Last month, we released our guide, Is There a Future Doctor in the House? A Guide to Choosing a College and Preparing for Life as a Premed. It’s 44 pages, sells for $9.95 and is available as a download. Here are some of the reasons we made it, and what you can expect to find in the guide.
Why we wrote it
Our premed hopefuls at Collegewise consistently said things like,
“I want to go to UCLA because it’s good for premed.”
“I’m applying to Harvard because they also have a good medical school.”
“I’m going to major in biology because I want to be a doctor.”
Statements like those made it clear to us that while our future premeds knew they wanted to be (or were at least seriously considering becoming) doctors, most knew almost nothing about how to actually get there. They didn’t know that there is no magic list of schools that are “good for premed.” They didn’t know that it doesn’t matter whether or not your college also has a medical school. And they didn’t know that a desire to go to medical school is not a good reason to major in biology. Had we not been there to advise them, these future MDs would have made fundamental premed planning mistakes before they even got to college.
There’s too much at stake for premeds to pick colleges without knowing what they’ll need to do to achieve their goal and what they’re going to need from their colleges to get there. So we wrote this guide to help high school students answer three questions:
- How do successful premeds get accepted to medical school? The best way to make good premed planning decisions is to understand how the people who’ve succeeded did it.
- How can you find the right colleges for you to have a successful premed career?
- What can you do in high school right now to prepare for life as a premed?
What’s included?
Our guide tackles those three questions in reverse chronological order. After we explain what a successful premed’s college career looks like, we back up and talk about how to evaluate and choose the right colleges so you can identify which colleges—for you—would be good places to stand out as a successful premed. Then we share some steps you can take now to prepare for life as a premed later. And it’s not the same advice you’ve already heard like, “Study for the SAT” or “Volunteer at a hospital.” Some of the suggestions might surprise you (we even explain how reading novels about serial killers can actually help you get into medical school).
How we’re using it
Our job at Collegewise is to help our students make good decisions and select the right colleges. So our Collegewise counselors are using our premed guide to educate themselves about the medical school admissions process, and using that knowledge to give good advice to our Collegewise students.
Who is the guide for?
Students
For students who are starting their college search or even just considering becoming premeds, our guide takes away the guesswork. You’ll know exactly what to do now—and later—to become a doctor.
Parents
For a parent who’s helping your student with the college search, this guide will help you really evaluate what kinds of schools are the best places for your kids to start their medical journey.
Counselors
There is no established list of schools that are the best places for premeds. Our guide will help you understand the process so you can give your students the best advice.
Results
We’ve been really happy with the reception for our premed guide, and the feedback from both students and counselors has been overwhelmingly positive. We’re hoping that by making this advice available, a lot of future premeds will make better decisions and avoid common mistakes.
You can download your copy here for $9.95.