Anybody Starting Undergrad?

[foreverLaur]

I just have to say that going into freshman year of undergrad with the mentality that it is necessary to sacrifice your social life to achieve your dream of being a physician is about the saddest thing I've ever seen. You can have a social life and be a good student at the same time. I had many a semester where I pulled a 3.8 as a neuroscience major doing research and I still partied my tush off and I am by no means a genius. I'm now in medschool and though the social life gets sacrificed a bit more often it is by no means something that needs to be given up. If you need to completely eliminate your social life to achieve academic success in an undergrad setting you will lose your mind trying to keep up in medschool. If you don't have breathing room in undergrad you will suffocate in medschool.

The most important thing you can do for yourself as a premed is not to get the highest score in ochem, or to publish a breakthrough journal article, it is to learn how to balance your personal life with your professional life in a way that makes you well rounded and ensures your sanity when times get tough. Beyond even the sanity issues at hand, socialization is a key part of being a physician. Being able to read people, to explain things so they understand, to network within your chosen specialty, to make sure your interviewer loves you . . . all of this things are of vital importance and the best way to hone these skills is to go out into the world an interact with people.

Please please please know that you can follow your dreams without having to give up a life outside of academics and medicine, many many of us have walked this path and have made it to the holy grail of medschool with our social lives intact, it is indeed possible.

i don't think there is anyone out there who would study any more than they need to in order to keep a gpa good enough to be competitive at a medical school. some may know what this takes from day #1 and some may have to struggle or overdo it at the beginning to find this balance. i think everyone finds that balance. for those that don't, we can just smile when we're out partying and still getting into the same schools

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[Techmed07]

So... Anybody else starting?

 

[MdDoOrDie]

I'm starting. Looking to kick ass and take names freshman year while others slack.
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[Techmed07]

I'm starting. Looking to kick ass and take names freshman year while others slack.​

That is great!.. So what are you taking and Where at?

 

[orrghead16]

I think we should leave it at this, you found your way into Med School, let me find mine. If my way is making a 4.0 in undergrad, missing out on some high risk sex, some minor liver damage , B.S classes (that I can take in junior college) and through those minor regrets me getting into John Hopkins Med School, let it be. I am sure I will find a way to cope.

You have this claim of giving up your social life and getting stellar grades. That is great, it shows motivation.

However, I would not be shooting for Hopkins off the bat when you are afraid to take Calc over pre-calc and think 14 hours is too much. You have your heart set on some "top" med school AND have already accepted the fact of having no social life, maybe getting friends, summa cum laude, etc. rolleyes, but are scared to enter college in true gunner fashion? Most importantly, you should not assume you will be flaunting Hopkins when you have already shown in multiple posts that you are somewhat nervous about how hard COLLEGE (let alone getting into and surviving med school) will be. You have not even set foot into undergrad yet, and assume that you will let go some "minor regrets" for Hopkins. You make no sense, kid.

To solve this you should either formalize your position as a gunner and take and do something more than 14 hours or (recommended) have some fun in your free time.

It is fine to take an easy freshman year of classes and have some fun. It is not a good idea to take a set of easy classes and already think your life will be sacrificed.

 

[geneticclone]

Do you honestly have to study that much to get likea 3.6 in undergrad? Thats a genuine question.

 

[sle3pyguii]

Do you honestly have to study that much to get likea 3.6 in undergrad? Thats a genuine question.

Yes you do. The first year may be easy with your intro classes, but once you hit OChem, start studying for the MCATs, taking upper-division classes like Biochem and P.Chem, studying like a high school student will, for a lack of a better word, OWN you.

 

[corbis11]

Yes you do. The first year may be easy with your intro classes, but once you hit OChem, start studying for the MCATs, taking upper-division classes like Biochem and P.Chem, studying like a high school student will, for a lack of a better word, OWN you.

In my experience it is the first year that really kills your GPA. Granted, that was because freshman bio and chem were the major weedout courses at my school.

 

[noonday]

To answer your question it is more depressing and insane that you opened this thread.. This thread does not pertain to you in the slightest bit "Are you starting Undergrad ?. Thank you for your advice... I am sure many take it! *that would explain the 50% drop out rate in college*. It would also explain the difficulty becoming summa cum lade. I am looking toward the future. I believe later down the road taking care of my mother who sacrifice so much for me will be far more rewarding than just having questionable sexual relations with the opposite sex or getting "sloshed". " Let no man should despise their youth" that is an excerpt from a famous book called the "Bible".

I think we should leave it at this, you found your way into Med School, let me find mine. If my way is making a 4.0 in undergrad, missing out on some high risk sex, some minor liver damage , B.S classes (that I can take in junior college) and through those minor regrets me getting into John Hopkins Med School, let it be. I am sure I will find a way to cope.


I am sick and tired of people like noonday who believe they have the answers to what I should do during my freshmen undergrad. I obviously have a plan and I am not detouring from it.. Please stick to the thread topic.

Noonday no need to respond our correspondence is over.

ah, typical teenager. getting all riled when an elder who's been there, tried that clearly hits a nerve.

*pats techmed on the head* there, there. you'll just learn on your own, i guess. poor dear.

to anyone else...at the least, be young in terms of whatever that means to you. remember this one: "i refuse to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death"

and good luck to you all in college in every aspect academic and otherwise. never again will you be in such a rarified and intense environment. you will not be the same person in 4 years as you are today...and that's the beauty of being human, growing and learning and changing. Yay you!

 

[ReppinThePTC]

TechMed-

Your outlook on school and life in general makes me want to vomit. Do you honestly think that the admissions committee at Johns Hopkins is going to like such an attitude? Accomplishments at all costs regardless of whether or not you have a social life. You sound like a robot or machine. What kind of medical school would accept an applicant like that, regardless of his or her stellar grades.

Get a grip. To let you in on a little secret, even if you do graduate with a 4.0 at Texas Tech, there are thousands of other students who will be applying to Johns Hopkins with comparable stats. All the Ivy League schools are a crap shoot for even the best of medical school applicants. There just aren't enough spots for every summa student to get into such a high tier school.

Earlier posts recommending you to enjoy your undergraduate years were on the right track. However, enjoying college does not have to include high risk sex or getting wasted all weekend long (although the occasional couple of beers or date on a friday won't kill you or your coveted GPA either). Just relax and let the chips fall where they may. If you have good study habits and are willing to put in the effort the grades you want will come. But by all means don't relinquish your social life. It surprises me that no one has mentioned that when you apply to medical schools you need to also have extracurricular activities to accompany your grades and MCAT score. These activities include sports, clubs, and other things which prove that you are a sociable being who can interact positively with your peers. Keep that in mind.

 

[bostonpmed]

You have this claim of giving up your social life and getting stellar grades. That is great, it shows motivation.

However, I would not be shooting for Hopkins off the bat when you are afraid to take Calc over pre-calc and think 14 hours is too much. You have your heart set on some "top" med school AND have already accepted the fact of having no social life, maybe getting friends, summa cum laude, etc. rolleyes, but are scared to enter college in true gunner fashion? Most importantly, you should not assume you will be flaunting Hopkins when you have already shown in multiple posts that you are somewhat nervous about how hard COLLEGE (let alone getting into and surviving med school) will be. You have not even set foot into undergrad yet, and assume that you will let go some "minor regrets" for Hopkins. You make no sense, kid.

To solve this you should either formalize your position as a gunner and take and do something more than 14 hours or (recommended) have some fun in your free time.

It is fine to take an easy freshman year of classes and have some fun. It is not a good idea to take a set of easy classes and already think your life will be sacrificed.

EXACTLY