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Twice a week freshman year, 1-2 times a week sophomore year, every other week junior year. I graduated in 3 and played 2 sports though so my schedule was tighter than most.
 
Work hard, play hard. If you see it affecting your academic performance, maybe play a little less. You may be surprised by how much time you have...until organic chemistry and physics eats your soul. That could just be me though.
 
ReadyforMed said:
Work hard, play hard. If you see it affecting your academic performance, maybe play a little less. You may be surprised by how much time you have...until organic chemistry and physics eats your soul. That could just be me though.
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It's definitely not just you 😀

Though my intro-level, non-calc physics sequence wasn't too bad at all. O-chem though.
 
A lot. Everyone is different, you have to start off by studying as hard as you can and staying focussed, and then ease up a bit if you realize it's overkill. No one should start undergrad by saying, "Well I've heard 2 nights a week is a reasonable amount to let loose, so I'll do that". Some people have to study every day to achieve top grades, other people (more rarely) will be out most nights, cram before the midterm and get an A. Such is life.
 
I live in a fraternity house, so I could always find people for relaxation and even party on occasion. I tended to relax at least Friday and Saturday night as a freshman and sophomore, and I took Saturday night off as a junior while studying for the MCAT. Next year, assuming I get accepted somewhere, I will take Friday and Saturday off and might even go out on Thursday once a month. I have been an officer in my house for 3 years, so I learned quickly that I just needed to do my homework and my papers early because if I waited until the end, would miss out on all the fun.
 
The whole introvert/extrovert thing does also contribute a huge factor. I am an extrovert (test 80% extrovert on Myers-Briggs. I need people. Whatever.) If I am not hanging out with people, I become drained. During MCAT studying, I "socialized" by having a friend in the room with me while studying. We talked during breaks and it actually kept me going.

However, my introvert bff (90% introvert on Myers Briggs) has to be bribed with exorbitant amounts of chocolate and promises of wine and netflix nights to get her to come out to a party for 90 minutes. She worked hard and doesn't really like the play hard aspect of my mantra. What I am trying to say is, you do you.
 
Usually 3-4 times a week. Like @ReadyforMed said: work hard, play hard. It is all about time management.

Similar to @Flashfan I am also an officer in my fraternity. Having to stay miss stuff for schoolwork sucks, so I use that as enticement to stay proactive about schoolwork. Every once in a while I will go to parties and stay sober and DD if I have a test the next day.
 
Every. Single. Weekend. I was in a pretty big party frat. Except junior year. I got a gf junior year and that caused me to be complacent with my social life. Lots of people said HS was easier than UG and I dont get it. Compared to high school, UG gives you so much more free time. High school was what? 35 hours of school a week and you add clubs/commute so that's 40hr/week devoted to school. UG you take 15 credits and that's probably 20hr of school a week. Sure you have harder classes but eh it wasn't that much harder.
 
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Freshman year, I was pretty tame so probably just weekends and maybe one weeknight. Sophomore year was probably just weekends except for pledge term which basically meant I was drinking etc every day. Junior year generally just weekends, particularly until after my MCAT. Senior year I turned 21 so good alcohol was a lot more accessible and I could probably count the days at school I didn't drink on two hands. Senior year was a good year.
 
I relate with the staying at home to relax. I regain my energy by spending time alone (Introvert). I lose energy pretty quick while at school since I'm an outgoing person. So staying at home and studying and then taking a break to watch a movie or a couple episodes of grey's anatomy makes me happy. Maybe go to a social event every once in awhile.
 
Every weekend for all 4 years + some times on the weekday depending on the house party situation
 
One of my best friends at Duke med right now whose answer to this question would be "sometimes I took Sunday's off" in undergrad. It's largely irrelevant.

I know people who never go out, never socialize and can't manage their time and end up with 3.2'.s I know people who will day drink Friday and Saturday(and even Sunday in a fair amount of cases) yet graduate with 3.9s in engineering. I probably fall somewhere in the middle.

Bottom line: you do you.
 
Friday & Saturday Fresh-Junior year with the occasional Thursday, except last quarter junior year when I was studying for the MCAT and "partied" three times total.
Wednesday-Saturday Senior year, with the exception of nights before exams, and special occasions added in 😕
 
I don't drink, but I relaxed/had fun/hung out with friends that did drink pretty much every night. I generally wouldn't if I had a game the next day (juco Bball), a test in the next few days, or especially if I had a cluster of tests, or put off a paper until the last minute. Otherwise I was up until 3. I didn't have to deal with the effects of a hangover though.

Until the mcat came around, where I studied after classes at night and after I graduated I didn't resurface until after I took the test.
 
MyNameWasUsed said:
Every. Single. Weekend. I was in a pretty big party frat. Except junior year. I got a gf junior year and that caused me to be complacent with my social life. Lots of people said HS was easier than UG and I dont get it. Compared to high school, UG gives you so much more free time. High school was what? 35 hours of school a week and you add clubs/commute so that's 40hr/week devoted to school. UG you take 15 credits and that's probably 20hr of school a week. Sure you have harder classes but eh it wasn't that much harder.
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EXACTLY! I think people are crazy who tell me how much easier HS was than UG.. Sure, if they don't have good time management at all and just dick around all the time then they will do worse in UG since it obviously requires working more on your own, but for everyone else its SO MUCH EASIER. I had way more free time getting 4.0's in UG then I ever did getting 2. somethings in HS while also being on the football team. HS is a full time job, plus sports adds 2-3 hours a day, so now we are talking maybe nearly 50 hours a week commitment and you haven't even started doing HW/ studying yet. Most semesters of UG I probably spent LESS than 20 hours a week at class since many classes are fine to skip and there's no way in hell I had to do anywhere close to 30 hours of studying/ HW a week... College was THE BEST.
 
I don't relax a ton, which I wish I did more of, but I go out 2-3 times a week. Senior year I'm sure it might go up, but I do this because I can have fun and maintain a great GPA. I work extra hard during the week and daytime on weekends so that I can go out, but not everyone can do that. I know tons of premeds that don't use their time wisely during the week and have to stay in to do schoolwork a lot. Or they don't stay in and get bad grades. Its all about balance.
 
I dont drink anymore and I was able to get all my partying out of my system when I was younger. I still dedicate at least 2 hours of my day every day to going to the gym, that will never change. I prefer to do lame **** with my free time like take naps, eat food, hang out with my girlfriend, get it in... you know. stuff like that.
 
Freshman year, Friday & Saturday, no excuses. Sophomore year about the same. Progressively less JR/SR, year but I always made time to decompress and go grab a drink if need be
 
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Twice a week? Like Friday Saturday. I guess three if you count going across the street for a few pitchers of beer with the roommates on Thursdays... lol.

For me it's like, I'm not going to get any work done on a Friday night, why not be social and blow off some steam.
 
Every Friday night, some Saturday nights. I'm an introvert too, so "going out" involved spending the evening with my bf or watching tv/playing video games with friends.
 
Pretty much every weekend except during mcat studying
 
"Go out?" What does that mean? I worked two part-time jobs. I suppose I technically left the house for those.
 
I never actually partied in college, but it just didn't really appeal to me. A lot of friends went out 2 nights a week. I was more of (and still am) a stay in kind of person, so I usually just hung out in the dorms with a couple of people and watched tv or a movie, or go get dinner or dessert somewhere with my gf. Though, 4 months of the year, I spent a lot of time in sporting events (ie. college men's and women's basketball), because I was a member of the pep band, and those were fun times fshooooo
 
Pretty often Freshman year, but that probably was because I didn't do any partying in high school. Normalized to a healthy couple times a quarter after that. Summers on the other hand...
 
Freshman year I was crazy lol, I went out like at least 4 times a week. Sophomore year I slowed down a bit to just thurs/friday because of orgo and more EC's and we'll see how this year goes with MCAT studying :hungover:
 
Pretty often. So long as you don't fall behind on your studies you're free to do whatever you want. The important thing is to know when you have a good handle of information and to not prematurely stop studying just because you read through the chapter.
 
"Go out?" as in attend a party maybe like two or three times a semester. More as a freshman. "Go out?" As in go hang out with friends or get drinks at a restaurant or something? Like every two weeks. Relax and have fun? Every day.
 
Pretty much every day.

My grades sucked.
 
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I'm not a party-goer type. I think I've been to three in my entire life. I am also one of those rare breeds who didn't have a drink of alcohol until I turned 21. And on my birthday, I consumed two beers, WOOOO!


I relax and have fun pretty much every day of the week, though. I've never felt stressed in UG (even while studying for the MCAT during fall semester of junior year). Keeping everything in perspective and knowing what is really worth worrying over is key.

For instance, a friend/relative passed away? Yeah, that's stressful and extremely sad. A C- on a test? Don't start crying and thinking your life is over. Move on and do better.

Most importantly, realize that you get one shot at life. Be sure to do the things you love. Sure, becoming a physician is a dream and be sure it happens, but don't push what you want to do to the side all of the time.
 
At least 1-2 times a week freshman - junior year. Senior year... like 3-4 times a week lol
 
I have a lot of people living in my house, so it is always a party at my house. Between playing music together, board-games, baseball, random conversations, and eating good food, we are always partying. Good times...
 
I have the enjoyment of locking myself in the closet watching Netflix as an introvert :claps:
 
in the beginning? not that much, mayyyybe weekends, junior/senior/super senior year? alot. probably too much probably 3-4 times a week
 
I went out most Friday nights
 
Work as a bouncer now so probably 2-3 times a week after work. First 3 years, never partied since I had multiple ****ty part time jobs to pay for living while balancing school and ECs.

Looking forward to this senior year man.
 
If I had a particularly stressful day(2-3x a month), I would go have a drink at the local restaurant. Piña colada yes pleaseee!
 
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Very rarely. I would say that I went out no more than 5 times a semester (3.5 months or so). For the most part, whenever I found free time I could think of better ways to spend it than getting wasted. My undergrad is regarded as one of the best party schools in the country, which actually pushed me against going out. The culture becomes brain-dead when people go out just because they feel like they're supposed to.
 
I did pottery class and paint nite during the week with my roommates. AND, on the weekends, we'd go into the city and have dinner at a new restaurant.

I think I could count on my two hands the number of real parties I attended during college. I'm more of a "let's have an intimate dinner...or road trip across America" type person.

Anywho, I had the most amazing and stimulating time during UG so no regrets! Make time for yourselves undergrads!
 
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