Melinda Staub

Moving almost 3000 miles away to college without any support was pretty scary. It took me a long time to adjust. I heavy-loaded my schedule with “weed out” classes like General Chemistry and Intro Biology because I didn’t know any better, and I felt pressured to get involved in every extracurricular because I thought everyone else was. I was also working a part-time job to help pay for my school. I was overwhelmed and failed my first chemistry and calculus test. It took until the end of my freshman year to find the right studying style for me, to learn when to say no, and to find a really awesome group of friends that supported me. Additionally, during this time my father was diagnosed with cancer. It was hard for me since I was so far away. I strongly considered transferring to a college closer to home. Thankfully, through amazing doctors and insurance, his cancer was managed. Because of my dad’s diagnosis, I wanted to spend more time with my parents and spent almost all my school breaks at home rather than doing an outside program or traveling.

 

When I entered college I had a vague idea of what I thought I needed to do to be a good medical school applicant. I took all my science classes, joined organizations, and joined a research lab. While working in the lab for about a year and a half was good to get experience in the field, it was most helpful in showing me what I didn’t want to do - benchwork research. I also went into college thinking I wanted to major in Biology since I had such a good experience in high school, but the 200+ student lectures were not what I anticipated and lacked the application to the community factor of science that I liked. Seeking a reprieve from the heavy science course load I took what I thought would be a fun, easy class: Harry Potter and mythology. It turned out the class was actually a women’s and gender studies class. We spent a lot of time delving into feminist theory and applications in our society  - especially in the context of the 2016 election. For the first time in my higher education, I not only felt like my personal identity and experiences were validated, but also I saw what I was learning immediately influence the way I viewed and navigated the world. As I switched my major, I started to learn more about gender and racial inequalities and the social impacts of medicine. This in conjunction with my personal appreciation for access to health care, 1) because of my father and 2) growing up in a bilingual family where my Abuela always asks my mom to interpret her health appointments for her, spurred me to become more involved in health equity. This was so important because I finally felt like I was doing things I was passionate about again and reignited my interest in medicine. I became an intern for the women’s center at my school, started Spanish interpreting at a free clinic, and did more sociology based research I enjoyed. 

 

My university had objectively a very good pre-med advising program, but I do feel like there were some issues that probably come with any university’s advising program. The advisors don’t meet with you until a few months before you apply. Some medical schools have “unwritten” requirements like shadowing hours that you may not have done because of availability. Also the MCAT is a grueling process and can be hard to know where to start with studying. Advisors may also tell you to eliminate or present personal experiences in your application in a more moderate way. I was lucky to find a mentor and friend in an older student who gave me advice on applying to medical school and emphasized the importance of staying true to yourself. Without her I probably would not have made it. My school had networking events to meet medical school students and faculty mentors. While these people are really great resources, I found the a student one or two years above me was most helpful since they had most recently gone through the process. 

 

I took my MCAT in January 2019 (I applied June 2019) and started really studying in December over winter break. During this time I basically studied all day using Examkracker and the AMCAS resources. I thought these materials both worked well and helped me achieve my goal. While the MCAT and the primary application were terrible, nothing could have prepared me for how stressful secondaries and interviews were. The amount of writing you had to do over a short period of time was overwhelming and so was the cost. I did not take a gap year so I was still in school at the time. Trying to keep up with classes and schoolwork while flying to interviews was hard to balance. In retrospect, I would have pre-written more secondaries and planned ahead with my classes so I had a lighter, more flexible schedule. To be honest, this was a hard time for me since the stress exacerbated other worries in my life. I highly suggest reaching out for support, finding coping strategies early on, and prioritizing your physical and mental health. I started long distance running to destress which really helped me.