I wanna give up sometimes.

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I am a second year intended MCB Neuro and I have wanted to go into medicine from as far back as middle school. </p>

<p>God, sometimes this school is too much for me. I realized today that I am one of those students who does absolutely nothing but study 24/7...and yet I still manage to barely pull off a 3.0. Not having any other aspects to my life is starting to take its toll on me and makes me feel like learning and studying gets more an more unbearable with each day and I feel I may be starting to develop depression of some sort. </p>

<p>I don't even know if I should consider applying to med school anymore. If I had known as a senior in HS that going to an easier school would mean a better GPA and a palpable shot at med school, I would have gone elsewhere because that was my dream in life-and still is if I know I'm not working towards a dead end. Even now, if someone were to tell me that all hope is not lost because of my atrocious GPA and that I have a chance at ANY med school (it doesn't have to be a Top 25 or anything like that), I would suck it up and take any beatings this school offers me by just keeping my final goal in mind.</p>

<p>Now I understand there are others who are also in a similar predicament, grades-wise, but I feel that they probably lead more balanced lives (meaning have SOME semblance of social class, time to exercise, eat well etc) and that their grades reflect their efforts (those who study hard get good grades and those who don't study get poor ones). </p>

<p>The fact with me is that I do NOTHING but go to classes, come back home study, participate in VERY few outside activities and still manage to consecutively bomb midterms for classes like Physics 8A and Bio 1A. And I look around me and I see others who have all these great relationships, Cal memories they are building, involved with research, activities they are passionate about and still do decent in classes. I know I came out of high school thinking I would be having the time of my life here at Berkeley and I feel like I wasted so much money too-since I could have just gone to a CC for two years and then transferred since I didn't really experience the "college experience" for these first two years aside from academics. I could even have gone to CSU Chico, partied, pulled of a 4.0 and still applied scott-free my senior year to med schools :(</p>

<p><em>Sigh</em> if I transfer at this point to somewhere like Davis for my last two years, will I be able to pull of a better GPA and still keep with my plans of going to med school? </p>

<p>Wow-this is long. Guess I had a lot to get off my chest. Oh and a disclaimer: this is in no means any way to deter any impressionable frosh admits from coming to Cal. </p>

<p>This is just my personal account of being an unbelievably frustrated premed at this great school.</p>

2

<p>it’s midterm week, take a breather and repeat after me: </p>

<p>“I will not make any life altering decisions without thinking about the consequences”</p>

<p>You’re premed, do you really think life will suddenly stop being **work **at some point? this is pretty much how it’ll be for the rest of your life. As a med student it only gets worse, as an intern, it gets even worse (in a different way), as a resident it will get better (but worse with the *****ty pay), as an attending it will…again get better and worse. You’ll be on call, have pts die on you, have responsibilities, malpractice insurance, ect. </p>

<p>For right now, I would suggest you switch into a major that doesn’t require as much work and is still interesting. (if it’s not too late). Spring break is around the corner, blow off some steam, smoke a joint if you’ve never done it before, get hammered…if that’s not your thing…uh…go out and…watch a nice movie? </p>

<p>it’s midterm week, you’re gonna be fine, take a day or two off to recharge your batteries. </p>

<p>fight the good fight…I’m a little drunk already…I’m proud of you son…</p>

<p>:D lol</p>

3

<p>I really empathize with your situation. And the best advice I know is to read this book called “How to Become a Straight A Student” by Cal Newport. It is definitely practical, and is advice written by straight A-students who have balanced lives with close relationships and interesting extracurricular activities. Personally, I have benefited immensely from this book. Since reading this book, I’ve gotten almost all A’s and A-'s with one B. I’m an Econ major taking a bunch of different classes, but I think everyone can benefit from reading this book.</p>

<p>Buy a copy on half.com or borrow a copy from the library. This might seem like a blatant advertisement for the book, but I have no connection to the author whatsoever; I just found this book to be the most helpful tool to doing well in school while having a life.</p>

4

<p>Wow, that’s depressing. It sounds like things REALLY aren’t working out for you. At least, I don’t see any point in going on like this. I don’t know about med school, but since you’re not happy here, you should seriously think of transferring.</p>

<p>I can actually relate to how you feel. Sometimes when i’m working my ass off, and I see this really talented students barely studying yet always in the top 20 percent - it makes me sick. It’s so unfair. God/Nature is not kind.</p>

5

<p>Waiting4- Listen, it’s Friday- you’re tired, beat up and weepy. Say yes to any invitation to go out and have fun. Or go to the gym and work out hard. Get an endorphine high, that will raise your spirits. Try to forget academics for a couple of hours. Get some sleep and start studying with fresh eyes in the morning. Your depression is causing you to spin your wheels.
Good Luck in finding your way.</p>

6

<p>i sent you a PM :)</p>

7

<p>Hey mech i want a PM! I just took my midterm for bio 1b, chem 3b and physics 8b and need words of wisdom. Anyways, don’t worry I bet like 80% of bio majors (mostly pre-health) have below a 3.6 GPA, and I heard a 3.6 is only okay GPA for med school. Many us survive the fact that we don’t have a 3.8+</p>

8

<p>3.6 is like the average for med schools i think</p>

9

<p>Well for California med schools, which I assume many want to attend I think the average range is like 3.6-3.8ish. Either way not to many bio majors have those kinda stats.</p>

10

<p>calbear you don’t need a PM, you’ll be fine :)</p>

11

<p>High five waiting4. I totally feel you right now. Other than going to the gym and just throwing all my stress away there, I feel so empty here (I mean I also have a torn acl with absolutely no time to get surgery because I’m so hammered down by this damn school and its work with no payoff). I totally bombed (I sat at the desk for 1.5 hours staring at the problems. I pretty much handed back a blank test no joke) the physics 8a on yesterday and i literally spent a hour afterwards thinking *** am I doing? (Hell, I’m MCB Neuro intended too and I want to go into medicine/pharmaceuticals or doctor.) And you know what I said to myself last night? I want to give up. I’m sick of being taught by professors who can’t teach and GSIs who can’t even speak English. Maybe I’m just not cut out for this *<strong><em>. I expected hard work, but not such that I have to teach subjects like physics to myself (a subject I never learned in HS) or pay money for a tutor.
I don’t even know anymore though tbqh. I just feel like I’m in a losing battle and am just fighting on because I don’t know what else to do.
*</em></strong> I don’t know. I sound like a whiny *****. Probably got less than 24 hours of sleep since Sunday. I guess just know that you aren’t the only one feeling this way yo</p>

12

<p>this sucks</p>

13

<p>man, all of you guys rock. thanks for the support-i just sweat it out at the gym. hopefully, i’ll see things with fresh eyes tomorrow</p>

<p>much <3</p>

14

<p>Hey, I can totally empathize with your situation. I’m second year as well, love neuro, but hate the negative impact of taking these harsh premed req’s on the GPA. It’s not easy finding a balance when premed classes like physics or ochem constantly push work in your way, so you have no time except to study and do the hw. And I’m learning this the hard way too - overloading yourself with difficult courses all in one semester is pretty much going to lead you to a burnout and be even unhappier. My suggestion to you is find an easier major (like psychology - woohoo :)… still get to learn about aspects of cognitive neuroscience), and form stronger connections with classmates with whom you can study with and battle your way through together. Don’t fall into this premed ‘mindset’ that it’s all about competition - so you can only defeat coursework individually. Forming stronger social connections while studying will lessen your anxiety, help you grasp concepts more comprehensively, and most importantly - keeps you from falling into depression. Good luck, and remember to seek advice when you feel your paths are blocked, there’s always trained professionals who can help you gain a new perspective.</p>

15

<p>3.0 in today’s world premed…</p>

<p>you aren’t getting in anywhere. did you even look at berkeley’s pre-med rates? among 3.7+ GPA pre-meds, 76% got in. only 84% got in at 3.9+</p>

<p>berkeley discourages 3.0’s to even apply.</p>

16

<p>[YouTube</a> - Life = Risk](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tjYoKCBYag]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tjYoKCBYag)</p>

<p>You’re okay.</p>

17

<p>IMO transfer out. Berkeley will only make you worse. From what you’ve said it seems that your entire life is consumed by studying - go somewhere where you will have more time to do the required extra curriculars recommended to be competitive as a medical school applicant and happy (physician shadowing, hospital volunteering, clinic setting/work, research, non medical clubs, and leadership positions). From here on out I would continue to work hard, take a Berkeley Review prep course, study hard for the MCAT with good books, beast it, retake the grades you got low grades in and apply to DO school. DO schools are more forgiving of retaking courses; they replace your new grade with your old whereas MD averages the two.</p>

<p>Good luck! #</p>

18

<p>I’m premed too, and I feel very much the same way. I am so tired as of late.</p>

<p>Don’t give up yet. I’m not :)</p>

19

<p>Dude, it’s midterms week–and believe me, all the pre-meds are feeling this way right now! Like some other people said, don’t make too many big decisions because of a bad week–so don’t transfer out just yet.
That said, definitely try and find a balance–you don’t need to be MCB! Every single former Cal student I’ve met who’ve gone on to med school told me that they wished they hadn’t stuck to the typical ‘mcb=medical school’ route–there are plenty of other majors out there that aren’t as gpa-murdering and are just as interesting and challenging–IB, psychology, MEB, microbrial biology–major madness is coming up, so right now’s a great time to consider switching!
Also, on a side-note, try not to do number-crunching. The statistics up on the career center come from only people who actually reported their apps–and if you look, only about 50 people did that. Do you really think only 50 people from Cal applied to medical school?</p>

20

<p>Work on your study skills and balance your life. Working hard is very different than working effectively. Stressing out limits your ability to be effective and efficient in your studies. Work out physically, be healthy socially, but be responsible with how you study. Focus on learning, not on perfection. When you learn, your grades will naturally raise. When you focus on the grade, you’ll stress yourself out and focus too much on memorizing. Balance and effective studying is the key to success. This is definitely something you must learn as a Pre-Med student.</p>