Having more fun in medical school than undergrad?

Started by neelyboy
Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
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neelyboy

neelyboy

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Has anybody else had this happen to them (at least when they started medical school)? Granted, I am an MS1 and I know 2nd/3rd year suck, but first year so far has definitely been a pleasant surprise. I go to a Florida school with a P/F grading system and still have plenty of time to go out 2-3 times per week/go out downtown or just hang out with friends.
 
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Yeah, I'm only two blocks in (done with anatomy and half done with biochem/histo), but I find myself having a LOT more time to do things in med school...like 6 hours a week on roller derby. It probably helps that I'm not working 20 hours a week like I used to. 🙂
 
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I don't think I've ever played so many video games in my life.

As long as you keep up on the material you have plenty of time. It's a lot, but I think most of the stories of stress and the usual medical school woes come from people who had high-strung personalities to begin with.
 
Also, how many of y'alls' classmates would you say go out to bars/drink? It's been pretty awesome to find a bunch of people (~50% of my class) willing to go party/drink multiple nights of the week.
 
While I wont start until next year, I really get this feeling that it's some sort of requirement that you have to act like you are always busy, and your life is study study study while you are in medical school.

So far, from what I've seen, when medical students are in front of a group of people (such as interviewees), they put on this show that they're always busting their asses. For example, I hear things like, "oh I never have time for that anymore," or "what do you mean what do I do outside of class? I STUDY!" Furthermore, when groups of medical students have casual conversations with interviewees, many times I've heard one student say to another, "how do you have time for that with all this work?!" (or something to that extent).

But I've learned that when I've talked to medical students one on one, or with a smaller group of interviewees the medical student may be trying to....'impress' might be the word? Then they seem to be a bit more 'real' and confess that they actually do go out, and they do have time to partake in things other than school.

I'm going to go ahead and throw something out that NickNaylor told me that really helped me understand what the contrast is between undergrad and medical school....

While the material is medical school is not small in volume or always easy to understand, your main job in medical school is to understand it. That's it. Go to class, go home, and study the amount you think you need to get the grade you want. Now there is research and some volunteering you do, but it's not astronomical.

Now think of undergrad...Many of us worked, took crazy amounts of units, many science classes at the same time, volunteered EVERY WEEK at some clinical or non-clinical location, was involved in at least one club(maybe even an officer), did research, maybe even played sports. On top of all that, we are busting our asses to do that absolute best we can do in our coursework to help ensure we get the grades to get into medical school. No one is ever coming into a class with the goal to simply 'pass,' we want to know this crap like the backs of our hands by the time we are through because we all know we'll see this material again when we take the MCAT.

Combine all those things we have done as undergrads, it's not unusual that we were doing any combination of these activities throughout the day from the moment we woke up, until late at night--and more than five days a week.

And that's why I cant ****ing wait for medical school.
 
maxx52188 said:
While I wont start until next year, I really get this feeling that it's some sort of requirement that you have to act like you are always busy, and your life is study study study while you are in medical school.

So far, from what I've seen, when medical students are in front of a group of people (such as interviewees), they put on this show that they're always busting their asses. For example, I hear things like, "oh I never have time for that anymore," or "what do you mean what do I do outside of class? I STUDY!" Furthermore, when groups of medical students have casual conversations with interviewees, many times I've heard one student say to another, "how do you have time for that with all this work?!" (or something to that extent).

But I've learned that when I've talked to medical students one on one, or with a smaller group of interviewees the medical student may be trying to....'impress' might be the word? Then they seem to be a bit more 'real' and confess that they actually do go out, and they do have time to partake in things other than school.

I'm going to go ahead and throw something out that NickNaylor told me that really helped me understand what the contrast is between undergrad and medical school....

While the material is medical school is not small in volume or always easy to understand, your main job in medical school is to understand it. That's it. Go to class, go home, and study the amount you think you need to get the grade you want. Now there is research and some volunteering you do, but it's not astronomical.

Now think of undergrad...Many of us worked, took crazy amounts of units, many science classes at the same time, volunteered EVERY WEEK at some clinical or non-clinical location, was involved in at least one club(maybe even an officer), did research, maybe even played sports. On top of all that, we are busting our asses to do that absolute best we can do in our coursework to help ensure we get the grades to get into medical school. No one is ever coming into a class with the goal to simply 'pass,' we want to know this crap like the backs of our hands by the time we are through because we all know we'll see this material again when we take the MCAT.

Combine all those things we have done as undergrads, it's not unusual that we were doing any combination of these activities throughout the day from the moment we woke up, until late at night--and more than five days a week.

And that's why I cant ****ing wait for medical school.
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I tell people the truth when they ask me. I don't go to class. I study probably around 4 hours a day (or an average of that much). I **** around, try out new recipes, and shoot the **** with friends doing the same thing with the rest of my time. I'm a slightly above average student, but in all honesty for the first 2 years it hardly matters.

They rarely seem to believe me (they've heard the stories too, I suppose).
 
maxx52188 said:
While I wont start until next year, I really get this feeling that it's some sort of requirement that you have to act like you are always busy, and your life is study study study while you are in medical school.

So far, from what I've seen, when medical students are in front of a group of people (such as interviewees), they put on this show that they're always busting their asses. For example, I hear things like, "oh I never have time for that anymore," or "what do you mean what do I do outside of class? I STUDY!" Furthermore, when groups of medical students have casual conversations with interviewees, many times I've heard one student say to another, "how do you have time for that with all this work?!" (or something to that extent).

But I've learned that when I've talked to medical students one on one, or with a smaller group of interviewees the medical student may be trying to....'impress' might be the word? Then they seem to be a bit more 'real' and confess that they actually do go out, and they do have time to partake in things other than school.

I'm going to go ahead and throw something out that NickNaylor told me that really helped me understand what the contrast is between undergrad and medical school....

While the material is medical school is not small in volume or always easy to understand, your main job in medical school is to understand it. That's it. Go to class, go home, and study the amount you think you need to get the grade you want. Now there is research and some volunteering you do, but it's not astronomical.

Now think of undergrad...Many of us worked, took crazy amounts of units, many science classes at the same time, volunteered EVERY WEEK at some clinical or non-clinical location, was involved in at least one club(maybe even an officer), did research, maybe even played sports. On top of all that, we are busting our asses to do that absolute best we can do in our coursework to help ensure we get the grades to get into medical school. No one is ever coming into a class with the goal to simply 'pass,' we want to know this crap like the backs of our hands by the time we are through because we all know we'll see this material again when we take the MCAT.

Combine all those things we have done as undergrads, it's not unusual that we were doing any combination of these activities throughout the day from the moment we woke up, until late at night--and more than five days a week.

And that's why I cant ****ing wait for medical school.
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I think the main difference with med school is that in most cases you basically get to use your time as you wish. You're told what you need to learn (syllabus) and when you need to learn it by (test date) and you're expected to do it. In that sense it's more straightforward and easier than undergrad. However, I think the ceiling stress level for med school is way higher than in undergrad. The time leading up to the first few tests, at least for me, sucked. I was and still am concerned about simply passing most exams. That feeling sucks.

There are also a bunch of people that are tryhards and have some kind of pathological desire to memorize everything given to them. Obviously their experience with med school will be different in terms of enjoyment/free time. I think that's really the determinant of if you will enjoy med school or not - your own goals and expectations of yourself. If you expect to be at the top of your class, you're probably not gunna have a good time. If you expect to work hard, learn as much as you can, and be happy with just passing, it won't be so bad.

(sent from my phone)
 
I have enough free time to be happy, and don't really hate anything I do in school (unlike undergrad). I prefer medical school to undergrad by far, and I'm in the middle of third year.

Sure, some weeks suck and I didn't have that in undergrad, but most weeks leave me plenty of time to go out and play Black Ops 2.
 
Maybe I went to the wrong school but...

undergrad = drunken, horny women everywhere. parties. school was easy.

med school = everyone is so busy studying there is rarely time to hang out just because of scheduling issues. only time you can party or do fun stuff socially is after exam blocks, and if it is a vacation break everyone flies out of town.
 
Textbookversion said:
Maybe I went to the wrong school but...

undergrad = drunken, horny women everywhere. parties. school was easy.

med school = everyone is so busy studying there is rarely time to hang out just because of scheduling issues. only time you can party or do fun stuff socially is after exam blocks, and if it is a vacation break everyone flies out of town.
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I think its largely school dependent. Some people "party" at my school, although I would hardly call it "party" by UGrad standards

My school has pretty bad professors for the most part, so im continually having to teach myself things using external resources in order to understand things. My school also insists on testing on how much we can memorize (useless statistics in charts, management algorithms) rather than understand.

Definitely partied way more in UGrad, although maybe thats why im at a "meh" at best school :laugh:
 
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I'm an MS2 and have been having way, way more fun than in UG. In UG, I was caught up in keeping my GPA as high as possible, and since courses were all independent from one another, it seemed I had an exam practically every week. Way more pressure, especially knowing that a few slip ups can make getting into med school very hard.

My school is "true" P/F, which immediately and dramatically lightened the sense of pressure. We also have exams in blocks about once every month. Of course the stress level gets pretty high for the four days or so before exams, but that leaves a solid three weeks to relax, work at my own pace, and not got worked up about things. It helps having friends who are all on the same schedule, and there's much more "community" than at my sprawling UG campus.

Second year hasn't been much different from first year so far. I'm sure that'll change as we approach Step I, but so far it remains far more fun than undergrad.

Glad to see some reasonable voices saying third year is still fun, and you still have decent free time (with the exception of a few rotations). All you ever read here is the third year life ending gloom-and-doom.
 
Textbookversion said:
Maybe I went to the wrong school but...

undergrad = drunken, horny women everywhere. parties. school was easy.

med school = everyone is so busy studying there is rarely time to hang out just because of scheduling issues. only time you can party or do fun stuff socially is after exam blocks, and if it is a vacation break everyone flies out of town.
Click to expand...

I agree that the partying isn't really on the same level as undergrad, but I think it's fair to expect that that would be the case. This is professional school, after all.
 
My experience is a quite the opposite from the majority of people here. I'd like to make sure pre-meds who are reading this don't get the wrong idea and believe medical school is party central. I suppose it can be reading these responses, but everyone's experience is going to be different.

I think it is undeniable that the pace of medical school surpasses any undergraduate course load. You have to cover much more material in a shorter span of time. Many of my classmates have opted to start research early (I am an MS1) and get involved in extracurriculars that they are driven towards (helping the refugee population here, tutoring kids etc.). Therefore, you are going to be busy, if not much busier than you were in undergrad.

However, when you do take those outings to the local pub, or whatever you like to do for fun, I feel that it can be a bit more memorable. That pint or two of yuengling goes down better when you've worked your ass off.

I am definitely not finding myself with the same amount free time as I had in undergrad, I have just developed a much deeper appreciation for the free time that I do have and often take full advantage of it.
 
Slowpoke said:
My experience is a quite the opposite from the majority of people here. I'd like to make sure pre-meds who are reading this don't get the wrong idea and believe medical school is party central. I suppose it can be reading these responses, but everyone's experience is going to be different.

I think it is undeniable that the pace of medical school surpasses any undergraduate course load. You have to cover much more material in a shorter span of time. Many of my classmates have opted to start research early (I am an MS1) and get involved in extracurriculars that they are driven towards (helping the refugee population here, tutoring kids etc.). Therefore, you are going to be busy, if not much busier than you were in undergrad.

However, when you do take those outings to the local pub, or whatever you like to do for fun, I feel that it can be a bit more memorable. That pint or two of yuengling goes down better when you've worked your ass off.

I am definitely not finding myself with the same amount free time as I had in undergrad, I have just developed a much deeper appreciation for the free time that I do have and often take full advantage of it.
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Interesting. What was your undergrad experience like? Mine was enjoyable but extremely busy - having a packed schedule with classes, meetings, etc. from 9am to 9pm (followed by studying - lolwut) was the norm for me. In contrast, it's nice getting up when I want, doing my studying for the day, and having the rest of the day to do what I want (including more studying if I'm up to it). I agree with you that medical school isn't by any means "party central," but I think many pre-meds will appreciate the freedom and ability to work how they want in med school, which is generally lacking at most undergrads.
 
NickNaylor said:
Interesting. What was your undergrad experience like? Mine was enjoyable but extremely busy - having a packed schedule with classes, meetings, etc. from 9am to 9pm (followed by studying - lolwut) was the norm for me. In contrast, it's nice getting up when I want, doing my studying for the day, and having the rest of the day to do what I want (including more studying if I'm up to it). I agree with you that medical school isn't by any means "party central," but I think many pre-meds will appreciate the freedom and ability to work how they want in med school, which is generally lacking at most undergrads.
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I am going to have to generalize because I did my undergrad at two different academic systems (community college and 4-year). At either institution, I opted for having classes 3 days out of the week (M, W, F) for about 3-4 hours/day. This would free up my Tuesdays and Thursdays to devote to research or volunteering. I never felt like I had to study every day to do well in my classes.

Contrast this to medical school. During our anatomy block, we had about 3-4 hours of lecture/day combined with up to 2 dissection days/week for up to 4 hours. I studied nearly every day just to pass (I can't imagine how much time I would have had to put in to Honor the course). Though I have gotten a bit better at locating the important concepts and glazing over the unnecessary details, I'm still struggling to find a balance between academic life and social life.
 
If you are good with time management and figuring out how to study properly, you will definitely have more time than others during medical school. Unfortunately, the learning curve for this is sometimes pretty steep and I spent a good chunk of my M1 year finally figuring it out and subsequently doing much better in M2.

However, more fun in med school than in undergrad? y'all crazy bruh
 
Slowpoke said:
I am going to have to generalize because I did my undergrad at two different academic systems (community college and 4-year). At either institution, I opted for having classes 3 days out of the week (M, W, F) for about 3-4 hours/day. This would free up my Tuesdays and Thursdays to devote to research or volunteering. I never felt like I had to study every day to do well in my classes.

Contrast this to medical school. During our anatomy block, we had about 3-4 hours of lecture/day combined with up to 2 dissection days/week for up to 4 hours. I studied nearly every day just to pass (I can't imagine how much time I would have had to put in to Honor the course). Though I have gotten a bit better at locating the important concepts and glazing over the unnecessary details, I'm still struggling to find a balance between academic life and social life.
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You will get better at it. I think about my studying when I first started and laugh because of how slow and inefficient I was.

(sent from my phone)
 
ArcGurren said:
If you are good with time management and figuring out how to study properly, you will definitely have more time than others during medical school. Unfortunately, the learning curve for this is sometimes pretty steep and I spent a good chunk of my M1 year finally figuring it out and subsequently doing much better in M2.

However, more fun in med school than in undergrad? y'all crazy bruh
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I think I might be in a somewhat unique situation in that I went to an unapologetically southern Baptist school that did not allow any students to consume alcohol, had visiting hours for the opposite sex in all university housing, and required worship for two days a week during freshman year. You can imagine that it doesn't take much to improve on that.

(sent from my phone)
 
NickNaylor said:
I think I might be in a somewhat unique situation in that I went to an unapologetically southern Baptist school that did not allow any students to consume alcohol, had visiting hours for the opposite sex in all university housing, and required worship for two days a week during freshman year. You can imagine that it doesn't take much to improve on that.

(sent from my phone)
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Point well taken. I had way more free time and fun in college, personally, but my experience was more typical of college than yours.
 
NickNaylor said:
There are also a bunch of people that are tryhards and have some kind of pathological desire to memorize everything given to them.
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so true

pointless statistics in charts? memorize it.
explicitly stated that we don't have to know it? memorize it anyway.

and the key point here is: don't let these types of people make you feel guilty or let it bother you. it's just their neurotic personality.
 
docnotsopc said:
I think its largely school dependent. Some people "party" at my school, although I would hardly call it "party" by UGrad standards

My school has pretty bad professors for the most part, so im continually having to teach myself things using external resources in order to understand things. My school also insists on testing on how much we can memorize (useless statistics in charts, management algorithms) rather than understand.

Definitely partied way more in UGrad, although maybe thats why im at a "meh" at best school :laugh:
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Anychance you can say what school that is, or atleast what state it's in?
 
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DrYoda said:
M1-M2 are pretty much a continuation of college. Not necessarily better than college, but not bad.
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No it isn't. You can cram last minute and ace exams without much problem in undergrad. In med school the amount of information you are forced to memorize is significantly more and you also have significantly less time to memorize it. Undergrad and med schools are two very different animals IMO.
 
Venom5 said:
What's the efficient way to study in med school?
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This is different for everyone but I will give you my opinion. So for me, efficiency (maximum productivity with minimum waste) is all about either giving med school 100% or 0% of my time/effort. When it's time to study then actually study. Sounds stupid but people waste soooo much time talking/facebook/youtube/SDN/random surfing when they are "studying". This also means that when I'm not studying, I'm also not thinking about my upcoming TBL/exam/OSCE etc. and I'm giving 100% of me to things other than school. You'd be amazed at how much you can actually learn in an hour of focused studying, and how much fun/personal satisfaction you can have when you aren't constantly worrying about med school. If you have a little bit of discipline (work on it now) then med school isn't that bad. Dare I say that it is even fun.

More specifically, my way of studying for med school revolves around constantly keeping up with the material and focusing on the big picture up until about a week before the exam. Then I condense all the material into a few studying sheets and focus on the specifics/minutia (i.e. names of enzymes of TCA cycle) while keeping in mind the big picture (energy production). The difference between this and undergrad for me is in UG I never kept up with the material (besides sleeping through lecture) and about 2 days before the exam I crammed.
 
maxx52188 said:
I'm going to go ahead and throw something out that NickNaylor told me that really helped me understand what the contrast is between undergrad and medical school....

While the material is medical school is not small in volume or always easy to understand, your main job in medical school is to understand it. That's it. Go to class, go home, and study the amount you think you need to get the grade you want. Now there is research and some volunteering you do, but it's not astronomical.

Now think of undergrad...Many of us worked, took crazy amounts of units, many science classes at the same time, volunteered EVERY WEEK at some clinical or non-clinical location, was involved in at least one club(maybe even an officer), did research, maybe even played sports. On top of all that, we are busting our asses to do that absolute best we can do in our coursework to help ensure we get the grades to get into medical school. No one is ever coming into a class with the goal to simply 'pass,' we want to know this crap like the backs of our hands by the time we are through because we all know we'll see this material again when we take the MCAT.
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Nick wasn't the first one to notice this 😉

It was true for me to an extent. Med school was simpler for the first two years, in many regards, because all of my classes were planned by the same people, so they grouped our exams together and planned our entire curriculum. Undergrad was totally random, so there were times when I had two projects and three exams in a 3-4 day period. Brutal. Sometimes I'd work overnight shifts and go to school the next day, and there was one time I worked a 24 hr shift on a Wednesday, went to school on Thursday, and did another 24 hr shift on Friday.

Med school was: go to class (maybe), study, repeat. No other distractions.

Slowpoke said:
My experience is a quite the opposite from the majority of people here. I'd like to make sure pre-meds who are reading this don't get the wrong idea and believe medical school is party central. I suppose it can be reading these responses, but everyone's experience is going to be different.

I think it is undeniable that the pace of medical school surpasses any undergraduate course load. You have to cover much more material in a shorter span of time. Many of my classmates have opted to start research early (I am an MS1) and get involved in extracurriculars that they are driven towards (helping the refugee population here, tutoring kids etc.). Therefore, you are going to be busy, if not much busier than you were in undergrad.

However, when you do take those outings to the local pub, or whatever you like to do for fun, I feel that it can be a bit more memorable. That pint or two of yuengling goes down better when you've worked your ass off.

I am definitely not finding myself with the same amount free time as I had in undergrad, I have just developed a much deeper appreciation for the free time that I do have and often take full advantage of it.
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This is also very true. College was a lot easier overall than med school, but it was more complicated at times.
 
docnotsopc said:
California. Not one of the UCs
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It's the same here in FL. I think quality of pre-clinical education is pretty hit-or-miss, even at large academic progams.

Good thing it won't matter much past board exams. Hooray paying for the degree.
 
Akali said:
No it isn't. You can cram last minute and ace exams without much problem in undergrad. In med school the amount of information you are forced to memorize is significantly more and you also have significantly less time to memorize it. Undergrad and med schools are two very different animals IMO.
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I learned this the hard way. I learned that you can't cram the night before for anatomy. :scared:
 
I've also found that the environment P/F creates is simply beautiful. I can't tell you how many fellow students have posted their notes, excel spreadsheets, helpful YouTube videos etc. that have greatly contributed to my learning. I have talked to some graduated MDs from my school who told me when they were in school here they did not have P/F, and the atmosphere was gloomy and uber-competitive.

Also, I feel much better getting mid-80s on my exam, being average or above average, and getting the MAIN IDEA down (ignoring most small minutiae) while still having a great time with my peers.

tl;dr P/F rules.
 
neelyboy said:
I've also found that the environment P/F creates is simply beautiful. I can't tell you how many fellow students have posted their notes, excel spreadsheets, helpful YouTube videos etc. that have greatly contributed to my learning. I have talked to some graduated MDs from my school who told me when they were in school here they did not have P/F, and the atmosphere was gloomy and uber-competitive.

Also, I feel much better getting mid-80s on my exam, being average or above average, and getting the MAIN IDEA down (ignoring most small minutiae) while still having a great time with my peers.

tl;dr P/F rules.
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Our class shares notes/videos/outlines etc. and we're on the ABCF grading. I think it largely depends on the personalities in the class and how well you get along.

As far as the OP. I think this is school dependent. My school loads us down with tons of information and we're usually pretty busy all the time. Early in a block I can go out (which I'm about to do), but the last two or three weeks are pretty brutal. I'm sort of appreciative of the insane work they made us put in at this point in M2 year as we just took a shelf exam and I felt pretty comfortable with most of the material covered.
 
med school hasnt been bad to me, well 2nd year does suck, but if you say med school is more fun than undergrad you missed out big time... in undergrad... big time!
 
munchymanRX said:
I tell people the truth when they ask me. I don't go to class. I study probably around 4 hours a day (or an average of that much). I **** around, try out new recipes, and shoot the **** with friends doing the same thing with the rest of my time. I'm a slightly above average student, but in all honesty for the first 2 years it hardly matters.

They rarely seem to believe me (they've heard the stories too, I suppose).
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QFT

While not the norm, I know a few people in my class who studied very little during M1/M2 (<2hrs a day) and were still able to ace exams after cramming during test weeks. Its definitely possible. (That's what happens when you have people in your class who had a 3.9+ in UG from places like Berkeley and Vandy)

Of course it also depends on whether you want the highest grade possible or are just content with passing with a >90%, >80% etc...

Bottom line, no two med students are the same and the time/effort required to do well on exams is HIGHLY variable between students.

Honestly, preclinical med school is comparable to taking ~20 credits of all hard science courses in one semester (a little less or more at different schools depending on the curriculum). The caveat is that you have no "required" research, volunteering, shadowing commitments like you did in undergrad and most med students don't have a part-time job. There is also a lot more overlap and integration in med school courses than UG which makes studying a little easier. In addition, you don't have to worry about getting As in all your classes like in UG (esp w P/F).

Because of this, the question of whether of not med school is more or less "fun" than UG really depends on each person's experience. For instance, if you took 18+ credits/semester of mostly hard science in UG while working 40hrs a week part-time and doing heavy research/volunteering etc... then med school will more than likely be easier and definitely alot more fun than UG. On the flip side, if you took 14 credits w/ only 1 or 2 science courses and did just a few hrs of research/volunteering per month then med school will be a huge adjustment and it will likely be alot less fun than UG.

So far, I've had a great time in med school. Lol I definitely had wayyy more free time during M1 than I thought I would based upon taking to med students as a premed.
 
A lot of people in this thread are trying to convince everyone else they are having the time of their lives.

Either that, or they spent far too much of their glorious college free time souping up their future AMCAS application.
 
NickNaylor said:
Yes, these are the only two possibilities.
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I know what kind of school you went to and I can empathize -- I went to a similar school.

I guess M1 and 2 were pretty easy, all things considered. I did have a lot of free time. But people here are trying to pass off the notion that partying as many weeknights as possible somehow qualifies you as some YOLO savior of the premed human race. More power to ya. I guess the only thing it confirms is that I'm a boring, lazy douche (which I'm okay with).
 
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alpinism said:
QFT

While not the norm, I know a few people in my class who studied very little during M1/M2 (<2hrs a day) and were still able to ace exams after cramming during test weeks. Its definitely possible. (That's what happens when you have people in your class who had a 3.9+ in UG from places like Berkeley and Vandy)

Of course it also depends on whether you want the highest grade possible or are just content with passing with a >90%, >80% etc...

Bottom line, no two med students are the same and the time/effort required to do well on exams is HIGHLY variable between students.

Honestly, preclinical med school is comparable to taking ~20 credits of all hard science courses in one semester (a little less or more at different schools depending on the curriculum). The caveat is that you have no "required" research, volunteering, shadowing commitments like you did in undergrad and most med students don't have a part-time job. There is also a lot more overlap and integration in med school courses than UG which makes studying a little easier. In addition, you don't have to worry about getting As in all your classes like in UG (esp w P/F).

Because of this, the question of whether of not med school is more or less "fun" than UG really depends on each person's experience. For instance, if you took 18+ credits/semester of mostly hard science in UG while working 40hrs a week part-time and doing heavy research/volunteering etc... then med school will more than likely be easier and definitely alot more fun than UG. On the flip side, if you took 14 credits w/ only 1 or 2 science courses and did just a few hrs of research/volunteering per month then med school will be a huge adjustment and it will likely be alot less fun than UG.

So far, I've had a great time in med school. Lol I definitely had wayyy more free time during M1 than I thought I would based upon taking to med students as a premed.
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I went to one of those said schools for UG and I can attest that I worked my butt off, and I probably have a skewed image of college because of my experience. I am sure I could have had more fun at another school. BUT, what's done is done. I'm looking forward to free time as an M1, and P/NP grading 😀
 
You must have had a bad undergrad experience if you are having more fun in med school.
 
MilkmanAl said:
That was my first thought. I didn't have an awful time in med school (except for M1...), but it was nothing like college.
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I think I'm personally having more fun because I'm now in a place where all of my peers have the same schedule as I and we all have such common interests. In undergrad (I went to a college with >50K students) I had a core group of friends (~5 or 6 people I would hang out with at least once or twice a week). However, we were on different schedules because of our different majors so when I would be done with an exam and want to go out they would be busy with a project or something much of the time.
 
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