It’s common knowledge that the pre-med path is hard. However, most people don’t know just how challenging it can be in reality. While you are a pre-med, you will probably lose sleep studying for an exam. Also, you might develop a caffeine addiction and you will have to make some sacrifices. Additionally, you have to focus on school more than you ever have in your life. But if you are wondering “How Hard is Pre-Med?” because you fear your life outside of school is coming to a drastic end in freshman year, fear not. There are still ways to create balance as a pre-med. After all, reaching your dream of going to medical school and becoming a physician will be totally worth it.
This post is all about how hard is pre-med.
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Find out how hard is Pre-Med

Is Pre-Med a Major?
First of all, let’s clarify what it actually means to be a pre-med. Also, let’s answer one of the most common questions for beginners – Is Pre-Med a Major?
No, pre-med is not a major. Your pre-med friends will actually have a pretty diverse set of degrees. In a nutshell, calling yourself a pre-med means that you are on the track towards medical school. This includes taking all the required classes and preparing for your MCAT exam. Also, choosing extracurricular and work activities that reflect your passion for medicine, such as in the realms of shadowing, clinical experience, leadership roles, research or others.
Based on the AAMC data, here are the most common majors pre-meds choose:
- Biological Sciences 57% – like Neurobiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology
- Social Sciences 9% – like Economics, Psychology, Sociology
- Physical Sciences 8% – like Chemistry, Physics, Geological & Earth Sciences
- Specialized Health Sciences 5% – like Public Health, Nursing, Clinical Nutrition
- Humanities 3% – like History, English, Philosophy
- Math and Statistics 0.1% – Computer Science, Applied Mathematics
- Others 17%
Apart from that, you can basically choose anything as your pre-med major. With that being said, you need to make sure to fulfill all prerequisites for medical school. Also, show a passion for the science field, which can include more challenging classes. To get a better idea if you can make it work – check out my blog post on The Hardest Pre-Med Classes. You will get tons of great information and tips.
What makes pre-med so hard though?
Since even pre-meds at the same university won’t take the same classes or have the same professors, how do pre-meds across the nation all find it so difficult?
Pre-med is a highly competitive field
The answer that covers all the little difficult things is in the numbers. With around 55 thousand applicants each year, medical school is a highly competitive field with only so many available spots and high requirements on the applicants. So that in the 203-2024 application cycle only 44% of the pre-meds who applied to medical school actually matriculated.
Shining beyond your pre-med stats
Therefore, it’s not enough to just hit the required course work and get decent grades, you have to excel in different areas of your academic life in order to be considered for one of the sought-after spots. So on top of studying hard to reach a high GPA, your work and activities outside of your course performance also play a big role which adds additional responsibilities to your pre-med schedule. These can have a great impact on showing admissions committees that you are a well-rounded applicant, show commitment and passion for medicine, have proven leadership skills and care for others through volunteering work.
- Engaging in clubs
- Volunteering in healthcare
- Shadowing different physicians
- Gaining clinical experience (e.g. working as an EMT)
- Taking on leadership roles
- Joining research projects
- …and more

Tackling the MCAT
On top of that, the looming MCAT exam which most pre-meds choose to tackle in their junior year can take up additional 3-9 months of study time alongside your usual pre-med classes.
Getting started with your MCAT preparation soon?
So many study plans out there are generic and simply unrealistic for your personal schedule, only stressing you out and overwhelming you. That’s why I created MCAT Roadmap, an online course with step-by-step guidance on how to create YOUR perfect study plan.
This includes a Study Schedule Tool where you insert your parameters and get a clear study schedule based on your personal pace and time. This way, you will wake up knowing exactly what to study each time, get to ditch procrastination and stay consistent with your daily study goals.
Making sacrifices to create (much needed) balance
At the time when I decided to follow the pre-med track, I was working as a waitress, sometimes jotting down 35 hours a week next to my course load as a student. As you can imagine, this clearly showed in my (lower) grades. So instead of saving that extra money for travel and other fun things in life, I knew I had to make some sacrifices in order to get a chance at going to medical school. So soon after that momentous pre-med decision, I asked my boss to cut down my hours to 15, since I would otherwise have to quit altogether. With more study time on my hands, I was able to increase my grades and come closer and closer to my med school dream.
So in order to be successful as a pre-med, you might need to cut back on additional income from side jobs. You might need to wake up at 5am to study instead of sleeping in. You might need to say “no” instead of going to parties each weekend. Moreover, you might need to come to terms that pursuing a career as a physician means that you don’t get to do it all.
Ways to rest and recharge as a pre-med
On the other hand, trust me when I say that you are not a pre-med robot. That’s also not what admission committees are looking for. You will perform so much better if you also make time for rest, friends, family and self care. All these while avoiding to burn out before you even get into medical school.
Family time – your family will be with you every step of the way until you are working as an attending, so make sure you don’t forget they exist while working towards your goals
Self care – exercise, meditation, yoga, spa day, therapy, whatever works for you! yes, you need to take care of yourself so you can make the good grades and work with patients well. Do whatever works for you but make sure it relaxes you and “refills your bucket”
Time with friends – whether it’s a dinner out, a coffee, or just watching your favorite show live every week (Bachelor Mondays anyone? It is important for you to know that you are not alone. They are there for you if needed, and vice versa
SLEEP – do not sacrifice your sleep, everything (and I mean everything) will decline. You need sleep for your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Granted, there might be a few late study nights here and there but it shouldn’t be the norm. And setting clear boundaries around when to stop studying each day should be a non-negotiable in your pre-med schedule.
Alone time – this may sound odd since I just told you to spend time with your friends and family. However, you also need some time with just you. Sticking by yourself in a quiet space just listening to music. Or cuddling your pet will do a world of good for your emotional health.
What could a typical pre-med schedule look like?
Most pre-meds take 16-19 credit hours per semester. So let’s break down the time it takes to complete those courses. We’ll also include everything else listed above that pre-meds need to do. (Note that for this purpose, all courses will be considered a one semester course.)
An example pre-med schedule
This example takes into consideration that you are completing shadowing and MCAT studying over school breaks. Apart from that, keep in mind that not everyone decides to follow a research job. Not everyone is gaining a lot of clinical experience alongside their pre-med classes. There are also great summer programs as well as the option to add a gap year to dive deeper into such opportunities.
Activity | Hours/Week | Notes |
Classes | 54 | A 3 credit course means you will spend 3 hours per week in the class. Colleges recommend spending an additional 2 hours per week per credit hour studying. So 3hrs in class + 2hrs studying x 3 credits = 9 hours per week per class. If you take 18 credit hours per semester made up of six 3 credit classes that would mean 9 hours x 6 classes = 54 hours per week studying and attending lectures (based on university recommendations) |
Research | 10 | While, there will be some weeks you do less due to an increase in exams, there will be times you work more prepping for presenting at a conference. |
Clubs/Leadership | 5 | E.g. Alpha Epsilon Delta (for all pre-meds), Student Government or a hobby-related club |
Clinical Experience | 12 | Most clinical experience as a part time CNA or EMT requires a 12 hour shift per week. |
Volunteering | 4 | If you volunteer on a regular basis, most programs would like a morning or afternoon per week, this would mean 4 hours per week |
Errands/Chores | 10 | This will obviously change every week, but it is best to budget the average amount of time needed |
Friends/Family | 4 | Assuming you spend two meals per week with friends or family, we can budget for 4 hours per week |
Self Care | 4 | Self care is very important so we can budget half an hour per day for exercise, meditation, or any other form of relaxation |
Alone Time | 3 | Maybe you enjoy a quiet dinner in your pjs after a hot bath watching your favorite show come on and sitting on the edge of your seat to see what happens next as your alone time for the week so let’s budget 3 hours for that |
Sleep | 56 | The recommended amount of sleep for an adult is 8 hours a night. This would mean 56 hours per week for sleep. |
Total | 162 | A week contains 168 hours. 168-162= 6 hours left per week |
Based on this example, 6 hours is all that is left. This does not account for an exam week where you need more time dedicated to courses. Or a week where you are hosting a big event for your club and need more than a few hours dedicated to it. Or if work is short staffed and they ask you to work for more than 12 hours.
Making the most of your time each week
Now, do you understand how all pre-meds across the nation find this pathway difficult and time consuming?
So yes, your life will look a little different from high school. You will never have an empty to-do list. Also, you will never feel like you studied enough for all of your classes. But trust me, you will get adapted to the busy schedule. You will learn to trust yourself enough to know the feeling in your stomach before an exam doesn’t mean you are going to fail.
Also keep in mind that ordering groceries online, using pick-up services for your errands, prepping your meals in advance and other time-saving methods can ease the load on your weekly chores and clear up a few more hours each week. Not to mention the countless fantastic techniques for studying more efficiently that might turn a dabbling 5 hours of studying into a focused 3 hour session.
7 Tips to Make Pre-Med Easier for You
Not every pre-med journey turns out equally hard. There are many different ways you can make your time as a pre-med easier while still becoming a successful medical school applicant!
Know your motivation
Identifying what it truly is that makes your face light up when thinking about becoming a physician. This can move mountains when you are going through a tough day of studying. If you are not sure yet about your “why medicine”, you can shadow a doctor. Shadowing in a field you might be interested in can give you valuable insights. You might learn what inspires and motivates you within the healthcare field.
Choose an exciting major
Performing well and hitting a high GPA can be tremendously easier when you are actually excited about your courses. So instead of choosing what looks best on paper, focus on a major that sparks your curiosity. Also, fine a major that matches your personal interests.
Don’t go for the hardest classes
Sometimes you get to choose between the regular or more advanced versions of different classes. Don’t make pre-med life unnecessarily difficult for yourself and rather focus on getting high grades than struggling through the content and go for the easier versions if possible.
Focus on quality vs. quantity
When it comes to your extracurricular activities, clinical experience and similar pre-med responsibilities you might take on, admissions committees value depth over sheer quantity. Instead of joining 10 different activities and trying to do it all, focus on selected opportunities that align best with your interests. Also, find what will give you the skills you want to acquire. More long-term commitments show dedication and at the same time tend to add much less stress to your pre-med life.
Make balance part of the plan
The risk of burnout is real as a pre-med. Keep in mind that this is not a sprint and just the start of your career as a future doctor. So start early to make balance a part of your plan. Additionally, include practices and routines that help you stay physically, mentally and emotionally healthy in the long run. Such skills can not only serve you to perform better as a pre-med. However, you will also carry them into your life as a medical student where they become just as important.
Keep in mind that medical schools are not looking for a pre-med robot. They value well-rounded applicants that know how to balance the demands of a stressful life as medical student and later physicians with their own well-being.
Consider a gap year (or more)
It’s hard to fit all of that and more into your college window without getting at least a bit overwhelmed. A gap year can be a fantastic chance to gain clinical experience, raise your GPA through a post-bacc, join volunteering projects or do research work. I personally had a 3 year gap between college and applying to medical school which has been such a great opportunity to improve myself as an applicant.
Ditch perfectionism
Yes. You need high grades and show the medical schools that you can perform well within complex science classes. But you don’t need that perfect 4.0 GPA in order to get into medical school and become a great physician. I personally applied with a 3.3 GPA and 5 Cs in undergrad and still earned 10 acceptances. I did this by showing them through every other aspect that I have the skills. Also, I showed them that I have knowledge and commitment to perform well on this path.
If you want to know the exact strategies I used to maximize my chances, I share the details with you in my Free Premed Workshop.
Here you will learn what it means to apply early and how to cast a wide net. You will also learn how to identify residency bias, the framework to write a stellar personal statement and much more.
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Final Thoughts on How Hard is Pre-Med
If going to medical school is your dream, managing the busy schedule and extra workload is absolutely possible. It will also be so worth it. Spending all day studying can get tiring and 12 hour shifts can seem just too long. It can be easy to get overwhelmed by all the different things to tackle. But if you are excited about the topics and strive towards becoming a great physician, every task along the way. This includes self care and downtime and will prepare you for a life-long career in the thrilling field of medicine.
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