4.0 Drones?

[Goro]

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There are several reasons for our cynicism.

1) Your eyes should be opened on any trip, anywhere.
2) Most people, frankly, lie about these trips, or greatly exaggerate what they did and saw.
3) People who do go on honest-to-Gawd missions fail to back them up with a LOR from a preceptor or sponsor
4) While your experience in the ER was unfortunate, you at least mixed it up with something else, which is good, because we expect you to know what you're getting into, and show us that you like being around sick people.

I thought my mission trip to Nicaragua a very eye-opening experience into abject poverty. What I thought was a total joke was volunteering in the ER (the most boring summer activity ever). I now work as a ER scribe, and can actually see what is going on and adding value to the team, and not just bringing coffee, fetching paperwork as a volunteer, and waiting around to be useful. Yet the mission trip is discounted, but the volunteer is not. Most curious.

 

[22031 Alum]

Have you been to a third world country yourself?
EDIT: Off topic

Yep! Just one brief trip, though- I prefer to be a tourist in other places. Any other questions to try and invalidate my opinion?

 

[hellofriends56]

The following is my experience, so take it with a grain of salt.


Having a 4.0 (or even a 3.9+) is highly correlated with having helicopter parents who pushed little Jhonny/Jessica throughout HS (and now college) to attend to their studies to the detriment of everything else. They are almost always bio majors. Any EC they are engaged in is solely to make themselves look good, and they put in the bare minimum effort to include that in their resume later. They also tend to enjoy mission trips (er, medical tourism). These mission trips are subsidized by their helicopter parents. They are almost always white and upper-middle class.

They usually have been pressured into the premed path by their parents, or have chosen it in order to be impressive or prestigious. They have never taken time out for their own hobbies. They have never written a novel, nor even read one outside of that required lit class they took freshman year.

They have never had to deal with real adversity (ala parents getting divorced or major surgery followed by months of hospital stays/recovery). They tend to think that maintaining a 4.0 entitles them to entrance into the med school of their choice.

Overall, they expect things to be handed to them on a silver platter.

I know this will sound like I am trolling because its preposterous, but while in college I had a stalker, was raped, and found my friend 10 min after he committed suicide. With the help of therapy, friends, and family, I graduated with a 3.90. You cannot make hand-wave conclusions about people and what they may or may not have gone through. It is completely ignorant.

The majority of people who are not in my close circle of friends 1) do not know my GPA and 2) have no idea what I've been through. I grew up comfortably but definitely did not have things given to me on a silver platter.... My parents could care less if I made an A or a C in class. They just wanted me to be happy. Learning makes me happy which is why I did well in college.

Maybe try readjusting your attitude before going into medicine because people aren't always what they present to the world...

 

[Nave]

Yep! Just one brief trip, though- I prefer to be a tourist in other places. Any other questions to try and invalidate my opinion?

I wasn't trying to invalidate your opinion, I was merely asking.

 

[Ad2b]

I found the abject poverty in Manila to be far > than anything I have seen in the U.S. The people living in the garbage dumps, building caves out of the garbage, rummaging for food scraps, defecating in the rivers, and drinking water out of the water fountains blew my mind. In the U.S. I have seen the homeless as well - wheeling their Target carts full of everything they own, muttering to themselves, coming into the homeless shelter for food and/or waiting in line to get a "spot" on the bed call that night.

Both are very, very poor and the sight of both is heart breaking.

 

[Nave]

I found the abject poverty in Manila to be far > than anything I have seen in the U.S. The people living in the garbage dumps, building caves out of the garbage, rummaging for food scraps, defecating in the rivers, and drinking water out of the water fountains blew my mind. In the U.S. I have seen the homeless as well - wheeling their Target carts full of everything they own, muttering to themselves, coming into the homeless shelter for food and/or waiting in line to get a "spot" on the bed call that night.

Both are very, very poor and the sight of both is heart breaking.

Agreed. I live in what's considered "one of the worst cities in the US" and it's not even comparable to what I've seen abroad.

 

[22031 Alum]

I agree with the sentiment that it's ALL sad. I've said before, more power to the people who feel called to work abroad. I will never be convinced that most pre-med experiences measured in weeks effect true change, nor will I ever be convinced that experiences abroad are automatically better simply by virtue of being abroad- a common pre-med (and even med school) sentiment. I have lots of colleagues who have done really good work that has made a real impact in other countries. It's just not where I feel moved to act. And honestly it's frustrating to encounter the sentiment that working with the homeless, in tenements, or in extreme rural areas is worth less because it doesn't involve crossing an ocean or speaking a different language.

 

[JulioJones]

The following is my experience, so take it with a grain of salt.


Having a 4.0 (or even a 3.9+) is highly correlated with having helicopter parents who pushed little Jhonny/Jessica throughout HS (and now college) to attend to their studies to the detriment of everything else. They are almost always bio majors. Any EC they are engaged in is solely to make themselves look good, and they put in the bare minimum effort to include that in their resume later. They also tend to enjoy mission trips (er, medical tourism). These mission trips are subsidized by their helicopter parents. They are almost always white and upper-middle class.

They usually have been pressured into the premed path by their parents, or have chosen it in order to be impressive or prestigious. They have never taken time out for their own hobbies. They have never written a novel, nor even read one outside of that required lit class they took freshman year.

They have never had to deal with real adversity (ala parents getting divorced or major surgery followed by months of hospital stays/recovery). They tend to think that maintaining a 4.0 entitles them to entrance into the med school of their choice.

Overall, they expect things to be handed to them on a silver platter.

 

[asdf123g]

I can be another one to attest that my 4.0 is not driven by helicopter parents. It is driven by my personal motivation to succeed. Nothing has been handed to me, I earn my grades, I make sure to remain balanced, and I have a social life beyond school. I don't expect admission into medical school, I recognize it is not given to anyone, and that even some of the best candidates get rejected. I may be white, upper-middle class, but that's where this generalization ends. Get over yourself, and understand that some people can succeed on their own accord with good intentions.

You do realize he said that that was his experience, right? I agreed with @Spinach Dip 's 1st paragraph...however as this was my experience as well.

 

[hellofriends56]

You do realize he said that that was his experience, right? I agreed with @Spinach Dip 's 1st paragraph...however as this was my experience as well.

I do understand that he was upfront about it being his experience but it still doesn't make it any less ignorant. Instead of presenting his side in a diplomatic way he proceeded to state his view in a series of absolutes that portray anyone with a good GPA as entitled and heartless. If he had any reasoning other than his cursory knowledge of people he has encountered along the pre-med track then maybe I would understand his point of view.

 

[deleted577188]

On the topic of international missions and trips that pre-meds overestimate the adcom-consideration or importance of:

I know a few close-to-4.0 people who don't volunteer domestically but care so much for helping kids and less fortunate people abroad. I just wish they knew about SDN lol. I don't like telling people what to do but I really wish these people knew that even if they are making an impact abroad (even though they go only for weeks at a time), that medical schools will question the extent to which they were able to make a meaningful impact. sigh....

 

[Spinach Dip]

but it still doesn't make it any less ignorant.

Instead of presenting his side in a diplomatic way he proceeded to state his view in a series of absolutes.

If he had any reasoning other than his cursory knowledge

Nice ad hominem. 👍