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LoveBeingHuman:)
Just askin
What do you think?Just askin
Going out on a limb here and saying: that isn't trueIt was hard because it was 9999999999999% memorization
The only frustrating part is dealing with people. Other than that, I don't mind not hanging out with people. If I'm getting work done, I'm happy with my life.It's everything. Having to have great numbers/ EC's and still stay sane, while getting sooo mad you missed an A- by 1 percent, or crying b/c you could have studied harder for that test you got a 77 on but you were out with friends, and just trying to stay a decent person who doesn't drive their friends crazy.
So yes. It's both.
But hanging out instead of getting work done?The only frustrating part is dealing with people. Other than that, I don't mind not hanging out with people. If I'm getting work done, I'm happy with my life.
So basically exactly what @Turkishking was saying....The hardest part was dealing with other premeds who immediately go into gunner mode and try to prove their innate superiority for no reason.
Gunner: "Yeah both my parents are doctors and know Dr. blah blah who's on the board at the university of X. I'm not too worried about my grades here since I've went on a mission trip to Africa and built a hospital or three there and have so much research experience. It's all so easy and I barely have to study."
Me: "I just asked for change for the vending for the vending machine..."
I've got some tales to shareSo basically exactly what @Turkishking was saying....
What kinda pre meds do you guys know? I only know one person like this and she's aspiring to be a PhD, not an MD.
Share your tales.I've got some tales to share
1. Met a kid who stole my notes the day before the bio exam. Claimed he never studied.Share your tales.
So basically exactly what @Turkishking was saying....
What kinda pre meds do you guys know? I only know one person like this and she's aspiring to be a PhD, not an MD.
That thought actually terrifies me ( like, what if it happened to us).Ironically people who bombed the MCAT (below 15th percentile) who then "chose" to do something else.
Most of those people are cocky and take it cold despite an academic record that shows that they shouldn't take it at all. Magic thinking.That thought actually terrifies me ( like, what if it happened to us).
I spent the week before an Orgo exam completing tolerance adjustments to the 3D computer model of the prototype for a device I was patenting. I finally finished the adjustments around 2 the morning before the exam and I loaded one of the parts into my 3D printer for fabrication. I didn't think I was going to get any sleep with that thing running next to my bed, so I made coffee and studied. There were some odd mechanisms I thought might be on the exam, so I crammed those.Share your tales.
She was saying that specifically to get a rise/reaction out of you and be satisfied with it- people will do that, pre med or not?I spent the week before an Orgo exam completing tolerance adjustments to the 3D computer model of the prototype for a device I was patenting. I finally finished the adjustments around 2 the morning before the exam and I loaded one of the parts into my 3D printer for fabrication. I didn't think I was going to get any sleep with that thing running next to my bed, so I made coffee and studied. There were some odd mechanisms I thought might be on the exam, so I crammed those.
I get to the exam room and a girl sitting next to me was reviewing her flashcards. I saw some of the mechanisms I had studied and mentioned how I thought they were tricky. The girl said "yea, these can be tough if you're lazy, but if you study it's pretty easy".
Oh, don't get me wrong, I was aware that she was just insecure and trying to get a rise out of me. It's fairly common behavior among premeds at my school, though I hear it's worse elsewhere. It's the zero-sum premed game they're trapped in which encourages them to act that way. As far as I'm concerned, friends beat rivals and are a damn sight better than enemies. While I'm happy to get in anywhere though, they're dead-set on Ivy or bust. I hope they find happiness in it down the line.She was saying that specifically to get a rise/reaction out of you and be satisfied with it- people will do that, pre med or not?
I mean, that was wrong, but it didn't scream " pre meds do this and nobody else" she could have easily been just a typical bio/chem/chem eng. major.
People did stuff like that in my hyper-competitive HS, and they definitely weren't pre med XD
That doesn't seem "competitive" to me, and she could have failed that exam but you wouldn't know, would you? You would just remember this comment about how " easy" orgo is for her. I've met people like this, they never are doing as well as they want to make it seem.
Boy, that was long.
It amazes me how clueless some pre-meds are about the med school admissions process. I mean, I'll admit that I don't know much about it (@Goro will be the first to agree with me on that 😉)
But some pre-meds are living in another universe. I know one girl who has only 6 months clinical, zero non-clinical, no shadowing, literally QUIT school to study for the MCAT and got a 510, and is still applying next month because she thinks her 4.0 will salvage all that
As long as she gets a LOR, she can lie about everything else and probably be fine.It amazes me how clueless some pre-meds are about the med school admissions process. I mean, I'll admit that I don't know much about it (@Goro will be the first to agree with me on that 😉)
But some pre-meds are living in another universe. I know one girl who has only 6 months clinical, zero non-clinical, no shadowing, literally QUIT school to study for the MCAT and got a 510, and is still applying next month because she thinks her 4.0 will salvage all that
Agreed. I think the frustration is that it is challenging in its own own right but it's also a very random process getting into school. Very competitive people don't get in anywhere and random slobs like me do. The vast majority of premed undergrad degrees are worthless for anything besides applying to med school so it's an all-or-nothing type scenario that weighs on you after a while. At least that was the source of my stress.This may sound a bit harsh. But here goes: I don't really understand the pre-med cross. Sure, you need to take a handful of entry level science courses and do well in them. But getting into medical school is easier than, say, becoming a funded, tenured physicist or funded, tenured literary scholar and they don't seem to walk around campus with crowns of thorns. Life is hard and frustrating, I personally don't think being pre-med makes someone special in that regard whatsoever.
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Agreed. I think the frustration is that it is challenging in its own own right but it's also a very random process getting into school. Very competitive people don't get in anywhere and random slobs like me do. The vast majority of premed undergrad degrees are worthless for anything besides applying to med school so it's an all-or-nothing type scenario that weighs on you after a while. At least that was the source of my stress.
This may sound a bit harsh. But here goes: I don't really understand the pre-med cross. Sure, you need to take a handful of entry level science courses and do well in them. But getting into medical school is easier than, say, becoming a funded, tenured physicist or funded, tenured literary scholar and they don't seem to walk around campus with crowns of thorns. Life is hard and frustrating, I personally don't think being pre-med makes someone special in that regard whatsoever.
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I'm not a huge fan of a "pre-med" major, indeed I think these should be abolished by the universities that have them. Take the required coursework and major in something interesting to you.
Agreed. But most of the premeds are majoring in biology/chemistry/or psych and have no intention of pursuing any graduate level degree in those fields. It's easy to say major in something you're interested in and take the required coursework. But if all of the required coursework is outside the scope of your major, that ends up being a lot of extra debt. Maybe that's okay for you. It's not for me.I'm not a huge fan of a "pre-med" major, indeed I think these should be abolished by the universities that have them. Take the required coursework and major in something interesting to you.
Agreed. But most of the premeds are majoring in biology/chemistry/or psych and have no intention of pursuing any graduate level degree in those fields. It's easy to say major in something you're interested in and take the required coursework. But if all of the required coursework is outside the scope of your major, that ends up being a lot of extra debt. Maybe that's okay for you. It's not for me.
Let's say you take 4 courses a term, and are gunning for matriculation immediately after senior year.
Requirements: 2 semesters physics, 2 semesters chemistry ,1 semester orgo, 1 semester biochemistry, 2 semesters biology, 1 semester writing, and 1 semester mathematics.
That's 10 courses of the 24 you have before sitting the MCAT senior year. Then you have an entire year to focus on your major. How many majors require more than 20 courses (60 - 80 credits)? Perhaps this requires some extra planning, but certainly not extra debt, even adding the 2 additional biology courses required at Texas schools. This also assumes that one never overloads.
EDIT: A quick perusal of some registrars illustrates this point. I'm linking Penn, because their system is intuitive in that a course is roughly a credit. Policies Governing Credits | University of Pennsylvania - College of Arts and Sciences
Notice that the majors approaching the 20 course limit are in the hard sciences and the pre-med curriculum is likely to overlap a great deal with these (e.g. biophysics).
I can only speak from personal experience, but if I'd gotten my BS in what I wanted, I would have had 7 more classes to take. By majoring in psychology and minoring chemistry I just had 2 extra.