My first couple years of college, I ****ed around a lot, didn't do as well in school as I should have, and wasn't really involved in any activities. I attribute this largely to not knowing what I was doing with my life. I changed majors a couple times (ultimately graduating with a mathematics degree) and only got serious and started applying myself halfway through Junior year. I've been trying to make up for lost time, especially in regards to ECs, but feel like a horrible candidate in that department.
These days I do clinical volunteering providing health care to the homeless (~3-4 hours/week and trying to get more involved), volunteer with a math club for middle schoolers (~2 hours/week, but getting more involved next quarter), and volunteer teaching science to 5th graders (2-4 hours/week). I also do independent research through the math department at my school. I will be designing and running my own project next quarter, but I honestly don't know how far I'm going to get with it. The material is very advanced, and I'm not sure that my professor even completely understands all of it (combination of computer science, biochemistry, and topology). My shadowing is pretty sporadic, but I'll have well over 50 hours when I graduate.
My grades have gone up tremendously since I got serious. I have about a 3.8 since the beginning of Junior year, and I think I should be able to keep a 4.0 throughout my senior year.
Besides killing my MCAT in April, what else can I do to make up for lost time? I'm going to apply on the next cycle and see what happens, but I'm prepared to take an extra year off to sure up my application. I have a couple possible jobs lined up when I graduate either in research or in clinical work, and I'm still deciding which would be the best route to take in my gap year.
These days I do clinical volunteering providing health care to the homeless (~3-4 hours/week and trying to get more involved), volunteer with a math club for middle schoolers (~2 hours/week, but getting more involved next quarter), and volunteer teaching science to 5th graders (2-4 hours/week). I also do independent research through the math department at my school. I will be designing and running my own project next quarter, but I honestly don't know how far I'm going to get with it. The material is very advanced, and I'm not sure that my professor even completely understands all of it (combination of computer science, biochemistry, and topology). My shadowing is pretty sporadic, but I'll have well over 50 hours when I graduate.
My grades have gone up tremendously since I got serious. I have about a 3.8 since the beginning of Junior year, and I think I should be able to keep a 4.0 throughout my senior year.
Besides killing my MCAT in April, what else can I do to make up for lost time? I'm going to apply on the next cycle and see what happens, but I'm prepared to take an extra year off to sure up my application. I have a couple possible jobs lined up when I graduate either in research or in clinical work, and I'm still deciding which would be the best route to take in my gap year.