Ermahgerd. Early post-bacc questions.

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Can you tell me if I'm on the right track? I'm starting my post-bacc next month (hopefully getting into the formal program, otherwise informal from 4-year public U) and I'm taking 2 classes with their corresponding labs. (I plan to apply in 2015.) In addition I am:

- working at a "start-up" yoga studio 8+ hours/week
- privately tutoring multiple students k-12 10+ hours/week
- doing a lot of "intern" work for a maternal health nonprofit that does work in developing country of my interest (since 9/12)
- starting hospital volunteering (4 hours/week)
- starting pregnancy crisis center volunteering (4 hours/week)
- studying Indian classical music (6 months and counting with a guru)
- studying Arabic slowly but surely (traveled to Middle East on scholarship last year for 4 months to study intensively -- I'm not Arab/Middle Eastern)

I plan to do some things like:
- shadow (have a couple of options thanks to network)
- find some research opps
- continue practicing yoga and get my teaching certification (does this count as leadership??)
- travel to developing country of above non-profit on my own to work for 1-2 months (should I go longer?) & share yoga!
- possibly do a NOLS trip during the application year

Some details about my past: after graduating with 3.3 GPA in anthro (3.3 because of 3 C's in math! Argh! Honors in major.), worked for a Bay Area startup as sole social media consultant and then worked at an academic summer camp after almost a year w/ start up because the business world depressed me.

Sounds like a plan. Don't let your other activities get in the way of good grades and you'll do fine. You certainly have some diverse interests.

74 activities? Ambitious haha.....just make sure you end up studying

Originally Posted by Chip N Sawbones

Sounds like a plan. Don't let your other activities get in the way of good grades and you'll do fine. You certainly have some diverse interests.

Thanks, Chip. Do you think becoming a yoga instructor "counts" as leadership if I teach after?

And yeah, I'll be very conscious of focusing on the classes. If its too much I'll cut back somewhere else.

Mastering the material in your classes should be priority 1. If anything gets in the way of that, it needs to get cut, and quickly.

There are lots of really interesting people with great hobbies and activities who get rejected every year, why? I'm not entirely sure but I'd guess it's because they couldn't demonstrate they have the guns to get through medical school. There really is no excuse for making more than a B or two in post-bacc in my mind. All that to say, you look like you're into a lot of really different albeit time consuming stuff. That's great, I can relate, but I put everything except my marriage on the backburner the last 11 months and have gotten 3, 4.0's so far. It's been worth it but even doing this I sometimes question whether I'm doing enough academically.

Btw where did you study in the middle east? I took a post graduation trip to Syria, Leb, Jordan, Israel and Egypt. Hit Iran April 2011. Fascinating region, wonderful peoples.

Originally Posted by shahcoco

Thanks, Chip. Do you think becoming a yoga instructor "counts" as leadership if I teach after?

And yeah, I'll be very conscious of focusing on the classes. If its too much I'll cut back somewhere else.

Being an instructor would be teaching, not leadership. Leadership would be more along the lines of organizing and running a group, managing others at a job, etc.

Originally Posted by rguil15

Mastering the material in your classes should be priority 1. If anything gets in the way of that, it needs to get cut, and quickly.

There are lots of really interesting people with great hobbies and activities who get rejected every year, why? I'm not entirely sure but I'd guess it's because they couldn't demonstrate they have the guns to get through medical school. There really is no excuse for making more than a B or two in post-bacc in my mind. All that to say, you look like you're into a lot of really different albeit time consuming stuff. That's great, I can relate, but I put everything except my marriage on the backburner the last 11 months and have gotten 3, 4.0's so far. It's been worth it but even doing this I sometimes question whether I'm doing enough academically.

Btw where did you study in the middle east? I took a post graduation trip to Syria, Leb, Jordan, Israel and Egypt. Hit Iran April 2011. Fascinating region, wonderful peoples.

Thank you! 4.0 is my number 1 goal. Maybe I can figure something out to stick with my hobbies for consistency but concentrate more on classes.

And wow, I am so jealous you had the opportunity to go to Syria. I was in Jordan for 4 months and took trips to Jerusalem and Lebanon. My initial plan was to study in Syria but the uprisings happened just as I was making official plans. I hope to go back at some point. I met some lovely people, locals and expats. How was Iran?

Originally Posted by theseeker4

Being an instructor would be teaching, not leadership. Leadership would be more along the lines of organizing and running a group, managing others at a job, etc.

How about "leading people through a wellness practice"?

Originally Posted by shahcoco

How was Iran?

Iran was unbelievably fascinating. The Perisan ruins were in my top 5 things to see in my life and they were worth the trouble to get to them. The old Zoroastrian villages and religion was fascinating. The Mosques and Mosoleums in this country are some of the most amazing I've seen anywhere. Same with the Armenian Church we saw, frescos like you'd only find in Rome.
The people were very gentle and kind for the most part. A great side effect of the sanctions is that they have not imported a bunch of cheaply made junk to decorate their homes so the handicraft culture is alive and well in Esphahan. I brought back some wonderful art work from some really talented people there. One night we stayed in an old Caravanserai from the silk road trading days, you could almost hear the stories those walls could tell. The ONLY two negative things I have to say about my trip was, 1. no alcohol and 2. they have not yet developed a restaurant culture so literally every resturant in the country (save a few exceptions) serves the same dishes. Our joke on the trip was "Kabab, kabab, kabob".

I came home with some gorgeous pictures and wonderful art work, as well as try to be an advocate for the Iranian civilians every chance I get to anyone who wants to hear it. I'd highly recommend the trip if you have the desire. It's very different from Arab culture.

*sorry double post

Originally Posted by rguil15

The ONLY two negative things I have to say about my trip was, 1. no alcohol and 2. they have not yet developed a restaurant culture so literally every resturant in the country (save a few exceptions) serves the same dishes. Our joke on the trip was "Kabab, kabab, kabob".

Haha, I never considered that. But I supposed its hard to establish a varied restaurant culture when you have a small number of expats. In Afghanistan (not Middle East but obviously neighbors), you'll find better Turkish and Thai restaurants because so much of Afghan culinary arts has been lost/unavailable after decades of war. Sigh.