Hey RealSmoove, thanks for making yourself available. What year are you? Are you happy with Stritch? What does your typical day look like?
How's that for a barrage of questions?
I am but a lowly M1. So far, though, there's truly no place I'd rather be. Prior to interviewing I knew absolutely zilch about the school, but by the time I walked out the doors after that first visit, I knew I'd like to attend if I were so fortunate as to be granted admission. There were two main draws for me:
1) The people. It's probably a hackneyed claim, but I sincerely believe Stritch admits some of the friendliest, most helpful, and most well-rounded classes of medical students out there, and does so without making concessions in terms of intelligence or work ethic. That was the vibe I got from the older students during interview day, and that's how I continue to feel today. And that's to say nothing of the administration. They'll jump through hoops for you, and I'm frequently greeted in the hallways by staffers who address me by my first name even though I assumed they had no clue who I was.
2) The gym. Good basis on which to select a med school? Maybe not, but I spend a lot of time there.
As for a typical day, let's see.... Our schedule is really pretty variable from day to day and week to week, but it wouldn't be unusual to have lecture from 8:30 or so until noonish. After that I would go the gym to play basketball, shower, and eat lunch in the cafeteria. By 1:30 or 2:00 I would try to find a study space in the school or the nursing building and settle in to hit the books for a few hours. One afternoon a week, studying may be interrupted (or replaced) by shadowing, volunteering, or a research meeting (I'm not actually doing research yet, but people meet with mentors very early in the year to arrange projects for the summer between M1 & M2 year; this is through the STAR program you may or may not have heard about during your interview). There may be two other afternoons in a given week during which an academic activity is scheduled - small group meetings, lab dissections, additional lectures, or (as we had today) graded interviews with standardized patients.
Some days I'm able to study from 2-7 pm without interruption; I then go home, eat dinner, watch football, play video games, go to the movies, etc. On those days when I'm not able to get much studying in, I'll either just push things back until the next day or force myself to do a little review in bed an hour or so before I go to sleep. Unless I have an exam looming early the next week, I don't put much time in at all on weeknights (after 7:00) or weekends.
Granted, I think I put in less time than the average student in my class, and I could probably score a few extra points on exams if I'd really grind away, but right now I feel like our schedule permits us to find a good balance between school and leisure pursuits.
