What NOT to do if you want to attend medical school

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thesunofyork said:
I haven't had any pre-reqs where the homework was just "recommended." The homework was most of the time 20-30% of the grade. I know a bunch of people looked up answers because there were conversations consisting of "I couldn't find this on Yahoo! Answers." Most of the time, the homework didn't really help for tests, it was just a easy way (sorta) to get points.
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Sounds like a total waste of time. So glad my homework days are pretty much done
 
thesunofyork said:
Biology was okay. You could just click until you got the answer right, and you got easy points. Chemistry was more difficult because you actually had to think (oh the horror) and apply the concepts in order to get an answer. Although I did have 1-2 problems where neither the AI or the professor could answer it.
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But its not really easy points if everyone else gets them. It's just a waste of everyone's time. I'll be the first to admit I copied nearly every homework assignment in college, and I have no shame about it
 
I'm a postbacc student who began college back in 2007. As far as I can tell, the practice of giving mandatory homework is a fairly new one and basically a sneaky way of forcing students to give the textbook publishers hundreds of bucks per class. You can buy used textbooks or get older editions for significantly cheaper, share a book with a friend, etc., but if you need the $150 online program to do the homework that's part of your grade, you have no options.

Back when I took biology, there was no homework aside from I think we had prelab assignments to fill out in our paper lab manuals. Now bio students at my school have online homework problems.

I mostly hate the entire concept. For one, I'm broke. As an undergrad, I got away with paying like $10 for a lot of my books because I bought old editions. Can't do that anymore. Secondly, it makes college too high schoolish. One of the biggest appeals of college used to be that I could prepare for my classes at my own pace as long as I had all of the material down by the test date. Now there's much less freedom and flexibility because of constant homework due dates.

There are benefits in some classes, though. In gen chem, the test questions and homework questions were COMPLETELY different types of questions. The homework was just a blatant waste of time and money. Everyone in the class learned to just look up the homework answers on Yahoo Answers and move on with studying for the actual exam. But in my calculus and ochem 2 classes, I had teachers who would put some of what were basically the exact same types of questions on the exams. It was helpful to have an idea of what types of problems to expect going into exams. At least I felt like I got something useful to me for my money.
 
beebreezy said:
I'm a postbacc student who began college back in 2007. As far as I can tell, the practice of giving mandatory homework is a fairly new one and basically a sneaky way of forcing students to give the textbook publishers hundreds of bucks per class. You can buy used textbooks or get older editions for significantly cheaper, share a book with a friend, etc., but if you need the $150 online program to do the homework that's part of your grade, you have no options.

Back when I took biology, there was no homework aside from I think we had prelab assignments to fill out in our paper lab manuals. Now bio students at my school have online homework problems.

I mostly hate the entire concept. For one, I'm broke. As an undergrad, I got away with paying like $10 for a lot of my books because I bought old editions. Can't do that anymore. Secondly, it makes college too high schoolish. One of the biggest appeals of college used to be that I could prepare for my classes at my own pace as long as I had all of the material down by the test date. Now there's much less freedom and flexibility because of constant homework due dates.

There are benefits in some classes, though. In gen chem, the test questions and homework questions were COMPLETELY different types of questions. The homework was just a blatant waste of time and money. Everyone in the class learned to just look up the homework answers on Yahoo Answers and move on with studying for the actual exam. But in my calculus and ochem 2 classes, I had teachers who would put some of what were basically the exact same types of questions on the exams. It was helpful to have an idea of what types of problems to expect going into exams. At least I felt like I got something useful to me for my money.
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I largely credit Mastering Physics with helping me conquer my most difficult MCAT subject and helping me ultimately excel. A lot of students cheat on homework, but for me it was a great example of "if you cheat, the only person you're cheating is yourself." I'm really glad I put in the time.
 
ElCapone said:
Another one: Flirting with your interviewer during the interview
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I disagree. If you're tactful about it, a little flirting can make you appear more approachable and help your interviewer(s) interpret your responses in a positive light. Of course, it's a risk. There's always the chance of being interviewed by someone who responds adversely to early attempts at establishing familiarity. I would guess those types of people are the vast minority in a profession based around interacting with and helping people, though.
 
efle said:
Ah, the wonders of ultra-uptight schools that force you to either report your roomie or risk your MD odds over the beers in their fridge
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Something similar to this happened to me. Wasn't drugs or alcohol, but essentially 1 of 7 suit-mates did something and the entire suite got written up.
 
rocklobstr said:
Something similar to this happened to me. Wasn't drugs or alcohol, but essentially 1 of 7 suit-mates did something and the entire suite got written up.
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...what was it? I know you can be called responsible for knowing about something and failing to report it, but I've never heard that line used regarding anything other than drugs and alcohol. Was he running an underground poker ring or something?
 
efle said:
...what was it? I know you can be called responsible for knowing about something and failing to report it, but I've never heard that line used regarding anything other than drugs and alcohol. Was he running an underground poker ring or something?
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Hahaha, I wont go into too many details, but basically a suite-mate went into an unoccupied room in our suite that was never locked when the other students moved out. Since no one in the suite could really say they didn't know he did it, we all got in trouble for "aiding and assisting," i.e., knowing and failing to report.
 
As an Resident Assistant, I can tell you that I've had to call DPS (campus police) to my own apartment because my roommate decided to use marijuana.

"Before you enter this apartment, I have to tell you that I also live here."
Always the best conversations starters, I tell you.
 
phuynh94 said:
As an Resident Assistant, I can tell you that I've had to call DPS (campus police) to my own apartment because my roommate decided to use marijuana.

"Before you enter this apartment, I have to tell you that I also live here."
Always the best conversations starters, I tell you.
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Who would think that its okay to do that in front of an RA , unless its one of those RA's who don't really do their job and do it with them.
 
Mad Jack said:
Unless you're in one of those states where it lands you on the sex offender registry. Then you're pretty much screwed for life.
JURIS_140812_public_urination_map.png.CROP.promovar-mediumlarge.png
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Just thought this was funny because I live in AZ was caught urinating in an alley but never had to register as a sex offender just a small fine.
 
gabem480 said:
Just thought this was funny because I live in AZ was caught urinating in an alley but never had to register as a sex offender just a small fine.
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In Arizona, you only get put on the registry if either you are a repeat offender or if children witness the act.
 
Never did it myself, but the handful of friends who got caught peeing in an alley in college in Mass were definitely never registered as sex offenders. I think its up to the cop's discretion which specific crime the charge you with (if any) in most cases.
 
Goro said:
One more thing to add: do NOT claim to be URM or disadvantaged when it's clear that you're not.
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It is disgusting this even needs to be mentioned at all.
 
ChrisMack390 said:
Never did it myself, but the handful of friends who got caught peeing in an alley in college in Mass were definitely never registered as sex offenders. I think its up to the cop's discretion which specific crime the charge you with (if any) in most cases.
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Good thing it isnt a thing in Pennsylvania. Cops would have loved being in Philly last thursday during the parade. Ive never seen so much public urination in my life.
 
Goro said:
One more thing to add: do NOT claim to be URM or disadvantaged when it's clear that you're not.
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I actually wonder about this. If my parents hadn't moved to Canada when they did, I'd have been born in Mexico City, and I'd be a Mexican citizen because of jus soli. A kid in my high school class had this exact deal going, and he used it to get into Harvard.

It's definitely a case of loophole abuse, but I think if you at least keep an up-to-date Mexican passport and go to the trouble to learn Spanish, it's okay. I'd say a fluent Spanish speaker brings more diversity to medicine, regardless of their ethnicity, than someone who speaks nothing but English but has an incidental Mayan ancestor.
 
Anonimus.Maximus said:
I actually wonder about this. If my parents hadn't moved to Canada when they did, I'd have been born in Mexico City, and I'd be a Mexican citizen because of jus soli. A kid in my high school class had this exact deal going, and he used it to get into Harvard.

It's definitely a case of loophole abuse, but I think if you at least keep an up-to-date Mexican passport and go to the trouble to learn Spanish, it's okay. I'd say a fluent Spanish speaker brings more diversity to medicine, regardless of their ethnicity, than someone who speaks nothing but English but has an incidental Mayan ancestor.
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Due to things like this, but more so to people who outright lie, what schools look for is evidence of service to the community.
 
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