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

[chowchilla]

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- spread out my pre-req courses instead of doing them all in one year
- done a major in religion instead
- known about sdn

 

[bamf7]

I wish I would have gone to UCSD or ASU.

 

[drmota]

i wish i would have tried to enjoy my classes. i didn't do this til my senior year, at which point i got straight As and actually got a kick out of going to class/studying
-mota

 

[eggy]

I wish I had known better what it takes to get into medical school. I should have taken my freshman pre-med seminar class more seriously and actually followed the advice of my pre-med counselor. Then again, if I had been better prepared for med school, I would have gotten in right away, and wouldn't have had these past two years to save a little money and spend time with my wife. Once med school starts, they say things will never again slow down.

 

[registered user]

I wish I would've gotten a 4.0

 

[Sare]

Eaten less, exercised more
Taken more philosophy and photography classes
Would have sent out my AMCAS in June instead of September

 

[HC05nmd]

hmm, i've been thinking about this stuff alot lately...

1. Although I love my undergrad and the friends I made, I wish I went to college in a different, more fun location, like Boston, NYC, or California. After this process, I realized it will only get harder to get to easily choose where you want to live...we are at the mercy of adcoms and residency program directors for a while.

2. Definitely would have went abroad. Most likely to Spain, if I had that Spanish major/minor that is now on my list of regrets. Or Australia, the students at my school loved it there. Didn't go because I was not that comfortable readjusting to a new environment all over again. Wish I had just pushed myself to do it!

3. Wish I had at least tried research before writing it off as not for me...a senior year second semester biochem lab project totally changed my mine on that one..

 

[jbrice1639]

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.

wow...i mean WOW...that's amazingly impressive, but i think i would have hurled myself in front of a bus if i'd tried to do that in undergrad...

 

[Nakhrewali]

1) Definitely wished I had gone to a smaller school than CAL.

2) Studied abroad like everyone else.

3) STUDIED a helluva lot more like my smarty pants friends who are now in med school.

4) Focused less on drinking and boys. 😛

 

[MediMama23]

I would've spent more time with friends.
I would've majored in a different subject.
I would've gotten more involved in the community.

I notice you haven't answered this question yet, bdibble. As you're in college, too, what would YOU have done?

 

[Nutmeg1621]

I've enjoyed reading this thread and just wanted to bump it.

The only regret I have so far is not going into college right after high school.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Studied abroad. It was going to happen, going to happen, going to happen... then it didnt happen.

Make time for it now, you probably wont have time for it later. And dont worry about loans; I passed my first opportunity to study abroad because i would have had to take $3k in loans. I laugh at that pittance of a figure now. I wipe my a** with $3k of debt.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I would have become a campus rep for Playboy.

 

[Redneck]

1) I would have majored in statistics or business or even general studies rather than a biological degree
2) I should have recognized earlier that falling asleep in classses means you shouldn't go, and just self study - it's okay not to go to some classes
3) I would have taken the GED exam after middle school and jumped into college earlier
4) I should have hunt and fished more often

Otherwise I felt I did fine and one thing I know I did do right was joining a fraternity - many ups and downs, but definitely worth it.

 

[Shredder]

-studied abroad in the Orient
-graduated early...maybe even in 2 years if possible, and gone to whatever med school accepted me in spite of that. This takes precedence over studying abroad.

Stats is a great subject.

 

[j-med]

(EDIT: I was just going to bring this post up since I haven't finished my undergrad yet, (senior next year), but thinking about it, I think I want to leave a comment too)

If I were to answer this question now, I wish I had:
lived in a different dorm or had made a different group of friends in freshmen year
(not seniors who were graduating, or
sophomores who went abroad the next term, or
to had become 'best friend' that year with this girl and hung out so much with her who is now obsessed with her controlling boyfriend and never comes out of her room ever since sophomore year)
that way I would have enjoyed the school more and had better social life..
- in terms of school, I wish I had chosen classes more wisely freshmen year and laid out my pre-reqs in a better manner, which in some ways resulted in my insufficient involvement in research..
- taken my MCAT earlier...or prepared better for it sooner, totally didn't realize what it really is until this January!...

thanks for the thread for letting me rant!

 

[TypeA]

What's so good at the Office of Disability Services?

I have a condition that qualifies for help, but I was too stubborn to ask for it. Made life a lot more difficult...and my grades a lot lower.

 

[TWP]

1. Worn that 80s jogging outfit to organic class on test day, with the long flowing blonde wig.

2. Tried to buy every girl in the bar that showed interest (real or imagined) Jager bombs every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, etc nights.

3. Joined a frat to make "medical school connections" and ended up only makeing "connections" with sorrority girls.

4. Would have gone to a house party and "inventing" a possible 2020 olympic sport known as "throw lawn funiture on top of a house and see if we can make it stick."

Oh no!!! I thought this was a What I wish I would NOT have done as an undergraduate!!! In that case forget everything I just said, please.

 

[StevenRF]

1. Single majored for a B.A. instead of doubling majoring science BS and engineering BS. Probably a B.A. in mathematics.

2. Study abroad for 4 semesters in different countries after I finished all my premed reqs freshman and sophmore year to take advantage of the universality of math. Oh yea, tack on that semester at sea at woodshole for a summer.

3. Join a sports team.

4. Live in a crappier place and learn how to cook so I wouldn't have to work so much to pay for living expenses.

5. Play my sax more often, maybe take some music classes.

6. Ditch class much much much more often, like every day except for exams.


Can we plz start one like this for finished med students? I'm feeling so regretful now....this way we could learn from others.

 

[rajad10]

slayed less women and had less sex

 

[mtDNA]

Well, if I could have seen into the future, I definitely would not have worked as hard in undergrad. 4.0 GPA, 33 MCAT, and all the extra curricular stuff I did are overkill for getting into D.O. school, which is the only acceptance I have. I applied to 15 MD schools, mostly ones with lower stats than my own. ALso applied really early and got secondaries and LORs in real quick too. I don't even know what to say about it, because I can not figure out what I did wrong. I defintely made some sacrifices to do all of that studying and stay involved in ECs, and now I wish that I had not.