42 Activities for Your Pre-Med College Bucket List

If you’re like most pre-meds, your college experience is flying by faster than expected. Between juggling classes, clinical hours, and everything else on your plate, it’s easy to get caught up in the grind and forget that this is also a time to explore, grow, and have fun before med school takes over your life.

Now is a great time to step back and be intentional about how you want to spend the rest of your time as an undergrad. Whether you’ve got one year left or three, there’s still time to shape your experience into something memorable and meaningful.

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THE ACTIVITIES SHOULD SATISFY AT LEAST ONE OF THESE CRITERIA (BUT HOPEFULLY MORE):

• Improve your med school application
• Go outside your comfort zone
• Make you a more interesting person
• Immerse yourself in unfamiliar groups and settings
• Have fun before med school consumes all your time/energy

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For the record, you don’t need to come up with 42! Something like 10-15 would be enough.

Our list is meant to serve as inspiring examples. Obviously, some of these will be more attractive or feasible depending on your personality, location, and goals. But feel free to steal any of them that you like.

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1. Study or go abroad, even for a week
   
   
2. Learn a new language
   
   
3. Get published in the sciences or humanities, or both
   
   
4. Complete a minor in a non-medical subject you’re passionate about, like philosophy, ethics, religious studies, art, or music
   
   
5. Learn how to surf, ski, skateboard, ice skate, or rollerblade
   
   
6. Take a road trip to somewhere you’ve never been
   
   
7. Invite a professor to co-host an on-campus lecture with you
   
   
8. Shadow a Physician’s Assistant or Nurse Practitioner
   
   
9. Create a radio show or podcast
   
   
10. Run a marathon or Tough Mudder race
    
    
11. Do a work exchange in a foreign country
    
    
12. Start a blog about a topic you're passionate about and post once per month
    
    
13. Write a short story or collection of poems and publish it somewhere
    
    
14. Go to a farmer’s market and cook what you buy
    
    
15. Attend a political debate
    
    
16. Perform at an open mic
    
    
17. Become a wilderness survival coach or adventure tour guide
    
    
18. Treat a homeless person to lunch
    
    
19. Work on a farm for a day
    
    
20. Volunteer at an animal sanctuary
    
    
21. Become a pen-pal with a prisoner or someone who is homebound
    
    
22. Coach a youth sports team
    
    
23. Become a resident assistant or crisis counselor
    
    
24. Complete a comfort zone challenge
    
    
25. Perform as a DJ at campus events
    
    
26. Start a new club or organization on campus or in your community
    
    
27. Learn how to play a musical instrument
    
    
28. Become a TA for one of your favorite classes
    
    
29. Volunteer at the student wellness center
    
    
30. Create a Relay for Life team
    
    
31. Learn how to perform magic tricks
    
    
32. Design and create a phone app
    
    
33. Take hip-hop dance classes
    
    
34.  Canvass for a political campaign
    
    
35. Become a Big Brother / Big Sister
    
    
36. Backpack the Pacific Crest Trail or Appalachian Trail
    
    
37. Become a certified nutrition coach
    
    
38. Take a bike trip across multiple state lines
    
    
39. Create unique food recipes and share them online
    
    
40. Run for a student government position on campus
    
    
41. Try a new sport like rowing, badminton, or powerlifting
    
    
42. Study different religions and attend services at churches, temples, mosques, etc.
    
    

We hope that our examples help you construct a pre-med bucket list that you can be proud of.

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If you think we left anything fun, interesting, or important off our list, let us know in the comments below!

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