Class of 2016....how ya doing?

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DVMDream said:
I hope so, having the extra time to study does not work well with my procratination, I would probably do better in a curriculum where I don't have as much time to study. The more time I have, the more I procrastinate because why study while you are in class when you have an entire WEEK to study before the exam and you have NO classes....

I was massively cramming for that last exam... I did most of my studying in the 4 days before the exam... Ooops... 😳
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I would do the same thing!

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DVMDream said:
I hope so, having the extra time to study does not work well with my procratination, I would probably do better in a curriculum where I don't have as much time to study. The more time I have, the more I procrastinate because why study while you are in class when you have an entire WEEK to study before the exam and you have NO classes....

I was massively cramming for that last exam... I did most of my studying in the 4 days before the exam... Ooops... 😳
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Yeah, one week of no classes = 7 more days to procrastinate 🙄
 
Soooo, I pretty much bombed my anatomy test. 😡🙁😡🙁

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Jamr0ckin said:
Soooo, I pretty much bombed my anatomy test. 😡🙁😡🙁

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I'm sorry Jam... 🙁

Is there anyway that you can get additional help or do you feel like you know what you need to change so that you can do better? Wish I could jump through the computer screen and help.
 
Just took my first anatomy lecture exam on the thoracic and pelvic limbs. For the most part, it was pretty straightforward, but there were some questions where I was going back and forth between answers. Typical🙄.

Lab practical is at 3.:scared:
 
Pretty sure I just failed my biochem exam...awesome.
Can't even drink it away yet because I have 4 hours of anatomy lab and a flag football game tonight. Although I'm starting to sick so I don't know if I'm going to go.
 
Dont worry guys. those first exams of first year kick almost everyones butt bc you have no idea of what exams are going to be like. You have plenty of time to pull things up and make changes.

First semester (and I can only speak for Penn here) is really rough. They don't go easy on you. But you can make it and studying gets so much easier and your brain gets so much better at it.

Don't beat yourself up, just get back in there 🙂
 
Jamr0ckin said:
Soooo, I pretty much bombed my anatomy test. 😡🙁😡🙁

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I didn't do particularly well on my first ones either. We'll both get better. 👍

(I also like the abdomen/thorax we're doing now way better than random assortments of muscles, too, so maybe you'll be the same).
 
Yeah, Gella is right. The first biochem exam went ok for me last year but I got blown away by anatomy. You guys will adjust your study methods and you'll be fine, even if the first exam grades are lower than you would like. :luck:
 
GellaBella said:
Dont worry guys. those first exams of first year kick almost everyones butt bc you have no idea of what exams are going to be like. You have plenty of time to pull things up and make changes.

First semester (and I can only speak for Penn here) is really rough. They don't go easy on you. But you can make it and studying gets so much easier and your brain gets so much better at it.

Don't beat yourself up, just get back in there 🙂
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This is the one thing that makes me really nervous about Illinois system. Each semester our final grade is based off of only 2 tests :scared:
 
bbeventer said:
This is the one thing that makes me really nervous about Illinois system. Each semester our final grade is based off of only 2 tests :scared:
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First year was like that for us, too, and I hated it. Plus the first test in any class is always tough because you don't know how to study for that professor's testing style👎
 
I had to ask my anatomy professor to manually grade my scantron because there were little red flecks all over it from the arteries.

Well, at least I'm done with anatomy for now. Onto bacteriology...exam on Wednesday🙄
 
4 hours of histology tomorrow...Ceiling Cat help me 🙄
 
goldnretrivrgrl said:
Yeah, Gella is right. The first biochem exam went ok for me last year but I got blown away by anatomy. You guys will adjust your study methods and you'll be fine, even if the first exam grades are lower than you would like. :luck:
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GellaBella said:
Dont worry guys. those first exams of first year kick almost everyones butt bc you have no idea of what exams are going to be like. You have plenty of time to pull things up and make changes.

First semester (and I can only speak for Penn here) is really rough. They don't go easy on you. But you can make it and studying gets so much easier and your brain gets so much better at it.

Don't beat yourself up, just get back in there 🙂
Click to expand...

it makes me feel a little better that you guys said this. i'm still a little overwhelmed by all the work. biochem went OK for me, but i'm really nervous about anatomy i'll be happy if i just pass the exam. :scared:
 
Minnerbelle said:
Truths. In a year or two, you will be amazed at your capacity for rote memorization. It's like a superpower that vet students gain after a while.
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Is there a way to accelerate the process of gaining this superpower? I feel like my memory is really good, but it takes so much effort for me to get organized and to the point where things make sense to memorize. Plus there is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. We are up to page 115 in our notes for pathology already 😱. Midterm in a couple weeks and I'm about on page 50 as far as feeling confident with the material 😱. Having freak outs not about the day to day, but about the impending doom as me and my friends call it of the upcoming couple of weeks.

Our class is awesome and is having a huge mock anatomy practical on Saturday, should be an awesome way to get used to seeing all the other dogs and IDing structures on them. Hopefully it goes well. It seems to have the potential to be amazing or a complete disaster, but either way it should be fun 😀
 
ky261682 said:
4 hours of histology tomorrow...Ceiling Cat help me 🙄
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Ew. You can come to systemic path with us! Dr L doesn't know us all, he'd have no idea. :laugh: And it'll be a nice jump on general path for you for next semester!

(And I happened to look up your exam schedule the other day when I was talking to A for laundry duty. You guys have phys and anatomy back to back?! 😱 WHY?! Whose sadistic idea was that??)
 
I had cookies and beer for dinner. My way of coping.

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Coquette22 said:
Ew. You can come to systemic path with us! Dr L doesn't know us all, he'd have no idea. :laugh: And it'll be a nice jump on general path for you for next semester!

(And I happened to look up your exam schedule the other day when I was talking to A for laundry duty. You guys have phys and anatomy back to back?! 😱 WHY?! Whose sadistic idea was that??)
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I don't know whose idea it was but whoever made the schedule should get coal in their stocking this Christmas.
 
Jamr0ckin said:
I had cookies and beer for dinner. My way of coping.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using SDN Mobile
Click to expand...

👍👍
i had a couple glasses of cupcake sauvignon blanc and made stir fry, then ice cream after. yum.
 
GellaBella said:
Dont worry guys. those first exams of first year kick almost everyones butt bc you have no idea of what exams are going to be like. You have plenty of time to pull things up and make changes.

First semester (and I can only speak for Penn here) is really rough. They don't go easy on you. But you can make it and studying gets so much easier and your brain gets so much better at it.

Don't beat yourself up, just get back in there 🙂
Click to expand...

goldnretrivrgrl said:
Yeah, Gella is right. The first biochem exam went ok for me last year but I got blown away by anatomy. You guys will adjust your study methods and you'll be fine, even if the first exam grades are lower than you would like. :luck:
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Thanks you guys! That's what several of the 2nd years are telling me as well. I was bummed right after the test, but it's more because I'm more upset with myself for not studying more. Now I just know what I have to do for the next one.
 
Just took half of my histology test...and pretty sure I failed. That test was totally NOT what we were told to expect. Now on to the other 2-hour half tomorrow...yay for microscopes, something I might actually be good at!

Then the official 4-hour anatomy exam on Friday...this is seriously starting to rack my brain.

Good luck to everyone else with exams this week!!!!
 
I almost want to quit today. So much **** going on with my health, health of family members and the fact that, especially today, I can't stand being out of the US. I'm not sure it is worth it at this point.
 
DVMDream said:
I almost want to quit today. So much **** going on with my health, health of family members and the fact that, especially today, I can't stand being out of the US. I'm not sure it is worth it at this point.
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It is worth it.... do not give up! You will have ridiculously hard days, but you worked so hard to get into vet school - do not let those days get the best of you.

and see a doctor, so you can at least get your health sorted... please....
 
DVMDream said:
I almost want to quit today. So much **** going on with my health, health of family members and the fact that, especially today, I can't stand being out of the US. I'm not sure it is worth it at this point.
Click to expand...

I think you should make a promise to yourself to stick with it and do the best you can through December. After all the time spent trying to get in, you owe it to yourself to give the best effort you can.

And if you still hate it then, you should reevaluate.

But remember it sucks for everyone, you just have extra crap to deal with on top of that since you are so far away from everything familiar. I dunno.

SDNers in general are always here to talk (or listen). 🙂
 
zanydogz said:
Just took half of my histology test...and pretty sure I failed. That test was totally NOT what we were told to expect. Now on to the other 2-hour half tomorrow...yay for microscopes, something I might actually be good at!

Then the official 4-hour anatomy exam on Friday...this is seriously starting to rack my brain.

Good luck to everyone else with exams this week!!!!
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Are you sure you aren't taking histo with Dr. S at UF? 😉
He told us to look at the last five year's exams and know them bc every single one of our tests questions would be from them.

Exam time came...
3 questions from old exams... 3 :smack:
 
penn students - any tips for how to study for the anatomy exams? i'm getting a bit overwhelmed with the number of bold terms we are "supposed" to know for the exam.........trying to wrap my head around how i'm going to learn all this stuff!!!!
 
sunnex3 said:
penn students - any tips for how to study for the anatomy exams? i'm getting a bit overwhelmed with the number of bold terms we are "supposed" to know for the exam.........trying to wrap my head around how i'm going to learn all this stuff!!!!
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Seconding this. I feel like I'm highlighting my entire anatomy book...
 
sunnex3 said:
penn students - any tips for how to study for the anatomy exams? i'm getting a bit overwhelmed with the number of bold terms we are "supposed" to know for the exam.........trying to wrap my head around how i'm going to learn all this stuff!!!!
Click to expand...

orca2011 said:
Seconding this. I feel like I'm highlighting my entire anatomy book...
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What are y'all studying? and when is your test?
 
orca2011 said:
Seconding this. I feel like I'm highlighting my entire anatomy book...
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or making flashcards for freaking EVERYTHING -- ended up buying a flashcard app for my mac because i was spending too much money on real flashcards! 😱
 
Emiloo4 said:
Are you sure you aren't taking histo with Dr. S at UF? 😉
He told us to look at the last five year's exams and know them bc every single one of our tests questions would be from them.

Exam time came...
3 questions from old exams... 3 :smack:
Click to expand...

Haha. In some ways, I wish I was. Wanna come over to TAMU and take it with Dr. A with me? 😉

We were told the same thing...look at the old exams for the major concepts to study/types of questions. Our test yesterday...NOTHING like the old tests. AND I found out why today:

Apparently all the old exams were written by the actual course coordinator, who is basically the head prof. The exam I took was written by one of the assistant profs...and let me tell you she made it a living nightmare. Ex: A 10 pt chart on 8 of the major characteristics of the 3 types of capillaries.
 
orca2011 said:
Seconding this. I feel like I'm highlighting my entire anatomy book...
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You're doing it wrong 😉

highlight-in-books.jpg
 
The way I studied for anatomy tests was to go through the book with the cadaver in front of me and scan for bold words, then identify those on the cadaver. I think I made it through the textbook twice... do it as many times as you can.

Another big thing that my friend and I did was taking turns quizzing each other in the style that the test is given. So the person with the book would go through the book and at each bold term they would read it to themselves (not telling the other person) and then point it out on the cadaver. The second person would have to come up with the name (or OIAI, or whatever). That method is helpful in getting you to think in the same mode the test is administered.

Look at all the cadavers - not just yours. Don't forget to look at the radiographs while the lab is still open.

Once they close the lab, go over your chalk talk notes as those usually feature heavily on the exam. I was not a big fan of Dyce so I just looked at the required pictures the day before the exam and didn't read anything besides the captions.
 
bunnity said:
The way I studied for anatomy tests was to go through the book with the cadaver in front of me and scan for bold words, then identify those on the cadaver. I think I made it through the textbook twice... do it as many times as you can.

Another big thing that my friend and I did was taking turns quizzing each other in the style that the test is given. So the person with the book would go through the book and at each bold term they would read it to themselves (not telling the other person) and then point it out on the cadaver. The second person would have to come up with the name (or OIAI, or whatever). That method is helpful in getting you to think in the same mode the test is administered.

Look at all the cadavers - not just yours. Don't forget to look at the radiographs while the lab is still open.

Once they close the lab, go over your chalk talk notes as those usually feature heavily on the exam. I was not a big fan of Dyce so I just looked at the required pictures the day before the exam and didn't read anything besides the captions.
Click to expand...

thanks bunnity this is super helpful! i'm OK with identifying major stuff on the cadaver (muscles, organs) i do need to work on veins/arteries/nerves this week though. we started the abdomen this week and so far it isn't too bad, i like this stuff a lot more. don't really like the heart much. need to work on OIAI though.

i'm not a fan of dyce either, it's SOOO dense and not that helpful (to me at least) completely forgot about chalk talk notes ugh.

how much time did you give yourself to study for the exam? we have dev bio next monday too, and then the anatomy practical is the following wednesday of the week after that so i figured i'd study all week/weekend for the practical. not sure if that's enough time 🙁
 
sunnex3 said:
thanks bunnity this is super helpful! i'm OK with identifying major stuff on the cadaver (muscles, organs) i do need to work on veins/arteries/nerves this week though. we started the abdomen this week and so far it isn't too bad, i like this stuff a lot more. don't really like the heart much. need to work on OIAI though.

i'm not a fan of dyce either, it's SOOO dense and not that helpful (to me at least) completely forgot about chalk talk notes ugh.

how much time did you give yourself to study for the exam? we have dev bio next monday too, and then the anatomy practical is the following wednesday of the week after that so i figured i'd study all week/weekend for the practical. not sure if that's enough time 🙁
Click to expand...

We have our first exam on Monday :scared:. Ours is over the thoracic limb and the thorax. I am finally getting the thorax down, it was killing me for a while there, but I think I got it now thanks to my awesome lab group who are all very patient. I seem to pick up vessels really easily, but with things like the heart 😱. All the spinning and the way it isn't just in there straight and I get all confused. My group has been great and given me all kinds of tips and I'm getting it finally.

As for studying, I started last weekend and spent 3 hours in the lab Friday, 2 and a half on Saturday, and 2 on Sunday. This weekend I might just move in 😀. Everyone has to get their dog out on Friday and leave them out for the weekend, so I'm gonna try to find a time when the lab isn't swamped with people and review then. I feel like really ramping up the studying about a week before should do the trick (at least I hope so). Anatomy is the one class I feel I've stayed current with pretty much the whole semester though.
 
Our physiology prof sent out this nugget of wisdom to us freaking out about our exam tomorrow... I think it's a good tip for anyone with exams quickly approaching:

‎"We did not talk about an important positive feedback loop which is a powerful reflex... if you smile even if you don't feel like it, you will feel better through tricking the secretion of endorphins and other endogenous opiate neurotransmitters -- this mechanism is going to help you learn and remember better - guaranteed. 🙂"
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I'm adopting a guinea pig this Sunday!!! I'm so excited that I'll be having a live animal in my apartment. I'd love a dog, but I know I can't care for one yet. We've been talking about a cat (and might still get one) but I know I can't take a cat home over the summer cause of my parents but a guinea pig is totally acceptable. I've decided I want to build him a bi level play pen to roam around in.
 
You should totally get him a bunny friend... just saying... 😛

Pictures?!
 
sunnex3 said:
thanks bunnity this is super helpful! i'm OK with identifying major stuff on the cadaver (muscles, organs) i do need to work on veins/arteries/nerves this week though. we started the abdomen this week and so far it isn't too bad, i like this stuff a lot more. don't really like the heart much. need to work on OIAI though.

i'm not a fan of dyce either, it's SOOO dense and not that helpful (to me at least) completely forgot about chalk talk notes ugh.

how much time did you give yourself to study for the exam? we have dev bio next monday too, and then the anatomy practical is the following wednesday of the week after that so i figured i'd study all week/weekend for the practical. not sure if that's enough time 🙁
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I honestly don't remember how much time I studied, other than that it was a lot. Ha. That sounds like a good plan though.

As far as the heart, if they haven't showed you guys the horse hearts yet you can ask and see if they have any around. I found it much easier to see things since they are so big.
 
bunnity said:
I honestly don't remember how much time I studied, other than that it was a lot. Ha. That sounds like a good plan though.

As far as the heart, if they haven't showed you guys the horse hearts yet you can ask and see if they have any around. I found it much easier to see things since they are so big.
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The horse heart is so awesome. Dr. Orsini gave us one today because we managed to not cut through the trabecular septomarginalis but he wanted to show us how nice they are in the horse and how you'll usually find them in both ventricles.

We also found some whipworms which they collected for Parasit.
 
Last edited:
So I heard today that the free version of the VCA will soon (October) be password protected 🙁 so if you can download it now, do. Or you can buy it
 
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