Question From High School Student
Hello!
I’m a 14-year-old 9th-grade student, very interested in becoming a radiologist! I’m aware that this is more of a university-level website, but would you, by any chance, be able to give some tips on courses you recommend and what to do in high school to help me to get accepted to medical school. Also, what courses will allow me to do well there?
Thank you so much for your time!
Young But Interested In Radiology
Answer/Advice
Glad to hear that you are enjoying radsresident.com. It’s never too early to start thinking about your career options in life! So, I will give a few of my recommendations to you. First of all, of course, you will need to perform very well in school in all your classes. But, if you are writing this email to me, I have a sneaking suspicion that you are doing that already! You have a slightly better chance of getting into medical school from some of the name brand colleges. However, we get lots of applicants from smaller schools as well. So, if you don’t get into Man’s Greatest University, all is not over. Doing well in your college classes is even more important than high school, regardless of which school you attend.
So, what types of courses are best? I don’t think it matters that much at any stage of the game, except to ensure that you meet the typical medical school requirements- Bio, chemistry, physics, etc. Schools like to see that you have varied interests.
Forgetting about grades and courses, what else should you do? Do a few extracurricular activities that you like and do them well. What do I mean by that? If you love music and you are good at it, take it to a high level. Play for All-State band or at other performance venues. If you are an athlete and like baseball, do it well. Play for college sports and work hard. Or, if you are into student government, make sure that you start small in your school and eventually become proactive in national organizations. Regardless of what you do, please do your best, and do it to its utmost. Don’t be one of those folks that do two hundred different things, is not that interested in any of them, and performs them only superficially. Too many applicants get caught in this trap.
Those folks that get into medical school, ironically, have other interests other than medicine. It’s what admissions counselors like to call the “well-rounded” applicant. So, make sure to enjoy and participate in other activities other than school. And do them to their fullest extent. I would shoot for these goals, not just in radiology, but in whatever goals you decide to pursue.
My two cents,
Barry Julius, MD
