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Started by mmmcdowe
Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Orangekiwi said:
Did you bundle your home and auto? My rule is that once you bundle your insurance, you're an adult and there's no going back.
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I actually unbundled a year ago lol! Allstate could not match Progressive for car insurance even though I had been with them for years and years, and even bundling was still more expensive than having separate companies for each.
 
Ms Procrastinator said:
These stories are super crazy.
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This kinda stuff scares me about medical training IDK if it's true but it's insane.
You know what really bugs me? Apparently it's still a thing ( at the competitive HS that I went to) that you need to do a million afterschool stuff to get into college. Like kids will continue playing sports/other super time-consuming stuff while taking AP classes and **** just to bc they think they need that to get into college and are sleeping like 3-4 hours a night, and like what? There's other stuff you can do to get into a good college! There's summer jobs, internships, volunteer work on the weekends. You don't need to do this to yourself when you're just a kid, just to stand out. Taking AP classes is already a big deal. You don't need to keep doing stuff you don't like anymore/ doesn't suit you anymore.
 
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mwsapphire said:
This kinda stuff scares me about medical training IDK if it's true but it's insane.
You know what really bugs me? Apparently it's still a thing ( at the competitive HS that I went to) that you need to do a million afterschool stuff to get into college. Like kids will continue playing sports/other super time-consuming stuff while taking AP classes and **** just to bc they think they need that to get into college and are sleeping like 3-4 hours a night, and like what? There's other stuff you can do to get into a good college! There's summer jobs, internships, volunteer work on the weekends. You don't need to do this to yourself when you're just a kid, just to stand out. Taking AP classes is already a big deal. You don't need to keep doing stuff you don't like anymore/ doesn't suit you anymore.
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Still a thing? That wasn’t a thing when I was applying to college. Having ECs helped but it wasn’t even close to what it’s like now.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Still a thing? That wasn’t a thing when I was applying to college. Having ECs helped but it wasn’t even close to what it’s like now.
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Still relative to when I was there.
And it still isnt that you need EC's- the perception has just changed to that like, okay things have gotten a little more competitive but its not that bad.
Like when I did 2 AP junior year( bc I wanted to, and bc it can it looks good for college), i was doing just two clubs and i was swamped. I cant imagine doing something like a sport or theater or anything that takes more time than that and still keeping up grades. Like it just gives me anxiety thinking about it.And grades are literally the most important thing!Also, you were in HS when, early 2000's?For me it was early 2010's.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Still a thing? That wasn’t a thing when I was applying to college. Having ECs helped but it wasn’t even close to what it’s like now.
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Depends on the highschool. My school was p good and class was ultra competitive lol (like 15+/225 went ivy?) I ended up taking 8 AP's ,3 sports/year like 3-4 clubs lmao (weird flex) and thats like what most students did. I can only imagine its gotten more competitive there and it was also a public school. That was back when I had unlimited energy tho lol
 
imbesrs said:
Depends on the highschool. My school was p good and class was ultra competitive lol (like 15+/225 went ivy?) I ended up taking 8 AP's ,3 sports/year like 3-4 clubs lmao (weird flex) and thats like what most students did. I can only imagine its gotten more competitive there and it was also a public school. That was back when I had unlimited energy tho lol
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But kids dont HAVE to do that to get into college- a summer job and spending your sunday afternoons volunteering at a food bank is more than enough.0
 
imbesrs said:
Depends on the highschool. My school was p good and class was ultra competitive lol (like 15+/225 went ivy?) I ended up taking 8 AP's ,3 sports/year like 3-4 clubs lmao (weird flex) and thats like what most students did. I can only imagine its gotten more competitive there and it was also a public school. That was back when I had unlimited energy tho lol
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I mean I graduated from HS like 17 years ago so I don’t quite remember but I went to a public school where most kids went to college and it was definitely not like that lol.
 
Eh, I semi-disagree. To get into the "main" state schools in NC (UNC, NCSU) you absolutely needed many ECs, beyond a job or summer internship. They wanted to see dedication to many things (for instance, I did debate team, peer teen court, and volunteering) along with many AP classes. A summer internship, or casual volunteering wasn't enough unfortunately. However, these main schools were more competitive. UNC G, UNC C, or ECU were much less competitive and casual volunteering + a honors classes could get you in. So it depends, but college has definitely gotten more competitive. If you wanted to go to college, sure, casual volunteering would maybe get you there. But the prevailing atmosphere was you needed those extras to be competitive, and it seeme to reflect in outcomes...maybe that was just for my area though. Coming from Wake it seemed state schools seemed to select against us. A UNC rep once specifically told a friend of mine's HS that they shouldn't expect more than 1 A if that, as they "aren't the college of Wake country but NC as a whole".

mwsapphire said:
But kids dont HAVE to do that to get into college- a summer job and spending your sunday afternoons volunteering at a food bank is more than enough.0
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u_raptor said:
Eh, I semi-disagree. To get into the "main" state schools in NC (UNC, NCSU) you absolutely needed many ECs, beyond a job or summer internship. They wanted to see dedication to many things (for instance, I did debate team, peer teen court, and volunteering) along with many AP classes. A summer internship, or casual volunteering wasn't enough unfortunately. However, these main schools were more competitive. UNC G, UNC C, or ECU were much less competitive and casual volunteering + a honors classes could get you in. So it depends, but college has definitely gotten more competitive. If you wanted to go to college, sure, casual volunteering would maybe get you there. But the prevailing atmosphere was you needed those extras to be competitive, and it seeme to reflect in outcomes...maybe that was just for my area though. Coming from Wake it seemed state schools seemed to select against us. A UNC rep once specifically told a friend of mine's HS that they shouldn't expect more than 1 A if that, as they "aren't the college of Wake country but NC as a whole".
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Well I did UNICEF and Science team, but those took minimal time. And Im more thinking that when you get to ap's , and are doing something that takes like, a few hours, like theater or sports, pumping the brakes on those things makes a lot more sense. Like APs are literally designed to take most of your time, and not having after school time anymore makes sense. And then it may be too late to join something that takes less time, so you stop doing time consuming stuff to focus on school.APs already make you stand out. Whats peer teen court?

And those are wicked competative schools, middle of the road schools should be fine. And other colleges are less EC's focused, Some state U's are less focused on EC's (like UMich). Also, I dont think 100 hrs of meaningful volunteering ( think food pantry every other Sunday for a year) counts as "casual." I think going out and making an impact in the community is more important.
 
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mwsapphire said:
Well I did UNICEF and Science team, but those took minimal time. And Im more thinking that when you get to ap's , and are doing something that takes like, a few hours, like theater or sports, pumping the brakes on those things makes a lot more sense. Like APs are literally designed to take most of your time, and not having after school time anymore makes sense. And then it may be too late to join something that takes less time, so you stop doing time consuming stuff to focus on school.APs already make you stand out. Whats peer teen court?

And those are wicked competative schools, middle of the road schools should be fine. And other colleges are less EC's focused, Some state U's are less focused on EC's (like UMich). Also, I dont think 100 hrs of meaningful volunteering ( think food pantry every other Sunday for a year) counts as "casual." I think going out and making an impact in the community is more important.
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I agree. I did minimal extracurriculars in high school (no competitions, no school-sponsored extracurriculars at all, just music), and I'm at a somewhat competitive school. I feel like what's more important for college admissions is having a cohesive narrative, rather than a lot of checkbox extracurriculars, whereas for medical school, you have to be able to also substantiate your narrative with real experiences.
 
mwsapphire said:
Well I did UNICEF and Science team, but those took minimal time. And Im more thinking that when you get to ap's , and are doing something that takes like, a few hours, like theater or sports, pumping the brakes on those things makes a lot more sense. Like APs are literally designed to take most of your time, and not having after school time anymore makes sense. And then it may be too late to join something that takes less time, so you stop doing time consuming stuff to focus on school.APs already make you stand out. Whats peer teen court?

And those are wicked competative schools, middle of the road schools should be fine. And other colleges are less EC's focused, Some state U's are less focused on EC's (like UMich). Also, I dont think 100 hrs of meaningful volunteering ( think food pantry every other Sunday for a year) counts as "casual." I think going out and making an impact in the community is more important.
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Yeah those are the competitive schools, but the point being those are the classic state schools for NC. I imagine in a different state, with maybe a few state schools, it would he more competitive due to less options of schools. In terms of AP, I don't feel it has the weight it used to, but that's just how I see it.

And sorry, you are right about the 100 hours. When I refer to casual volunteering I was.more thinking along the lines of doing just enough to check the graduation requirements for HS.

I think competitiveness also depends on location. As I said prior, being in a larger county it felt like being more competitive was a requirement even for the more middle of the road schools.
 
Heliobacter said:
I agree. I did minimal extracurriculars in high school (no competitions, no school-sponsored extracurriculars at all, just music), and I'm at a somewhat competitive school. I feel like what's more important for college admissions is having a cohesive narrative, rather than a lot of checkbox extracurriculars, whereas for medical school, you have to be able to also substantiate your narrative with real experiences.
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Right. Getting into college is not as hard, so long as you have a thing or two thats something you like and makes an impact in the community, you're good for most selective schools ( provided grades and stuff are good) . Putting that much pressure on kids is nuts. Like 100-200 hours volunteering on weekends while taking AP classes and then maybe having "afterschool" stuff from fresh/soph year when you had more time is more than fine.
 
Heliobacter said:
I agree. I did minimal extracurriculars in high school (no competitions, no school-sponsored extracurriculars at all, just music), and I'm at a somewhat competitive school. I feel like what's more important for college admissions is having a cohesive narrative, rather than a lot of checkbox extracurriculars, whereas for medical school, you have to be able to also substantiate your narrative with real experiences.
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This is also true. But for your anecdote I can unfortunately think of an example where someone had crazy ECs, wildly successful, and got deferred to competitive schools.
 
Heliobacter said:
I agree. I did minimal extracurriculars in high school (no competitions, no school-sponsored extracurriculars at all, just music), and I'm at a somewhat competitive school. I feel like what's more important for college admissions is having a cohesive narrative, rather than a lot of checkbox extracurriculars, whereas for medical school, you have to be able to also substantiate your narrative with real experiences.
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I also barely did anything: debate, speech, writing club, volunteering, and NHS.
 
Sunbodi said:
I also barely did anything: debate, speech, writing club, volunteering, and NHS.
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Thats a lot. I mean "no afterschool " stuff as like, just 100 ish hrs volunteering and maybe something else you did for a year or two or not (like maybe you did one or two theater plays before AP classes or something). Like you just need one or two things on your resume that dont have to be "afterschool." Like it doesnt need to be an "afterschool" thing, it can be anything thats resume building, kinda like pre med ECs.
 
Late to the conversation here, but my high school didn't even offer AP classes lol. There were a few people the year ahead of me (literally just a couple) who went to really good private colleges, but if people want to college it was usually state flagship for the best students, and then a few different LACs or regional state schools (plus a lot of CC) for the rest of those who decided to go. Many of my friends never really considered college at any point though. I was fortunate that my parents encouraged me the whole way to focus on my education, and I was extremely fortunate that they were able and willing to fight the school's administration to help me get some kind of value out of high school.

I don't remember ever thinking about my ECs in the context of getting into college though, I remember really just doing them because I wanted to (and I don't ever recall hearing other kids talk about needing ECs to get to college, though I think I've made it clear that college wasn't on the radar for a lot of people). I did have a pretty good variety I think: marching band, eagle scout, 1 sport, a couple of clubs as well. A very solid ACT probably also opened a door or two for me.
 
JoaoMoutinho said:
Late to the conversation here, but my high school didn't even offer AP classes lol. There were a few people the year ahead of me (literally just a couple) who went to really good private colleges, but if people want to college it was usually state flagship for the best students, and then a few different LACs or regional state schools (plus a lot of CC) for the rest of those who decided to go. Many of my friends never really considered college at any point though. I was fortunate that my parents encouraged me the whole way to focus on my education, and I was extremely fortunate that they were able and willing to fight the school's administration to help me get some kind of value out of high school.

I don't remember ever thinking about my ECs in the context of getting into college though, I remember really just doing them because I wanted to (and I don't ever recall hearing other kids talk about needing ECs to get to college, though I think I've made it clear that college wasn't on the radar for a lot of people). I did have a pretty good variety I think: marching band, eagle scout, 1 sport, a couple of clubs as well. A very solid ACT probably also opened a door or two for me.
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Thank you for your reply 🙂
And yes, I see your pt. Afterschool stuff is for fun, there are other things you can do to get into college.

Also, to everyone on this thread: Remember that prof who I said is on medical leave for the semester? Well, I heard he's coming back next semester, so it's no the whole year. Would it be weird if I emailed him, just to say hi? I miss seeing him around and I am sad that I'm leaving at the same time that's he's coming back. I was on really good terms with him, would it be strange if I sent him a vague email on his faculty email. He used a private email to send me the sad, heavy msg, and everyone at our college knows he's on leave rn, so it's not like I'd be violating anything by using my student email to say " I've missed seeing you around, here are somethings in my life rn." w/o mentioning the real reason for him being on leave, which everyone at our school knows? I just hate the thought of potentially losing contact with him, permanently.
 
mwsapphire said:
Thank you for your reply 🙂
And yes, I see your pt. Afterschool stuff is for fun, there are other things you can do to get into college.

Also, to everyone on this thread: Remember that prof who I said is on medical leave for the semester? Well, I heard he's coming back next semester, so it's no the whole year. Would it be weird if I emailed him, just to say hi? I miss seeing him around and I am sad that I'm leaving at the same time that's he's coming back. I was on really good terms with him, would it be strange if I sent him a vague email on his faculty email. He used a private email to send me the sad, heavy msg, and everyone at our college knows he's on leave rn, so it's not like I'd be violating anything by using my student email to say " I've missed seeing you around, here are somethings in my life rn." w/o mentioning the real reason for him being on leave, which everyone at our school knows? I just hate the thought of potentially losing contact with him, permanently.
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I used to box with one of my professors. Just email him. Just don’t be weird about it.
 
@LizzyM @Goro @gyngyn @Moko @HomeSkool bump!

pb191120.gif
 
mwsapphire said:
Hahaha I wasnt referring to just emailing any prof Im friendly with! Just in this exact, delicate situation I was worried about doing more harm than good.
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I agree with M935. If you already have a relationship with the Prof just send an email without being weird.

I still occasionally text memes to one of my letter writers from UG– saying "I'm glad that you're back" shouldn't be weird at all.
 
JoaoMoutinho said:
I agree with M935. If you already have a relationship with the Prof just send an email without being weird.

I still occasionally text memes to one of my letter writers from UG– saying "I'm glad that you're back" shouldn't be weird at all.
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Well he's not back yet- that's the thing. But yeah I see your guys' point. Vague email saying I've missed seeing him around and telling him what's happening in my life- without actually mentioning why he's not here. Will do that after my computing II midterm I procrastinated on.
 
mwsapphire said:
Well he's not back yet- that's the thing. But yeah I see your guys' point. Vague email saying I've missed seeing him around and telling him what's happening in my life- without actually mentioning why he's not here. Will do that after my computing II midterm I procrastinated on.
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Im confused why you have to be vague if he told you why he’s not there. I think you’re making this more complicated than it needs to be. If you have a friendly relationship with the guy just email him and say you miss seeing him around and are sad he will come back right when you leave, but you’re glad he’s coming back.
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Im confused why you have to be vague if he told you why he’s not there. I think you’re making this more complicated than it needs to be. If you have a friendly relationship with the guy just email him and say you miss seeing him around and are sad he will come back right when you leave, but you’re glad he’s coming back.
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11/10 professional response.
 
I just wanted to swing by and mention how much I love my scribe job.I lucked out with this great gen surgeon ( working for him on his clinic days- outpatient check ups post OP or determine if someone needs surgery) , and he's like, so smart and good at talking to patients, everyone loves him.
Like, I always smile a little inside when he introduces himself to a patient as "Hi I'm Dr.(Name) and this is (My name), she's my scribe and does my paperwork for me" and I just feel...like part of the team haha.
Sorry that was lame. Had to get it out of my system my IRL would laugh at me.
 
With Christmas coming, I have a sacred duty to evangelize not just the greatest Christmas movie of all time, but a movie that will save your soul if you haven't seen it already.
jingle-all-the-way-featured.jpg
 
Select All That Apply said:
With Christmas coming, I have a sacred duty to evangelize not just the greatest Christmas movie of all time, but a movie that will save your soul if you haven't seen it already.
jingle-all-the-way-featured.jpg
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wrong. The greatest Christmas movie of all time is Die Hard.
 
How much can your grades drop in your post app semester, even if you do get in? Im doing computing II and calc II, both of which dont count as sci GPA for DO schools, and are sort of tougher, out there classes. Wonder how bad it would look to get a sub B Grade...
 
mwsapphire said:
How much can your grades drop in your post app semester, even if you do get in? Im doing computing II and calc II, both of which dont count as sci GPA for DO schools, and are sort of tougher, out there classes. Wonder how bad it would look to get a sub B Grade...
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I'm assuming that if you get in it wont make a difference. I doubt you'd have your admission offer revoked over 1 or 2 B-. On the other hand, on the off chance that you have to reapply,I could certainly see it slightly hurting your app
 
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Hi everyone,
I was just thinking- how come nobody works during med school? Before you say " well bc med school is 10x harder than college" , hear me out. Plenty of people who works 20-30 hours a week or more (during the semester) in UGrad, don't work at all in med school.
The thing that seems odd though, med school is harder than UGrad, but working 4-6 hrs a week as a tutor should be around the same as wroking 20+ hrs in undergrad, assuming the person's financial situation is the same. Is it bc coming out of med school, you're virtually guaranteed a 6- figure salary to pay off loans? If anything, undergrad can be affordable if you go to a public college and get a scholarship, isn't the financial situation in med school worse ( way higher tuition, less option to commute, sometimes no choice but to go to school in hgih COL area). Im not criticizing anyone, I'm just curious as to how the same people who had to work insane hours in UGrad , no longer have to in med school, when if anything, financial situation would be tougher?
( I live at home and got a full scholarship for undergrad, so I didn't have to work due to that. But I saw a post in another thread where someone said not everyone can devote the same amount of time to studying in college due to working to pay their way, but med school " has a level playing field", even thought that makes less sense to me?)
 
mwsapphire said:
Hi everyone,
I was just thinking- how come nobody works during med school? Before you say " well bc med school is 10x harder than college" , hear me out. Plenty of people who works 20-30 hours a week or more (during the semester) in UGrad, don't work at all in med school.
The thing that seems odd though, med school is harder than UGrad, but working 4-6 hrs a week as a tutor should be around the same as wroking 20+ hrs in undergrad, assuming the person's financial situation is the same. Is it bc coming out of med school, you're virtually guaranteed a 6- figure salary to pay off loans? If anything, undergrad can be affordable if you go to a public college and get a scholarship, isn't the financial situation in med school worse ( way higher tuition, less option to commute, sometimes no choice but to go to school in hgih COL area). Im not criticizing anyone, I'm just curious as to how the same people who had to work insane hours in UGrad , no longer have to in med school, when if anything, financial situation would be tougher?
( I live at home and got a full scholarship for undergrad, so I didn't have to work due to that. But I saw a post in another thread where someone said not everyone can devote the same amount of time to studying in college due to working to pay their way, but med school " has a level playing field", even thought that makes less sense to me?)
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A lot of med schools don’t let you. My med school doesn’t allow it and you can get in serious trouble including being expelled.

And really you just can’t. I mean you probably could work like 4 hours a week on a weekend, but then you’re eating into the small amount of free time you do have for not very much money. It’s just not worth it.

It’s not that they suddenly don’t have to, it’s that they’re already taking out tons of loans so taking out enough to live without working just makes sense since you are essentially guaranteed to be able to pay them off. Plus the above stuff about not being allowed to and it not being worth it.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
A lot of med schools don’t let you. My med school doesn’t allow it and you can get in serious trouble including being expelled.

And really you just can’t. I mean you probably could work like 4 hours a week on a weekend, but then you’re eating into the small amount of free time you do have for not very much money. It’s just not worth it.

It’s not that they suddenly don’t have to, it’s that they’re already taking out tons of loans so taking out enough to live without working just makes sense since you are essentially guaranteed to be able to pay them off. Plus the above stuff about not being allowed to and it not being worth it.
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Thanks
The biggest point, I think, is knowing you'll be able to pay it off. At the UNECOM open house I was talking to someone who also had a scholarship for UGrad, saying she doesn't feel scared at the idea of taking out loans for med school bc you're virtually guaranteed being able to pay them off. And the rest you mentioned is also true. Now I am at peace.
 
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