pre meds and social life

[mozart_fan]

I have made many sacrifices in my social life. Anyone else? How does this make you feel? Freshman year my friends did not understand why I studied so much, f*uck I even spent several friday and saturday evenings in the library...they have come to understand more now. Of course they always tell me to "just finish homework..." studying for sciences consists of more than completing assignments, if any. They have relatively easier courseloads.

Well...any one else here care to share how they sometimes feel like they are wasting the "best years of your life."?? Sometimes I do, sometimes i don't.

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[Zoom-Zoom]

I have made many sacrifices in my social life. Anyone else? How does this make you feel? Freshman year my friends did not understand why I studied so much, f*uck I even spent several friday and saturday evenings in the library...they have come to understand more now. Of course they always tell me to "just finish homework..." studying for sciences consists of more than completing assignments, if any. They have relatively easier courseloads.

Well...any one else here care to share how they sometimes feel like they are wasting the "best years of your life."?? Sometimes I do, sometimes i don't.

I'm sure we're about to get told that college is all about the social experience, how it's the best years of our lives, and how we are going to be working ao hard in the future that we realy need to "enjoy" our college life (Ie: you can't possibly "enjoy" going to class and studying hard..", yada yada

I happen to go to a school where the social experience consists of keg stands and beer bongs. I pledged a frat my freshman year, so I got a taste of what that was like. I wish I could have a really awesome college experience and not have to make any sacrifices to maintain a good GPA, but at my school, this is just not possible for me. So yeah, I've had to make some "sacrifices", but mostly cuz I can't seem to find many peers that I can relate to who enjoy healthy, wholesome activities that are congruent (for me) with academic success. I have a feeling I'll find my place in med school though *crosses fingers*

 

[omega_703]

Sacrifice is a word I know too well, especially when it comes to social life. Honestly, the only social life I have in college is my small circle of friends who are also fellow premeds as well as prepharm and prevet. I found it really helpful to have friends who can understand what you're going through.

It's also pretty neat when you share a science joke and everyone laughs. lolz...I guess we're all pretty nerdy....if not, we just enjoy what we're learning.

 

[ofthesun]

I'm sure we're about to get told that college is all about the social experience, how it's the best years of our lives, and how we are going to be working ao hard in the future that we realy need to "enjoy" our college life (Ie: you can't possibly "enjoy" going to class and studying hard..", yada yada

I happen to go to a school where the social experience consists of keg stands and beer bongs. I pledged a frat my freshman year, so I got a taste of what that was like. I wish I could have a really awesome college experience and not have to make any sacrifices to maintain a good GPA, but at my school, this is just not possible for me. So yeah, I've had to make some "sacrifices", but mostly cuz I can't seem to find many peers that I can relate to who enjoy healthy, wholesome activities that are congruent (for me) with academic success. I have a feeling I'll find my place in med school though *crosses fingers*

I have a buddy at med school - he says it's full of politically correct, stuffy, wholesome, and tight-ass boy and girl scouts. Sacrifice whatever you have to. But don't turn into that awful description.

The average med school student should be able to carry on a normal conversation. He/She should be able to go out and get laid every now and then. There should be healthy connections to the world around you (and not just in which ECs you do - connections of the normal kind).

I think the process overemphasizes aspects that don't allow people to do this as often as they should and get in at the same time ... hence so many med school students can seem like anal-retentive robots.

Personally? I had a blast in undergrad. Didn't affect my grades. A few hours here or there partying out on weekend nights or between classes isn't going to kill anyone, etc..

 

[stoic]

oh come on, is it really that hard to balance studying and a social life? (it shouldnt be). if you really can't figure out how to do it, then you probably wouldn't have much of a social life as a communications major, either. it's not like everyone has to be a social butterfly and the most popular kid around, but saturday mornings at the library should really only be needed if there is a test on monday! sheez! if you guys think you have a lot to learn in undergrad......

well, the point is you really should try and enjoy yourselves a little more. you know what admissions committee's DON'T look for? people who just study all the time but have the personality of a cardboard box. it's important to actually be interesting, too.

that said i know it seems like every little thing in undergrad could make or break you to the adcoms, but really the only thing that is do or die is probably the MCAT. i know an aweful lot of people in med school who got a couple C's (myself included) as an undergrad.



now pardon me if i seem like a jerk - i'm in the home stretch of a test block and in just under an hour will be getting my ass handed to me by an anatomy exam. and then tonight i'll be getting drunk.

 

[ND2005]

Senior year:

-Bio
-Orgo
-Labs
-400 level psych courses to finish my major
-Senior thesis (with an advisor who had a baby and left me flying solo for 8 weeks)

Still managed to have a life. Usually went out Wednesdays or Thursdays and weekends (obviously not on test weeks). Sometimes had to make sacrifices for work, but so does everyone (even the business majors).

College was always periods of intense work (surrounding due dates and exams) and periods of free time.

 

[LadyWolverine]

It makes me so sad to hear other people say that they look back at college and feel sometimes as though they "wasted the best years of their life." I had a packed social life as an undergraduate, and still managed to do fairly well. I knew the types that studied 24/7, and I did my best to avoid that lifestyle. Getting good grades is important, but, in the end, what's it all for? Can you look back and say that you have no regrets? That you enjoyed your youth? That you made great friends, had kickass experiences, and are capable of carrying on a conversation about anything other than the Krebs Cycle or meiosis? You don't have to be keg-stand champion of your fraternity/sorority or wasted all the time (some of the coolest people I knew in college didn't drink), but you should know how to let loose once in a while. And it's SO important to meet people with interests outside your own.

You don't need to be so focused every hour of every day. A little competitiveness is definitely a good thing...but there is a fine line between that and obsession. Make sure that in addition to the WHAT and HOW, you know WHY.

Enjoy it while you can...the "real world" will come at you soon enough.

 

[masterMood]

i was in the same position but i'm gradually getting out of it. I had the mentality from the getgo that I cannot have a social life, that I must stay in, and not jeopardize my grades, but not only is this unhealthy (may have gone a little crazy, i'm sane now i think), there is enough time for academics/e.c.s/social life. My biggest problem from high school was time management, and first semester was all about doing things on time (which I did, but it took forever because of day dreaming). Now I do things earlier in the day, like right after class, and I try to never be arrogant even if I'm doing well in classes.

The 2nd best advice i can give you is to stay away from science majors who study all the time, because they have nothing interesting to talk about, and it really does get irritiating when all your pre-med friends can only talk about was how hard/how easy x test or what they hope they get this semester or *insert academically related comment here*.

My biggest problem, and I'm a guy, is that I don't drink, and it's hard to find friends that don't drink as well, but I 'found' them eventually.

Like LadyWolverine said, competition can bring the best out of you, but it can bring out the worst of you, as well.

 

[emack]

It's not that everyone needs to have a super-exciting social life in undergrad. But you've gotta think about something other than studying & getting into med school. Don't like parties & clubbing? Fine. Get an ill-paying but entertaining part-time job. Do an extra-curricular that's not going to wind up on your med school application. Make some friends outside of school.

Undergrad shouldn't be some ordeal that you're "going through." It should be exactly what you want to be doing at this point in your life. If it makes you unhappy to study so much, if it makes you wonder if you'll later have regrets, if it feels like you're making sacrifices, if you genuinely feel like being a pre-med and having fun are often mutually exclusive, then maybe this is not what you should be doing. If being a pre-med is no fun, then neither will being a med student. And I've gotta say that the most successful undergrads & med students I know (and the ones I daresay will be most successful later on in life) are the ones who genuinely enjoy all this stuff. If even at this early stage you find things seem like less fun than they should be, then you're heading down the wrong career path. Medicine will not be worth it in the end if you don't enjoy the journey.

 

[DrKitty]

There is a great thread regarding this issue in the allopathic forum.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=259223

 

[bdubz]

being a liberal arts major (people are more chill than the premed bio majors) and having a general lack of sleep has allowed me to balance academics, extracurriculars and a social life. Though there are definite times when sacrifices have been made, (e.g. so many nights spent studying while friends went out, it definitely sucks). On the other hand I do make it out a good amount and not just for drinking, but to go on trips, random shows, etc. It's taken a while to get a good balance, freshman year was too much boozing, sophomore year was too much studying (the library CLOSED on me on Saturday night...probably one of the more depressing moments of my life ). But starting junior year I think i've gotten it right. My liberal arts friends all admire how well I can balance doing well in school with being able to have fun too now. And my science/engineering friends are in awe of the sweet interviews I've been getting In thirty years, you're going to remember all the crazy and stupid stuff you did with your friends, and not so much the little details of academic work. I'm not saying don't study hard, but you also only 20 years old once. So instead of staying home during break to study for the MCAT's, maybe go on that sweet roadtrip with your friends, before you lose the opporunity to do it forever. The MCAT's will always be there when you get back.

On another note, studying on a saturday morning?! holy crap, you are hardcore. I don't even think the library opens til noon on saturdays here.

 

[jaylicious]

I definitely sacrificed but I also made sure to have some fun. It only get worse later. Med school is way more work than undergrad from what I here and residency is even more. If you can't hack it and have fun now, things don't get better later.

 

[inflamesdjk02]

I have a buddy at med school - he says it's full of politically correct, stuffy, wholesome, and tight-ass boy and girl scouts. Sacrifice whatever you have to. But don't turn into that awful description.

The average med school student should be able to carry on a normal conversation. He/She should be able to go out and get laid every now and then. There should be healthy connections to the world around you (and not just in which ECs you do - connections of the normal kind).

I think the process overemphasizes aspects that don't allow people to do this as often as they should and get in at the same time ... hence so many med school students can seem like anal-retentive robots.

Personally? I had a blast in undergrad. Didn't affect my grades. A few hours here or there partying out on weekend nights or between classes isn't going to kill anyone, etc..

Amen.

 

[UMP]

Is the portion of pre-meds that do nothing but study and have absolutely no social skills so large that people who actually know how to keep a conversation about something non-academics related will stand out head and shoulders above the rest in the interviews ?

 

[browniegirl86]

Is the portion of pre-meds that do nothing but study and have absolutely no social skills so large that people who actually know how to keep a conversation about something non-academics related will stand out head and shoulders above the rest in the interviews ?

I doubt it. Most people at my interviews, which ranged from top 10 schools to unranked state schools, carried on conversations and seemed to be normal college students. I actually don't think I ever ran across someone who was incapable of participating in a non-academic conversation.

 

[MEG@COOL]

I have made many sacrifices in my social life. Anyone else? How does this make you feel? Freshman year my friends did not understand why I studied so much, f*uck I even spent several friday and saturday evenings in the library...they have come to understand more now. Of course they always tell me to "just finish homework..." studying for sciences consists of more than completing assignments, if any. They have relatively easier courseloads.

Well...any one else here care to share how they sometimes feel like they are wasting the "best years of your life."?? Sometimes I do, sometimes i don't.

Premed... social ... some have. there are some premed other not... wonder..

 

[tank you]

Premed... social ... some have. there are some premed other not... wonder..

hahaHAHAhaha

 

[chintu]

I feel where you are coming from. I was extremely neurotic about grades and stuff the first 2 years of college and had practically no life outside of school work. I don't necessarily regret that because it takes time for some people to develop good study skills and still have free time to enjoy. I made sure that I got good grades and laid a good foundation. My junior year was a whole lot easier for me because I didn't worry too much about making a few B's since I had a solid gpa and the classes were also pertaining to my major rather than just the premed reqs. I had quite a bit of fun my junior year and actually ended up doing even better in classes. And my senior year when I was applying to med school.....let's just say a serious case of senioritis. Anyway, work hard as you need to but also set aside time where you don't have any school work and just do what you want to for fun. Also, don't feel like you are the only one working so hard while everyone else in college is having fun....most premeds work really hard in college, some are just good at balancing academics and other stuff than others.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

hahaHAHAhaha

drrr...i'm confused

 

[maxflash04]

i don't find being pre-med and having a social life a big problem at all. either the OP or one of the early responses said they had absolutely no free time their freshman year due to studying 24/7. doesn't freshman year consist of principle bio/chem and calc? that isn't that hard to manage. i know many people -- including myself -- who are pre-med, take hard classes, work at least 20 hours a week, participate in ECs/shadow, and are still able to have a relationship, friends, and go out. worrying yourself to death this early in the game isn't healthy. lighten up and have a good time. by no means am i saying that studying and doing well in class isn't important, but don't make studying your #1 priority! i usually study when i'm supposed to be in class or at 2am whenever i have absolutely nothing else to do.

 

[Bixlar]

What a joke… I joined a fraternity, got hazed, had a girlfriend, and got into top 20 schools… be yourself. Don’t do EC’s because you think you should do them… I went climbing every summer instead of “shadowing” and you know what, it got me more interviews because I had a real passion. The only REAL advice I can give is do what you need to do in college, have fun, and hole up for three months to take the f’in test (I missed formal and spring break that year). Thing is the more you stress about this the more you turn into a contrived pre-med. If medicine is your life… take some time off. It’s life remember, you only have one, and if you think becoming a doctor is the end all be all… I guarantee you the first second I meet you will be the end of our doctor patient relationship.

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

No, I never really made too many sacrifices. The only period where I can actually say I made some was when I was MCAT studying. Other than that..

 

[Pretty POHA]

Studying w/ a study buddy IS my social life.
If I wanted to go out and party, then I would. I prefer homework because I have some really close friends I can study with AND I know that ultimately my hard work now will pay off in my future.

Honestly, I'm discovering more and more that I really don't have as much in common w/ my "friends" who love to party... Frankly, as long as I surround myself with those people who'd rather get annihilated every night rather than think about the next day or the day after that, then I'll have no room for making friends who actually value hard work, success, and ultimately, money...

So that being said, I'm okay with spending my Friday & Saturday nights (though not all of them) with the textbooks and people who are also motivated to succeed...

 

[tkdusb]

drrr...i'm confused

The joke is that she's a premed and she can't carry on a normal conversation. It took me a while to figure it out.

And to the OP, I suppose I'm just not as smart as everyone else on this board who can coast through their premed classes with A's without studying, but I personally spent a lot of time studying as a premed and I definitely feel I made sacrifices.

 

[Rafa]

The joke is that she's a premed and she can't carry on a normal conversation. It took me a while to figure it out.

Thank you - I didn't get it either. Now I do, hilarious.

 

[happydays]

It's not a sacrafice if you're doing something that will ultimately help you reach your dream.

At least for me, I do not regret anything that I've done.

 

[UCDavisdude]

my biggest fear is looking back 10 years from now, and wishing i should have studied more because i wasnt able to get into medical school. the best years of my life are ahead, when i have the money, cars, family of my own and am able to take vacations abroad without having to worry about money, thats when the best years of my life will be. Make the best years of YOUR life when your ready for it, not when others tell you when they should be. College is not the "best years of ours lives" for everyone

 

[MiturBinesderty]

What a joke… I joined a fraternity, got hazed, had a girlfriend, and got into top 20 schools… be yourself. Don’t do EC’s because you think you should do them… I went climbing every summer instead of “shadowing” and you know what, it got me more interviews because I had a real passion. The only REAL advice I can give is do what you need to do in college, have fun, and hole up for three months to take the f’in test (I missed formal and spring break that year). Thing is the more you stress about this the more you turn into a contrived pre-med. If medicine is your life… take some time off. It’s life remember, you only have one, and if you think becoming a doctor is the end all be all… I guarantee you the first second I meet you will be the end of our doctor patient relationship.

That's bull****, I doubt you got into any top 20 schools by getting high and partying all of the time. Also medical schools care less about what your hobbies are outside of medicine, that's a proven fact.

 

[Will Ferrell]

my biggest fear is looking back 10 years from now, and wishing i should have studied more because i wasnt able to get into medical school. the best years of my life are ahead, when i have the money, cars, family of my own and am able to take vacations abroad without having to worry about money, thats when the best years of my life will be. Make the best years of YOUR life when your ready for it, not when others tell you when they should be. College is not the "best years of ours lives" for everyone

 

[Rafa]

my biggest fear is looking back 10 years from now, and wishing i should have studied more because i wasnt able to get into medical school. the best years of my life are ahead, when i have the money, cars, family of my own and am able to take vacations abroad without having to worry about money, thats when the best years of my life will be. Make the best years of YOUR life when your ready for it, not when others tell you when they should be. College is not the "best years of ours lives" for everyone

Can't tell you how many times I heard/had it implied that high school was supposed to be the high point of life, that once you passed that, everything was downhill. Now I've got a bunch of people saying the same about college. Pschaw. The best is yet to come (to quote ol' blue eyes). I don't know when the best years of my life are coming (or where they are), but I'm not going to call this or that four-year chunk my best simply because a bunch of people who peaked at those times also did. The best years in *your* life depend on *you*.

 

[argonana]

to quote a recent med school faculty interviewer..."the med school years are the best years of your life."

it never ends.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

my biggest fear is looking back 10 years from now, and wishing i should have studied more because i wasnt able to get into medical school. the best years of my life are ahead, when i have the money, cars, family of my own and am able to take vacations abroad without having to worry about money, thats when the best years of my life will be. Make the best years of YOUR life when your ready for it, not when others tell you when they should be. College is not the "best years of ours lives" for everyone

Exactly.