how do you do it?????

[fxny12004]

I was wondering how you all do volunteering, shadowing, etc. while a full time student. I personally commute to school every day for about 40 min, go to my classes for about 6/7 hours a day, work for about 6/7 hours a day (averaging a little over 30 hours per/week) and i also do some undergrad research which takes some of my times as well (1 to 2 hours daily), drive 40 min back home, arriving at around 9/10 o'clock, eat, do hw, go to sleep and then repeat the same process all over again the next day. i guess my question is how do you guys manage to get some shadowing/volunteering when schedules are so hectic? and its not like i can stop working b/c im basically on my own and need to take care of my living expenses. and during the summer i usually do some summer program that requires over 10 hours of attention everyday, in some city ive never been to b4, so its not like i have time then. I just dont want to reach med school apps and not being able to say i volunteered and or shadowed much because i have to work for a living and i just dont have the time. sorry for the long post, im just trying to see if i can see light at the end of the tunnel!

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[dd128]

I was wondering how you all do volunteering, shadowing, etc. while a full time student. I personally commute to school every day for about 40 min, go to my classes for about 6/7 hours a day, work for about 6/7 hours a day (averaging a little over 30 hours per/week) and i also do some undergrad research which takes some of my times as well (1 to 2 hours daily), drive 40 min back home, arriving at around 9/10 o'clock, eat, do hw, go to sleep and then repeat the same process all over again the next day. i guess my question is how do you guys manage to get some shadowing/volunteering when schedules are so hectic? and its not like i can stop working b/c im basically on my own and need to take care of my living expenses. and during the summer i usually do some summer program that requires over 10 hours of attention everyday, in some city ive never been to b4, so its not like i have time then. I just dont want to reach med school apps and not being able to say i volunteered and or shadowed much because i have to work for a living and i just dont have the time. sorry for the long post, im just trying to see if i can see light at the end of the tunnel!

I was in your same boat. What you may not realize is that being able to live on your own and take care of yourself, attend school, work full time, etc. is a good and very positive thing to put on your app down the line. Out of a great deal of my classmates, very few have had to work full time. It seems like a great deal of med students come from a particular socioeconomic background, so they had their parents taking care of living expenses. Use your summer to pick up a few hours a week in a hospital or something. Just make sure you get some actual hospital experience to put on an app, and you'll be fine.

 

[mmmcdowe]

The trick for me was to work part time in things that doubled for ECs. I've been doing research and teaching for years and I leaned heavily on both in my app.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Class for 6-7 hours/day?????

That is 30-35 hours/semester. Are you taking 3-4 labs also?
I just don't see how you are in class that long

 

[DrYoda]

Class for 6-7 hours/day?????

That is 30-35 hours/semester. Are you taking 3-4 labs also?
I just don't see how you are in class that long

I am wondering this as well. You can't possibly have class that long everyday?

How I did it: Weekends/days off.

 

[NoMoreAMCAS]

Can you qualify for a private loan, or have your parents/family co-sign? I went this route instead of working. Just get a big private loan and take out the max federal loan each year. You'll have plenty of time for everything and be able to do a lot of relaxing before medical school starts and your life basically stops for 8 or 9 years.

 

[BlueElmo]

Class for 6-7 hours/day?????

That is 30-35 hours/semester. Are you taking 3-4 labs also?
I just don't see how you are in class that long

That sounds like my high school life.

 

[circulus vitios]

Can you qualify for a private loan, or have your parents/family co-sign? I went this route instead of working. Just get a big private loan and take out the max federal loan each year. You'll have plenty of time for everything and be able to do a lot of relaxing before medical school starts and your life basically stops for 8 or 9 years.

Don't private loans have (mostly) variable interest rates? Why would you want to do that to yourself?

 

[NoMoreAMCAS]

Don't private loans have (mostly) variable interest rates? Why would you want to do that to yourself?

Because it won't mean **** when you're making good money as a physician. You'll have no trouble repaying it, i've heard this from several physicians. Also because, like i said above, it's your last chance to relax and enjoy yourself before the 7-10 years that is medical school + residency.

 

[circulus vitios]

Because it won't mean **** when you're making good money as a physician. You'll have no trouble repaying it, i've heard this from several physicians. Also because, like i said above, it's your last chance to relax and enjoy yourself before the 7-10 years that is medical school + residency.

I guess so. I want to take out loans so I'll only have to work in the summer, but my parents refuse to co-sign a loan because they're variable interest and what happens (in the unlikely scenario) that I default on the loan.

 

[Jwax]

I was wondering how you all do volunteering, shadowing, etc. while a full time student. I personally commute to school every day for about 40 min, go to my classes for about 6/7 hours a day, work for about 6/7 hours a day (averaging a little over 30 hours per/week) and i also do some undergrad research which takes some of my times as well (1 to 2 hours daily), drive 40 min back home, arriving at around 9/10 o'clock, eat, do hw, go to sleep and then repeat the same process all over again the next day. i guess my question is how do you guys manage to get some shadowing/volunteering when schedules are so hectic? and its not like i can stop working b/c im basically on my own and need to take care of my living expenses. and during the summer i usually do some summer program that requires over 10 hours of attention everyday, in some city ive never been to b4, so its not like i have time then. I just dont want to reach med school apps and not being able to say i volunteered and or shadowed much because i have to work for a living and i just dont have the time. sorry for the long post, im just trying to see if i can see light at the end of the tunnel!

I thought this said work OUT for 6/7 hours a day at first and I was like, man there's your problem. Chill out on the work out and you'll have plenty of time.

My suggestion - one Saturday or Sunday afternoon go follow a doc at an ER. It'll only take a few hours each week and then you've got something to write about. ER's are open all the time, so you can work around your hectic schedule. My other, less practical suggestion, would be to move in with roommates that live close to campus so you don't have an 80 minute commute every day, and you could cut down on expenses so maybe you could work one less day a week. If your roommates suck, it'll give you something to talk about in your "tell about a time you overcame adversity" interview question (well, I guess your current situation might apply, too, but everyone enjoys a crappy roommate story).

 

[fxny12004]

I am wondering this as well. You can't possibly have class that long everyday?

How I did it: Weekends/days off.

well let me break it down for ya. I take 4 sciences, therefore i have 4 labs to complement. each lecture is about 2 hours. each lab is min 2 hours, and depending on the lab, sometimes even 3 hours! so i have 4 sci lectures 3 times a week, and 4 sci labs twice a week. you do the math . thats not including my one elective which is another hour fifteen 3 days a week. so in response to your question, yes i CAN have class that long every day. and trust me its no fun.

 

[kac714]

well let me break it down for ya. I take 4 sciences, therefore i have 4 labs to complement. each lecture is about 2 hours. each lab is min 2 hours, and depending on the lab, sometimes even 3 hours! so i have 4 sci lectures 3 times a week, and 4 sci labs twice a week. you do the math . thats not including my one elective which is another hour fifteen 3 days a week. so in response to your question, yes i CAN have class that long every day. and trust me its no fun.

you won't have that many labs throughout all of undergrad though, will you?

 

[fxny12004]

H E L L NO. i wont ever do it again. i just needed to take an extra science this sem b/c of a stupid pre-req my university had that i needed to complete this semester (which my advisor did not tell me, had to find out from an alumni) so that i could take my human anatom next semester.

 

[sarahg]

I don't work during the school year. I couldn't do it if I were basically working full time like you are.

In your position, I'd fit in what I could on one weekend day without going insane (probably volunteering or shadowing in the ER, or maybe there's a free clinic with saturday hours). Then I wouldn't take classes in the summer and focus on doing a lot more volunteering then to make up for your class time. Since you don't have to commit to shadowing for long periods of time like you do volunteering, you could do that whenever you have a few weekdays days off school at a time. I don't like the debt-happy attitude some undergrads have, like it's just a number and not real money -- if you can't keep your grades up, cut your work hours, otherwise, keep working. There are some definite benefits to less debt, like more freedom after you graduate. If you were working 30 hour weeks while taking 4 lab sciences, the adcoms will understand why you couldn't volunteer until summer.

 

[rabidpanda13]

Can you get a job tutoring or something along those lines? It would still bring in income and you could put it down as "leadership" or "mentoring" on your application. Knock out two birds with one stone kind of thing. That's what I did 25-30 hours a week instead of serving coffee (which I started out doing) or something like that.