How to Be Pre-Med: A Harvard MD's Medical School Preparation Guide for Students and Parents

It is rare when an expert will write a book that outlines a clear roadmap to success in any field, but Dr. Suzanne Miller has done just that in "How to Be Pre-Med." Dr. Miller studied at Harvard College, and was admitted to Harvard Medical School. Part of her experience at Harvard Medical School consisted in helping Harvard undergraduates with the medical school admissions process. She is clearly an expert, and has used her considerable expertise to start a business helping students gain admission to medical schools nationwide, and to write this excellent book. This book is highly recommended guide for teachers, guidance counselors, parents, prospective pre-meds to get a feel for this arduous process before they get deeply invested in classes (and money), and for those who are sure from the start they want to be physicians.I thought Suzanne Miller's book was not only very helpful, but also interesting. The method she has developed (the "Six Buckets" method) definitely sets out a clear path to being accepted to medical school. The Six Buckets are Academics, Research, Community Service, Extracurriculars, Clinical Experience, and Application Skills. Dr. Miller sets out specific guidelines that should be followed for each Bucket, even giving examples of activities that could fall under each category and suggesting ways to get involved in each category. Each chapter busts certain myths about the pre-med process and application, such as different ideas about GPA and clinical experience.Beyond helping with the smaller details, Dr. Miller goes through her ideas about what your application and profile should look like overall. She gives lists and statistics of US medical schools which can help you to decide where to apply or help motivate you to get into a certain school. Most importantly, she gives profiles of several students that she helped to get into medical school, including herself. These profiles are extremely helpful because they present a "case study" of what it takes to be a strong pre-med candidate.Dr. Miller came to give a talk to a group of students at my high school. I'd already read this book and found it very helpful, and she was just as helpful in person. She mentioned that she's been able to get almost all of the people that she's personally worked with into medical school, and I think as long as you follow the instructions, you should be a shoo-in for med school.

I got this book when I first thought about being "pre-med." That was over 5 years ago and now I'm in an allopathic medical school. This book may be slightly outdated as certain things like the MCAT are different now, but the basic application process is still the same. The book really guided me through what I needed to apply to medical school, what schools look for in applications, how to write secondary apps, how to ask for letters of recommendations, etc. I love how Dr. Miller talks about filling buckets because it really helps you think about what you need to do before you apply. She also provides additional information for what opportunities are out there in order to fill these buckets. Schools don't like to hear that you're just doing volunteering, working, etc just to check it off your list (or fill your bucket), but this just puts it into perspective as to what opportunities are out there to make yourself a well-rounded applicant. I HIGHLY recommend for anyone thinking about going to medical school. Dr. Miller also has other books that I've used for when I started filling out applications and they were helpful as well.

This book has lots of great insight. I was eager to get the information I needed and read this in about 2 days. It provides a great outline to what you should do and expect as a pre-med student. Full of information and sources to let yourself dig deeper to get the answers you need to start your career path. I highly recommend this book and good luck on your journey!

Dr. Miller tells you what you need to know as a premed and for applying to med school.This is a good professional summary of the situation. Dr. Miller is from Harvard so she knows the game at its highest level. She writes clearly.This book is complementary to my book, "Straight A at Stanford and on to Harvard." She has to play it professional because she has a high profile reputation to protect and doesn't want to offend anyone.I have no reputation to maintain so I can speak more openly about the insider issues in premed and med school education. My book is more opinionated, controversial and funny.However, Dr. Miller has more knowledge than me about the formal details that you will want to know. Her book is relatively comprehensive in covering academics, research and clinical topics.She will tell you everything a Harvard admissions counselor and physician would tell you.I will tell you what a Stanford, Northwestern, Harvard doctor, crazy uncle would say after a few too many.

Dr. Miller’s “How to be Premed” book is the definitive guide for the discerning pre-medical student eager to craft a unique application that portrays their strong points. She has tips for every type of student, whether they boast sterling credentials and seek admission to a top 25 school or present a more shaky application package and are praying for a chance anywhere. Dr. Miller writes in an engaging, accessible manner that enables all to benefit from her wisdom and experience. The “How to be Premed” book allows readers to take a realistic look at their competitiveness level through her conception of the six-box mentality instead of relying on the “WAMC” threads often found on the Student Doctor Network forum pages. I give her book my strongest recommendation.(If she’s this helpful in her mass-market publication, imagine how much more helpful she is in her in-person consultations?)