could use some input

[dayz]

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Ay my school there is not much support for the pre-med, pre-dent, and pre-vet students. The pre-pharm students, on the other hand, are very tight. Like in microbio lab, I sat across from two pre-pharm girls who would whip out some upperclassman's lab notebook and copy the answers. The pre-pharm students can have access to past exams and notes, upperclassmen hook them up with internships, and they all hang out and help each other out.

I understand that pre-med students in the same year/class tend to compete with each other. But there isn't anything that links pre-med students vertically, among the fresh, soph, juniors, and seniors. So I want to start a big brother/sister mentor kinda thing. Seniors and juniors will be paired with freshman and sophomores. I'm still thinking as to what the "big siblings" should do. I don't want it to be purely academic (and I'm not looking to start a collection of past exams) because they can go to other resources. I want it to be more social and networking stuff - like what are the fun places to hang out, job/intern opportun, questions on app to med school, etc.

What I wanted to ask you guys is this: is there anything that you wanted to know or things you want an upperclassman to help you out in? Or any suggestions?

Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Daisy

 

[Medikit]

Just call it the pre-health club and start having meetings.

 

[just_in_time]

I'd like a million dollars

 

[principessa]

Ay my school there is not much support for the pre-med, pre-dent, and pre-vet students. The pre-pharm students, on the other hand, are very tight. Like in microbio lab, I sat across from two pre-pharm girls who would whip out some upperclassman's lab notebook and copy the answers. The pre-pharm students can have access to past exams and notes, upperclassmen hook them up with internships, and they all hang out and help each other out.

I understand that pre-med students in the same year/class tend to compete with each other. But there isn't anything that links pre-med students vertically, among the fresh, soph, juniors, and seniors. So I want to start a big brother/sister mentor kinda thing. Seniors and juniors will be paired with freshman and sophomores. I'm still thinking as to what the "big siblings" should do. I don't want it to be purely academic (and I'm not looking to start a collection of past exams) because they can go to other resources. I want it to be more social and networking stuff - like what are the fun places to hang out, job/intern opportun, questions on app to med school, etc.

What I wanted to ask you guys is this: is there anything that you wanted to know or things you want an upperclassman to help you out in? Or any suggestions?

Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Daisy

This is a great idea! I had an informal deal with a student a year ahead of me. When he was applying, he would tell me about the schools after his interviews and give me study tips for the MCAT. Then when I applied, he helped me polish my essay and figure out which schools to apply to (none of this posting "what are my chances" on SDN!). We came from the same school and had the same stats, so his experience was really helpful for me in gauging my chances at each school. My first interview was actually at his med school, so he also helped get me off to a good start with interviews. We stayed in touch by AIM throughout the whole process, so he was one of the first people to know whenever anything happened. It was really wonderful to have him there because my school, like yours, doesn't have much of a formal support network for pre-meds. I've tried to help out other pre-meds in the same way - giving advice about O-Chem, the MCAT, etc. Outside of the pre-med track, I'm big on mentoring, but the best mentoring relationships I've had have been more informal. If you're trying to set up a mentoring system, I would recommend keeping it as unstructured as possible. Also, try to match people up as closely as possible in terms of interests and academic ability. Someone who's trying to get into a top 10 school may not be very helpful to someone who would be happy to get into their state school, and vice versa. People need advice that is appropriate for their situation.

Best of luck!

 

[DrThom]

That's weird cause at my school all of us pre-meds are tight. We all study for tests together and share tests with other pre-meds. We even have a test collection service through our pre-med society so you have access to old tests. We all studied for the MCAT together and carpooled to the test center on test day. I've made some of my best friends from this group. Should we be competitive?

 

[bewitched1081]

Ay my school there is not much support for the pre-med, pre-dent, and pre-vet students. The pre-pharm students, on the other hand, are very tight. Like in microbio lab, I sat across from two pre-pharm girls who would whip out some upperclassman's lab notebook and copy the answers. The pre-pharm students can have access to past exams and notes, upperclassmen hook them up with internships, and they all hang out and help each other out.

I understand that pre-med students in the same year/class tend to compete with each other. But there isn't anything that links pre-med students vertically, among the fresh, soph, juniors, and seniors. So I want to start a big brother/sister mentor kinda thing. Seniors and juniors will be paired with freshman and sophomores. I'm still thinking as to what the "big siblings" should do. I don't want it to be purely academic (and I'm not looking to start a collection of past exams) because they can go to other resources. I want it to be more social and networking stuff - like what are the fun places to hang out, job/intern opportun, questions on app to med school, etc.

What I wanted to ask you guys is this: is there anything that you wanted to know or things you want an upperclassman to help you out in? Or any suggestions?

Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Daisy

wait a second. so support means having access to lab notebooks and old exams that other students would not have access to? thereby, ruining the whole curve in your class. be careful where this goes. at my school, a large number of people took hold of this idea, but, on the other hand, a large number of people did not have the means to do this. those that had the old exams were usually the ones that received the a's and b's. it seemed like a good idea at first but then became something that was grossly unfair and has now become a lawsuit.

by the way, the lawsuit thing has not deterred some people from taking advantage of this situation. there are still many students in some of the hardest pre-med classes (ochem, biochem, physics) who are being screwed as a result of this terrible "idea."

 

[fun8stuff]

Just call it the pre-health club and start having meetings.

This is what we did at my school, bc pre-pharm dominated all.

 

[dayz]

bewitched - that's exactly what i don't want it to be. i dont want this to be for students to get ahead in classes and get good grades. i want this as support for other areas in life, like where ppl can get advice on things. not for getting the grades because there are already resources for that.

thanks for feedback - keep it coming.

 

[ms2209]

That's weird cause at my school all of us pre-meds are tight. We all study for tests together and share tests with other pre-meds. We even have a test collection service through our pre-med society so you have access to old tests. We all studied for the MCAT together and carpooled to the test center on test day. I've made some of my best friends from this group. Should we be competitive?

Wow! That's great...too bad things aren't like that at my school!