any good experiences with lower ranked med schools?

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southbelle

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I've been accepted to 7 different schools. Three in the top 10. Three more ranked between #11-20, and an unranked but cheap school, an instate school. I've just been informed that I've recieved a scholarship that will pay for almost 80% of my tutition over 4 years at this state school. That would mean I'd be paying about $2000 a year to go there in tuition. I'm not expecting a lot of free money from the top 10 private schools. I'm still waiting on 1 top 2 school, and if I get in there it won't be a decision.

Because of this, I'm considering going to my state school. There is little question that I would put up AOA numbers, score 250 or better on the boards, and get into a great residency from any of the 7 schools. The problem is that I don't know if I can spend 4 years with students who are at that level. It's not that I have to be around rhodes scholars, but I don't want my anatomy partner to have a 26 mcat. The whole atmosphere would be so unlike anything I've known in academics, including high school and college.

Is anyone here with really big numbers, and I'm not talking 3.8 and 35, considering going to a non top 20 school? Do you think you can handle the general atmopshere there?
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The only hot girls that I have seen have been in my lower level classes. All the hot girls I know (i.e. with big boobies, etc..) are in "fake" majors. The conclusion that can be drawn from this is that there is an inverse relationship between hottness and intelligence. Now obviously there is balance that you want between the two qualities. In other words, the hottest girl on earth is also the dumbest, so you would want some happy medium. With that said, there will be hotter girls at the lower ranked med school, so if I'm going to be working hard for my MD, I might as well have some nice eye-candy to keep me occupied.
 
+pissed+ +pissed+ +pissed+ +pissed+ +pissed+ +pissed+ +pissed+
 
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I hope you're not serious. Your post is strangely reminiscent of SnS. I have so-called "big numbers" and will probably go to a state school, UMN, and I couldn't care less how my classmates did on the MCAT.
 
Originally posted by clowne
I hope you're not serious. Your post is strangely reminiscent of SnS. I have so-called "big numbers" and will probably go to a state school, UMN, and I couldn't care less how my classmates did on the MCAT.
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3.97/41 type big numbers or 3.9/37 big numbers? I'm having problems on a lot of levels going to a school where my mcat exceeds the average by over 11 points. I'm not looking for a four year vacation; I want to be pushed to at least occasionally.

It's not so much that I really care about their mcat scores and grades. It has more to do with an attitude and culture. I know what kind of students to expect at this state school. and I just don't know if that is the best environment to be in. It's not that they don't take school seriously because some do, but it's just not the same as Penn, Duke, or Columbia( or harvard if lucky).
 
Don't feed the trolls!

+pissed+
 
Originally posted by southbelle
3.97/41 type big numbers or 3.9/37 big numbers? I'm having problems on a lot of levels going to a school where my mcat exceeds the average by over 11 points. I'm not looking for a four year vacation; I want to be pushed to at least occasionally.

It's not so much that I really care about their mcat scores and grades. It has more to do with an attitude and culture. I know what kind of students to expect at this state school. and I just don't know if that is the best environment to be in. It's not that they don't take school seriously because some do, but it's just not the same as Penn, Duke, or Columbia( or harvard if lucky).
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First of all, there is hardly any difference between a 37 mcat and a 40 mcat. They're both damn good and will get you into a top school. Secondly, you will not be surrounded by "inferrior" students wherever you go. There will just be more cocky dinguses like you at the higher ranked schools :p . I think you should go to the lowest ranked school you get into. That way, you won't have any competition for being the biggest prick....you'll have that title to yourself.
 
at least you wont be mingling with intellectually inferior students like me at a sub top 20 school. Go to the top school so you wont intimidate your peers (or should i say sub-peers) at the state school. Also there is probably some state resident dying to have your spot there.
 
you will be a great research scientist.

as for being a physician that actually comes in contact with people...i dont know if i can say the same.

you want to be challenged? yet some of the top schools are very laid back such as yale and their optional testing....how will that push you in any way?

if you want to be in a competitive environment go to a school that has letter grades.

if cost is a worry, with your "very" big numbers you should be able to get a merit scholarship from someone other than your state school.

oh another question since you seem to distinguish a 3.97/41 with a 3.9/37...so you would not conside 2nd student your equal then right?
how many different levels have you broken it down to? just curious to see where i would fall in.
 
Originally posted by jlee9531
since you seem to distinguish a 3.97/41 with a 3.9/37...so you would not conside 2nd student your equal then right?
how many different levels have you broken it down to? just curious to see where i would fall in.
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you're top 1% J :)
 
this has to be a fake post. nobody as intelligent as the poster claims to be could also be so ignorant as to not realize that what they're saying is inflammatory. perhaps drcynical or SnS made up new names or something.
 
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Originally posted by exmike
you're top 1% J :)
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haha in our distorted minds :D

damn mike case over drew? im gonna have to call up drew to tell them to get their **** together...they gonna lose a damn good ms 1/2....
 
trolls are like onions, they've got layers.
 
i dont understand this. did she just wake up morning and think "I think ill become a troll today"? as opposed to other trolls that troll from post 1
 
Originally posted by exmike
i dont understand this. did she just wake up morning and think "I think ill become a troll today"? as opposed to other trolls that troll from post 1
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I just had a thought. Sometiems I check SDN while I'm at school and I forget to log out. Maybe someone else was using the OP's name to post?
 
thanks guys for unmasking a fibber . . . southbelle, hope you don't end up at my school 'cause then you would have to deal with average commoners like myself! (can you really say that anyone who has been accepted to ANY medical school is average or common?)
 
I am fighting the urge to flame the OP. You need to understand that the ability to become a good physician cannot be based exclusively on MCAT and undergrad GPA. You must possess the skills to effectively communicate with other doctors and your patients. Purposeful communication will be challenging given your condescending attitude. Very few of your professional colleagues will have numbers similar to what you claim yours to be. If this post represents your true attitude, you will be hated by many and depended on by few. Your obligation is to serve your patients with respect and dignity. In order to do so, you need to get over yourself. If you are as intellegent as you claim to be, only your ego will stand between you and great things.
 
SouthBelle mentioned she got into Penn (I'm assuming that's UPenn b/c it's a "Top 10" school). UPenn hasn't even sent out decision yet. Unless she deferred her acceptance from last year...she's once again busted.
 
Amazing that we've come up with so much ammunition against it since it's only made 8 posts. Most trolls try to maintain at least some modicum of consistency in their lies.
 
She's a Jerk.
 
Originally posted by umass rower
Amazing that we've come up with so much ammunition against it since it's only made 8 posts. Most trolls try to maintain at least some modicum of consistency in their lies.
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Semitrolls are so bad. At least the humorous ones like SnS and doctorcynical are funny AND consistent. But semitrolls like southbelle, crazee8, swankydude, and princetonrocks are just really annoying.
 
Originally posted by CalBeE
SouthBelle mentioned she got into Penn (I'm assuming that's UPenn b/c it's a "Top 10" school). UPenn hasn't even sent out decision yet. Unless she deferred her acceptance from last year...she's once again busted.
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No she didnt defer, then again, the rest of her posts seem to be filled with lies as well, so Im not sure.

Most likely, "SouthBelle" is a 43 year old male from North Dakota.
 
What's a troll? (sorry i'm new here):confused:

Also, if this post is actually true: why does everyone have to be so snotty? Medical school is medical school and we'll all end up with the same damn license. Just because some people don't get perfect grades or perfect mcats doesn't mean that they are incompetent- if you can't handle working with ppl in school that are "inferior" than you are going to have a real problem working with these same people in a hospital setting or anyone else in that environment that didn't come from harvard or any other overpriced private school that caters to elites.


Get a life
 
Originally posted by Gleevec
Semitrolls are so bad. At least the humorous ones like SnS and doctorcynical are funny AND consistent. But semitrolls like southbelle, crazee8, swankydude, and princetonrocks are just really annoying.
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yeah princetonrocks tortured my psyche back in august and september with all of her supposed interview offers and acceptances. it was horrible!
 
way way to cocky and arrogant. thinking ure better than everyone else is bad.

i havent been on this site for a while bc of school but im on spring break now. anyways what is a troll. im guessing from context it means fake. so....

who let the troll out? woo woo woo woo
 
So the OP was full of B.S. ...but was her question totally taboo? If you can't ask something like that here, on allegedly anonymous forums, where can you ask it? Not to be too much the Devil's Advocate, but I imagine there are more than a few people out there pondering exactly what she (or the 43 year-old dude "she" might be) asked. Certainly there are folks with huge numbers - should they be ashamed of them? It seems like it from the posts I read and their follow-ups. People can and do break the 40 mark on the MCAT, that doesn't make them bad or arrogant, just a) smart, b) good test-takers, and c) (probably) lucky. While the OP could certainly have couched her query with a more sensitive turn of phrase, I still think it is a question that might be worth discussion. What is it like to be a real genius surrounded by those who are merely smart and dedicated? (Assuming that the bulk of state-school students will smart and dedicated.) Or worse, will that genius be surrounded by folks who aren't smart and dedicated at a state school?
And just to incite some flames - I did break the 40 mark on the MCAT. And I will be going to a state school (LSU or UAB), because its where I want to be. I didn't even bother with the big names because I didn't want to deal with arrogance. In my state-school experience, I found very few people that I couldn't work with, even if they couldn't hit 30 on the MCAT on the third go. That said, it can get tiresome being the person that everyone in your O-Chem group comes to for answers. (and I state that as a fact, not as a boast.) So I think I might understand the question - will medical school be 4 years of answering questions for other students? Or of being accused of being a gunner just because you're ranked high in the class?
 
Originally posted by johnnyjringo
And just to incite some flames - I did break the 40 mark on the MCAT. And I will be going to a state school (LSU or UAB), because its where I want to be. I didn't even bother with the big names because I didn't want to deal with arrogance. In my state-school experience, I found very few people that I couldn't work with, even if they couldn't hit 30 on the MCAT on the third go. That said, it can get tiresome being the person that everyone in your O-Chem group comes to for answers. (and I state that as a fact, not as a boast.) So I think I might understand the question - will medical school be 4 years of answering questions for other students? Or of being accused of being a gunner just because you're ranked high in the class? [/B]
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johnnyjringo-
You are the kind of smart/genius person I can handle. You treat us less-genius people with respect and don't poo-hoo state schools. I think that everyone who ends up in medical school has, at some point, had the experience of being the "smart one" surrounded by not-so-smart people. Personally, what makes a person a gunner, in my eyes at least, is more dependent on their attitude than their scores. I've known plenty of people who where "gunners" with B averages. (granted this is all just my personal take on things)
 
Originally posted by johnnyjringo
So I think I might understand the question - will medical school be 4 years of answering questions for other students? Or of being accused of being a gunner just because you're ranked high in the class?
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First of all the OP is full of crap and should be disregarded.

Secondly, the best way to make sure people dont hate on you for being smart is to not make a huge deal out of it and to be funny. That's why introverts have such a hard time showing theyre not gunners, even if theyre fairly nice, because they lack the humor that will endear them to the class.

And answering questions for other students, well, thats part of the territory. Generally, if its a friend or someone I like, Ill definitely go into detail in answering the question. If its someone I dont really know, then Ill probably just refer them to the pertinent section of the book and a summary of what itll probably say. And if its someone I dont like, well, I just sorta ignore them more or less, or give a really terse/vague reference to the book.

You really should "triage" answering questions, so to peak. It does wonders in terms of saving you time, it has for me, and making sure you arent taken advantage of.
 
Celticmists and Gleevec -
Thanks for the back-up. The one thing that really worries me about med school is being surrounded by a bunch of over-stressed whiners, and you two are laying that to rest. I suppose I should know that the personal interviews will keep most of those types out of schools in the first place, but my pre-med program was so overrun by nerd campers....its scary to imagine the med school population.
And Gleevec - you've surely got the smart thing down. I learned long ago - like in Kindergarten - to not take myself too seriously. And it makes life so much more entertaining. People who never got that lesson are what nearly drove me away from medicine. (By the way, I like the "triage" bit. Great analogy. I've managed to dodge many questions by cultivating the image of a drunken frat-boy...nobody suspects you've got smarts when you're in a letter shirt!)
 
Originally posted by johnnyjringo
Celticmists and Gleevec -
Thanks for the back-up. The one thing that really worries me about med school is being surrounded by a bunch of over-stressed whiners, and you two are laying that to rest. I suppose I should know that the personal interviews will keep most of those types out of schools in the first place, but my pre-med program was so overrun by nerd campers....its scary to imagine the med school population.
And Gleevec - you've surely got the smart thing down. I learned long ago - like in Kindergarten - to not take myself too seriously. And it makes life so much more entertaining. People who never got that lesson are what nearly drove me away from medicine. (By the way, I like the "triage" bit. Great analogy. I've managed to dodge many questions by cultivating the image of a drunken frat-boy...nobody suspects you've got smarts when you're in a letter shirt!)
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johnnyjringo,
Im sure you'll find a lot more cool people than you expect, and if youve made it this far, there is nothing new about the people youre going to meet in medical school (now, there might be a higher concentration of certain types of people, but nothing "new" more than likely).
That said, I wouldnt worry too much about everyone else. There are definitely going to be gunners and stressed out whiners in your class, but there will also be people a lot like you as well. Also its not like youre going to Mayo or Stanford or one of the small schools with a class size < 100, so there are going to be a LOT of people in your class of all types, some gunners, and some really cool people.

I guess I too am prepared to be disappointed by some of my classmates, but I think if one is looking for gunners in their class they will surely find them, even if they dont really exist to that degre. So I guess what Im trying to say, is that Im trying not to keep my hopes too high for my class, but Im also trying not to think that itll have a lot of gunners either. The glass is sorta half full and empty in that regard.
 
What do you guys mean by trolls? is that supposed who makes stuff up?
 
Originally posted by subtlewonder
What do you guys mean by trolls? is that supposed who makes stuff up?
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so good...:laugh:
 
Go to your state school!
 
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