CH110 + PHY120 + working full time = HELL

[DocteurMarion]

Dear Non trads,
After being done with my boring Associate Degree in Computer Science last year, I was so excited to start my pre-med classes on Jan 18 2005. I was full of hope for a great semester with CH110 and PHY120...Until I started realizing this is HELL

Yes I know what you guys will tell me: what you feel now is only 1/3 of what you will feel in med school...

I work 40hrs/week, I have class every day, sometimes twice/day, 1 ton of CHem and PHY exercices/reading to do and let's not talk about the lab reports... I feel so overwhelmed, I am so scared to not do well, I refuse to get anything but an A in those 2 classes.

Why would adcoms not see that 2 classes/sem + full time work is a DAMN FULL LOAD of things to deal with

Sorry I needed to vent

You guys felt that way when you started your science courses?

(I am a 27 years old from CT)

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[efex101]

If you feel that overwhelmed the solution is simple...drop one class.

 

[ravi]

Initially it is hard, but gradually you will get used to it. Phys 120 is hard and difficult to visualize. Next two will be OK (well, the course numbers are different for us. 117, 118 and 119 for us). Chem 2 will be hard but the third is easy. Don't let these classes bother you.

 

[Static Line]

Yes I know what you guys will tell me: what you feel now is only 1/3 of what you will feel in med school...

True! but, in all likliehood you will not be working 40 hrs a week like we do/did in undergrad, in addition to having to study. So that shouldn't be much of an issue.

I wasn't the fastest test taker (usually the only ones left with me taking the tests were the ones who didn't study or those who partied the night before the test, but who still tried to pass the exam), but I usually scored in the top 10% of the class. The sciences were not easy for me either. I had to put in extra hours, but you can do it if you really want to. In retrospect, they were not that difficult. It really boils down to how much time and efficiently you study.

 

[ntmed]

If you feel that overwhelmed the solution is simple...drop one class.

... or cut back on work, or make any other changes in order to keep getting A's.

 

[blankguy]

Do whatever you can to get those A's. If you can only take one class so be it. Grades are the most important. I firmly believe that people should take the amount of courses they feel capable in acing given each individual's capabilities and situation. If you can do full time study that would be great but we are not supermen. What is the worst that is going to happen(very unlikely that this will happen). adcom: "We like what we see but you need to go fulltime."

 

[DocteurMarion]

I am not doing well in chemistry so far:
1st quizz: 9/15
2nd quizz: 14/15

1st exam: 84.5/130

I am so down, I cried all the way home yesterday after class (and yes I am 27 years old )
Do I have the talent? Any doctor here had bad grades in Chemistry?

 

[ChiefToma]

I am not doing well in chemistry so far:
1st quizz: 9/15
2nd quizz: 14/15

1st exam: 84.5/130

I am so down, I cried all the way home yesterday after class (and yes I am 27 years old )
Do I have the talent? Any doctor here had bad grades in Chemistry?

Dude. I suck at Chemistry and I am interviewing at med schools.

keep yo' head up sucka. (Mr. T voice)

 

[Skaterbabe74]

I am not doing well in chemistry so far:
1st quizz: 9/15
2nd quizz: 14/15

1st exam: 84.5/130

I am so down, I cried all the way home yesterday after class (and yes I am 27 years old )
Do I have the talent? Any doctor here had bad grades in Chemistry?

Hang in there. My first exam is almost always the worst exam gradewise. I'm not sure how the prof tests, what the questions will be like, what to study. But once the first exam is over I know better how a prof grades, what he/she is looking for, and can adjust my studying appropriately. Also take into consideration what the mean was for this exam. If your prof curves grades at all where you fall compared to the rest of your class is more important than what your actual grade was. You did well on your second quiz so you're obviously starting to get the hang of things. Figure out why you missed the things you did on this exam. Was it sig fig issues? Was it studying the wrong stuff? Was it taking knowledge (ie. working a certain type of problem) and applying it to a new set of variables? When you figure out what it is that held you back on this exam you can work harder to overcome those issues on the next exams and not make the same type of mistakes again. Just keep it up and you'll end up doing fine.

Good luck!

 

[RisingSun]

Conceptually chemistry is not hard, but if you don't know how to approach a problem you're pretty much out of luck. I'm in second quarter general chemistry right now and have done really well so far because (1) I always do the homework problems, and if I can't get the right answer I check in the solutions manual, see what they did, and then do two or three more problems like it and (2) I never get behind. If it means that I have to get up at 3:30 in the morning to finish my homework before class, then that's what I do.

Also, try keeping a single notebook in which you write all your notes from class, do your homework, and take notes from you book. Come study time, I have lots of solved problems and all the related information that I need condensed into my notebook. It makes studying easy and _effective_.

You can do it! Let us know how you do on the next test(s)!

RisingSun

PS I work full time and have a family, so I know how hard it can be to balance time.

 

[smc927]

Take it easy on yourself. You're doing great. I am also employed full-time, have a wife and two kids, and am taking 16 credits (including organic chemistry!). It's tough, but let me tell you an interesting story.

I interviewd at KCOM last November. One of my interviewers had earned his Ph.D. and was a science professor at the university level. Then he decided he had always really wanted to be a doctor so he went back and got his D.O. I asked him what it was like for him to go through med school with a family. To paraphrase he said something like....

....It was brutal. Absolutely brutal. Too many students are obsessed with getting all A's. Many of them married with children. They come in here never having had a B. They work and work to ace everything here. Their families get tired of it and things get tough and they say to their families: , "Too bad, you can't take it, oh well." Their families pay the price. I don't want any student at this school who isn't willing to get a C for his family's sake. You have to sacrifice. You have to keep your priorities in order.

Chin up! You're doing great and you will get through this! And you CAN get into medical school with B's and even C's.

 

[Em&M]

Take it easy on yourself. You're doing great. I am also employed full-time, have a wife and two kids, and am taking 16 credits (including organic chemistry!). It's tough, but let me tell you an interesting story.

I interviewd at KCOM last November. One of my interviewers had earned his Ph.D. and was a science professor at the university level. Then he decided he had always really wanted to be a doctor so he went back and got his D.O. I asked him what it was like for him to go through med school with a family. To paraphrase he said something like....

....It was brutal. Absolutely brutal. Too many students are obsessed with getting all A's. Many of them married with children. They come in here never having had a B. They work and work to ace everything here. Their families get tired of it and things get tough and they say to their families: , "Too bad, you can't take it, oh well." Their families pay the price. I don't want any student at this school who isn't willing to get a C for his family's sake. You have to sacrifice. You have to keep your priorities in order.

Chin up! You're doing great and you will get through this! And you CAN get into medical school with B's and even C's.

Thank you so much for this post. I am a 28 year old single mom and it was unfortunate timing that my daughter was born my second year of my undergrad. Because of that, my focus shifted from getting all A's to "just passing". Needless to say, my med school dreams went out the window by graduation. I still graduated with a 3.1 cum. but now, 6 years later, I have decided that I was really meant to be a doctor and aside from my full-time research position, my hospital and clinic volunteering, I am taking 2 upper division science courses (Immunology and Genetics) to improve the academic portion of my application. Because I have a lot to make up for academically, I, too am feeling that pressure to produce stellar grades, be fully productive at work (the bills need to get paid...) and to spend enough time with my beautiful daughter. I am starting to feel the "parental guilt" and often wonder if my priorities really are in tact. It is good to hear that others have succeeded at what I am doing without having to sacrifice the welfare of those that they love. Though, undoubtedly, there IS sacrifice involved for everybody, there are some things that you cannot get back and the time spent with your family is one of them.

Sorry, I know that this was a little off the original subject about being overloaded... I understand that aspect as well. My advice would be (because this is the only way I can manage) is to find time to study every little chance you get. I mean, I literally take my books with me everywhere and open them everytime I have a spare 10 minutes. Whether it is in the lab when I have samples on a 20 minute spin, during lunch, at the hospital when there is 15 minutes with nothing to do... I have a severe shortage of extra time and I have found that banging out a page here and a couple of pages there gets me through the material and maximizes my study time. That way, on Saturday afternoons, when I get my real face time in at the library, I don't have to waste my time just reading the material, I can actually use that time to actively learn (i.e. doing problems, etc...)

Good Luck, it really does get easier once you adjust! And by the way, with your high goals, I am sure that you will do wonderful

 

[microbe hunter]

keep yo' head up sucka. (Mr. T voice)

Good advice!