Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

1st Edition/Rev. 09/2019

Your Bruin

Guide To All

Pre-Med

Nicolas Cevallos Michael Minh Le

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

AAP Review Session Photo

Contents

Introduction ...............................................................ii

About the Authors ..........................................................iii

Year 01 Theme:

Healthy Foundations & Academics ....................................1

Year 02 Theme:

Exploration & Refined Academics .....................................4

Year 03 Theme:

Development & Elevation ............................................5

Year 04 Theme:

Roller Coaster Year ..................................................6

Which Major Should I Pick? (Nick) .....................................9

Pre-med extracurricular/research checklist ............................14

Building Your Extracurricular Profile ..................................17

How to join a lab/get involved in research? ............................19

Letters of Recommendation (LOR) ....................................23

Personal Statement .................................................26

Conclusion:

Nick’s Thoughts on Handling the Stresses of College ...................28

Nick and Michael Closing Remarks ...................................32

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

If you are reading this you

have made the decision

or are considering

treading the road of

becoming a physician.

I am going to be 100%

honest throughout this

manual and here’s the

first we all need some

golden nugget. It’s no

joke that this road is not

easy; it’s one that comes

with a lot of sacrifice but

in those sacrifices, you’ll

reap a wide range of

rewarding benefits. More

so, the journey is far from

impossible, but please

always remember that it

requires a lot of hard work

both with academics

and extracurriculars.

This packet is meant

to introduce you to the

general requirements

needed to enter medical

school and includes

resources, information

on applying to medical

school, completing pre-

Introduction

med requirements, sample degree plans, timelines and other

information meant to help you on your path. Please note, this is

our introductory flagship manual and it will be iterated upon in

the coming years. As such, we need your contributions; please

shoot your questions via email and make your questions/concerns

heard through our in-person workshops. It is our overarching goal

to create a community and a longstanding body of information

that can facilitate the development of physicians in coming years.

The information inside is based on traditional coursework

required, and accepted by most professional programs in the

past, however, I encourage you to do your own research for the

specific schools and programs to make sure that you complete all

coursework required for admission to their program. This packet

is culminated from personal experience of physicians, current

medical students and a recent UCLA graduate applying to medical

school this cycle.

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

iii

About the Authors

Hi friend! I just want to provide a little bit of context about

myself before I begin. I am a recent graduate from the class

of 2019 at UCLA. I graduated as a Human Biology and Society

B.S. major with a minor in Global Health. I want to disclaim

that I am not a self-proclaimed genius and I am far from

perfect. I come from Chula Vista, California, a town located

5 miles from the Southern border. I did not have an easy

transition to UCLA, I was plagued with imposter syndrome

(which I will go into in a later section) that caused me to have

a subpar performance in my academics. However, with great

mentorship, change in mindset and work ethic, I was able to

improve my academic performance and graduated summa

cum laude with honors!

To provide further context into my story, I have been a

Peer Learning Facilitator, teaching Chemistry 14A/B/CL/153A

and Stats 10 for almost 3 years. I have loved this position

and have been providing mentorship for my students ever

since I started. I am writing this manual because I want to

share my story and provide tips and advice on what worked

for me during my time at UCLA which I believe will work

for you! In addition, I want to provide advice on what I

wish I did dierently. I also want to share my experience of

being a student of color on campus. Whether you are first-

generation, low-income, underrepresented, etc. it is easy to

feel isolated on UCLA’s campus. I want to let you know that

you’re not alone in this journey and there are many of your

peers that overcome this challenge day-in and day-out. I

hope to provide some useful tips/resources you can turn to

help manage mental health while on your path to success at

UCLA.

To distinguish between Michael’s and I’s sections, I

used a Q&A style and also incorporated many footnotes into

my writing (look out for those

protips, those are the things

you can’t find on the internet).

Please use/not use this

manual as you see fit, there are

many dierent views/roads to

being pre-med, however, this is

what worked for me and many

of my peers. Please feel free

to reach out to either me or

Michael if you have any advice,

we are always here to help.

Nicolas (Nick) Cevallos

ncev[email protected]

Pre-Med/Health Counselor Division

Academic Advancement Program

University of California, Los Angeles

1221 Campbell Hall

405 Hilgard Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1541

310-825-1481

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Hello there! I’m glad you’re

reading this and as with anything

you read nowadays, you should

become well-acquainted with

who is behind the text you see.

Like Nicolas, I graduated from

UCLA in 2019. Unlike him, I

graduated with degree majoring

in Neuroscience and a minor in

Biomedical Research (trust me, it

sounds MUCH more complex than

it really is). I grew up in Chinatown,

Los Angeles and attended LAUSD,

the second-worst funded school

district in the United States, for my

elementary years. I then moved

to the opposite side of the pond

to Temple City (it’s by

Arcadia/Pasadena), where aer school

piano lessons an

d SAT/ACT tutoring were norms. It is by seeing

both sides of the pond that I stand with a unique vantage point,

one where I am able to empathize with those from underserved

backgrounds and apply educational/didactic properties from

more aluent areas to help in any way I can.

For those less interested in the story and are more

objective thinkers, I have been a Peer Learning Facilitator for

Molecular Biology (LS3/LS7A) for the better part of 2 years and

the PLF Supervisor for the Life Sciences for 1 year. I’ve served

as the mentorship director for upwards of 30 students and I

continue to mentor countless students to pass forward the gi

of experience that my mentors passed unto me. I’m also proud

to have graduated summa cum laude and with honors!

Nicolas and I are cut from the same cloth; we know how

much we owe to our personal mentors and so, we want to help

level the playing field by providing resources that can serve

a wide range of people. We’ll share what has worked for us,

the logistics behind being a premedical student, and perhaps

most importantly, our mindsets that have led to our personal

success. Please know that wherever you’re from and whatever

your experience, I want to echo Nicolas’ sentiment: you are

here for a very clear reason. Two completely dierent reviewers

read through your application to UCLA and through a series

of tight guidelines that allow only those who deserve it in, you

were deemed worthy! Stick to your guns; be true to yourself;

we’ll make it out the other side alright.

As aforementioned, this manual is a general guideline

that aims to serve a wide range of people. Of course, there are

infinite permutations as to roads that will get you into medical

school. We’d be foolish to ignore that fact. As such, you can

always reach out to Nicolas and I should you have any specific

questions. I’ve le my personal e-mail and I encourage you to

send your thoughts at any time.

Michael Le

[email protected]

UCLA DGSOM Medical Student

Life Sciences PLF Supervisor

Budding Entrepreneur | Certified

Goofball

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

our 4 years throughout

college will be paradoxically

both long and short. Although

you have your eyes set on

medicine, it’s important to have

the right mindset to ensure

that:

• you complete everything

that you need to on time but

• you don’t go too hard to the

point that you’ve burned

yourself out and le a lot

on the table when it comes

to experiencing the “golden

years of college.” If I could

sum it up in one simple

sentence, it would be this:

MEDICINE IS NOT A RACE.

Please take that seriously! Medicine is a profession that

rewards delayed gratification, but also one that punishes

those who ignore gratification. In other words, know that

you won’t be able to party every week and that you won’t

be able to get by without studying intently, but also know

that those who don’t develop their social lives and physical/

mental habits will also suer. Like with everything, you will

have to find your balance. What follows now is a general

timeline for what you should be doing/thinking about

throughout your 4 years. This assumes you will be taking

no gap year, so adjust it accordingly. Feel free to also ask

questions specific to your situation via e-mail to either

Nicolas and I or in our Facebook Group, so everyone can

learn together! If you’re more of a visual learner, you can find

this summarized graphically here

https://forms.omnisrc.com/signup/v1/5cc242068653ed5a50b11735_5ccf62a78653ed76f6e7143b.html

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Year 01 Theme:

Pain Is Temporary, Gpa Is

Forever; Be On The Right

Side Of The Numbers

1. Your GPA is simply a

numbers game. It’s the

average of the grade points

you accumulate over the

years, which means that

it’s highly important that

you start o with a strong

foundation.

2. Go into your first year with

the intention of figuring

out how you learn best and

make sure to iteratively

change your study habits to

get the results you need.

3. This may be a rather

unpopular opinion, but I

personally felt like WHAT

I learned throughout my

undergraduate years didn’t

Healthy Foundations &

Academics

matter. It was important that I relatively enjoyed what I

studied (Neuroscience), but the fact of the matter is that

there is simply no way you’ll remember most, if not any,

of what you study throughout those 4 years. Therefore,

it is more important to learn how you best learn and

how to excel in exams. Once that system is locked down,

you’ll just have to rinse and repeat and sprinkle in a

pinch of eort to get the grades that you need.

Build Healthy Habits.

1. Your body is a machine. Your brain needs fuel.

Oentimes, I see students blame themselves or even

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

worse, target their intellectual capacity as the reason

why they can’t get the grades they want. Sometimes,

it’s not a question of eort or intellect (I’m confident

that everyone can get a 4.0 at UCLA with the right

systems), but rather it’s an issue of health habits. You

need to exercise (get your steps in!), sleep and fuel

yourself properly. If you didn’t charge your laptop, you

wouldn’t be upset that it wouldn’t turn on. If you don’t

feed yourself with healthy food, train your body through

exercise or sleep enough, why are you getting upset that

you won’t turn on?

Struggle First, Seek Help Later.

1. You will need to learn to be self-suicient. This is part of

the explorative part of optimizing how you personally

study/learn. Struggle with the material; get advice

from those who have taken the course before you &

look through resources on the internet to actively spur

your learning process. Oentimes, I see students jump

straight into oice hours with the TA/Professor when

they can’t explicitly say what it is they’re struggling with.

If I can’t ask a directed question exactly what portion of a

problem/concept I’m struggling with, I won’t go to Oice

Hours until I have that question on me. Learn to rely on

yourself and once that’s been exhausted (as it oen will

because you won’t know everything), then leverage the

expertise of others.

Optimize Your Studying Environment.

1. The brain is the strongest pattern recognition machine

in the known universe. If I flash a picture of a stranger to

you on the time scale of microseconds, your brain will

already pull a series of associations unconsciously for

you to work with. You’ll classify the stranger as male/

female, short/tall and

probably other things

including your assumptions

of their race/ethnicity

and whatever else that

entails. The same is with

environments. Recovering

alcoholics are asked not

to return to places that

they binge drink and

that’s because the brain

recognizes that space as

“the place” to binge drink.

These concepts are also

intimately important for

your studying.

2. If you study in your

bedroom, you will

undoubtedly confuse your

brain. Is this a space to relax

and watch Netflix or is this a

space to put laser focus and

tune out distractions? Do I

get distracted by lyrics while

I study? Do I get disturbed

by the conversations my

roommate so desperately

wants to have with me?

Do I study better at cold/

hot temperatures? Should

I have my Facebook or

Instagram open? How many

times do I check my phone

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

while I study? Continue to ask these questions and

iteratively improve your studying environment; you want

to get to a place where you can put in 2 hours of focused,

uninterrupted deep work. Once you’ve found that space,

protect it and don’t let anything take that away! That

space will save you so much time in the long run, opening

up your schedule for other things you truly love to do.

Have A Taste Of Extracurricular Experiences.

1. You have to taste everything before you know what’s

right for you. It’s not the most important to join/commit

to anything right now, but if you have your academics

down, go for an overall breadth of extracurricular

experiences. Try a fair amount of things to get a sense

of what the club’s mission is, what your possible roles

would be going forward and whether you’d be able

to balance it with your schedule. Again, we heavily

recommend to not bite o more than you can chew. The

foundation of your academics is the most important

concept to grasp in your first year; without it, you

shouldn’t even look in the direction of committing

to extracurriculars. Feel free to indulge in their

informational sessions and learn about what they do, but

diving headfirst into them should be reserved for when

you’ve got a handle on your schooling.

Build A 4-Year Plan, Including Summers

1. Envision your time throughout college. You should have

a general sense of what you will take when. This ensures

that you’re not the student who is scrambling for a

couple of hours before their class enrollment time opens

or the student who has gone through 3 years without

recognizing they’ve missed one key course to enter their

upper-division coursework.

2. Build this out; make sure

it’s well-vetted by those

older than you and your

department/major/career

counselors. We can always

take a look if you have

specific questions!

3. If you’d like a video

representation of a general

timeline, please see this

video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQAH4ofkcXk&

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Exploration & Refined

Academics

Year 02 Theme:

1. Academic refinement;

execute on your 4-year plan.

It should just be clockwork

now. You go to class, you

study the way you do best,

you make the grades you

need. If you’re struggling at

this point, DON’T add more

to your plate. Revisit the

principles above constantly,

push yourself to optimize

your learning and make it a

focus for you because these

numbers matter.

2. Ensure you’re ready for

the MCAT course wise.

You want to at least have

seen the majority of the

subject matter tested on

the MCAT throughout your

coursework. This is essential

for those who are looking

to not take a gap year.

Your ideal timing would to prepare and take the MCAT

during the summer between your 2nd and 3rd years. If

you’re taking a gap year, you can pump the breaks on the

coursework as your optimal timing would be the summer

between your 3rd and 4th years, giving you a couple

more quarters/semesters to fit in all the preparatory

coursework.

Begin To Get Involved. Choose What You’ll Invest

Your Time And Energy In.

1. Do what you’re interested in; don’t push so hard for

“pre-med” centric activities. They have their place, but so

does everything else. If you do what you enjoy, you won’t

have to worry about your level of commitment or trudge

through “just because medical schools think it looks

good.”

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Year 03 Theme:

Development & Elevation

1. Flow them into

extracurriculars and build

your application/story.

2. Become a leader, head a

project, look to push your

research forward.

Apply! Here’s A General

Checklist:

1. Are you comfortable

with your MCAT/GPA?

2. Clinical experience/

shadowing?

3. Strong LOR’s?

4. Is your mental sound?

Can you go straight

through without feeling

burnt out?

5. Are you proud of your

extracurriculars? Can

you speak to them in an

interview?

6. How much more would 1

extra year help you?

OPTIMIZE. LOOSEN THE REINS ON YOUR EGO

SLIGHTLY TO INCREASE YOUR MOST VALUABLE

COMMODITY: TIME. 93% LOOKS THE SAME AS 100%.

AN A IS AN A. TAKE THE TIME YOU SAVED ELSEWHERE.

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Year 04 Theme:

Roller Coaster Year

It’s A Waiting Game. Wait

For Your Time To Be Called.

Prepare For The Interview

Trail And Continue To Wait!

1. Enjoy the interview trail;

don’t psych yourself out.

You deserve to be there. You

belong.

Grade maintenance. I wouldn’t

drop your 3.7 GPA suddenly to

a 2.9, but if it takes small hits

here and there so you can relax/

enjoy your senior year, then it’s

well worth it. You’ve put in the

work, medical schools have

vetted you and you’re focused

on killing the interviews.

Whether your GPA is +/- 0.05

means little at this point.

REFLECT, You’re Going To

Be A Doctor. How Does

That Make You Feel? :)

Again, this is a very general

timeline that outlines some

of the things you should be

focused on throughout your undergrad years. Again, feel free

to also ask questions specific to your situation via e-mail to

either Nicolas and I or in our Facebook Group, so everyone

can learn together! If you’re more of a visual learner, you can

find this summarized graphically here.

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

MCAT AND GPA FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL APPLICANTS

My most important takeaway from this data is that you DO NOT have to

be a perfect applicant (528 MCAT/4.0 GPA) to get into medical school. An

interesting corollary is to think about why certain applicants (who may

have 528 MCATs and a 4.0 GPA) DO NOT get into medical school!

Source: https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/factstablea23.pdf

Source:

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Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Source:

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It looks like the average accepted UCLA student has a lower GPA than the national

average (which may be the admissions committees understanding the academic

rigor here at UCLA). Use the UCLA specific metrics to get an understanding of

where your school-specific peers are at with respect to their quantitative metrics.

UCLA SPECIFIC

Source: https://www.sairo.ucla.edu/2018-amcas

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Which Major Should I Pick?

DO I HAVE TO BE A

LIFE SCIENCE MAJOR

IF I WANT TO BE PRE-

MED?

A common misconception I would

like to address is that you DO NOT

need to be a biology major to be Pre-

Med. You can pick any major you like,

from engineering, to physiological

sciences, to communications, to

economics, wherever your interest

lies we highly encourage you to

pursue it!

DO ADMISSIONS

COMMITTEES

UNDERSTAND

THAT MAJORS

LIKE ENGINEERING

MIGHT BE HARDER?

While many understand that some

majors may be more difficult or

require more time commitment,

admissions committees do know

this, however, when it comes to

being compensated for a low GPA, the admissions

committee will not take this lightly as there is a

plethora of high GPA applicants also studying the

same major you’re in. With this in mind, choose a

major that will allow you to excel both in coursework

and interest. I know some individuals who have

majored in the “easy” majors of UCLA but were

absolutely bored during their upper division courses.

Choose a major you will enjoy while also being

able to protect the GPA! A great way is to ask older

individuals at UCLA

what they think of their major

and if they would recommend given your interests.

Another way is to meet with the department

counselor of the major you are interested in.

IS BIOLOGY THE BEST

MAJOR?

Although this is the most popular major among

individuals who enter medical school as these fields

of study go hand in hand, there are a significant

amount of individuals who majored in humanities,

sciences, and engineering. A convenient component

of majoring in a life science major is that all the Pre-

Med requirements are built in as lower divisions so

no need to take any extra courses.

Pre-med students oen ask if a major in life sciences

will help them do better on the MCAT, please be

mindful that biology is only of the sections and you

will also need a solid foundation in general/organic/

Feel free to email me if you have any questions about Human Biology and Society (Nick) or Neuroscience (Michael) or any other major, if I can’t give you personal advice

on that major, I can definitely connect you with someone who has done that major.

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

biochemistry, physics, sociology,

psychology, and critical reasoning,

majoring in dierent areas like

Psychology, Biochemistry, or even

philosophy can help with dierent

sections of the MCAT.

CAN I MAJOR IN

A NON-SCIENCE

FIELD?

Yes you can and it might be the way

to go! However, make sure you fulfill

the basic course requirements seen below. It’s also

good to research each school you’re interested in

attending to see if there are additional prerequisite

classes like biochemistry, or sociology. Make sure

you make extra room in schedule (ie. taking 4 classes

per quarter, taking summer classes) so you can finish

college in a timely fashion. Another option is taking

classes at your local community college, these will

count for medical school as well.

WHAT PLACE DO

HUMANITIES MAJORS HAVE

IN MEDICINE?

I think demonstrating the

promise that a person from a

philosophy (medical ethics) or

an anthropology (integrative

medicine) background has

on connecting with people

(which is closer to medicine

than all the signal transduction

pathways you learn in Biology)

would convince people on the

fence of humanities/sciences

that they should honestly study

what they love.

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

REQUIRED

COURSES

Most Medical Schools require

the following. Below are the

corresponding courses to fulfill

the requirements.

• One year of Biology with Lab

• One year of General

Chemistry with Lab

• One year of Organic

Chemistry with Lab

• One semester of

Biochemistry

• One year of Physics with Lab

• One year of Math

Important to note that these classes are what count

for your science or BCPM GPA. BCPM GPA stands for

biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics GPA.

Medical Schools tend to view the BCPM GPA with more

importance

A. Biology (Life Sciences) Required:

Course Units

Life Science 7A (Cell and Molecular Biology) 5

Life Science 7B (Genetics, Evolution and Ecology) 5

Life Science 7C (Physiology and Human Biology) 5

Life Science 23L (Introduction to Laboratory &

Scientific Methodology)

Total Course Units 18

Biology (Life Sciences) Recommended:

Life Science 107 (Genetics)** 5

**Some schools may require upper-division biology courses,

this would satisfy the requirement.

B. Chemistry Courses: Required for Life Science Majors

Course Units

Chem 14A (General Chemistry for Life Scientists I) 4

Chem 14B (General Chemistry for Life Scientists II) 4

Chem 14BL (General and Organic Chemistry

Laboratory I)

Chem 14C (Structure of Organic Molecules) 4

Chem 14D (Organic Reactions and

Pharmaceuticals)

Chem 14CL (General and Organic Chemistry

Laboratory II)

Chem 153A (Biochemistry: Introduction to

Structure, Enzymes, and Metabolism)

Total Course Units 27

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Chemistry Courses: Required for Physical Science Majors

Course Units

Chem 20A (General Chemistry: Chemical Structure) 4

Chem 20B (General Chemistry: Chemical Energetics

and Change)

Chem 20L (General Chemistry Laboratory) 3

Chem 30A (Organic Chemistry I: Structure and

Reactivity)

Chem 30B (Organic Chemistry II: Reactivity,

Synthesis, and Spectroscopy)

Chem 30C (30C - Organic Chemistry III: Reactivity,

Synthesis, and Biomolecules)

Chem 30L (30BL - Organic Chemistry Laboratory I) 4

Chem 153A (Biochemistry: Introduction to

Structure, Enzymes, and Metabolism)

Total Course Units 31

C. Physics Courses: Required

Course Units

Physics 5A (Mechanics and Energy) 5

Physics 5B (Thermodynamics, Fluids, Waves, Light,

and Optics)

Physics 5C (Electricity, Magnetism, and Modern

Physics)

Total Course Units 15

D. Math Courses: Required for Life Science Majors, pick

either 3 series or LS series

Course Units

Math 3A (Calculus for Life Sciences Students) 4

Math 3B (Calculus for Life Sciences Students) 4

Math 3C (Ordinary Dierential Equations with

Linear Algebra for Life Sciences Students)

Total Course Units 12

Which series should I take? From my experience if

you are debating whether to start a series, the 3 series

is more relevant as it gives you in depth calculus

knowledge which will be very helpful for physics and

chemistry in the future. However, if you scored a 5 on

the AP Calculus AB and BC test, the LS series would be

beneficial so you can get the full year of math.

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Course Units

LS 30A (Mathematics for Life Scientists) 5

LS 30B (Mathematics for Life Scientists) 5

Stats 13 (Introduction to Statistical Methods for Life

and Health Sciences)

Total Course Units 15

E. English Courses: Required 2-3 courses**

Any of the writing or “W” courses satisfy this requirement or

English classes

Course Units

Disability Studies 101W 5

English Composition 3 5

Aliens, Psychics, and Ghosts 51W 5

Any other English/AP or IB test/ Writing/

Humanities writing course may be applied

Total Course Units 15

F. Recommended Courses

Course Units

Psychology 10 (Introductory Psychology)

Sociology 1 (Introductory Sociology) 5

Humanities Courses (ie. Public Health, Philosophy,

Ethnic Studies)

Foreign Language courses (Spanish, French, etc.) 4

Ethics Courses (MCDB 60, MCDB 50) 5

The year of English requirement is a common held

myth amongst pre-meds. Most schools will allow for

English, Writing, AP/IB courses (from high school) or even

humanities courses to count as English. Make sure that

you do research into the schools you are interested in

attending, each has dierent requirements.

Worried that you’re not able to fit in 2-3 writing classes

into your schedule, you can also enroll in a community

college or university level course the summer before

you start medical school if the school has a hardcore

requirement.

These are just recommendations!! Any of the classes

will work!

Again, these are just recommendations, refer to the

schools you are interested in to see if any of these are

requirements or heavily recommended

Highly recommend this course, it is its own section on

the MCAT

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Pre-med extracurricular/

research checklist

Preface

I would like to preface this section by stating that the most important parts of your application

are MCAT and GPA. You could have the most amazing extracurriculars (ECs) in the world but if

your GPA and MCAT are too low, your application will not get past the computer (which means

automatic rejection due to GPA and MCAT cutos). However, your scores will only get you

through the door. Suice to say, there are way more people that get through the door than

those who actually earn a seat. Your ECs is what will set you apart from other applicants. It

represents your dedication, leadership, and teamwork skills that demonstrates you want to

help people. For those that are visual learners, here is a helpful mind map. Thanks Michael!

https://www.mindmeister.com/1262270182?t=PEfG7AGagT&omnisendContactID=5d698f19a8046bbb5f519841&omnisendScopeID=5cc242068653ed5a50b11735_2_7127367747

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

WHAT CONSISTS OF

EXTRACURRICULARS (ECs)?

There are a variety of extracurriculars but I would break

them down into 3 main categories that way you can become

a well-rounded applicant. For the visual learners:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd8CJP-Gbyk&

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGLhMv7XFiI

1. CLINICAL EXPERIENCES:

a. These consist of shadowing a physician or working in

a hospital/clinic with patients

b. Examples at UCLA

: Care Extenders, Mobile Clinic,

Flying Samaritans, Stroke Force/Team etc.

2. NON-CLINICAL/SERVICE EXPERIENCES:

a. Any other volunteer or work experience not involving

the hospital but greater community

b. Examples at UCLA: Special Olympics, CPR and First

Aid instructor, TEACH etc.

3. RESEARCH

a. These could include basic science

, translational

or clinical research

WHAT EXTRACURRICULARS WILL

HELP ME FOR SURE GET INTO

MEDICAL SCHOOL?

I wish there was a simple answer to this but there isn’t.

Medical schools love to talk about diversity in their class and

therefore, no same experience will allow for this to happen.

The ECs you pursue should be the ones that will help you

mature and grow as an individual. There are so many

opportunities at UCLA to take advantage of. Unique qualities

such as working with a team, communicating, or empathy

I will leave a detailed spreadsheet of clubs at UCLA at

the bottom of this section

Basic science research -- oen called fundamental or

bench research—provides the foundation of knowledge

for the applied science that follows. This type of

research encompasses familiar scientific disciplines

such as biochemistry, microbiology, physiology,

and pharmacology, and their interplay, and involves

laboratory studies with cell cultures, animal studies or

physiological experiments. (Taken from AAMC)

Translational research -- a term oen used

interchangeably with translational medicine or

translational science or bench to bedside – is an eort

to build on basic scientific research to create new

therapies, medical procedures, or diagnostics. (Taken

from Wikipedia)

Clinical research -- is a branch of healthcare science

that determines the safety and eectiveness (eicacy) of

medications, devices, diagnostic products and treatment

regimens intended for human use.

I fell victim to this during my second year, it’s important

to prioritize mental health, I have tips for that in a later

section.

are not learned from lectures

in the classroom but rather

through real situations!

WHAT IS A BIG

MISTAKE PRE-

MEDS MAKE

WHEN PURSUING

ECs?

I see this all too oen. One

is doing too many ECs to the

point where you are burnt out

and stretched way too thin

This will ultimately hurt your

GPA but also you may come

across as an applicant that

has stacked their resume with

nothing of substance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd8CJP-Gbyk&

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGLhMv7XFiI

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Some advice I have received from medical students who have sat in on the admissions

committees is to dedicate their time to one or two extracurricular activities and truly commit

themselves to it. Take on a leadership role and help that program grow and expand. Leave the

program better than you found it and push boundaries. Being passionate about one or two EC’s

shows responsibility and commitment which are desirable traits as a physician and medical

school applicant. Also, when interviews and secondaries come around, you have many relevant

examples to turn too.

WHERE AND HOW CAN I JOIN ECs?

In the beginning of Fall and Spring Quarter, UCLA hosts an Enormous Activities Fair where

individuals can see all the clubs available on campus and find out how to join!

https://www.truebruinwelcome.ucla.edu/2018/48 this website might be outdated but search in

“UCLA Enormous Activities Fair” on google and it should show more information.

Another great resource is Bruinwalk… as dreaded as that may sound, clubs are always

advertising to join. Just pay attention to the “Pre-Med/Pre-Health”.

Ask older Bruins!!! They have great insight into their clubs and may be able to oer you

extra tips for how to apply or interview for the club!

Also, I have compiled a database from one of my organizations. Feel free to reference it,

it has a list of clubs and when they are recruiting.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17kIn_JkSvs5Sya8y0YK78gLgx2tgvm8uOYcsEpHE2lI/edit?usp=sharing

https://www.truebruinwelcome.ucla.edu/2018/48

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Building Your

Extracurricular Profile

A WORD ON

THE CHECKLIST

MENTALITY:

Checklists are truly helpful

things. They can make sure

we don’t miss anything on our

morning routine and ensure

that larger processes, like

a plane taking flight, goes

smoothly. Checklists therefore,

are great for repeatable,

formulaic processes. They

don’t do so well when there

are a series of variables/

other factors that come into

play. The Medical School

Admissions process is a prime

example of something that

should not be taken from

a checklist mentality. If so,

you’d see every applicant with

research, EMT experience,

volunteer work, global health

experience, etc. Instead,

you see medical students

passionate about power

liing and community

health, whereas others

are musical virtuosos

who wish to combine

art and medicine,

and even still others

who want to combine

entrepreneurship with

medicine. Successful

medical school

matriculants come in

all dierent types of

packaging. Stay true

to the main tenets of

medicine (e.g. clinical

experience to ensure you

understand what it’s like

working with people,

scholarly pursuits as

medicine is a field that

values lifelong learning,

etc.) but otherwise,

commit to things you truly

love doing.

THE THREE

PILLARS:

Your extracurricular profile

can truly be as simple as doing

things that you love doing and

I fully encourage that. Should

you want to be slightly more

nuanced with your approach,

I’d suggest an exerci

se I invented

and coined “The Three Pillars.”

Here, you identify three core parts

of your identity that you want to

express; in other words, what are

three themes in your life. It could

be something like ‘Emotional

Expression,’ ‘Teaching/Mentoring’

and ‘Active Lifestyle/Nutrition.’

Because these three things are

important to you, you’ll likely have

extracurriculars that fall into each

pillar. In this case, perhaps you run

a successful blog as an outlet for

your emotional expression. For

teaching/mentoring, you could

be the Internal Vice President

and

lead an internship program

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

and for Active Lifestyle/

Nutrition, you could be

a part of a powerliing

team on campus. An

interesting expansion of

your extracurriculars would

then be to find activities

that combine your pillars.

Perhaps you’re in a program

that counsels patients to lose

weight, satisfying both your

‘Teaching/Mentoring’ and

‘Active Lifestyle/Nutrition’

identities. Or maybe you

become a director for a

cultural night performance,

hitting your ‘Emotional

Expression’ and ‘Teaching/

Mentoring’ pillars. This three-

pillar structure forces you to

engage only in activities you

intimately identify with and

also allows a nuanced way to

combine your interests.

For a general overview of

extracurriculars and why

they’re important in the

admissions process, please

see this video.

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

How To Join A Lab/Get

Involved In Research?

By this point you may have realized that UCLA is a public school, which means no one is going

to give you anything…. You have to go out and get it! My great mentor, Dr. Nicholas Bernthal,

always said that UCLA has incredible resources, you just have to learn how to navigate it. I hope

this manual is helping with that.

HOW DO I

JOIN A LAB?!

There are two ways to

join a lab that I explain

to all my mentees. One

goes by the saying, “Know

where you want to go

and make sure the right

people know about it.”

If you have older Bruin

friends that maybe 4th

years, specifically in the

winter or spring quarters,

I would ask if they have

any openings or future

openings in their lab.

Considering your friend

is a 4th year and about

to graduate, that lab has

an open spot and that

could be your ticket in!

In addition, getting recruited

from a friend is essentially

a recommendation from

someone you know, this is

critical and they will make

you look good to the Principal

Investigator (PI or boss of the

lab)! You can also gain some

insight into what research their

lab does. Joining other hospital

or pre-medical clubs is a great

place to be in to ask older

Bruins!

The other way is

through mass emailing. I would

search through the http://

www.ugresearchsci.ucla.edu/

findmentor.htm and go to the

Undergraduate research portal

which is located on MyUCLA

under the “academics” tab. On

this site is where faculty post

lab positions.

WHEN SHOULD I

JOIN A LAB?

First and foremost make sure

you have a schedule that allows

you to succeed. Ensure you are

able to work at anywhere from

10-15 hours. Joining a lab when

you’re trying to study for the

MCAT or take multiple hardcore

science courses may not be the

best time.

The best time to apply

to a lab would be spring

quarter as many individuals

are transitioning out of lab for

graduation or other reasons.

Any spring quarter would be

great, I would recommend your

first year or second year spring

quarter.

http://www.ugresearchsci.ucla.edu/findmentor.htm

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

I would also browse

departmental websites

(www.ucla.edu/academics/

departments-and-programs)

and search through the faculty

and browse through their

research interests. If their

interests align with yours shoot

them an email.

Michael here: one other

pathway in is an established

research pipeline that UCLA

oers. It’s called the Biomedical

Research Minor and I personally

loved my time with that

department. It is for people who

want to incorporate scholarly

pursuits throughout their

career and so there is a lot of

dedicated time polishing your

writing/presentation/analytical

skills, so please do be wary if

you’re not aware whether you

want to be completely gung

ho when it comes to research.

The minor is a big commitment and it will be diicult to

push through if you’re not passionate about research (many

people aren’t once they’ve realized just how many hours

they spend pipetting/with mice/imaging, etc.). If you have

specific questions, feel free to shoot them my way!

HOW DO I CONTACT A

POTENTIAL FACULTY MEMBER?

Congrats you found a potential faculty member you would

like to work with! In your email, you should introduce

yourself and inform them about your purpose of contacting

them.

Make sure to include:

a. Name/Major

b. Purpose for contacting them (ie. I want to conduct

research in your lab)

c. Major research interests and enthusiasm for gaining

research experience

d. How does your research align with what the lab is

currently researching?

e. Include contact information (email, phone, etc.)

f. Attach a CV/resume.

• I have attached a sample CV through UCLA’s example:

http://www.ugresearchsci.ucla.edu/pdfs/Sample%20

CV%20June%202007.pdf

g. Available dates for interview

EXAMPLE OF SAMPLE EMAIL:

Dear Dr. ____________,

My name is ________, and I am a first year undergraduate

majoring in Psychobiology. I am intrigued by the research

your lab is conducting, I have read the description of your

http://www.ugresearchsci.ucla.edu/pdfs/Sample%20CV%20June%202007.pdf

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

lab’s research and I am writing this email to express interest

in joining your lab and possibly engaging in an SRP contract.

I have long been interested in neuroscience research, though

I have yet to do any myself. Having a close relative who

suers from ADHD, I would love to learn more about eective

methods of improving training attentional control, and

perhaps even start a project of my own in the near future. I

am extremely eager to learn and engage in the intellectual

atmosphere of research.

I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you

to discuss projects in your laboratory, and the possibility of

an SRP contract in Summer Session A (or Summer Session

C or Fall if there are no more Session A positions). I am

available next week Monday (June 27th) 9:30-11 and aer 4

pm; Tuesday aer 2 pm; and Thursday 2-6 pm. If any of these

times do not work for you, let me know what days and times

do, and I will adjust around your schedule. I have attached

my curriculum vitae as well, for you to review at your leisure.

I look forward to hearing back from you and I hope you have

a nice weekend.

Sincerely,

__________

HOW MANY FACULTY MEMBERS

SHOULD I EMAIL?

You should email at least 10-15 faculty members. The reason

for this is because PI’s receive hundreds even thousands of

emails a day. My PI receives 1600 emails a day!!! You may

not receive a response from

everyone you email or may

even receive rejections. The

key is to stay tenacious and

persistent! If you do not hear

back from the faculty member

in a week send a follow-up! I

have heard from PI’s that they

appreciate the follow-up, this

shows that you are seriously

interested in joining the lab

HOW DO I

PREPARE FOR

A RESEARCH

INTERVIEW?

Congrats on receiving the

interview! You are one step closer

to entering the exciting field of

research. Make sure you are on

time and are in nice-looking

attire. You do not have to go

business casual but please try to

look fairly presentable. Make sure

you do further research on the PI

your interviewing such as looking

at their previous publications

and reading the abstracts. All

you have to do is go to https://

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/

and type in the PI’s first and last

name.

My great friend back home emailed his PI 6 separate times before he received his oer. He stuck with it and has presented in Florida and is on the way to finding a cure

for a cardiac disease!

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

This will allow you to get a better understanding of the

research they are conducting!

Also make sure you come prepared with questions such as:

a. Who will be supervising/mentoring me?

b. What type of research and projects you will be working on?

c. Make sure that you are participating in the research not

just a technical assistant washing plates or cleaning

the lab.

d. How many hours are expected to work per week and how

flexible are the hours during midterm/finals seasons?

I landed the position are there any other things I need to

do? YES! Here I will talk about the cheat code/secret to

UCLA.

Amazing job getting the research position! You will

need to fill out an SRP contract, this will give you units for

the research and hours you are doing! You can get pass/fail

1-2 units through SRP 99 contracts. The cheat code to UCLA

is that SRP 199 you can receive 2-8 units of letter grade. Yes,

that is correct, you read that right! LETTER GRADE. If you

are in a science lab this will count for BCPM or science GPA

and you can get up to 32 units

of upper division units. I know,

this is incredible, I didn’t know

this until the beginning of my

second year and I wish I could

have known sooner.

Here are the steps needed to

complete an SRP contract.

Make sure to do so within the

first two weeks of the quarter or

else you may have to pay a fine

to Murphy Hall :-)

http://www.ugresearchsci.ucla.

edu/srpcontracts.htm

http://www.ugresearchsci.ucla.edu/srpcontracts.htm

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Letters of

Recommendation (LOR)

Congrats on making it this far in the manual. For those of you getting ready to apply, I applaud

you, you’re at the final steps! For those of you who are looking and planning ahead for the

future this also very important!

HOW MANY LORS

DO I NEED? AND

WHO DO I ASK?

Almost all medical

schools require letters of

recommendation, usually

around three to five. This

portion of the application

is extremely variable and

requires research to be done

on each institution. A general

rule of thumb is at the bare

minimum, two science or

BCPM professors

(ie. any Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or

Math professors) and one non-science professor (ie. History

professor). I would recommend obtaining additional letters

from practicing M.D.s, volunteer supervisors, employers, or

PI’s etc.

You should try to think of every professor and supervisor as

a potential letter writer, this will give you the motivation to

study harder and also attend oice hours. As you get further

along in the quarter, you may realize that you want this

individual to write you the letter and since you have been

going to oice hours this may lead to an opportunity to ask

them.

SHOULD I ASK A PROFESSOR I

DO NOT KNOW THAT WELL?

In general it is better to have a professor that knows you and

can attest to examples of your intellectual capacity. Do not

ask a “big name” professor just because they have a fancy

title, it is better to ask individuals that can write something

personal and special about you. If they can make you walk

on water then you’re getting the right

letter written about

you!

Protip!!! If you are in a science lab at UCLA, your

principal investigator or PI counts as a science professor.

It is essentially a 2 for 1 as they can attest to your science

and laboratory skills!

Another way to get close to professors other than

research and oice hours is the Learning Assistant and

Peer Learning Facilitator programs. These allow you to

work weekly and meet with the professor allowing to

establish a close connection.

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

DO I MEET IN

PERSON OR OVER

THE PHONE TO

ASK FOR THE LOR?

ALSO, IS THERE

ANY INFORMATION

I SHOULD

PROVIDE THEM?

It is generally better to ask in

person, feel free to set up a

meeting with the professor via

email or wait until the end of

oice hours to ask. Make sure

you ask for a “strong letter of

recommendation” that way you

keep each other accountable

that you are receiving a good

letter for your application and

the professor is comfortable

doing that.

With regards to

information, even if the

professor knows you very

well, they may still request

more information. Be ready to

provide a CV/resume, transcript,

and oentimes a personal

statement if you are applying. It

does not need to be final dra

version but a rough dra will do that way they can tailor the

letter to your ambitions/goals.

Say for example you took LS3 during your sophomore

year and you want the professor to write you a LOR, it

doesn’t make sense to wait until senior year! The professor

may forget you with the interactions they’ve had in that long

time considering they teach over hundreds of students. The

best time to ask would be at the end of the quarter or a few

weeks aer you received your grade (it’s better to wait until

you received your grade). If you are asking a supervisor or

employer, it is better to ask towards the end of your time

with the organization.

If you have obtained a letter earlier than anticipated

and do not need it, you can use a storage service such as

https://interfolio.com (interfolio) which will store and send

the letters to AMCAS when it is time to apply. UCLA does not

have a letter service so I would recommend this one, it is

very intuitive and is free to store letters.

HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD I GIVE

TO MY LETTER WRITERS?

A good rule of thumb is 3-4 months before your application

is due. If you are planning to apply in June, then March

should be the latest you ask for a LOR. Other students will

also be asking for letters and asking late puts unnecessary

pressure on the letter writer.

DON’T FORGET TO WAIVE THE

RIGHT TO SEE YOUR LETTERS.

The AMCAS application will ask to waive the rights to the

letter so it will let your letter writer write as honestly as

possible.

https://interfolio.com

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

HERE IS THE LOR REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH SCHOOL.

THIS IS THANKS TO REDDIT

If this manual can’t answer all your insightful questions,

reddit definitely can! A great resource to use to answer all

your pre-med questions! Just go to https://www.reddit.

com/r/premed/

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/18Gsq6-SBE7CtZLw4Rz5DlAEuZOqK

ScHNh9hlkiEiois/edit?usp=sharing

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Personal Statement

There are plenty of in-depth Personal Statement guides out there on the web, so we’ll stand by

those and use them as support for this piece.

Medical School Personal Statement Guide:

1. I personally know the author of this blog (Shirag

Shemmassian is a UCLA Alum himself) and his long-

form articles are truly gems in this space. A couple of

highlights that I’d like to parlay onto our guide:

a. The personal statement is one of the few

opportunities you have to demonstrate your person-

hood, who you are beyond your GPA/MCAT and listed

activities on your resume. Arguably more important,

it’s the single space where you can be explicit

about why you want to become a physician. As such,

it is a key dierentiator amongst the hundreds of

thousands of applicants that apply to medical school

each year.

b. This blog post oers a step-by-step approach to

writing your medical school personal statement.

Everything from what to write about to how to tie

it all together is touched on in detail and supported

with examples of what and what not to do!

c. There also is an analysis of a full-length personal

statement that earned admission into a top-5 Medical

School

d. Lastly, there are other examples for you to gain

inspiration from but if you’d like more to read,

you can also check out this resource from the Health

Careers Advising Center from the University of

Pittsburgh (downloadable)

The Premed Playbook:

Guide to the Medical School

Personal Statement: Write

Your Best Story. Secure Your

Interview

1. Dr. Ryan Gray has been in

this space for a long time

now and has written more

than one book on the

medical school admissions

process. It’s a long read

and definitely will be a

surefire resource when

you’re draing your own

narratives!

Essays That Will Get You into

Medical School

1. I personally used this as a

resource when writing my

own personal statement!

It gives dierent sets

of personal statements

indexed by people of

dierent backgrounds. As

someone who wanted to

bring out the features of

my educator/community-

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

centric/Asian Pacific Islander interests, it was helpful to

see how other people wrote about similar portions of

their own identities.

You’ll most likely benefit from assistance tailored specifically

to your story. If you’re at that point, always feel free to reach

out to us! If you’re not quite there yet, it surely will help to

think about portions of your

identity you’d like to highlight

and ensure that the years

before you apply to medical

school, you’re engaging in

activities that support that

identity.

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Nick’s Thoughts on

Handling the Stresses of

College

Imposter syndrome is very real and aect many students on this campus. I would like to share

my perspective serves to call for awareness, advocacy and acknowledgment of many students

who share similar challenges in academia. Here is a sample of an opinion editorial I wrote for

the Daily Bruin:

“As a Latinx student, I find myself, along with many other students of color, having to

conquer more than weekly

problem sets and quizzes.

We consistently fight for the

respect and approval from peers

and faculty that we belong

on campus. And we fight o

discrimination in our everyday

lives while also struggling

with impostor syndrome –

when an individual feels like

an intellectual fraud when

they have achieved success in

rigorous situations.

During my first two years

at UCLA, I experienced many

preconceived expectations from

certain peers and faculty. I heard

comments such as, “Nicolas,

you are the first smart Mexican

I have ever met,” or even had a

teaching assistant triple check

that I received the correct score

because he could not believe

that I could have received the

second highest grade in the

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

class. These experiences made

me feel like an impostor and

believe each time I succeeded, it

was luck and not the hard work I

put in.”

If this resonates with

you or you would like to read

more, here is the link for the

article: http://dailybruin.

com/2019/04/02/op-ed-for-

students-of-color-impostor-

syndrome-can-add-to-the-

challenge-of-college/

Dealing with these

stresses took a toll on me

but it was through support

groups and being in AAP study

groups that helped manage

these stresses. It is important

to recognize that you belong

at UCLA, there is a reason you

were granted acceptance and

although it may not feel at

times that you don’t deserve

to be there you do. You were

chosen out of thousands of

applicants and you have the

opportunity to do something

special and amazing with your

education.

For me, being apart of

the Academic Advancement

Program helped me tremendously. Here, spaces were

created where I could share and contextualize my experience

of being a person of color. Racism is still well and alive in

the U.S. and I believe that sweeping it under the rug is not

the best solution to this problem. Rather, acknowledging

the problem is the first step to solving the problem and it

is through these support groups in AAP that I realized I was

not alone. I could talk about the micro-aggressions we each

experienced but also how we could use our experiences to

grow stronger and learn from them.

Nicolas outlined the imposter syndrome and his

experience with it and from my limited experience working

within AAP for the better part of 2 years, that is primary

struggle we face. If I had to add a couple of other things I’d

say:

http://dailybruin.com/2019/04/02/op-ed-for-students-of-color-impostor-syndrome-can-add-to-the-challenge-of-college/

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

1. Surround yourself with those who understand your

struggle

a. It’s easy for people to dismiss your concerns,

especially if they’ve been through the same things and have

made it to the other side. They’re not trying to ignore you

and your growing pains, they’re simply trying to comfort

you by simply showing you (through themselves) that

everything will be okay. While it certainly will be okay (you

will make it through), this type of advice can feel distant and

not eective, especially if you’re living within the struggle.

As such, surround yourself with those in your position. They

will be first responders to any crises you may have and serve

as a collective backbone going into the future. This support

network is extremely important, because it reairms what

you already know in your head: “you’re not alone.”

2. Mentors

a. Experience can be life’s greatest teachers. Isaac

Newton famously said: “If I have seen further it is by standing

on the shoulder of giants.” Lean on these resources when

you can; they can save you a great deal of growing pains with

everything from knowing what professors teach with clarity

to whether you should read MCAT prep books from cover

to cover before you start practice exams (the answer is an

emphatic no).

Michael’s Thoughts on

Handling the Stresses of

College

3. Keep your health

a. For the most part,

students are one resilient

bunch. Life only goes south

when two/three things pile on

top of each other and capitalize

on each others’ viciousness.

It’s only when the finances are

thin, the family is fighting and

the courses are slightly tougher

that students break down and

become overwhelmed. Many of

these things you can’t control

and so you’ll have to learn to

ride the waves when they

come.

One factor you can

control is your health. Keep

it optimal; you can control that

Exercising, eating right and

sleeping a healthy amount will

do wonders for your

productivity, your social

interactions and your overall

happiness. Treat your health as

a priority and it will pay its

dividends. I promise you that.

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Closing Remarks

NICK

Hi again! It’s Nick here! and I would like to thank you for reading (or skimming) through this

manual, we hope it serves you well and answers many of the questions/provides an outline of

the road ahead. With that being said, there will be many questions or areas of the unknown

that may not be covered in this manual but we encourage you to use this as framework and

guide you to other resources (including us!!) that may have the answer to your question. We

know this manual isn’t perfect (as this is our first edition) but we are looking forward to writing

the next iterations in the upcoming months/years.

Most importantly, you’re never alone on this adventure through UCLA, this is just the

beginning with many opportunities to make an impact, a dierence, and overcome adversity

with the ultimate goal of growing. Michael and I are excited to hear from you and please feel

free to reach out to either of us, we are here to serve and help you on your journey! Please look

out for us in Campbell Hall and our future upcoming workshops!

With much love,

Nicolas (Nick) Cevallos

Your Bruin Guide To All Pre-Med

Michael

And with that, our introductory manual comes to a close! Nick and I poured hours of work to

convey our 4 years of experience into writing. Of course, everyone learns dierently and our

mission is to build the largest community of pre-med advising nationwide. To do so, we want

to get to know the people that we’re helping and so, please reach out to us with questions you

want answered, workshops you want hosted and meetups that you want to make a reality! We

hope to digitize all of our conversations to help subsequent generations and our content will

only be as good as the questions you ask. We hope that we’ve written in a way that makes us

genuinely approachable and removes ANY and ALL barriers to shooting us an email to get that

follow up conversation going. Welcome again to UCLA and we’re so happy that you’re here.

More than that, we’re beyond ecstatic you’ve chosen the best career possible (a tinge of bias is

indicated, but that’s okay). Stay true to yourselves and mature to be the people that you want

to be. We’ll help you take care of the intangibles of attaining an acceptance into medical school

so you can be the athletes, best friends, musicians, etc. that you also are! Medicine is NOT your

entire life, so please lean on us when you need to. We’ll be here. :)

Yours Truly,

Michael Minh Le

A Student Who Sat In The Same Seats You Did Just Last Year