The Neurotic Pre-Med Reassurance Thread

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wolvbb

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Grade Wise:
1. Your 3.5+ GPA is fine, if may be tougher for you to get into a WashU or Harvard, but guess what? GPA is not everything. Just because your GPA is below average for a certain school, remember its an AVERAGE (theres higher and lower GPAs than that)

2. A Few C-'s will not ruin your application.

3. A Few W's will not ruin your application, but have at least a passable excuse for why. (You are human after all)

4. Your one bad semester (or freshman year)of 2.5+ will not ruin your application


MCAT:

1. If you scored a 30+ and your actual score is +/- 3 points from your practice tests, your fine. If you feel like you were have a bad day etc. feel free to retake, but when you get a score similar to your first, accept it.

2. The only classes that will be tested on the MCAT are CHEM 1+2, BIO 1+2, PHYSICS 1+2 (non-calc based), ORGO 1+2. Your biochem, genetics, and human physiology classes cannot hurt you, but do don't break your back trying to fit in all three of the "extra" classes

3. Try to take it when you are comfortable taking it, do not rush taking it. If you can plan to take it the spring before you apply. Do not freak out about getting your application early, it helps but if you are a strong applicant, it will not matter.

4. Any score above an 8 is FINE, hell some people (contrary to popular SDN belief) will get in with a 7 on an MCAT section! (though not recommended).... See MCAT #1


Volunteering:

1. Volunteer when you can, do not let your studies suffer. Do what you ENJOY. Its not how much you do, but its what you got out of it that med schools care about.

2. Your 987678 hours of volunteering is fine. Don't ask if it is or not. You will be taken as an attention *****, or very insecure.


Shadowing:

1. Your 13243243 hours of shadowing is fine. See above (Volunteering #2)

2. Shadow as much as you see fit. When you are comfortable saying to an adcom that you know what a day in the life of a doctor is, you've shadowed enough. You'll shadow all throughout your 3rd and 4th years.


Research:

1. Research is not for everyone. If you enjoy it, great. If you do not, don't force yourself to do it. Medicine is about following your passion.

2. Your 32414314 hours in (insert research here) is fine. See Volunteering #2


Misc:

1. Your speeding/jaywalking/running red light(or stop sign)/not wearing your seatbelt (stupidity)/parking tickets are not of ANY concern to an adcom. Yea, if your have more than 3 or 4 speeding tickets of you going 20+ over, it might be a little concerning, but mostly they do not give a flying **** about it. Please refer to Volunteering #2

Applications:

1. If you put down a language other than english, be sure you can hole a conversation in it.

2. Your story about ______ is fine and all, feel free to write about it as the applications deem necessary, keep it truthful.

3. APPLY BROADLY... do not limit yourself to only top 25's, get the MSAR and LizzyM spreadsheet and compare.




That's all I could think of right now. Feel free to suggest others! :thumbup:
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The Hook
You're an interesting applicant whether or not ADCOMs choose to view you that way or not. Just because you haven't tamed a herd of elephants while attending culinary school in France and mastering Swahili doesn't mean that you aren't 100% capable of landing the residency/specialty that best suits you.
 
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wolvbb said:
Grade Wise:
:thumbup:
Click to expand...



Haha this is like one lady going through her first pregnancy turning to the other woman going through her first pregnancy and telling her "it's not that bad"


Come back and make a thread like this when you're on an adcom :thumbup:
 
Your poor attempt to piss on the parade is greatly appreciated, I assure you. Unfortunately for you, the first post is pretty much spot on.
 
wolvbb said:
Research:

1. Research is not for everyone. If you enjoy it, great. If you do not, don't force yourself to do it. Medicine is about following your passion.

2. Your 32414314 hours in (insert research here) is fine. See Volunteering #2
Click to expand...

3. No, you do not need to be published as a first author on a Nature paper to be accepted into medical school, or be any author on any paper for that matter. Yes, this still applies to the super crazy competitive schools you're applying to. Just show you learned a lot and can talk about, and have a nice letter from your PI or immediate supervisor. If you have a pub, kudos.

Med school Prestige:

1. Any U.S. medical school will grant you a highly regulated degree with which you will be allowed to practice medicine.

2. Why are you applying to all of these highly ranked research schools? Do you want to do research, pursue a career in academic medicine, industry, or public policy? If no, then not only do you need to not stress out about gaining admittance to these schools, but you may very well be miserable if you attend one.

3. Go where you will be happiest. This is often the place that gives you the most money.

Applying early:

1. No, you do not need your primary submitted at 12:01 on the day the application opens, and do not need to do 10 secondaries a day to have them all finished in a week. There are a number of undergrad institutions with prominent premed advising programs that do not even get their committee letters together until August, so your application can't be complete until then anyway (I'm talking about you, Penn and Cornell). Early is great and recommended, but don't sacrifice the quality of your application or your sleep cycle to be complete everywhere in June.

Interviewing:

1. Do not freak out about the interview any more than is necessary for you to be prepared. Relax, read up on the school at which you're interviewing before you visit, and be confident; if they offered you an interview, they like you already.

2. Do not overly rehearse your answers to questions. Give honest answers and have a general idea about what you're going to say, but try to relax and hold a conversation. The interviewer wants to get to know you, not listen to a verbal essay.
 
liverfingers said:
Haha this is like one lady going through her first pregnancy turning to the other woman going through her first pregnancy and telling her "it's not that bad"


Come back and make a thread like this when you're on an adcom :thumbup:
Click to expand...

To quote another poster from some time ago (sorry for no direct credit being given):

"Dude, who pissed in your cornflakes?"
 
liverfingers said:
Haha this is like one lady going through her first pregnancy turning to the other woman going through her first pregnancy and telling her "it's not that bad"


Come back and make a thread like this when you're on an adcom :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Actually... one of my best friends was 2 months pregnant when I got pregnant, and I relied on her a lot to tell me what was coming up next. She often said, "It's not that bad," and I appreciated it.

S.
 
wolvbb said:
Grade Wise:
1. Your 3.5+ GPA is fine, if may be tougher for you to get into a WashU or Harvard, but guess what? GPA is not everything. Just because your GPA is below average for a certain school, remember its an AVERAGE (theres higher and lower GPAs than that)
Click to expand...

Not to be an over-technical prick, but I'm pretty sure MSAR uses a median, not a mean, and there is probably some positive skew going on. Don't think if the average for a school is 3.6 that for every 3.9 there is a 3.3 averaging that out. There are probably a lot more 3.5s. Other than that, probably pretty good advice for many people.
 
nogolfinsnow said:
Not to be an over-technical prick, but I'm pretty sure MSAR uses a median, not a mean, and there is probably some positive skew going on. Don't think if the average for a school is 3.6 that for every 3.9 there is a 3.3 averaging that out. There are probably a lot more 3.5s. Other than that, probably pretty good advice for many people.
Click to expand...
Actually, if you want to get technical, the median is a measurement of the average too.

Good point to keep in mind, though.
 
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Thread Starter, aren't you still a Pre-Med student :?
 
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Disambiguation said:
Thread Starter, aren't you still a Pre-Med student :?
Click to expand...

lol yes i am, but (I have no way of proving this so feel free to take my word for it) i'm pretty laid back for pre-med standards. I was just trying to prevent future threads that ask the same questions over and over, to address the need to call some of the posters attention ****** and insecure, plus I know many people who do flip a **** about this stuff and I figured they could always come and read it to hopefully give them some relief.

but granted I have not been through the process yet, but i will in due time. This board has a wealth of information about the process and I feel I have a good idea what to expect when I go through it. So I thought I would consolidate a little bit from what I've learned.
 
you can't reassure a neurotic pre-med... they will be neurotic about being reassured
 
MilkmanAl said:
Oh man, that is so true. I'm flipping out about my first day tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Remember to ask as many questions as possible in lecture.... I've heard it's the fastest way to make friends. :thumbup: Make sure to constantly ask "will this be on the exam?". Everyone will love you for giving them the heads up.
 
tiedyeddog said:
Remember to ask as many questions as possible in lecture.... I've heard it's the fastest way to make friends. :thumbup: Make sure to constantly ask "will this be on the exam?". Everyone will love you for giving them the heads up.
Click to expand...
Hey, thanks for the advice! I guess med school really is a lot different than undergrad. Nobody seemed to like my questions there. I probably won't have to correct the professor as much either. This'll be fun!
 
"A Life:"

1. You can have on in medical school.

2. You will have to miss the odd BBQ, party, night out, movie because you have to study.


A Significant Other

1. See "A Life."


Being a DO

1. Most hightly competitive MD residencies are essentially closed to you. You may get lucky but probably not.

2. Other than that it's exactly the same.


Being an FMG

1. See "Being a DO."


Working hard

1. Sometimes you will have been up for so long that you feel like throwing up or completely shutting down.

2. This will not happen in most other professional fields.

3. Lawyers do not buy special clogs to be comfortable, this says alot.
 
added #4 MCAT + applications section
 
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wolvbb said:
lol yes i am, but (I have no way of proving this so feel free to take my word for it) i'm pretty laid back for pre-med standards. I was just trying to prevent future threads that ask the same questions over and over, to address the need to call some of the posters attention ****** and insecure, plus I know many people who do flip a **** about this stuff and I figured they could always come and read it to hopefully give them some relief.

but granted I have not been through the process yet, but i will in due time. This board has a wealth of information about the process and I feel I have a good idea what to expect when I go through it. So I thought I would consolidate a little bit from what I've learned.
Click to expand...

this thread was nice and thoughful on your part, OP.

but wait until you start submitting apps. the neuroses will only grow exponentially, especially when you start seeing that others are getting offered interviews and you're just a sitting duck :scared:
 
8 and above from what i've read around here

p.s. i have something to keep me distracted and too tired to worry for too long lol
 
:soexcited: YEAHH! I am gonna get into med schoollll!!!
 
On your undergrad:

1. Yes, you can get into med school from your little known state school, so long as your grades/MCAT are good and you apply in a timely matter.

2. Will not going to a top private school hurt your chances at getting into a 'top' med school? Maybe; the top schools are disproportionately occupied by graduates of top undergrads, but this could be due to the fact that a disproportionate number of top students go to top undergrads, or that students from top undergrads are more likely to apply and to care about going to a top med school.

3. Stop worrying about how supposedly grade-deflated your school is. Unless your school's abbreviated name begins with M and ends with IT, no one is going to be very sympathetic. If you go to a big-name school that may or may not have some grade deflation like Cornell, Chicago, etc., med schools are familiar with your school and you would be best served by going to your career services office and seeing where students from your particular school with similar numbers got in. If you go to a little-known school that may or may not have some grade deflation, make sure you are in a high percentile in your class, have glowing letters saying what a great student you are, and most importantly, do very well on the MCAT. Mostly though, your school is probably not grade deflated much at all, so just deal with it and do your best.
 
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AmoryBlaine said:
Working hard

1. Sometimes you will have been up for so long that you feel like throwing up or completely shutting down.

2. This will not happen in most other professional fields.

3. Lawyers do not buy special clogs to be comfortable, this says alot.
Click to expand...

:laugh: I never thought of it this way....
 
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