Why we HATE the Gunners---Share your Story

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Why would I be banned? I'm not trolling or blatantly offending anyone am I?

This forum needs a thread like this to "honor" the true gunners out there.
Please people some more stories, they are quite entertaining.

There was a kid (fellow pre-med I'm ashamed to say) in my orgo II class that literally tried to get the entire class to miss a number of questions on the final to try and ensure a good curve. He campaigned for this for about 2 weeks prior to the test, he even created a facebook group (which he ended up deleting because I guess he was afraid someone would show it to the professor) that had someone on it like: Everyone who's last names are A-M miss quesions 2,6,17, N-Z miss questions 5,8-14. Needless to say his plan didn't really catch on. But he was so dead set on trying to convince people to do it... what a sad, sad kid :laugh:


re-reading my post.. I'm not sure if this kid was really a gunner, or just really lazy/stupid. He appeared to be a gunner to me though.

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One time, at MCAT camp, this guy was sad because we all got >40s on our AAMC practice exams, and he only got a 39. So he bought a rifle and gunned us all down.
 
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i don't mind gunner, however, i dislike cut-throat people.

such as...
steal your books
hide to study
tell you wrong class information
make sure you fail your class during their free time
report you to prof (anonymously) for something you didn't do
try to figure out every possible thing you do (which is okay), but then refuse to let you know anything they do academically
try to make you fail a class

some premeds believe that if they can screw over couple other premeds, they have drastically increased their chance of getting into med school
 
One time, at MCAT camp, this guy was sad because we all got >40s on our AAMC practice exams, and he only got a 39. So he bought a rifle and gunned us all down.

MCAT camp can't be real, right?
 
What? I wasn't trying to be funny, I was simply pointing out how silly these stupid kids who gun for top medical schools are. I go to a school ranked like 50th on US News and these stupid gunners act like they are Harvard material.

Are you honestly going to sit here and tell me that these are accomplishments: shadowing, volunteering in an OR, spending two hours a week with a graduate student in a lab, spending another 14 hours in the library, etc. NONE of this is original....its just the same damn kids in another form reincarnated....

Ok. Let me try to explain this to you. If you call people silly, stupid, and damn kids......it could interpreted as offensive....Don't you think? Or perhaps not. As someone already brilliantly pointed out: It must be tiring to show such disdain for so many people, who in fact may end up being possible classmates or future colleagues.
 
I didn't despise the "gunner" types for this, but one time I had a lab where we waited for 15 minutes, then everyone said, "Oh, tenured professors get 30 minutes before you can leave with no penalty."

25 minutes rolls around, and everyone's getting ready to leave, some people start heading to the elevators and two people went down to the professor's office to see what was up - turns out the prof had just gotten the days mixed up, and thought that it was the previous day of the week when no lab was scheduled.

That's not really super gunner-y, but it was pretty douche-y considering it was 70 degrees out and sunny.
 
I didn't despise the "gunner" types for this, but one time I had a lab where we waited for 15 minutes, then everyone said, "Oh, tenured professors get 30 minutes before you can leave with no penalty."

25 minutes rolls around, and everyone's getting ready to leave, some people start heading to the elevators and two people went down to the professor's office to see what was up - turns out the prof had just gotten the days mixed up, and thought that it was the previous day of the week when no lab was scheduled.

That's not really super gunner-y, but it was pretty douche-y considering it was 70 degrees out and sunny.

Wow. And what is douche-y about two people going down to the professor office to see what was up, especially after waiting for 25 minutes? May be they just wanted to go and bitch him out..

This thread needs to be closed.
 
lol, OP brought a topic to a forum of gunners.
 
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Gunners in college used to either hide mandatory books needed for upper level science classes in the library or take out more than 1 copy when there was enough for each person in the class and then some...

On the night of the orgo final when a student went to the bathroom, someone went down to the basement of the library where the student's books were and scattered them around the floor....
 
It is like a pack of wolves in here. The OP was neither disdainful, bitter nor hateful. He was just pointing out that gunners can be quite over-zealous and frankly irritating.

Several gunners in my school were quick proclaim their accomplishments yet very parsimonious with helping other students. That I have a problem with.
 
Wow. And what is douche-y about two people going down to the professor office to see what was up, especially after waiting for 25 minutes? May be they just wanted to go and bitch him out..

This thread needs to be closed.


I think you need a hug. Maybe find a girlfriend or boyfriend (not sure of your gender) in the business school or school of communications?

I'm sorry if this thread hits home base a little too close for comfort.

Anyways after reading several stories I have to say I laughed really hard and can relate with a lot of them. Man those gunners really are funny people.
 
Yeah, so I transferred to a school and was invited to be in the Honor's college but politely decline bc it would be difficult to complete the # of honors courses they required in 2 years and I would rather focus on my school/mcat/volunteering that i enjoyed. I also do not enjoy research, which is why I don't do research. Part of earning the honors was a Honors thesis, which for bio majors is a research thesis. heres what a gunner said to me in organic:

Gunner: Ugh, so your not in the honors college? Like everyone at this school who wants to go to medical school is pretty much in the honors college
Me: yea I transferred, so it would be difficult to fulfill the # of honors courses in 2 years
Gunner: Well, are you doing research?
me:No
Gunner: Well you know your gonna have to do research at some point to get in, and in medical school you have to do research too
me: no you don't (thinking...NOTHING says that you HAVE TO DO RESEARCH
Gunner: Well if your doing neither, I hope your smart bc your gonna need help getting in (like who the f*** says that) Well see how the last organic test goes"

so, I took the last orgo test and the class avg. was a 41 w/ the curve. My professor had to go back and hand grade each test bc the TA's were failing everybody. I ended up making a 99 without the curve, and my professor later told me it was the highest grade.

The funny thing is, the same girl came up to me after the test and asked what I made on the test. I simply said I did well, and she goes, "well what is well, like what was your score"? again, I didn't want to rub it in her face which is why I said that but then she ASKED FOR MY EXAM!!!:eek: so I handed it to her.

I asked her how she did. She said, "much HIGHER than the average". I saw a glimpse of her test and it was a 56!! :laugh:

stupid gunner, trying to belittle me b'c I hadn't done research.

BTW OP nice post, there's no harm here.
 
i don't mind gunner, however, i dislike cut-throat people.

some premeds believe that if they can screw over couple other premeds, they have drastically increased their chance of getting into med school

True DAT
 
gunners are in every jobs. as long as they're not malicious and they're only ambitious, i don't think anybody should care.
 
Yeah, so I transferred to a school and was invited to be in the Honor's college but politely decline bc it would be difficult to complete the # of honors courses they required in 2 years and I would rather focus on my school/mcat/volunteering that i enjoyed. I also do not enjoy research, which is why I don't do research. Part of earning the honors was a Honors thesis, which for bio majors is a research thesis. heres what a gunner said to me in organic:

Gunner: Ugh, so your not in the honors college? Like everyone at this school who wants to go to medical school is pretty much in the honors college
Me: yea I transferred, so it would be difficult to fulfill the # of honors courses in 2 years
Gunner: Well, are you doing research?
me:No
Gunner: Well you know your gonna have to do research at some point to get in, and in medical school you have to do research too
me: no you don't (thinking...NOTHING says that you HAVE TO DO RESEARCH
Gunner: Well if your doing neither, I hope your smart bc your gonna need help getting in (like who the f*** says that) Well see how the last organic test goes"

so, I took the last orgo test and the class avg. was a 41 w/ the curve. My professor had to go back and hand grade each test bc the TA's were failing everybody. I ended up making a 99 without the curve, and my professor later told me it was the highest grade.

The funny thing is, the same girl came up to me after the test and asked what I made on the test. I simply said I did well, and she goes, "well what is well, like what was your score"? again, I didn't want to rub it in her face which is why I said that but then she ASKED FOR MY EXAM!!!:eek: so I handed it to her.

I asked her how she did. She said, "much HIGHER than the average". I saw a glimpse of her test and it was a 56!! :laugh:

stupid gunner, trying to belittle me b'c I hadn't done research.

BTW OP nice post, there's no harm here.

I'm not a fan of gunners, but I can see why he said "oh you need to do research" etc. It's b/c applying to med school has become a game. It really sucks and I hate it. I'm not really down to pad my application while others are willing to do just that. Unfortunately as I've heard from a med student I use to work with he admitted it's all just a game.
 
So this is my first post ever, I have been following SDN for 3 years but I never felt the need to join and post something until yesterday (oh what a day yesterday was!)...feel free to join me and blast those dumb premed gunners who you deeply cannot stand:

So we had our induction ceremony for Phi Beta Kappa yesterday at the president's house and of course 26 out of the 42 inductees were premed. We had to list our activities and future goals and take a wild guess who put down everything they have done since they were born; yep, you guessed right, the 26 premeds. Oh, guess what no one cares that Sara made dean's list last semester or that she volunteers at the Children's hospital. Or better yet; "Johny, a senior, has been accepted to every state school in Florida and is currently deciding which presitious (?) instition he will attend next year" WHO GIVES A CRAP!!

Better yet, my friend (poli sci major), me, and this really hot business major were the only ones who have won "national scholarships" but we didn't list it, but guess what some of these tools did list: Who's Who among College students, one kid even put that he was a semifinalist for a national scholarship (hahaha).

But, by far best gunners moments:

1) Some kid put that he was like VP of this large nonprofit that I started. I have never seen the kid before and I am sure that he will put it on his med school application but I really don't care at this point.
2) Some tool in my major goes: I have volunteered in Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatamala, etc and I want to go to Hopkins. I am sure that these are 1 week trips too. Everyone goes OHHH AHHH and I'm like 95% of the gunners in pre-med do the same damn thing, again no adcom will give a crap.
3) After the ceremony, this kid goes up to the president and she asks him what year he is. At the SAME TIME he and his mother go "Scotty is junior BUT he is has Senior Status" :scared::eek: WTF? Who cares???
4) All 26 kids are like I DO Research; when in reality we know that they stop in the lab for 3 hours a week, have no idea what is going on, and when they apply all they do is copy down their PIs protocol and lab investigations. None of these tools "really" do research.
5) Best one all day: this bulldog who's in some of my classes tells everyone that she is a nursing major. Ok no big deal. Come to find out yesterday, after 3 years she is a "bio" major (aren't they all) and she wants to be a doctor. Her dad goes to the president "Lizzy wants to go to UPenn or Case Western, but the U's medical schools is ranked too low for her". The bulldog nods her head yes. All this to the President of the school.:laugh::laugh:

I am sure you have these same kids in your classes, they kiss up to the teachers, try to put their names on everything, and always always always brag about how many prestigious schools they got into in undergrad." If this is you, I am sorry, and I hate you (badly). Do these tools really bc. top doctors?

Please share your stories especially if they are funny...

This is standard-issue premed stuff. Not truly inspirational gunner stories. Like the time someone in organic 2 lab (unknowns) put NaCl in the tank of distilled water so that everyone's unknown should test positive in the halogen test...
 
Perhaps we need separate terms to describe "gunners" who are only in competition with themselves and self-destructively have no lives outside of studying and padding their CV... and the "cut-throat" types who don't care if their med school acceptance comes at the expense of someone else.
 
i'm glad to say i have no experience with gunners. maybe i'm too laid back to encounter them. i don't hang around after tests to compare notes, which seems to be where they can be found. they sound horrible! sabotaging people during lab unknowns? people really DO that?!?
 
While I find it annoying that people have to brag about their little achievements and brown-nose to succeed in life, if that is how they get their nut off, who am I to really complain about it? While I tend to be a very modest individual, I cannot really say that I've never sucked up to someone before to get what I needed, or tell people what I have done to make me feel good about myself. I just hope that when these overly-eager gunners actually do become doctors, they will have found a humbleness and modesty in their daily life. Patients are really not going to care about the so-called successes you have in your life, they just want you to make them better, and I believe it helps to understand them if your head is not stuck high up in the clouds.

However, if there is anything that I find most annoying when it comes to gunner pre-meds is that I can never go to my professors' office hours without seeing the same group of people swarming the professors' desk, and then I have to wait forever to get some real questions answered. Perhaps it is my fault that I do not force my way into the group and get my questions answered, but that is not my personality. I just wish all people could be a little bit more considerate of everyone else in the world.
 
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my undergrad had few, if any, gunners. I don't think I'd ever heard the term until I talked to med students or found it on SDN.
 
None of those people described by the OP sound like "Gunners". They sound more like tools (as does the OP). Unless those people are intentionally giving you wrong information, stealing test keys, hiding library books, ie. gunning people down, they aren't true gunners.
 
Yea one needs to separate "Gunners" from "Tools".

I don't think real gunners care to sabotage other people. Most of them just want to challenge themselves.
 
3) After the ceremony, this kid goes up to the president and she asks him what year he is. At the SAME TIME he and his mother go "Scotty is junior BUT he is has Senior Status" :scared::eek: WTF? Who cares???

Haha! A doctor I used to do research with always did this when she introduced me. It was like she was embarrassed to have a freshman/sophomore working with her haha. She was super nice though so no complaints but awkward every time she introduced me.
 
Yea one needs to separate "Gunners" from "Tools".

I don't think real gunners care to sabotage other people...

Its not that they want to sabotage others, it is that they are willing to if needed. A real gunner is the type of person that will knock someone over to get what they want. Being determined/motivated/hardworking doesn't make one a gunner. People on SDN seem to associate annoying overachiever as gunners when they may just be annoying people.
 
I'm sorry if this thread hits home base a little too close for comfort.

Your thread speaks more about you than about "them gunners". Clearly, you do not know what the term means. And don't worry about my feelings. "Apology is only egotism wrong side out......" especially a sarcastic one...
 
sounds like typical premed stuff, truthfully. I think they are just tools or gunner wannabes at best.
 
I have had no real experience with gunners...at least not trying to screw me over.

My old ochem tutor is applying/applied to medical school and she used to tell us that during the test, she would spill her box of the balls and rods we were allowed to bring to class and pretend to be in panic and create as much commotion as possible to lower the curve.

My old roommate took a bio lab and there were a group of close friends in there that wanted to do well. Anyways, during the final they wanted to score well and set the curve low so they would each look through the microscope to identify whatever it was, and then change the set up so that the other people would get something else.
 
I like the lyrics to the song... haven't looked for it on-line yet though:
http://www.medschoolrock.com/MedSchoolRock/Gunner.html

Even though I get extremely irritated with the "gunners" or "cut-throat" types, I hardly think that your list qualifies (except maybe the guy lying about being vice-president of the organization). The rest seems pretty normal, and if asked what they participate in, I think it's legitimate to say volunteering and research. I'm also more sympathetic than most about the junior with senior status. It might seem pompous, but when I was in that position, I never knew how to respond bc you're not really a junior technically but you feel pompous saying you're a senior when around people in your grade.
 
I'm also more sympathetic than most about the junior with senior status. It might seem pompous, but when I was in that position, I never knew how to respond bc you're not really a junior technically but you feel pompous saying you're a senior when around people in your grade.

I don't get it. What is so hard about this? Are you a junior? Then the answer is, "I'm a junior." Are you a senior? Then the answer is, "I'm a senior."

What does "junior with senior status" mean? If you have senior status, you are a senior. If you have junior status, you are a junior.

Anyone care to enlighten me as to why I'm wrong, carefully and in small, monosyllabic words?
 
I don't get it. What is so hard about this? Are you a junior? Then the answer is, "I'm a junior." Are you a senior? Then the answer is, "I'm a senior."

What does "junior with senior status" mean? If you have senior status, you are a senior. If you have junior status, you are a junior.

Anyone care to enlighten me as to why I'm wrong, carefully and in small, monosyllabic words?

I find it funny that that the person asking for "small, monosyllabic words" uses the word "monosyllabic"

I know it seems incredibly silly, but most people are used to going by year in school rather than credits. So, if you have a lot of credits but are taking four years to finish school (bc hey, you might actually want to learn more than you have to), you don't want to explain to people why you aren't graduating that year. I generally just avoided saying my "status" if I could and responded that I was in my "third year."
 
Chill everyone...I don't think OP was trying to be malicious.

There are few gunners at my college but this is best pre-med story I have:

It's a couple weeks into a required "health/PE" class and we have a general surgeon in to speak to the class. One of the freshman guys in the class asks a question and after he answers the surgeon asks the guy what his major is. The kid, legit, says: "pre-med for anesthesiology" (and no, my college is not one of the very few schools in the US that has pre-med as a major.)

Not really a gunner...but still sooooo funny. :)

Also, obligatory awesome med-school related music video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiLtuzJuit4
 
I find it funny that that the person asking for "small, monosyllabic words" uses the word "monosyllabic"

I know it seems incredibly silly, but most people are used to going by year in school rather than credits. So, if you have a lot of credits but are taking four years to finish school (bc hey, you might actually want to learn more than you have to), you don't want to explain to people why you aren't graduating that year. I generally just avoided saying my "status" if I could and responded that I was in my "third year."

If you want small words, this means:

It's dumb, but most go by their year. So, if you take four years in school, you don't want to say why you are still in school next year. I tried to just say I was in my "third year" if I could.

It's hard to write if you use just short words.

I had to do this. It made me laugh :p
 
Here's one of my favorites. We just started med school during O-week and we had a class meeting with some deans to talk about what we'll experience as med students. So we start talking about we don't need to be cutthroat anymore since we're in med school and that we should help each other out in school. I guess the deans were trying to foster camaraderie. This one girl, a bulldog in OPs world, raises her hand and says "uh... maybe after the match". There was this just stunned silence for a bit and everyone stares at her, even the deans were caught off guard.

Anyway, she turns out to be the bitch of the class correcting, arguing and just ultimately disrespectful to the professors. No one likes her.
 
Here's one of my favorites. We just started med school during O-week and we had a class meeting with some deans to talk about what we'll experience as med students. So we start talking about we don't need to be cutthroat anymore since we're in med school and that we should help each other out in school. I guess the deans were trying to foster camaraderie. This one girl, a bulldog in OPs world, raises her hand and says "uh... maybe after the match". There was this just stunned silence for a bit and everyone stares at her, even the deans were caught off guard.

Anyway, she turns out to be the bitch of the class correcting, arguing and just ultimately disrespectful to the professors. No one likes her.

....wow. There's gotta be some way for adcoms to weed out the gunners like the girl mentioned above. I though this sh** would end by med school....
 
So this is my first post ever, I have been following SDN for 3 years but I never felt the need to join and post something until yesterday (oh what a day yesterday was!)...feel free to join me and blast those dumb premed gunners who you deeply cannot stand:

So we had our induction ceremony for Phi Beta Kappa yesterday at the president's house and of course 26 out of the 42 inductees were premed. We had to list our activities and future goals and take a wild guess who put down everything they have done since they were born; yep, you guessed right, the 26 premeds. Oh, guess what no one cares that Sara made dean's list last semester or that she volunteers at the Children's hospital. Or better yet; "Johny, a senior, has been accepted to every state school in Florida and is currently deciding which presitious (?) instition he will attend next year" WHO GIVES A CRAP!!

Better yet, my friend (poli sci major), me, and this really hot business major were the only ones who have won "national scholarships" but we didn't list it, but guess what some of these tools did list: Who's Who among College students, one kid even put that he was a semifinalist for a national scholarship (hahaha).

But, by far best gunners moments:

1) Some kid put that he was like VP of this large nonprofit that I started. I have never seen the kid before and I am sure that he will put it on his med school application but I really don't care at this point.
2) Some tool in my major goes: I have volunteered in Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatamala, etc and I want to go to Hopkins. I am sure that these are 1 week trips too. Everyone goes OHHH AHHH and I'm like 95% of the gunners in pre-med do the same damn thing, again no adcom will give a crap.
3) After the ceremony, this kid goes up to the president and she asks him what year he is. At the SAME TIME he and his mother go "Scotty is junior BUT he is has Senior Status" :scared::eek: WTF? Who cares???
4) All 26 kids are like I DO Research; when in reality we know that they stop in the lab for 3 hours a week, have no idea what is going on, and when they apply all they do is copy down their PIs protocol and lab investigations. None of these tools "really" do research.
5) Best one all day: this bulldog who's in some of my classes tells everyone that she is a nursing major. Ok no big deal. Come to find out yesterday, after 3 years she is a "bio" major (aren't they all) and she wants to be a doctor. Her dad goes to the president "Lizzy wants to go to UPenn or Case Western, but the U's medical schools is ranked too low for her". The bulldog nods her head yes. All this to the President of the school.:laugh::laugh:

I am sure you have these same kids in your classes, they kiss up to the teachers, try to put their names on everything, and always always always brag about how many prestigious schools they got into in undergrad." If this is you, I am sorry, and I hate you (badly). Do these tools really bc. top doctors?

Please share your stories especially if they are funny...


Oh no someone call the Wahhh Waahh Wambulance! Lame Im going to bed.
 
It's a couple weeks into a required "health/PE" class and we have a general surgeon in to speak to the class. One of the freshman guys in the class asks a question and after he answers the surgeon asks the guy what his major is. The kid, legit, says: "pre-med for anesthesiology" (and no, my college is not one of the very few schools in the US that has pre-med as a major.)

Ok that kid is def. a tool, and come to think about it most of what I described in the OP is the work of tools.

I should rename the thread "Gunners and Major Tools" :laugh:
 
Gunners are soooo cute. They always make me smile....

I especially love how they come up with the most random (current medical event) questions during lecture, just to try and out-do each other.

Why do they do that?
 
a good way to weed them out would be:

1) Break the students into groups of 10
2) Tell each group that you are going to do some case-based-learning exercise, and you need one volunteer from each group to write stuff on a white-board
3) If anyone raises their hand within 10 milliseconds, escort them to the airport...
 
4) All 26 kids are like I DO Research; when in reality we know that they stop in the lab for 3 hours a week, have no idea what is going on, and when they apply all they do is copy down their PIs protocol and lab investigations. None of these tools "really" do research.

Um...IN REALITY you don't really know anything about their research. Most of your contempt for these people is based off of your generalizations and assumptions.

DUDE I started reading this post, thinking you were going to write about gunners that steal library books or hog up library space or purposefully sabotage others. But these people didn't do ANYTHING to you! For the most part, they seem like normal pre-meds who are just proud of their achievements. People, including yours truly, list their achievements on here all the time! People work hard for these awards, so they deserve the right to brag about them (like when you casually mentioned your "national" award).

Yeah the guy and his mom may have been possibly a bit prick-ish but nothing to incense you enough to...make an SDN post.

Sorry I'm a bit late lol
 
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