What I wish I would have done as an undergrad...

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This is just a thread for us to reflect on. We are all done applying to our medical schools and such. Just put on here what you wish you would have done in the past 4 years but didn't. Or possibly what you did and made it better.

Doesn't necessarily have to be about building a med school resume, but just anything...
 
What I wish I would have done:

-Study abroad for a semester (I'm too poor and the stupid pre-med load won't let me)

-Gone to all that freshman nonsense, like the school-sponsored food fight and what not.

-Majored in Medieval Literature (JUST KIDDING, I WOULD DIE FIRST...)
 
bdibble said:
This is just a thread for us to reflect on. We are all done applying to our medical schools and such. Just put on here what you wish you would have done in the past 4 years but didn't. Or possibly what you did and made it better.
Click to expand...

Well, I graduated almost 5 years ago, but if I could do undergrad again, I would have:

1) Studied abroad in Italy for a semester or year
2) Taken a couple extra courses to double-major in Classics
3) Spent more time skiing
 
Good thread. Graduated in 1993 so let me think. If I could do undergrad again, I would have:
1. Minored in Spanish, instead of Latin.
2. Not joined a sorority
3. Drank a little less, studied a little more my freshman year
4. Gone to professors' office hours more often
 
I would have liked to go abroad as well, but I couldnt because of pre-med (unless I went over the summer, but I had to work every summer)
 
I'm just a year out of college, but previous ponderings have led to me to the following list of I wish I "had's":

1) Studied abroad - Why oh why did I not go abroad, particularly as an anthropology major?

2) Taken more classes outside of my major by not double majoring and getting a masters at the same time as undergrad

3) Studied for my freshman premed classes

4) Realized that college was more than just a stepping stone to grad school/med school and taken even more time to just enjoy it and the freedom undergrads really do have instead of rushing to the next step.
 
I'll echo some of the changes already expressed on this board:

1) Study Spanish
2) Travel abroad for a semester
3) Not double major---at least not in religion
4) Start going to social events earlier
 
Why does everyone seem to have a problem studying abroad as a premed? I'm in London right now and loving it, and am still on track to apply this summer. The one thing I wish I would have done is a real spring break - the Cancun with my friends, girls gone wild type :laugh: . Maybe next year.
 
I'm still in college, and my only regret thus far is rooming with my best friend from high school freshman year -- college is about meeting new people! But I quickly learned and found my own niche.

This studying abroad thing is scary -- better put it on my list of things to do else I'll wind up regretting it like everyone else 😱
 
1)Studied abroad for a semester; I didn't get enough financial aid but I should have just taken out loans and gone
2) Trained for a triathlon
3) Started research my freshman year
4)Taken Spanish
 
As judging from all the Spanish regrets here....

Thank God I'm a native speaker. 😀
 
Man I finally get to sy this out loud instead of thinking it to myself. Here's my wish list.
1. Minor in spanish
2. Study abroad for a semester/quarter
3. Did the UC/DC Program
 
I have a few things I wish I would have done differently too:

1) Traveled abroad, probably in France
2) Studied more freshman year
3) Been more involved in the school community, it was hard since I commuted and lived about 30 minutes away.
 
baylormed said:
As judging from all the Spanish regrets here....

Thank God I'm a native speaker. 😀
Click to expand...
Yea I regret the Spanish thing too. For me, it's not so much a college regret (I did take 2 years in college and 2 in HS), as it is a regret on the earlier part of my life. I soooo wish my mom would have put me in the Spanish immersion program back when I was in elementary school. That, or I wish I could have done some abroad work in a Spanish-speaking country to help my conversation skills. Being in SoCal, and San Diego in particular, you definitely feel crippled not being able to fully communicate with such a large part of the community.
 
Like most other people here, I wish I had studied abroad. FU Biology dept. does this awesome trip to the Galapagos that I should have gone on. Or Europe; I've still never been there. I also wish I had studied spanish more than just the one class I had to take to satisfy the language requirement - now I've lost all my spanish skillz.

Oh, and probably I would study occasionally if I had it all to do over. I didn't even party... I don't know what I did, honestly.
 
Hi there,
If I were doing undergraduate school again and I knew that I would end up in medical school, I would have majored in American Studies, minored in Spanish and taken my pre-med courses.

Instead, I double majored in biology and chemistry, double minored in math and physics for undergraduate. Then I did a Ph.D in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Today, I am a surgeon and I really do not use much of my undergraduate majors and just a minute amount of Biochemistry.

njbmd 🙂
 
- Utilized Office of Disability Services
- STUDIED! But, my ECs are spectacular! :meanie:
 
As an undergrad, I would have gotten into more trouble. In grad school, I would have been more of a dirtbag. I guess I just want to have done things so that my purity test score would be much lower.

And I would have had the courage to not go academic (which is what everyone expected of me) and instead go to med school straight from Ph.D. or postdoc.
 
Well I'm still doing my undergrad, but since I've been at it for a while ... 🙄

I wish I had ...

1. Studied harder during first year.
2. Gone right into psychology (which I love) instead of chemistry (I'm in psych now, but I would be graduating as we speak if I had done it earlier).
3. Been more adventurous ... stepped out of my comfort zone ...
4. Believed in myself.
5. Taken the time to enjoy life.

Ah well ... c'est la vie ... 🙂
 
bdibble said:
This is just a thread for us to reflect on. We are all done applying to our medical schools and such. Just put on here what you wish you would have done in the past 4 years but didn't. Or possibly what you did and made it better.

Doesn't necessarily have to be about building a med school resume, but just anything...
Click to expand...

As I've recently graduated the list is fresh on my mind. If I could do it again I would:

1) Major in Computer Science or Chemistry. I ended up with a degree in Psychology.

2) Stay in Army ROTC (though it would have been a little tough to get time off to go to Medical School so in some ways getting out was a good thing).

3) Redo my entire junior year (there went my Summa Cum Laude in a spectacular finish).

4) Begin volunteering my freshman year instead of my junior year.

5) Try to help my roommate (and best friend from HS...also still my roommate) adjust more to college life.

6) Study more.
 
not dropped a class b/c this guy was in it
real spring break....always went home for them to go to norouz parties
& like everybody else, study abroad (travel overseas to my relatives just isn't the same)
 
What's so good at the Office of Disability Services?
 
1. Taken time off of work so that I could study for the MCAT.
2. Not joined a fraternity
3. Got off to a good start (Not averaged a 3.4 over my first 3 semesters, thus making me work twice as hard the rest of the way).
4. Gotten accepted the first time so that I could RELAX senior year.
 
1) I wish I would've not been so boy crazy.
2) Not been in a hurry to get married.
3) Not gotten pregnant my senior year.
4) Gone right into med school instead of waiting a few years.

Oh well, now I have two beautiful children and a supportive husband, so its not all bad. I've actually had people tell me they liked my family planning... that I don't have to worry about my ticking biological clock...
FAMILY PLANNING!!! 😱 It was hardly planning, but Oh well.
 
1. Not gained weight
2. Bonnarroo
3. Backpacked Europe
4. Rose Bowl
5. Eaten at some places, gone to some more random events, etc. in Austin.

Other than that, I pretty much exhausted the opportunities available to me. Partied hard, studied hard, made great friends, got into medschool.
 
noelleruckman said:
1) I wish I would've not been so boy crazy.
2) Not been in a hurry to get married.
3) Not gotten pregnant my senior year.
4) Gone right into med school instead of waiting a few years.

Oh well, now I have two beautiful children and a supportive husband, so its not all bad. I've actually had people tell me they liked my family planning... that I don't have to worry about my ticking biological clock...
FAMILY PLANNING!!! 😱 It was hardly planning, but Oh well.
Click to expand...
lol...don't let your husband read this post! :scared:
 
Bluntman said:
lol...don't let your husband read this post! :scared:
Click to expand...

haha... well, nothing against my husband. He knows I think we hurried too much. I can't blame him, I was the pushy one to get married. He didn't agree with my synopsis at first, but now that his younger brother is in a hurry to get married, he's got all sorts of advice and reasons to wait. 😳
It is a little unusual to be married with two children and be 25... My husband is barely 24 too...
 
If I was still in undergrad...

1. I's be a non-science major
2. Study Abroad
3. Volunteer overseas
4. Enjoy life instead of studying biochem
 
Unlike lots of posters on here, I'm happy I didn't go abroad - there was so much to do at my college that I wouldn't have missed a semester of it for anything. I do regret though:
1) Not being honest with myself and staying in unhealthy friendships which only drained me
2) Worrying too much about work - I should have gone out more from freshman year
3) Not getting more clinical experience under my belt
 
1. Lived on campus.
2. Gotten more involved in research.
3. Maybe joined a greek organization.
4. Had more fun... put the bloody books down, stopped fussing over the GPA, grabbed a beer and relaxed for once. :horns:
5. Gone to Africa.
 
i wish i had:
1. studied abroad in bolivia (i too was an anthro major who didn't go abroad!)
2. explored the outdoors more-it was fairly accessible!
3. dumped my bf instead of havin it dragged it out to junior yr even tho we were both not happy
4. read/studied more freshman and junior yr
5. joined organizations earlier
6. took more food sci classes and other electives
7. developed better writing skills!
8. known about being an EMT earlier so i could have done it thru undergrad
9. lived in a different dorm residence 1st yr

end regrets. 😛
 
If I didn't care about my grades, I would have majored in math and physics. I 😍 math.
 
happydays said:
If I didn't care about my grades, I would have majored in math and physics. I 😍 math.
Click to expand...

i would have done the same 👍
 
I would have taken regular orgo instead of honors that first term.

Other than that, no regrets. College was amazing.

oh, and when I met (Name Deleted) I would have run screaming the other way instead of asking her out.
 
Oh this is fun!

Definitely would have done study abroad in France or Russia or Spain.

Would have taken more science classes so I wouldn't have to do so much post-bacc.

Would have done a minor in Spanish.

Would have gone to more sporting events. I never went to any!

Would have spent more time worry about having fun and less time worrying about paying for school. I was so proud to have no loans, but seriously missed out on a lot of the social life.

And would have taken much harsher action on the two profs who gave me Ws which I don't feel like I deserved. I just let it go, but I wish I had pursued it with the Dean b/c it was not fair. I was in the hospital. I should have been allowed to make up the classes instead.
 
1. Lived on campus ((if i had planned ahead)
2. Studied abroad (if i weren't premed)
3. Worked less hours (if you paid my bills)
 
I can't believe more people haven't studied abroad! Nearly everyone I know at my school, myself included, went abroad at some point, most for the summer semester.

And when I met the loser (that's what I call him now) I would have run the other way. Well... maybe I would have dated him for a little while to meet his really awesome friends, who I still hang out with.
 
1. Changed my major to French language and literature. Damnit, i'm still kicking myself over this one.
2. Taken a few classes pass/fail - I didn't realize until a few semesters later that I could have taken a few non-science, required core classes as pass/fail. That would have done my GPA good.
3. Stopped rushing. I finished two degree programs in three years, on top of entering university two years early. My reason? No idea.
 
- review reactions for organic chem II. pick a different partner for the synthesis project. (made a B in that class)
- not taken western civ I. it was an impossible class.

that's really it. at first, i wanted to say things like be more social or meet more people, but i'm not sure how i'd go about doing that. i also don't regret my overall position. afterall, i've been accepted to the med school of my choice.
 
1. Relaxed during my undergrad.
2. I also wish I knew that there was a campus gym (really nice place) junior year. Had I known about it freshman year, I would have seriously not been so stressed. 🙂
3. Wish I had taken Spanish or Japanese.
 
I wish I had:

-Gotten the easy As freshman year instead of being a slacker.
-Studied abroad (this was mostly a money issue, and partly a time one).
-Spent as much time on my social life during the whole 4 years as I did in the last month of school.
-Gone to more Red Sox games.
-Avoided credit card debt.
-Made more friends freshman year when it was easier.
 
I wish I would have...

1.) Not spent all of my time with my boyfriend

2.) Not transferred after my freshman year...although in the end, I loved my second school as well

3.) Studied abroad. I spent the year after graduation traveling, but it would have been nice to spend longer than 1 month in a given destination.

4.) Added another major.

5.) Not wait until DECEMBER/JANUARY to submit my secondaries the first time around...
 
1. Done an indepent study at Oxford for the summer, would have been able to travel the UK/Europe (cost wayyyyyy too much money, so i didnt go, now i know that money shouldnt have mattered 🙁 )
2. Spent more time working out, keeping my body in shape-it can be done, but I just couldnt fathom it at the time, and now i live in a blobular vessel (or so it feels that way)
3. Lighten up and not be so serious
4. Not screwed up my freshman year
5. Got into a med-track program so I wouldnt have had to go through the application process and save money, time, worry 😡
5. yeah, avoid credit card debt too...
6. gone to a less expensive state school
 
bdibble said:
This is just a thread for us to reflect on. We are all done applying to our medical schools and such. Just put on here what you wish you would have done in the past 4 years but didn't. Or possibly what you did and made it better.

Doesn't necessarily have to be about building a med school resume, but just anything...
Click to expand...
taken biochem
 
1. Taken less science classes and more fluff classes
2. Studied abroad
3. Went on a mission trip
4. Taken advantage of the free admission to all of the Colonial Williamsburg exhibits (the last time I actually went into any of the exhibits.. I think I was in middle school... maybe elementary school)
5. Studied harder.. cuz god knows undergrad was much easier than grad school
6. Said no to a few of those random leadership positions
 
ayznshorti said:
6. Said no to a few of those random leadership positions
Click to expand...
:laugh: I totally thought that was going to read "Said no to a few of those random hook-ups." Lol...would have been so much more entertaining than boring old "leadership positions"! 😉
 
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