Sit in classes without enrollment

[jscarpachio]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Questions for current med students. If I am not enrolled in any medical school but would like to sit in classes and study myself, would the instructor find out I'm not enrolled at the school?

The only thing I wouldn't be able to attend for the first two years would be labs, correct?

 

[Mike59]

Ummmm.....WHY!? If you're trying to get a leg up before starting med school, its not going to make a difference. If you're honors material you'll make honors first time through.

Even in large classes, people will notice that there's some new person in class. I'm sure the number of people asking "who are you?" will make you stop attending classes within the first week of your attempt.

 

[jscarpachio]

Ummmm.....WHY!? If you're trying to get a leg up before starting med school, its not going to make a difference. If you're honors material you'll make honors first time through.

Even in large classes, people will notice that there's some new person in class. I'm sure the number of people asking "who are you?" will make you stop attending classes within the first week of your attempt.

If I started going to classes from the beginning of the semester, then I would be treated like a normal student, no? I might be missing something here, but please tell me how they would find out.

Would they catch me because I am only attending lectures and not labs? Curiously though, would I be able to attend labs?

 

[alliemac]

People would def. notice. Here's a few reasons why:
1. You'd be that guy w/o notes. I don't know how it is at other schools, but before each unit, we get a new stack of notes. Since you aren't enrolled, they wouldn't make any for you. EVERYONE follows the notes and takes their own notes on those pages.

2. People would notice that you're never at tests.

3. People would never notice that you're not in lab, small groups, etc.

4. Even if you try to sit by yourself, people will want to meet you. It's just the way med school is since we're all "the new guy" on day 1. Someone would inevitably snitch.

5. News spreads fast in my class. If someone has juicy gossip, everyone knows in five minutes--even if it's just a rumor. If one person was suspicious of you, everyone would know.

I agree with Mike. Don't waste your time. Med school's hard, but not so hard that I look back and wish that I'd sat through every class last year. Don't waste your time. I would hate for a future employer to ask you what you did during whatever year you plan on sitting through classes...that's just gonna look weird. Do something exciting and worthwhile with your time.

 

[Hawkeye Kid]

Ummmm.....WHY!?

Amen to that. Exactly what would you hope to accomplish by doing this? As much as I love medicine and learning about this stuff, a lot of lectures are plain boring and I often found myself wondering why I subjected myself to it once, let alone twice. If you didn't get in but are planning on reapplying, this is NOT--repeat, NOT--the way to improve your application. It doesn't convey dedication to medicine nearly as well as some medically-related job (read: income) and it certainly doesn't say to an adcom "hey, take me, I'm a normal, well-rounded guy." Sorry, dude, but I just don't see why on earth you'd want to do this. Enlighten us, please.

 

[Thunderlips]

First off I have never met a "normal, well-rounded" med student just a bunch of freaks. And if you feel like hanging out and going to lectures with freaks like us go right ahead...whatever floats your boat man. I mean look at the responses you got on this thread. Do you really want to be surrounded by these people? I bet you could pull it off, mainly because most med students don't pay too much attention to things that don't have a grade. It would be pretty damn funny in that sad waste of time type of funny. Good luck, let us know if it works out for ya.

 

[synapse lapse]

I think it would be pretty obvious since the same limited number of students is there every day, and as alliemac said, you would not be able to pull it off too long. Besides, as everyone else said, who wants to sit in on boring lectures and not even get the reward of being recognized by the work.

 

[King Arthur]

that's trespassing. those lectures are NOT public venues. when (not if) the school finds out, you will be arrested and getting arrested for sitting through lecture, would be about as cool as getting arrested for loitering at the DMV.

 

[Dr. Rosenrose]

Get A Flippin' Life

 

[pharmer]

Poop with corn is good. Try that instead. Its free too....except sometimes you have to buy the corn.

 

[beanbean]

Med school lectures are for people who have been accepted to med school and PAY TUITION! If you don't meet these criteria you have no right to be there.

Med school is not like undergrad where you are sitting in a huge lecture hall full of random students from many different classes and majors. Everyone in MS1 takes the same lectures; therefore it becomes obvious if someone else is in lecture but not labs and small conferences.

BTW: getting caught doing this would probably ensure you would have an extremely difficult time ever getting accepted to a med school as a real student.

 

[Paws]

This is an interesting thread and I was wondering if anyone could actually do this at my school (100 students), and then I realized we DO have someone who sits in on most of our classes and is not a medstudent.

I have spoken to her a few times and she's very nice and all, but she is going to be applying for dental school and so - I am not so clear here exactly - she is 'reviewing' this year before actually going next year. 😕 I know, now that I think about it, it really does seem weird. She takes no exams for credit but just for the 'experience'. She is from Slovenia. I guess I figured I wouldn't stick my nose into business that's not mine, but I really have no idea who she is or why she is really there since dental students don't need micro, etc.

 

[Barry Otter]

I can't think of a more terrible waste of time. More often than not, med school lecturers are mediocre teachers. If you really want to learn this stuff, seek out the best sources. If I had picked up Sherwood's undergrad physiology textbook and supplemented it with Costanzo's BRS book, I would have saved myself a lot of time and frustration that came with trying to decipher my syllabus notes. For pathology, I would read Robbins and supplement it with Goljan's audio lectures.

 

[YzIa]

I can't think of a more terrible waste of time. More often than not, med school lecturers are mediocre teachers. If you really want to learn this stuff, seek out the best sources. If I had picked up Sherwood's undergrad physiology textbook and supplemented it with Costanzo's BRS book, I would have saved myself a lot of time and frustration that came with trying to decipher my syllabus notes. For pathology, I would read Robbins and supplement it with Goljan's audio lectures.

This reminds me of that dude that faked being a doctor. There is a fine line between being curious (sitting in a few lectures) and being freaky (sitting in on all lectures).

 

[donnyfire]

More often than not, med school lecturers are mediocre teachers.

Amen to that!

 

[Obedeli]

Questions for current med students. If I am not enrolled in any medical school but would like to sit in classes and study myself, would the instructor find out I'm not enrolled at the school?

The only thing I wouldn't be able to attend for the first two years would be labs, correct?

If you are serious, I suspect that a restraining order would not be new to you.

 

[synapse lapse]

This thread reminds me of this guy who pretended to go to Rice a few years back. He showed up in o-week at a college (our orientation week) and was able to get a student ID and even eat for free. He ended up being here for over a month, staying with friends in their rooms and eating at the servery. In the end he got found out when he went to change a class to pass/fail - yet he wasn't enrolled in any classes nor even a student. Something seriously wrong with this guy in the head lmao it was a funny story though.

 

[jscarpachio]

Wow, some of you seem like you would be big time snitches and loud mouths. I was just asking this question, because I was curious to know what future classes would be like. Even if I sat through two years of lectures or read the books on my own, I still wouldn't be able to take the Step 1.

 

[SmartAlek]

This thread reminds me of this guy who pretended to go to Rice a few years back. He showed up in o-week at a college (our orientation week) and was able to get a student ID and even eat for free. He ended up being here for over a month, staying with friends in their rooms and eating at the servery. In the end he got found out when he went to change a class to pass/fail - yet he wasn't enrolled in any classes nor even a student. Something seriously wrong with this guy in the head lmao it was a funny story though.

Yes I remember this happening. As a matter of fact it has happened twice since I have been at Rice. I think one actually got jail time.

To the original post, it is admirable that you would like to get a heads up on what will take place in med school 👍 ..but it is probably best to just do a review of the material. It is sad that med school profs are often boring and ineffective just like most science profs. 👎

 

[Hawkeye Kid]

Wow, some of you seem like you would be big time snitches and loud mouths. I was just asking this question, because I was curious to know what future classes would be like. Even if I sat through two years of lectures or read the books on my own, I still wouldn't be able to take the Step 1.

I don't think that's necessarily the case, we're just having a hard time understanding your goal. If all you want to do is see what future classes would be like, most admissions directors would gladly set you up with a student that you could hang out with for a day. If you're looking for more of an educational edge, then you'd definitely be better off reviewing stuff on your own (you likely wouldn't get enough out of lecture to make it worth your time).

Personally, I wouldn't care a bit if you came and sat in on my classes for whatever reason (UNLESS you started making lecture last longer by asking questions, that is). Would instructors find out? Unlikely since all of my classes have been "team-taught." But, students would definitely notice, and God only knows what some med students are capable of when they think someone's trying to get an advantage over them (not that this is what you'd be doing).

Anyway, take this for what it is--random people giving their opinions to your question. Take all responses with a grain of salt, sort through them, and try to find the advice you were looking for. Good luck.

 

[nabeya]

reminds me of the guy who faked being a med student then when his wife found out, he killed her.

u coudnt pay me to do the basic sciences again if i didnt have to.

I don't think that's necessarily the case, we're just having a hard time understanding your goal. If all you want to do is see what future classes would be like, most admissions directors would gladly set you up with a student that you could hang out with for a day. If you're looking for more of an educational edge, then you'd definitely be better off reviewing stuff on your own (you likely wouldn't get enough out of lecture to make it worth your time).

Personally, I wouldn't care a bit if you came and sat in on my classes for whatever reason (UNLESS you started making lecture last longer by asking questions, that is). Would instructors find out? Unlikely since all of my classes have been "team-taught." But, students would definitely notice, and God only knows what some med students are capable of when they think someone's trying to get an advantage over them (not that this is what you'd be doing).

Anyway, take this for what it is--random people giving their opinions to your question. Take all responses with a grain of salt, sort through them, and try to find the advice you were looking for. Good luck.

 

[toofache32]

I guess I figured I wouldn't stick my nose into business that's not mine, but I really have no idea who she is or why she is really there since dental students don't need micro, etc.

Why don't dental students need micro? Most oral disease is bacterial...