vent/advise here: tell your 1st semester story

[epsilonprodigy]

In light of us MS-1's (mostly) recently getting our first exam scores back, I thought we might all be up for a little encouragement and wisdom from the folks on the other side.

For those of you who rocked it, honored everything or came close...HOW did you do it?

For those of you who choked, what was your damage control strategy? How did you get yourself through it, academically and mentally/emotionally?

I "passed..." but didn't honor. I might as well be honest, I'm having a really horrible time dealing with it even though I do feel that I have a solid grip on the material. I'm wondering if the sleep deprivation I put myself through in order to study more actually backfired. I'm not a crier, but I am one to get quite physically ill over grades I've been that way since elementary school, so I'm hoping a little commiseration will help me avoid a Zofran addiction. LOL

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[cbrons]

If u passed, its fine. Welcome to med school. U may even *GASP* fail an exam or two down the road. It's not the end of the road. If u pass you should feel honored.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Nice to see you're so stable. Try not to get too sick next time you get an exam back.

 

[kautionwirez]

Study groups, Anki or some type of flash card program, 3x review of material.

I'm borderline P/HP/H (84 to 93). Waiting for my 2nd set of grades.

 

[YH5]

Honestly, it sounds like you need a hobby. I Put almost everything on hold last year (M1), and spent way too much time trying to get all A's. I mostly succeeded, but started getting burnt out by the end of the first year. Obviously, I hadn't even gotten to the harder classes (at my school anyway) or started reviewing for step 1. This year, I've made a conscious effort to maintain some hobbies so that I don't get too wrapped up with pre-clinical grades. My grades have dropped somewhat, but now I don't panic when I check my test grade and I'm a lot happier. I'll have plenty of chances farther down my medical school career to be stressed out and miserable.

PS, if you are gunning for derm or are seriously concerned about failing classes then please disregard my advice.

 

[VisionaryTics]

Welcome to not being #1 anymore. If you really start having anxiety/depression issues, talk to a counselor early. Keep at it. Good luck.

 

[DarkmanX]

You're probably adding more to OP's stress by not following the guidelines to this thread.

 

[theseeker4]

You're probably adding more to OP's stress by not following the guidelines to this thread.

 

[Another Chance]

I failed out my first semester and got dismissed. Had to go before appeals committee. I was reinstated and allowed to start again the next year. Did fine after that.

 

[normtheniner]

Failed my first histo exam last year... like I missed 40 of the 100 questions failed...

I talked to the 2nd years to find out what I could have done differently and did fine from there on out.

Medical school is like a sport... the more practice you get, the better you get at it.

I went from barely passing everything that first exam set, to getting all A's this past first exam set of 2nd year.

I think part of the reason is most (not all) first years really don't have a grasp on how much more they should study compared to undergrad... they don't put in enough time the first exam set and end up not doing so well. My best advice is this:

1. Put in more time. I tried saying "I'm going to study 6 or 7 hours today" but that's a crappy way to do things. Instead make goals. Most of the time my goals usually consist of saying that I'm going to go through everything we did in lecture that day (I don't go to class) and I'm going to review something we've done on a previous day (to make sure I don't forget it). If you do this, then the weekend is your's to review whatever you feel weakest on (and you'll even have time to go out and do stuff).

2. Talk to upperclassmen. They probably remember the highs and lows of every exam set and can give you advice based on whatever you're learning about at that moment.

3. Find a few people to study with. Even if it means just someone a few cubicles away that you can talk to when you hit a study plateau.

First year sucks most of the time, but it eventually comes to an end and you'll feel proud of your achievement (and you should be).

 

[Porfirio]

In light of us MS-1's (mostly) recently getting our first exam scores back, I thought we might all be up for a little encouragement and wisdom from the folks on the other side.

For those of you who rocked it, honored everything or came close...HOW did you do it?

For those of you who choked, what was your damage control strategy? How did you get yourself through it, academically and mentally/emotionally?

I "passed..." but didn't honor. I might as well be honest, I'm having a really horrible time dealing with it even though I do feel that I have a solid grip on the material. I'm wondering if the sleep deprivation I put myself through in order to study more actually backfired. I'm not a crier, but I am one to get quite physically ill over grades I've been that way since elementary school, so I'm hoping a little commiseration will help me avoid a Zofran addiction. LOL

What helped me was actually listening to the advice of students above me, and talking to residents and attendings. My idea of grades changed. I went from "needing" all A's to being ok with 85%+. The amount of time/energy/stamina it takes to make Honors (93%+) is not worth the small amount of gain.

For me, this attitude has made medical school fun, and I have plenty of time outside of school to develop other aspects of my medical career/personal development.

I do, however plan to go crazy for Step 1.

 

[notbobtrustme]

definitely do not drink 3 cups of coffee before an exam. I was so jittery and exhausted that I couldn't go back and check my answers with any real clarity.

as a side note, try to get more than 3 hours of sleep the night before so that you don't need 3 cups of coffee to wake up.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

definitely do not drink 3 cups of coffee before an exam. I was so jittery and exhausted that I couldn't go back and check my answers with any real clarity.

as a side note, try to get more than 3 hours of sleep the night before so that you don't need 3 cups of coffee to wake up.

Ill have to say I have to get no less than 3 hours but no more than 6 hours of sleep to do pretty well on a test the next day. Kind of weird.

 

[J ROD]

Just pass unless you plan on doing something competitive. Then, you need to have decent to top grades depending on how competitive the field is.

I just study to pass. It is still hard but not nearly as hard. I get plenty of sleep and still have somewhat of a life.

Got A's and B's so far. But, I can see that dropping after the second round.

 

[Slack3r]

Just pass unless you plan on doing something competitive. Then, you need to have decent to top grades depending on how competitive the field is.

I just study to pass. It is still hard but not nearly as hard. I get plenty of sleep and still have somewhat of a life.

Got A's and B's so far. But, I can see that dropping after the second round.

Until you decide mid-way through third year you DO want to do something competitive and then you're screwed.

Prep as if you're going into the most competitive thing possible and you won't be disappointed later.

 

[drizzt3117]

No one cares about preclinical grades.

 

[FunnyCurrent]

In light of us MS-1's (mostly) recently getting our first exam scores back, I thought we might all be up for a little encouragement and wisdom from the folks on the other side.

For those of you who rocked it, honored everything or came close...HOW did you do it?

For those of you who choked, what was your damage control strategy? How did you get yourself through it, academically and mentally/emotionally?

I "passed..." but didn't honor. I might as well be honest, I'm having a really horrible time dealing with it even though I do feel that I have a solid grip on the material. I'm wondering if the sleep deprivation I put myself through in order to study more actually backfired. I'm not a crier, but I am one to get quite physically ill over grades I've been that way since elementary school, so I'm hoping a little commiseration will help me avoid a Zofran addiction. LOL

Hey when did you get off probation?

 

[Alvarez13]

No one cares about preclinical grades.

There's one guy in our class that does. Won't STFU after an exam ends on how everyone did

Good news is that most adcoms don't care about MS1-2. How do you compare when students come from P/F programs?

 

[hiyaman]

There's one guy in our class that does. Won't STFU after an exam ends on how everyone did

Good news is that most adcoms don't care about MS1-2. How do you compare when students come from P/F programs?

lol you only have one in your class?

 

[Alvarez13]

lol you only have one in your class?

He's fat enough to count for 2

 

[Bayonetwork]

For those of you who choked, what was your damage control strategy? How did you get yourself through it, academically and mentally/emotionally?

Doubt anyone can touch this. Our lecture portion of anatomy was a scantron with A-E bubbles. I neglected sleep and for the first time ever paid a significant price; I filled out my answers on the test first and was going to go back thru the test and bubbling in my scantron.
After about 1/3 of the way back thru the test I messed up my numbering and didnt catch it until the end when time ran out. I was forced to hand in my scantron and ended up with a sub-40 grade.

My professor said thats too bad next time fill in scantron as you go. Now Im stuck having to make above 85 for the rest of the exams JUST TO PASS.

So now the rest of my classes will get less emphasis and likely go down to try to compensate. Could not have had a rougher start to the semester.

 

[YH5]

Doubt anyone can touch this. Our lecture portion of anatomy was a scantron with A-E bubbles. I neglected sleep and for the first time ever paid a significant price; I filled out my answers on the test first and was going to go back thru the test and bubbling in my scantron.
After about 1/3 of the way back thru the test I messed up my numbering and didnt catch it until the end when time ran out. I was forced to hand in my scantron and ended up with a sub-40 grade.

My professor said thats too bad next time fill in scantron as you go. Now Im stuck having to make above 85 for the rest of the exams JUST TO PASS.

So now the rest of my classes will get less emphasis and likely go down to try to compensate. Could not have had a rougher start to the semester.

That sucks. I guess all those warnings I've gotten before scantron tests throughout the years were for a reason.

 

[urbanclassic]

I rocked my first exams. A portion of it was luck/good test taking skills. A portion was good reasoning skills... but most of it was PRACTICE! You have to practice practice practice. Do practice problems out the wazoo, and do them as early as possible. But of course do not feel bad if you're not honoring and you're trying your best... Everyone one in medical school is smart, so really if your on average with most of your classmates you're doing pretty well IMO.

 

[urbanclassic]

Doubt anyone can touch this. Our lecture portion of anatomy was a scantron with A-E bubbles. I neglected sleep and for the first time ever paid a significant price; I filled out my answers on the test first and was going to go back thru the test and bubbling in my scantron.
After about 1/3 of the way back thru the test I messed up my numbering and didnt catch it until the end when time ran out. I was forced to hand in my scantron and ended up with a sub-40 grade.

My professor said thats too bad next time fill in scantron as you go. Now Im stuck having to make above 85 for the rest of the exams JUST TO PASS.

So now the rest of my classes will get less emphasis and likely go down to try to compensate. Could not have had a rougher start to the semester.

Ah gosh, sorry, tough break. Don't know you, but hope you do really well on your next exams.

 

[DarkmanX]

That sucks. I guess all those warnings I've gotten before scantron tests throughout the years were for a reason.

During Orientation week, they had a workshop for 1.5 hours on scantrons at my school, with horror stories so that we don't make the same mistakes.

 

[StIGMA]

I filled out my answers on the test first and was going to go back thru the test and bubbling in my scantron.
After about 1/3 of the way back thru the test I messed up my numbering and didnt catch it until the end when time ran out. I was forced to hand in my scantron and ended up with a sub-40 grade.

My professor said thats too bad next time fill in scantron as you go. Now Im stuck having to make above 85 for the rest of the exams JUST TO PASS.

FYI, it can look like you are cheating when you do this. Someone finishes and hands you a list of the answers... and you fill them all in at the end. Don't be surprised if you have a prof staring over your shoulder next exam

Prof should have let you put your answers on a fresh scantron tho.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

FYI, it can look like you are cheating when you do this. Someone finishes and hands you a list of the answers... and you fill them all in at the end. Don't be surprised if you have a prof staring over your shoulder next exam

Prof should have let you put your answers on a fresh scantron tho.

I've always done this for scantron tests. If any professor gave me **** about it I'd tell them that I'd rather check my answers over before putting them down instead of filling in the scantron and then having to try to erase the ones that I want to change. I only ever put down my final answers on scantrons so I don't have to deal with hoping I erased a bubble enough that the machine won't read it.

 

[urbanclassic]

FYI, it can look like you are cheating when you do this. Someone finishes and hands you a list of the answers... and you fill them all in at the end. Don't be surprised if you have a prof staring over your shoulder next exam

Prof should have let you put your answers on a fresh scantron tho.

Yeah, my professors at my school would have let OP fill/refill in the scantron. You should really try to fight this!