Funny quotes from "less informed" premeds

[Amba]

As I interpret the use of the hyperbole in this, it's a school/counselor that isn't doing their job correctly. Yes, some schools require Calculus, but they are very few. A good counselor would have a list of schools that require it and warn people about them instead of just universally push for people to take Calculus. Note I've never given the advice you proclaim I have. I didn't say people shouldn't take it if the school they like to attend requires it. Some schools (Arizona) require physiology. Should the universal advice be to take physiology? No. You make it clear it is required for some schools.

The thing is, it's not "very few." There are some heavy-hitters that still require at least one semester of calc. You know, schools like Hopkins, Harvard, WashU, Duke, Dartmouth, Brown, etc... Schools that a fair amount of ambitious pre-meds are aiming for.

And your first post was:

Yes it is. Why would you take a hard class you don't need for your profession?

The discussion wasn't centered around whether calc is required for the profession. You brought it there. My original statement was that telling someone to take calc is not bad advice. Hell, I never even called it good advice.

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[WierdScience]

This is just my opinion, but I think everyone who goes to college should take calculus. I consider a familiarity with limits, derivatives, and integrals a fundamental part of a college education.

I absolutely agree. At the very least it is useful for understanding graphs and data in all the research papers we read.

 

[mehc012]

And then reality struck? As you said, there's nothing wrong with setting high expectations, but some are a bit too optimistic. The problem with the guy mentioned in the post was that he thought a 31/45 was a failing grade: 68%.

*shrug* sorry, missed the part where he thought a 31 was failing. It's a good score!
@J Senpai no, reality hasn't struck yet. I'll get there!

Everyone is different. I would have considered a 31 an abject failure, but by the same token I have a talent for standardized tests and my cGPA was so miserable I needed all the help I could get.

I am in the same situation (standardized tests are my forte, but my cGPA is sad), which is why I'm aiming high. I wouldn't call a 31 an abject failure, by any stretch, but it will not accomplish what I need, so for me it would disappoint.
I am not expecting miracles, I am requiring them, because I need one.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

This is just my opinion, but I think everyone who goes to college should take calculus. I consider a familiarity with limits, derivatives, and integrals a fundamental part of a college education.

I went through college never taking calculus. I was completely fine. When I went back to school for my post-bacc, I took Calculus. There are interesting concepts, but I still don't feel as if calculus was fundamental to my education.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Just let it go, guys...

 

[Zelda840]

The thing is, it's not "very few." There are some heavy-hitters that still require at least one semester of calc. You know, schools like Hopkins, Harvard, WashU, Duke, Dartmouth, Brown, etc...

Dartmouth does not require or recommend calc on MSAR. Not trying to argue and it makes no difference for my situation....just letting people know who may have been considering applying there.

 

[el_duderino]

Dartmouth does not require or recommend calc on MSAR. Not trying to argue and it makes no difference for my situation....just letting people know who may have been considering applying there.

Well they require "one half-year (3 semester hours or equivalent) of college-level mathematics, including either calculus or statistics."

 

[Amba]

Dartmouth does not require or recommend calc on MSAR. Not trying to argue and it makes no difference for my situation....just letting people know who may have been considering applying there.

Fair enough. My info was from 2011-2012 so they probably changed since then.

 

[DocVapor]

I stumble onto this thread once every few months it seems, and usually get a few decent laughs out of it. Today, however, I am disappointed. Someone get some decent hilarity going, and I'll check back in after a few months.

 

[juliuspepperwood]

This one time I heard all these premeds and med students argue over how important calc was

 

[Heday]

Saw this in all of my labs. Interesting policy because it strongly encouraged students to fabricate numbers on their lab reports.

Well for quant, they gave us an unknown. No one really knew what the value "should" have been until after the labs were graded. While results didn't count for the entire grade, it was an absurd percentage from what I remember.

 

[Amba]

Alright all, I had a large part in derailing this thread, so I'll try to get this back on track. Heard this gem a couple years ago between a student and his mom:

Student: I think I want to go on an international medical mission trip. I found a couple that are only $2000 for spring break. I already have some money saved up.

Mother: Why don't you just volunteer at the university hospital? I think if you did that and focused more on your grades, you would be in an even better position.

Student: No mom, that's dumb. Everyone does that. My grades aren't very good so I want to stand out when I apply.

(Disclaimer: This may or may not have been me at the beginning of sophomore year)

 

[WierdScience]

Well for quant, they gave us an unknown. No one really knew what the value "should" have been until after the labs were graded. While results didn't count for the entire grade, it was an absurd percentage from what I remember.

I remember for one of the Quant labs, which were graded only on the results for us, I got zero points because I wasn't within a SD. They only gave 2 or 3 people the same
starting material amounts so we couldn't cheat and take someone else's number or it would be extremely obvious. Me and another student got the same exact number to the 1000th, which I argued would be extremely unlikely unless the error was on their side, but we both still got a 0. A to B just like that

 

[Heday]

I remember for one of the Quant labs, which were graded only on the results for us, I got zero points because I wasn't within a SD. They only gave 2 or 3 people the same
starting material amounts so we couldn't cheat and take someone else's number or it would be extremely obvious. Me and another student got the same exact number to the 1000th, which I argued would be extremely unlikely unless the error was on their side, but we both still got a 0. A to B just like that

I know that pain. That was the semester when I realized that only anal-retentive chemist go into quant. With that said, quant was a great course and my lab skills significantly improved because of it. 9.6812223/10 +/- .0000015. Would take again.

 

[kk123]

My friend told me he could easily study for the MCAT for a couple of weeks and score well. After all, in college, he always waited the night before to study and made good grades. I tried to explain that the MCAT won't be that easy, but he still doesn't believe me.

I've had plenty of dumb premed moments myself....
When I started looking into the MCAT I couldn't understand why I couldn't find anywhere that stated what kind of calculator we could use....
Found out we can't use a calculator.
Well, if we can't use a calculator, surely they won't expect us to solve difficult problems involving log, sin/cos, etc. in our heads right?
Wrong again.

 

[Annabell Lee]

I've definitely seen people fired for mistreating the mice. One lost their job and almost had to go back to their country. I would feel bad, but they 'accidentally' squoze a few mice to death. How do you even DO that?!?

That's horrible.
I'm pretty sure his issue was that they were disruptive when he was trying to have a moment of silence for the mice.

 

[el_duderino]

My friend told me he could easily study for the MCAT for a couple of weeks and score well. After all, in college, he always waited the night before to study and made good grades. I tried to explain that the MCAT won't be that easy, but he still doesn't believe me

It worked for me

 

[Cambover]

My friend told me he could easily study for the MCAT for a couple of weeks and score well. After all, in college, he always waited the night before to study and made good grades. I tried to explain that the MCAT won't be that easy, but he still doesn't believe me.

I've had plenty of dumb premed moments myself....
When I started looking into the MCAT I couldn't understand why I couldn't find anywhere that stated what kind of calculator we could use....
Found out we can't use a calculator.
Well, if we can't use a calculator, surely they won't expect us to solve difficult problems involving log, sin/cos, etc. in our heads right?
Wrong again.

I did it in 3 weeks and 12 hours a day. DO NOT RECOMMEND.

 

[dudeliness]

Just let it go, guys...

This one time I heard all these premeds and med students argue over how important calc was

You guys both took the words right out of my mouth. I had 5 pages (on my phone) to catch up on in this thread and every time someone else brought up the ever loving subject of calc I wanted to rip my eyeballs out and play ping pong with them.

My friend told me he could easily study for the MCAT for a couple of weeks and score well. After all, in college, he always waited the night before to study and made good grades. I tried to explain that the MCAT won't be that easy, but he still doesn't believe me.

I knew someone once who only studied about 25 hours total over a summer and still managed to pull a 30 somehow. Lol

 

[thesauce]

You guys both took the words right out of my mouth. I had 5 pages (on my phone) to catch up on in this thread and every time someone else brought up the ever loving subject of calc I wanted to rip my eyeballs out and play ping pong with them.

So you had an urge to play ping-pong? I fail to see how that's relevant.

 

[FoodAsMedicine]

A girl on my golf team in high school (with straight C's in bio, I might add) told everyone that she was going to become a "pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon." Her mom was so proud.

I think this subspecialty must have been on Grey's Anatomy or something, because a girl in my high school told everyone the same thing! We didn't have a golf team though, so I'm fairly certain it wasn't the same girl.

 

[Blizzard18]

MeCl2 is hardly the most dangerous thing in an Ochem lab. How about some glacial acetic acid? Or liquid bromine? Or a couple drops of ethidium bromide?

I accidentally caught a big whiff of methylene chloride in my inorganic research and it is still pretty rough. Not the worst thing ever but if you inhale too much it can keep O2 from the RBCs and kill you or even cause damage to the nervous system.

 

[Blizzard18]

I think this subspecialty must have been on Grey's Anatomy or something, because a girl in my high school told everyone the same thing! We didn't have a golf team though, so I'm fairly certain it wasn't the same girl.

Yeah it's Preston burke's sub specialty. P.s. Don't judge me, my pharmacy student gf got me to watch it with her, it's not that bad.

 

[FoodAsMedicine]

Yeah it's Preston burke's sub specialty. P.s. Don't judge me, my pharmacy student gf got me to watch it with her, it's not that bad.

Haha, I knew it had to be media related in some way!

 

[thisisansley]

A girl I knew was planning on applying MD/PhD this cycle had just gotten her scores back and we were talking:

Her: I didn't do as well as I wanted to - I got a 29.

Me: Well you can always retake! You said you did way better on your practice exams.

Her: I'm not retaking, I think I'll be fine.

Me: Oh ok. Well a 29 should be fine for DO and even some MD.

Her: I'm only applying MD/PhD. I don't want to just be a doctor.

Me: (feeling like ) Ok... Have you gotten much clinical experience? Lab experience?

Her: I haven't done any shadowing or hospital volunteering but I've worked in one lab. I don't think the PI will give me a letter of rec though so I'm doing a summer program too.

Me: No clinical experience? I would recommend at least trying to shadow... Are you applying to a bunch of schools?

Her: No, I didn't want to waste money so I'm only applying to about 5. I'm not worried though. I know I'll get in based on my passion.

At this point I just had to stop trying to be even remotely helpful and just listened to her talk about how her passion will shine through and make up for her low MCAT and complete lack of experience for another 20 minutes.

 

[el_duderino]

I love people who have minimal/no lab experience and want a science PhD.

That used to be me, back in the day. I was dumb.

 

[kk123]

I knew someone once who only studied about 25 hours total over a summer and still managed to pull a 30 somehow. Lol

Wow, how did they pull that off? I'm so jealous!

 

[el_duderino]

Wow, how did they pull that off? I'm so jealous!

Some people study that much and get 35+.

 

[kk123]

I love people who have minimal/no lab experience and want a science PhD.

That used to be me, back in the day. I was dumb.

I used to think I wanted a career in research.....and then I started lab research. Hated it.

Some people study that much and get 35+.

I would give anything to be that smart!

 

[dudeliness]

Wow, how did they pull that off? I'm so jealous!

I think it was a combination of being just smart enough and getting a perfect storm of subjects that he understood fairly well. Just after finishing the test he said he would have been very happy with his performance if he got a 25, so he was pretty shocked too.
Definitely NOT the recommended course of action if you want to score well...

 

[baxt1412]

"I was actually surprised I did so well" -them
"Nice! Yeah I'm hoping to get a 29-32" -me
"Dang that's high, I got a 22" -them

well? 22?

 

[mehc012]

I think this subspecialty must have been on Grey's Anatomy or something, because a girl in my high school told everyone the same thing! We didn't have a golf team though, so I'm fairly certain it wasn't the same girl.

Oh man, I've run into like 4 of those people. We were doing our 'interview' to get volunteering gigs at the children's hospital, and this one high school girl piped up with 'Can I volunteer in the cardiac recovery ward? It will help me decide whether I'm going to be an adult or pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon. "
The volunteer coordinator just kind of...winced, and gave her the position.

Now, in all fairness, I should mention that I TOTALLY was one of those people , too, though not based on a TV show. When I first decided to go med, I let myself go crazy with the specialty planning. I knew they were fantasies, and I knew that my opinion would change 80x once I started med school, but it was super motivational for me to dream big, you know? I would never repeat them out loud, to other people, though; I refuse to answer the 'what kind of doctor' question. Anyway, this was something I had thought out in some detail, regarding patient demographic, variety of cases, length of days...and I had also found an awesome Youtube channel where a pediatric thoracic surgeon posts vids of congenital heart defect repairs which is the most fascinating thing I have ever watched. I reviewed every single one repeatedly, even though, of course, I can't discern the anatomy of a neonate's heart in the first place, never mind when abnormal! Those vids, though...that kind of surgery is an art form, and I couldn't stop watching.

 

[DrowningInWork]

The barista in a coffee shop this morning, talking to another customer:
C: "So you're going to vet school?"
B: "Yes, when I'm done with this quarter and get accepted."
C: "I hope it works out for you."
B: "And if I don't get in, I'll become a pediatrician."

Isn't vet school supposed to be harder to get into than med school?

 

[el_duderino]

Isn't vet school supposed to be harder to get into than med school?

Depends on how you define "hard."

 

[baxt1412]

how could i forget about this one???

school of 1600 undergrads. MAYBE 50 of us in our graduating class of bio/biochem/chem. one guy who was a chem major got a tattoo of an anatomically correct heart right on his chest i believe freshman year.. he was gonna be a SUPER SICK CARDIO SURGEON!!!11! he ended up doing pretty lackluster and is not considering medical school last I knew.

 

[el_duderino]

tattoo of an anatomically correct heart right on his chest... is not considering medical school last I knew.

Whoops.

 

[mehc012]

how could i forget about this one???

school of 1600 undergrads. MAYBE 50 of us in our graduating class of bio/biochem/chem. one guy who was a chem major got a tattoo of an anatomically correct heart right on his chest i believe freshman year.. he was gonna be a SUPER SICK CARDIO SURGEON!!!11! he ended up doing pretty lackluster and is not considering medical school last I knew.

An old friend of mine got a full-back piece of a giant DNA molecule. Problem is, she brought the graphic in for the artist, the artist traced it, and, well...the helix ended up going the wrong way. Gorgeous tattoo, only now instead of being an übernerd, she gets to use her back as a litmus test to decide if everyone ELSE is an übernerd

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

I've definitely seen people fired for mistreating the mice. One lost their job and almost had to go back to their country. I would feel bad, but they 'accidentally' squoze a few mice to death. How do you even DO that?!?

I've done it once before. It's not that hard. When you grab them too firmly by the scruff because they are particularly strong/aggressive, take your blood sample, and then when you say, "Ok, little fella, all done!" They are limp.

 

[WhippleWhileWeWork]

I did it in 3 weeks and 12 hours a day. DO NOT RECOMMEND.

5 weeks 10-12 hours a day, with some 10 year old pre-reqs, also not recommended. Got what I needed but the 3 month route with proper pre-req schedule would have yielded better results, I'm sure.

 

[el_duderino]

5 weeks 10-12 hours a day, with some 10 year old pre-reqs, also not recommended. Got what I needed but the 3 month route with proper pre-req schedule would have yielded better results, I'm sure.

Different people learn in different ways. You have to be smart, but if you know what works best for you then do it that way.

 

[mehc012]

I've done it once before. It's not that hard. When you grab them too firmly by the scruff because they are particularly strong/aggressive, take your blood sample, and then when you say, "Ok, little fella, all done!" They are limp.

No, like 'mouse-in-fist' squeeze, not scruff.
Also, I have worked in/around mouse labs for years and I have never heard of anyone squeezing them to death via the scruff. The one lady was the only unintentional physical mouse death I heard of. Don't you have mouse-holders? (the little plexiglass tubes with a slit in the top for the tail...set 'em in front of the tube, pull the tail back through the slit, snug the mouse's butt against the base, voila!)

 

[baxt1412]

Anybody have experience... ahem... putting down mice? I have heard of just using dry ice in a dessicator and have seen it.. it's about 5 seconds long. My school just grabbed behind the head and yanked on the tail to snap the neck..... I was a little disturbed since we have the dessicator and dry ice availability.

 

[kk123]

Isn't vet school supposed to be harder to get into than med school?

Yes, because there are a great deal more med schools than vet schools. (I think there's only like 20-something vet schools in the US.)
I have a pre-vet friend who was asking me about how competitive medical school is because she may apply to med school if she doesn't get into vet school.

 

[Reckoner]

Anybody have experience... ahem... putting down mice? I have heard of just using dry ice in a dessicator and have seen it.. it's about 5 seconds long. My school just grabbed behind the head and yanked on the tail to snap the neck..... I was a little disturbed since we have the dessicator and dry ice availability.

You did that without any CO2 or isofluorane first?

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

No, like 'mouse-in-fist' squeeze, not scruff.
Also, I have worked in/around mouse labs for years and I have never heard of anyone squeezing them to death via the scruff. The one lady was the only unintentional physical mouse death I heard of. Don't you have mouse-holders? (the little plexiglass tubes with a slit in the top for the tail...set 'em in front of the tube, pull the tail back through the slit, snug the mouse's butt against the base, voila!)

I should have clarified that I was doing ecology-type research and this was a wild mouse in the field. Years ago and I still feel bad about it!

 

[deleted407021]

You did that without any CO2 or isofluorane first?

We certainly want to make certain the neck snapping is done "humanely".

 

[mehc012]

I should have clarified that I was doing ecology-type research and this was a wild mouse in the field. Years ago and I still feel bad about it!

Ah, yeah...much different situation. Plus, more of an issue if you get bit by an unknown rodent than a lab animal which has been raised in a sterile box its whole life.

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

Ah, yeah...much different situation. Plus, more of an issue if you get bit by an unknown rodent than a lab animal which has been raised in a sterile box its whole life.

Exactly, I think I had already been bitten by a chipmunk that day, so I was on edge...

 

[Reckoner]

We certainly want to make certain the neck snapping is done "humanely".

I know your views on animal research, but if an animal is going to die by cervical dislocation, wouldn't you prefer its pain be minimized?

 

[baxt1412]

You did that without any CO2 or isofluorane first?

I wasn't ever on animal research at my school, but they did it without any CO2 or isofluorane.