT (everything else can be learned by studying for the MCAT). I also wish I knew how essential it was to apply the first day applications open. I submitted all secondaries in October, which is extremely late.