Haitong Yu

Major and Minors: Neuroscience (major) and Applied Statistics, Business Administration (minors)                                                          

Favorite class you took at Michigan:

My favorite class is HONORS 233 and the title is what is cancer. This interdisciplinary class looked at cancer through natural science, social science, and humanities. I liked this class the most because this is my first exposure to a chronological disease through a class and I was able to understand healthcare from different perspectives. I not only learned why is cancer considered a detrimental diagnosis, but I also learned what does having this disease mean for the patients and how oncologists can make them feel better or at least try to be supportive and by their side when they needed it the most. This class got me interested in pursuing a career in the healthcare field as I was able to watch documentaries about doctors fighting cancers as well as reading diaries by cancer patients.

When/How did you study for the MCAT:

I studied for the MCAT for three months during the summer of my junior year (May-July)

When did you take the MCAT: July 30th, 2021

What was your pre-med experience:

My pre-med experience at Umich could be described as bittersweet. From going into college wanting to pursue psychology as my major to becoming interested in pharmacy and finally settling on pre-med, the first year of college has been a lot of exploration for me. Pre-med is never easy and there are always stressful times (whether it is trying to figure out how to draw a mechanism for orgo or scratching my head for a magnet question for physics). However, I am glad that I pursued this path because I got to join Alpha Epslion Delta, which is a pre-health honors society where I got most of my career opportunities and also pre-med hub, where I can help fellow pre-med students who are having doubts or questions about pre-med. I am appreciative of all of the people I met throughout this difficult journey and I also want to give myself a pat on the back for sticking with pre-med, since I realized medicine is the career I want to pursue to help people in alleviating their physical and psychological pain to the greatest extent.

What are your plans after graduation:

I plan to work for Boston Specialists, a gastrointestinal clinic as a gap-year medical assistant for one year while applying for medical school.

Recommendations/advice for current students:

Don’t be afraid to explore your interests. The best path of being not just a pre-med but a college student in general is figuring out what sparks your passion. You will encounter challenges. Remember that there are resources around you that are willing and wanting to help out (i.e. academic advisors, friends, Pre-Med Hub, etc). It is easy to fall into the trap of worrying about your classes, extracurriculars, and whether you’re “cut” to be a pre-med. It may be cliche but the stressors are temporary–your future will work out one way or another as long as you put in your best effort.

Classes: