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Pre-med Frequently Asked Questions


tooty

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  • 1 month later...

Hi everyone, I realize this question has probably been asked a lot but I am going to ask anyways; can you really bounce back from a bad first semester? I just estimated my GPA for Fall 2013, and I projected about a 2.74, which is completely horrible but I now realize what I need to do/should do next semester and hopefully go from there. Overall though, it just seems really discouraging right now.

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no one said undergrad was going to be stress-free... especially when you're trying to get 4.0s in every single course, or anything close, you're going to be met with disappointment. how you deal with that disappointment is up to you :cool:

 

This is one of the best things I've read on here in a while. Its a hard road, keep expectations reasonable and remember you are only human, all you can do is your best. GL

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I'm in second year biomed right now and so far I've found undergrad to be very demanding and stressful, especially second year, since they stacked all the difficult courses all in one year. I think the most stressful part of the whole thing is the fact that you need to consistently (almost without fail) score 90s on all your midterms and finals to get the 4.0s. Sometimes this pressure can be immense. Looking at my friends in engineering, where the material is definitely harder, non of them seem to be too burdened, which I think is due to the fact that they don't need to consistently score at the top of their class.

 

So far I haven't found undergrad to be enjoyable due to consistent pressure and uncertain future of doing a science degree. I don't hate it, but I don't find it enjoyable by any means. I found that actually getting high grades and seeing the results is one of the major things that motivates me to push through

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I'm in second year biomed right now and so far I've found undergrad to be very demanding and stressful, especially second year, since they stacked all the difficult courses all in one year. I think the most stressful part of the whole thing is the fact that you need to consistently (almost without fail) score 90s on all your midterms and finals to get the 4.0s. Sometimes this pressure can be immense. Looking at my friends in engineering, where the material is definitely harder, non of them seem to be too burdened, which I think is due to the fact that they don't need to consistently score at the top of their class.

 

So far I haven't found undergrad to be enjoyable due to consistent pressure and uncertain future of doing a science degree. I don't hate it, but I don't find it enjoyable by any means. I found that actually getting high grades and seeing the results is one of the major things that motivates me to push through

 

The work habits that you develop now will be very useful once you get in med school, and getting good grades shows that you have strong work habits more than anything else. Even if you don't do as well as you could have in a course or two, it's no big deal. Just don't forget to also plan for some free time as well - think of your favourite hobby and plan to spend 4-5 hours on it each week. Try to spend one afternoon per week with friends as well. And realize that a lot of what you're learning now will be quite handy once you're in med school (or wherever you end up). Realize that you have little control over your distant future (i.e. what's going to happen to you in 3+ year's time), but what you do now can definitely help push you in the right direction.

 

PS. All the crazy biochem, anatomy, physiology, histology, embryology, pharmacology and microbio stuff will come back to haunt you in med school, so if you can learn it well now, then you're already ahead of the game.

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I had a question about the five course requirement? Can I take a second Arts class as opposed to having a class I have difficulty in? For example, I really struggle in Physics and I think it would be best for me to take it in the Spring/Summer to save my GPA for this year, I didn't do that good this first semester.

 

Edit: Just to quickly explain my situation, so I didn't do good in my first semester and I was planning on taking four courses only, but after reading that only a very little amount of schools will take four courses as full time then I decided I should probably take five, but the issue is taking the next Physics will be extremely difficult for me and I don't want to screw up this semester's GPA as well.

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I had a question about the five course requirement? Can I take a second Arts class as opposed to having a class I have difficulty in? For example, I really struggle in Physics and I think it would be best for me to take it in the Spring/Summer to save my GPA for this year, I didn't do that good this first semester.

 

Edit: Just to quickly explain my situation, so I didn't do good in my first semester and I was planning on taking four courses only, but after reading that only a very little amount of schools will take four courses as full time then I decided I should probably take five, but the issue is taking the next Physics will be extremely difficult for me and I don't want to screw up this semester's GPA as well.

 

The Arts class won't be an issue

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That is a really good strategy. I did not know about the full course load either, so the first two years, I didn't have one.

 

If there are courses that you will do **** in, take them in the summer, it won't affect your GPA in many schools since they don't look at ur summer marks, but you still get the credit.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I feel strange asking, but I figure I might as well:

 

I spent 6 months full time taking care of a family member who had a terminal cancer. 8am to 8pm (2 hour break for work everyday). Cooked, fed, everything including cleaning (2 caretakers helped for 2 hours each day total)

 

Do I write this into my ECs? I almost don't want to, but I don't currently have any healthcare related ECs.

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I feel strange asking, but I figure I might as well:

 

I spent 6 months full time taking care of a family member who had a terminal cancer. 8am to 8pm (2 hour break for work everyday). Cooked, fed, everything including cleaning (2 caretakers helped for 2 hours each day total)

 

Do I write this into my ECs? I almost don't want to, but I don't currently have any healthcare related ECs.

 

I say to go for it

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I feel strange asking, but I figure I might as well:

 

I spent 6 months full time taking care of a family member who had a terminal cancer. 8am to 8pm (2 hour break for work everyday). Cooked, fed, everything including cleaning (2 caretakers helped for 2 hours each day total)

 

Do I write this into my ECs? I almost don't want to, but I don't currently have any healthcare related ECs.

 

not sure if i would count it as EC....

I personally wouldn't count it as EC and would never use it as an EC

I would try to use that as an reason for pursuing medicine if asked in an interview.

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not sure if i would count it as EC....

I personally wouldn't count it as EC and would never use it as an EC

I would try to use that as an reason for pursuing medicine if asked in an interview.

 

I would be compelled to agree, but OMSAS says that it's acceptable:

 

Applicants should include experiences, both structured and non-structured, that demonstrate an ability to determine needs in their community and a willingness to play a part in filling those needs. For instance, volunteer work is often perceived as only those activities that are coordinated by an organization. However, there are many forms of volunteer work. For instance, if an applicant was raised in a farming community and helped to run the farm of a neighbour for a period of time when the neighbour was sick, this work would be considered volunteer activity. However, applicants should ensure that they have a contact for each of the activities that are listed.

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not sure if i would count it as EC....

I personally wouldn't count it as EC and would never use it as an EC

I would try to use that as an reason for pursuing medicine if asked in an interview.

 

It is my reason for pursuing medicine. I don't want to put it on my application, and I think I'll only do so if I feel it provides a significant boost. I have plenty of time before I apply to get some meaningful volunteer work done.

 

Thanks for the responses.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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