Re: why this forum isn't like pre-allo
I think it's a combination of things people have mentioned already, namely, lack of anonymity, a smaller community of interviewers who bump into each other all the time (so no 'faceless' online bullies or victims), nerdier/nicer personalities in general and perhaps a feeling that we have a sufficiently long and difficult road ahead of us that we don't need to add to the drama by being mean to each other. I think we have a much healthier attitude here. Plus, we've all been goal-oriented and hard-working for a long time already, so we're not waking up at the last moment to the reality of applying to med school, including how competitive the applicant pool is.
Great advice. Just to add my 2 cents about studying advice: do a lot of it. Seriously, I've encountered all sorts of different strategies for studying and doing well in college, but most people that do well simply found one and then work really hard at it. My personal strategy was to always go to class (profs almost invariably focus on the material they covered in lecture, and this then helps to narrow your studying), never go to office hours (very inefficient; always a ton of ass-kissers crowding you out), start studying well before an exam, and be sure to set aside a good chunk of time the day before or day of the exam as well.
to most of this. Pickles, I don't know how you manage to pull off the good grades you need to get into an MSTP with cramming and not going to class; seriously, hats off to you.
I'm a lot more like Solitude in this respect; I need to go to lecture and do a little work every day to absorb all the material, and I seldom do well when I have to cram. I know people who can, and it's a little frightening.
However, unlike Solitude, I do go to office hours, either the professor's or the TA's, depending on which I find more helpful. And yes, I do find them helpful; in fact, I learned far more in my orgo professor's office hours than from lecture (and he was a fabulous lecturer, so that's saying a lot). I went to a small, liberal-artsy high school, which had small class sizes, meaning lots of group discussions and plenty of interaction with the teacher even in math/science classes. I found that learning actively by asking questions on the material as they cropped up and listening to other students' questions helped me cement the material in my mind. I carried some of this into college, though obviously I got used to lectures. Depending on your learning style, office hours don't have to be unproductive, and not all of us who go to them regularly are "ass-kissers."
Also, I'm a big fan of study groups; they can expedite the learning process, provided one doesn't rely on them exclusively to get one's studying done. Some time spent studying alone is necessary, IMO. Also, everyone in the group has to do some of the work/studying before they meet to go over the material - it's much more productive that way. My friends and I got each other through some of the toughest classes in college (premed or not) in this manner.
Likewise. I've always been happier to stay home and read a book rather than going out to a club or a party. And it works out well for those of us who *are* the chicks in science, b/c we're the minority.
I can identify with those wanting to stay at home and read a book instead of partying, and I've been stuck at lab late at night more often than I like to admit. As for the last remark QofQ made, I certainly hope that's true...