<p>I need some advice. I am a freshman in Stony Brook. I have a lab position at the hospital, but I will probably only be able to take it next semester when I will be done with calculus because of my AP credit. I plan to take statistics in my junior year. Do all freshmen have trouble managing time or am I just slow? The reason I am asking this is because in high school, I was able to balance 2 AP classes and research. Overall I did really well that year. I know that college is a different ball game. Is it because I am studying too much? I mean I pulled off nearly the top grades on my first exams in like all of my classes. I am hoping to get more free time next semester and hopefully adapt better. Any advice on what I am doing wrong. Thanks.</p>
<p>You are getting nearly top grades in all your classes . You are alive. Check and check. Sounds like you are doing fine. Now add in ec's and a little fun time and see what happens, but add them slowly . This is freshman year.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice and I understand what you mean. It is just that even though I may pull off like 3.8-4.0 this yr, it will suck if I do not have any ECs. I mean I do have ECs during the summer but med school admissions has gotten so competitiv now, especially MD/PhD. Also I overlook the fact that I am competing with ppl in my own school because it is not an ivy. I know that nearly evry person in every ivy has a better shot than me, almost a nobody in a state school. I mean I will probably be assessed in a harsher manner than them because my school (Stony Brook) does not have such a big name. As a result, I need to keep my bases covered and be able ot compete with ivy league ppl b/c most of them will have ECs and even if their avg is lower than mine, it will be held in a higehr regard. I do not know if my thinking is correct or I am just too worried about nothing.</p>
<p>Cheer up, Blazinyan. It's not such a disadvantage to be from a state school in med school admissions. The process is more dependent on your GPA and your MCAT score than where you went to college. You have lots of time if you are only a freshman. The most important thing right now is to get the best grades you can. And yes, most freshman have some issues managing their time.</p>
<p>BY is correct that he needs EC's. Good grades also matter, but studying has diminishing returns. That is, the sixth hour of studying doesn't help an awful lot compared to the second.</p>
<p>So basically the motto of the storty is to learn how to study the same amount but in a shorter amount of time so that I will have some time for ECs b/c if ppl from ivy leagues can do that, then I need to possess just as many ECs as them to stand a viable chance, right?</p>
<p>1.) Thinking about Ivy kids is probably not useful.</p>
<p>2.) The lesson I'd take from this if I were you is simply that not all studying is equally worthwhile. The law of diminishing returns applies here.</p>
<p>If you're really hungry, that first piece of pizza is really important. The second one might still be important. But eating a fifth piece of pizza really isn't going to help you feel full, because you're pretty full to start with. And eating a sixth piece might even make you feel sick.</p>
<p>Studying is the same way. The key is to know when to stop.</p>
<p>so would u just study like 1-2 hrs a day, like understand each day's lecture?</p>
<p>Do you really think there's a formula for how much to study? Obviously it depends on how hard your school is, how good your high school was, and -- above all -- your own internal aptitude. Some kids read faster than others. Some kids just have to go through material once. Some kids don't need to study at all.</p>
<p>So what you're saying is...
it depends on how much you like pizza, how much you need to eat to maintain a healthy weight, how quickly your body is able to digest it, and how much your stomach can store during any one meal.</p>
<p>edit: Almost forgot! It depends on the toppings too right?</p>
<p>What about anchovies? Does everyone eat the anchovies? Do the Ivy med schools use jalapeno peppers on their pizza or is that just Baylor and Southwestern? I am getting confused and a might hungry.</p>
<p>Hungry? Honestly, mentioning anchovies was enough to scare any hunger right out of me.</p>