pre-pre-med

[jwtaylor]

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im about to enter my freshman year in college and im hoping that my questions can get cleared up here. being that most, if not all, of you have gone through what im about to go through i hope you can help. i'm one of those smart kids who doesnt use their ability. i've been in advanced placement all my academic life, but i started taking advantage of it in freshman year of high school and tried playing the cool kid...as a result i went from 3.8 gpas, to the point where right now i cant even get into a 4 year degree program, i have to start at a community college....(im not knocking that by any means). i want more than anything to be a physician. in the fall i'll be loaded up with calc, bio, and chem all in the first semester...it's been a while since ive had a work load like that...im having some huge apprehensions about it...im already getting nervous. i want more than anything to do well enough at my comm. college so i can transfer to finish my bach. degree at the college of my choice. my nerves are killing me and im already getting over-whelmed. have any of you experienced this? what did you do to get over it and just hit the books...or will this anxiety never go away?

 

[curlycity]

Pre-pre-med? How cute!

Okay, enough feeling sorry for myself because of my advancing age.

I had a similar experience as far as the high school GPA goes...also had issues and let that stuff slide. I didn't go to college until I started at community college six years later, then I transferred to UT Austin and am off to med school this fall. Just so you know it can be done.

What I think you should carefully consider is redistributing your workload at XCC. I had to take Intro to Chem, Pre-Cal, trig, no lie. Definitely what you would call 'easing into it.' Remedial, even. But I got through 44 hours the year before I transferred to Real College, and got almost all A's. I did it by doing a summer semester. If you spread out your planned courses before transferring over a fall, spring, and summer, you'll get through the same stuff but probably get better grades. And save something for your science GPA at the school you hope to get into; the adcoms will probably prefer that you get some of those good science grades from the 4-year institution if at all possible. Do other core classes like English, government, art, etc. I got through all three years of the B.S. curriculum after transferring to UT, with more summer school. And consider leaving some room in your schedule for an activity that shows your commitment to science/medicine; it's not too early to plan your convincing transfer admissions essay and even that AMCAS personal statement. And remember to cultivate your profs at XCC for rec letters, if you need those when transfering. Not in a fake way - I just mean to keep it in mind and make sure they get to know you so your request doesn't come out of the blue.

Build yourself a plan that leaves you feeling challenged, determined, and hopeful, but not overwhelmed and defeated before you begin. Get a mantra or whatever works. I personally like a good plan better than a mantra any day.

Remember to try to get some enjoyment out of your experiences at XCC, even if you're just killing time waiting to transfer. Get to know your classmates and professors, and take a fun class or two (I liked Ceramics...).

 

[jwtaylor]

thank you for your reply, it helped alot. i will have to get in contact with my schools and discuss summer sessions and evening out my work-load. god i hope i can do this 😱
thanks! 🙂

 

[bigbassinbob]

im about to enter my freshman year in college and im hoping that my questions can get cleared up here. being that most, if not all, of you have gone through what im about to go through i hope you can help. i'm one of those smart kids who doesnt use their ability. i've been in advanced placement all my academic life, but i started taking advantage of it in freshman year of high school and tried playing the cool kid...as a result i went from 3.8 gpas, to the point where right now i cant even get into a 4 year degree program, i have to start at a community college....(im not knocking that by any means). i want more than anything to be a physician. in the fall i'll be loaded up with calc, bio, and chem all in the first semester...it's been a while since ive had a work load like that...im having some huge apprehensions about it...im already getting nervous. i want more than anything to do well enough at my comm. college so i can transfer to finish my bach. degree at the college of my choice. my nerves are killing me and im already getting over-whelmed. have any of you experienced this? what did you do to get over it and just hit the books...or will this anxiety never go away?

I wouldn't worry about your high school slacker syndrome too much, I had it too. I think I had something like a 2.7 GPA coming out of high school, even though I was in all the advanced math and junk. I ended up getting into one of my state schools, and I just graduated with a 3.9 GPA. But the only thing I would suggest would be to let up on the starting load a little bit. You've got plenty of time to take your bio/chem/math/physics pre-reqs for med school, so you don't have to worry about plowing through them your first couple years (the mistake most people make). Especially considering you've been slacking off in high school, it will come as a major shock to you how intense these courses are at the college level -- though they aren't necessarily difficult. Consider taking a remedial math or chemistry class, that's what I did. It is a huge help to get your head back on straight before you plunge into the smart person role again. Good luck.

 

[NonTradMed]

I did not have your problem, but let me give you a word of advice regarding taking a heavy courseload, especially after 'slacking off' in high school.

Don't wear yourself out trying to compensate. Take it one step at a time.

Select a few hard courses, and pepper it with easier, or 'other' types of classes to balance out your brain as well as your workload.

I burned out in college, and didn't apply to med school. Now, I am trying to get back into things (age 25), and although I think everything worked out ok for me (have good job, decent grades etc), it was not without it's considerable hardships. Good luck.

 

[JohnnieBlue]

I know i'm the 6th person to write this piece of advice, but it can't be said enough here. You have to just take it very easy. I do not recommend taking more than one science at a time, especially first semester. Calc can even wait until you've been accepted to med school. I'm finishing it now and have been accepted at 3 schools. More important than where you start off or where you finish college is that you get A's. I can't stress this enough. Of course you shouldn't kill yourself if you get a B, but its more important to take light courses and get A's than it is to take a heavy courseload and get B's. Remember, the first cut at med school admissions is your GPA and MCAT. They won't even know that you took 71 credits in one semester if your GPA doesn't make the cut to be seen by human eyes. Especially since you're not in "work mode" yet and need to learn good study skills, its even more important to take an easy load. Knock off some easy graduation requirements like psych or statistics. Hell, take a gym course! Just start slow and build from there. Good luck!!!

 

[jwtaylor]

thank you all very much for this advice...im going to definitely lighten my course load, it's good to hear some advice from people who know what they're talking about...one thing i will forever remember is that just because someone works for a college/university academic counseling department doesnt mean they know a single thing about the school (this has been my experience thus far..haha) some people help...some people just waste time, haha, you guys helped.
🙂

 

[bearpaw]

thank you all very much for this advice...im going to definitely lighten my course load, it's good to hear some advice from people who know what they're talking about...one thing i will forever remember is that just because someone works for a college/university academic counseling department doesnt mean they know a single thing about the school (this has been my experience thus far..haha) some people help...some people just waste time, haha, you guys helped.
🙂

here's another important piece of advice: don't over estimate yourself. I know you blame doing poorly on school on being "too smart to work hard". I had the same cockiness about me my freshman year, and the results were not good.

You have to understand that there are people who are smarter than you AND are also working harder than you every second of the day. All you can do is your best, which means YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD. Think about it, you're in CC and you think you're smart...imagine all the kids who didn't apply themselves and STILL made it to Duke or Penn...so yeah, you better do what you can. Just work hard.

There are all kinds of people going to med school. Very few are super geniuses that are complete slackers. Most people are fairly intelligent and work reasonably hard when they have to. Some are not as smart, but they make up for it with working harder. Some are complete grinds, never stopping but also never giving up, and they make it in too. To be on the safe side, just work hard.

If you work hard and keep your grades up, you'll be going to med school in 4 years. Everyone here who got in worked hard at some point...you can too. Goodluck.