Things you wish you knew in university

davids · February 13, 2011

To all upper year students and graduated students, what are some things you wish you knew in your university career? What kind of things do you regret doing? What do you regret not doing? Doesn't have to be related to getting into med school - anything that might be of interest to us.. Thanks!

astrogirl · February 13, 2011

I think probably the biggest one is that I wish I hadn't waited so long to take advantage of all the things to do on campus. Like we had a free membership to all the campus gyms and the pool, a library with way more books (like books to read for fun) than any public library, a theatre that showed free foreign films several times a week, plays and dance performances going on all the time, etc. Find out about that stuff right away and go and have fun!

And the other thing is that you don't have to stick to taking classes strictly on the schedule that your major says you do. And take the time to figure out elective courses that you'll actually enjoy. Like you could take archaeology for a social science requirement instead of the same sociology class that 3,000 other people are taking.

Okay, and one more thing. Research. You can get involved early! You probably won't get paid if you start way early, but a lot of profs love it when freshmen want to volunteer to work on projects. And if you've been volunteering for a couple of years, they're more likely to hire you when they have some spare money to hire an undergrad with.

And I just thought of another - summer! Seriously think about staying at school over the summer. You can take some classes, it's more relaxed because there are fewer people around, it's easier to get a good job on-campus, and you can do research.

medtech · February 13, 2011

Just my two cents, leave research in the summer. A 4th year thesis might be a lot more than you bargained for. If you've done any research than you would know science never works the way you want to... a thesis project is just not the same as a summer research project where you can concentrate on it full time.

You should also talk to profs and TAs as much as you can, ask questions, about their research. Don't expect a research job with a professor you didn't take time to talk to and get to know. It doesn't matter if your class size are 2000+ like mine, go to tutorials and office hours for some one on one time.

igotacookie · February 13, 2011

Enjoy the ride. Its a long process to get through school, and if you are hating every second of it its not worth it. Take an easier courseload, change schools, whatever it takes to put the smile back on your face.

premed89 · February 13, 2011

I wish someone really told me that I needed to work my ass off in first year to do well. Many people in university may think that first year isn't as hard as upper years, but when in fact you get into upper years you realize that the first year was pretty brutal.

I mean, first year is kind of general studies with some calculus, general chem, some bio and maybe physics. What people don't realize is that each course will probably have assignments from week to week along with labs and of course mid-terms on top of all of that. So it's not an easy go by any means.

In upper years when you actually get into your core courses for your degree, a lot of the material is interconnected some way and many of the profs know that you have midterms in the other courses. In first year courses, there's no way a prof can accommodate everyone with a perfect mid-term date because everyone may be taking a completely different course load. In upper years, the profs do have the ability to change dates and try and make it work for most students.

So I think one of the things I really wanted, was to really know that first year is potentially one of the toughest years, in my opinion.

Also, study something you enjoy... I can't get over the amount of complaining I hear from people a year or two younger than me who I know... The are always complaining about having to study and about how much university sucks... Studying something you enjoy or have a passion for will really make for a much more enjoyable experience!

A final piece of advice is to not have any regrets. Work your ass off during each and every semester, and come out knowing that the marks you got were the best you could possibly get. That way, during your summer break you can really kick back and enjoy the break without worrying about how hard you need to work next semester to make up for a previous disaster of a semester.

Wow, what a rant.. Ok, back to studying I guess

apache · February 14, 2011

+1 to everything you said

also, research in the social sciences is really fun, one of the psych labs i worked in did a lot of human stuff, i felt guilty getting paid for it since it was a blast!

also i loved taking different classes for fun in summer, when my grades didn't matter, when i signed up for existentialism i didn't even know what existentialism was, turned out it was one of the best classes i took, i also got to take anthro of religion, phil of science, social cognition etc. but i regret not taking more esoteric classes like that; on the bright side it really got me into going to the library and reading about non-school topics in med school (perhaps to the detriment to some of my med marks, oh well, p/f anyways and it's not like i aspire to be a real doctor, haha )

my personal advice to add to that would be not to rush yourself, no matter what you aspire to do, take the time to enjoy the present. don't get me wrong, stay focused on your goals but don't make them your life, otherwise you'll look back and wonder what happened to all those years, i know i made that mistake in my second and third year, but i still was fortunate to have friends to remind me that i had to take it easy!

I think probably the biggest one is that I wish I hadn't waited so long to take advantage of all the things to do on campus. Like we had a free membership to all the campus gyms and the pool, a library with way more books (like books to read for fun) than any public library, a theatre that showed free foreign films several times a week, plays and dance performances going on all the time, etc. Find out about that stuff right away and go and have fun!

And the other thing is that you don't have to stick to taking classes strictly on the schedule that your major says you do. And take the time to figure out elective courses that you'll actually enjoy. Like you could take archaeology for a social science requirement instead of the same sociology class that 3,000 other people are taking.

Okay, and one more thing. Research. You can get involved early! You probably won't get paid if you start way early, but a lot of profs love it when freshmen want to volunteer to work on projects. And if you've been volunteering for a couple of years, they're more likely to hire you when they have some spare money to hire an undergrad with.

And I just thought of another - summer! Seriously think about staying at school over the summer. You can take some classes, it's more relaxed because there are fewer people around, it's easier to get a good job on-campus, and you can do research.

apache · February 14, 2011

i also agree with you, i was a poor science student in high school and was terribly intimidated by the students in my science classes, so i worked my ass off and did quite well in my first year. looking back it was good fortune that i didn't take success for granted as my first year was my best year, but i had someone give me the exact same youre giving the week before i started university and i respected them a lot so i listened, probably some of the best advice i got prior to university.

I wish someone really told me that I needed to work my ass off in first year to do well. Many people in university may think that first year isn't as hard as upper years, but when in fact you get into upper years you realize that the first year was pretty brutal.

I mean, first year is kind of general studies with some calculus, general chem, some bio and maybe physics. What people don't realize is that each course will probably have assignments from week to week along with labs and of course mid-terms on top of all of that. So it's not an easy go by any means.

frozenarbitor · February 14, 2011

I wish I had left my english courses that I can't get As in to summer since alberta school don't count summer courses. Also, I wish I was more cautious about picking options. And I shouldn't have got into research during fall and winter semesters of my second year while taking full course load at the same time.

But it's all part of the learning in undergrad. I think most people will do better if they knew about this kind of things before they start undergrad. The most valuable thing I learnt during undergrad is not the knowledge but the time management skills. With time, you learn that you have finite energy and sometimes it's better to give yourself some room to breath and focus on few things rather than taking on too many things at a time and do a crappy job.

GGGSaint · February 16, 2011

I can't say I wish I knew this because I knew this:

1. Avoid premeds. They are annoying and uptight. Hang with cool people like arts students.

2. Premeds are snakes. They will give you misinformation to eliminate competition. Don't trust them.*

3. If you want to do professional school, your number one priority is GPA. Take courses that are known to have a very high average and have word of being easy. You'll still need to do organic etc but don't fill your plate with unnecessary hardship. "Geography 101" vs "Differential equations"; if you had trouble deciding which one you'd take, you really need to re-evaluate your wisdom.

4. Substitute that subjective English course with something more objective and easier to get an A in that counts as arts, like languages or music. Find the prereq via word of mouth and run with it.

5. The first year is the most important one, so don't screw it up.

6. The last year is the least important one. Once you have your med acceptance letter you can relax a bit more.

* If premeds are snakes, logically some of them will get to medical school. This is true. Med school has no shortage of those types. You'll probably be one of them.

You have an interesting POV on things (in a good way). Just wondering, where did you your undergrad, medical school, and what are you specializing in now? (hope you don't mind my asking)

Rosie · February 16, 2011

When it comes to undergrad I tell people what I feel are the biggest lessons I learned during that time:

Major in something you like - not in Biochemistry because it may "look good" or in Medical Sciences because it will make medical school "easier." There is no correct undergrad program.

Work hard on your GPA in first year, do not take on any SUPER time consuming EC's during first year until you get the work-life balance figured out.

Go out, have fun, make friends (in many faculties, from many backgrounds, from different hometowns). A hundredth of what you will truly learn in life comes from the classroom.

There is no secret to getting into medical school....live your life, work hard and if you **** it up....fix it.

Don't give up because of one bad test, one bad class, one bad semester, one bad year, or because of one round of rejections.

Go out, have fun, make friends (this is probably the most important fact....).

If you can move out (i.e. you can afford it, want to, or do not have any major familial reason not to), move out....again life = growth = experience = challenging yourself.

Only do research if you are truly interested in research.

You do not need to go to Africa to get into med school.

Being a member of the premed club will not get you into med school.

Being the President of the premed club will not get you into med school.

Keep your ego in check.

Spend time on what you are passionate about whether that's singing, guitar, soccer, rugby, social policy, environmentalism, water skiing, youth group, cars.

And once again, go out, make friends, have fun....you're 19-22 once.

apache · February 16, 2011

i'd agree on pretty much everything, and sub in taking english during summer session, as well as the fact that the people in med are a mixed bag, there's a few d-bags but tons of the kind of people that you'd want as friends for life, i also don't think i'm a douche, prob because i never hung around pre-meds lol

I can't say I wish I knew this because I knew this:

1. Avoid premeds. They are annoying and uptight. Hang with cool people like arts students.

2. Premeds are snakes. They will give you misinformation to eliminate competition. Don't trust them.*

3. If you want to do professional school, your number one priority is GPA. Take courses that are known to have a very high average and have word of being easy. You'll still need to do organic etc but don't fill your plate with unnecessary hardship. "Geography 101" vs "Differential equations"; if you had trouble deciding which one you'd take, you really need to re-evaluate your wisdom.

4. Substitute that subjective English course with something more objective and easier to get an A in that counts as arts, like languages or music. Find the prereq via word of mouth and run with it.

5. The first year is the most important one, so don't screw it up.

6. The last year is the least important one. Once you have your med acceptance letter you can relax a bit more.

* If premeds are snakes, logically some of them will get to medical school. This is true. Med school has no shortage of those types. You'll probably be one of them.

artistintheambulance · February 18, 2011

Being the President of the premed club will not get you into med school.

Umm...what?

tooty · February 18, 2011

1) knowing the rules of the med school game before entering university. ie how to calculate gpa, program doesn't matter, course difficulty doesn't matter, take killer prereqs in the summer when it doesn't count, do sexy looking ECs, try to get scholarships and awards.

2) worked harder at school esp 1st and 2nd year.

3) be more well rounded instead of playing video games with my free time. for me, that meant getting into some sports and keeping up with instrument.

4) lived at home and went to a local university where i didn't have to worry about food and a lot of other housekeeping crap. would've translated into better grades i'm sure.

and each of these are obv 1000x easier said than done.

davids · February 18, 2011

Just curious, can one have 8 courses during the school year and the other 2 courses completed during the summer?

And thank you all for the advice

tooty · February 18, 2011

Just curious, can one have 8 courses during the school year and the other 2 courses completed during the summer?

And thank you all for the advice