Medical School Worthiness

[familyguy21]

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I have been accepted to a program early without having to take the MCAT and had poor SAT scores. Regardless I had good grades in undergrad and was accepted early. I am taking classes at my future medical school which is a prestigous institution but I just feel awkward because I feel I have to work more than most of the other students that have been accepted straight from highschool with probably @ least 1500+ SAT scores.

Anyways, I feel like I am a hard worker and that is why I am where I am and not as 'smart' as others. For example, it takes me sometimes a good hour to get through 10 pages of bio material! Reading for memorization of course and not skimming. I also go back and take notes on my materials and in the end spend 6 hours/chapter. I hate that it takes me so much time to understand and memorize materials. I sometimes overstudy, but I like getting high grades and making sure I have an A.

My question is...am I going to have a huge problem in medical school? I have taken 3-4 classes at this ivy league school and have received an A but feel like I have been trying really hard at the undergrad level, while perhaps some kids at this level seem to just cruise by not reading the book or just looking at the powerpoints and getting by just fine. Am I going to be at the lower tier of my medical school class and not the top 5% because of the way I am now? I just feel like others are smarter than me naturally especially because I do not get too much from lecture. Some people just go to lecture and get so much out of it...I dont, i get a little if I preread. It's not about grades...i have a high GPA its about amount of time that ggoes into it.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Not sure, but i definitely wouldnt go in expecting to Honors everything. Ive herad if your good enough to be accepted, your good enough to graduate. So no worries😀

 

[Meatwad]

Don't sell yourself short; if you got into a BA/MD program, you are plenty smart. As far as I know, they only take the best of the best. Your SAT was probably much better than you are saying it is. Plus, SAT doesn't correlate with smarts too much, IMO. I've seen plenty of people do well on it that are complete idiots, and vice-versa.

 

[ZagDoc]

Graduation rates of medical schools are rediculously high (and nearly all those that don't graduate aren't because they couldn't cut it academicaly). The admissions process seems to work, if you make it in, you got what it takes.

There's a girl at our school who had to repeat her entire first year, but the school was more than willing to work with her and now she's doing fine.

 

[spicedmanna]

I have been accepted to a program early without having to take the MCAT and had poor SAT scores. Regardless I had good grades in undergrad and was accepted early. I am taking classes at my future medical school which is a prestigous institution but I just feel awkward because I feel I have to work more than most of the other students that have been accepted straight from highschool with probably @ least 1500+ SAT scores.

Anyways, I feel like I am a hard worker and that is why I am where I am and not as 'smart' as others. For example, it takes me sometimes a good hour to get through 10 pages of bio material! Reading for memorization of course and not skimming. I also go back and take notes on my materials and in the end spend 6 hours/chapter. I hate that it takes me so much time to understand and memorize materials. I sometimes overstudy, but I like getting high grades and making sure I have an A.

My question is...am I going to have a huge problem in medical school? I have taken 3-4 classes at this ivy league school and have received an A but feel like I have been trying really hard at the undergrad level, while perhaps some kids at this level seem to just cruise by not reading the book or just looking at the powerpoints and getting by just fine. Am I going to be at the lower tier of my medical school class and not the top 5% because of the way I am now? I just feel like others are smarter than me naturally especially because I do not get too much from lecture. Some people just go to lecture and get so much out of it...I dont, i get a little if I preread. It's not about grades...i have a high GPA its about amount of time that ggoes into it.

Well, having superior study habits is probably more important than "intelligence," in my opinion, as long as you have at least a minimum baseline level of ability, which you probably do. Medical school isn't like undergrad, so don't try to compare the two, or draw any conclusions based on your work there. Medical school material isn't that hard conceptually, but there's lots of it. You'll be perfused with more material than you can handle. You'll need to learn how to study the material efficiently and relatively quickly, given time constraints. Make the most of your time and stick to a good study schedule and you'll probably do fine.

 

[The Angriest Bird]

IQ is a gift from God or whatever supernatural being you believe. Fortunately, life isn't all about IQ. In fact, I remember a psychology study shows IQ is indeed positively correlated with income, but not with happiness.

Truth being told: for many undergrads who claim to be just messing around but getting good grades, they actually studied like dogs. I witnessed a bunch of them.

As for medical school, whether you will be the top 5% nobody can tell for sure. It's a combination of IQ and effort, and it's also plenty of luck.

If you hate memorization, hmm, that could be a problem. Medical school is, sadly, all about memorization. So think about it seriously.

And don't blame yourself for overstudying. I absolutely understand your situation. GPA is like this, you may get 3.8 just by studying marginally enough, but to MAKE SURE you get a very high GPA, overstudying is inevitable.

Finally, never let your self-esteem be hurt by realizing there are kids smarter than yourself. And I still believe the real smart kids don't even go to medical school.

 

[brianmartin]

Am I going to be at the lower tier of my medical school class and not the top 5% because of the way I am now?

I think you'll do fine. Maybe you need to stop worrying so much? There will always be people getting better (and worse) grades than you. Just do your best and do it for the right reasons. The end goal is not a double-digit number in a percentile table. It's being a doctor, and that has very little to do with your exact "grade" in any one class. You sound like a good student, you'll be fine!

 

[Slide]

For the first year in medical school, you don't really have to think, you just have to keep up with the work and have good study habits. If anything, thinking is what will kill you on the tests.

 

[Reimat]

Truth being told: for many undergrads who claim to be just messing around but getting good grades, they actually studied like dogs. I witnessed a bunch of them.

As for medical school, whether you will be the top 5% nobody can tell for sure. It's a combination of IQ and effort, and it's also plenty of luck.

I agree with most of the above - I think the kids who really haven't learned how to study hard take a hit at the start of med school. Thus IMO people with superior study skills do better (at least in the first two years).

In terms of the top few individuals (top 5% or so), these people are both smart and hardworking - they've memorized the details and done so in such a way that they can make associations that most docs only learn from experience. But, these people seem to be few and far between. Really, the only variable you can control is how hard you work and props to you if you've already discovered that.

 

[Crazy4F1]

I had to REALLY bust my ass for anything close to an A- in undergrad, and usually was only on the average, especially when it came to science classes....fast forward to med school and i honored all of my exams in the first block...so how you do in undergrad or how you have to work isnt going to necessarily define how you're going to do in med school. i think if you just learn a good work ethic now, and apply it however necessary when you get to med school, you'll be fine. 🙂

 

[Law2Doc]

Am I going to be at the lower tier of my medical school class and not the top 5% because of the way I am now? I just feel like others are smarter than me naturally especially because I do not get too much from lecture.

As others have suggested, you probably won't be the smartest person in your med school class. Most people aren't. So what. You do your best, and they will graduate you and you will match someplace. Half of all physicians were in the bottom half of their med school classes. That's just life in competitive programs. Won't affect your life a whole lot in the long run.

 

[familyguy21]

Thanks all...I am sure that I will at LEAST pass medical school because of hard work. I do not know if people just say that they only studied for like 8 hours for an exam while i spent my entire weekend buckling down to get an A. While I am sure some people can study for 8 hours and just do fine, but i do not think a majority can. I am talking about upper level science classes, so it may be that some are just down playing how much they study. It just frustrates me when people say they studied X amount for a test or spent only an hour doing something when it took me a lot longer. But thanks for the heads up...i always wanted to be at the top of my medical school class...I still have a chance but it seems to be a long shot when I see where some of these ivy league students are coming from in terms of thier preparation from middle school on up.

 

[spicedmanna]

Thanks all...I am sure that I will at LEAST pass medical school because of hard work. I do not know if people just say that they only studied for like 8 hours for an exam while i spent my entire weekend buckling down to get an A. While I am sure some people can study for 8 hours and just do fine, but i do not think a majority can. I am talking about upper level science classes, so it may be that some are just down playing how much they study. It just frustrates me when people say they studied X amount for a test or spent only an hour doing something when it took me a lot longer. But thanks for the heads up...i always wanted to be at the top of my medical school class...I still have a chance but it seems to be a long shot when I see where some of these ivy league students are coming from in terms of thier preparation from middle school on up.

Right. Don't worry about what other people do. Focus on what you need to do to perform well in medical school. There will definitely be an adjustment period and you will figure out what works for YOU. It's different for different people. Comparisons of this nature aren't too beneficial, in my humble opinion.

Also, while it's undoubtely beneficial to perform well in medical school, you shouldn't obsess about grades. Perform to your ability, which means having good study habits and a solid work ethic. The rest you can't readily control. Learn as much as you can, do well on boards, do well on rotations, and build on personal connections with residency programs.

 

[Slide]

Thanks all...I am sure that I will at LEAST pass medical school because of hard work. I do not know if people just say that they only studied for like 8 hours for an exam while i spent my entire weekend buckling down to get an A. While I am sure some people can study for 8 hours and just do fine, but i do not think a majority can. I am talking about upper level science classes, so it may be that some are just down playing how much they study. It just frustrates me when people say they studied X amount for a test or spent only an hour doing something when it took me a lot longer. But thanks for the heads up...i always wanted to be at the top of my medical school class...I still have a chance but it seems to be a long shot when I see where some of these ivy league students are coming from in terms of thier preparation from middle school on up.

My life got a lot better when I focused on learning the material well, rather than saying "what do I need to do to receive X", and subsequently, my grades improved. Focus more on learning and retaining the material. The test that will count the most aren't the block tests throughout the year, but the Step I.

 

[osli]

For the first year in medical school, you don't really have to think, you just have to keep up with the work and have good study habits. If anything, thinking is what will kill you on the tests.

I'd hate to go to whatever medical school that is... 😱

 

[alphaholic06]

I'd hate to go to whatever medical school that is... 😱

I think what he meant to say was overthinking is what kills you on exams.

 

[osli]

I thought he might be implying that they only test fact recall at that school. I'd rather be better prepared for the boards than that, not to mention the reality of being a physician.

I do agree with you though... overthinking a question you aren't sure about often leads to an incorrect answer.

 

[foofish]

If you're talking about the school I think you are--does EIP mean anything to you?--then you'll be fine...they're pretty good at easing *everyone* into med school.

 

[sprinkibrio]

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