*Things I Learned This Semester*

Applying to Med School? Get In Or Your Money Back
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
W

WantsThisBad

Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2006
Messages
227
Reaction score
1
1. Do chemistry homework

2. Study for cumulative Biology final

3. Do research on professors before signing up for their classes

But Im done and it's in the past. Have a great holiday everyone!
Members don't see this ad.
 
This I've learned over and over again:
If you have a class at 9:30am and there's a 10 page paper due the day before, do not make yourself believe you can get up at 5-6am that morning, begin typing the paper, and expect to get an A, that is if you finish it.

I did this many times this past semester, I never felt so unmotivated and lazy. Reality caugh up when I hit the snooze button too may times until I finally woke up at 9:15am and no paper done. Bad. :oops:
 
Members don't see this ad :)
mdvargas said:
This I've learned over and over again:
If you have a class at 9:30am and there's a 10 page paper due the day before, do not make yourself believe you can get up at 5-6am that morning, begin typing the paper, and expect to get an A, that is if you finish it.

I did this many times this past semester, I never felt so unmotivated and lazy. Reality caugh up when I hit the snooze button too may times until I finally woke up at 9:15am and no paper done. Bad. :oops:
Click to expand...

Never tried that one!
 
Things I learned this semester:

Never loan pens to anyone. Your friends won't remember to return them. Don't even loan a pen to the really cute guy in your medical genetics class, no matter how nice of a smile he has. He not only won't return your pen, but he will sit next to another girl at the next lecture. Thieving man-******...
 
Karakiz79 said:
Things I learned this semester:

Never loan pens to anyone. Your friends won't remember to return them. Don't even loan a pen to the really cute guy in your medical genetics class, no matter how nice of a smile he has. He not only won't return your pen, but he will sit next to another girl at the next lecture. Thieving man-******...
Click to expand...

haha that's hilarious. i'd say similar but when girls do that to me i ask them for my pen back.
 
airshad8 said:
haha that's hilarious. i'd say similar but when girls do that to me i ask them for my pen back.
Click to expand...

Yeah well I actually did forget to ask for it back, but I figured it was a good excuse to talk to him again at the next lecture - but come next lecture, dude is sitting on the other side of the room macking on some chick. Never says another word to me, stopped showing up for class after he got accepted to Pitt for med school, and apparently still has my friggin pen.
 
mdvargas said:
This I've learned over and over again:
If you have a class at 9:30am and there's a 10 page paper due the day before, do not make yourself believe you can get up at 5-6am that morning, begin typing the paper, and expect to get an A, that is if you finish it.

I did this many times this past semester, I never felt so unmotivated and lazy. Reality caugh up when I hit the snooze button too may times until I finally woke up at 9:15am and no paper done. Bad. :oops:
Click to expand...

If that is actually true, then I feel for you.

Thing that I learned last semester:
- It is imperative to leave the library for at least an hour a day
- There's never enough time to do everything
- Nothing good ever happens after 2 am

-Dr. P.
 
What I learned this semester: never correct an arrogant professor in class. He'll fail you on "accident" then make you go through the process of getting a grade changed. :rolleyes:
 
mdvargas said:
This I've learned over and over again:
If you have a class at 9:30am and there's a 10 page paper due the day before, do not make yourself believe you can get up at 5-6am that morning, begin typing the paper, and expect to get an A, that is if you finish it.

I did this many times this past semester, I never felt so unmotivated and lazy. Reality caugh up when I hit the snooze button too may times until I finally woke up at 9:15am and no paper done. Bad. :oops:
Click to expand...

Starting the night before is the key to success.
 
Anastasis said:
What I learned this semester: never correct an arrogant professor in class. He'll fail you on "accident" then make you go through the process of getting a grade changed. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

AMEN. I just got my Discrete Math grade :mad: :mad:
 
Hmm, I learned:
--sleep more...3 hours of sleep and no breaks to rest during the day = a very useless me.
--heh, yes, do more and more and more chemistry.
--read bio ahead of time
--and the big one: never stay in a prereq class with a professor I can't understand just because he's a cute old guy who reminds me of the grandpa I never met....:rolleyes:
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Organic chemistry isn't as horrible as it's made out to be.
 
what I learned this semester:

when you're a senior, you can study less than 3 hours a week and still get a 3.9+ GPA, with the only downside being the excessive amount of money spent on beer.

...sorry if your semester wasn't as happy.
 
Things I've Learned This Semester:

1. Wake up for exams; set at least 3 alarm clocks.

2. If you have 2+ exams within one or two days STUDY EEEAAAARRRRLLLYYY

3. Study as hard as you can for finals, don't end the semester wishing you'd tried harder.
 
i learned this semester that if i really want it then im going to have to start acting like it... :oops:
 
I learned that senioritis is a bitch.
 
I learned that when you actually studying hard at least for some part of the quarter, A+ in physics isn't all that hard.

I also learned that by doing the same exact thing I did this quarter for 5 more quarters, I'll be a very competitive applicant with 4.0 for the last two years.
 
degoo_ said:
Starting the night before is the key to success.
Click to expand...

I agree. I got straight A's in all my papers for Philosophy. I started all of them at ~4am when they were due that same day for class at 9:30am.

Don't ask me how it works, it just does.
 
baylormed said:
I agree. I got straight A's in all my papers for Philosophy. I started all of them at ~4am when they were due that same day for class at 9:30am.

Don't ask me how it works, it just does.
Click to expand...

I'm sure the difficulty of your school/class has something to do with it :rolleyes:
 
maestro1625 said:
what I learned this semester:

when you're a senior, you can study less than 3 hours a week and still get a 3.9+ GPA, with the only downside being the excessive amount of money spent on beer.

...sorry if your semester wasn't as happy.
Click to expand...

same situation here. too bad the year that I finally figure out how to do well in college with the minimum amount of effort possible is my last year.
 
Med_Leviathan said:
I'm sure the difficulty of your school/class has something to do with it :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I go to a pretty good college, buddy, so back off.

BSing is an art, it cannot be taught or learned. You either know how to do it well or you don't. I happen to be good at it.
 
Med_Leviathan said:
I'm sure the difficulty of your school/class has something to do with it :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

it's amazing how all of your posts are basically you just acting like a massive tool... kinda sad for someone who hasnt even applied yet.
 
baylormed said:
BSing is an art, it cannot be taught or learned. You either know how to do it well or you don't. I happen to be good at it.
Click to expand...
I agree.
I've tried starting papers more than a day before the due date but they always turn out worse than if I do it last minute:)
 
if you want to focus, dont join study groups with pretty girls :D
 
tdkneo said:
if you want to focus, dont join study groups with pretty girls :D
Click to expand...

Well, maybe for you this is true.

When I took orgo, I was in a study group where I was the only (unmarried) guy and I had 4 pretty girls in my group. You can bet I tried to know my **** so that I could impress 'em and contribute to the study group ;)
 
I learned that chemistry professors are liars when they say "The final is generally a lot easier than the normal exams" .. some guy in my section cried during the final..and I began to wonder if people would notice if I started crying. That final was the most hopeless moment of my semester, and it caused me to earn a B in the course.
 
Studying in any subject is a must.
Actually look at the book in Chemistry
Spend more than 30 minutes studying for the Bio final
Show up for the quizzes
Don't blow off quizzes in any subject
Alarm are meant to be used
Labs are supposed to be completed.


....I slacked too much this semester.
 
Arc said:
Studying in any subject is a must.
Actually look at the book in Chemistry
Spend more than 30 minutes studying for the Bio final
Show up for the quizzes
Don't blow off quizzes in any subject
Alarm are meant to be used
Labs are supposed to be completed.


....I slacked too much this semester.
Click to expand...

I didn't purposefully slack off, but my semester sounds generally the same as yours...:(
 
maestro1625 said:
what I learned this semester:

when you're a senior, you can study less than 3 hours a week and still get a 3.9+ GPA
Click to expand...

i doubt that.. what classes did you take?
 
Don't write my paper the night before it's due because I'll always get an A-. Instead, write it 3 days before it's due and actually refine the composition. The life of an English major - I love it. :cool:
 
ncguy2005 said:
I learned that chemistry professors are liars when they say "The final is generally a lot easier than the normal exams" ..
Click to expand...

I found it to be easier.

MY ADVICE:
-Prioritize your classes. If you know what you are weak in, don't reinforce stuff you already know to feel more confident. You know it, you know it!

-Know when you have quizzes and rock them. Many professors average quizzes and turn them into a test grade.

-Don't rely on dropping any tests or low scores even when you can. Do so well on purpose just in case you bomb one test. If you don't, you'll drop one bad grade and still have other bad ones floating around. That is what brings down your grade.

-Succeed above the potential curve. The reason I say this is because I was ready to **** my pants when my professor emailed us about our final grades and told us that the class average was unusually high (78%) and that because of that, there would be no curve. And she usually, from what I heard, gives 9% curves in her course. Somehow I pulled a good grade. So I learned that next semester, it is all about anticipating the grade and points you are earning will be the untouched grade you'll get.

-Eat healthy. I am succumbing to the "Freshman 15" so during this break, I've been exercising. Drink a lot of water and always carry a snack.

-Take a blowoff class. I know this might be "politically incorrect" or whatever you want to call it, but you'll want an easy GPA padder as well as a carefree time in a 4 credit course you already know everything about. If you are Italian, take Italian. If your dad is a geologist and you need one more science class, take geology. Use what resources you have to have a class you have to not worry much about.
 
1. A semester of music history can be learned in one night
2. Short term memory can hold a semesters worth of information for almost the entire length of a final exam.
3. Calculus isn't as hard as people say, in fact it's rather easy.
4. Don't let people find out that you're smart they will often seek your help.
 
Don't use the precint's computer to print out mug shots of convicted criminals, and then show them off to everyone in your class, including your teacher who will have to let the principal know who will have to call the precint and then the least of your problems will be that you lose your job as a 911 dispatcher.

Hey, it counts, right? Although the high school semester technically doesn't end until January.
 
thegross1 said:
3. Calculus isn't as hard as people say, in fact it's rather easy.
4. Don't let people find out that you're smart they will often seek your help.
Click to expand...

I agree with these two very much.

Pre-calc and before has nothing to do with calculus in my opinion, except learning basic algebra skills. Calc is just a whole different kind of math, and in my opinion, it is a lot easier than the stuff that came before it.
 
as a senior, some freshman classes are harder than senior ones.

A's are possible, no matter what you think (refer to #1)

Bad grades are also possible, do WHATEVER you can to avoid them.

Papers are easy. It's the rest of the crap that's hard.

Just when you think you can't take anything else, you can..
 
tdkneo said:
if you want to focus, dont join study groups with pretty girls :D
Click to expand...

The majority of the girls I have dated in college have been a result of this... Warning to the girls, if a guy comes up to you asking how you are doing in the class be careful. If you answer you are doing great, he will answer "Do you think you could give me a few pointers or something, whats your number?." If you answer "Not so well," expect a "well we can meet up and go over some things, whats your number?" :D Works very well, easy way to break the ice and you tell them during the date that you just did it to talk to them and then you aren't a liar. Voila.

BTW, sorry if I gave that one away guys.

Oh, and things I learned:

1) Senior year is the greatest thing on earth after an acceptance.
2) Beer gets expensive
3) Girls get more expensive
4) If you sign up for an 8am class while having a bad case of senioritis, do not expect ever to make it to that lecture and set at least 3 alarms for exams.
 
j-med said:
i doubt that.. what classes did you take?
Click to expand...
Since you commented on that of his, Ill reply. I studied essentially nada and pulled a 4.0 semester taking Immuno, Physio, Criminology, and intermediate ASL. Not a horrible semester obviously, but not entirely simple.

I know many people who have done less than 3/week studying their entire collegiate career and are science majors with this type of gpa. Some people have that ability (and I am not necessarily including myself in this group)

Why is it that whenever somebody says their grades and they happen to be great that other people have to try to diminish this? Some people DO NOT HAVE TO struggle for every A+, not fair but I assure you its true.
 
as a senior i've learned
(1) good grades come when you try the least (2) after the mcat, no class is impossible (3) english teachers are pushovers as long as you pretend to be interested in the book they're writing (4) when teachers don't know how to say your name, they feel guilty enough to give you 100% participation for not calling on u (5) jewish, jewish, jewish: if you want a paper topic for anthro, english etc its the new black write on it b/c its all new except if the teacher is jewish (6) i don't know how to do footnotes for **** (7) i can't do more than one hour of hw w/o a follow-up two hour nap and 1 hr break for a tv show (8) study groups blow and are unnecessary, group study guides are similar you'll end up redoing it all anyway (9) the more you participate in class, the more the teacher notices when u skip (10) biochem is not a beast, it's ur friend and its kinda easy too (11) for gosh sakes leave the front row for those who come in late to class, i can't stand it when they come back to my row and interrupt my text messaging (12)as a premed, i was smarter than all my anthro TAs (they put scratch and sniff tickets to reward good grades) (13) teachers like u best when u pretend your minoring in their subject: example convo: so, jane doe what brought you to my boring ass anthro class me: prof i've always been interested in rock formations on alabama roadways and i just had to interrupt my premed life and take your class and now i'm considering a minor. it always ends up as a good grade (14) if you don't make the grade the first time: cry (i suck i know) and if its a paper rewrite it over and over...persistence is rewarded too
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

fishs
Thoughts on ECs for this semester?
Replies
4
Views
487
fishs
fishs
M
Fall semester grades
Replies
2
Views
490
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
L
Bad first semester - advice?
Replies
5
Views
602
LizzyM
LizzyM
S
Dropped senior year GPA - how does it affect things?
Replies
3
Views
332
LunaOri
LunaOri
F
NEED ADVICE FOR APPLICATION - How should I proceed this semester for successful cycle?
Replies
8
Views
645
Goro
Goro
Top