Welcome! I'm Olivia Koo '26, hailing from Los Alamos, New Mexico. I am studying biological chemistry on the pre-med track, and I'm excited to be supplementing it with music, as a classical pianist and singer-songwriter! Some of my favorite things to do are watching YouTube videos about video games, singing and playing my guitar, and reading New York Times op-eds. Look through my page for information about Dartmouth's pre-med track, STEM research, acapella/music, and study abroad opportunities!
Unsure whether I would enjoy the biology-heavy pre-health track, I took an intro biology class. I surprisingly found myself so invested each class—I didn’t think I’d ever be excited trying to determine if the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) had DNA or RNA, but here we are! I found it a great introduction to thinking processes at Dartmouth.
I loved coming to this class with its supportive environment! The professor's feedback really helped me improve in my writing. This course guided us through personal narratives and organizational writing while discussing what it really means to be authentic. It also introduced me to the library’s resources for writing and research!
This class was definitely not easy! The accelerated version of general chemistry, it was my first class at Dartmouth that used a textbook, and I had to adapt and learn how to use a textbook for a class properly. But that didn't mean I didn't have a good time! The classes were full of physical demonstrations, and I felt very supported in the lab and beyond.
This was the first group music class I took, and I loved it! Each class we'd move a little forward in time; one day we'd talk about medieval chants, and by the next couple weeks, we talked about Baroque music. We even got to observe original medieval music scores from the Rauner Library, and attend a performance of Baroque music by the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra!
Songwriting 1 was the first time I was able to work on something creative/in the arts at Dartmouth, and I really loved it! I got to learn how to improve my songwriting and get to know a community of fellow songwriters on campus. The class was both supportive and constructive, and I pushed myself to my creative limit with the assignment of writing one new song a week. This class inspired me to continue writing and being expressive, whether in an academic setting or not.
For one of my classes on the London Music FSP, I got to attend a myriad of musical performances in London and discuss them with my class! It was a once-in-a-life-time experience–getting to watch multiple operas, ballets, jazz sets, and a musical, as well as seeing beautiful performances from the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, and more, helped me grow my ear so much and my inspirations as a musician.
I took this class to learn a little more about the social landscape around medicine, and this class delivered that by a mile. From environmental exposure to racial inequities in medicine/health to the discussion of medicine itself as a manipulative tool in colonialist social structures, this class helped me rethink medicine and my role within it.
To be honest, I wasn't sure I wanted to be a pre-med student when I first arrived on Dartmouth campus. I enjoyed science a lot, and I was interested in helping people in the best way that I could! However, although I knew that medical school was a good option to combine those two interests, I wasn't sure if thisat was what I wanted to commit to straight off the get-go. Even though I checked off the "pre-med" box on my college application, I still wanted to keep my options open when I arrived on campus.
So, in my first-year fall, I decided to take BIOL 11, the introduction course for prospective biology majors, to determine whether this was the path for me. Although the course was challenging, it stoked my scientific curiosity regarding the human body, and the vast world of human health/biology that we don't understand yet! I found myself wanting to do more in school that would allow me to explore these connections, especially through research. In doing so, I found myself wanting to continue through the pre-med track, not only to prepare myself for medical school but to explore more about the scientific landscape today.
I wouldn't consider Dartmouth College a "pre-professional" college in the way that some other universities are—although we have curricular recommendations/requirements for pre-professional tracks like pre-med and pre-law, there is no major made specifically for those tracks, nor are the students particularly focused on making it through the track as quickly as possible. With the liberal arts focus of the school, the pre-med students that I've gotten to know are more interested in exploring their passions on top of fulfilling pre-medical prerequisites, myself included! I supplement my chemistry education with music, and having gone on a study-abroad program for music and taking piano classes throughout most of my time here, I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to learn more about music. It wasn't something that I was expecting to commit much time to in college, but I am very grateful for the experience thus far!
Playing guitar outside is one of my favorite pastimes here, even if I've only done it a few times!
But what about the pre-med classes and infrastructure? The Nathan Smith Society is the main club for pre-health students (pre-health includes pre-dental, pre-vet, and pre-public health students), and we get weekly newsletters and opportunities, especially tied to the Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), which is the hospital connected to the school; students often seek out health research with the DHMC/Geisel.
We also have a Pre-Health Advising Center titled the Health Professions Program, in which students can meet with pre-health advisors and ask them questions about class requirements, extracurricular activities, and more! I've sought out their help several times, and I anticipate that I will be meeting with them more and more as I flesh out my post-graduate plans.
The pre-med classes themselves are geared toward intellectual exploration at a fast pace, as all Dartmouth classes are; although the classes are not easy by any means, I've found a lot of satisfaction in learning the material!
This past week my physics professor did a fun demonstration in the nature of kinetic energy!
There is no set "pre-med experience" at Dartmouth—every pre-med classmate I've gotten to know has different interests and different majors, ranging from Global Health to Classics to Engineering to Music. There are so many different opportunities that allow students to tackle medicine from all angles, from equity-based activism to EMT experience to health research to global health service. I said this in my first year, but I still get FOMO from all the opportunities available here that I haven't taken advantage of!
In all, being pre-med at Dartmouth has allowed me to be a part of a community that is intellectually curious, ambitious, and collaborative; it's been a challenging but rewarding experience, and I hope that the rest of my time as a pre-med remains as such!
Dartmouth changed my life. A large part of that change comes from the support I have received from professors. Learn more here about some mentor-mentee relationships I have made!
