<p>Just wondering the workload for a typical pre-med at either Penn or Dartmouth. I'll be a freshman next year at either school. I was wondering if it's possible to have a social life and still keep up the grades you need for med school. Thanks.</p>
<p>Obviously, this depends a great deal on how quickly you learn and how strong your high school preparation is.</p>
<p>care to elaborate more on the actual workload? (any numbers would be helpful) thanks</p>
<p>It's an impossible question to answer with any reasonable degree of accuracy. If PSAS comes on here and tells you he studies eight hours a night (he doesn't), he might just be an idiot* (he's not). If he comes on here and tells you his textbooks are still shrink-wrapped, it could just be because he's a genius who came out of Andover or Exeter. In neither case would that information be useful to you.</p>
<p>Obviously most Penn/Dartmouth/everywhere premeds manage to have some semblance of a social life, but most of them have to make some sacrifices along the way. That's not helpful information to you, since you don't know where on that continuum you lie.</p>
<p>*There are lots of ways for idiots to get into any school they want. Just because Penn is excellent -- and it is, it's clearly in the top five -- doesn't mean there's no idiots there.</p>
<p>It also depends on what you consider a social life. I know that there will be weeks that all I do is study, but it's with my roommate and best-friend, so it tends to be a pretty good time--as strange as that sounds. I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes my days are filled with work,labs, projects, etc., but depending on the way I do it and with whom I do it, it can be relaxing and fun. When those hell-weeks ease up, I can then hang out with my a capella buddies, random friends, etc. and have a great time. I also find that scheduling plays a big role. </p>
<pre><code> Another point: So far, my pre-med workload has come in waves, with periods of intense death-stress (it's not as bad as it sounds, though) followed by relaxing, chill/hang-out times.
</code></pre>
<p>Anyhue, I second bluedevilmike, and best of luck at either school. Just take it all in stride and try to imagine the big picture (sure, good grades/learning, etc. is nice, but their are MANY important things in life well worth appreciating over/in addition to grades, etc.).</p>
<p>cheers! =)</p>
<p>Alright, premed workload at Penn.</p>
<p>No, it's not overwhelming as a rule, though it can be at times and some people make it that way for themselves. There are people who study for 8+ hours a night, but those do indeed tend to be the weaker students (and yes, there are idiots even at Penn). An average number of hours a night spent studying isn't really a helpful number though, as most students gear their studying to the cycle of exams, and so are pretty lax up until about a week or two before the exam, when it gets kind of crazy.</p>
<p>Yes, you have to make sacrifices in your social life, as you will have the second heaviest workload at Penn (behind the engineers) and the one for which your grades matter the most.</p>
<p>As far as adjustment goes, I came from an inner city Philadelphia public school, that, while a magnet, I don't feel adequately prepared me for college work. I managed to adjust after some issues first semester freshman year (dropped a class after bombing the first exam, and managed to get out on the last day before a W would have gone on my transcript).</p>
<p>Some advice on making the adjustment:
Only take 4 classes first semester unless your in a program that absolutely requires you to take more. Take a freshman seminar or your writing requirement class, or both, as they are generally easy. Under no circumstances take more than 2 math/science courses, I'd be shocked if your adivsor would even let you, but some can be pretty lax.</p>
<p>Beyond that, I think Penn provides a better premed experience than Dartmouth in terms of hospital/research access, though Dartmouth has the advantages that come with a more LAC-like setting. Basically though; do you want to be in Hanover, NH?</p>
<p>cool thanks everyone. I realize that it is a difficult question to answer and to get "accurate" numbers for. I'll post more questions, if i have any, after i visit dartmouth. :D</p>