I’m so sorry if it’s bad I’m posting in the pre-med forum as a high school student, but I wanted to ask a question directed at pre-meds or people who are knowledgeable about the subject.
How do pre-meds time manage?
My life is pretty relaxed right now. I’m a senior in high school, taking my usual course load. I go to school and then I either go to work or volunteering for 3-4 hours. (work: 10 hrs/wk, volunteer: 8 hrs/wk). When I get home around 7 or 8, I do my homework and/or study or youth group. And of course I socialize on the weekends.
But sophomore and junior year pre-meds! I feel overwhelmed thinking about it. How do you balance going to class, volunteering (clinical/non-clinical), holding down any sort of job, doing homework and studying, and possibly doing research?
I’ve been thinking for the longest time about colllege: oh I really want to volunteer at this place and this place, be a tutor or TA, maybe do some interesting research. Then, I realized…wait if I spend even 6 hrs/wk volunteering, 10+ hrs/wk being a TA or some other job, maybe another 10+ hrs/wk doing research, some shadowing, and as a junior probably studying 15 hrs/wk for the MCAT… Is it even possibly to go to school and get good grades (especially since I want to major in a science)? How do you do it???
I feel so unprepared. What are you guys’ thoughts on time management?
Not a pre-med, but the mother of 2 (one is now a physician; one is approaching the end of her 3rd year in med school)
You start by developing good (and efficient) study habits and self-discipline in high school. Procrastination is fatal for pre-meds.
You also need to start cultivating a habit of self-teaching and seeking out learning resources beyond those offered in the classroom. (The learning paradigm in college is diametrically opposite to the high school model. You will be the primary driver of what you learn in college classes–not your teacher/professor.) Be prepared to go above and beyond the minimums assigned in class.
Learn to develop a balanced healthy schedule–with time set aside for socializing, sleep, exercise. You can’t function without those.
A successful pre-med is not the one who burns the midnight oil in the library every Friday night, but the one who has learned to balance all aspects of their lives. (A habit that will serve you well no matter what you do in life.) There really are enough hours in the week to do everything–you just need to be thoughtful, disciplined and motivated.
Some of things you mention–like physician shadowing and some of your volunteering --can be done during the summer since neither are full time occupations and can be fitted around a summer job or research experience.
Also there is no rule that says you must complete everything to apply to med school by the end of your junior year. Only about 1/3 to 1/2 of incoming med students matriculate directly from undergrad. (Average age at matriculation is 24.) The trend is to apply after college graduation and a gap year.
Also you’re probably thinking of your high school class schedule where you are in class for like 7 hours each day (including lunch) and homework each night due the next day. In college you’ll be in class 2-3 hours/day (not including lunch) + labs which only a handful of classes will have throughout your 4 years and most college classes don’t have homework you turn in at each class. That gives you a lot more flexibility such that when one thing is demanding more time on a given day, you can more easily defer things to the next day.
It’s also something that you work on. You’ll get better as you progress through college (I know I did) and you will have to because med school is a return to 7 hours of class each day (not including lunch) with an exponential increase in the amount of material you are responsible for (and I continued to get better). That’s just the first two years, then the 2nd two years you’re in the hospital anywhere from 8-24 hours for the day (e.g. outpatient pediatrics on one end and surgery with overnight call on the other) and you still have presentations to prepare, assignments to complete and topics to study for the exam at the end of each clerkship.
@WayOutWestMom @iwannabe_Brown
Wow, very insightful responses! Thank you!
I’ve actually gotten a taste of the college experience last October when I went to live with my sister for a week. She’s a junior and her best friend is premed. What I observed was that neither of them had much time in their day… The premed girl was literally gone by 7 AM and she got home around midnight. In between classes she was at the library (studying or working). On weekends, she volunteered.
I’ve always thought I had very efficient study skills, but I doubt myself when I see these smart girls have their lives taken over by academics and a small number of extracurriculars. I suppose it’s just something you have to grit your teeth and get better at. But I just don’t want to be that kind of person who never takes a break, never has fun, and never does anything for herself.
Pre med can be a bit of treadmill, but you learn to make time for yourself or you’ll burn out.
It doesn’t have to be huge chunks of time–meeting friends for a 30 minute lunch/dinner at the caf, taking a leisurely stroll across campus when the weather is nice on the way to class/lab, chatting with your study group partners while working on homework sets,listening to music while you do routine, rote tasks, maybe going to a movie, concert, party, sports event or out to dinner (or a bar) occasionally on the weekend.
I suspect your pre-med girl isn’t all work and no play because people can’t exist living like that, but unless you dogged her heels 24/7 for a couple of weeks, these are things I doubt you were able to observe.
Medicine does require many sacrifices from those who practice it (or who want to)–the relinquishment of much of your personal leisure time is just one of many.
The number of people who “go to the library to study” but who spend significant portions of their time there talking to friends (in person or via text) and/or browsing social media is astronomical.
(this post is written from the library where I came to study and earlier I was reading next to a friend of mine and we were chatting for a couple mins every 30mins-1hr)
RE: the library–
As much as it’s a place to study, the library is also a place people go to socialize at most campuses.
The library at D2’s college has coffee bar w/ a bakery that also serves soups, sandwiches and salads from 8 am until 10 pm. It also has several living room-like areas w/ sofas & upholstered arm chairs for people to sit, read and chat.
(I won’t even get into all the other stuff that goes on in library stacks and study carrels…Let’s just say that the things you’ve heard about the library stacks as a make-out destination—all true.)
Maybe their college is weird but it was seriously so quiet in the library! Literally every little sound could be heard because everyone was completely silent. I felt uncomfortable whenever I had to say anything to my sister…