General frustrations with school and life

[doctormannette]

Hi everybody, I have read posts on this website for awhile so I thought today I'd actually write one. I just finished my last final of my fifth semester at a very well-regarded school. I got completely screwed with final exam schedules so that all five of my cumulative exams (biochem, physics, advanced bio classes) were in two days and I felt like I couldn't prepare. I gave it my all, but I still will most likely be looking at my first B grades in college--very frustrating. I know getting upset about B's makes me sound like a tool, but I've always taken a lot of pride in my grades. On top of this, I only got a 31 on the MCAT, research is going slow, my parents are getting divorced--basically a confluence of bad things at this juncture in my life. I don't like lowering my standards. When I first got to college, I told myself that I wanted to go to one of the best medical schools in the country and did everything to position myself for that. I still am, but I constantly catch myself thinking about just going to some mediocre school. It just seems like despite everything I do for research, teaching, volunteering, etc. there are so many people who do more and do it better than me. Sorry about this rant--thanks for reading!

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[Blue Blood]

There will always be someone who does it better, just accept it and move on. Be the best student you can. A 31 isn't bad and neither is a few Bs.
Sorry about the divorce.
Work hard, you'll be fine!

 

[AspiringERMD]

"Some mediocre school" in the US will still get you an MD and a residency. Don't set yourself up for disappointment; nobody can count on getting into the most selective schools no matter how good their application. That said, I'm really sorry to hear about everything. Having all those finals in such a short period of time is very frustrating, and divorce is always a mess.

 

[GavinThePremed]

Hi everybody, I have read posts on this website for awhile so I thought today I'd actually write one. I just finished my last final of my fifth semester at a very well-regarded school. I got completely screwed with final exam schedules so that all five of my cumulative exams (biochem, physics, advanced bio classes) were in two days and I felt like I couldn't prepare. I gave it my all, but I still will most likely be looking at my first B grades in college--very frustrating. I know getting upset about B's makes me sound like a tool, but I've always taken a lot of pride in my grades. On top of this, I only got a 31 on the MCAT, research is going slow, my parents are getting divorced--basically a confluence of bad things at this juncture in my life. I don't like lowering my standards. When I first got to college, I told myself that I wanted to go to one of the best medical schools in the country and did everything to position myself for that. I still am, but I constantly catch myself thinking about just going to some mediocre school. It just seems like despite everything I do for research, teaching, volunteering, etc. there are so many people who do more and do it better than me. Sorry about this rant--thanks for reading!

Ah dude c'mon. "Some Mediocre school?" No Medical schools are "mediocre." A hundred people would kill to be in the spot that you're in. That being said, personal troubles can get a person down, and I'm sorry that you feel you don't have much control over your future. But success is one step at a time! Complete one step at a time to become the person you want to be. Hopefully you get in where you'd like to be.

 

[jb94mg]

I think you've allowed SDN users' stats to get to you too much. Keep in mind that the pre-med populace you see on here is in no way representative of the pre-meds you're going to see at the vast majority of universities in the U.S. And this isn't undergrad - it doesn't really matter where you go that much. Unless you want a prestigious research career, it's not a big factor.

 

[WingedOx]

Hi everybody, I have read posts on this website for awhile so I thought today I'd actually write one. I just finished my last final of my fifth semester at a very well-regarded school. I got completely screwed with final exam schedules so that all five of my cumulative exams (biochem, physics, advanced bio classes) were in two days and I felt like I couldn't prepare. I gave it my all, but I still will most likely be looking at my first B grades in college--very frustrating. I know getting upset about B's makes me sound like a tool, but I've always taken a lot of pride in my grades. On top of this, I only got a 31 on the MCAT, research is going slow, my parents are getting divorced--basically a confluence of bad things at this juncture in my life. I don't like lowering my standards. When I first got to college, I told myself that I wanted to go to one of the best medical schools in the country and did everything to position myself for that. I still am, but I constantly catch myself thinking about just going to some mediocre school. It just seems like despite everything I do for research, teaching, volunteering, etc. there are so many people who do more and do it better than me. Sorry about this rant--thanks for reading!

I'm going to be blunt (especially since this is advice I didn't listen to back when I was applying to college). Your perspective has a lot of growing up to do. When your education is complete with a US MD/DO, no one is going to give two sh-ts where you went to undergrad* (honestly no one really cares now), and they'll care even less about where you went to medical school. When we question a doctor's abilities, we always ask "where'd he train [residency]?"

LCME medical schools have the highest level of standardization of any academic discipline in America... all the way from Harvard to Southern Illinois. Graduating from any of them will allow you to have open doors to nearly every fantastic residency program in every specialty across the board. Isn't that your goal? Caring about things like how prestigious your degree looks is just makes you look pretentious and petty. No matter where you go, you will be having classmates from schools that you won't consider "very well regarded" and many of them will be scoring higher than you.

*and the only reason anyone cares more about undergrad than MD is football Saturdays...

 

[FutureSurgical]

The only mediocre medical school you can go to is in the Caribbean. I know your frustrations with grades. I'm on an upward trend after a serious case of MDD that almost made my GPA unrepairable. I got a good GPA this semester (some B's, more A's though.) Life throws crap at you, even in college. The only thing you can do is push through it and focus on what's really important.

Sorry to hear about your parents though. That stuff is never easy.

 

[amazing tekkers]

Hmm..dude your life is fine. Don't let these frustrations get the better of you. Do some work with children in under served/low-income communities, it'll probably make you appreciate your life and you could provide guidance for them.

 

[lmn]

. I still am, but I constantly catch myself thinking about just going to some mediocre school.

This is one of the stupidest comments I've read on SDN in quite awhile, which is a surprisingly big accomplishment. Rethink your actual reason of why you want to go into medicine if the entire deal is based on needing to go to the top ranked, and only the top ranked programs. Also notice how I didn't say "best", because if you really understood anything about medical education you would actually understand how although all of the US MD programs all equally train their students to be good physicians, they all specialize their students to excel and be competent in additional, different aspects/environments.

 

[BamaNicole]

You should be happy that you even got into a medical school period. There are people with perfect GPAs and amazing MCAT scores that didn't get into ANY school. I'm sure they thought they were going to get into the "best medical school in the country."

 

[PlaqueBuster]

Worry about yourself and do what is physically possible to do with the time you have. Once you start comparing you will always notice someone better than you and there will be someone always better than you. Is isnt as important what MD school you get your education. Its where you do your residency and what you do with the degree

 

[Goro]

Did you know that med school exams are very much like this, and Boards are all of them in one day?

I got completely screwed with final exam schedules so that all five of my cumulative exams (biochem, physics, advanced bio classes) were in two days and I felt like I couldn't prepare.

 

[miamiheatfan]

Hi everybody, I have read posts on this website for awhile so I thought today I'd actually write one. I just finished my last final of my fifth semester at a very well-regarded school. I got completely screwed with final exam schedules so that all five of my cumulative exams (biochem, physics, advanced bio classes) were in two days and I felt like I couldn't prepare. I gave it my all, but I still will most likely be looking at my first B grades in college--very frustrating. I know getting upset about B's makes me sound like a tool, but I've always taken a lot of pride in my grades. On top of this, I only got a 31 on the MCAT, research is going slow, my parents are getting divorced--basically a confluence of bad things at this juncture in my life. I don't like lowering my standards. When I first got to college, I told myself that I wanted to go to one of the best medical schools in the country and did everything to position myself for that. I still am, but I constantly catch myself thinking about just going to some mediocre school. It just seems like despite everything I do for research, teaching, volunteering, etc. there are so many people who do more and do it better than me. Sorry about this rant--thanks for reading!

I'm sorry about your parents, but I am sure that they love you and will continue to support your dreams! As far as premed goes: You sound like my roommate who's still doing undergrad- she goes crazy if she gets below a 95 on a test and doesn't know what it's like to not be perfect. You will learn eventually, but going to a "mediocre medical school" is better than the 45% of people who don't get in anywhere. Aiming high is good but getting into medical school is one of the hardest things to accomplish. You need to accept that you won't be the best at all times and you need to understand that there is more to med school admissions, and life in general, than a letter or number on a piece of paper. There are many people who were academically no where near as good of a position as you are in and have done fine. Change your outlook on this process and take pride in what you've done!

 

[Eppur Si Muove]

I'm going to be blunt (especially since this is advice I didn't listen to back when I was applying to college). Your perspective has a lot of growing up to do. When your education is complete with a US MD/DO, no one is going to give two sh-ts where you went to undergrad* (honestly no one really cares now), and they'll care even less about where you went to medical school. When we question a doctor's abilities, we always ask "where'd he train [residency]?"

LCME medical schools have the highest level of standardization of any academic discipline in America... all the way from Harvard to Southern Illinois. Graduating from any of them will allow you to have open doors to nearly every fantastic residency program in every specialty across the board. Isn't that your goal? Caring about things like how prestigious your degree looks is just makes you look pretentious and petty. No matter where you go, you will be having classmates from schools that you won't consider "very well regarded" and many of them will be scoring higher than you.

*and the only reason anyone cares more about undergrad than MD is football Saturdays...

Hit the nail on the head here. "Mediocre school?" Come on man. What you are experiencing are hurdles that every human being faces in life. I doubt that with the attitude you have even a "mediocre" school would accept you.