"What did you get on the exam? What did you get on your lab? What did you get...

[ILikeDrugs]

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What did you get on your paper? What did you get on your final? What did you get on your mid-term? What did you get on the quiz. What did you get on your what did you get?"

Does this sound like something you would say? If so, shut up!

I been completing my pre-med stuff for the past 5 semesters (this is my 5th and last) and I've never really interacted with any "pre-med" until now. I've heard the "pre-med" creatures from across the room and what-not but I've never really got up close and personal with one.

Holy **** is this guy annoying. After EVERYTHING... "What did you get?" Then he would go on to tell me what he got even though I never asked. The first couple of times, I gave truthful answers which were a high number answers, and every time he would one-up me by a couple of points. It was on the fourth time that I realized he lied about getting a higher score because he accidentally flashed his exam in my direction. Seriourly, WTF? He was most likely lying about his other scores so now I stopped caring and would say that I got 71%... on EVERYTHING. He hasn't asked me about my scores since the last time he tried to ask me when I cut him off at "So what di..." and said "71%". He's been kinda quiet ever since. He also liked to bring up his many volunteer positions and his 50 hour a week job. He really enjoyed telling me how many hours he was doing and would say it in a haughty way with his nose to the ceiling and with a look on his face that seemed to indicate that he was waiting for me to be impressed or to build him an alter.

So again I ask, does this sound like you? If so, seriously, stop. Nobody cares.

Oh yeah, here's the best part: he's admitted that he was accepted to and is going to the Caribbean.

I don't get it. Probably overcompensation.

If this is what Caribbean med school bound "pre-meds" are like, what are American med school bound "pre-meds" like?

 

[MIAmedica]

I kind of doubt there's a difference between the two... I mean I've been a pre-med student for 5 years (4 year undergrad + SPM) and this question almost always seems to come up between people. However, this guy seems even more annoying than other's I've encountered. Most people (including myself, but I only do it with close friends who I know) ask 'How did you do?' That way people have the option to give an actual score or just say 'eh, about what I thought I would get' and end the conversation there.

My suggestion is... why not avoid the guy? Or just tell him straight up that it's none of his business. I've done that with people and it usually gets them to shut up.

I think we've all experienced these people before. It just kind of comes with the territory of being a pre-med student.

 

[NickNaylor]

What'd you get?

 

[Mithril]

I do this all the time. Labs, finals, midterms, MCAT scores. Sometimes I even ask dent and opt students what they got in their DAT and OAT so I can just tell them straight up I can get a higher mark than them. I also wear scrubs, labcoat, and a steth to school. You can get them pretty cheap at my uni's bookstore. "What did you get"? Please, sometimes I don't need to ask such an elementary question. By looking at that fear and uncertainty in their eyes I can automatically gauge what they got.

Just call me the Louis Vuitton Don. I'm the best of all time.

 

[juliedi]

Ugh I haaaateee when people do this! Sometimes just to shut them up I say I got 100% (even if it was a ridiculously tough exam and I really got a C).

 

[MediCynical]

I had maybe 2 pre-med friends in college for this exact reason. Most of the pre-meds at my school were arrogant and/or neurotic douches.

 

[rhesuspieces]

I'd love to complain about some people I know but I'm sure they read SDN and I'm a little too identifiable on here so I have to hold back....😀

Basically this is why I'm not friends with the pre-med crowd at my school. Too competitive. I hate the whole "hey, what'd you get on your MCAT?" thing. I always just say "good enough not to have to retake". My score isn't super high by SDN standards, but in the real world it's enough to make people freak out a bit. Which I hate because so what if I can take a test well? That's not what got me into med school.

 

[Nymphicus]

What did you get on your paper? What did you get on your final? What did you get on your mid-term? What did you get on the quiz. What did you get on your what did you get?"

That is me in my head, but when I ask it's a lot more subtle. At my university, class averages are not often posted. The reason I ask is not because I want to judge/feel superior, but because I want to know how I did in relation to other people in the class. If I did poorly, but so did a lot of other people in the class, I won't worry as much as if I did poorly and other people did better. Then I know I have some catching up/studying to do.

When people ask me I normally say I did "Ok" most of the time, unless it's one of my good friends and that's because we share grades/old tests/study together/are lab partners.

 

[Playa]

That is me in my head, but when I ask it's a lot more subtle. At my university, class averages are not often posted. The reason I ask is not because I want to judge/feel superior, but because I want to know how I did in relation to other people in the class. If I did poorly, but so did a lot of other people in the class, I won't worry as much as if I did poorly and other people did better. Then I know I have some catching up/studying to do.

When people ask me I normally say I did "Ok" most of the time, unless it's one of my good friends and that's because we share grades/old tests/study together/are lab partners.

Well then why not just compare it to yourself? If you got a 70 and you think its bad then you know you have to study, if you got a 95 and your ok, then you should realize that you did study. I have to agree that there is no reason to constantly compare yourself to others. You should know that you did well because YOU did well, not because you scored higher than the class average or Mr. 4.0IHaveNoLife.

 

[LRAccord624]

This is something that I've found to be really interesting in med school.

Did you know that many of those neurotic, annoying people will end up being your classmates in the future? The difference is, it is highly "uncool" in med school to talk about/compare specific grades, and people have matured enough (or pretended to mature enough) that they focus instead on being supportive/just ignoring that topic all together.

It is funny how the social network changes from being pre-meds to med students. I guess another factor is that everyone in med school knows that their peers are intelligent and hard-working, and the vast majority will continue on to residency (as opposed to only 50% making it to med school) and so there is no need to compare.

I have just been thinking about this a lot lately, since the anti-premed comments on SDN run rampant (for good reason).

 

[texahn]

what did everyone get on the mcat?

 

[Janieve]

If I notice a few people around me with varying scores (i.e. 74 to the left, 62 to the right, 88 diagonally), I might ask a friend about his score. But that's mostly to get a gauge in the curve.

The only thing I think is okay to ask a stranger when exams are returned: Did they get the answer to this problem you missed? Because that is actually constructive.

Just my two cents.

 

[gettheleadout]

I'd love to complain about some people I know but I'm sure they read SDN and I'm a little too identifiable on here so I have to hold back....😀

Basically this is why I'm not friends with the pre-med crowd at my school. Too competitive. I hate the whole "hey, what'd you get on your MCAT?" thing. I always just say "good enough not to have to retake". My score isn't super high by SDN standards, but in the real world it's enough to make people freak out a bit. Which I hate because so what if I can take a test well? That's not what got me into med school.

And that is exactly why SDN standards are impossibly unrealistic; your score is amazing (congrats on Case btw 🙂) and the vast majority of people can't ever achieve that, including SDN users, though of course we do have higher here. But hey, its a biased sample 😛

 

[DoctorJedi]

Well then why not just compare it to yourself? If you got a 70 and you think its bad then you know you have to study, if you got a 95 and your ok, then you should realize that you did study. I have to agree that there is no reason to constantly compare yourself to others. You should know that you did well because YOU did well, not because you scored higher than the class average or Mr. 4.0IHaveNoLife.

Well it's not always that simple. I have plenty of classes (especially engineering) that are graded entirely on curves. If you are the kind of person who wants to know how well they have to do numerically to achieve a certain letter grade (or even to pass!) you have to get an idea of the class average. Some of those classes, a 70 on an exam would be fantastic! Other classes, a 200/300 on an exam puts you in range for an A! You would be freaking out if you didn't have an idea of what kinds of numbers would mean "doing well," especially with professors that give you a vague syllabus or one saying everything is based on a curve. Asking other people would be necessary in this case just to get an idea of where you stand at all. This said, asking just to one-up somebody to feel better about yourself is stupid.

 

[Endolas]

I just get 100s on the tests. :/

If you don't want to tell somebody your score, say, "that's none of your business." That easy.

 

[rhesuspieces]

And that is exactly why SDN standards are impossibly unrealistic; your score is amazing (congrats on Case btw 🙂) and the vast majority of people can't ever achieve that, including SDN users, though of course we do have higher here. But hey, its a biased sample 😛

It's funny actually, because when I got my score I was thrilled because it was a personal best but I didn't think much of it objectively because, you know, everyone on SDN gets a 46V. I have a friend now who's a MS-2, so I've started running things like MCAT, GPA, extracurriculars, etc. by her and her friends so I can get a "real world" perspective on things. Otherwise SDN gets to my head. 😳

And thanks, I'm really excited about Case 😀

 

[aranza]

That question makes me cringe. Honestly if I wanted everyone to know my marks I would post it up on the wall...there is a reason why only we're allowed to see our grades. And when they know you won't tell them your grade they'll ask "how did you do?" gah makes me want to punch them LOL

 

[ILikeDrugs]

My suggestion is... why not avoid the guy? Or just tell him straight up that it's none of his business. I've done that with people and it usually gets them to shut up.

I think we've all experienced these people before. It just kind of comes with the territory of being a pre-med student.

I can't avoid him because he sits 1 foot away from me at the same table. I didn't say "It's none of your business." at first because we had been friendly with each other. Once I caught him lying and knew who he really was I put him in the douche-zone and was rude to him by cutting him off and made it covertly known that I wasn't interested in hearing him talk. That's just my style when it comes to work and school.

That is me in my head, but when I ask it's a lot more subtle. At my university, class averages are not often posted. The reason I ask is not because I want to judge/feel superior, but because I want to know how I did in relation to other people in the class. If I did poorly, but so did a lot of other people in the class, I won't worry as much as if I did poorly and other people did better. Then I know I have some catching up/studying to do.

I have felt like knowing other peoples' grades on the exam before too. This was when my grade was a lot lower than expected. I thought maybe the test was extra difficult and that maybe I wasn't the only one to do as bad. However, instead of asking a couple of people around me about their score, I went to office hours instead and got a much better answer about how I did in relation to the entire class.

This is something that I've found to be really interesting in med school.

Did you know that many of those neurotic, annoying people will end up being your classmates in the future? The difference is, it is highly "uncool" in med school to talk about/compare specific grades, and people have matured enough (or pretended to mature enough) that they focus instead on being supportive/just ignoring that topic all together.

It is funny how the social network changes from being pre-meds to med students. I guess another factor is that everyone in med school knows that their peers are intelligent and hard-working, and the vast majority will continue on to residency (as opposed to only 50% making it to med school) and so there is no need to compare.

I have just been thinking about this a lot lately, since the anti-premed comments on SDN run rampant (for good reason).

I was actually thinking about this. I thought med school would be worse. I am always hearing that it's like high school all over again except this time it's the nerds that are the cool people.

If I notice a few people around me with varying scores (i.e. 74 to the left, 62 to the right, 88 diagonally), I might ask a friend about his score. But that's mostly to get a gauge in the curve.

The only thing I think is okay to ask a stranger when exams are returned: Did they get the answer to this problem you missed? Because that is actually constructive.

Just my two cents.

Yeah, I ask about questions all the time especially if the teacher doesn't go over the exam. That actually helps me. Knowing someone's individual score does nothing for me.

 

[deleted307836]

LOL. Before I started college I used to read all the "stereo-typical premed" threads with a heavy dose of skepticism. BUT THERE ARE ACTUALLY A TON OF PEOPLE LIKE THIS. It surprised me at first but now I laugh at it.

One of my friends, and yes I otherwise love her, does this to no end. "Hey, what did you get on the exam?" "I did pretty well." "How Well?" "Not as well as I'd liked, but not terribly." "OK, but what PERCENT did you actually get?"

 

[runawayclock]

I tell them with a totally straight face that I failed but that it's okay because I'm planning on becoming a gypsy instead. And then they laugh a little bit, while I don't say anything, and then they usually look uncomfortable and stop talking to me.

But srsly... wtf. I'll ask a friend what they put for a question I got wrong (to see what they did) but I don't like asking scores. Who cares?

 

[eablackwell]

what did everyone get on the mcat?

I got a 48V on the MCAT. Pwned!! 😉

 

[Narmerguy]

And that is exactly why SDN standards are impossibly unrealistic; your score is amazing (congrats on Case btw 🙂) and the vast majority of people can't ever achieve that, including SDN users, though of course we do have higher here. But hey, its a biased sample 😛

It's funny actually, because when I got my score I was thrilled because it was a personal best but I didn't think much of it objectively because, you know, everyone on SDN gets a 46V. I have a friend now who's a MS-2, so I've started running things like MCAT, GPA, extracurriculars, etc. by her and her friends so I can get a "real world" perspective on things. Otherwise SDN gets to my head. 😳

And thanks, I'm really excited about Case 😀

This really isn'tm true. A 37 is high even by "SDN" standards. I don't think SDN is that realistic about what is a good score. Most often, people may be considered weaker than they should if their scores are below average but I've found the advice and the evaluations of most GPAs to be very realistic. Sure there are a few people with 39,40,41+, but that's not common here...it really isn't. The large majority of users don't have that. In fact, there's a large population of posters here with scores in the 20s. Just because some of the more vocal members can have higher scores shouldn't be equated with the performance of the rest of the forum.

 

[Mithril]

Don't forget that people also lie about their MCAT scores here. Apart from the bias that SDNers seem to be more committed to med school, and the fact that people lie, you're bound to get some 45Ts.

 

[runawayclock]

Don't forget that people also lie about their MCAT scores here. Apart from the bias that SDNers seem to be more committed to med school, and the fact that people lie, you're bound to get some 45Ts.

The only person I know who got above 40 on their MCAT is my friend who worked on military satellites and then decided he might want to be a doctor... I am pretty sure he is a robot.

He ended up not going to medical school. Only if scores were transferable!

 

[rhesuspieces]

This really isn'tm true. A 37 is high even by "SDN" standards. I don't think SDN is that realistic about what is a good score. Most often, people may be considered weaker than they should if their scores are below average but I've found the advice and the evaluations of most GPAs to be very realistic. Sure there are a few people with 39,40,41+, but that's not common here...it really isn't. The large majority of users don't have that. In fact, there's a large population of posters here with scores in the 20s. Just because some of the more vocal members can have higher scores shouldn't be equated with the performance of the rest of the forum.

You're probably right. There's a name for the cognitive bias where if you see something extraordinary a few times you assume it's common....like how everyone assumes that child abductions are common because the news reports them so often. Ugh, I'm a psych major, I should know this! So basically there are a couple of child abductions....erm, high MCAT scores on SDN and since they stand out we assume there are a lot more than there really are. I think?

tl;dr--good point, narmerguy.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

You're probably right. There's a name for the cognitive bias where if you see something extraordinary a few times you assume it's common....like how everyone assumes that child abductions are common because the news reports them so often. Ugh, I'm a psych major, I should know this! So basically there are a couple of child abductions....erm, high MCAT scores on SDN and since they stand out we assume there are a lot more than there really are. I think?

tl;dr--good point, narmerguy.

The media would actually help create a false sense of child safety by only reporting several cases per year, most of which are cute, white, girls, unfortunately. Every year 250,000 are abducted each year, 500 each day by family members.

 

[Grom]

I actually get legitimately bothered by the MCAT bias on SDN; made me feel bad about my score when I first saw it, even though when I checked the details, my percentile rank was decently high.

 

[orthomyxo]

I ask this in an extremely general sense, like not even specifically directed at the person I'm asking. I'll usually say something like "so how do you think orgo went?" to people I know well, on the off chance that they heard about someone getting a ridiculously low/high grade so I can judge the curve. Other people do it too for this same reason, and it actually works pretty well.

 

[surftheiop]

Just say, "I did OK" or if you did really awesome, "I did well"

Most people with even a shred of people skills will realize that if you intentionally didnt name numbers, that means you dont want to.

 

[rhesuspieces]

The media would actually help create a false sense of child safety by only reporting several cases per year, most of which are cute, white, girls, unfortunately. Every year 250,000 are abducted each year, 500 each day by family members.

ok, my bad, replace "common" with "statistically likely to happen to you". Child abductions are not statistically likely to happen to your kid, but people fool themselves into thinking it's an inevitability because of the highly visible nature of said tragedies when they do occur/are reported in the media. But my metaphor is running off the tracks now I and can't really remember what I was trying to get at in the first place. 😕

 

[gettheleadout]

This really isn'tm true. A 37 is high even by "SDN" standards. I don't think SDN is that realistic about what is a good score. Most often, people may be considered weaker than they should if their scores are below average but I've found the advice and the evaluations of most GPAs to be very realistic. Sure there are a few people with 39,40,41+, but that's not common here...it really isn't. The large majority of users don't have that. In fact, there's a large population of posters here with scores in the 20s. Just because some of the more vocal members can have higher scores shouldn't be equated with the performance of the rest of the forum.

True. At the same time though, I don't think its helped by the fact that by the nature of SDN one is more likely to encounter people who at least claim to have extraordinarily high scores compared to just talking to pre-meds on campus or through family/friend connections.

 

[hiyaman]

I actually get legitimately bothered by the MCAT bias on SDN; made me feel bad about my score when I first saw it, even though when I checked the details, my percentile rank was decently high.

Lol me too. It seems like most people on these forums are in the range of 35+.

 

[VikingLegacy]

baleeted

 

[VikingLegacy]

baleeted

 

[ILikeDrugs]

...Because white girls don't matter, and their abduction is trivial.

🙄🙄🙄

It went right over ya head, brah. 😉

 

[rhesuspieces]

...Because white girls don't matter, and their abduction is trivial.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

[Cleavername]

what'd you get?

what did everyone get on the mcat?

over 9000!!!

 

[juliedi]

Most people with even a shred of people skills

True, but these are pre-meds.

 

[MisterVeil]

Just say, "I did OK" or if you did really awesome, "I did well"

Most people with even a shred of people skills will realize that if you intentionally didnt name numbers, that means you dont want to.

True, but these are pre-meds.

This.

My usual response to such questions from people I didn't know extremely well was "I did pretty well" or "Pretty good, I'm happy with my score", etc. It's ridiculous how many people didn't get it and kept prodding until they received a numerical answer.

 

[Janieve]

I wasn't going to reply again, but I had to share this.

I'm sitting in a cafe right now working on a lab report. Another patron of said cafe just walked by, noticed what I was doing, and immediately sat across from me and this conversation happened:

Stranger: So you're in [TA]'s lab, right? What'd you get on the last report?
Me: ???? Uh, yes, I'm in his lab--
Stranger: What'd you get on the last lab report?
Me: Huh? Um, I'm not comfortable sharing that.
Stranger: Your draft of your report looks really professional. What'd you get on the last one?
Me: Rephrasing it like that doesn't make me any more likely to share with you.
Stranger: Why won't you tell me?!
Me: It's not your business! Why does MY GRADE matter to you so much?
Stranger: Can I at least look at your report?
Me: ????????????????????? *moves to a different seat*

Ugh. Absolutely no decency, either. He called me an uptight b*tch and kept trying to sneak peeks at my work. Thankfully, the staff at this cafe knows me really well and told this guy to leave me alone or leave the building. I need to tip better next time.

But still, WTF?! 😕

 

[vickpick]

I usually just say: a 100.

oh and P.S. I just realized I got a 2+ year member tag!! YAY!!

 

[DocBell]

While I am normally with all of you in that it drives me nuts... when I am in a study group I like to know what the other people in my group got. It helps me know if my score is because I didn't learn the information we studied well enough or I just didn't study the correct information...and then sometimes when we all did ridiculously well it just makes me feel like we accomplished something 🙂 (and lets face it as premeds we all need that feeling every once in awhile)

 

[hiyaman]

I wasn't going to reply again, but I had to share this.

I'm sitting in a cafe right now working on a lab report. Another patron of said cafe just walked by, noticed what I was doing, and immediately sat across from me and this conversation happened:

Stranger: So you're in [TA]'s lab, right? What'd you get on the last report?
Me: ???? Uh, yes, I'm in his lab--
Stranger: What'd you get on the last lab report?
Me: Huh? Um, I'm not comfortable sharing that.
Stranger: Your draft of your report looks really professional. What'd you get on the last one?
Me: Rephrasing it like that doesn't make me any more likely to share with you.
Stranger: Why won't you tell me?!
Me: It's not your business! Why does MY GRADE matter to you so much?
Stranger: Can I at least look at your report?
Me: ????????????????????? *moves to a different seat*

Ugh. Absolutely no decency, either. He called me an uptight b*tch and kept trying to sneak peeks at my work. Thankfully, the staff at this cafe knows me really well and told this guy to leave me alone or leave the building. I need to tip better next time.

But still, WTF?! 😕

lol weird kid. maybe he was trolling you in real life.

 

[Janieve]

lol weird kid. maybe he was trolling you in real life.

God, I hope so. It's the only possibility that makes it okay.

 

[mammeor]

what did u get?

 

[333926]

...

 

[Doctor Poetry]

Here is how my story goes...

There is this girl who keeps asking about my grade...and one day, she caught me off guard in the chem department and was drilling me about my grades...i kept brushing her off...

five minutes into the drilling, we see our chem professor walk by and she has the nerves to ask him what i got in the class...his response was epic...he states,

"15 million, cajillion, bajilllion..."and he continued.....

awkward moment for her= win for me

 

[mammeor]

Here is how my story goes...

There is this girl who keeps asking about my grade...and one day, she caught me off guard in the chem department and was drilling me about my grades...i kept brushing her off...

five minutes into the drilling, we see our chem professor walk by and she has the nerves to ask him what i got in the class...his response was epic...he states,

"15 million, cajillion, bajilllion..."and he continued.....

awkward moment for her= win for me

hehehe why are people so nosy??

 

[Doctor Poetry]

hehehe why are people so nosy??

I dont know the real reason why, but it is real annoying...sometimes I wish those people just evaporate away from me

 

[hiyaman]

Here is how my story goes...

There is this girl who keeps asking about my grade...and one day, she caught me off guard in the chem department and was drilling me about my grades...i kept brushing her off...

five minutes into the drilling, we see our chem professor walk by and she has the nerves to ask him what i got in the class...his response was epic...he states,

"15 million, cajillion, bajilllion..."and he continued.....

awkward moment for her= win for me

Wow she has some serious balls asking confidential information about another student from the professor.