What has almost ruined your chances?

[TTSD]

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What was the biggest distraction during your studies that have almost wrecked your chances for Medical School?.. outside of the opposite sex.

I would definately have to say Counter-Strike. CS has almost singlehandedly wiped out my chances for Medschool. During my CS addiction phase I scored a hell of a lot of C's. As soon as I got over it, I zoomed to the top percentiles.. but still.. OMG.. I feel like I should just tell admissions committees I was a drug addict or something.. it'll be much less embarrasing.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Knowing that I'm smart enough to get a B or the occasional B+ (sometimes even an A, depending on the course) without any effort.

 

[quideam]

Snood 🙂

 

[fatones]

My huge penis. The bulge in the jeans can be really intimidating. Honestly.

 

[Amy B]

Originally posted by quideam
Snood 🙂

Don't you hate addictive computer games.

Snood, Big money and roller coaster tycoon will be the death of me one of these days.

 

[....]

ex-girlfriend

 

[Catalyst]

FREECELL, STILL ADDICTED😱

 

[climberchick]

I have agree 100% that SNOOD is a definite killer!!! I don't know how many hours I wasted playing that game. Too many!!!

 

[freesolo]

counterstrike is mad addictive. Games have shot down my gpa as well it stinks. Just to get rid of the computer 😀. I go to the library to get my mind off those damn games.

 

[raspberry swirl]

time spent playing snood is never wasted. i am drowning in anatomy and yet i still play a good puzzle game every night. i find it focuses the mind so i can really concentrate on my studies . . . 😀

 

[LUBDUBB]

good ol' AIM - Over the span of four years, I prolly spent a good bit of it instant messenging.

 

[An Yong]

Originally posted by TTSD
What was the biggest distraction during your studies that have almost wrecked your chances for Medical School?.. outside of the opposite sex.

I would definately have to say Counter-Strike. CS has almost singlehandedly wiped out my chances for Medschool. During my CS addiction phase I scored a hell of a lot of C's. As soon as I got over it, I zoomed to the top percentiles.. but still.. OMG.. I feel like I should just tell admissions committees I was a drug addict or something.. it'll be much less embarrasing.

Ouch, I can sympathize, CS is REALLY addictive. If your like me, I would tell myself I need a study break and play for 15 minutes, but it ends up being 2 hours =) Right now, I think I'm addicted to warcraft III with all its custom maps. Its more addictive than starcraft ever was, curse blizzard and their online-crack!

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

That a 1.75L bottle of vodka costs eight dollars at local grocery store. Actually the biggest hurdle is that I didn't 'go pre-med' until my senior year, in fact I used to despise the pre-med gunners I had classes with.

 

[Robz]

Video games are the bane but nessessary for stress relief. I remember though, when I studied for my MCATs that I unplugged my playstation and would not log on my computer until I went to bed. It was a glorious day when that test was over and I had time to play my games! I think I heard angels sing.

 

[bella_dottoressa]

Wasted time on mean boys. 🙂

 

[carrigallen]

Originally posted by raspberry swirl
time spent playing snood is never wasted. i am drowning in anatomy and yet i still play a good puzzle game every night. i find it focuses the mind so i can really concentrate on my studies . . . 😀

lol, this is what i do too...i play a quick 1 min online chess game, then go back to studying.

 

[AlternateSome1]

Texas Hold'em is my latest vice. Play poker every monday night, watch it on the travel channel and ESPN, and now I started playing online. It hasn't hurt me yet, but jeez, its a lot more fun that secondaries.

~AS1~

 

[sacrament]

I got all coked up one night and ended up killing a drifter with a mop in the alleyway behind a 7-11. Nearly killed my med school chances along with him.

 

[AvgApplcnt]

I combined the dude above me with everybody else's stuff. I would spend 10-12 hours playing GTA Vice City and doing lines ... that really screwed my gpa til I got to rehab.

 

[peterockduke]

breaking my ankle and foot
then the next year shattering my face

(cough cough... vote for Quake III/Starcraft) <-- L33t

 

[KirsteenB]

Ah, the days of Starcraft. Seriously, the hours spent addicted to assuming my CaptJapan alter ego helped to wreck one relationship (it was heading for the rocks to begin with, really, I say) and nearly helped scuttle my chances of having any sort of study time for my first MCAT. Aside from bungy, little has provided such a consistent adrenalin rush.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

 

[ducam]

escape velocity: nova. god what a great game.

 

[blz]

Definitely quake III. I was so pissed that quakecon was the same weekend of the august MCAT. after that verbal section on the august mcat maybe I should have just went to quakecon and screwed the stupid exam! ARGH!

 

[freesolo]

i went to qcon for rtcw it was so fun 😀. The byoc was awesome qcon 2004 is cancelled though mcat studying =/

 

[YeEhAw]

Me, Myself and I . . . along with the accompaning laziness. They have all but destroyed my chances. Here is to hoping my luck holds out and doesn't burn up along with my application when the adcoms see it. 😀

 

[ma-bas]

Humboldt County's finest. 😀

 

[DD214_DOC]

Games in general. Battlefield 1942 ate up a good chunk, along with Operation Flashpoint.

Looks like Soldner, Joint Operations, and Call of Duty are going to eatup even more in the coming months. Not to mention Battlefield: Vietnam and Half-Life 2.

At least it wasn't EverQuest. I had a friend who played that during his freshman year of college and, consequently, flunked out. He's now in the military. I played that horrible "game" for about 8 months in high school. Tried to get back into it to play with my friend, but can't see the point -- it just seems lame and stupid now.

Although, trying to figure out WHY people become addicted to that game has become an interesting past time.

 

[TTSD]

Originally posted by JKDMed

Although, trying to figure out WHY people become addicted to that game has become an interesting past time.

Probably general depression. The "normal" college life does wonders in a bad way to your serotonin and melatonin levels. And people suffering under depression usually do normally gravitate toward using computers where they can shut themselves from the real world and enter another.

Looking back on my personal experiences, I can probably say those studies to be true. Good God, what was I thinking "there's always tomorrow to study.."

 

[JamesUW]

Three words: AOL Instant Messenger

 

[DD214_DOC]

Originally posted by TTSD
Probably general depression. The "normal" college life does wonders in a bad way to your serotonin and melatonin levels. And people suffering under depression usually do normally gravitate toward using computers where they can shut themselves from the real world and enter another.

But not everyone who plays is a depressed college student. I think there are a variety of reasons contributing to the addiction phenomona, but I'm amazed more people don't become habituated and eventually quit.

 

[TTSD]

Originally posted by JKDMed
But not everyone who plays is a depressed college student. I think there are a variety of reasons contributing to the addiction phenomona, but I'm amazed more people don't become habituated and eventually quit.

Well, this DOES open up an interesting debate. On the one hand you could probably proclaim it as a component of an addictive personality. On the other hand, you could probably say that the computer realm is an unrestricted part of an otherwise very regimented life allowing for countless wasted hours because of that lack of discipline in this field. For example, when a student who's lead a very strict life in highschool because of their parents goes to college and experiences freedom for the first time.

Though on the other hand, there does follow a strong correlation between depressive behavior and computer games/isolationism. And not just for college students either. If you take the serotonin/melatonin link as an established fact and understand the extreme photosensitivity of melatonin production and serotonin deficit is extremely difficult to compensate for, then taking into account modern lifestyle what do you get? A big fat mess.

And once you lose that frontal lobe function, you're not really thinking straight at all.

That's just my one dollar and two cent commentary.

 

[blackbird03]

discovering guitar while studying for MCATs.... big no no

 

[Wardens]

Natty light and girls.

 

[maya]

PROCRASTINATION, the root of all evil!