Junior summer + year plans
Hey everyone, I'm a rising junior interested in pre-med and possibly becoming an allergist/immunologist. My current plan includes AP Bio, AP Lang, AP World, Honors Physics, Honors Precalc, French 4, AP Psych, and 2 electives. I have a 4.0 and have taken APHG, AP Afro, and APCSP (scores were 5,3,5 in that respective order), and I'm involved in HOSA, African Student Association leadership, Dare2BReal (mainly a Minnesota club, anti-racism activism), and I am planning to start volunteering at a hospital. I am currently going to be the junior rep for ASA, an ambassador for Dare, and a new NHS member, as well as a junior rep for Black Student Union. Another one of my main concerns is that my EC's seem tailored towards humanities and not health care.
My goal is to eventually attend a top medical school, and I'm currently considering colleges such as Johns Hopkins, the University of Minnesota, and other strong pre-med programs.
What should I be doing this summer and junior year to get the most out of high school before applications?
(PS. I would also like to know how the cold emailing process for research should start and how I should follow up)
Your ECs are really solid and I would just recommend you make sure that your impact in each of them is quantifiable and worth mentioning. I would also say get started on your personal statement during the school year if possible. At the latest, the summer before senior year.
For cold emailing, if there's a specific professor, school, or topic you're interested in, read some research projects that have already been produced in those areas/by those people so you can have specifics to mention. Make sure you understand it well so you can use it as a pivot to what you actually want to do.
If there's a way to meet the professor or go to the school's research facility in person, do that regularly (a couple of weeks to a month) so they know you're interested. If not, that's fine.
Once you have a topic in mind, email the school or professor and ask what they think of the project or concept and reference some of the projects they've done in the past. Make it seem like you're just curious rather than about to ask for a role. When they respond, continue with the curiosity and ask if there's a way for you to start that project (on your own) but imply that you would like a mentor to guide you. This might take a while so start as soon as you possibly can.
Also, I recommend watching this video: youtube.com/watch?v=oRlTyX25m7w&pp=ygUQcmVzZWFyY2ggcHJvamVjdA%3D%3D
Hope this helps!
Thank you so much!!!! I will definitely use your advice.
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