What's with all the whining?

[doctorE2010]

I'm fairly new to this site and I've found a ton of really helpful info. However, I've also noticed a considerable number of posts in which people are complaining about their 30+ MCAT or the fact that they didn't get into one of the top 10 schools. If you really want to be a doctor for the right reasons, then at the end of the day, being accepted to just one medical school is all that matters. At the end of the day, your patients are not going to care about which medical school you went to or what grade you got in Orgo, or if your GPA was 3.2 or 3.92. They're going to care that you listen to them and do everything humanly possible to make them well. So, be grateful for an acceptance (even if it's not you "top" choice, and if you don't have one, keep being persistent, because if you keep at it long enough, you will get there.

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[DropkickMurphy]

Nicely said.

 

[LT2]

but.... but if i don't go to haaavaaahhd i'll be a family disgrace!

just kidding. your post is right on...

 

[Saluki]

You've come into a competitive group my friend, and that's what you're going to see. For some people, B stands for "bad" and under 35 means that they're out of the running for the schools that they want. I think a lot of it is just insecurity. We're all fricking scared that we won't get into where we've been dreaming of for years, and so we're all just looking to one another to give us a pat on the back and say "don't worry; a 34 is a good score; you're going to get in somewhere good"

 

[unfrozencaveman]

So quit whining about the whining. Truth is, everyone on here knows that their complaints are exceedingly trite, but this process is hard on a lot of people- whether their scores are at the top or towards the bottom. So they vent their frustrations here, instead of being a legitimate complete douche in their real lives. True, just one school is great and all you need, but when have any of us ever settled? Hopefully they wont stop at the minimums they can achieve after school either.
So, just let them complain, because that is what this thing is here for-- support!

 

[doctorE2010]

You've come into a competitive group my friend, and that's what you're going to see. For some people, B stands for "bad" and under 35 means that they're out of the running for the schools that they want. I think a lot of it is just insecurity. We're all fricking scared that we won't get into where we've been dreaming of for years, and so we're all just looking to one another to give us a pat on the back and say "don't worry; a 34 is a good score; you're going to get in somewhere good"

But if you're "dreaming" about a particular school, then your heart is not set on medicine, it's set on prestige. I think this is why I've never found a good doctor.

 

[doctorE2010]

So quit whining about the whining. Truth is, everyone on here knows that their complaints are exceedingly trite, but this process is hard on a lot of people- whether their scores are at the top or towards the bottom. So they vent their frustrations here, instead of being a legitimate complete douche in their real lives. True, just one school is great and all you need, but when have any of us ever settled? Hopefully they wont stop at the minimums they can achieve after school either.
So, just let them complain, because that is what this thing is here for-- support!

Um, I don't think I'd feel comfortable being treated by a doctor who was so insecure about his/her exam scores that he/she needed a constant pat on the back to feel good about themself.

I didn't mean to say earlier that I've NEVER met a good doctor, it just seems like lately all those that I've been treated by were not very helpful.

 

[Saluki]

But if you're "dreaming" about a particular school, then your heart is not set on medicine, it's set on prestige. I think this is why I've never found a good doctor.

Totally unfair. The fact that I'm interested in a particular school doesn't necessarily mean I'm all about the prestige. Did I say the school I was most keen on was Harvard? No, then don't assume that it's all about the prestige. Some people may choose a school based on that, but a lot of it is choosing the school that you think will BEST prepare you to be the sort of physician you want to be.

 

[Saluki]

Um, I don't think I'd feel comfortable being treated by a doctor who was so insecure about his/her exam scores that he/she needed a constant pat on the back to feel good about themself.

I didn't mean to say earlier that I've NEVER met a good doctor, it just seems like lately all those that I've been treated by were not very helpful.

Yet again, rather harsh. I don't think that most of the people on this thread need constant reassurances. Yet, at the same time, this is an extremely competitive process, and especially for those of us from small schools, it can be rather intimidating. I don't think any less of someone because they feel a little insecure about whether they're good enough to get into med school. It shows a sense of realism and humility.

 

[Rendar5]

they're pre-meds. that makes 'em whiny bastards. other aspects of pre-meds is holier-than-thou attitudes. u'll see a lot of "someone who can't X isn't gonna be a good doctor" on this forum. I used to be the same way for a period. thank god it passes

 

[unfrozencaveman]

People just demonize on here people who want to go to the best schools, and want the best for their education. The people on here who have the chops to back up an application to Harvard, or UCSF, etc, have worked their asses off to get where they are. But they have the same insecurities as everyone else on this board, because nothing is a sure thing in this process. So let them worry! It's not like they won the lottery and are wishing they had more. They busted their hump harder than everyone else, and more power to them.

 

[doctorE2010]

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes, and my intent was certainly not to suggest that people should "settle," I just think that some people get a little too wrapped up in the process and lose sight of what's important. Just wanted to try to put things in perspective.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

Yeah, didn't mean to jump down your throat about it. Your original post just seemed way more negative than positive. But I agree with the above for sure.

 

[IDforMe]

Yet again, rather harsh. I don't think that most of the people on this thread need constant reassurances. Yet, at the same time, this is an extremely competitive process, and especially for those of us from small schools, it can be rather intimidating. I don't think any less of someone because they feel a little insecure about whether they're good enough to get into med school. It shows a sense of realism and humility.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

And by "whining" a little here to people who have also been in similar circumstances and who understand, I can be better to the people around me who just don't want to hear it! In the succinct words of unfrozencaveman, it keeps me from being a "complete douche"!

 

[tacrum43]

But if you're "dreaming" about a particular school, then your heart is not set on medicine, it's set on prestige. I think this is why I've never found a good doctor.

It's okay to dream. People pick schools for lots of reasons. Just because it's your "dream" school doesn't automatically make it pretentious for you to want to go there. A person's dream school could very well be their state school, or one that is close to where they live, or just one that they really liked something about when they interviewed there.

 

[Kix]

It's okay to dream. People pick schools for lots of reasons. Just because it's your "dream" school doesn't automatically make it pretentious for you to want to go there. A person's dream school could very well be their state school, or one that is close to where they live, or just one that they really liked something about when they interviewed there.

tacrum43, i just read your mdapplicants file... and the phone convo... i didn't realize a 30 on the mcat was considered not so hot. wow.

 

[einnewt]

So quit whining about the whining. Truth is, everyone on here knows that their complaints are exceedingly trite, but this process is hard on a lot of people- whether their scores are at the top or towards the bottom. So they vent their frustrations here, instead of being a legitimate complete douche in their real lives. True, just one school is great and all you need, but when have any of us ever settled? Hopefully they wont stop at the minimums they can achieve after school either.
So, just let them complain, because that is what this thing is here for-- support!

Here, here. While I can understand what whining about a 34 must sound like to someone with a 27, where else can all us self-obsessed pre-meds vent about this crap. If there's one thing I know, most non-pre-meds could give a shat, and our family and friends are tired of hearing about it, most likely. I know my wife is damn near ready to stab me in the neck with a pencil if I mention my personal statement strategy, or anything else, for that matter, one more stinking time. So let us torture one another. That's the beauty an anonymous medium, we are all free to be whiny, annoying little babies, but we probably bring a whole lot of altruism to the table so lets say we have some rhetorical capital to spend!

Also, it is probably not a coincidence in many cases that the one dissatisfied with their 35 MCAT or 3.8 GPA has, indeed, a 35 or 3.8 to complain about. Not in my case as I am a lazy bastard who has every reason to be dissatisfied with a 3.50 and nary an excuse to be found.

 

[einnewt]

Um, I don't think I'd feel comfortable being treated by a doctor who was so insecure about his/her exam scores that he/she needed a constant pat on the back to feel good about themself.

I didn't mean to say earlier that I've NEVER met a good doctor, it just seems like lately all those that I've been treated by were not very helpful.

Honestly, I have never been to someone I felt was a truly compassionate, and more importantly for me, competent doctor in my life. Many are friendly, granted, but I gotta say that it sure seems as if it is pretty much a crapshoot sometimes. I know this is how things are (i.e. ambiguous) most times, but I really wonder how much managed care (and other stuff) is sabotaging proper history taking, careful contemplation, etc. Just this summer, I basically had to diagnose myself with kidney failure (or prod my doctor to consider and test for it, which had, in all fairness, taken a subtler, circuitous course) and stop an RN from writing me a scrip for a drug which might have lowered my blood-pressure, as needed, but trashed my already suffering kidneys, as well. When I think of going to medical school, residency, etc., I rarely worry about the academics or hours or such things, what seems insurmountable is that the system seems to be rigged to provide the worst possible patient care, to prevent us from giving it (pardon my hysterics), and its getting worse, not better. Hopefully it will all reach some critical mass where reform is widely perceived as absolutely urgent, and more importantly, politically palatable. Soon.

 

[einnewt]

Yet again, rather harsh. I don't think that most of the people on this thread need constant reassurances. Yet, at the same time, this is an extremely competitive process, and especially for those of us from small schools, it can be rather intimidating. I don't think any less of someone because they feel a little insecure about whether they're good enough to get into med school. It shows a sense of realism and humility.

Word (to your mother, that is).

 

[einnewt]

they're pre-meds. that makes 'em whiny bastards. other aspects of pre-meds is holier-than-thou attitudes. u'll see a lot of "someone who can't X isn't gonna be a good doctor" on this forum. I used to be the same way for a period. thank god it passes

Gotta point out that one could interpret that as being holier-than-thou about being holier-than-thou. But I know what you mean; I am one of those bastards.

 

[einnewt]

Um, I don't think I'd feel comfortable being treated by a doctor who was so insecure about his/her exam scores that he/she needed a constant pat on the back to feel good about themself.

I didn't mean to say earlier that I've NEVER met a good doctor, it just seems like lately all those that I've been treated by were not very helpful.

Do you really think that the stoic is always the most mentally healthy/the best doctor? It may be constructive to let it all out innocuously on this forum (or other analogous outlets) so that we do not drag it, unnecessarily and unproductively, into our real lives, it being petty annoyances, real anger, excitement and whatnot. Bottled emotions ferment.

 

[tigress]

they're pre-meds. that makes 'em whiny bastards. other aspects of pre-meds is holier-than-thou attitudes. u'll see a lot of "someone who can't X isn't gonna be a good doctor" on this forum. I used to be the same way for a period. thank god it passes

Yeah, because people don't whine all the time on the allo forums, either

People whine! It's in our nature. The beauty of an online forum is that we can complain to people who understand, and then go out and be normal in the rest of our lives. So for pre-allo, we worry about getting in. The med students whine about how much studying there is, all the tests, bad rotations, etc. And residents do their fair share of whining, too. Go to a different board for a different profession and you'll get the same amount of whining. (Not to mention go to mommd and look at all the whining they (and I ) do there, including med students and residents and established doctors who've been working for decades.) How many of you have heard a doctor complain about managed care? I hear it all the time.

As far as compassionate physicians, I guess I've been lucky, because I've had a whole string of them throughout my life. Right now my primary care doc and a specialist I see are both extremely compassionate, care about me as a person, and are wonderful doctors. That's not to say I haven't seen bad docs, because I have; as a matter of fact, there's one doctor in the practice with my primary (family practice) who is evil and I refuse to ever see her again.

okay that's enough, it's time to leave for work (I'm so badly addicted to sdn...I think I need to do something about that)

 

[jackets5]

I think alot of the people who post "i have a 34 and a 3.8 do i have a chance to get into med school", are doing one of two things. Either they just want to brag about their stats or they pretty much have nothing else in thier lives except for their MCAT score or GPA. There are alot of pre-meds who pretty much do nothing except for studying and have no outside life at all. I have no problem with wanting to go to a top 10 but i dont think these are the majority of people who make these posts. They are just people with nothing else going on so their looking for validation and for someone to tell them how great they are.

 

[freshh.]

You've come into a competitive group my friend, and that's what you're going to see. For some people, B stands for "bad" and under 35 means that they're out of the running for the schools that they want. I think a lot of it is just insecurity. We're all fricking scared that we won't get into where we've been dreaming of for years, and so we're all just looking to one another to give us a pat on the back and say "don't worry; a 34 is a good score; you're going to get in somewhere good"

I agree. You sometimes just need that reassurance and understanding that you're not going to fail miserably.

 

[MoosePilot]

A thread whining about whining. Amazing!

 

[Pretty POHA]

Oh my gawd-- I just realized that I'm whiney!

Thank you, SDN!! I will work on this.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I think alot of the people who post "i have a 34 and a 3.8 do i have a chance to get into med school", are doing one of two things. Either they just want to brag about their stats or they pretty much have nothing else in thier lives except for their MCAT score or GPA. There are alot of pre-meds who pretty much do nothing except for studying and have no outside life at all. I have no problem with wanting to go to a top 10 but i dont think these are the majority of people who make these posts. They are just people with nothing else going on so their looking for validation and for someone to tell them how great they are.

i don't think this is a fair assessment of people who make posts like this. if you hang out here long enough, you'll see that lots of students with 30+ mcat and good gpas aren't getting any admissions love -- look at the no interviews thread, please. maybe they've just gotten reasonably discouraged from being in this place and feel like it's a legitimate question.

just because they did better than you doesn't mean they study all the time and have no life. this is a huge pet peeve of mine that i gained in law school. all the people i knew who didn't do so hot were constantly making statements about how students with good grades studied all the time and had no life. i had a life and didn't study more than i studied and managed to do well. i was always silent about my irritation about that and silent about my grades, but it's such an unfair assumption and says more about your insecurities than anything else.

 

[tacrum43]

tacrum43, i just read your mdapplicants file... and the phone convo... i didn't realize a 30 on the mcat was considered not so hot. wow.

Yeah I don't know what was up with that. I mean the average for accpeted students at Rosalind Franklin is a 29. What can you do?

 

[bubbleyum]

well, to defend my own whining, i am only whining about not hearing from ANY schools at all, and i applied relatively early after taking the april mcat. if i had an acceptance or two, i would not be whining at all!


anyways. the OP said he is "new" to the thread. just wait till december or something, you will be just as anxious and insecure as the rest of us! hahaha. i too, used to be a well-rounded person with a laid back perspective, my pre-med friend.

 

[jackets5]

I guess i was a little vague in what i meant. The people who have 3.8 34 stats are probally the people with nothing else in their lives expect school. There is no other reason for them not to get some love at any school. It is very true that people can balance school and social life and i didnt mean to seem rude to those people. Ive loved college life, i wouldnt trade my 3.3 GPA and 28 MCAT, for a 4.0 and 40.

i don't think this is a fair assessment of people who make posts like this. if you hang out here long enough, you'll see that lots of students with 30+ mcat and good gpas aren't getting any admissions love -- look at the no interviews thread, please. maybe they've just gotten reasonably discouraged from being in this place and feel like it's a legitimate question.

just because they did better than you doesn't mean they study all the time and have no life. this is a huge pet peeve of mine that i gained in law school. all the people i knew who didn't do so hot were constantly making statements about how students with good grades studied all the time and had no life. i had a life and didn't study more than i studied and managed to do well. i was always silent about my irritation about that and silent about my grades, but it's such an unfair assumption and says more about your insecurities than anything else.

 

[JakeHarley]

I guess i was a little vague in what i meant. The people who have 3.8 34 stats are probally the people with nothing else in their lives expect school.

Hey there jackets...I know plenty of people who have the magic stats who have had a lot of other things going on in their lives as well...not everyone who manages to perform well academically is ssolely and obsessively focused on school. I managed to play in a band with my friends, have a few dates, a couple of rocky romances, spend many weekends outside hiking, climbing, and camping, drive 45 minutes out of the city to see my family fairly regularly, take little road trips, read books outside of those required for class, and watch The Matrix 50 or so times . And yes, I worked hard on my academics also, and it paid off.

This is a huge pet peeve of mine, this all-or-nothing thinking that people tend to use a lot. "Either you get good grades OR you enjoy your life." Another one that really bothers me is "you can either be rich and miserable OR you can be poor and happy." These statements are total B.S.

I know lots of people who enjoy their life and have crappy grades.

I know lots of people who enjoy their life and have good grades.

I know A LOT of poor people who are miserable.

I know people from wealthy backgrounds who are miserable.

Etc. etc. etc.

You just can't generalize like that, its not real.

What you can do is learn how to be happy AND perform well REGARDLESS of what you chose to do and how much money you have.

 

[JakeHarley]

Another thought: the "truth" isn't in these generalized statements, its behind them. I feel that the real "truth" is that people are scared to accept that they have a lot more power and ability than they are willing to take responsibility for, for whatever reason.

I am not trying to attack anyone here, I am trying to say with love : you don't have to sell yourself short by believing you can only have one or the other!

 

[45408]

A thread whining about whining. Amazing!

Oh, the ironing!

 

[45408]

I guess i was a little vague in what i meant. The people who have 3.8 34 stats are probally the people with nothing else in their lives expect school.

I don't know if you could be any more wrong.

 

[Rendar5]

There are also pre-meds on the allo forums, lol. My real theory is that they're allo's who never outgrew their pre-med years But really, I've noticed a lot that pre-meds tend to have a whiny insecurity holier-than-thou streak much moreso than med students or non-pre-med students. It's either due to very common pass-fail systems at med schools which helps to reduce the attitude or cause the sheer act of being a pre-med predisposes one to strongly neurotic behavior. I go w/ the latter and just say that there's increased incidence in pre-med years relative to med and post-med years (which prolly have a higher predisposition to cynical behavior.)

Yeah, because people don't whine all the time on the allo forums, either

EDIT: BTW, I'm not discounting myself from these observations.

 

[tacrum43]

Oh, the ironing!

 

[doctorE2010]

Whoa fellas....didn't mean to cause so much commotion and controversey. I'm not trying to piss off anyone or offend anybody. I just think that sometimes we pre-meds tend to lose sight of what's really important during these tumultous application times. I know all about the stress of the application process (this is my third time around). After having a serious medical condition my sophomore year I realized that while school is definitely still important (and I DO work hard!), it's important to remember that your friends, family, and health are what's going to be with you forever. If you've worked your a$$ off to go to the #1 school then that's great. But I just think it shouldn't be the end of the world if you go to your second or third choice. And for those of you stressing without interviews/acceptances, I know your pain. For those things that we cannot change I think we need to learn to just move on and accept them. And for those things that we have control of, then i think we should do our best to make our dreams a reality. Sorry if I upset anyone originally, i didn't mean to

 

[jackets5]

You read my point wrong. I mean that people who have a 3.8 and 34 with no interviews etc. Most likely have nothing else in their lives besides school.

I don't know if you could be any more wrong.

 

[einnewt]

. . . i wouldnt trade my 3.3 GPA and 28 MCAT, for a 4.0 and 40.

Even if you don't get in? (Or have you already some love?)

 

[jackets5]

If it meant trading in all the fun i had in college not playing football, having a girlfriend that i adore, doing some voulenteer things with kids etc, then no. Even if it meant not getting into med school than it wasnt meant to be, it will be medicines loss not mine. I have one interview right now, was an august MCATer

Even if you don't get in? (Or have you already some love?)