Cut Through the Clutter: An Interview with YouTube Sensation Pratik Vangal
Interviewed by Vyom Mishra
As an Ivy League Admit, Accelerated BS/MD student, Pratik Vangal is no stranger to the college admissions process. Unfortunately, when he applied to college two years ago, he was frustrated by the mere surface-level knowledge that YouTube provided for his myriad of questions.
Today, I sat down with Pratik to hear his story and to share the advice he has for ambitious high school students entering this daunting process.
What were the origins of your YouTube channel?
As a high schooler entering the college admissions process, I had a lot of questions. Naturally, I turned to YouTube to find answers. I would spend hours devouring content related to college admissions, only to gain a surface-level understanding of the topics. At the time, I was frustrated by the lack of in-depth content related to the medical field, which I was interested in.
During the summer of my senior year, I made it my mission to provide a full BS/MD Guide as a recent admit to RPI’s (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) 7-year medical program. This was one of the first videos I created on YouTube, which became popular, earning a few thousand views. I soon made it my brand to provide detailed guides to the college admissions process for aspiring medical students in a “no B.S.” method.
2. What piqued your interest in the medical field?
I can begin by explaining the medical school pipeline for high school students. As a student interested in becoming a doctor, you must earn a degree from a 4-year university before entering medical school.
However, with an integrated medical pathway like a BS/MD program, you are guaranteed a spot at a medical school. In my case, I spent my undergraduate years at RPI while completing my medical degree at Albany Medical College.
The main advantage I found from this program is the luxury of pursuing extracurricular activities outside of the medical field, which a traditional school doesn’t always allow. Additionally, such a program removes the necessity to both study for and pass the MCAT exams because you’re already guaranteed a spot at one of these schools.
This extra time has allowed me to explore new paths such as business in medicine and neuroscience.
What advice would you give to an incoming high school student seeking an internship or research position but lacking experience?
I think cold emailing is one of the best options for finding a research internship. Many of the internships high school students receive come through close connections. As a student who didn’t have access to many of these contacts, I had to find opportunities by sending dozens of emails to professors at local universities.
If you’re unsure which field of research interests you, I would also recommend spending your freshman year exploring different areas. With the rise in machine learning and artificial intelligence, learning how to code is a major skill that almost any profession will require.
Pratik Vangal is an avid researcher and productivity content creator with over 46,000 subscribers on YouTube. As a student attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) under their integrated medical pathway, he’s made it his mission to educate high school students about the various opportunities available to them as they enter the college admissions process.