Hello Upper East Siders, Gossip Girl here. . .

. . . just kidding! It is true that I am visiting Upper East Side this week, though, in addition to two other regions of New York City (the Bronx and the juxtaposition of Upper East Side and East Harlem). However, I’m going to take this moment to focus on a related but probably more useful topic: how in the world do you do premed at Caltech?? I have had more than one interviewer who shakes my hand, smiles, and says they have never seen anyone from Caltech at a medical school interview before.
(1) Be prepared to accept a lower GPA.
At any other school, I’m pretty confident that I could have kept a perfect GPA. However, the core curriculum at Tech is not designed to be easy. For those of you have been tuning into my previous posts, it’s like sipping from a firehose. There are some concepts you’ll understand, there are others that will go straight over your head. For homework sets, you will be able to consult the professor, teaching assistants, and fellow students (whoo collaboration!) to finish the sets. Usually those grades will be fine, provided there is no massive misunderstanding that gets passed around among those working on the set. It's the exams that tend to be killer: I had more than one final where the average was a 50%. Average.
It's a very different mentality from other premed programs. That said, I am truly glad for that unique experience. First off, it made me infinitely more humble. Turns out, that's a pretty essential personality trait to have when you're entering a profession where you will constantly find your own knowledge challenged and outdated. You need to be able to accept a mistake and move forward, rather than fight to the death for the last point. Second, it made me appreciate the good grades I did get. Even if it took an entire night of studying and memorizing, of sketching out diagrams and flashcards. . . if I know it paid off, it was all worth it.
Basically, if you can keep above a 3.5 at Caltech (very doable), you should not only be good to go for competitive schools, but you'll be much better mentally prepared for the stresses of, well. . . not knowing everything all the time.
(2) Take the relevant courses.
Luckily for you, this isn't too bad. Many of them are already fulfilled by the core requirements of Caltech, and many more if you're a bio/chem major! Here's what I did to fulfill my own requirements:
- Physics (1 year): Ph1abc, Ph2ab
- Math (1 year): Ma1abc, Ma2ab
- Biology (1 year + lab): Bi8, Bi9, Bi10, Bi22, Bi114, Bi117, Bi122. . . the list goes on and on
- Chemistry (1 year + lab): Ch3a, Ch1ab (might need Ch102; I'll update on this later once I have an offer)
- Organic Chemistry (1 year + lab): Ch41abc, Ch8
- English (1 year): Frosh hum + 2 advanced hums in English
- Biochemistry: Bi/Ch110, Bi/Ch113
Pretty much all of these were finished by the end of my junior year except for Ch008 and the potential Ch102 class. Definitely easy to get them all done.
(3) Do research in a project that is clinically relevant.
Luckily, also not hard to find because projects with significant clinical relevance tend to get better grants. Coming from Caltech, you should have no trouble getting into any laboratory you find interesting: be it on campus or off. I worked for two summers in Boston doing cancer research, for example. Interviewers love basic science experience! It's even better if you have a publication, although my own is still underway.
(4) Do shadowing at Huntington, CHLA, Cedar Sinai, City of Hope, etc.
So, how do you know you want to be in medicine? If you see the grittiest and goriest scenarios possible and are still up bright and early the next day to see more, that's a good sign. The exact programs available from Caltech vary from year by year, but I shadowed at Huntington Hospital last summer. The program was six weeks, sixty hours per week, twelve hours a day from mid-June to the beginning of August. I was invited to see a few more surgeries during the latter half of August (while I was working on applications) as well. To sum up: I could not imagine a more complete immersion in the day to day life of a physician than the Huntington Preceptorship program, at least from the perspective of shadowing. You will see everything.
By the way, the director, Dr. Caton, is an incredibly talented neurosurgeon who wants to give Techers a fighting chance in medical school applications: let him help you!
(5) Do volunteering, leadership activities, etc.
How do you know you want to help? How do you know you want to lead? There are a lot of different ways to show this to a medical school admissions committee. Personally, I tended more towards student government. The most prominent volunteering group on campus, the Caltech Y, is very active though. There are also opportunities available through the Caltech Premed Association (CPMA). Just make sure you're doing something productive with your free time that shows that you're a mature, organized, and active person. I am planning on some hardcore volunteering at free clinics once I matriculate into medical school, but I am glad I had the experience of helping my own (albeit tiny) community during undergrad.
(6) Talk to the medical school advisor.
They want to talk to you! They know things! They have walk-in hours! Go say hi sometime :) Also, it helps them a lot when you're applying if they know you beyond a resumé.
(7) Have fun.
In all seriousness. Everyone applying for medical school is going to be high caliber: what makes you unique? If you have a hobby that you're really passionate about, never give it up just to spend more time on classes and whatnot. Almost every single one of my interviewers has asked how I will destress in medical school.
Also, just to bring us back down to Earth: I like to cook, read, write, draw. . . occasionally blast silly music and dance with my freshman year roommate. . . explore LA. . . you get the picture. I am not a world champion dancer from a tiny unknown country or anything crazy like that, but I know how to get my kicks.
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Basically, it's not the most traditional premed program, but I'm glad I had the opportunities I did at Caltech and I truly feel like it prepared me for handling -- well, pretty much anything after this. I'm also very open about my experiences moving towards medicine, so anyone who thinks my advice would be helpful can email me at anytime.
Good luck current/potential Caltech premeds!
<3
Elisa