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ellie:)

@dearpremeddiary

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welcome to my pre-med diary📝
uc davis alum🐮
CURRENTLY: med school interviews📚
NEXT UP: med school📆

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Dear pre-med diary,

Since sharing my MCAT journey on this account, I’ve been flooded with questions about how I managed an almost 20-point score increase from diagnostic to test day. So, I figured I’d make this post to share what worked for me.

Phase 1:

At this point, I was a full-time student at UC Davis, trying to to enjoy my last few months with my friends before graduation. Due to this, I was only able to find a few hours a week to study. However, even though I didn’t spend a lot of time studying for my MCAT, the classes I was taking at that time (metabolic biochemistry, genetics, physiology, etc.) were all helping me prepare behind the scenes.

Phase 2:

I initially planned to take my MCAT the summer after graduation, but those plans quickly fell through when I couldn’t break past a 503 before my initial test date. I chose to step back, reset, and start studying again in September. By this point, I had started my post-bacc courses and was a full-time student again. However, due to my classes being online, I was able to study part-time (~20 hours a week) for my MCAT.

Phase 3:

This was the “all-in” phase. I became a regular at my local coffee shop, same seat, same baristas, 8 hours a day. There were days when it felt so heavy and difficult, that I wanted to quit halfway through a Chem/Phys section. But, I kept pushing. Discipline was most important here.

In January, I finally took the exam. While my 515 wasn’t my highest practice score, it was exactly the goal I had set when I first started this journey, regardless of the fact that I never thought I could actually get there.

To anyone feeling stuck at a 500 or feeling like they’re hitting the same wall over and over, keep pushing. You are more capable than you know and the finish line feels so much better than you can imagine.

I hope this helps! As always, my DMs are always open if you have any specific questions or need any specific advice!

#premed #medicine #mcat #mcatprep #studying by @dearpremeddiary

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8 months ago

Dear pre-med diary,

I wanted to share my MCAT score journey, not to highlight the final number, but to show the non-linear and difficult reality of MCAT prep.

I started with a 496 diagnostic and C’s in multiple prerequisites. This was absolutely reflective of the amount I had learned in my courses, so I knew I had a lot of content review to do. At this point, I was in school full-time finishing my last 2 quarters of college. With only 2-3 hours a week of MCAT focused prep, I took my next practice test a few months later. I got a 502. It was heartbreaking. I thought time spent equated to progress, but I had to learn the hard way that how you study matters more than how long you study.

For months, I felt like I was running in place. I went from a 502 to a 503, then a 504. I was upset at the plateau I hit, so far away from my target score of 515.

I had to be brave enough to change my entire strategy. I stopped hiding in content review and started facing the practice questions that scared me. Suddenly, the spark caught. 506 turned into a 512 within 2 weeks. Even with life getting in the way and dropping my score to a 510, it went right up to a 515, 2 weeks later. My 519 was the moment I realized that the “C student” I used to be wasn’t the person sitting in front of the laptop anymore.

Even then, it wasn’t a straight line to the finish. Just 3 days before my test date, my score dropped to a 513. My confidence shattered. But I kept pushing. I reviewed every mistake like my life depended on it, and I never missed a day of Anki, even when life tried to get in the way.

If your path isn’t linear, you aren’t doing it wrong. You’re just in the middle of your journey. I’m sharing these numbers to show you that a 496 or a list of C’s on your transcript isn’t a dead end, it’s just a starting line. Those C’s will forever haunt me. This score, however, is a testament to how much I’ve grown academically and more importantly, as a human being who pursues her dreams with passion and discipline.

#premed #medicine #mcat #mcatscore #studying by @dearpremeddiary

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8 months ago

Dear pre-med diary,

Since I now hit 300 followers (which might be small but is way more than I ever expected for this tiny account), I figured it’s time to introduce myself.

My name is Ellie and I’m a recent UC Davis graduate on my gap year before med school apps open this spring. I just took my MCAT a month ish ago and I’m now waiting for my score to come back in 2 weeks ahh!

I started this account to document my pre-med journey as diary entries. One of my favorite things is reading old journals from when I was younger to see how much I’ve grown. Right now, I feel like a kid in medicine, like I’m just getting started. These videos, story posts, and captions are my way of capturing this stage so I can look back one day as a “teenager” in med school, a “young adult” in residency, and a “grown adult” as a physician.

My passion for medicine began with a love for the science of humans, from microscopic levels like biochemistry to macroscopic like public health. But through my personal experiences, volunteering, research, and shadowing, it’s become clear that being a doctor is the best way for me to do the 2 things that matter most to me: keep learning for the rest of my life in a field that’s always evolving, and serve people through a culturally sensitive lens while helping bridge gaps in healthcare access that I’ve seen in my communities and beyond.

This journey has already been full of ups and downs, and I’ve made plenty of mistakes. That’s why I share advice in my captions sometimes. If something I say helps even one person, then it’s worth it. My DMs are always open, and I genuinely love when people reach out. Impostor syndrome hits hard, so when someone asks for advice, it feels like the biggest compliment.

My posting schedule may be sporadic, but the pre-med life is every day. Can’t wait to share more about my journey!

#premed #medicine #ucdavis #studying #gapyear by @dearpremeddiary

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8 months ago

Dear pre-med diary,

I started my second gap year a couple of months ago so I wanted to talk about how impactful my gap years have been for me. When I told my parents, in college, that I’d take two gap years before medical school, they definitely got scared. In a world where we’re constantly thinking to the next steps, saying “gap year”, sounded like a break. But it definitely was not.

I started my first gap year with full-time classes in a DIY post-bacc and full-time MCAT prep. I raised my science GPA and got my target MCAT score, not because I had free-time to relax, but because I gave myself the space to focus.

Working full-time in medicine has given me the opportunity to learn what it’s like to actually work in healthcare. Volunteering in clinics in college gave me an introduction to medicine, but actually working, gave me an understanding of the real responsibility that comes with patient care.

I was able to travel in a way I’ve always dreamed, hostel-hopping, sleeping on trains, lugging around a huge backpack, going to a new country on 0 hours of sleep. I met people from all over the world, making memories I never would’ve made if I went directly to medical school.

I said “yes” to everything! I’ve been side questing every single week. I performed at a poetry open mic, joined a public choir, went to women’s leadership events, spoke about rural healthcare barriers, acted in two short-films, and more.

I reconnected with old and built new lifelong friendships. My support system is incredibly important to me, and I’m glad to have had this time to strengthen those bonds. That support will be incredibly important in med school and I’m looking forward to supporting and watching my people grow in their lives and careers too.

I am still in the midst of my second gap year, but I’ve appreciated every second of this time so far. I’m excited to enter medical school in 2027 as a complete person.

Medicine is a huge part of my life, but my gap years have reminded me that I exist outside of my future career. I am glad that I have had the time to solidify my identity and just exist as the human that I am.

#gapyear #medicine #premed #medschool #college by @dearpremeddiary

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14 days ago

Can’t wait to rack up some more embarrassing fails during med school and beyond.

#premed #medschool #medicine #healthcare #mcat by @dearpremeddiary

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21 days ago

Dear pre-med diary,

I finished my last secondary at the beginning of this month, so I thought I’d share the topics that I wrote about most. Of course, everyone’s story and experiences are unique to them, so what I wrote most about will not be what everyone else writes most about. But for those that are starting to think about their secondaries for next cycle, here are some ideas of what topics I found most useful in writing.

1. My community service and volunteering abroad stories were most useful for any prompts asking about experiences working with underserved communities, addressing SDOH, or interacting with communities different from my own.

2. My medical assisting and phlebotomy stories were most useful for any prompts asking about teamwork, making mistakes, failing, etc.

3. My research stories and experiences were most useful for any prompts asking about research (of course). Prompts asking about teamwork, making mistakes, and failing were definitely applicable here too.

4. My hobbies (music, musical theatre, and acting) were way more useful than I expected. I could use stories for practically any question. I mentioned my hobbies in almost every single secondary.

5. My activism and leadership stories were most applicable for showcasing how I’ve adapted my volunteer experiences after college. I’d bring them up after sharing stories about things I’ve witnessed abroad, volunteering with underserved communities, etc. Not every secondary gave me an opportunity to bring this up, but I definitely tried my best to fit it in a few.

6. Shadowing didn’t come up as much as I expected. I preferred to use stories where I did something rather than witnessing something. However, shadowing across multiple specialties gave me a clearer picture of what I want my future to look like. So talking about that was helpful in any “where do you see yourself in ___ years” questions.

7. My time volunteering in a student-run clinic was helpful for questions about underserved community work, SDOH, and linguistic accessibility.

Again, everyone’s experiences are unique, but here were my most impactful ones!

#premed #secondaries #medschool #volunteering #medicine by @dearpremeddiary

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25 days ago

Dear pre-med diary,

Something I discovered in college is that I love to travel. From volunteering in Peru to shadowing in Spain, college allowed me to deepen my passion for learning about other cultures or languages and meeting people from all of the world.

One of the most important parts of my personal medical purpose is the intersection between humanities and medicine. I believe that something as simple as pronouncing a name correctly or as complex as communicating in the patient’s language can be the difference between a patient feeling like a patient and a patient feeling like a human.

So, I love to travel because a small part of it is the opportunity to learn. My friend Clara and I have been planning and saving up for this trip to Europe for the last year. We visited Paris, Brussels, Berlin, and Prague over the span of 2 weeks. We purposefully stayed in hostels to meet people from around the world.

I know that travel, especially to Europe, is not equally accessible to everyone. So I feel extremely lucky to be in a position where I can put a part of my income towards a trip like this. I’m very grateful to have built so many memories, met so many people, learned a few words in a few different languages, and been exposed to a few new cultures.

Now, I’m back to work and waiting to hear back about interviews. My first one is the day after tomorrow!!!

#travel #medicine #premed #medschool #europe by @dearpremeddiary

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a month ago

Dear pre-med diary,

I haven’t posted much recently because I’ve just been finishing up secondaries and now starting interview season. But an important part of my life right now is that my little sister is going off to college!

I remember a few years ago when she said goodbye to me as I left for college at UC Davis, while she stayed home with our parents. Now, she’s leaving for UC Riverside, and it’s my turn to stay home with our parents as I wait to hear from medical schools.

She and I are pursuing very different careers, but our paths have crossed academically several times. She and I both went to the same community college (although at different times) and in a few years, we’ll both have UC bachelor degrees!

I remember tutoring her in biology, proofreading her college admissions essays, and advising her on which university to commit to. Now, she’s on her own! Very excited for this new chapter for her!

#sisters #college #movein #university #littlesister by @dearpremeddiary

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a month ago

Haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been finishing secondaries + finishing planning for my Europe trip in a few days! But I needed to hop on this trend real quick :)

#kindachic #premed #medschool #medicine #healthcare by @dearpremeddiary

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2 months ago

I don’t know anything about sports, but I did see that Spain just won a few minutes ago. Hopefully I win against my secondaries, because that’s all I’ve been doing all day.

#premed #medicine #amcas #mcat #medschool by @dearpremeddiary

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3 months ago

Dear pre-med diary,

I haven’t posted in a moment because secondaries have been so overwhelming. Honestly, I haven’t felt this overwhelmed since my MCAT, which is saying a lot. Working a full-time job means going to a coffee shop every day after work, just to write. Writer’s block means nothing when the clock is ticking, and that’s the most stressful part of it.

But today I looked at my tracker and counted how many schools I’ve submitted secondaries for so far. Turns out, I’m around 2/3 of the way done. This really surprised me because I’ve been in such a “go go go” mindset the last two weeks. But now that I can see the finish line, I’m getting even more excited and, of course, even more nervous.

It’s just crazy to think that a year from today, I might be getting ready to move to a new city to start medical school (hopefully). Very excited to see what this cycle brings!

#premed #mcat #medschool #medschoolapplications #medstudent by @dearpremeddiary

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3 months ago

Dear pre-med diary,

Quick rant time. I submitted my primary application on the very first day it opened. But AMCAS had a backlog of transcripts from Parchment at the time, and one of my transcripts said that it hadn’t been received yet. On the AMCAS website, it said not to send it again and to just wait. So I waited several more days. But nothing changed.

I got frustrated and so I ordered that transcript for a second time. It was received that same day. That made my official submission day, June 1st. I know a couple days doesn’t make a huge difference, but when all you want is to get into med school, you don’t want to leave anything up to chance.

When my friends who submitted the first day were getting verified, I wasn’t. I was very frustrated and maybe concerningly anxious. I was posting on reddit asking about when I might be verified, but ended up calling them.

Calling AMCAS was such a great decision. They were so kind and understanding, even though I’m sure they get hundreds of Ellie’s calling every day, freaking out for no reason. I was finally verified on Wednesday night, just like the AMCAS person I spoke to said I would be.

Now, it’s officially secondaries time! Rant over.

#premed #medicine #amcas #medschool #medschoolapplications by @dearpremeddiary

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3 months ago