Am I doing something wrong?

[MilesDavisTheDoctor]

I started M1 a month ago at a top school (one of the ones with the highest gpa/mcat). So far my study method has been to watch our lectures and make anki cards out of our ppts and use those to study mainly. I'm studying probably like 8 hours a day 6 days a week. I've taken the first 2 tests and I'm getting around the class average or even a tiny bit lower. This has been a pretty big hit to my fragile ego since I dunked on undergrad at an ivy league school pretty hard. I have no idea how I would do research/shadowing on top of what I'm doing right now. Am I doing something wrong? Or maybe is just the competition level just super high lol

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Welcome to medical school - everyone is exceptional. As our dean said in our first week “50% of you will be in the bottom half of your class, 80% of you believe you won’t be one of them.”

 

[7331poas]

Everyone else at your school "dunked on undergrad". So yeah

 

[Ho0v-man]

I mean you’re literally competing against what were the top premed students in the country. Class rank is really pointless anyway.

 

[Lawpy]

I'm not sure why grades matter as long as you're passing? Like dude, you're at a top school with resources and opportunities to match anywhere you want. I think being average is more than fine

 

[RJ McReady]

Maybe examine your study strategies. Focus on learning instead of memorizing. Ask your classmates or upperclassmen what they did. As @Lawpy said, you’re passing, so maybe just don’t worry about it and you’ll be a lot happier.

 

[MilesDavisTheDoctor]

Fair points all around. I will say that while my school's pre-clinical is PF they do keep track of who gets in the top quartile on each test and apparently use that in some small way to determine AOA. But yeah for the most part it probably doesn't matter at all if I just get 1 point above passing on every test from now on. What has me more worried though is how in the WORLD could I possibly do research on top of this? Studying for classes just to pass is already more than a full time-job.

 

[slowthai]

Fair points all around. I will say that while my school's pre-clinical is PF they do keep track of who gets in the top quartile on each test and apparently use that in some small way to determine AOA. But yeah for the most part it probably doesn't matter at all if I just get 1 point above passing on every test from now on. What has me more worried though is how in the WORLD could I possibly do research on top of this? Studying for classes just to pass is already more than a full time-job.

Oh look, it's ignore lecture o'clock!

Personally, I'd drop the making cards thing and hop on the premades. Depending on what kind of exams you have, you can coast with doing the bare minimum just to pass. Bare minimum means one pass through the slides close to the exam. Guess what, your day just opened up for some free labor.

 

[Medical_studies]

Maybe the people scoring higher than you found a way to do more questions. I tried reading slides one weekend in immunology and spent the whole weekend studying hypersensitivities (40 hours including Fri.). Too much time. I made sure that was the last time I read slides for an important class. You can learn everything about hypersensitivies from slowly doing maybe 4 questions on it (20 min). Over your winter break, watch videos for your upcoming classes at accelerated speed, so you superficially cover all the material, maybe using different companies. Then find any books or question bank you can and do question after question after question.

If its not systems based, question books are good because you can go to a chapter that covers only your block. For systems, the question banks are much better. Once you switch to questions, good grades might be much easier, but its tricky because you have to do questions everyday from the beginning of the block.

This is outdated with step 1 being pass fail, but in this video these students explain how they completely mastered the basic sciences better than 99% of medical students. You might have to settle for mediocre in m1, I don't know when you start systems, but by m2 you will be off the charts.

 

[Hopeful101]

Based on your description I think they're all cheating. Maybe you should report them to the dean for extra credit?

 

[longhaul3]

You'll be fine. I assume you're doing biochemistry/fundamental stuff at this point. Everyone has a different background/baseline comfort level with that hard science. Things level out and become much more intuitive once you start physiology and anatomy. Performance in biochemistry (unless completely failing or acing everything) is probably not predictive of your overall performance in med school. As long as you are staying afloat you should be fine. Just take this time to figure out how you like to study and where you can address inefficiencies in your schedule.

Once you settle in and get into the meat of the curriculum you will probably be much more efficient with your time. Also, this may not be worth testing out, but if you're studying all day every day, you could probably cut your hours down by 1/3 and still perform the same on your exams.

 

[marpmd]

M3 here, focus on Qbanks. It’s as simple as that. Lectures, as much as I hate to say it, are not useful for NBME exams. I have found boards and beyond, Uworld (most important out of everything), Pathoma, and anki is the way to go. I used Boards and Pathoma to learn, then qbanks to test. Some people spend way too much time “learning”, not realizing the best way to learn is to do questions that present you with actual scenarios.

 

[bigindian4891]

In a room of 100 geniuses, someone is going to be the dumbest one there.

 

[QuizzicalApe]

I started M1 a month ago at a top school (one of the ones with the highest gpa/mcat). So far my study method has been to watch our lectures and make anki cards out of our ppts and use those to study mainly. I'm studying probably like 8 hours a day 6 days a week. I've taken the first 2 tests and I'm getting around the class average or even a tiny bit lower. This has been a pretty big hit to my fragile ego since I dunked on undergrad at an ivy league school pretty hard. I have no idea how I would do research/shadowing on top of what I'm doing right now. Am I doing something wrong? Or maybe is just the competition level just super high lol

I don't know how to break it to you but, at this rate... you're on track to become a doctor.

I'm so sorry

 

[stickgirl390]

You’re a couple tests into M1 and you’re already worried about making AOA? You’re in for a four-year-long intense anxiety trip if class rank and AOA are your measures of success. I think you should adapt a different mindset that focuses on what you have been able to do, not what you haven’t. You’re passing tests at a top medical school, that is an amazing achievement by itself. As for research: it will come. Your job right now is to learn how to study like a medical student.

 

[TwoHighways]

It’s deflating to your ego for sure, but you’ve gotta get over it. I’m in the same boat, (not at a top 20), and it’s easier said than done. I figure my time to shine will come later, and even if it doesn’t, it’s not like I want to be a neurosurgeon.

My thoughts are that the extra hours it would take studying each day for me to get into the top quartile isn’t worth the detriment it would cause in other aspects of my life. The juice just isn’t worth the squeeze. Play the long game and take care of yourself in the process. We got in. There’s nothing left to prove.

 

[altblue]

Many of us have faced this on some level, lol.

I went into my program with a ~75th percentile GPA and ~90th percentile MCAT relative to the class, thinking I would kill these exams without too much effort, but that hasn't exactly been the case. Med school requires very hard and efficient work for me to do well.

If you're at WashU/NYU/wherever, doing just "okay" should be enough for just about any residency.

 

[NicMouse64]

Everyone thinks they are gonna be awesome until they have to memorize word 3 of slide 34 of powerpoint 9 that they gave you that week. Or you can just know what is generally on slide 30-40 and accept your place in the IQR. Decide which one is worth it for you. I chose the latter and have no regrets.

 

[Goro]

I started M1 a month ago at a top school (one of the ones with the highest gpa/mcat). So far my study method has been to watch our lectures and make anki cards out of our ppts and use those to study mainly. I'm studying probably like 8 hours a day 6 days a week. I've taken the first 2 tests and I'm getting around the class average or even a tiny bit lower. This has been a pretty big hit to my fragile ego since I dunked on undergrad at an ivy league school pretty hard. I have no idea how I would do research/shadowing on top of what I'm doing right now. Am I doing something wrong? Or maybe is just the competition level just super high lol

No, your experience is very common. Only three athletes in any Olympic event can earn medals. You earned a spot on the team, however.

The only people you should be comparing yourself to is yourself.

Read this:

• Goro's Guide to Success in Medical School (2018 edition)

 

[MilesDavisTheDoctor]

Many of us have faced this on some level, lol.

I went into my program with a ~75th percentile GPA and ~90th percentile MCAT relative to the class, thinking I would kill these exams without too much effort, but that hasn't exactly been the case. Med school requires very hard and efficient work for me to do well.

If you're at WashU/NYU/wherever, doing just "okay" should be enough for just about any residency.

Thanks for the advice everybody, It has all made me feel much less crappy. I do indeed go to one of those schools you mentioned. I guess I'm just kinda worried that even if I go to a good school being a middle of the road dude isn't gonna cut it if I wanna do competitive things like orthopedics (which I think I wanna do).

 

[altblue]

Thanks for the advice everybody, It has all made me feel much less crappy. I do indeed go to one of those schools you mentioned. I guess I'm just kinda worried that even if I go to a good school being a middle of the road dude isn't gonna cut it if I wanna do competitive things like orthopedics (which I think I wanna do).

Nobody knows exactly how residency selection will change after Pass/Fail Step 1, but the name and connections at a T10 school will definitely pay dividends. You'll still have Step 2 and research to differentiate your app from others as well.

This is coming from an M2, but I wouldn't worry too much for the time being.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

I think the best thing you could do is not fixate on other people’s grades. You’re at a top school in a class that most likely will see step 1 be P/F. It’s been a while since I took a step 2 but it’s mostly clinic info. AOA is fine but certainly not critical when you’re coming from a school at the top for most residencies. So best advice is to chill and try to bask in the fact that you are learning from some of the best faculty in the world some of the most interesting stuff in science.

 

[longhaul3]

It’s deflating to your ego for sure, but you’ve gotta get over it. I’m in the same boat, (not at a top 20), and it’s easier said than done. I figure my time to shine will come later, and even if it doesn’t, it’s not like I want to be a neurosurgeon.

My thoughts are that the extra hours it would take studying each day for me to get into the top quartile isn’t worth the detriment it would cause in other aspects of my life. The juice just isn’t worth the squeeze. Play the long game and take care of yourself in the process. We got in. There’s nothing left to prove.

If only. It hasn't even started yet.

 

[akwho]

Thanks for the advice everybody, It has all made me feel much less crappy. I do indeed go to one of those schools you mentioned. I guess I'm just kinda worried that even if I go to a good school being a middle of the road dude isn't gonna cut it if I wanna do competitive things like orthopedics (which I think I wanna do).

Agree with the above advice. You just underwent a quantum jump in the level of competition. No shame in starting out in class average. If you are fine with that continue as you have been doing. But it would by definition to be insane to think if you keep doing the same thing you are going to get different results.

If you want to crush the orthopaedics residency match then you should be aiming for AOA which is top 15%. So you need to think long and hard about your study style (emphasis on high yield material, qbanks, get advice from MS2's on which professors emphasize what on tests). You need to think critically about if you are putting in enough hours 8x6 might not be enough especially if it is spent on low yield material. If you are aiming high you need to adjust either your work efficiency or the number of hours you are putting in. Sounds like you have the motor to succeed, so make some adjustments -- it's okay to want to be top 10% even in medical school and aim high.

 

[Tenk]

You went from leading a bunch of betas to running with a pack of pure bred alphas. Time to nut up or shut up.

 

[Neopolymath]

You went from leading a bunch of betas to running with a pack of pure bred alphas. Time to nut up or shut up.

Is this the attending version of "Git Gud, OP" ?

 

[Tenk]

Is this the attending version of "Git Gud, OP" ?

Sorta, I just watched a clip from Zombieland on YouTube at work and felt inspired.

 

[helpmeout441]

M3 here, focus on Qbanks. It’s as simple as that. Lectures, as much as I hate to say it, are not useful for NBME exams. I have found boards and beyond, Uworld (most important out of everything), Pathoma, and anki is the way to go. I used Boards and Pathoma to learn, then qbanks to test. Some people spend way too much time “learning”, not realizing the best way to learn is to do questions that present you with actual scenarios.

was browsing and came across your comment. I'm also an M1 and have been experimenting with outside resources (anking, FA, B&B). I've found that a lot of class lecture material goes in way more detail than what I find in the anking deck or in FA. like obscure protein pathways etc... My school is true p/f for preclinicals and I think AOA isn't announced until after the match. what would you recommed that I do in this case? I feel like I'm wasting time and brain space memorizing tiny details that don't show up in any of the 3rd party resources. Also, when would be a good time to start UWorld? Are there any board exam questions I can start looking at just to get a sense of the level of detail i need to know?

 

[Fried Plantaris]

You say you study 6 days a week about 8 hours a day. As someone in the top 1/3 at a state school, I study more like 10 hours a day 5 days a week and 5 hours per day on the weekend. So overall I'd say 12 hours of extra studying is enough to make a difference.