Do most pre-meds work?

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Exalya

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I'm just curious here. I don't know a lot of pre-meds personally, but a lot of the ones I have met come from privileged backgrounds and don't work, or don't work that much. So, do you work, and if so, what do you do?

I was a lab tech for years, but it just didn't pay enough... pizza delivery is $10-20/hr, so that's what I do now. Oh the experience.

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I would imagine MOST don't, but a large number probably do/have.

I had a couple of jobs my first 2 years of college (EMT/tech related), then quit to get serious about school. Then I worked as a TA in grad school and now am a computer systems analyst.
 
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I teach MCAT classes for a test prep company...just like many here. It's a great undergrad job. I do come from a privileged background, but I did spend a month working as a dish washer / delivery driver for a pizzeria before "shipping out" to college.
 
I teach MCAT classes for a test prep company...just like many here. It's a great undergrad job. I do come from a privileged background, but I did spend a month working as a dish washer / delivery driver for a pizzeria before "shipping out" to college.

Wow a whole month!?!?!?!

JK :D
 
I teach MCAT classes for a test prep company...just like many here. It's a great undergrad job. I do come from a privileged background, but I did spend a month working as a dish washer / delivery driver for a pizzeria before "shipping out" to college.

hahahaha!

I would do alot for that
 
I would imagine MOST don't, but a large number probably do/have.

That's probably very accurate.

I personally know/knew about 15 serious premeds (those that are actually applying, have applied, or got in) and NONE of them had jobs at school (not even work-study) or over the summers. I went to a private college, and I would say about 10 of them did not receive ANY financial aid either.

Me, on the other hand: worked during school for 3 years, worked each summer, and am currently paying off loans.

Don't worry too much about this, though. They may have a financial advantage, but you never know the whole story about their lives: broken families, illnesses, drug problems...ANYTHING!

Best to worry about yourself and take control of what you can.
 
Most of the pre-meds I knew in college worked as TAs, but that was about it.

Personally, I worked full time for most of my college career (long nights and long weekends), but it was well worth it.
 
I worked around 20 hours a week all the way through school...

I will say my junior year and senior to date I cut back to around 15 but during freshman year was doing more like 25-30...

I nanny so there is good flexibility with my job if I really have to study (the mother is a stay-at-home mom). Also both parents are in the medical field- he is a surgeon and she is a anesthetist (non-working) so they understand this crazy road and have helped alot. Also some time if kids go to bed that you can use to study.

I will not be working next year in medical school!!! I have have worked since I was 15 so that will be a welcome change :)
 
I'm just curious here. I don't know a lot of pre-meds personally, but a lot of the ones I have met come from privileged backgrounds and don't work, or don't work that much. So, do you work, and if so, what do you do?

I was a lab tech for years, but it just didn't pay enough... pizza delivery is $10-20/hr, so that's what I do now. Oh the experience.

Yeah.. I'm a pharmacy technician. I cut down on the hours this past semester, because I had 4 labs. I'll probably work around 10 hours a week this coming semester because I have to finance the application process this summer... boy oh boy.
 
i have worked since my second semester in college, but i am on work study so i had to. plus, while my parents gave me money for food, i had to buy other things by myself like clothing and other stuff so i worked.
 
Work full time, school full time. Someone got to deliver mail:D.
 
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Im not quite Premed (yet..maybe..lol). Im majoring in Information Technology but I attend some premed classes...anywho..

So many people declare themselves as premed at my university freshman year so alot of my friends are (im a freshman).

One in particular:
Janitorial work at the dorm: Cleaned lobby and a designated bathroom a couple of times a week...
She worked as a Grader for a teacher and helped out at the professors office. She knew the professor before hand and after she was done with work and in between "assignments" she would study.
She also got paid for getting tutored. YES. its true. Its a scholarship program of sorts. 2 hours a day- monday and tuesday - for $10 an hour. Shed get tutored for General Biology and General Chemistry so it helped
 
I've worked at least 30 hours a week since I was a senior in high school.

1. served ice cream
2. served coffee
3. library assistant
4. math tutor
5. telemarketer
6. law clerk
7. served sandwiches
8. movie gallery


Most of these in some combination with the others.
 
Served as a Marine and did school on some evenings. This was very challenging and probably not the best thing for my grades :)
 
I worked 25-30 hours a week the last 3 years of college, and full-time afterward while I applied. Most pre-meds I know worked at least a little..
 
Work study all the way!
I work as a lab assistant and I'm increasing my hours next term by a third.
3 whole hr per week to 4.
I'm really taking advantage of that government cheese.
 
I think working is a pretty important life experience, especially a job that deals with the general public. Working with "the world" is definitely something that contributes to internal growth I think.

In college I've worked as something that's a cross between a tutor and TA for 10 hours a week. I work nearly full time over the winter breaks and participate in paid research programs/fellowships over the summer. Gotta jump on the grind to graduate with no debt.
 
I have done pizza delivery, restaurant server, tutor, and TA. The jobs have ranged anywhere from 4-30 hours/week each, and I have worked between 1-2 jobs at any time. I don't really have much time to work right now, so I've been racking up student loan debt.
 
I have a job but I don't work as much as I need too (they wouldn't give me anymore hours since I was on trial) as a biology tutor for athletes. Other than that, I've worked since I was a junior in high school. I've work in fastfood, grocery, and in a philharmonic center where I actually had to cater celebrities (all I got to see though was Queen Latifa and Wynonna Judd). I've ranged in like 2 hours a week (from trial) to about 35 hours a week.
 
I think working is a pretty important life experience, especially a job that deals with the general public. Working with "the world" is definitely something that contributes to internal growth I think.

In college I've worked as something that's a cross between a tutor and TA for 10 hours a week. I work nearly full time over the winter breaks and participate in paid research programs/fellowships over the summer. Gotta jump on the grind to graduate with no debt.

When you talked about life experience and internal growth I thought you were going to say you had worked jobs in construction, you were a cab driver, or something to that effect. Tutoring is just an extension of school, you're still sitting on your ass at a table with textbooks open.

I'm sure most pre-meds have had minor jobs at some point, but I doubt most have really WORKED. The Asian way is for the parents to do well enough so that the kids don't have to work and can focus on school. We do volunteer though, and that's where the personal growth can come from.
 
I come from a kindof fortunate family, but they don't want to help me and always tell me to get a job (sometimes even when I have one) :shrug:

I mean, I like working and paying off my school and everything myself, but sometimes a little help would be nice.
 
I went to a selective college and most students came from middle and upper middle class backgrounds. It was a big premed college and the majority of students did not "work" for financial reasons. Most who worked did so for resume building reasons. Many did research (we were a big research school and a significant number of students were science majors). TA was popular, and many did special summer programs/internships in connection to their areas of study.

But most premeds I knew did not work crazy hours (20+). Many probably did 10-15hr/week at most since most were carrying a full science load and needed to do well in order to get into med school.

But I think there's a selection bias. I went to a wealthy school and it was a very successful at placing students in medical school. I'm sure at state schools, and at schools that are less academically focused, there are more premeds that worked.

In my med school class, most students I know who were full time undergraduates did not work a lot of hours, and many did TA/research that looked good on resumes.
 
I tutor chemistry at my school. I also do research, but last semester I did that as volunteer work and this coming semester I'll be doing it for academic credit. I'll be getting some sort of job to do in addition to tutoring next semester because I need to bring in more money to pay the rent, etc.
 
i feel inferior too. i did lab work during summers and during the school year but definitely not fulltime. good for those who can do both school and work as a premed, i commend you!!!
 
I've worked 24-30 hours a week in the ER the past year and a half, and before that I delivered pizza, and before that I worked as an HVAC technician, and before that I was a valet attendant, and before that a carwash salesman, and before that I worked in home construction, and before that McDonalds. :D
 
I worked around 30hrs a week during my undergrad.

Fulltime during my Masters.

Now, I am in PharmD prorgram, and I still work 20hrs or so a week with two jobs. I work fulltime between semesters and in Dec.


I like to earn a paycheck. It makes me feel like I accomplished something.

I plan on working during med school too to pay my way on living expenses as a pharmacist.

I would be ashamed to say I did not work at least 10hrs a week.
 
I worked about 20 hours a week during my first year and a half of undergrad, then quit right around when Organic Chem. reared its ugly head.

Then I worked some 6 hours a week at some science center, that was for just 1 semester.

I've since got a job at a pathology lab where I worked some 12 hours a week, did that for a year and a half.

So yes, I guess I've worked across my pre-med career, but not full time, or even PART TIME for a lot of it!
 
Worked 40 hours a week the whole way and was a full time student all the way. Definitely not fun.
 
Was a bartender during undergrad for almost the entire time. Full-time.

Cut back to part-time on the bartending, but added personal training, during my post-bac.
 
Sure do, I work 32 hours a week and go to school full time. Someone has to pay my bills :rolleyes:
 
I wait tables about 20 hours a week.. mostly on the weekends though.. i probably could work more with no stress on grades, but i like to have a social life as well, and i do pretty well on financial aid.
 
i only worked in the summers... camp counselor, intern at a law firm, at a hospital. but now that i'm out of school and just applying i work full-time.
 
Well since everyone else that's posted so far has all worked, I feel obligated to confess...

I DON'T WORK!!
 
I worked part-time while I was an undergrad (~15-20 hours/week) because I had to do research internships and volunteer work when I wasn't in class, but once I decided to do pre-med (after I had graduated) I worked full-time while completing my post-bacc. Like most people here have said, someone has to pay the bills.
 
When people ask me if I work I never know what to say. I teach classes for Kaplan sometimes, but it's irregular and even if when I'm teaching a class it's only maybe 6 hours of work per week. So if I'm afraid the person asking will judge me for not bringing home a paycheck, I say I work a little, otherwise I say I'm just focusing on school, which is more accurate.

I honestly can't fathom being able to hold down a full-time job while being a full-time student. It boggles my mind that so many people do this.
 
I'm just curious here. I don't know a lot of pre-meds personally, but a lot of the ones I have met come from privileged backgrounds and don't work, or don't work that much. So, do you work, and if so, what do you do?

I was a lab tech for years, but it just didn't pay enough... pizza delivery is $10-20/hr, so that's what I do now. Oh the experience.


I work. About 15-20 hours a week as a tutor and a student athletic trainer for my school.
 
I worked part time freshmen year, full-time sophomore and junior year, and senior year i worked part time. Of course, by working i mean teaching at the school and other places, and working at a hospital. Don't really know if that counts (because it does double as an EC) but it sure did eat up my time. I spent twice as much time at work every day as I did in class, and with 18 hour averages... it got to be a bear.

On the other hand, I graduated early and got in medical school first try. Sometimes it does pay to work hard...
 
Just tutor athletes for a fun 20 dollars an hour. I think once I even got 40 an hour to tutor 4 members of a team at once. Plus its a fun review for MCAT and some girls I tutored were pretty cute:D
 
I worked 20-30 hours/week for my first 3 years of college (full time student) and for the last two I've been working full time.
 
Probably depends where you go to college and what year you are. I went to a big state school, and most of my classmates had jobs. By my junior year, probably 2/3 worked during the school year, and just about everybody worked at some point. I worked full-time during the summers and winter breaks (landscaping or doing EMT work), and I worked as an EMT during the school year (10-30 hours a week) as a junior and senior.

If you're a freshman or sophomore, I wouldn't sweat it if you don't have a job during the school year - it's a lot to handle. If you can manage work and school simultaneously though, it definitely shows maturity.
 
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