Activities: Student Council, National Honors Society, Track, Band, Key Club, Candy-Striper (Hospital volunteer)

Undergraduate Major:  Biological Sciences with a concentration in General Biology and a minor in Chemistry

Scholarships/Awards:

Honors College Scholarship

Dean's List

Thurgood Marshall Scholar

Magna Cum Laude

Biology Scholarship

Undergraduate Activities:

SGA ( Soph.-senator; Junior-treasurer)

Concert Band member

MAPPS member

Resident Assistant/Head R.A. (3yrs.)

Summer Activities

The summer after my freshman year I went home.  I spent my time working and I took a few classes at summer school.  The following summer I was fortunate enough to go on a study abroad program to Orizaba, Mexico.  That same summer I also participated in a summer research internship at the University of Wisconsin and volunteered at the burn unit in the Univ. of Wisconsin Hospital.  The next summer I shadowed a GI physician and took the Princeton Review prep course for the MCAT.  This past summer I just spent working at Best Buy.

What I would tell a pre-med student:

There are a number of suggestions that I would give to any one who has decided that s/he wants to be a physician.  First, you need to show that you are who you say profess to be.  What I mean by this is that when you start writing your personal statement you will include things such as: "I have a strong interest in science and all of its advancements" and/or "I want to be a physician because I want to help others."  There's nothing wrong with making these claims but make sure  that you are able to back these statements up because you do not want to look like a liar during your interview.  If you claim to be a science fanatic be sure to do things like involve yourself in scientific organizations, work in a faculty's laboratory, stay abreast on the current advancements.  For those who claim that you just want to help others, you must volunteer.  This is not to say that you must only volunteer in medically related programs.  Actually, the more varied you volunteer experiences the better b/c it shows you just simply want to serve. 

             Second,  take a MCAT prep course whether it be Kaplain or Princeton, because the course will help you to narrow down the topics that you should focus your attention on and it will also give you tips on things to do to score better.  If your parents cannot afford to pay for the course get a job, save for it, take up donations, make some kind of sacrifice b/c you must make a competitive score.  (I used some of the money from my summer internship to help pay for mine; a lot of people also use this money to help pay for the application fees and to cover their traveling expenses for their interviews.)   Keep in mind that a number of universities have MCAT prep-like courses implemented into the curriculum for pre-med students and that a vast majority of students who desire to go to medical school are children of parents who have the financial resources to invest into their child's MCAT score.  In my prep course about 1/4 of the students were Freshmen or Sophomores in college and were taking the course to get an idea of what they needed to know.  They could then go and study all they'd learned over the next year or two and depending on how they were doing would possibly take the course again.  About another 1/4 of the students (the Juniors and Seniors) had previously taken a prep course.  I do not tell you these things to discourage you but actually to try to encourage you to not underestimate how important and difficult the MCAT is; however, I want you to know by no means is it impossible b/c with lots of focus, determination, and prayer there is nothing that will hold you back. 

             The last thing I would like to stress to you is to of course strive to do your best academically but also make sure that you present yourself as a well rounded person.  That means involve yourself in extracurricular activities that are not medically oriented b/c these activities will help make up for any inadequacies in your application.

How many schools I applied to:

I applied to four medical schools.

How I chose the schools to which I applied:

I first researched a variety of schools all over the U.S. but I was drawn to the Texas Med. Center (TMC), in Houston, Tx b/c it is the largest in the U.S. and I was attracted to the fact that simply being a student at a medical school within the TMC would give me exposure that I could not get any where else.  Baylor was my first choice due to the fact that it was located in the TMC, I liked its curriculum/daily class schedule, it had a active minority student body, the scholarship opportunities, and b/c it's a really good medical school.  The other three schools were also in Texas (one was also in Houston b/c of the TMC).  Before I started actually applying I thought of applying to schools in places such as: Atlanta, California, and Chicago but Texas started looking really good to me once I factored in how expensive it was to apply, to travel to these locations just for an interview, and of course out-of-state fees.  

You can contact me at:

Email: tayflea@hotmail.com