<p>Okay seriously, as I read through the endless lists of extracurriculars and APs, do you guys ever spend time with your family or friends or just chill? With hundreds of hours at clinics and then doing hundreds of research and then doing hours and hours of AP homework how do you guys find time to chill? Can you guys please break it down for me? What exactly do your schedules look like?
I'm very interested in pursuing a med program, but with the way you guys furiously work, I don't think it's worth it. It sounds meaningless because in the process, I will be cranky, sleepless, and I will lose my friends and family.</p>
<p>These kids are busy working. Its only parents on this forum!</p>
<p>lol i donno abotu the rest but i definitely had a life. then again my high school was ez and i didnt do HUNDREDS of hours of work. there were times when i worked hard but they were intermittent. i had a lot of fun in high school.</p>
<p>im in college now btw. not at a med program but i was an applicant ot many and got into one.</p>
<p>Okay, but seriously.
In a day, how do you attend and organize certain events and then come back home and do 10 APs worth of homework. It sounds dreadful and lifeless.</p>
<p>Definitely not for you then. And that's OK.</p>
<p>okay, yes, in that post it wasn't me
but don't admission officers want you to be well-rounded? and doesn't being well rounded means you have some sort of social life. don't you as a person want to be well-rounded? what is the point of working so hard and then having no one to do it for?
i would love to get into these programs. but honestly, i want to know at what cost and someone who's been in these programs needs to inform me.</p>
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what is the point of working so hard and then having no one to do it for?
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<p>lol, what do you mean "no one to do it for"? What about yourself and your future patients?</p>
<p>I see a lot of people who work hard in school hang out with other people who work similarly hard. It doesn't mean that they have no social lives. I'd say volunteering and doing research involve lots of social interaction, too, and yes it can be fun, believe it or not. Maybe that answers your question.</p>
<p>Oh yes definitely! But it's not intimate, at least I don't think so, it's just small talk. But more than that, don't they have time to chill and hang out with friends. Wouldn't you be under pressure all the time? As for my future, it will be fine. As for my patients, this isn't the only path, I could just be a regular undergrad and then go to med school.</p>
<p>If it doesn't interest you, then don't do it.</p>
<p>With your reservations about these type of med programs it seems to me that going to a regular college and then applying to med school would be a better fit for you. In fact most people do it this way. </p>
<p>If you are not dedicated in high school then it is difficult to get a spot in a BS/MD program. </p>
<p>Why are you asking these questions? Why not ask what life is like for a typical college pre-med if that is your interest?</p>
<p>Something tells me that Sangeetha93, is just trolling, but I'll take the bait. If you think that studying is beneath you and you want to have fun all the time at your will, I'm sure the real world will love you. I don't know what grade you are in currently, but yes you CAN have a life and do well academically. This is an academic site regarding higher education what did you expect? Maybe you missed the games.com website.</p>
<p>Students take Pre-AP and AP courses which are more rigorous than on-level courses, and guess what, colleges want to see that you've taken a demanding curriculum, because it shows them that you are interested in more than just getting by in school. While all AP courses may not be strenuous depending on the teacher teaching it, it does reflect at least that you are willing to participate in courses, that stretch your thinking and knowledge base a little bit, rather than on-level courses that usually do not. People tend to like those who are ambitious and goal oriented, not leaching sloths, and college admission officers and your future employer are no different.</p>
<p>By the way just because every social thing you do is not listed on a CV doesn't mean you don't do it.</p>
<p>Okay really, why are you guys assuming that I don't work hard already? I work plenty hard. I intend on taking AP classes and I'm currently involved in many ECs. But why is it that these people tak 10 AP classes instead of 5 AP classes. Why is it necessary to do that? Taking 5 AP classes is plenty, let alone 10! Especially for me.
The reason why I ask is that it's already hard for me to fit everything in. To tell the truth, I don't even think I'm capable of doing 10 APs and then do ECs and then be well rounded. Doing 10 APs worth of HW is enough to keep me up all night.
I ask because I need to measure. I need to measure how much sacrifice their is involved because otherwise I won't be able to reach for this goal.</p>
<p>I took 4 APs junior year, 4 APs senior year. The TONS of ECs you see are probably mostly the hundreds of hours you can rack up by doing a 2-3 week internship over the summer or doing 2-4 hours of random volunteering (and most of the time it's stuff that you enjoy doing, at least somewhat, so it's not a huge pain). Then, you do some sports or whatever, more because you like to do them than because it's awesome for college (and sports are fun as well, so that can be counted towards "having a life").</p>
<p>You still have plenty of time to do whatever else you want. Just because we don't say in our stats pages " # of hours of hanging out with friends" , "# of hours partying", "# of hours playing video games" doesn't mean we don't do those too.</p>
<p>Not every program requires that much comittment to get into. I worked extremely hard in high school and took many APs, but I didn't do research or anything like that. Senior year, I took very few APs and honors cuz I wanted to take it easy. I still made it into a respectable program. Only the very competitive programs require what you are describing and even for those ones, I wouldn't use the term "require."</p>
<p>If you are thinking this way about the time & effort already then perhaps you should save yourself the grief and not even bother getting started. Would we & everyone in your life have to hear the complaints day & night?</p>
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Oh yes definitely! But it's not intimate, at least I don't think so, it's just small talk. But more than that, don't they have time to chill and hang out with friends. Wouldn't you be under pressure all the time? As for my future, it will be fine. As for my patients, this isn't the only path, I could just be a regular undergrad and then go to med school.
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<p>It doesn't mean doing the traditional path rather than a combined med program is going to be less stressful. You're going to still have to work hard in college no matter where you end up.</p>
<p>I don't think that getting into a medical scholars program and having a life are mutually exclusive. My daughter is in an early admission scholars program for veterinary school. Yes, she worked very hard in high school and works even harder in college, but she finds time for friends, family and extracurricular activities. It's all about time management and good study skills.</p>
<p>Oreo45,
I'm not complaining but I'm merely asking because unlike other students who are competing in this program, I feel that I'm not talented enough. While these students may take an hour to understand something, I take around 2 or 3. I can guarantee that- so I need to understand if I can handle it and that's why I need to calculate. I practice, very little of it is talent. So please don't see me as a slacker or a complainer. Because I'm not either of those and rather you don't see my entire life so you don't what you're saying.</p>
<p>sangeeta, the unfortunate truth about cc is that most of the people on here are nerds. that being said, you will get a distorted view of what it takes to get into good colleges or med programs.</p>
<p>there are tons of normal people out there (personality wise) who manage to get straight a's, get great SAT scores, do ECs, manage to have a vibrant social life, and still get into the top colleges/programs.</p>
<p>you wont see too many people like that on CC, though. just look in the high school life section in the topic where people post their daily schedules. its ridiculous.</p>
<p>lol thanks for your support zzzboy.</p>