Sigh....overachievers

[CHAINCHOMPER]

Don't overachievers annoy you to death? I mean I know in general, the pre-med culture is an intense clique to be a part of, but it's hard to fit in. I mean I took the MCAT last Aug. and I got a decent score, but my friend got a score which is well above the score that most people in my classes are getting, and yet he wants to retake 😱. He is clearly insane!

If there are people that agree with me and cannot stand overachievers, feel free to vent your frustrations here!

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[Jolie South]

my friend, welcome to the world of pre-med. I doubt you will ever be able to escape overachievers in this career path.


P.S. I'm an overachiever.

 

[BluePhoenix]

Don't overachievers annoy you to death? I mean I know in general, the pre-med culture is an intense clique to be a part of, but it's hard to fit in. I mean I took the MCAT last Aug. and I got a decent score, but my friend got a score which is well above the score that most people in my classes are getting, and yet he wants to retake 😱. He is clearly insane!

Well...there's always a chance that he'll screw himself over retaking it if he ends up with a much lower score.

I guess I don't mind the overachievers as much as I mind the people with a somewhat lacking comprehension of ethics. It's hard to believe what some people will do to get an edge on the competition.

 

[seraph524]

I agree...theres a difference between being competitive and being ruthless... Unfortunately, for some pre-meds, that line is blurred...

 

[175961]

i guess they annoy me....but truth be told they also motivate me to work harder with hopes of getting better

 

[mac429]

I don't know, my overachiever friends did nothing but work/study and are going to high level med schools, while I partied/had a social life and am going to my state school. I'm pretty fine with how that worked out.

 

[VoiceofReason]

philosophically speaking, how does one overachieve?

 

[seraph524]

philosophically speaking, how does one overachieve?

Actually, now that I think about it, your right...I've been underachieving all this time! I mean, theres that kid at UChicago who entered med school at 12. I should just give up now... 😉

 

[beats]

After speaking with my PI (he teaches at the medical school), I've pretty much decided something about pre-meds and medical students. While we are all (generally) intelligent, I think we are better characterized by being Type A.

For a while I was turned off from medicine due to the hostile pre-med personality. I have personally witnessed several attempts at sabotage... altruism at its best, huh? Take heart, though; I think a lot of people grow out of it.

 

[pedro4199]

Underachievers annoy me.

 

[Jolie South]

there is a difference between being a gunner and being an overachiever.

gunners will take down anyone and everyone in their way to achieve success.

overachievers, to me, are just perfectionists.

 

[LadyWolverine]

Get used to them. In medical school, you will be surrounded by 150+ others from the cream of the crop of overachievers. The good news is, most people, by that point, realize that the pre-med level of competition is pretty unhealthy and leads to strained relationships (and a lot of grey hair). At my school, the majority of students are as "laid-back" as med students can get (we don't obsess about grades/scores - hell, we don't even talk about them). The key is to stop worrying about what everyone else is doing, and worry about what you are doing. As long as you are comfortable with yourself, your performance, and your sanity, have realistic goals and a gameplan, you'll be fine. Stick to caring about what you want to do, and what you need to get there. Keep it real, while your peers tear their hair out obsessing over things like MCAT scores/retakes.

The truth is that you probably have an element of that same type of personality - I think we all do. Embrace it, but also be cognizant of how you are expressing it. Congrats on getting an MCAT score that you are happy with.

 

[flaahless]

Overachievers don't annoy me, I don't really pay any mind to them. I am not an overachiever and I doubt I ever will be. I am an achiever, I do what I gotta do. Beyond that, I'd rather spend my time drinking and playing guitar hero.

 

[175961]

there is a difference between being a gunner and being an overachiever.

gunners will take down anyone and everyone in their way to achieve success.

overachievers, to me, are just perfectionists.

i like this answer👍

 

[BigRedder]

I was always bothered by overachievers because I was jealous of their single minded determination to succeed. They will probably make great doctors, though some of them could stand to chill out a little bit. My overachieving friends loved having me around, it made them feel better when they weren't studying.

 

[KelbornCmd]

Don't overachievers annoy you to death? I mean I know in general, the pre-med culture is an intense clique to be a part of, but it's hard to fit in. I mean I took the MCAT last Aug. and I got a decent score, but my friend got a score which is well above the score that most people in my classes are getting, and yet he wants to retake 😱. He is clearly insane!

If there are people that agree with me and cannot stand overachievers, feel free to vent your frustrations here!

Yeah, that is why I never admitted to anyone but my closest friends in college that I was pre-med. I never let any other pre-meds know about it, so I wouldn't have to deal with all that garbage.

 

[175961]

I was always bothered by overachievers because I was jealous of their single minded determination to succeed. They will probably make great doctors, though some of them could stand to chill out a little bit. My overachieving friends loved having me around, it made them feel better when they weren't studying.

thats because they were thinking "man i love having this guy around....keeps reminding me of whats gonna happen if i stop studying hard and applying my self"

I'M KIDDING!!

 

[BigRedder]

thats because they were thinking "man i love having this guy around....keeps reminding me of whats gonna happen if i stop studying hard and applying my self"

I'M KIDDING!!

Not so fast, it's pretty true...

They really got scared when I started applying myself junior year.

 

[gan11]

I haven't told a soul, besides my best friends, that I'm planning on applying to med school. One of the premed gunners that I know, asked me about my life plans, and I mentioned something about getting a master's degree first, so i'd have some research experience under my belt (*insert BS*), and then, she asked if I ever wanted to get into "The Real World". She then proceeded to tell all of us (Orientation week, so we were meeting people like mad) that when we applied to med school in four years time, she'd be the first to "slit wrists".

I wasn't really sure how to respond to that. I believe I changed the topic to Project Runway, which is MUCH more neutral 🙂

I don't mind overachievers, mainly because I care about myself only and if someone else wants to work their hardest, fine, as long as they aren't cutting me down.

 

[Maxprime]

As you get older, the underachievers will upset you much more. You will also simply learn to tune out the annoying kids that ask a million questions in lecture

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Overachievers are fine, sometimes annoying. GUnners are what piss me off.

OP maybe the guy scored significanly below is practice MCAT tests? There is nothing wrong with retaking if that is the case.

 

[Old Grunt]

philosophically speaking, how does one overachieve?

By giving 110% and then some.

 

[justme456]

Yeah, that is why I never admitted to anyone but my closest friends in college that I was pre-med. I never let any other pre-meds know about it, so I wouldn't have to deal with all that garbage.

I did the same thing... I didnt tell anyone i was taking the MCAT.. i didnt tell anyone I was applying and i didnt tell anyone I was going on interviews. After my interviews I started telling a few people. When I got accepted I didnt really tell anyone either, I only told a few people that asked about it.

I remember I was having a friendly conversation with one of my premed "friends" and I told her I got accepted to one of the schools that interviewed her... and all she had to say was " oh"... and she had this sad disgusted look on her face and weakly said "congratulations"

 

[nevercold]

I agree with the sentiments from justme456 and JolieSouth. People have different personal standards and goals. Some are indeed perfectionists. Regardless, it is tough when you don't achieve your personal expectations and in that time everyone looks around for a little moral support. It sucks to be in that situation and realize you can't really tell anyone because they'll only be jealous and angry that your expectations are higher. But it also sucks to have to swallow your pride and admit that someone else is really working towards a different standard than you.

The solution: Get some non pre-med/medical friends!! As many as you can!! They will keep you sane 🙂

 

[TehDoc]

Indeed, anything besides trying hard to achieve your own goals is annoying. When you step out of that line you are effecting others around you.

 

[Jolie South]

I agree with the sentiments from justme456 and JolieSouth. People have different personal standards and goals. Some are indeed perfectionists. Regardless, it is tough when you don't achieve your personal expectations and in that time everyone looks around for a little moral support. It sucks to be in that situation and realize you can't really tell anyone because they'll only be jealous and angry that your expectations are higher. But it also sucks to have to swallow your pride and admit that someone else is really working towards a different standard than you.

The solution: Get some non pre-med/medical friends!! As many as you can!! They will keep you sane 🙂

This is why I married a man who wants a career in French literature.

I want to compete with myself and only myself. When I don't tune everyone else out, the self-doubt sets in. Work towards your own goals. If that's a career in community family practice, then great. If that's gaining an ultra competitive spot in derm and then working your way up the academic ladder, good for you. (Or in the pre-med world: wanting to go to Harvard vs. getting into a state school). It's when people belittle you and you listen that you're going to be unhappy.

 

[clab1707]

Get used to them. In medical school, you will be surrounded by 150+ others from the cream of the crop of overachievers. The good news is, most people, by that point, realize that the pre-med level of competition is pretty unhealthy and leads to strained relationships (and a lot of grey hair).

I've never had an experience where I felt there was competition between myself and other pre-meds at my school. Have any of you really had students try to sabotage your efforts of succeeding in Undergrad? Maybe I've always been oblivious or just not in the middle of this kind of atmosphere

 

[justme456]

I've never had an experience where I felt there was competition between myself and other pre-meds at my school. Have any of you really had students try to sabotage your efforts of succeeding in Undergrad? Maybe I've always been oblivious or just not in the middle of this kind of atmosphere

I met a girl that said she would help me choose a good genetics professor. I didnt know alot of people at the time and she seemed really nice and she said she would help me. I later realized that she talked me into taking the worst genetics professor at our school. I was failing and I asked her what to do about it.... and that was when she said "yea.. i should have warned you about him"😡...... thank God i later found out about pickaprof and ratemyprof

Also, for some of our classes there are old exams/notes floating around that are really good to study with. But alot of the premeds will NOT share. Last semester in my human anatomy class, I asked almost EVERY single person if they had any old notes/old tests/study guides, and they all said no. That class was ridiculous and our professor was EVIL... he didnt teach anything but he wanted us to know EVERYTHING, but there were people still making 100 on exams and practicals while I was studying my BUTT off and struggling to make 70s. One day in the library I saw a girl in my class looking at an old test and I begged her to send it to me. I looked at the list of previously forwarded email addresses and I saw that most of the people that said they DIDNT have any old material actually did.😡

 

[GoldShadow]

I thought pre-meds were, by definition, overachievers? It's possible to be an overachiever without being a "gunner" or an *******.

 

[Auron]

the competition breeds it...

 

[dd128]

I thought pre-meds were, by definition, overachievers? It's possible to be an overachiever without being a "gunner" or an *******.

This is kind of true. It's pretty difficult to make it to medical school, much less through it without some degree of over achieving. Just how you gotta play the game.

 

[bodonid]

I thought pre-meds were, by definition, overachievers? It's possible to be an overachiever without being a "gunner" or an *******.

I have a t-shirt that kind of encompasses this idea, it says "closet gunner" with a picture of a sniper- kind of a funny premed inside joke.

 

[seraph524]

I have a t-shirt that kind of encompasses this idea, it says "closet gunner" with a picture of a sniper- kind of a funny premed inside joke.

Somehow that made me think of Counter-Strike...

 

[bodonid]

I met a girl that said she would help me choose a good genetics professor. I didnt know alot of people at the time and she seemed really nice and she said she would help me. I later realized that she talked me into taking the worst genetics professor at our school. I was failing and I asked her what to do about it.... and that was when she said "yea.. i should have warned you about him"😡...... thank God i later found out about pickaprof and ratemyprof

unfortunate situation, but i have to say, ratemyprof etc. has really let me down, and many of my fav profs have bad ratings simply because they teach hard classes. Take it with a grain of salt, if you ask me, unless there are some detailed reviews or their reviews are abysmal.

 

[seraph524]

Ah . . . the plaintive wails of the weak.

Music to my ears.

lol

 

[muireinin]

being a perfectionist carries its own punishment if you let it get out of hand 😳

but yea, gunners are ridiculous. the ones i know have very loud, faux-casual conversations about which top 10 they've interviewed at, or better, they somehow bring up that fact in lecture. i am impressed that they can work it into a standard question: "when i was interviewing at X, they were talking about this too..."

 

[Maxx4]

Overachievers don't annoy me, I don't really pay any mind to them. I am not an overachiever and I doubt I ever will be. I am an achiever, I do what I gotta do. Beyond that, I'd rather spend my time drinking and playing guitar hero.

Pretty much how I feel. I just do me.

 

[Revenant]

I'm glad my major helped me avoid premeds for the most part.

Finally taking my bio course and wondering if they're all this annoying.

Jesus Christ.

For example, just took an exam, and the message boards flare up:

"omg they put 5 e's in a row so cheap"

...*****s, it's memorize and regurgitate, how hard is that?

 

[TheMemoirist]

I'll admit--when I was in undergrad, I was really annoyed by the super-competitive, type-A med students--enough so that I gave up on being a pre-med and indefinitely postponed going to med school. Every time I imagined going to med school, I envisioned having to be stuck in a class with these d-bags for the next four years, and it was enough to make me want to quit. (Now, I'll admit that a lot of my annoyance probably stemmed from the fact that I wasn't nearly as gung-ho about getting A's in all my pre-reqs, and it made me feel a bit insecure.)

But now I realize that unless med school admissions become far, far less competitive, the archetype of the perfectionist pre-med will persevere. If someone really wants to go to med school, you can't blame them for getting super-competitive about it, considering how difficult it is to get in.

In the end, I just stopped caring. It's not that I don't see that obnoxously competitive streak in people--but I have learned to see past it. And guess what--I realized that some of the people who had annoyed me for years were actually pretty cool people! (But not all of them. I'm not above holding a life-long grudge. Especially against that pre-med in my Analytical Chemistry lab who made us all listen to $****y country radio all the time.)