Undergraduate studies is often the time when prospective medical students either cement their aim of becoming a doctor, or abandon it altogether. Prerequisites to fulfill, internships to complete, volunteering to conduct, research to dive into—medical school hopefuls are often fraught with tension and enormous pressure to stand out in an application. It can all be so much to keep track of while our brain frazzles with biology terms, chemistry equations, and physics formulas. It is too much, sometimes. I understand; I am one of them. And so, for me and for those hopefuls, here’s a list, a guide, a place devoid of frazzled thoughts—just so you and I may take a breath. 
1. Prerequisites
To start with, you must first be aware of which medical school you would like to enter. Yes, it’s very early to determine this exactly, but keep a list of five to ten schools you’re interested in. This is because different medical schools sometimes have different prerequisites, and five to ten is a good number of schools any prospective students should apply to. Once you have your list, do some research on the school’s website and determine what coursework they require for entry into their MD program. Depending on how competitive a school is, the number of prerequisites you are expected to fulfill may increase. In general, however, you should have completed:
– 1 year of biology (Biology I and II)
– 1 year of chemistry (Chemistry I and II)
– 1 year of physics (Physics I and II)
– 1 year of organic chemistry (Organic Chemistry I and II)
– Cell Biology
– Biochemistry 
– Calculus I
– Statistics
2. Keep Summer Vacations Open
Alas, summer tans, beach getaways, and foreign excursions must be kept to a minimum. Summer is your time to make sure you shine brighter than others in the medical application pool. Summer is the best time to go do a research internship, shadow a doctor, or volunteer or work at a hospital. These kinds of experience are what make you a competitive applicant. 
3. Know When to Take the MCAT
The MCAT is the medical school version of the SAT. This score is very important to boost your application, and your acceptance into medical school is dependent on this score if you’re lacking enough experience. If you’re planning on applying to medical school straight after college, then you must have your prerequisites completed by your third year and your MCAT taken by then too. If you plan to take a year off after college, you have until your fourth year to complete all the prerequisites and take that year to really study for it.
All of us medical school hopefuls feel an enormous amount of stress, but when you feel like it’s too much, just remind yourself of the reasons why you wanted to be a doctor in the first place. A simple reminder serves well as a Xanax, I’ve learned.