What was the single most annoying thing you hated about being pre-med?

[darksurg]

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Pre-med - going to [insert summer shadowing program = $$$$] guarantees you at least a interview to Med school

Me -

 

[Ace-Co-A]

for me, i was really annoyed by the fact that some people i talked to (professors, doctors, etc) usually responded with skepticism when i told them i was "pre-med". its like i felt they were thinking "haha yeah right". let your haters be your motivators i guess lol

Dude so true. One such instance has been bothering me for months...

I run into my physics professor from sophomore year at an awards banquet (last fall, the fall of my senior year). He is talking to my friend who is also pre-med and asks him how applying to medical school is going. My friend nods politely (it was early in the season and there wasn't much to report). I respond enthusiastically in his place that 'we're both in the same boat -- receiving invites and starting to interview at various schools'. My professor looks at me, surprised, and remarks that he didn't 'have me pegged as a med school guy'.

There are two problems with that: (1) I earned As in his class and (2) why the heck would he make that kind of judgement without knowing my credentials? What the heck, man? (Especially troublesome - but impossible for the Professor to know - is that I have higher GPA/MCAT than my friend). I guess just picking favorites like that really bothers me. I guess I'm just lucky that I didn't ask this professor for a LOR. 😀

I've decided that the only way to make the situation right is to passive-aggressively give this professor a Thank You card for everything I learned from him and to mention that 'only with the scholarship he inspired' was I able to get into medical school.

 

[Microglia]

Dude so true. One such instance has been bothering me for months...

I run into my physics professor from sophomore year at an awards banquet (last fall, the fall of my senior year). He is talking to my friend who is also pre-med and asks him how applying to medical school is going. My friend nods politely (it was early in the season and there wasn't much to report). I respond enthusiastically in his place that 'we're both in the same boat -- receiving invites and starting to interview at various schools'. My professor looks at me, surprised, and remarks that he didn't 'have me pegged as a med school guy'.

There are two problems with that: (1) I earned As in his class and (2) why the heck would he make that kind of judgement without knowing my credentials? What the heck, man? (Especially troublesome - but impossible for the Professor to know - is that I have higher GPA/MCAT than my friend). I guess just picking favorites like that really bothers me. I guess I'm just lucky that I didn't ask this professor for a LOR. 😀

I've decided that the only way to make the situation right is to passive-aggressively give this professor a Thank You card for everything I learned from him and to mention that 'only with the scholarship he inspired' was I able to get into medical school.

Usually this goes the other way. Some physics professors at my school assume no premed is smart enough to get an A in their class, so because you got an A, you must not be premed.

 

[deleted407021]

The pre professional program director at my UG insists that everyone study for the MCAT for an entire year. They also push everyone to have at least 100 hours of shadowing and only 100 hours of volunteering. I just want to leave an anonymous note on his desk saying, "Check out SDN."

 

[487806]

Usually this goes the other way. Some physics professors at my school assume no premed is smart enough to get an A in their class, so because you got an A, you must not be premed.

Well, maybe because it's true? Premeds usually wimp out of "true" intro physics (i.e. calc-based) and take algebra-based physics. Their poor profs who get stuck teaching this course have to deal with them and somehow get slandered for giving out "difficult exams" or "crappy lectures". Obviously, this is not the case in every school (n=1), but I see this being a common problem unfortunately, which is why physics profs despise premeds and dismiss them as ignorant

 

[Dr. Biology]

there are a few things I hate! The first is that being "Pre-Med" at my Univ. has turned into a flock of 18-19 year old girls in leggings and Ugg boots drinking Starbucks who want to be doctors because an episode of Greys Anatomy changed their lives. the next is the sheer ignorance of other pre meds, In my Gen Chem 1 class there is a girl who is "Pre-Med" who has failed 3 times but swears shes med school material (the same girl tried to convince me that you were required to take A&P 1+2 and a 3000 level Human Anatomy course to even be able to apply to med school). The other is the freaking entitlement! for example there is this dude in my Chem lab who came in day 1 and had bought a lab coat from a graduate of the local medical schools Biochemistry PhD program, later that same month he had bought another from the MD program!!!

 

[The Buff OP]

there are a few things I hate! The first is that being "Pre-Med" at my Univ. has turned into a flock of 18-19 year old girls in leggings and Ugg boots drinking Starbucks who want to be doctors because an episode of Greys Anatomy changed their lives. the next is the sheer ignorance of other pre meds, In my Gen Chem 1 class there is a girl who is "Pre-Med" who has failed 3 times but swears shes med school material (the same girl tried to convince me that you were required to take A&P 1+2 and a 3000 level Human Anatomy course to even be able to apply to med school). The other is the freaking entitlement! for example there is this dude in my Chem lab who came in day 1 and had bought a lab coat from a graduate of the local medical schools Biochemistry PhD program, later that same month he had bought another from the MD program!!!

Some people go full _____ never go full _____ .

GTL!

 

[Dr. Biology]

sadly 90% at my University go full ____ haha

 

[Shibbyboi182]

I went to a large "name-brand" (whatever that means) public pre-med factory. Our school provides around 800 applicants per year, which is usually the most of any undergrad institution. That's the people that actually make it through and decide they have enough of a shot to apply (so imagine the total number doing pre-reqs and all the ECs). With that, the things I hated most:

• There was cutthroat competition from day 1. The school needs a way to trim the number of people with majors in the Life Sciences, so the grading, especially the first 2 years was brutal. Grades were curved to a C+/B- for 80% of my classes. Cheating was rampant. One guy literally stabbed a girl in their chemistry lab.
• I had to compete for EVERYTHING. Literally EVERYTHING. "Oh hi, you like our club? We don't have space for everyone, so we have an application with follow-up interviews."
• Both our University's health system and all the surrounding hospitals were saturated with pre-meds. In order to volunteer and provide free labor we went through 2-3 rounds of interviews and paid an entry free.
• Because the supply/demand issue was tilted so heavily against us (faculty and employers knew this), internships/research positions/externships/etc had no shot of being paid. If you weren't willing to do it for free, 15 other people were.

But what irked me more than anything else was the fact that Admissions Office, Career Office, and all the other self-promoting entities would deliberately misrepresent our matriculation statistics when selling the school to admitted freshmen.

• Statement: "Nationally, we rank 1st or 2nd every year in total number of students accepted to medical school."
• Reality: By volume, yes, we send a lot of kids, but that's because the school is HUGE and everyone is pre-med. Our actual acceptance percentage is significantly below the national mean every year (p < 0.01). We actually outrank every other school by miles in terms of number of students who have to complete post-bacc's or go abroad.

 

[darklabel]

Oh god. What I love is if I bring it up people just squirm and go 'oh that site is terrible...' Admit it. You're also stalking the school specific forums. Just join already and learn something lol.

Idk, there are instances where it's best to be "in the dark". I encounter all the time on school specific forums how 5 people wait listed means everyone is on the wait list and it will be huge or if you are wait listed, seeing others getting in and saying how likely they are to matriculate there and their stats can make you feel like there will be no wait list movement.

Also gets annoying that when you do join and say you've got an interview, everyone immediately asks for stats and such. Heading over to the panic thread also makes me sad for some of those applicants and makes the waiting game 10 times worse.

URM threads are also becoming more rampant lately and I think it's just applicants' frustrations being at an all time high.

I would advise sdn in small tid bits, but avoiding sdn at certain times (such as being wait listed or after an interview) is probably good for your sanity.

 

[The Buff OP]

Off topic but I used to think GTL stood for "Gym Tan Lotion" lol.

I only do GL gym and lotion lol. I have really delicate skin and I always need to be moisturize (fun fact from me). I do need to tan one of these days, but I did get darker from my 2 week vacation in Mexico.

 

[The Buff OP]

probably for stating his "opinion"

Hmmmm... Has he made a new account?

 

[Dr. Biology]

Hmmmm... Has he made a new account?

he posted a picture of a mutilated face awhile back, that could have done it lol.. merely speculation here. Maybe we should get back on topic before the Admin shows up lol

 

[The Buff OP]

he posted a picture of a mutilated face awhile back, that could have done it lol.. merely speculation here. Maybe we should get back on topic before the Admin shows up lol

Oh that's cray! lol

 

[DermViser]

Hey, why did baconshrimps get banned?

Damn, his avatar always made me hungry.

 

[musliminmed]

I have a fellow pre-med that constantly talks about how much money he is going to make and shows no hint of actually caring about actually caring for people or patients and it drives me nuts. Also "that guy" who has to know EVERY SINGLE GRADE everyone else gets, and then brags about his own of they didn't do too well

Hahahaha, omg, these guys sound terrible, especially the one that brags about the money! Yeah, I guess getting paid well is a good incentive, but it shouldn't be your only motivation!

 

[CarlosDanger]

Dude so true. One such instance has been bothering me for months...

I run into my physics professor from sophomore year at an awards banquet (last fall, the fall of my senior year). He is talking to my friend who is also pre-med and asks him how applying to medical school is going. My friend nods politely (it was early in the season and there wasn't much to report). I respond enthusiastically in his place that 'we're both in the same boat -- receiving invites and starting to interview at various schools'. My professor looks at me, surprised, and remarks that he didn't 'have me pegged as a med school guy'.

There are two problems with that: (1) I earned As in his class and (2) why the heck would he make that kind of judgement without knowing my credentials? What the heck, man? (Especially troublesome - but impossible for the Professor to know - is that I have higher GPA/MCAT than my friend). I guess just picking favorites like that really bothers me. I guess I'm just lucky that I didn't ask this professor for a LOR. 😀

I've decided that the only way to make the situation right is to passive-aggressively give this professor a Thank You card for everything I learned from him and to mention that 'only with the scholarship he inspired' was I able to get into medical school.

I actually think he was being insulting in a different way. A lot of basic science professors have an axe to grind against doctors. They consider them shallow and unthoughtful for pursuing medicine, as opposed to science for the love of science. Some basically think doctors are sellouts and are unable to think critically. I've had comments like this before. He was probably giving you a backhanded compliment by saying that since you did really well in his class and seemed interested, medicine is beneath you and he didn't think you were "that guy." So maybe an insult within a compliment? haha

Both physicians and professors can heavily stereotype each other at times, it's stupid.

 

[pterygoideus]

I hate wanting to take more difficult, interesting classes but knowing that it would probably entail taking a hit to my GPA. As hackneyed as this sounds, college should be about pursing knowledge unencumbered by those kinds of feelings.

This. I did it anyway - and not only that, I threw out my chance to study abroad just so I could take more GPA-destroying classes for my chemistry minor.

The other thing I hate is how awkward competition makes premed friendships. I don't compete with others, only with the goals I have for myself, so when I volunteer to read over your personal statement or go over a problem set, it's not to get one over you. It's because I like you as a person and I'm a damn good writer so I figured I'd help out as a friend. But nooooooooo, suddenly I'm the weird one for wanting to help you. This is why my main crowd was the chem majors and not the bio majors.

 

[lnvictus]

Hmmmm... Has he made a new account?

yeah I am baconshrimps












Just kidding

 

[jturkel]

obnoxious gunner premeds

 

[Mr Roboto]

Other pre-meds who I knew were going to drop out of the program, but still expected me to want to try to tutor their F in physics into an A.

 

[The Buff OP]

yeah I am baconshrimps












Just kidding

Sure.... 🙄

 

[lnvictus]

Sure.... 🙄

lol I'm just kidding. I'm not tasty enough sorry.

 

[dieanotherday]

When I was undecided pre-health, what sealed the deal and completely confirm how crazy how all of you were was this incident in my ochem II class

it was the last week before finals and we had 1 lecture left. a person in the class was able to get all of our emails off of blackboard and make a fake but extremely similar email to the professors email (he used gmail) that you wouldn't have questioned was him because he had multiple email accounts (school, gmail, etc) that he would use to send out msgs to his class about future classes cancelled or what not.

this person told all of us from this fake account that class was cancelled and on that lecture day the professor came to a lecture hall that was normally 250+ people to a room of 20 students and continued to lecture.

this material was tested on the final. Obviously the kid who sent it out and his buddies who helped him pull it off was in that group of 20. prof went through like 5 major reactions and their steps that day and the email told us we would not be tested on it. class wasn't podcasted or recorded either. final was not curved as those people who did attend the class were able to get perfect scores.

how would you have reacted if this happened to you?

 

[lnvictus]

When I was undecided pre-health, what sealed the deal and completely confirm how crazy how all of you were was this incident in my ochem II class

it was the last week before finals and we had 1 lecture left. a person in the class was able to get all of our emails off of blackboard and make a fake but extremely similar email to the professors email (he used gmail) that you wouldn't have questioned was him because he had multiple email accounts (school, gmail, etc) that he would use to send out msgs to his class about future classes cancelled or what not.

this person told all of us from this fake account that class was cancelled and on that lecture day the professor came to a lecture hall that was normally 250+ people to a room of 20 students and continued to lecture.

this material was tested on the final. Obviously the kid who sent it out and his buddies who helped him pull it off was in that group of 20. prof went through like 5 major reactions and their steps that day and the email told us we would not be tested on it. class wasn't podcasted or recorded either. final was not curved as those people who did attend the class were able to get perfect scores.

how would you have reacted if this happened to you?

Did nothing happen to that kid? That is sinister and brilliant.

 

[dieanotherday]

Did nothing happen to that kid? That is sinister and brilliant.

nope, nothing at all
how many pre-meds did he piss off that day?
the IP address was from a school computer that didn't need a student log in just "guest" and it happened on campus which was all the investigation lead to
they changed how you could msg other students on blackboard and find their emails to you could never look them up again
this became a serious problem in other classes as well and started spamming with viruses and stuff

why did I have to worry about this in undergrad? because i was surrounded by premeds.

 

[Vespasian]

Two RA's in the research lab I was working in were pre-med, they were so confident they were going to medical school (already chose a specialty) because they completed Bio 1 together. Hearing them offer other pre-med students advice like they were already accepted was frustrating, they also referred to the MD/PhD post-doc as a "colleague". When they started asking for lab coats because "the psych labs have 'em" I just had to laugh. Next semester- they stopped volunteering in the lab.

Same lab; this kid loved dropping the fact that his dad was an OB/GYN. "If you need an OB/GYN for such-and-such protocol, I can ask my DAAAAD..." He also seemed to think mentioning that and his pre-med status was a panty-dropper. He used that with female research participants at the weirdest times.

 

[The Buff OP]

When I was undecided pre-health, what sealed the deal and completely confirm how crazy how all of you were was this incident in my ochem II class

it was the last week before finals and we had 1 lecture left. a person in the class was able to get all of our emails off of blackboard and make a fake but extremely similar email to the professors email (he used gmail) that you wouldn't have questioned was him because he had multiple email accounts (school, gmail, etc) that he would use to send out msgs to his class about future classes cancelled or what not.

this person told all of us from this fake account that class was cancelled and on that lecture day the professor came to a lecture hall that was normally 250+ people to a room of 20 students and continued to lecture.

this material was tested on the final. Obviously the kid who sent it out and his buddies who helped him pull it off was in that group of 20. prof went through like 5 major reactions and their steps that day and the email told us we would not be tested on it. class wasn't podcasted or recorded either. final was not curved as those people who did attend the class were able to get perfect scores.

how would you have reacted if this happened to you?

LMAO! That's crazy, bro.

 

[darklabel]

When I was undecided pre-health, what sealed the deal and completely confirm how crazy how all of you were was this incident in my ochem II class

it was the last week before finals and we had 1 lecture left. a person in the class was able to get all of our emails off of blackboard and make a fake but extremely similar email to the professors email (he used gmail) that you wouldn't have questioned was him because he had multiple email accounts (school, gmail, etc) that he would use to send out msgs to his class about future classes cancelled or what not.

this person told all of us from this fake account that class was cancelled and on that lecture day the professor came to a lecture hall that was normally 250+ people to a room of 20 students and continued to lecture.

this material was tested on the final. Obviously the kid who sent it out and his buddies who helped him pull it off was in that group of 20. prof went through like 5 major reactions and their steps that day and the email told us we would not be tested on it. class wasn't podcasted or recorded either. final was not curved as those people who did attend the class were able to get perfect scores.

how would you have reacted if this happened to you?

Isn't that an honor code violation? Easily could get him expelled or at least an F in the class with a note on his transcript.

In the grand scheme of things, if the class isn't curved, then theres no reason for those stupid shenanigans. That class makes up a tiny number of total applicants applying anyways.

 

[dieanotherday]

Isn't that an honor code violation? Easily could get him expelled or at least an F in the class with a note.

he didn't get caught, public computer on campus he did it from
the blackboard system was flawed which allowed him to get access to every student in that class's email address to send a mass email

 

[darklabel]

he didn't get caught, public computer on campus he did it from
the blackboard system was flawed which allowed him to get access to every student in that class's email address to send a mass email

I hate snitches and snitching, but I would probably tell the administration about it. This directly affects you and your grade, the jerks deserve expulsion. Hope you got the grade you wanted anways.

 

[dieanotherday]

I hate snitches and snitching, but I would probably tell the administration about it. This directly affects you and your grade, the jerks deserve expulsion. Hope you got the grade you wanted anways.

we did, prof even said the email was extremely convincing he thought he might have written it himself and the email address was a variation from his other ones

the only thing that got changed was in the future classes he would only email from his school email address and implemented a course website
nothing was true unless it was on the website and blackboard got a lot stricter in terms of who could access email addresses

nope i got a B+, but I got into my dream school and career.
I'm just afraid for you guys since those pre-meds that did this to me would be your potential classmates in med school
then they'lll try to pull one over on med school students to screw them out of class rankings and potential residencies!

 

[Mr Roboto]

I have a hard time believing this story, sorry.

What kind of prof holds class and doesn't immediately notice something is up when 95% of the class is mysteriously absent?

Why wouldn't he report those 5 students to student conduct?

Just sounds very odd.

we did, prof even said the email was extremely convincing he thought he might have written it himself and the email address was a variation from his other ones

the only thing that got changed was in the future classes he would only email from his school email address and implemented a course website
nothing was true unless it was on the website and blackboard got a lot stricter in terms of who could access email addresses

nope i got a B+, but I got into my dream school and career.
I'm just afraid for you guys since those pre-meds that did this to me would be your potential classmates in med school
then they'lll try to pull one over on med school students to screw them out of class rankings and potential residencies!

 

[EngineerPreMD]

obnoxious gunner premeds

THIS, also random premeds who are so wound up in premed world they start speaking like an admissions pamphlet.

"I'm from a traditionally underserved area and have been working tirelessly to help undernourished children in Guatemala on my week long medical mission trips. I have a true passion for helping the underserved, a passion that came about as a child watching close friends go without sufficient medical care."

No, you're from Connecticut, went to a private prep high school, and both of your parents are doctors. MAYBE a few of your neighbors are *gasp* middle class, and you care more about your Facebook statuses than children in Guatemala.

The above might be true for some people, but in my experience, 9/10 people with that type of story are actually intolerable and generally completely FOS. There seems to be a legion of top tier gunners who will do or say anything to work an angle for admissions.

 

[Aerus]

When I was undecided pre-health, what sealed the deal and completely confirm how crazy how all of you were was this incident in my ochem II class

it was the last week before finals and we had 1 lecture left. a person in the class was able to get all of our emails off of blackboard and make a fake but extremely similar email to the professors email (he used gmail) that you wouldn't have questioned was him because he had multiple email accounts (school, gmail, etc) that he would use to send out msgs to his class about future classes cancelled or what not.

this person told all of us from this fake account that class was cancelled and on that lecture day the professor came to a lecture hall that was normally 250+ people to a room of 20 students and continued to lecture.

this material was tested on the final. Obviously the kid who sent it out and his buddies who helped him pull it off was in that group of 20. prof went through like 5 major reactions and their steps that day and the email told us we would not be tested on it. class wasn't podcasted or recorded either. final was not curved as those people who did attend the class were able to get perfect scores.

how would you have reacted if this happened to you?

Uh.....if everyone who did attend the class got perfect scores, then that would mean that if the email wasn't sent, basically everyone in the class would have gotten perfect scores if "showing up" was all it took to ace the test.

Also, why did some people show up anyways? Do you all just go stand outside a cancelled class, hoping it would be un-cancelled? I have a hard time to believe that so many people suspected a "fake email".

Why didn't the professor suspect anything? Why didn't he email the class regarding this?

Sorry, but there are too many weird inconsistencies about your story for me to believe that this happened or was 100% true. 😛

 

[mrh125]

new comment: Doing my damn personal statement for medical school. This is the single most frustrating thing i've ever had to write in my life. Only premeds could turn in a personal statement into one of the most intense, frustrating and cutthroat things ever where med schools discard your app if you make minor errors. what happened to writing a nonchalant cool essay that didn't matter if it stood out?

 

[dieanotherday]

Let's be more specific

It happened at UCSD during my sophomore year somewhere in 2010-2011 under a certain Greek professor

I am definitely not lying
If you know anyone from my undergrad that had this class we were all very pissed.

 

[dieanotherday]

Uh.....if everyone who did attend the class got perfect scores, then that would mean that if the email wasn't sent, basically everyone in the class would have gotten perfect scores if "showing up" was all it took to ace the test.

Also, why did some people show up anyways? Do you all just go stand outside a cancelled class, hoping it would be un-cancelled? I have a hard time to believe that so many people suspected a "fake email".

Why didn't the professor suspect anything? Why didn't he email the class regarding this?

Sorry, but there are too many weird inconsistencies about your story for me to believe that this happened or was 100% true. 😛

 

[orangeman25]

When I was undecided pre-health, what sealed the deal and completely confirm how crazy how all of you were was this incident in my ochem II class

it was the last week before finals and we had 1 lecture left. a person in the class was able to get all of our emails off of blackboard and make a fake but extremely similar email to the professors email (he used gmail) that you wouldn't have questioned was him because he had multiple email accounts (school, gmail, etc) that he would use to send out msgs to his class about future classes cancelled or what not.

this person told all of us from this fake account that class was cancelled and on that lecture day the professor came to a lecture hall that was normally 250+ people to a room of 20 students and continued to lecture.

this material was tested on the final. Obviously the kid who sent it out and his buddies who helped him pull it off was in that group of 20. prof went through like 5 major reactions and their steps that day and the email told us we would not be tested on it. class wasn't podcasted or recorded either. final was not curved as those people who did attend the class were able to get perfect scores.

how would you have reacted if this happened to you?

I mean pre med or not, that's just illegal. It has more legal/ethical implications than pre med neurosis

 

[Aerus]

Let's be more specific

It happened at UCSD during my sophomore year somewhere in 2010-2011 under a certain Greek professor

I am definitely not lying
If you know anyone from my undergrad that had this class we were all very pissed.

If his name begins with a Th...then yes I know him. My friend had him and said his tests are actually quite difficult and are not regurgitated lecture material. I still don't believe that a bunch of people can just get 100% on his final just because they attended the last lecture.

But I did confirm that there WAS a fake email. I'm just surprised it happened at UCSD since "gunner stories" like these NEVER happen.

 

[dieanotherday]

If his name begins with a Th...then yes I know him. My friend had him and said his tests are actually quite difficult and are not regurgitated lecture material. I still don't believe that a bunch of people can just get 100% on his final just because they attended the last lecture.

But I did confirm that there WAS a fake email. I'm just surprised it happened at UCSD since "gunner stories" like these NEVER happen.

yes same prof
no i exaggerated about the 100%
however enough people aced the final that there was no significant curve (unlike previous midterms...) unfair but oh well since people were tricked into believing material wouldn't be on the test based on fake email
at least blackboard is fixed so that will never happen again
and he stopped emailing from multiple accounts as well as stopped cancelling class last minute last i heard

 

[lumpyduster]

How I simultaneously loved and hated all my friends who were also premed. I'm competitive; they're competitive; we're all competitive.

 

[MeghanMD]

Double post oops

 

[MeghanMD]

My sophomore year roommate in college. She was a gunner and already thought she was a doctor. She'd walk around with a superiority complex offering medical advice. People worshiped her, it drove me crazy

 

[Gene Parmesan]

I'm certain this has already been mentioned, but the worst part about being pre-med is that after 4 years of undergraduate courses, I have acquired less than 1% of the practical knowledge I will need to be a good doctor. The last 4 years have merely been an audition to gain access to an exclusive club where I can acquire this knowledge I actually care about.

Although, it's always fun when friends say "Hey Gene, you're going to medical school, what's up with [insert medical question]?" and I'm like "No clue, I'll probably learn about that next year, but did you know Grignard reagents can help you form carbon-carbon bonds? I hope this fact has enriched your life."

 

[RTC19]

I think for me it is the sneer I get when I was asked what I want to do with my Chemistry degree.

I feel like there is such a negative stereotype surrounding premeds. People seem think that we are all whiny, arrogant, and likely will abandon being a premed anyway.

 

[IgEdoc]

"saying you want to go into medical school has a negative connotation until you're actually accepted.

So true, I was doing grad work at one medical school (which I did not apply) when I got accepted to medical school. I had never met the department chairman, a M.D., till the news of my acceptance. Suddenly he asked me to his office, congratulating me, offering me a chance to attend medical school there so I can continue on with my PhD as well as getting my MD; I was now somebody to him not just the usual grad student.....unbelieveable.

 

[pgoat]

I'm fine with hospital volunteering in theory, but there's so little that I'm actually allowed to do and it bores me to death. I hate feeling like I'm only doing this for the hours, but as of right now that's exactly what's motivating me because I know I'm not doing anything helpful. Back in high school I volunteered at another hospital and was able to interact with patients a lot more and in general keep myself busy (can't volunteer there anymore because we moved). Maybe I'll find another hospital that's a little more lenient with volunteers when I go back to school.

 

[Fargofargo]

Seeing people outside at the bars drinking and having fun while walking to the library with my 20lb backpack...

 

[styphon]

other pre-meds