What percentage of the time did u go to class?

[Yogi Bear]

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Curious what the current med students are doing.

 

[daisygirl]

I went to class less than 25% of the time. There are some classes that I never went to. I noticed that when I did go to quite a few classes, my grades suffered since the exams tended to test minutae. Overall, I do not regret that I did not attend classes. However, I do wish I went to classes where the professors taught really well. One of the path professors at my school writes board questions and he taught very well and only taught us stuff that mattered.

 

[sacrament]

For the first few months I went 100% of the time. By the end of first year that was down to 50%. For the first half of second year, it was about 25%. From November 2003 through the end of classes last Thursday, I didn't attend a single lecture. I only went to the school to take the exams. Grades remained stable.

 

[lola]

i go pretty much all the time... more for social reasons than cause i learn a lot in class 🙂. even though i'm someone who learns by listening, often i'm wasting my time going to class b/c the teachers almost always assume the students have more knowledge than they do, thus i often walk out of class without understanding the big picture. i'm sure i'll start skipping more class next year when there is less time to goof off.

 

[roja]

It varied. Started early on as an avid class go-er. rapidly turned into a non class goer

 

[cocoabutter]

I went to class the majority of the time. It really depended on how many lectures we had that day. If it was 3 or less, then I would attend. 4+ and I was less likely to be present. Mostly, I went to class to structure my day and to be social. On my own, I am not always disciplined enough to wake up on my own and begin studying. By going to class, I was forced to wake up and start doing something. Overall, I didn't really see a difference between going to class and not going, so for 2nd year, I will probably go a lot less. We'll see.

 

[AlexRusso]

Started off med school with that "I'm gonna go to every class and read notes before class and right after" attitude. By yhe end of first year I was going to roughly 50%. I only showed up to histology to take exams. Had to figure out how to use the damn microscope on the first practical.

Second year I started of going to most classes. Quickly realized I was wasting time. By the end of the year the only lecture I'd go to was pharm, and even then about 75% of the time. Path, behavior, ICM, micro...stopped going.

 

[OB1🤙]

I think the results on this forum would be skewed towards more frequent attendance than is the real average (not that there's anything wrong with that).

First semester (of MS1) I went to class almost 100% of the time, mostly because we had mandatory labs anyway. I was always tired and run down from having to get up at 7 every morning. This semster, my attendance was exactly 0%. My grades are the same. Only difference is, I sleep until 11 or 12, am always well rested, and I feel healthy and not stressed out at all, like I was starting to get first semester.

Sleep is your friend. We'll lose enough of it as MS3s and residents. No need to give up any now, especially if you can read the notes from a one hour lecture in five minutes.

 

[ttac]

I think the results on this forum would be skewed towards more frequent attendance than is the real average (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Hmm... I was thinking the exact opposite... people who waste time on SDN (like myself) wouldn't go to class as much 😀 Maybe it cancels out, so this survey doesn't have a selection bias.

My vote: <25%

ttac

 

[debvz]

2 words....

mandatory attendance

My school has a mandatory attendance policy in which you are allowed to miss up to 5% of the lectures per block. If you missed more than that without a written excuse, your final grade could be docked 😱

 

[ttac]

2 words....

mandatory attendance

My school has a mandatory attendance policy in which you are allowed to miss up to 5% of the lectures per block. If you missed more than that without a written excuse, your final grade could be docked 😱

It would be interesting to compare the average step 1 scores from schools that have such a mandatory attendance policy with those that don't. What schools DO have a mandatory attendance policy, btw?

 

[BigO]

Mandatory attendance is a crock! We were supposed to have this policy, but the funny thing was our class officers were in charge of taking role. At first, they were serious about it, but you could always get around it. Then the officers stopped coming to class, and the policy crumbled.

Nobody's grade was docked, nobody was harrassed. The only time we heard anything was when only 25% of the class showed up to class (which happened a lot twd the end of MS-II), and the docs got pissed and told the dean. He shook a finger at us and fussed about professionalism - then it was back to our games.

The sad thing is, now, future classes are screwed. Our truancy has led to the placement of ID card pads in the lecture hall, that everyone has to swipe their ID badges before lecture. I don't know how this is gonna work exactly, but I feel for the Class of '08, but I trust they will find a way around this too.

 

[ericdamiansean]

you'll sort of know which lecture you need to go to after a while..and since we get notes, it's alright for me...you need to go to those where the lecturers give extra stuff, or exam tips..or are plain interesting

 

[debvz]

The sad thing is, now, future classes are screwed. Our truancy has led to the placement of ID card pads in the lecture hall, that everyone has to swipe their ID badges before lecture. I don't know how this is gonna work exactly, but I feel for the Class of '08, but I trust they will find a way around this too.

I have a sneaky suspicion we're at the same school.....I was in one of the lecture halls last week for a grand rounds, and saw those ID swipe things at the back doors. I had no idea what they were for...

 

[ermonty]

I went to class 100% of the time for the first two weeks, then 50% for the next week, 25% the following week. After the first month, 0% of the time for the remainder of the year. The thing is my grades only went up - up - up the rest of MS1. To each their own. Everyone that I have talked to that goes to class regularly (and is honest) says that they only do so for social interaction. Personally, I want my daily work-out and 8hrs of sleep more than I want to be friends with all the people in my class.

 

[promethius]

Went to class ~95% of the time during our first class--anatomy. Afterwards, attendance basically slipped to ~10%. Grades only gotten better (along with more free time) after NOT going to class. Hey Yogi, how's the first year class at Vandy? I recall you got in off the waitlist there last year around this time. I would probably have gone there if I had gotten in off the waitlist too because it'd be closer to home.

 

[greets fr. nyc]

the short and sweet:

3% lecture

100% small seminars

100% PBL

 

[Gleevec]

Ive noticed that in the poll that a plurality of people went to class 95%+ of the time. Yet on SDN, all I read are threads about how class is generally useless

Is this because people who go to class a lot dont post about it since they fear being characterized as a "gunner" simply for attending lectures? I wouldnt think of it as gunning, but then again, some others might.

 

[Fermata]

Ive noticed that in the poll that a plurality of people went to class 95%+ of the time. Yet on SDN, all I read are threads about how class is generally useless

Is this because people who go to class a lot dont post about it since they fear being characterized as a "gunner" simply for attending lectures? I wouldnt think of it as gunning, but then again, some others might.

Those who don't go to class have more time to post on SDN.

Think about it.

 

[Celestron2000]

Mandatory attendance is a crock! We were supposed to have this policy, but the funny thing was our class officers were in charge of taking role. At first, they were serious about it, but you could always get around it. Then the officers stopped coming to class, and the policy crumbled.

Nobody's grade was docked, nobody was harrassed. The only time we heard anything was when only 25% of the class showed up to class (which happened a lot twd the end of MS-II), and the docs got pissed and told the dean. He shook a finger at us and fussed about professionalism - then it was back to our games.

The sad thing is, now, future classes are screwed. Our truancy has led to the placement of ID card pads in the lecture hall, that everyone has to swipe their ID badges before lecture. I don't know how this is gonna work exactly, but I feel for the Class of '08, but I trust they will find a way around this too.

eww! 😱 👎 How middle school!
Aren't we supposed to be adults by the time we get to medschool? Whose brilliant idea was mandatory attendance, and making you swipe cards? What is it, prison? Like we don't pay out the wazoo for medical school...
Seems to me, as long as you learn what you need to know, why should it matter if you go to class. That's what the USMLE is for.

 

[Johnny69]

I think it is interesting, because, i am against the trends here. My grades went up when i started going to classes, now i hardly miss anything.

Basically, if you do read through your lecture notes before the actual lecture, it can make a huge difference.

Also a lecturer is more likely to include in his or her exams questions he/she feels to be of most releveance, and this is generally what they place emphasis on in classes. Not to mention the obvious exam hints. Our histo lecturer was particularly fond of this, e.g. "lecture graphic 5, will get you 10 marks in the first class assessment", by the time that exam came around, i pretty much had 20 marks guranteed.

In undergrad, all lectures were taped by the university. You would be shocked how much you get out of a lecture sitting at home in your own comfort carefully listening to a lecture, rather than 😴 in the actual lecture hall. Basically you could chose when lectures were on. Also any handouts given out by the lecturer were always submitted to the library and scanned into a reserve system for internet access. I loved that uni!

 

[flsweetlady]

I went to class 80% of the time only because I learned from lectures. It helped reinforce what I read the night before and it gave me an idea of what to focus on for the test...However, I tried not going to class and It didnt work for me...my grades improved when I used lecture time as a review tool and came to lecture well rested...It helped me to hear the teacher say the information...that would be one less time that I would need to review the info... 😉

some of my classmates chose to come to class only sometimes and did equally well....It depends on the person, you have to see what works for you and then do it.