Why do people do this to themselves?

[BerkeleyPremed]

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I took my midterm for General Bio II earlier today. The midterm was from 6:00 to 8:00 in the evening. I noticed that some of the people walked into the midterm with bloodshot eyes, in sweatshirts and a pajama pants, looking like they haven't seen the light of day in years, etc. I asked one of these folks why they looked like walking pile of fecal matter/Squat N Squeeze (of course, I didn't say it in that manner) and he told me, "I stayed up all throughout the night and into the day studying. I just took breaks to get coffee. I didn't study very much for the class at all during the semester except in the last 24 hours." Seeing as this course encompasses LOTS of material and we've gone through lots of chapters, labwork, etc already...I'm just amazed that people would actually subject themselves to this. Why wait until the last minute to do a 24-hour cramathon and try to cover 43724989293 pages of material while hopping on a caffeine high to keep your eyelids open? Not only is this very taxing on your mind...but these people also don't retain the material nearly as well as the folks who have been steadily studying the material throughout the semester. In addition, the whole "cramming through the night" thing is also putting undue stress on your body...as it has to use its resources (organic macromolecules from the food you ate) to operate for 24 straight hours. Can anyone find an explanation for this? Some people I've asked usually come up with the explanation, "I have a really tough courseload and some time-consuming ECs, so I can't really fit them in." What they don't tell me is that they also go to parties on friday and saturday nights, have girlfriends/boyfriends, spend weekends in Lake Tahoe, etc. In other words, they're just trying to rationalize why they don't time manage effectively.

 

[jeffsleepy]

Well, if you're talking about bio1a/1b, that's pretty much the strategy that I used. I find that for me, it works for straight memorization classes like bio but not for classes where you need to think like o-chem.

 

[dynx]

If they pass the test then they do, in fact, manage time effectively. Like you said they have a life...they go out, vacation, have significant others and party. They have a good time for 99% of the days in the semester and are miserable for a week or two during midterms and finals. They know hte effect...chances are they have been doing this for years. They like to enjoy their lives and do so accordingly. As to the longterm costs...small bursts of extreme stress followed by long periods of relative relaxation is better for you than prolonged constant mid-level stress. In addition, except for a small minority of courses, the fact that they don't retain the information as well over time will matter in thier lives not at all. Most required courses amount to make-work that matters only in so much as you can remember the general idea...unless these people are idiots they will be able to tell you the basic idea of glycolysis and the CAC 20 years from now even though they will never remember the steps...and guess what neither will you. In addition when these people look back on their lives they will remember those vacations and ex-b/g-friends fondly...nobody looks back on time spent in the library with remorse that they didn't spend more there. All in all THE GRADE is what matters...if they make it then I would say that they manage their time GREAT!🙂

 

[ItsGavinC]

I agree with the previous post. It all comes down to different strokes for different folks.

 

[stoic]

I dunno, there's really nothing like the pressure of an upcoming test and the motivation of 3 pots of coffee to get you focused.

Cramming is the a time honored part of undergraduate education 🙂.

I think that most people start by cramming and slowly develop better study skills as the years go by.

Also, I think it's really important to stay balanced with the rest of your life during undergrad. Parties are great, so are girl and boyfriends. Biology is only one of the things you learn as an undergrad, right?

 

[peterockduke]

Little berkeleypremed - you should be so lucky as to learn from them. They are out enjoying life and you are posting on SDN at 9pm on a Friday night. It's kind of like when you sent me your nasty little hate mail a few weeks back on a Saturday night @ 11pm. You're in college - can you possibly enjoy being htis alone and bored?

To some... there is more to life than grades. Please, for your sake, try to be more like these peopel that you so arrogantly look down on.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Peterockduke-I'm glad you decided to chime in on this discussion. As for your comment...**flush**..it was just stinking up this thread. The people who perform the best in O-chem, biology, etc are not the ones who decided to pull an all-nighter the night before the exam and walked into the exam looking like a zombie..and then walked out and collapsed out of exhaustion before they got back to their apartment. The 'A' students are the ones who have been ON TOP of the material all throughout the semester...that's why the professors keeps saying..."Due all the problem sets as they're assigned..don't fall back and try to cram in the past 6 problem sets in one night." In biology, the professor would recommend to read all the material as it's being assigned. This is really not that hard to comprehend...steadily studying throughout the chapter means you will have LESS stress (less anxiety before the exam because you will be much more confident with the material) and you'll retain the information MUCH better than someone who stayed up the whole night. The same people who pulled the 24-hour cramathon are also the same people who are complaining about their Cs and Ds after the exam. I study for all my courses for a fixed amount of hours/day. I also have time to run my campus organization (my major EC) and I choose not to waste time by spending weekends in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, etc. As for our PM exchange (which you initiated you idiot...lol)...remember how you PMed and lied about Duke's graduate programs were ranked higher in business, anthropology, history, and political science? And remember how I PMed you back and proved you WRONG by posting the links for you to see how all of Duke's graduate programs are ranked LOWER than Berkeley's equivalent programs?


P.S.: Duke's graduate department in chemistry is ranked 43rd. Berkeley's graduate department in chemistry is 1st. I take particular satisfaction in this because these are the rankings in YOUR major. 🙂

 

[Nutmeg]

Originally posted by daveswafford
I dunno, there's really nothing like the pressure of an upcoming test and the motivation of 3 pots of coffee to get you focused.

Cramming is the a time honored part of undergraduate education 🙂.

I think that most people start by cramming and slowly develop better study skills as the years go by.

Also, I think it's really important to stay balanced with the rest of your life during undergrad. Parties are great, so are girl and boyfriends. Biology is only one of the things you learn as an undergrad, right?

I'll drink to that!

Cramming really works for me. When I was in junior college, I always crammed, and did well on the tests. When I came to Cal, I thought, "this ain't gonna work no mo" and did the whole long-term study for weeks type dealie. My grades plummeted. So eventually, I realized that I gotta do what works for me, and what works is cramming. My grades have made vast improvements by the "Cram n' Caffeine" method, plus I've become a much faster reader. GavinC is right on this.

PS--did you know that adrenaline strengthens the learning process? That's where PTSD comes from--trauma makes the memories of the incident hard-wire into your brain. Make it work for you!

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Originally posted by dynx
If they pass the test then they do, in fact, manage time effectively. Like you said they have a life...they go out, vacation, have significant others and party. They have a good time for 99% of the days in the semester and are miserable for a week or two during midterms and finals. They know hte effect...chances are they have been doing this for years. They like to enjoy their lives and do so accordingly. As to the longterm costs...small bursts of extreme stress followed by long periods of relative relaxation is better for you than prolonged constant mid-level stress. In addition, except for a small minority of courses, the fact that they don't retain the information as well over time will matter in thier lives not at all. Most required courses amount to make-work that matters only in so much as you can remember the general idea...unless these people are idiots they will be able to tell you the basic idea of glycolysis and the CAC 20 years from now even though they will never remember the steps...and guess what neither will you. In addition when these people look back on their lives they will remember those vacations and ex-b/g-friends fondly...nobody looks back on time spent in the library with remorse that they didn't spend more there. All in all THE GRADE is what matters...if they make it then I would say that they manage their time GREAT!🙂

That was the whole point of the post. Those people who cram for 24 straight hours before the exam will get lower grades than the people who have been steadily studying throughout the semester and have been staying on top of the material. You don't even have to study steadily through the semester...you can probably get away with studying the material abou 2 weeks before the actual exam (assuming that you're very efficient and you can read and memorize lots of material pretty fast). The whole point of the post is that these people wonder why they get Bs, Cs, etc...they don't see that the answer is right in front of their face. It's because they were getting drunk on Saturday night while the A students were polishing their lab reports. It's because they were on a date with their gf/bf while other students were reviewing the Population Biology chapter for the second time. But I understand that people have different values...and some might think that getting drunk at **insert fraternity here** on Friday night was well worth the cost (the C+ in General Bio).

 

[DAL]

Originally posted by irie
You made this post around 10:30 pm on a friday night. Doesn't that sort of nullify the point you were trying to make by writing that?

You're assuming he's on the west coast.

 

[Nutmeg]

Originally posted by DAL
You're assuming he's on the west coast.

I think it's safe to assume Berkeley is on the west coast.

I will say this now and mean this later: Women are WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY more important than med school. Christ, all of my motivations have the fairer sex at their roots. That's why I want to be smart, or funny, or wealthy, or whathaveyou.

I think most guys would agree that dating is more important than biology class. If Bio is what gets your rocks off, then hey, knock yourself out.

Additionally, you are making assumptions about the grades that result from the various methods. You might be surprised as to the actual differences.

 

[stoic]

I think it's fair to say that if someone crams and get's a C, they don't have room to bitch.

BUT

If someone crams and gets an A or a B or a C and is happy with the C (this person probably wouldn't be a premed....) then more power to them. They got the grade they wanted and they spent way less time getting ready for the test than someone who studied every night for two weeks prior to the test.

Can anyone argue with that?

 

[DAL]

Originally posted by Nutmeg
I think it's safe to assume Berkeley is on the west coast.

Yes, I'm sure he is. My post was in reference to Irie's who was talking about peterockduke, who's location is not known. Irie assumed he was west coast.

 

[Nutmeg]

Originally posted by DAL
Yes, I'm sure he is. My post was in reference to Irie's who was talking about peterockduke, who's location is not known. Irie assumed he was west coast.

D'oh!

I shoulda read closer. I'm going to start drinking so I'll have an excuse when I f*** up like that again.

😉 😛

 

[DAL]

Originally posted by Nutmeg
D'oh!

I shoulda read closer. I'm going to start drinking so I'll have an excuse when I f*** up like that again.

😉 😛

haha, it's cool.🙂 I wish i had something around here to drink. Oh, I've got an idea. Pass the nutmeg... 😉

 

[Nutmeg]

Originally posted by DAL
haha, it's cool.🙂 I wish i had something around here to drink. Oh, I've got an idea. Pass the nutmeg... 😉

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*leaps forward and knocks evil spice out of DAL's hand in the nick of time*

Didn't the tubgirl experience teach you to take my advice? 😛 😀

 

[peterockduke]

Nutmeg, he's referring to me - I'm east coast and I'm just reading Berkeley's crap for fun before bedtime. It's 230 here.


Berkeley said "In other words, they're just trying to rationalize why they don't time manage effectively."
It's something I've noticed with him... a lot of his posts are on friday adn saturday nights.... he kinda has my pity in a sad sort of way.... It's like he's oblivious to the fact that most people enjoy those other parts of life beyond class/grades. Not to mention I know a kid going to hopkins that partied all the friggin time ... crammed and made it all work out.

He still thinks that grad school chem rankings have anything to do with the quality of the undergrad program. It's the other students in your program that matter... socially and academically. I wish he'd find the social part, since he is failing to even understand that academic....

Ah well.... some people are happy alone.

 

[Dr Chooch]

Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
That was the whole point of the post. Those people who cram for 24 straight hours before the exam will get lower grades than the people who have been steadily studying throughout the semester and have been staying on top of the material. You don't even have to study steadily through the semester...you can probably get away with studying the material abou 2 weeks before the actual exam (assuming that you're very efficient and you can read and memorize lots of material pretty fast). The whole point of the post is that these people wonder why they get Bs, Cs, etc...they don't see that the answer is right in front of their face. It's because they were getting drunk on Saturday night while the A students were polishing their lab reports. It's because they were on a date with their gf/bf while other students were reviewing the Population Biology chapter for the second time. But I understand that people have different values...and some might think that getting drunk at **insert fraternity here** on Friday night was well worth the cost (the C+ in General Bio).

Yo dude, cramming definitely has its merits. When it comes down to it, you get more bang for your buck. Cramming saves you time, period. You see all of the stuff very shortly before the test, so it's all fresh in your mind, and you don't waste time for weeks remembering stuff and then forgetting it again, only to re-remember it before the test again. Some people, by habit, study better by cramming then by long-term learning. It just works that way for some of us. That is how I've always learned everything, and I even consulted the cram god for the MCATs. My point is, the same people you see getting Bs and Cs and stuff by cramming would probably be doing the same without cramming. You know yourself that you will put in a certain level of effort into studying for a test. These people just happen to put THEIR level of effort into it in about a day. And when it comes down to it, for me, I wouldn't have traded all the good times in college for anything...especially not for more sleep during those nights I was cramming. And you know those people that walked in the day of a huge test and looked horrible. I was one of them, and it was awesome. That **** in college was priceless. 😎

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Originally posted by peterockduke
Nutmeg, he's referring to me - I'm east coast and I'm just reading Berkeley's crap for fun before bedtime. It's 230 here.


Berkeley said "In other words, they're just trying to rationalize why they don't time manage effectively."
It's something I've noticed with him... a lot of his posts are on friday adn saturday nights.... he kinda has my pity in a sad sort of way.... It's like he's oblivious to the fact that most people enjoy those other parts of life beyond class/grades. Not to mention I know a kid going to hopkins that partied all the friggin time ... crammed and made it all work out.

He still thinks that grad school chem rankings have anything to do with the quality of the undergrad program. It's the other students in your program that matter... socially and academically. I wish he'd find the social part, since he is failing to even understand that academic....

Ah well.... some people are happy alone.

As usual, you've refuted an argument that wasn't even made. You've admirably succeeded at making yourself look like the clueless dingleberry that you are. I was talking about how YOU stated in PM, "Oh yeah...well look at Duke's GRAD programs in poli sci, history, and business! Owned!!" Then I fired back with the actual program rankings and proved you wrong..of course. Notice how in my post ..I never stated that graduate program quality even loosely correlates with undergrad quality? Of course, this flew right over your idiotic head. I'm just satisified that Berkeley chem department is ranked WAY higher than Duke's because you said you've already been accepted to "2 chem graduate programs." In case you haven't noticed already, I just enjoy proving you wrong..and I get to do it VERY frequently. I think you really like playing the role of the guy who is losing a debate and desperately tries to defeat his opponent anyway...you play this role REALLY well.

 

[Street Philosopher]

🙄

 

[dynx]

Well allow me to retort before I head to bed...1 am here and yes it's early to be sleeping on a friday but I did make the effort to hit the bars for a couple of hours (well spent may I add). I had a GREAT time in my undergrad years and while getting my masters... I never studied on weekends and slept through most of my classes...Drank a lot and enjoyed the hell out of my time. Good memories wiht good friends two diplomas and a 4.0 avg. for the last four years in school wiht a 35 MCAT and all thanks to the holy trilogy of coffee, late night cramming, and stupid people to bring down the curve. I am now attending med school at a UC and saving a whole lot of money in the process. So my advice to you is...screw the reading. And the fact that you know what your professor says to do means you attend lecture...well screw that too😀 . Have some fun man...if you can't ride the curve to an A or A- pretty much every time then you need to re-evaluate the way you study...maybe party a little more and kill off those slow brain cells ("the herd only moves as fast as its slowest member" theory...it'll be on the final in Bio II). Over all it seems you need to lighten up. From hte sound of it your a gunner...and nobody likes a gunner. Resedency and everything after is less about what you know and more about who you know and who likes you. The ability to hang out wiht the ladies and fellows in the field and have a good time will GET YOU FAR. Take this advice or leave it but Im telling you it's the truth.

*if this post seems a little incoherent I appologize...I am a little drunk at the moment

 

[A.D.O.R.]

Why did the OP even start this thread? Is s/he concerned about last minute crammers? Is s/he trying to promote more efficient study habits? Or is s/he trying to indirectly gloat about his/her effective study methods and high grades? I have thoughts about these questions but I figured I would reserve judgement until after I got more information. No need to jump to conclusions.

 

[jlee9531]

dude...sometimes we just have no time to study in an effective manner.

my bio 1a exam was in the morning and i had a final the night before and all i had was that one night to study....i stayed up all night no sleep......and needed to ace the exam just to end up with an A- and I did it. sometimes it works for some people and sometimes it doesnt. it just matters how you have trained yourself to study and thats just the way you operate i suppose.

thats just me tho.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Originally posted by A.D.O.R.
Why did the OP even start this thread? Is s/he concerned about last minute crammers? Is s/he trying to promote more efficient study habits? Or is s/he trying to indirectly gloat about his/her effective study methods and high grades? I have thoughts about these questions but I figured I would reserve judgement until after I got more information. No need to jump to conclusions.

This is pretty easy. The purpose of this thread is in the topic of the thread...kinda makes sense, no? That should answer your question about why I started this thread. The topic of the thread poses a question. The original post addresses this question and develops the reasons for why the author (that would be me...just in case you're wondering) would want an answer to this question. The original post states the author's experiences...and from these experiences..formulates the question and then leaves the answers open to any who browse this thread and are willing to chime in. If you are still confused/perplexed/have no clue what's really going on...feel free to post more questions and I'll once again, try my hardest to state the obvious like I did in this post.

 

[thackl]

Hey Petercockdick and & Berkleydumbass, do you have any idea how immature and foolish you look to everyone else on these boards. You make Squat & Squeeze look like a saint.

I don't want to get into the middle of your thread-jack/cat fights, but I just think you should know🙄

 

[thackl]

BTW Berkley, I do realize you started THIS thread..........

 

[thackl]

......and I realize I'm spelling Berkeley wrong

 

[thackl]

.....and this is starting to feel like a

 

[Nanon]

BPM - Some socially ******ed, highstrung 18 year old asked me last year why I didn't study until the last minute, and in my state of extreme fatigue, I nearly bit his head off. My answer went something like this: "Noone pays for my education but me, so I have to work. Noone does my laundry for me, or cleans my house for me, or does my grocery shopping for me. I have an actual life with people in it who depend on me. And besides, it's none of your F@#*ing Business."

Hope that answers your question adequately,

Nanon

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Dear 35-year old Nanon/person who will finish med school, residency, and fellowship at the ripe age of 52:

Your particular situation is the result of choices you made in life. If you're married/have kids/have to go to work to support them, again...the result of choices you made in life. You can continue to whine and bicker about it all you want...but chances are, you'll get little to no sympathy from anyone. In addition, poor people CAN and DO go to college without having to bust their butt flipping burgers for 40 hours/week. I know a guy on financial aid who is also premed and he says he doesn't want to work because he wants to focus on his studies and he's ok with graduating with some undergrad debt because he'll work in between undergrad and med school. He's maintaining a fairly good GPA (at least for Berkeley standards) and he's receiving lots of loans, grants, need-based scholarships, etc because he comes from a very underprivleged background. So please don't give me this garbage..."Some people have to work their way through school!!" If you have to work to support your spouse/kids...sorry, your fault..it was your decision. This thread isn't even for 35 year olds/middle-aged folks like yourself...it's intended for college students on the traditional track to med school (aka..the folks who don't have kids, wives/husbands, full-time jobs, mortgages, etc).

 

[DrLady]

BerkeleyPremed,
First of all, everyone studies at different pace and everyone has their own method for studying. Second, the topic of your thread asks why do premeds study the night before an exam and put undue stress on themselves. Well, nanon answered your question; she wasn't whining, who btw, is the coolest sdner I know! There is no need to be rude about it. You should have stated on your original post that ONLY traditional premeds are supposed to reply in this thread and not some 35yr olds/middle aged students. 🙄

 

[GoodMonkey]

Originally posted by DrLady
BerkeleyPremed,
First of all, everyone studies at different pace and everyone has their own method for studying. Second, the topic of your thread asks why do premeds study the night before an exam and put undue stress on themselves. Well, nanon answered your question; she wasn't whining. No need to be rude about it. You should have stated on your original post that ONLY traditional premeds are supposed to reply in this thread and not some 35yr olds/middle age students. 🙄

maybe when berkeleypremed gets his head out of the proverbial poopchute, he'll understand what maturity is.

i'm, what, 26, and in med school. my dad paid for a little of my undergrad, so i worked, applied for merit scholarships and took out loans to cover the rest. while i wasn't a crammer, i didn't have the time to put in requisite studying daily, so i ended up on the cuttin-it-close end of things at times in undergrad. nobody is paying for my med school right now, so i'm working part time and taking out the maximum loans. i do own a house. i do have mortgage payments. (same as rent around here, so you can't make the "you chose to buy a house" argument, b/c it'd cost me the same to rent something like where i live now.) our choices??? dude, what other choice do i have? not go to school?? it's not an option for me. and you know what - it's great that underprivledged and poor get assistance. but there's a grey area called "my famly is not going to pay for it, even though on paper it looks like they can." my dad helped out, but i have two sisters also in college and who also are going onto professional school. you know what that means, though? his income and his wife's income are substantial enough in the eyes of the government such that i don't QUALIFY for most of those need-based grants. i'm getting no help. i qualify for the stafford unsubsidized loans. i take out every penny. and then i work to make up the difference.

everyone has different learning styles, different approaches to education, different paths in life. and i applaud anyone working their way thru to hack their own path, such as nanon. your path is not the end-all-be-all and your condescension is, frankly, not welcome, inappropriately directed, and exhibits the thought and maturity of a baby shaking a rattle. for your sake, you had better have sky-high numbers, buddy, because from where i stand, it appears you have the personal skills of a tic tac.

man. why do i bother responding to trollish crap like this in the first place. he'll have a stick up his hiney for the rest of his life, regardless of the thought i put into replies here.

 

[DAL]

Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
Dear 35-year old Nanon/person who will finish med school, residency, and fellowship at the ripe age of 52:

Your particular situation is the result of choices you made in life. If you're married/have kids/have to go to work to support them, again...the result of choices you made in life. You can continue to whine and bicker about it all you want...but chances are, you'll get little to no sympathy from anyone. In addition, poor people CAN and DO go to college without having to bust their butt flipping burgers for 40 hours/week. I know a guy on financial aid who is also premed and he says he doesn't want to work because he wants to focus on his studies and he's ok with graduating with some undergrad debt because he'll work in between undergrad and med school. He's maintaining a fairly good GPA (at least for Berkeley standards) and he's receiving lots of loans, grants, need-based scholarships, etc because he comes from a very underprivleged background. So please don't give me this garbage..."Some people have to work their way through school!!" If you have to work to support your spouse/kids...sorry, your fault..it was your decision. This thread isn't even for 35 year olds/middle-aged folks like yourself...it's intended for college students on the traditional track to med school (aka..the folks who don't have kids, wives/husbands, full-time jobs, mortgages, etc).

Nanon answers your ******ed question and you come back with this??? Are you the evil twin brother of SnS, or do you just like making yourself look like it?

You make the assumption that loans, grants, need-based scholarships, etc. cover 100% of people's costs and they can spend all their time concentrating on their grades. Bad assumption. People still have to work in many situations. I know I did.

I love how you added your little stipulation at the end about how the thread wasn't even meant for her because she's a non-trad. Yeah, it's great you just change the rules of your ******ed thread as you go along so you can demean other posters. You're sad, and by taking the time to reply to your spoiled little butt, I'm no better. Atleast I realize it. Just go study, because it's clear to everyone you need all the time you can get.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Originally posted by DAL
Nanon answers your ******ed question and you come back with this??? Are you the evil twin brother of SnS, or do you just like making yourself look like it?

You make the assumption that loans, grants, need-based scholarships, etc. cover 100% of people's costs and they can spend all their time concentrating on their grades. Bad assumption. People still have to work in many situations. I know I did.

I love how you added your little stipulation at the end about how the thread wasn't even meant for her because she's a non-trad. Yeah, it's great you just change the rules of your ******ed thread as you go along so you can demean other posters. You're sad, and by taking the time to reply to your spoiled little butt, I'm no better. Atleast I realize it. Just go study, because it's clear to everyone you need all the time you can get.

Uh...and you paint me to be the troll/baby? Please. "Just go study...it's clear you need all the time you can get!!" And yes, PLENTY of schools have need-based financial aid that meets 100% of need. The reason I know was because I was a peer college counselor and I had to help people with financial aid packages, choosing between schools, finding the right loans to take out, etc. As for the rest of your fecal matter...I don't "demean" other posters...I just respond whenever they potty into a thread I'm interested in.

 

[DAL]

Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
Uh...and you paint me to be the troll/baby? Please. "Just go study...it's clear you need all the time you can get!!" And yes, PLENTY of schools have need-based financial aid that meets 100% of need. The reason I know was because I was a peer college counselor and I had to help people with financial aid packages, choosing between schools, finding the right loans to take out, etc. As for the rest of your fecal matter...I don't "demean" other posters...I just respond whenever they potty into a thread I'm interested in.

Your argument is sad. Every time someone disagrees with you, you say they crap in your thread. Each and every time. Come up with a new insult, it's old. Very old.

Also, why do you use your posts as reason to soothe your insecure ego? The merit scholarship you just won, the people you helped as a counselor, etc. etc. Your insecurities are easy to see through.

PLENTY of schools do have 100% coverage, but that doesn't mean each and every student who needs it, gets it. Everyone's situation is different.

You didn't demean Nanon? Re-read your post. She simply answered your question, but that wasn't good enough for the little toolbelt. You took it one step further and chose to degrage her for her age, and her choices in life. Yes toolbelt, you are truly sad.....

As to you using my own quote about studying, I'm done with school so I'll refrain from studying while I can. Happy trolling toolbelt.

Ok toolbelt, go ahead and get the last word so you can soothe your ego a little more.

 

[Gleevec]

Originally posted by BerkeleyPremed
Some people I've asked usually come up with the explanation, "I have a really tough courseload and some time-consuming ECs, so I can't really fit them in." What they don't tell me is that they also go to parties on friday and saturday nights, have girlfriends/boyfriends, spend weekends in Lake Tahoe, etc. In other words, they're just trying to rationalize why they don't time manage effectively.

Why do you care so much if others study more the night before than you do.

If they do worse because of it, you shouldnt care. And if they do better than you, its because you arent as smart as them.

Also you really suck at this whole SDN thing. When you start a thread and ask a question for the purpose of getting responses, you are going to get responses. If you simply want someone else to reiterate what you think, just go talk to yourself in a mirror.

Are you sure you are not also posting under Squat and Squeeze? Because Im really having a hard time distinguishing between you two. Nanon is going to be way more successful than you are, no one wants to work with you, and seeing as how you study 24-7, you probably dont have many friends either. You have some emotional issues Berkeley, go see a therapist. Im willing to bet the diagnosis will be schizophrenia, and that you will find yourself oscillating between your BerkeleyPremed and Squat and Squeeze personas (then again, I really can't tell the difference, nor can most people on SDN).

So to summarize: you suck, you dont have a life, and you will always suck. stop worrying about others and start worrying about yourself. and stop being a *****. then your existence might matter to someone one day.

PS. Nanon youre cool dont listen to tools like BerkeleyPremed.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Originally posted by DAL
Your argument is sad. Every time someone disagrees with you, you say they crap in your thread. Each and every time. Come up with a new insult, it's old. Very old.

Also, why do you use your posts as reason to soothe your insecure ego? The merit scholarship you just won, the people you helped as a counselor, etc. etc. Your insecurities are easy to see through.

PLENTY of schools do have 100% coverage, but that doesn't mean each and every student who needs it, gets it. Everyone's situation is different.

You didn't demean Nanon? Re-read your post. She simply answered your question, but that wasn't good enough for the little toolbelt. You took it one step further and chose to degrage her age, and her choices in life. Yes toolbelt, you are truly sad.....

As to you using my own quote about studying, I'm done with school so I'll refrain from studying while I can. Happy trolling toolbelt.

Ok toolbelt, go ahead and get the last word so you can soothe your ego a little more.

Um, no...she didn't "simply answer" my question. Plenty of nice folks have posted in this thread and have disagreed with me and I did NOT demean them ONE bit. I respect their views like I expect them to respect mine. So your comment about me trying to rip everyone who disagrees with me is just idiotic and I can prove you wrong with several examples. Look at these posts you illiterate: Nutmeg's post, JLee's post, Dr. Chooch, and several others. They responded in a cordial manner, addressed my question, and gave me their thoughts on the issue. I appreciate all of their responses and my views on the issue have certainly been molded based on some of their feedback (specifically, Nutmeg's post where he says that some people perform better when they cram). However, Nanon chose to respond with something to the effect of, "A sociallly ******ed 18 year old recently asked me the same thing and I almost bit his head off!" Do you see how a response like this would differ from the examples of other posts in this thread that I cited? When I reply to other people's threads...I try to be as helpful and friendly as possible. Don't believe me...just check out the the "Interviews: Beginner to Pro" thread or the thread by Tofurkey about how he's having trouble in O-chem. On the few occasions I actually come up with a thread to answer some of my queries, I usually get helpful, informative responses from the majority of posters..and then a few responses born out of sheer idiocy (like your post). As for your "toolbet" comments..once again..you've managed to put together a post with a jumble of words that make no clear, coherent sense to anyone. My advice is just to stop responding to me...you're just making yourself look like more of an imbecile with every post.

P.S.: And the only reason I posted in the "Interviews: Beginner to Pro" thread was so I could stroke my own ego? lol...that's a good one. I just mention that I had to go through an interview process for a merit scholarship (and got the scholarship..so one might conclude I did well in the interview maybe 😕 🙄 ). I relate my experience to the OP, wish the the best of luck in the admissions process, and tell him I hope he gets into the med school of his choice....wow, I sure am a self-serving, egotistical prick, huh? lol...you're absolutely pathetic

 

[womansurg]

This debate is very interesting, to be sure, but I'd like to change the subject to something a little bit more serious.

I've noticed that, when I spend my usual hours staring into the mirror and getting ready to go out in the morning, that I comb my hair with my right hand. Now, I've seen other people - usually running out the door to meet their friends, or see a movie, or go exercise, or play with their kids - who sometimes don't seem to have spent hours messing with their hair, and in fact will even pull a comb out of their pocket and run it through their hair with their left hand. Why do they do this? Don't they know that people with the best groomed hair always seem to use the right hand?

I've even asked some of them about it, and they usually have something lame to say, like "Dude, who gives a ****? Get a life."

I'm completely unable to fathom another person having interests, motivations and goals which are different from my own. Can somebody explain this to me?

 

[Gleevec]

Originally posted by womansurg
This debate is very interesting, to be sure, but I'd like to change the subject to something a little bit more serious.

I've noticed that, when I spend my usual hours staring into the mirror and getting ready to go out in the morning, that I comb my hair with my right hand. Now, I've seen other people - usually running out the door to meet their friends, or see a movie, or go exercise, or play with their kids - who sometimes don't seem to have spent hours messing with their hair, and in fact will even pull a comb out of their pocket and run it through their hair with their left hand. Why do they do this? Don't they know that people with the best groomed hair always seem to use the right hand?

I've even asked some of them about it, and they usually have something lame to say, like "Dude, who gives a ****? Get a life."

I'm completely unable to fathom another person having interests, motivations and goals which are different from my own. Can somebody explain this to me?

LOL. That's some good satire.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Originally posted by Gleevec
Why do you care so much if others study more the night before than you do.

If they do worse because of it, you shouldnt care. And if they do better than you, its because you arent as smart as them.

Also you really suck at this whole SDN thing. When you start a thread and ask a question for the purpose of getting responses, you are going to get responses. If you simply want someone else to reiterate what you think, just go talk to yourself in a mirror.

Are you sure you are not also posting under Squat and Squeeze? Because Im really having a hard time distinguishing between you two. Nanon is going to be way more successful than you are, no one wants to work with you, and seeing as how you study 24-7, you probably dont have many friends either. You have some emotional issues Berkeley, go see a therapist. Im willing to bet the diagnosis will be schizophrenia, and that you will find yourself oscillating between your BerkeleyPremed and Squat and Squeeze personas (then again, I really can't tell the difference, nor can most people on SDN).

So to summarize: you suck, you dont have a life, and you will always suck. stop worrying about others and start worrying about yourself. and stop being a *****. then your existence might matter to someone one day.

PS. Nanon youre cool dont listen to tools like BerkeleyPremed.

You've failed to understand the whole point of the original post. It's not about why someone would study harder the night before an exam than I would...lol. I don't care about THEIR grades...I only worry about my own. If they do and score higher, more power to them. However, chances are...they study harder the night before the exam because they're trying to cover 6 weeks of material in a period of about 12 hours. I'm not asking them to change their studying habits or anything..I'm just curious as to WHY they would do this when they could easily put less stress on themselves and perform better (in most cases) if they just studied steadily throughout. The question just stems from logic and from what practically ALL professors/teachers tell their students (find me a professor in the sciences who advises his students to wait to the last minute to cram all the material in as fast as humanly possible...um..yeah...good luck). It's just a question..that's it...I wasn't expecting responses like, "It's because I have to work 234834 hours a week you insensitive prick!!!" This is just a question...you need to calm down...realize this is just a board for people to meet other premeds and discuss issues that relates to all of us who are aiming for med school issues. If you don't like my thread or my original post, then by all means...do not post in it. No one is forcing you to spend time posting in this thread.



🙄

P.S.: No, I'm not Squat N Squeeze. Although I do trash him after he makes posts which just irritate other posters, try to bring other posters down, etc.

 

[DAL]

Originally posted by womansurg
This debate is very interesting, to be sure, but I'd like to change the subject to something a little bit more serious.

I've noticed that, when I spend my usual hours staring into the mirror and getting ready to go out in the morning, that I comb my hair with my right hand. Now, I've seen other people - usually running out the door to meet their friends, or see a movie, or go exercise, or play with their kids - who sometimes don't seem to have spent hours messing with their hair, and in fact will even pull a comb out of their pocket and run it through their hair with their left hand. Why do they do this? Don't they know that people with the best groomed hair always seem to use the right hand?

I've even asked some of them about it, and they usually have something lame to say, like "Dude, who gives a ****? Get a life."

I'm completely unable to fathom another person having interests, motivations and goals which are different from my own. Can somebody explain this to me?

Womansurg-

You make an excellent point. I would like to add to this serious discussion with something from my own experience as I feel it needs further addressing.

I don't use an electric toothbrush. Mostly because I like to brush each and every tooth in a certain way and for a certain length of time, and frankly I enjoy the time that I brush my teeth as it gives me time to reflect upon my life, my well-rounded experiences, my hard work in school, and my superior life in general.

Last weekend I saw someone brushing their teeth with an electric toothbrush. It took them less than 2 minutes, and then they moved on to other things such as fixing breakfast for their kids, paying some bills that needed to be mailed that day, cleaning the house, and other non-important things. I was left completely baffled. How dare that person not brush their teeth in the exact manner that I brush mine! I asked that person why they didn't do exactly as I did, and after staring blankly at me for a few minutes they started to laugh hysterically. I further prodded them for an answer to this great question, and after a while they got frustrated and angry with me and punched me. I fell down.

Still, to this day I have no answer to the question. Would anyone be willing to help me here? Why would someone not do something in the exacy way I do it? It's clear to me that if they wish to better their life and go on to make a decent living for themself and their kids they should brush their teeth and do everything exactly the same way as me. Please, someone help me.

 

[Nanon]

Thanks to everyone who jumped to my defence. Sorry I didn't respond earlier - I was studying.

BPM, there are a lot of reasons I can't do financial aid, and there are even more reasons I want to work. You're right about everything I'm doing being my choice (although, many of the choices I'm living with preceed my decision to go to college.) I'm really happy with those choices. I have a good marriage, a good relationship with my family, wonderful friends, and I'm doing really well in school AND in my job. I'm a really blessed person right now.

That being said, why should anyone demand an explaination for why my priorities are different from anyone elses? At the time I nearly bit that kid's head off, I was also caring for my mother who was battling breast cancer. I was a little flabbergasted that, given everything that was going on in my life, I was being asked to explain why I was cramming before something as inconsequential to the big scheme of things as a test . It just seemed like the stupidest question in the world then, and in retrospect, it's still seems like a stupid question - at least to me.

My point is that you can't make assumptions about anyone's life (partying, etc.) You know what they say about assumptions, right? Right???

Nanon

 

[link26]

Originally posted by Nutmeg
I will say this now and mean this later: Women are WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY more important than med school. Christ, all of my motivations have the fairer sex at their roots.

right on, brotha!

 

[Amy B]

I read the OP and read the follow up ones and I can't get one question out of my head.... Why in the world are poeple studying all night for a gen biology class. I hope these are med sctudnets, becuase if they are having problems with the easiest, basic bio course then they are not going to be able to hack the harder courses.

I don't know if the OP was being arrogant or not, I think they were just trying to figure out what makes some people do what they do. I may be wrong but that is what I read into the post. 🙂

 

[Samus Aran]

Who cares what other people are doing to prepare for tests? If it cramming doesn't work for you, then keep doing what you're doing instead of cramming. I cram for bio in 2 days and study for ochem for weeks, and I manage to make A's in both subjects. Different people have different study methods...If an all-nighter is what it takes for them to do well (assuming they cram because it works well for them), let them! The biggest mistake I think a lot of pre-meds make is worrying too much about what their "competition" is doing...Focus on yourself!

 

[link26]

god. i just read through this thread after my post previously.

I must say, berkeleypremed IS a troll with an annoying way of posting messages. For some reason, his colorful adjectives and descriptions annoy the fock out of me. He writes like some high school kid trying to get an A for creativity on some english paper.

berkeleypremed has only started his second year in college, yet he likes to sound like a scholar. 🙄

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Actually, SnS is lying. He doesn't "use my name" for anything nor does he bounce between my name and his. Seeing as someone who posted in this thread has actually met me in real life, he can vouch that Squat is definitely lying here. He's basically trying to piss me off because Gleevec (in an another sheer act of brilliance..following in the long tradition of Duke scholars..like Peterockduke), said that he has trouble distinguishing between my posts's and SnS's posts.

P.S.: LOL. I have to add this now because I've just scrolled through this thread. Squat N Squeeze's posts were deleted because the moderator probably KNEW that he was trying to impersonate me (by saying that he just "created" my sn). All the IPs are logged and the moderators can tell who is using multiple screen names. lol...nice try Squat N Squeeze

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Originally posted by Amy B
I read the OP and read the follow up ones and I can't get one question out of my head.... Why in the world are poeple studying all night for a gen biology class. I hope these are med sctudnets, becuase if they are having problems with the easiest, basic bio course then they are not going to be able to hack the harder courses.

I don't know if the OP was being arrogant or not, I think they were just trying to figure out what makes some people do what they do. I may be wrong but that is what I read into the post. 🙂

::sigh of relief:: FINALLY! Someone actually realizes the point of this thread and my question in the original post. "Figure out why some people do what they do"...that summarizes it nicely. I'm not concerned about THEIR grades versus mine...nowhere in the original post did it mention.."And these 24 hour cramathon people are getting straight As too! It's amazing!" I just want to know what makes them do what they do?

P.S.: As for the braindeads who posted comments to the effect of..."Why does everyone not do the exact same thing I do?" (DAL comes to mind here)...um...that wasn't the intention of this thread at ALL. I never said that anyone should try to use me as an example and try to use my studying habits/strategies...people just assumed that I studied 24/7 because I mentioned somewhere that I like to devote X hours to a particular class each day...lol (I know..it's shocking...studying for a class when you know the midterm is not for another 4 weeks...might it be that I'm more concerned with just learning the material as opposed to learning the material so I can earn **insert grade here** in a class?)

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Originally posted by Misty504
Who cares what other people are doing to prepare for tests? If it cramming doesn't work for you, then keep doing what you're doing instead of cramming. I cram for bio in 2 days and study for ochem for weeks, and I manage to make A's in both subjects. Different people have different study methods...If an all-nighter is what it takes for them to do well (assuming they cram because it works well for them), let them! The biggest mistake I think a lot of pre-meds make is worrying too much about what their "competition" is doing...Focus on yourself!

Again, you've missed the whole point of the post. I'M NOT CONCERNED WITH ANYONE ELSE'S GRADES. You need to get this through your thick skull. NO WHERE in my original post does it mention..."I study X hours over Y weeks and earn Z grade...but person B studies X/3 hours in 1 night and gets Z+ grade...it's not fair!!!!" The POINT of the post was just to ask people what would make someone do this to himself (studying 24 hours straight...when there are easier ways of going about it...like studying a little each day for a few weeks). No one here is worried about the competition.

 

[Squat n Squeeze]

People who study a little each day are stupid. People who cram the night before the test are also stupid. It's all about studying all day every day. If you truly want to get a firm grasp of the material, it is essential to devote 15+ hours per day solely to studying. Of course this schedule must me slightly adjusted to allow for ECs and the such, but 15 hours per day is the rule of thumb. Anyone who studies less is inferior. Just remember, it's not about getting the "A." Any dumb ***** with a pulse and a few viable brain cells can pull that off. It's all about getting the top grade in the class and setting the curve. When you master that point and live by it, then you have reached the level of superiority of Squat n Squeeze.