<p>I wanted to be a doctor but ended up going with a non-science major and I was curious what it's like going the pre-med route. I've heard a lot of grumbles about the cutthroat backstabbing competitiveness of the classes and how everyone is looking to maximize their grade in very extreme ways. </p>
<p>Do you get the feeling that everyone is looking out for themselves and not looking to help you out? Obviously there is a spectrum of pre-med people at such a large school like Cal, but are most pre-med intended people type A personalities, always looking to move up?</p>
<p>no, not really. i’m a pre-med and i’ve interacted with a lot of other pre-med students and have never gotten that feeling of cut-throatedness. it’s a myth.</p>
<p>i’m not pre-med myself, but i’m taking all the same classes. Nearly every pre-med i’ve interacted with is not super competitive and backstabby. Everyone is out to do their best, but it’s not to the point of sabotage or anything. I actually get a very supportive vibe from people. Most are even willing to help you. BUT I have met 1 person who’s cutthroat like that, and I hope to never see them again.</p>
<p>I’m friends with many pre-meds and have the same classes and what you notice the most is the stress from school. When a girl cries in Bio 1A discussion when getting her midterm back…than you know its not gonna be pleasant. It takes a toll on anybody when you try to put themselves at such a high standard (high med school GPA) and are constantly berated by all the disappointments(pre-med midterms) that Berkeley throws at them. Trust me you will see MANY people cry who feel that every test determines their future.</p>
<p>I have also heard that people cry during the Organic Chem finals and I’m curious to see that intense emotional reaction. Not that I take pleasure in watching someone imagine their dreams being dashed against rocks like crashing waves, but I would like to verify these rumors firsthand. I’ve only ever seen one person cry after a test and that was for Econ 1 which can be tough at certain times…</p>
<p>i’ve seen one person cry after a bio1b lecture before. this girl wasn’t understanding the material, so she went up to the professor after lecture to ask about it, and somehow in the midst of him explaining, she broke down into tears. i can only imagine what this girl did after the midterms/final.</p>
<p>In person I have only seen 6 people cry because of tests. (1 in Math 1A, 1 in Chem 1A, 2 in Bio 1A and 2 in Bio 1AL) Bio is the worst because for a lot of bio majors biology is a favorite subject so its kinda a hard feeling when something you thought you loved turns around and slaps a good one on your face.</p>
<p>My daughter decided before her freshman year she did not want to go to vet or med school but she still needs to take all the same classes required of pre-med students for her B.S. in biology. She has had scores of pre-med students in her math and science classes and her observation has been that the pre-meds put all the pressure on themselves, not on each other. She has witnessed plenty of tears when mid-terms and finals have been returned in calculus, organic chem and even gen bio classes, but the tears weren’t shed because someone else had a better grade but because that student’s grade didn’t measure up to what she/he thought was essential to be admitted to their dream med school.</p>
<p>i haven’t seen anyone cry after getting their exams back… and i’ve taken all the lower div pre-reqs…</p>
<p>but anyway, there’s not much of backstabbing/sabotage, that’s blown way out of proportion. </p>
<p>lazy is a relative term. i know plenty of students who do their best but may not do as well as some of the “lazy” students who don’t do anything and still get a good grade - would you rather have the lazy but smart doctor or the hardworking but not so smart doctor? i guess ideally i want a hardworking and smart doctor. lol.</p>
<p>well it doesn’t make much sense to cry because somebody else get a better score. most people aren’t that vain, they cry because they feel like they are not performing as well as they should/could</p>
<p>not sure, but my sister was a lazy pre-med at UCLA and didn’t get accepted into any med schools, she’s currently doing DO. she probably wouldn’t have even gotten into DO if she hadn’t done a Masters program at USC and did well in that, which ended up costing another 100 grand for the 2 years she spent there.</p>
<p>moral of the story: laziness costs you money. don’t be lazy.</p>
<p>well **** I’m lazy and I suck at cramming. I’m just cruising to be a failure in life. But at least I like to think of myself as a smooth talker. lol</p>
<p>In terms of seeing people cry, I saw someone cry after Chem 1a final last year. But it was pretty brutal. And that’s it. I don’t understand why anyone would cry except for I guess Chem 1a’s final. I wanted to break the window in Hearst gym after that *****. Otherwise, I think most of the finals I’ve taken have been pretty fair. It’s really you know the concepts or you don’t kinda thing. Bio 1a is pretty ridiculous though. Spending so much time for a class that really hasn’t taught me much that I didn’t already know from AP Bio.</p>