How am I doing so far?

[Rooks]

Hi, I'm a first semester freshman trying to set myself up for success. Here's what I've been doing so far:

• Clinical volunteering: Hospice companion (extremely meaningful); 100 hours a year
• Non-clinical volunteering: Crisis hotline (just started); 200 hours a year
• Unusual humanities major that I absolutely LOVE
• GPA will be a 4.0 this semester--taking a few prereqs and major classes

I'm planning on continuing my volunteering activities for the rest of my undergrad. My only concern right now is research. My summer is already booked for non-medical application related activities, so I can't do research yet. I'm thinking of doing it during the summer next year.

I'm planning on starting shadowing early as well; perhaps I will send a shadowing request to my family doc tomorrow.... I just don't want to overburden myself and crash and burn. So far I have plenty of free time. I'm only concerned that my upcoming semesters will consume more time, so therefore I want to get a head start on my activities ASAP.

Do you have any feedback for me?

Also, how is shadowing usually done? Is it done for a couple hours a week or knocked out all in one or two full days?

Thanks.

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[OrthoTraumaMD]

You are fine, shadow as much as possible if you have the time.
Also it’s “freshman.” Just FYI.

 

[907914]

You are fine, shadow as much as possible if you have the time.
Also it’s “freshman.” Just FYI.

You cannot stop The Horde!

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

You cannot stop The Horde!

Better corrected here than in an application somewhere.

 

[Jungkookie]

Pretty good!

 

[On_The_Way_Up]

You are incredible. Give yourself a pat on the back.

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

I don't want to discourage you. However....

You're a first-semester freshman taking presumably 100 and 200 level courses in a humanities major that you absolutely LOVE. Let's break that down:

You likely have no actual understanding of your major. The level of classes you're taking is just the appetizer for the ACTUAL major which you haven't gotten to yet. It's smart to choose a major you "LOVE", but expect that to change. Also, expect plenty of aspects of your major that you do not love. Trudging through the junk that you HATE is when the real test begins.

You should be able to sleep through your low-level classes and still pull A's. That will not be the case when you take your hard science prereqs, so develop good study habits now. Don't aim for A's - aim for 100% in the class. That will put you in the right mindset so you're not crushed by Organic Chem when you get there.

Volunteering is great, but don't count those hours before they've hatched. Your classes will get harder and require more time than they do now. Be prepared to adjust as necessary. Getting started on them now though is smart - do it while you have the time.

Final note: Don't be that pretty girl who talks about how ugly she is all the time so she can hear people tell her how pretty she is.

 

[907914]

I don't want to discourage you. However....

You're a first-semester freshman taking presumably 100 and 200 level courses in a humanities major that you absolutely LOVE. Let's break that down:

You likely have no actual understanding of your major. The level of classes you're taking is just the appetizer for the ACTUAL major which you haven't gotten to yet. It's smart to choose a major you "LOVE", but expect that to change. Also, expect plenty of aspects of your major that you do not love. Trudging through the junk that you HATE is when the real test begins.

You should be able to sleep through your low-level classes and still pull A's. That will not be the case when you take your hard science prereqs, so develop good study habits now. Don't aim for A's - aim for 100% in the class. That will put you in the right mindset so you're not crushed by Organic Chem when you get there.

Volunteering is great, but don't count those hours before they've hatched. Your classes will get harder and require more time than they do now. Be prepared to adjust as necessary. Getting started on them now though is smart - do it while you have the time.

Final note: Don't be that pretty girl who talks about how ugly she is all the time so she can hear people tell her how pretty she is.

Just to counter this bolder point, everyone works differently. My philosophy has been if a 93 and 100 both equal a 4.0 on the transcript, then I put in the minimal effort to get the 93 because anything beyond that is just brownie points. If you are like me, regardless of if the class is Gen Chem or Ochem, it takes about 8 hours of studying a week to yield >98% but only 3 hours to yield >93%. It is diminishing returns. Why put in more effort for the same outcome?

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

Just to counter this bolder point, everyone works differently. My philosophy has been if a 93 and 100 both equal a 4.0 on the transcript, then I put in the minimal effort to get the 93 because anything beyond that is just brownie points. If you are like me, regardless of if the class is Gen Chem or Ochem, it takes about 8 hours of studying a week to yield >98% but only 3 hours to yield >93%. It is diminishing returns. Why put in more effort for the same outcome?

What I'm saying is: Aiming for 100% in 100-200 level classes will help you get the study habits needed to do well in higher-level classes.

In 400-level Biochem for example, my class grade consisted of 3, 40-question multiple choice exams, which means that 120 total points were available. Assuming 93% is required for an A, you can afford to get 8 questions wrong the entire semester and still get an A. That's not a large margin for error.

Beyond that, I agree; an A is an A.

 

[907914]

What I'm saying is: Aiming for 100% in 100-200 level classes will help you get the study habits needed to do well in higher-level classes.

In 400-level Biochem for example, my class grade consisted of 3, 40-question multiple choice exams, which means that 120 total points were available. Assuming 93% is required for an A, you can afford to get 8 questions wrong the entire semester and still get an A. That's not a large margin for error.

Beyond that, I agree; an A is an A.

Gotcha. Then to OP, what xe said.

 

[piii]

These posts are pretty much a humblebrag. Its the type of thing we see in medicine far too much, yet most of us try to avoid these people. You clearly know that you need good grades, shadowing, volunteering, research... So keep doing that and fight the need to overshare with everyone. Don't forget to have a life, enjoy hobbies, have fun, be a normal sociable person. Equally as important as grades, research, etc IMO.

 

[Rooks]

These posts are pretty much a humblebrag. Its the type of thing we see in medicine far too much, yet most of us try to avoid these people. You clearly know that you need good grades, shadowing, volunteering, research... So keep doing that and fight the need to overshare with everyone. Don't forget to have a life, enjoy hobbies, have fun, be a normal sociable person. Equally as important as grades, research, etc IMO.

I'm afraid you are mistaken. I'm was not sure how these activities looked, so I wanted to hear everyone's opinions. And I agree completely. It's good to maintain that balance.

I don't want to discourage you. However....

You're a first-semester freshman taking presumably 100 and 200 level courses in a humanities major that you absolutely LOVE. Let's break that down:

You likely have no actual understanding of your major. The level of classes you're taking is just the appetizer for the ACTUAL major which you haven't gotten to yet. It's smart to choose a major you "LOVE", but expect that to change. Also, expect plenty of aspects of your major that you do not love. Trudging through the junk that you HATE is when the real test begins.

You should be able to sleep through your low-level classes and still pull A's. That will not be the case when you take your hard science prereqs, so develop good study habits now. Don't aim for A's - aim for 100% in the class. That will put you in the right mindset so you're not crushed by Organic Chem when you get there.

Volunteering is great, but don't count those hours before they've hatched. Your classes will get harder and require more time than they do now. Be prepared to adjust as necessary. Getting started on them now though is smart - do it while you have the time.

Final note: Don't be that pretty girl who talks about how ugly she is all the time so she can hear people tell her how pretty she is.

I'm taking rigorous classes such as calculus. And I definitely don't enjoy one of my classes, but I'm still shooting for a hundred percent.That has always been my philosophy--prepare for the absolute worst, so I can have have room for mistakes because my grade is high.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

 

[Peter Pan.]

Need to do better. Get more volunteer hours and where is the research and leadership positions? Any tutoring or work experience? When are you taking the MCAT? On Black Friday they got some good deals for sunscreen.