Are These Feelings Common?

[Genetics]

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I will be graduating soon from undergraduate school, and the closer I get to graduation the more I feel like I know nothing. I'm sure this feeling is present in others as well, but how do you deal with this type of feeling? For me, most everything I am learning as an undergraduate is not going to be useful for my career path that I have chosen (I have real world experience and have shadowed people who do the job I will be doing). Therefore, I'm trying to learn what I know, and think, I need to know for my career when I have some spare time outside of my classes and work. My graduate courses will better prepare me (genetic counseling) for what I need to know and the skills I need to have much better then these undergraduate courses.

Among the readers and posters of this message board, how did you handle these types of thoughts and feelings?

 

[icey]

I will be graduating soon from undergraduate school, and the closer I get to graduation the more I feel like I know nothing. I'm sure this feeling is present in others as well, but how do you deal with this type of feeling? For me, most everything I am learning as an undergraduate is not going to be useful for my career path that I have chosen (I have real world experience and have shadowed people who do the job I will be doing). Therefore, I'm trying to learn what I know, and think, I need to know for my career when I have some spare time outside of my classes and work. My graduate courses will better prepare me (genetic counseling) for what I need to know and the skills I need to have much better then these undergraduate courses.

Among the readers and posters of this message board, how did you handle these types of thoughts and feelings?

as my cell bio prof once said, ''us professors always joke about how students enter upper level classes forgetting about whatever they have learned in the lower level courses.''

i keep reminding myself that med schools don't prepare mds anyway for the real world (from what i hear from my vet).

and then i just avoid the thought altogether.

 

[braluk]

its like that saying about

the more you learn, the less you know
we all know a little of everything, and alot of nothing.

or something like that

 

[heathen]

I have had this same thought for almost a year now. But, I am really happy that I am an Engineering major, and I won't have to use that junk, hopefully starting next May 🙂 People in the industry have always said that you learn at the job, what you learn as an undergrad is just to make sure that you understand the "language".

 

[baylormed]

I have had this same thought for almost a year now. But, I am really happy that I am an Engineering major, and I won't have to use that junk, hopefully starting next May 🙂 People in the industry have always said that you learn at the job, what you learn as an undergrad is just to make sure that you understand the "language".

Why don't they just give me a dictionary and call it a day?

Bla. 😛

 

[Hednej]

Don't worry, you're just starting a new phase in your life. These feelings of anxiety are commonplace. (I want to be a psychiatrist so I started practicing on you), JK)

 

[photo_girl07]

Don't worry, you're just starting a new phase in your life. These feelings of anxiety are commonplace. (I want to be a psychiatrist so I started practicing on you), JK)

that's so cool...psych...wow!
I would seriously like to have a conversation with yah 🙂

 

[airshad8]

OP, I feel you on that. I feel my UG career was pretty much a memory dump one after another. I would cram within a week of an exam, take the exam, dump the info and so on. I think this was most evident when I was preparing for the MCAT. When it came down to it, taking those courses in chem, bio, and physics did very little considering I had to learn it all over again for the exam anyways. It's kinda depressing to think about- we go through college 'learning' things, but don't retain much of it. I suppose retention comes with exposure, whic his why it may get better in med school...who knows.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

I will be graduating soon from undergraduate school, and the closer I get to graduation the more I feel like I know nothing. I'm sure this feeling is present in others as well, but how do you deal with this type of feeling? For me, most everything I am learning as an undergraduate is not going to be useful for my career path that I have chosen (I have real world experience and have shadowed people who do the job I will be doing). Therefore, I'm trying to learn what I know, and think, I need to know for my career when I have some spare time outside of my classes and work. My graduate courses will better prepare me (genetic counseling) for what I need to know and the skills I need to have much better then these undergraduate courses.

Among the readers and posters of this message board, how did you handle these types of thoughts and feelings?

its because you cant relay what you know unless you're given a context to answer. someone will have to ask you a question for you to give a response. you cant just rattle off all the things you know if you arent given direction. you know so much your mind cant express it all at once.

 

[szhao]

I will be graduating soon from undergraduate school, and the closer I get to graduation the more I feel like I know nothing. I'm sure this feeling is present in others as well, but how do you deal with this type of feeling? For me, most everything I am learning as an undergraduate is not going to be useful for my career path that I have chosen (I have real world experience and have shadowed people who do the job I will be doing). Therefore, I'm trying to learn what I know, and think, I need to know for my career when I have some spare time outside of my classes and work. My graduate courses will better prepare me (genetic counseling) for what I need to know and the skills I need to have much better then these undergraduate courses.

Among the readers and posters of this message board, how did you handle these types of thoughts and feelings?

i feel that for some subjects like computer science i feel like i learned nothing, math i feel like i learned a lot, same with physics. that reminds me my thesis begs me to complete

 

[geno2568]

sophomore year, i took a class in the neurobio department which was an introduction to nuerbiology. We didn't memorize too much, but is was fairly difficult, and I learned a lot. Now, i am taking a class in the human development department, which is teaching the same thing (i didnt plan on taking it....had to make an emergency course swap). But this class is crap. It is basically a cram session before the tests, with no real learning going on. So to answer your question, it depends on the classes you take. What you should get out of every class is an understanding of the subject, not a knowledge of its intricacies.

 

[szhao]

sophomore year, i took a class in the neurobio department which was an introduction to nuerbiology. We didn't memorize too much, but is was fairly difficult, and I learned a lot. Now, i am taking a class in the human development department, which is teaching the same thing (i didnt plan on taking it....had to make an emergency course swap). But this class is crap. It is basically a cram session before the tests, with no real learning going on. So to answer your question, it depends on the classes you take. What you should get out of every class is an understanding of the subject, not a knowledge of its intricacies.

totally agree, like now i can price options and derivatives, with my computer science knowledge of efficient algorithms on numerical approximations, i can make big bucks creating options and derivatives for companies. yes, as a matter of fact, i am going to write a program to do that tomorrow and see how it goes. combining knowledge between classes may equal big bucks with very little time investment

 

[Hednej]

that's so cool...psych...wow!
I would seriously like to have a conversation with yah 🙂

Lol, I promise I won't psychoanalyze you 😉

 

[DoctorFunk]

I suppose retention comes with exposure, whic his why it may get better in med school...who knows.

Your friendly neighborhood Ninja knows, and he can assure you that medical school is the biggest memory dump of them all. My friends and I are constantly joking about how little we remember from lectures that we aren't taking exams on.

 

[PEN15]

I will be graduating soon from undergraduate school, and the closer I get to graduation the more I feel like I know nothing. I'm sure this feeling is present in others as well, but how do you deal with this type of feeling? For me, most everything I am learning as an undergraduate is not going to be useful for my career path that I have chosen (I have real world experience and have shadowed people who do the job I will be doing). Therefore, I'm trying to learn what I know, and think, I need to know for my career when I have some spare time outside of my classes and work. My graduate courses will better prepare me (genetic counseling) for what I need to know and the skills I need to have much better then these undergraduate courses.

Among the readers and posters of this message board, how did you handle these types of thoughts and feelings?

As far as undergrad, everything seems to go in one ear and out the other mainly because I wasn't that interested in what I was studying 99% of the time. I barely remember what I had for breakfast the day before... med school is going to be tricky.

 

[morriske]

I will be graduating soon from undergraduate school, and the closer I get to graduation the more I feel like I know nothing. I'm sure this feeling is present in others as well, but how do you deal with this type of feeling? For me, most everything I am learning as an undergraduate is not going to be useful for my career path that I have chosen (I have real world experience and have shadowed people who do the job I will be doing). Therefore, I'm trying to learn what I know, and think, I need to know for my career when I have some spare time outside of my classes and work. My graduate courses will better prepare me (genetic counseling) for what I need to know and the skills I need to have much better then these undergraduate courses.

Among the readers and posters of this message board, how did you handle these types of thoughts and feelings?

Your UG career isn't just about learning facts, it's also about learning to think critically and developing thought patterns that will help you in any career that you choose. Hopefully, as a science major you were taught about the scientific method in most of your classes and labs. Learning to think critically about science should be helpful as a physician. When I started undergrad (back in '98 😱 ), I used to wonder why anyone would major in English or history. You don't learn any useful, factual information in these majors (unless you plan to teach or attempt to win Jeopardy) but they do teach you to think analytically. Hopefully, this will make you feel a little better 🙂