Students who are killing it in school and at the top of your class, what's the secret?

[779663]

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What are you doing that is helping you succeed?

Is it studying more than your peers? Natural intelligence? Good habits? Self confidence? undetectable cheating techniques? Something else?

I'm starting medical school in the fall of next year and I've always been an average student, I want to change that though, I want to be better, this is going to be my career after all. What are you doing that is making you achieve so highly in medical school that I should begin doing?

This post is coming from a place where I always feel that I could do better than the things I achieve. No matter what the result I always feel like I had more to give that could have made things better. Now free years of struggling to get to medical school, I'm here and the decisions I make now and the result that comes from them will have an impact on my career and maybe even the rest of my life. I don't want to leave school having that same feeling that I could have done better.

 

[RunawayGrape]

.

 

[Warderino92]

As an M2 I've come to realize that 99% of the people in my class were also big fishes in little ponds in undergrad, and the absolute top of my class simply has better natural retention of material after a pass or two than I do. It's ok to be in the middle of the pack of your class as far as grades go. Just focus on doing well on step.

 

[deleted245139]

In order....
1. Work smarter
2. Work harder
3. Work longer

You don't always have to do all three. You need to find what works for you, what your rhythm is. Don't worry about your classmates performance. At the end of this road, YOU are the doctor. The training wheels come off... Its your job to be ready 🙂

 

[cresume]

I'm in the top 20% of my M1 class, and I had a 3.3 undergrad GPA. I honestly attribute it all to anki, because I still have time to do the things I want to do

 

[Foot Fetish]

There is no magic formula. Jerry Rice said it best:

"Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't."

If your effort is average, then your results will only be average too. You need to study the material in greater depth, with more attention to minutia, and with more repetition than your classmates if you want to beat them.

 

[Goro]

Some things universal for my top students is that they have very good time mgt skills, great work ethics, and most importantly, a love of learning.

Go read my post on "guide to med student success".

What are you doing that is helping you succeed?

Is it studying more than your peers? Natural intelligence? Good habits? Self confidence? undetectable cheating techniques? Something else?

I'm starting medical school in the fall of next year and I've always been an average student, I want to change that though, I want to be better, this is going to be my career after all. What are you doing that is making you achieve so highly in medical school that I should begin doing?

This post is coming from a place where I always feel that I could do better than the things I achieve. No matter what the result I always feel like I had more to give that could have made things better. Now free years of struggling to get to medical school, I'm here and the decisions I make now and the result that comes from them will have an impact on my career and maybe even the rest of my life. I don't want to leave school having that same feeling that I could have done better.

 

[MareNostrummm]

I used to be a very consistent B+/A- student, never made a single flash card until senior year of undergrad though and typically would just read through lecture slides 1-2 days before a midterm.

Changed my method to where I type up the entire lecture as the professor speaks, then immediately after class I convert the lecture into anki cards (with images etc). Then I just review the anki cards every single day until the midterm/final etc. Create a new subdeck after each midterm. It requires more discipline over the quarter/semester but you end up with less stress and better grasp of the concepts/retention of material by the time a new test rolls around.

I'm consistently scoring the highest in every single class now and have about 40 units of straight A's, while working 30 hours a week, volunteering, etc. Also did well on the MCAT using the same method. However, most people that I share it with don't have the discipline or just don't bother to learn how to use Anki (it's not even hard). Medical students are probably more willing to go all the way though.

 

[Milotic]

What are you doing that is helping you succeed?

Is it studying more than your peers? Natural intelligence? Good habits? Self confidence? undetectable cheating techniques? Something else?

I'm starting medical school in the fall of next year and I've always been an average student, I want to change that though, I want to be better, this is going to be my career after all. What are you doing that is making you achieve so highly in medical school that I should begin doing?

This post is coming from a place where I always feel that I could do better than the things I achieve. No matter what the result I always feel like I had more to give that could have made things better. Now free years of struggling to get to medical school, I'm here and the decisions I make now and the result that comes from them will have an impact on my career and maybe even the rest of my life. I don't want to leave school having that same feeling that I could have done better.

Don't forget that everyone has a different ceiling though. Someone's maximum abilities may never be top 10% of the class unless literally most of the class doesn't give a ****.

 

[mymembernames]

Bros Anki Deck

 

[IlDestriero]

Balance. It makes everything better.


--
Il Destriero

 

[mmmcdowe]

Experiment early with different study styles, pick the one that works best for you, ignore what everyone else is doing and don't feel obligated to attend or do anythign that isn't a learning opportunity for you. I got my pre-clinical medical education in the basement of the library at double speed via lecture videos at 9PM at night and I made thousands upon thousands of flash cards.

 

[jqueb29]

Figure out what works for you and do it. I've seen several people who struggle to get anything from Firecracker or Anki or various other sources but still keep doing it because "everybody else is doing it". If a source or a method of studying doesn't work for you, don't do it.

Also, for the most part, it's just all about work. Work until you know the material. It can be harder than hell at times, but it can always be done.

 

[Anicetus]

For those of you answering OP's question of "for those of you at the TOP how are you studying?" by saying "work hard, study a lot, put in a lot of time" just implies that people NOT at the top don't do that. Are 85-90% of students just a bunch of lazy bums?

That answer is like the equivalent of "git gud".

I wonder if there are actually people walking around assuming most people who didn't get AOA or a 250+ just didn't "work hard enough".

 

[Rekt]

For those of you answering OP's question of "for those of you at the TOP how are you studying?" by saying "work hard, study a lot, put in a lot of time" just implies that people NOT at the top don't do that. Are 85-90% of students just a bunch of lazy bums?

That answer is like the equivalent of "git gud".

I wonder if there are actually people walking around assuming most people who didn't get AOA or a 250+ just didn't "work hard enough".

Come on, this isn't the case for most of us. I'm doing really well and I study very hard. I know other people study really hard, if not even more than I, and struggle to just pass with Cs or low Bs. I have good friends who study a lot and I can see the physical drain of how much they study. Sure, there could be differences in levels of intelligence or retention, but I don't think that is the main case. I personally don't think I'm that smart at all.

I think the main differences comes down to is what people actually consider studying, how they approach it, and what they're actually doing. Me studying for 10 hours is likely going to be much different than someone averaging 70s that studies 10 hours. Also, how much of that time is real studying? How much time is spent shtposting on SDN or looking at highlight reels of peoples lives on facebook.

For me, I do a mostly untimed version of pomodoro studying. I study hard until I feel that I'm losing focus, which is almost always around 1.5 hours, then I take a 20-30 minute break. I study solo and never use groups. Ever. Huge waste of time. I allocate my time differently per subject of lectures. I spend the most time by far on pathology lectures, a fraction of time on clinical/other lectures and usually just cram pharmacology. I don't use any flashcards or Anki and mostly skim through PowerPoints and only use notes for path. I'll use secondary material as needed, which is mostly UTD, Wiki, Youtube, eMed. I really only even do 1 pass of pathoma, if that, because my pathology is significantly more in depth so I don't find it helpful then review FA before the exam. Usually 1-2 days before the exam I'm done with review and start doing whatever practice questions I can find that are relevant, Rx, quizzes, whatever .

Now if I told a person scoring low to do this exactly, would they automatically start getting As? Most likely not. I struggled with the first exam of M1, hitting far far below average in first year. I tried many things from Anki, to taking too many notes, to trying read, etc, but eventually found what was needed. The key is finding what works for you.

Edit: Just saw @jqueb29 's post and he's on point. People praise Anki like it's the damn holy grail. You start to feel like if you just download it you automatically get As and end up with a 290 on Step 1. Just because everyone is doing something doesn't mean you need to if it doesn't work for you.

 

[zygzy]

I'll bite. I don't really mess around with Anki or any flashcard mess. It doesn't help at all. But what I do varies by the topic. For physiology, histology, and embryology, I will pre-read the material to get a first pass, then lecture winds up being my second exposure. During lecture I will highlight in my notes whatever the professor hits on, and add what I miss. Then review it post lecture, maybe a day or two after. Then just briefly hit up the main points every few days to keep things fresh (kind of like the spaced repetition stuff from Anki). Then do a thorough review of the material during exam week.

For anatomy, I skip lecture, learn the structures in netters before lab, learn the relationships between structures in lab, then listen to the lecture recordings at 2x speed to get any minutiae that my anatomy instructor deems important, and thats usually enough for me.

 

[sholamd]

I graduated #4 in my class and matched into Derm. I agree with previous posters that it's not the amount you study but how you study. I made a "study strategy troubleshooting guide" when I launched my podcast and some of the things I said were:

☐ Have you tried at least two completely different study strategies?
☐ Are you using a study strategy recommended by a successfully matched medical student (not a peer)?
☐ Do you minimize distractions by using a social media-blocking app?
☐ Do you have a study group completely separate from your social circle?
☐ Do you pre-read before lecture?
☐ Do you practice active versus passive reading?
☐ Do you use a boards prep book (such as First Aid) to separate high-yield from low-yield?

There's more but you get the idea. I don't think it's natural brilliance - I think (like jqueb29) said, you have to know yourself and know what study methods work best for you. It's important to be flexible, which is hard for most people.

 

[MareNostrummm]

I graduated #4 in my class and matched into Derm. I agree with previous posters that it's not the amount you study but how you study. I made a "study strategy troubleshooting guide" when I launched my podcast and some of the things I said were:

☐ Have you tried at least two completely different study strategies?
☐ Are you using a study strategy recommended by a successfully matched medical student (not a peer)?
☐ Do you minimize distractions by using a social media-blocking app?
☐ Do you have a study group completely separate from your social circle?
☐ Do you pre-read before lecture?
☐ Do you practice active versus passive reading?
☐ Do you use a boards prep book (such as First Aid) to separate high-yield from low-yield?

There's more but you get the idea. I don't think it's natural brilliance - I think (like jqueb29) said, you have to know yourself and know what study methods work best for you. It's important to be flexible, which is hard for most people.

I like the idea of having several different study strategies. For me it depends on how much time I have until the midterm. If I'm planning on studying over several weeks the anki has been the best for me. If I'm in a crunch time due to other obligations getting in the way then just simply rewriting my notes by hand or brute force flashing with quizlet will get the job done on short notice.

If its a class that requires problem solving (OChem, Gchem, physics) then I would just do all the practice problems in the back of the book with a stopwatch. Once you start running practice problems with a stop watch you're going to be finishing the first in your class on every test and have extra time to go over your answers.

 

[Anicetus]

I graduated #4 in my class and matched into Derm. I agree with previous posters that it's not the amount you study but how you study. I made a "study strategy troubleshooting guide" when I launched my podcast and some of the things I said were:

☐ Have you tried at least two completely different study strategies?
☐ Are you using a study strategy recommended by a successfully matched medical student (not a peer)?
☐ Do you minimize distractions by using a social media-blocking app?
☐ Do you have a study group completely separate from your social circle?
☐ Do you pre-read before lecture?
☐ Do you practice active versus passive reading?
☐ Do you use a boards prep book (such as First Aid) to separate high-yield from low-yield?

There's more but you get the idea. I don't think it's natural brilliance - I think (like jqueb29) said, you have to know yourself and know what study methods work best for you. It's important to be flexible, which is hard for most people.

I notice that the naturally brilliant people say the same thing "it's not natural brilliance, I just did it right or I worked harder".

I understand that some people just can't be the top 10% in math sometimes just because it's something they don't have a natural skill at. Even if we all find the right way to study I can confidently say that not all of us can go onto math PhDs and rock it at the top of the class just like not everyone can go to medical school find the right way to memorize and understand medicine and rock it at the top of the class. Otherwise are we to really believe we are all programmed neurally the same way? Really?

The problem with the "how did you get top 10% of your class" question is that we are all weighted against one another and "finding the right way" relies on the idea that most of your classmates WONT find the right way. Therefore, you really can't deny that natural intelligence or even simply natural skill of memorizing and recall of details plays a bigger role in medical school than you think.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Concepts which I think get forgotten in these discussions are the non-academic aspects of academic success. Here was a recent post that I saw on a different forum that highlights this:

So I'm in my first year and haven't been doing that great so far. I've been passing but just below average. This unit, I changed up my study tactics, went to the gym every day, and cut out alcohol completely. I'm happy to say I was able to score above the average on the exam I just took. I'm not trying to brag but I just wanted to share this because reading success stories from people in similar situations really helped me when I was doubting myself!

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

Concepts which I think get forgotten in these discussions are the non-academic aspects of academic success. Here was a recent post that I saw on a different forum that highlights this:

Used to be an absolute gym fanatic--basically have stopped going altogether once I started med-school...Feel like it is definitely affecting my performance. Started back up yesterday and will do whatever it takes to keep it going!

 

[MareNostrummm]

Used to be an absolute gym fanatic--basically have stopped going altogether once I started med-school...Feel like it is definitely affecting my performance. Started back up yesterday and will do whatever it takes to keep it going!

My grades significantly improved once I quit lifting (would go to the gym 3-4 days a week). I was always tired and never had enough time to eat/cook food in order to build muscle. Now I pretty much just study anki while going on long walks for my exercise lol..

 

[Señor S]

**** bitches get honors

 

[jqueb29]

My grades significantly improved once I quit lifting (would go to the gym 3-4 days a week). I was always tired and never had enough time to eat/cook food in order to build muscle. Now I pretty much just study anki while going on long walks for my exercise lol..

Meanwhile, my grades have positively correlated with how jacked I am. Different strokes for different bros.

 

[SansaStarkMD]

One of the guys at the top of my class refused a blood draw when the faculty told our class "we could all practice and get our cholesterol checked."

 

[Wolfpack2014]

What are you doing that is helping you succeed?

Is it studying more than your peers? Natural intelligence? Good habits? Self confidence? undetectable cheating techniques? Something else?

Are you any good at seducing professors? That could be a way to approach it.

 

[Cara Delevingne]

I did well in UG - 3.99 as non-biology STEM major, and currently doing ok in MS1 (non-top 20 US MD). Wouldn't say top of the class, they don't rank us anyway so we'll never know, and it comes off as braggy sometimes when people ask about others' grades, but I'd say top quartile of the class at least.

Although I'd like to thank my god-given talents for where I am today, I think what helped me most was getting the information from many different sources. First, the important information will be repeated by all (lecture, Robbins, study aids like pathoma/goljan, etc). Second, it's kind of like a quiz when you come across the topic in another book - did they mention this symptom? they should be using X stain to make the Dx - and since the most important stuff will be repeated ad nauseum, you probably will remember.

In addition, I like Anki cards and I'm glad we have generous upper-classmen who shared their decks with us. I think it's much better than studying from your own Anki cards because you get to save time and you never know the answer beforehand so it's like another qbank.

Finally, qbanks are awesome confidence boosters that help you hammer the details in. Doesn't have to be rx or kaplan, I like the BRS questions and robbins review too. usmlerx has really ****ty explanations IMO, it's juts a page of FA that explains absolutely nothing., while the other resources try to explain the "why", which is better for when you first start to learn the material.

Also, I hate studying in groups because it always gets very off-topic and social (because of me. i am quite extroverted).

I should also mention I think i have a very addictive personality (gambling, video games, you name it). I like to think that partly helps me to "stay in the zone" for a long time when I'm studying, usually 4-6 hours at a time every 2-3 days or so.

Hope this helps

 

[DrGoon]

What are you doing that is helping you succeed?

Is it studying more than your peers? Natural intelligence? Good habits? Self confidence? undetectable cheating techniques? Something else?

I'm starting medical school in the fall of next year and I've always been an average student, I want to change that though, I want to be better, this is going to be my career after all. What are you doing that is making you achieve so highly in medical school that I should begin doing?

This post is coming from a place where I always feel that I could do better than the things I achieve. No matter what the result I always feel like I had more to give that could have made things better. Now free years of struggling to get to medical school, I'm here and the decisions I make now and the result that comes from them will have an impact on my career and maybe even the rest of my life. I don't want to leave school having that same feeling that I could have done better.

Prozac and adderall

 

[779663]

Prozac and adderall

At the same time??

 

[PhillyMed777]

Treat every day as do or die.

 

[DocToBe2018]

Maybe, it's also having the right confidence. I'm M3 at a top 20 school and I have always been an average to above average student for the first 2 years. I also did above average on my step 1 but nothing stellar. Then the M3 year rolls around and I have honored all 4 clerkships so far. I didn't change my studying habits but I've been hitting 90%+ on the shelves (at my school, we need 85 to get honors). I know you will say shelf exams are not that hard but my friends who made me feel small and stupid during my M1/M2 years are not scoring higher than me. What I think has changed is that I'm somehow making good impressions with the attendings/residents; their positive comments and positive rapport I have with them have boosted my self-confidence and self-esteem.

 

[Milotic]

Maybe, it's also having the right confidence. I'm M3 at a top 20 school and I have always been an average to above average student for the first 2 years. I also did above average on my step 1 but nothing stellar. Then the M3 year rolls around and I have honored all 4 clerkships so far. I didn't change my studying habits but I've been hitting 90%+ on the shelves (at my school, we need 85 to get honors). I know you will say shelf exams are not that hard but my friends who made me feel small and stupid during my M1/M2 years are not scoring higher than me. What I think has changed is that I'm somehow making good impressions with the attendings/residents; their positive comments and positive rapport I have with them have boosted my self-confidence and self-esteem.

I think they are insanely hard. Have yet to break an 80% on one of them.

 

[jqueb29]

I think they are insanely hard. Have yet to break an 80% on one of them.

Have you taken the psych shelf yet? That's got to be the easiest one. Surgery was my toughest so far, but IM coming up in a week will be terrible too.

 

[Milotic]

Have you taken the psych shelf yet? That's got to be the easiest one. Surgery was my toughest so far, but IM coming up in a week will be terrible too.

Took it already. Got a 79 on it. I studied for that one a lot given the amount of free time we had. First Aid Psych 3x, UW 2x, Pretest 1x, Lange Q/A 2x. Was still mixing up concepts on that one. I'm a bit of an anomaly though. Most students who do what I do and less will tend to do better. Memorizing concepts and biology classes have always been a weakness of mine ironically.

 

[mymembernames]

Maybe, it's also having the right confidence. I'm M3 at a top 20 school and I have always been an average to above average student for the first 2 years. I also did above average on my step 1 but nothing stellar. Then the M3 year rolls around and I have honored all 4 clerkships so far. I didn't change my studying habits but I've been hitting 90%+ on the shelves (at my school, we need 85 to get honors). I know you will say shelf exams are not that hard but my friends who made me feel small and stupid during my M1/M2 years are not scoring higher than me. What I think has changed is that I'm somehow making good impressions with the attendings/residents; their positive comments and positive rapport I have with them have boosted my self-confidence and self-esteem.

How do you study for the shelfs? Any tips?

 

[DocToBe2018]

I go through the case files and from my experience, there is quite a bit of down time during the clerkships, including time with the residents and co-med school students. I would make sure that we discuss case files that I had problems fully understanding so I can conceptualize them better. Case files provide the core basics. For medicine shelfs, I focused on the UW medicine. Hitting the UW questions seem to fill the gaps and provide details that might be missing from the case files. Family medicine was just 4 weeks so joining AAFP for its question bank was sort of a waste of money - don't do this if you're not interested in FM (was a bad advice from my friend). To me surgery was the easiest - Pestana and case files were all that I needed. I have yet to do psychiatry, ped, etc. How are their shelfs?

 

[Barrel Proof]

Keep an open mind to adjusting your study routine. I always asked what other people were studying, especially those that were scoring higher than I was. I believe the answers as to what specific materials to use will vary based on curriculum but I'm sure you'll hear a lot of Firecracker, pathoma, First Aid and sketchy micro as I found these to be immensely helpful