If you’re a pre med student, that means you’re at least moderately intelligent and have probably been successful throughout your educational career. That also means you’ve probably learned the art of sucking up (or kissing ass, or brown nosing, or whatever you want to call it). Now, I hate sucking up. I avoid doing it for many reasons, mostly because I can’t stand it when I see other people do it.

In college, you’ve got to be careful sucking up. My advice would be to avoid it altogether. You see, the point of sucking up in high school is to make the teacher like you in the hopes that this will translate into better grades. In college, especially college science courses, the grading is much more objective than in high school. That means that even if a professor loves you, it’s not going to help you if you don’t know the difference between an anion and a cation.

So what’s the point of rubbing shoulders with some professors? For a pre med student, it can be invaluable. Here are just a few of the benefits:

1. Opportunities for research. Most science college professors are working on some research project. Getting to know them, and showing interest in their field is a great way to get your foot in the door helping out with a research project.
2. Advice. Professors are often very interesting people. Some of my best conversations in college were with professors. Don’t miss an opportunity to learn from someone who may have something to teach you beyond the course material.
3. Letters of recommendation. Guess what? You need them to get into medical school. At least one letter full of praise from a professor that knows you very well is almost a necessity for your med school application.
4. Help with course material. Who better to ask questions about your class than your professor? Even if you are bored by their teaching style in lecture, you may find talking with them one on one a great way to better understand what you’re learning. Asking for help is also a great way to start a relationship with a professor.

Don’t wait! Strike up a conversation with one of your professors as soon as possible. For many students, classes start up soon. There’s no better time to start to get to know a professor than at the beginning of the term. Make yourself known!

Any other benefits to getting to know professors that you other pre meds can think of?

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One of the best places to find information about a topic quickly are internet forums. These forums can also be a place where community is built between people with common interests.

Several good pre med forums exist, and are a great resource for anyone trying to get into medical school. Here are the best pre med forums on the web, check them out and I think you’ll find they will be invaluable for your journey.

1. The Studentdoctor.net (SDN) Forums

These are by far the most active pre med forums, and that is one of the reasons Studentdoctor.net is probably the best pre med site out there. Thousands of pre meds use the site each day. It can actually be a little overwhelming at first because there are so many different forums to read. Here is a quick guide to the most useful parts of the site for pre med students:

A. The Pre Allopathic (MD) and Pre Osteopathic (DO) forums
These are the most active forums on the site. Looking through this forum you will find topics with dozens or even hundreds of posts. The topics range from “Official 2008-2009 REJECTION Thread!” to “What is your most significant vulnerability?” Pretty much any type of pre med question is asked here.
B. The MCAT Discussions Forum
One of the most important aspects of the application to medical school, the MCAT is a cause for much consternation among pre med students. In this forum you’ll find endless amounts of info about the MCAT, including study tips and MCAT course reviews. If you just want an overview of the MCAT, check out this great thread.
C. Aspire- The high school and pre-college forum for pre health related matters
This is a new forum on the site, and it’s not as active as the others. However it has some great discussions for those younger students who are exploring pre med and other pre health fields.

The site also has forums for med school students and for physicians of all specialties. These will give you a good idea of what medical school and the physician practice is actually like.

2. The Studentdoc.com Forums
These forums aren’t nearly as active as the SDN site, but can still be very useful. Posting here might be a good idea if you are overwhelmed at the prospect of posting at SDN, knowing your post may be viewed by hundreds of people. Studentdoc has an MCAT forum, a pre med forum, and a forum for non-traditional pre med students as well.

3. The pre med forums at Collegeconfidential.com
Collegeconfidential.com has forums for all types of college issues, but one of their more active forums is the pre med forum. In addition to the pre med discussion, they also have a “Careers in Medicine” forum to talk about other options in the medical field.

Know any other good forums?