Questions from a clueless high school senior...

[AlphaKY1]

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Clever title, I know. haha.

I'm new here, so hi all. I just have a lot of questions regarding pre-med and med school to follow. Right now I am currently trying to decide upon what school to go to...

I took my ACT junior spring, last year for the first time and got a 27. 23 English, 26 Math, 27 Reading, and 32 Science. Still shooting for that 30. How do those numbers look? I know if i could get my english up my score would rise too.

How is the pre-med/bio major workload in college? Like free time outside of studying and classes. I went on a visit today and the student panel made them sound miserable haha. I took a medical terminology I & II class last year for college credit and I am in AP Bio, AP Physics, and AP Psych this year. As well as playing football, running track, clubs all that high school excitement.

It also sounds like med school isn't any lighter of a load, but the reward of becoming a doctor and helping people would easily pay off. Especially adding that MD after my name 😉

And...now i just totally blanked on my questions so I guess these will just have to do! haha
Thanks everyone

*Also shadowed a Neurologist last year, that was pretty cool.

 

[Terpskins99]

I'm new here, so hi all. I just have a lot of questions regarding pre-med and med school to follow. Right now I am currently trying to decide upon what school to go to...

I took my ACT junior spring, last year for the first time and got a 27. 23 English, 26 Math, 27 Reading, and 32 Science. Still shooting for that 30. How do those numbers look? I know if i could get my english up my score would rise too.

How is the pre-med/bio major workload in college? Like free time outside of studying and classes. I went on a visit today and the student panel made them sound miserable haha. I took a medical terminology I & II class last year for college credit and I am in AP Bio, AP Physics, and AP Psych this year. As well as playing football, running track, clubs all that high school excitement.

It also sounds like med school isn't any lighter of a load, but the reward of becoming a doctor and helping people would easily pay off. Especially adding that MD after my name 😉

And...now i just totally blanked on my questions so I guess these will just have to do! haha
Thanks everyone

*Also shadowed a Neurologist last year, that was pretty cool.

The training involved in becoming a physician is intense. Even after all the formal instruction is completed (college/medical school/residency), you're still a student of medicine for the rest of your career.

But your life as a pre-med and medical student (and even a medical resident) can be quite different from your life as an attending physician. The formal training (albeit over a decade long) is only temporary. I would look at it from the perspective of the attending physician (such as the neurologist you shadowed), and see if that is the life that you would be interested in.

 

[jc14]

It sounds like you've got your act together pretty well so far.

The medical school prerequisites and/or a biology major can be rather intense at times. However, in retrospect, I always had time for What I Wanted To Do in undergrad. At the time, there were weeks (particularly when I had exams) that I might have to hole up and really hit the books. However, even then I usually would have time to go out to dinner with friends, etc. The "off" weeks weren't bad at all. (I was a Chem major/Bio minor.)

You in all likelihood will find yourself studying more than your friends who are in other fields of study. The nature of science-heavy course loads often demand more time input, as I am sure you have already experienced in your current classes.

The biggest difference between Undergrad and Med School (in my opinion) is that you do not have the same degree of free time or "off days/weeks". The stream of material is heavy and pretty consistent. If you set yourself up with good study habits in high school and then college, you will be ok. You just have to manage your time and prioritize.

Best of luck in finishing up your current classes and starting the next adventure!

 

[Dr Oops]

This may help you, in order of time spent studying

med school>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>undergrad engineering>undergrad bio>undergrad business>psych etc.

 

[Maybeleen]

Great Spirits 😎 Keep up the Awesome Work! College is totally different from high school and Med school is absolutely different from College but hard work coming from you should be carried on.

 

[QuizzicalApe]

How is the pre-med/bio major workload in college? Like free time outside of studying and classes. I went on a visit today and the student panel made them sound miserable haha. I took a medical terminology I & II class last year for college credit and I am in AP Bio, AP Physics, and AP Psych this year. As well as playing football, running track, clubs all that high school excitement.

It also sounds like med school isn't any lighter of a load, but the reward of becoming a doctor and helping people would easily pay off. Especially adding that MD after my name 😉

I'm skipping over the ACT part of the question because I come from SAT-land and don't know left from right when it comes to your test.

Anyway, the specifics of how difficult you find your undergraduate curriculum to be, and medical school, really just depends on what kind of learner you'll be. The reason I phrase it in the future tense is that as you move through college, if you're doing things right, you'll learn how to learn more efficiently, absorb information better, train up your work ethic if need be, and really just maximize your ability as a student.

The second thing in undergrad that will determine how difficult your courses will be, beyond the fact that some classes may just be challenging, is the professors. Scope them out in advance, find out who is unreasonably difficult, who grades fairly, and who is just a generally nice or interesting person that you can see yourself paying attention to pretty easily in class.

Anyway, what I'm trying to get across with that is your mileage may vary. That being said, any pre-med who tells you that the experience is dismal and devoid of free time is... well, I'm confident enough to contradict my claims of subjectivity by saying that they are doing it wrong. Your undergrad experience should be enjoyable as much as educational.

It isn't supposed to be miserable until you have to study for the MCAT, and then bounce around the country on interviews where your acceptances are based on divinations gleaned from cast knuckle-bones or the spilled entrails of chickens by a highly trained committee of admission witches.

Med school is basically about one thing when it comes to difficulty: volume volume volume volume volume

You'll be drowning in a sea of information. Once you get to med school, you'll have a pretty solid basis in how you learn best. It just becomes a matter of not procrastinating, gaining a keen eye for the important details and concepts, and absorbing everything like a brain-sponge.

 

[avatarftw]

Were you an engineering major in college? Some engineers have told me that med school is more difficult (much more time spent studying) than the engineering majors. Well, most have said so.

However, an engineering classmate told me that our first year workload is roughly the same as his engineering college experience.

I'm just curious what engineers say.

To the original poster: med school is hard and there is a LOT of information. College can be pretty easy, depending on your major. It can be very time intensive, also, if you work and have other obligations.

This may help you, in order of time spent studying

med school>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>undergrad engineering>undergrad bio>undergrad business>psych etc.