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Introduction
1
 
Introduction
2
Creator’s Letter
 
Princess Francois, CC’11
 
Dear Charles Drew Members,
Pulse
was created specifically for you! The idea for creating this came after reading asimilar book I received from my participation in
the University of Pittsburgh’s
S
ummer
A
cademic
E
nrichment
P
rogram (SPAEP) in Summer 2009. I found the bookincredibly resourceful and it served as a pre-med bible to me. My only criticism wasthat it was not entirely written by students. I later discovered a mini premed bookletwritten by students of the Harvard Pre-Med Society. An overachieving Columbian, Idecided I would create one written
by 
Columbia premeds,
 for 
Columbia premeds,combining the best aspects
—
depth and student perspective
—
of 
Pitt’s book andHarvard’s
. In this endeavor, I have aspired to build
upon Charles Drew’s diverse activities
whilecomplementing the usual guidance of Columbia
’s
Office of Pre-Professional Advising.The purpose of this book is to offer honest advice about how to survive (and conquer!) the intense pre-medcurriculum at Columbia. The content of this book is broad but detailed in its presentation. In these pages, youwill find topics such as how to pick a major, studying abroad, extracurriculars, summer research opportunities,
the “gap year”, and much more
. Here, students share personal stories, talking openly about mistakes they feelthey made and what they might have done differently. Our motivations in sharing these stories are to pass onknowledge we hope might help you achieve the same success we want for ourselves
 –
to become physicianswith a purpose, to become physicians that pay it forward, with the first step of getting into medical school. Wealso want to leave a legacy for future generations of pre-meds to follow.We hope you consider our advice and realize that we were once in your shoes. Remember that there aremany resources out there to help you in your premed journey. These include not only this book, but yourpeers, professors, doctors, medical students, and the Pre-Professional Advising Office. Treat this guidebook asa window into these other resources and think of 
Pulse
as your student-written survival guide to navigating
—
and excelling at
—
your pre-med career and a stepping stone to your ultimate dream: the M.D.I would like to thank my co-
collaborators Antoinette Allen, CC’12
,
and Jasmine Alves, CC’13 who took on this
large project enthusiastically and made sure it did not fall through the cracks. Without their hard work andcommitment, this guidebook would not have come to reality. Thank you to the editing committee who readthrough an enormous amount of articles despite their
very, very 
busy schedules. Most importantly, I wouldlike to thank the writers and contributors. Without their words, there would be no guidebook.We hope this guidebook will be updated periodically as we anticipate that both the needs of students and thepremed curriculum will change. As a final note, I leave you with these wise words that were once given to me:
“P
^
3 = MD.
”
Plan, preserve, and persist and you will become the doctor you aspire to be!All the best and much luck to everyone,
Princess Francois, CC’11
 
Co-President of the Charles Drew Pre-Medical Society Creator of 
Pulse: The Unofficial Lifeline Guide for Columbia’s Pre
-Meds
 
Introduction
3
Note from Our Co-Collaborator
Antoinette Allen, CC’12
 
Hello there! My name is Antoinette Allen and I am the Co-Collaborator for the CharlesDrew Guidebook Project. Working tirelessly through the semester, my co-collaborator,Jasmine, and the creator, Princess, have managed to finagle a pre-med guidebook writtenfor pre-med students by both current and former pre-med students at Columbia. This wasa very challenging task
—
harder than you might think! We are all so incredibly involvedthat it is difficult for us to take even just an hour or so out of our busy schedules toaccomplish a large task such as this. However, we are also motivated to create somethingto help generations of pre-meds to come. As you will see in the forthcoming pages, thereare some very amazing articles from some very amazing students who took the time andeffort to contribute by speaking openly and honestly in these pages about their pre-medexperiences at Columbia. I thank these students and wish them great success in the future. To the reader, I hope youfind this guidebook informative, relatable, and maybe even humorous at times as you read it to cure what ails your pre-med soul!
Note from Our Co-Collaborator
Jasmine Alves, CC’13
 
Congratulations on making the decision to become a doctor! This Guidebook, written forColumbia premed students, by past and present Columbia students, aspires to be anessential tool for maximizing your chances of succeeding here and getting into medicalschool. We know that becoming a doctor is a challenging yet rewarding process, so our goalin creating this Guidebook was to help make this process go as smoothly as possible for you.To do so, we have gathered as much information and advice about what it takes to be asuccessful pre-med student at Columbia and made that all available to you in one place. Theadvice comes from students just like you who have already gone through the process. Inputting this guidebook together, we hope to dispel myths about the Columbia premedexperience and address everything we think a premed student needs to know
—
fromchoosing a major, to finding a research opportunity, to everything in between. Along the journey to become a doctor,you may be faced with a variety of obstacles
—
why not avoid some of those pitfalls by learning from the mistakes andsuccesses of other Columbia pre-meds? The content of this book will benefit both present and future generations of premedical stu
dents. That’s exactly what this book allows. I am excited and honored to be a part of this project. We
hope the content of the book will benefit both present and future generations of premedical students. Truthfully, I wishI had this book freshman year, but I am grateful that I have it now. Good luck on your journey to become a doctor, andenjoy the book! We are truly thankful for everyone who has taken the time to make a contribution to this project. Thisbook would not be possible without the help, support, and contributions of past and present members of the CharlesDrew Pre-medical Society.
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