I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the correct spot so if it's wrong, I'm sorry. Here's my situation. A number of years ago, I went back to school and took the premed course sequence (gen chem I,II, organic I,II, micro, physiology) and I made A's in all. But I didn't do as well as I needed on the mcat and hence I did not get in. I think my performance on the mcat was more my fault for not studying on it the way I should versus watered-down courses that didn't give me a strong enough background. So I take the blame for that.
So fast forward a few years and I am finishing another bachelors degree in math. I began it thinking that I would go on for my PhD in math and this is still a very viable option. I made an A in pchem I&II and my grades seem to be good enough that if I redid the mcat, I might be a viable candidate somewhere.
Here's my issue though. Biology, or at least the way it is taught, scares me to death. In previous bio courses that I've ended up dropping, I could attend lectures, read the chapter and understand the material, but then not do well on the tests. I can't stand powerpoint in the classroom and it really gets under my skin when I sit through a PP presentation filled with shoddy slides (we've all seen that) and you leave and think "what am I supposed to know?" I knew someone in an anatomy course that whose professor used PP. They had 300-400 slides per test. WTF?? It seems to be what has plagued me in bio - never being fully able to figure out what you were expected to know. I don't have this problem in math - I can do as many problems as I can find and so there is no guessing game. Maybe it's just inherent in the subject matter, I dunno.
As I contemplate reapplying to med school, I am weighing the strong lingering desire to be a doctor with my extremely low confidence of myself in the context of doing well in biology courses. Anyone else currently in med school have this experience, and if so, what did you do? Thanks in advance.
So fast forward a few years and I am finishing another bachelors degree in math. I began it thinking that I would go on for my PhD in math and this is still a very viable option. I made an A in pchem I&II and my grades seem to be good enough that if I redid the mcat, I might be a viable candidate somewhere.
Here's my issue though. Biology, or at least the way it is taught, scares me to death. In previous bio courses that I've ended up dropping, I could attend lectures, read the chapter and understand the material, but then not do well on the tests. I can't stand powerpoint in the classroom and it really gets under my skin when I sit through a PP presentation filled with shoddy slides (we've all seen that) and you leave and think "what am I supposed to know?" I knew someone in an anatomy course that whose professor used PP. They had 300-400 slides per test. WTF?? It seems to be what has plagued me in bio - never being fully able to figure out what you were expected to know. I don't have this problem in math - I can do as many problems as I can find and so there is no guessing game. Maybe it's just inherent in the subject matter, I dunno.
As I contemplate reapplying to med school, I am weighing the strong lingering desire to be a doctor with my extremely low confidence of myself in the context of doing well in biology courses. Anyone else currently in med school have this experience, and if so, what did you do? Thanks in advance.
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