Advice for a Lost Pre-Med

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

I will try to make this as short as possible; I hope it isn’t too whiny. If so, forgive me in advance.

Part I:
Academics:
To give some history, I was valedictorian in my high school, a National AP Scholar, and so experienced a great deal of academic success.
My first semester of college, I also earned relatively similar grades. In my second semester, I am doing pretty well in all my classes other than Gen Chem II.

On my first exam, I got a 76% and afterwards, I knew I needed to put in even more effort. Subsequently, I’ve been doing 400-600 MCQ problems from the book and Googling questions, going to the profs office hours, doing questions with friends (working, no chitchat with us), and spending at least 2-5 hours per day studying for chemistry. For each exam, I’ve realistically put in 200 hours (after the first exam, where I relied on only the 30 homework questions). My subsequent scores have been 88%, 88%, 91%.

Some of these have been curved to a 88%, 96%, 96%, 91%, putting me at a 92.5% test average, which with at least a 91% on the final exam and homework, should get me an A.

In all of my classes throughout high school and even all my classes in college (a combo of CS, Spanish, and pre-med reqs), I have earned test averages no lower than 97%.

What am I doing wrong for Gen Chem II?

Part II
Comparing Myself to Others
I’m glad you’re still with me :slight_smile:

I know I shouldn’t judge, but then I feel worse when I realize some of my classmates who are always out partying and having a good time do better or just as well as I do. I know this sounds wrong and entitled; don’t get me wrong, I’m perfectly fine when my best friend gets higher scores than I do, because I always see her working extremely hard.

I literally am either studying or working (as a TA) or doing committee events for a student org I’m passionate about or volunteering. I almost never have me time–but I have seen significant success as a result of all of these endeavors (of course, other than Gen Chem II). I don’t understand how people who put in a fraction of the work I put in are flying higher than me.

And so question 2: Should I even be a pre-med? Am I deluding myself that I am capable of being a doctor? I just feel super super incompetent.

What do you think?

2

Part 1–You’re not doing anything wrong in gen chem. The issue is now you’re a little fish in a much bigger pond and you have more (and stronger) competition for those higher grades than you did in high school.

Part 2–Here’s a bit of wisdom I passed on to my daughters: No matter how smart, rich, beautiful, talented, athletic, successful you are, there will always be someone who is smarter, richer, more beautiful, more talented, more athletic and more successful than you. Don’t break your heart wishing you are something other than who you are.

Also you don’t know for a fact just how hard those other individuals are actually working for their grades. It’s very easy to look at a situation from the outside and imagine you know all the details when you don’t.

Finding me time–you may need to work on some better time management skills. If you truly have no down time, you may need to consider cutting back on something. There are no medals for being a martyr.

Pre-meds (and med students and residents and physicians) all need to find a reasonable work-life balance or they will burn & crash.

3

“I hope it isn’t too whiny. If so, forgive me in advance.”

I don’t think that it is whiny at all, nothing to forgive. I think that you have relatively briefly and effectively described a situation which is common in pre-med.

Also, I suspect that it is probably too early to decide whether or not you are destined to be a doctor. More on that later.

It is common at top universities for many students to get sort of shocked that they aren’t the smartest and brightest anymore. At Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and similar schools pretty much every student was in the top 1% of their high school and comes in thinking that they will be in the top 25%. Three our of every four are wrong. This is a wake-up call for many students.

Pre-med programs are tough. They are supposed to be tough. There are more pre-med students in undergraduate programs than there are spots in medical schools. ALL of the pre-med students are very smart and had very good grades in high schools (mostly straight A’s, or very close to it). Therefore pre-med programs have to stress the students quite hard to figure out which ones are going to get into Harvard Medical School, which ones are going to get in UMass Medical School, which ones are going to get into some other medial school, and which ones are going to do something else.

There is something that I didn’t need in high school, and didn’t figure out until graduate school. I suffered a bit in the middle until I got it: If you are ahead on your reading, and if you do your homework as close as possible to when it is handed out, then you walk into your next class knowing a bit more than you would otherwise. This makes the next class easier to understand, so you pick up a bit more. This makes it slightly easier to get ahead on your reading and on your homework. This is a bit like racing snails, only slower (you only get ahead a very small amount at a time, and not every week). However, if you keep this up for a couple of years, it adds up. If you have classmates who are out partying when you are studying, they might do better on the first test, or even the second. They might be very smart and come into the program very well prepared. Eventually however the partying will catch up to them (even if it takes a couple of years). Either they will stop partying or you will edge ahead of them a little bit at a time.

What I get from your OP is that you have found near the beginning of this process that the process is very tough. Whether you will do well enough to get into a good medical school is going to depend upon how you do over four years, not how you do over one semester. By the way, you are not the first (nor the second) student from whom I have heard that pre-med chemistry is very difficult (I have heard the same about anatomy also).

I agree with what @WayOutWestMom said above: You do need to think about how you are managing your time. You probably should think about where to cut back on anything that does not involve attending and studying for your classes, and sleep should NOT be the thing that you cut back on.

Now, as I get older I get to visit doctor’s a bit more than I did when younger. If I go to a hospital for tests, I see a large number of medical professionals. I might in the past have thought that most of them are doctor’s or nurses. In fact, relatively few of them are doctor’s or nurses. There are a LOT of other medical professionals. There are a LOT of options for people who don’t make it to medical school, or who decide to do something else. Some will become radiologists. Some might become a surgical technician or a PA or PT. There are a lot of options and I probably haven’t heard of 90% of the options (even if I have been treated by them). Some might become software engineers or high school science teachers or something else.

Oh, if you are getting an A (or even A- or B+) on pre-med chemistry, you probably are on track to become a doctor if you want to stick with it. :slight_smile:

4

@WayOutWestMom and @DadTwoGirls

Thank you for your candid, helpful, and non judgemental advice!

While it is true that I do not know the full picture of these people, I often see them hanging out in the commons areas on my way to the library and on my way back, with no work out. I think @DadTwoGirls hit on the idea that they might be edging me out due to cramming on weekends, but I’m hoping that my hard work will pay off in the snail race. :slight_smile:

I am totally open to suggestions on time management, if either of you are free or available to help me chunk things out. I typically follow a detailed schedule every day. Note that meetings and events sometimes come, typically it isn’t practical to list everything :)!

Mondays
7:30-10:30 Study physics
10:30-11:45 Spanish class
11:45-12:45 Study chemistry
12:45-1:15 Lunch
1:15-3 Physics class
3-4:45 CS class
4:45-6:30 Study chemistry or CS
6:30-7:30 Dinner and talk to my parents on the phone (homesickness is very real this year)
7:30-1:30 Spanish, chemistry, homework, work for Committees

Tuesdays

8:00-10:00 Physics tutoring (typically I go to the resource center for help on homework and go over concepts…really really helpful)

10:30-12:30 Chem Lab

12:30-1:30 Study chemistry or physics

1:30-3:00 Physics recitation (lunch during)

3:00-5:45 Spanish work

6:00-7:50 Chem Lecture

7:50-8:30 Dinner and call home

8:30-1:30 Study for Chem and CS

Wednesday

8:30-10:30 Study chemistry
  10:30-11:45 Spanish class
   11:45-12:45 Study Spanish
      12:45-1:15 Lunch
   1:15-3 Physics class
    3-4:45  CS class
     4:45-6:30 Work (TA) 
     6:30-7:30 Dinner and talk to my parents on the phone (homesickness is very real this year)
     7:30-8:00 Prayer (religious affiliated group meets Wednesday nights)

8:00-8:45 Student Council
8:45-1:30 Spanish, homework

Thursdays

8:00-10:00 Study for chemistry

10:30-1:30 Physics

1:30-3:00 Physics recitation (eat lunch during)

3:00-3:30 quick homework

3:45-6 Volunteer

6-8 Chem Lecture and obligatory Quiz afterwards

8:00-8:45 Dinner and talk to parents briefly

9-1:30 Study for Chem and CS

Fridays

8-10 Chem Recitation

10-12 Chemistry Studying

12-12:30 Lunch

12:30-4 Work

*either I drive home for the weekend at 4, 2 hrs away

**4-9 Study chemistry

9 Go to bed because I’m tired

Saturdays

10-12 Study chemistry

1-5 CS and tie up loose ends. Focus on exams

5-9 Obligatory prayer service for my religion

9 go to bed

Sundays

8-10 Prayer Service

10-12 Study

12-1 Pack my stuff and lunch

1-3 Drive back to campus

3-9 Chemistry, Physics, CS

I have an extremely verbally abusive and hurtful roommate so I never study in the room–always in library where it is quiet or along quiet spaces in the building. It’s a third wheel situation and at night it’s so uncomfortable. Often alcohol and drugs in the room that keep coming and going. Makes me uncomfortable and I’ve reported it but nothing has been done, and was even told not to put my religious preference on others. (I didn’t want alcohol in the room because it’s against the dorm policy, not because of my religious beliefs).
I constantly receive belittling text messages and it’s a constant harassment because I have a speech impediment that I’ve largely overcome. She’s often scolded me that I don’t deserve to be in college (I got a full ride and she’s definitely significantly wealthy), shouldn’t be a doctor, am extremely dirty (to be fair, my desk gets a bit cluttered, but she leaves old Ramen and coffee for a week sometimes). When I come back at night around 1:30, and I ask her if she can put earphones in because shes watching a movie with her significant other, she tells it’s frustrating that everything always revolves around me.

Ok I guess I’m done ranting :slight_smile:

5

I’m sorry that your roommate situation is not a good one, but the term is almost over. Can you hang in there for a few more weeks? Have you approached your RA to let her know about the situation? (Not the alcohol, but the verbal abuse. Have you shown those text messages to to the RA? If the RA isn’t helpful, consider going up the food chain and go talk to the dorm manager, or even to the Dean of Students.)

D1’s freshman roommate (and her BF) took/hid all D1’s texts, notebooks & calculator starting the week before finals so she couldn’t study (the books & calculator all mysteriously re-appeared right after finals were over)–probably in retaliation for D1 complaining to the RA about being constantly sexiled. Bad roommates can make your life difficult and unhappy.

Have you found a roommate for next year who will be more compatible?

It sounds like you are doing all your studying solo. Would you consider finding a peer study group? Having a group of peers to study with will do 2 things: 1)make you feel less isolated & provide a social outlet for you; 2) make your studying more efficient. I’ve found–and my Ds have found-- that studying with others is useful because if you ever get hung up on a concept or problem, someone else in the group will always be able to solve it or suggest an more productive --or at least a different–way to approach it. It helps you avoid spinning your wheels or getting stuck in mental rut. Also seeing/hearing different viewpoints/approaches about a concept, topic or problem leads to a deep, richer understanding of it. Medicine is a team-based profession. Learning to work well and productively in groups is very important. If you don’t have a study group you work with–look around your classes and see if you can find one. If they’re aren’t any–then start your own. Ask a couple of people from your classes to get together to work on problem sets.

I do understand that homesickness is real, but you have to make an effort to integrate yourself into college life to get past it. Is is really necessary to drive home each weekend? You’re losing 4+ hours to travel time each weekend–time that could be used for relaxation or social activities–both of which it sounds like you need/want.

I am going to strongly suggest that you do 2 things: 1) make an appointment with the counseling center at your college and talk with them about ways to deal with your roommate; 2) make an appointment with academic support center at your college and talk with them about time management/study skills. Your time seems blocked out Ok, but you may not be studying efficiently/effectively. There are some techniques that a good study coach can suggest to improve the efficiency and productivity of your study time. Both the counseling center and academic support center can provide you with better and more personalized help than random strangers on the internet.

Good luck to you!

6

“I have an extremely verbally abusive and hurtful roommate”

Will this be over forever in about 4 weeks? She sounds like someone to avoid.

7

@WayOutWestMom Thank you for the advice!

Unfortunately there is a personal situation at home that I necessarily need to be there for–I could DM you about it.

I started studying with a few hard working people from each of my classes this semester and it’s been really really helpful!

@DadTwoGirls I literally only have a few more days with this roommate, as finals have started, so I guess out of sight out of mind from here. I already told the RAs, showed the messages, and went to the coordinator, but no settlement is happening I think because she is among the top students at our university (recognized as most outstanding student by her department, leadership on Model UN, etc.).

@WayOutWestMom I’m so sorry to hear what happened to your daughter! That sounds terrible :/.

I think I should make an appointment with a study coach. Thanks for your time

8

“I literally only have a few more days with this roommate, as finals have started, so I guess out of sight out of mind from here.”

Great to hear!

"I think because she is among the top students at our university "

She might be a great student, but her personality is going to haunt her for a long time unless she changes. I have seen multiple occasions in my life / career where very smart people had very nasty personalities, and in every case it came back to haunt them.

Good luck going forward. I think that you will do very well over time.

9

I’m glad that the year is almost done and you can put the roommate in the past.

No need to share personal details unless you want to. But I’m always willing to listen.

I wish you @TorqueDork good luck moving forward!

10

Thanks for all of your well wishes! I’ll keep you updated from time to time just to let you know where I’m at. :slight_smile:

11

Well, I promised you an update.

I am moved out, and past the roommate situation. Blocked her number just to no longer receive the hurtful text messages.

With all the doubts I had in myself, I ended up earning a 100% on the Gen Chem II final, which brought my grade up to an A+.

I am in cloud 9 this week. I found out that I earned an A+ in EVERY class this semester (so I earned an A+ in every class my freshman year) when I logged on to the registrar, was elected as Vice President of a major organization on campus that I am super passionate about, Secretary in another organization, hired in a lab at the medical school nearby for my entire sophomore year, selected to serve in a committee of my school’s academic honor society, and honored with a major leadership/civic engagement award given by my university.

I am so grateful to all the supportive people in my life, my parents, best friends, professors, advisors and yes, the College Confidential Community, for not letting me give up on myself. Maybe I felt lost when I saw people around me having a good time and partying while I was always working–whether on school work or organization work–but I am so happy that all of that hard work paid in the very end.

I don’t necessarily care if people did better than me on individual exams because of cramming anymore. It’s not about that one test, but the big picture, that you just have to keep putting in the hard work continually on a day to day basis.

I’ve just started Summer Session I–so 3 more classes until June middle–but then I start physician shadowing in a bilingual clinic until the end of August!

Anyway, I hope I don’t come off as bragging (please excuse me if it comes out that way). I’m super excited to share the results of my freshman year with everyone. I can’t believe the turn around from April 29th when I first posted. I still don’t know my career path exactly, shadowing will help me figure out what I might want to do in the future, but I know that hard work will help me be successful in whatever I choose to do. Just need to keep working hard and maybe work even harder to get to where I want to be.

Have a good summer! @WayOutWestMom and @DadTwoGirls

12

Not bragging at all! Very impressive.

13

Oh no! Where did my comment go?

Ok well, I’ll re-post again–the update I promised!!!

  • I moved out and blocked my roommate's number to no longer receive hurtful text messages.

*I ended up earning a 100% on the Gen Chem II final. That brought my grade to an A+.

  • This week I found out (and as a result, I am in Cloud 9!!!)

  1. I earned an A+ in EVERY class this semester, bringing me to straight A+s for all classes my entire freshman year.

  2. I was honored with a leadership/civic engagement award by my university

  3. I was elected as Vice President of a major student organization that I am super passionate about, selected as a committee member for the academic Honors society, and secretary for another organization.

  4. I was hired in a lab at the nearby medical school for the entirety of my sophomore year.

  5. I was hired as an undergraduate TA for Gen Chem :slight_smile:

  • I am literally crying with joy right now. I realize it isn't about the people who might have done better than me on a few exams. I really realized the power of working a little every single day and not cramming. I don't know my career path exactly still, but I know hard work will get me to where I want to be, whatever that ends up being.

*I am so thankful to all the people who supported me along the way, my parents, my best friends, my professors, the kind people on College Confidential who made me NOT GIVE UP ON MYSELF. I cannot believe the transformation that happened from April 29 when I first posted full of diffidence to today, when I am just on cloud 9.

I hope this post doesn’t read bragging or boastful…but I am extremely excited to share.

To anyone ever reading this thread in the future, know that self-doubt can take the better of you, but don’t let toxic people get the better of you. And importantly, hard work always wins–even if in the words of @DadTwoGirls, you see the progress at the rate of snails racing. It took an ENTIRE YEAR for me to realize, that all the nights in the library and at meetings and everything would pay off.

14

Congratulations on your wonderful semester!

I am so glad you had such a positive outcome and very happy to hear you were able to get away from your hurtful roommate.