<p>What I am about to say applies to just about any major really. </p>
<p>Why do students who major in the same thing get along? </p>
<p>I look around my classes at the other students, they are competitors. We are competing for very limited spaces.</p>
<p>How can they laugh, hang out, and create positive relationships if we are competing for limited spaces and the losers won't be able to pursue medicine?</p>
<p>These are life altering events.</p>
<p>Why do pre med students get along with each other? They are enemies.</p>
<p>If you don't get accepted into medical school I think it does make one a loser.</p>
<p>You wasted 4 years of time and money for something you failed to achieve.</p>
<p>The money can be replaced, but the TIME you WASTED is gone forever!!!</p>
<p>If is weird to be-friend people who might end up taking away everything you have worked for. All of my friends are in other fields.</p>
<p>This applies to any other majors. They are the competition! They could take your dream career instead of you. </p>
<p>Therefore you should not aid them in any way unless it makes you outshine them in the long run.</p>
<p>ummmm…not all science majors are premed. A lot of non-science majors are pre-med.
And unless you are competing head-to-head for the same slot, you are not direct competitiors.</p>
<p>In addition, your grades will not be the only determinant. LORs count for a lot too. And believe me, if you have an arrogant/jerky attitude, you might be getting in your own way.</p>
<p>Actually, the OP’s technically right. The person you’re sitting next to in class and chatting with could be the person you one day compete with to get a job. However, honestly that’s just life. OP you’re taking this WAY to seriously in my opinion. These people aren’t personally trying to sabatoge you, they’re trying to be friendly AND focusing on their studies at the same time so that when the time comes to be accepted into the program they’ll have no reason to worry because they’ll have done everything they needed to do. Honestly, what’s the harm in being friends with them? As long as they’re nice people everything should be ok. If they try to sabatoge you so you flunk out then thats a different story, however I really doubt most people are in college with that mindset.</p>
<p>You aren’t competing for one spot. There are X number of spots available. There’s some room for befriending like-minded, ambitious people. You become a faster runner by running with faster runners. Even Machiavelli stressed the importance of temporary alliances. </p>
<p>That said, I think a lot of pre-meds are pretty cutthroat. A doctor in my family tells me of key pages being torn from library textbooks to prevent later students from getting the necessary info or of sabotaging other students’ labs. This sort of skullduggery is more prevalent in med school though.</p>
<p>Yikes op, why interact with anyone at all! What if your friends now change their minds? They will be your competitors and now they know EXACTLY how to take you down. When you get to med school it will be even worse. Fewer people and fewer spots. When you’re in residency, make sure to never interact with the other residents since those attending spots aren’t easy to get. Don’t forget that once you’re an attending there are promotions to fight for. Also, god forbid any of your patients are interested in medicine and remotely close to you in age. Better use your position to take them out while you can if you catch my drift.</p>
<p>Seriously op, change your outlook fast. Medicine is a collaborative field, and if this attitude shines through on your interviews, you won’t get an invitation to be a part of it.</p>
<p>Dude may be trolling, but I see where he’s coming from. Lots of kids (people in general) are ambitious and more than willing to throw someone under the bus to get ahead. That goes for any major, premed ones especially. I’m not sating it’s “right” but it’s true…</p>
<p>You guys are pretty naive to think that people don’t get competitive about their grades/test scores etc. That’s surprising to me, considering this is CC, after all.</p>
<p>^Fine, poor choice of words. Assuming this cat’s a ■■■■■, he isn’t as clever as he thinks he is. We all know those grade grubbers and otherwise competitive kids who would rather get ahead than “make friends.” Media usually portrays them in a negative light (not always), but they’re there.</p>
<p>Pre med isn’t a major. So if you don’t get accepted into med school, use your degree (if its marketable). Ex. If you major in petroleum engineering with pre med courses and don’t get accepted into med school, you’ll still make six figures with less debt.</p>
<p>Actually I already thought of a contingency plan in case that happens. </p>
<p>If another student gets MY spot because the school disagrees with my point of view, then I will enlist help from the insurance companies. </p>
<p>I will then go to a medical school in a country in DIRECT competition with the United States. </p>
<p>A few years later, I will then find the student/now doctor who took my spot because of the interview. </p>
<p>I will set up my practice DIRECTLY across the street from his/hers. I will then boycott his business or hospital, and convince as many people as I can -far & wide- to do the same! I will use television advertisement and craigslist ads. I will put him/her out of business.</p>
<p>I will also have a team of private investigators and business intelligence analysts working around the clock, surveying his business practices. If there is even a hunch that he is violating the law or committing malpractice, I will make my case, and make him/her lose his/her license to practice medicine. I will then repeat the process across the city until I become the SOLE medical provider in the city! </p>
<p>I won’t stop there! I will then make business dealings with insurance companies and the government to open up practices across 3rd world countries and become the exclusive provider for the 3rd world’s needs. I will help them take over countries unfriendly to capitalist businesses. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that all of this can be prevented if the medical school just gives me my spot. I can’t make friends in the discipline because they could plot against me. </p>
<p>The net is anonymous, so I am safe. However, a few people who have known me in clubs and sports have said that I should change my degree and get a job as an international banker/loan shark working with the IMF or World Bank, or get a job as an economic hit man for United States, or go into international business management instead of medicine.</p>
<p>I won’t sabotage you, but I won’t actively help you in doing well in a class. I too am of the mindset that I’m going to be competing with you for jobs, so it’s to my advantage to not give you a leg up…but at the same time I’m not going to go around cutting legs off.</p>
<p>I’m referring to major things like projects…not stuff where someone asks you “what was the homework” and you tell them to eff off. Little things like that aren’t going to make a difference.</p>
<p>Calling someone a ■■■■■ is ■■■■■■■■. Pay more attention to the terms of service that you voluntarily agreed to via the free social contract before voluntarily signing up for this site. </p>
<p>What objective criterion do you guys use to determine ■■■■■■■■ anyway? It better be deeper than “I disagree with his point of view and he is very competitive therefore he is a ■■■■■.”</p>
<p>Non-sequitur. </p>
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<p>That’s the right idea. </p>
<p>What made you choose your perspective, of not giving them a leg up, but at the same time not wanting to cut their legs off? </p>
<p>For everybody, are there benefits of taking that perspective instead of actively plotting to cut their legs off?</p>
<p>As a former pre-med I noticed a lot of this “sabotage” going on in my classes. Some students who had a test prior to someone else would purposely tell the other students to focus on studying the wrong things so they would fail the test. I also have had peers accuse others of cheating when they didn’t. I missed class for a week a few semesters ago because my Uncle died and it was out of state. I asked 3 different people if they would let me go over their notes or at least give me some kind of feedback on what they covered in class and what the extra credit would be on the test (the professor would give drawings out in class that you had to memorize and re draw on the test for extra credit). Not one student would even allow me to copy the drawing. I think there’s something self sabotaging about this behavior in itself.</p>
<p>Medicine is a collaborative field and so are a lot of other fields. You are forced to work with people who will always be smarter, funnier, more outgoing, etc. Trying to sabotage them will not get you ahead. It will just make you miserable and mean.</p>
<p>Haha, I get where you are coming from. But if you think about it, people who major in the same thing don’t necesarilly have the same ambitions. A guy with an English major may want to pursue the education field, while the other wants to go into journalism. But I disagree that they shouldn’t be friends. Sometimes, it’s nice to meet people with the same ambitions and goals because they can help you out and you can both work TOGETHER and do well. My friend’s mom is a pharmacist, but she med her best friend through undergrad and both got to the same position. Sometimes, it’s not always competition.</p>