Every year, the typical medical school in America will get between 4,000 and 10,000 applications to fill 100 to 200 spots. Getting good grades and a good MCAT score is no longer enough. The extracurricular activities and the experiences that you have during your undergraduate career are what separate a good application from an excellent application. Since I’ve been at Nazareth, my resume has exploded with extracurricular activities, but they’re activities that I love doing – I don’t just do them for the resume aspect. Bulleted below are just a few of the many ways Nazareth is preparing me for medical school.
- Small Class Size: The small class size allows for a relationship between the student and the professor. All of the professors have tons of office hours that you can go to, and they’re always super helpful! Currently, my largest class size is 16 students and every one of my professors knows me extremely well – which makes it easy when it comes time to ask for letters of recommendation. One of the things that I love about smaller classes is that it makes it a lot easier to ask questions in class. Smaller classes always spark class discussions, making it much more fun to learn.
- Community Service: Nazareth is known for its community service involvement. The amount of volunteering opportunities that Nazareth provides is endless. Currently, I’m in a program called CURCS (Connecting Universities to Rochester City Schools), which was started by Moudi, a Nazareth student who graduated this past year. Every Tuesday I go into school #29 within the Rochester City School District (RCSD) to help motivate the kids into going to school by helping them with their homework and studying for tests. The RCSD is one of the worst school districts in the country based on attendance rate, so the impact we’re having on the kids is huge.
- Clubs: If you can think of a subject or activity, there is a good chance that there is a club for it on campus, and if there isn’t then you can easily start one. For my freshman and sophomore years I was a member of Science Club and Pre-Health Professionals Club. My junior year I ran for Vice President of both clubs and I won both of the positions. Being a club officer is a huge resume builder!
- Social Life: Believe it or not, one of the main things that medical schools look for when you go for an interview is to make sure that you can carry a conversation well and that you’re not awkward. The social life on campus, as well as all around town, is amazing. There is always something going on around campus such as sporting events, club events, or grocery bingo! Now that I live off campus, I miss the social aspect of constantly being surrounded by campus events.
Here is a picture of me giving Vitamin A to a girl on my medical mission trip to Belize this past summer, something I got involved with through a Nazareth alumnus.
