No problem! I cannot stress enough that you should major in whatever the hell you want - do not just go bio because “that’s what admissions people want” or because “it will prepare you for med school” (it won’t).

As far as balancing your courseload, bio, chem, orgo, and physics are all extremely tough, but not impossible. Just put as much time into it as you can and you will be fine. Don’t try to take physics sophomore year or take orgo during the summer, you will die. If you have any more questions feel free to email me!

Glad to hear it! My biggest piece of advice I can give is to work out ride out of the gate. By hard, I mean, the hardest. Spend just a ridiculous amount of time studying for your first exams. Study study study. You do not want to screw up your first tests and spend the rest of your time playing catch-up (like hundreds of your peers will). After your first tests, if you got a 100% and want to think about toning it down on the studying, then by all means. Just don’t get a 60% and spend the rest of the semester in misery.

Absolutely. SLU is an awesome school and the program is awesome. You cannot pass up an opportunity to have a guarantee for Medical School - take a look at the acceptance rates for first-time applicants, that’s all it took for me to join and I have no regrets. Yes, you won’t necessarily be handed every awesome research opportunity you would get at a “top college,” but if you work hard you can get whatever you want.

“Caffeine-containing beverages do not increase 24-hour urine volume in healthy individuals compared to other beverages and that caffeinated beverages appear to contribute to the body’s daily total water intake in amounts similar to that contributed by non-caffeinated beverages.”

Caffeine isn’t a diuretic unless you consume over 500 - 700 mg/day, (5-7 cups). So if you stay within my suggestion it is highly unlikely to dehydrate you at all.