"Funny quotes from 'less informed' pre-meds," On-Topic Edition

[Goro]

Data point 4,848,876,501 that most pre-med advisors are *****s.

My pre-med advisor told me my volunteering (hospice, bone marrow donor recruitment/registration, suicide hotline counselor) was "too sad" and that I should "do something happy with kids or puppies or something, they won't want to interview a downer". Isn't the core of volunteering helping those who are underserved or in need? Of course you are working with people in "sad" situations. Not really sure how you can separate that out.

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[ifnotnowwren]

lolwut. Reminds me of the apocryphal pre-med who walks in to the hospital for the first time and by the end of the day, flustered, says "Everybody's sick!!!??"

I know, I just stared at him incredulously. Maybe I should have been volunteering at the Hogwarts infirmary?? But if I recall correctly, even they can't cure complications secondary to basilisk eye-contact yet.

 

[mehc012]

I know, I just stared at him incredulously. Maybe I should have been volunteering at the Hogwarts infirmary?? But if I recall correctly, even they can't cure complications secondary to basilisk eye-contact yet.

Whaat is this madness? They've always known the cure, it just takes a long time to grow the mandrake root!

 

[DocMcMommy]

My premed advisor told me my hospice volunteering (for 2 years) isn't enough patient/clinical experience and has strongly advised me to take a volunteer EMT class.




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[bioboy23]

My pre-med advisor gave me a handout the other day with "guidelines" on how to be pre-med (don't know why he gave me this 3 years after starting college) and it had a year-by-year schedule attached.

It states that one should seek employment with a hospital freshmen year summer, then down under sophomore year it says "seriously consider quitting job if you haven't already done so." Uhhhh what??? I'm so glad I have common sense and SDN to fill in the cracks.

 

[mwsapphire]

My pre-med advisor told me my volunteering (hospice, bone marrow donor recruitment/registration, suicide hotline counselor) was "too sad" and that I should "do something happy with kids or puppies or something, they won't want to interview a downer". Isn't the core of volunteering helping those who are underserved or in need? Of course you are working with people in "sad" situations. Not really sure how you can separate that out.

I just laid my head down on my desk, helpless with laughter on this one!

 

[mwsapphire]

My pre-med advisor gave me a handout the other day with "guidelines" on how to be pre-med (don't know why he gave me this 3 years after starting college) and it had a year-by-year schedule attached.

It states that one should seek employment with a hospital freshmen year summer, then down under sophomore year it says "seriously consider quitting job if you haven't already done so." Uhhhh what??? I'm so glad I have common sense and SDN to fill in the cracks.

I think it's meant that you have a transient experience in healthcare before doing other resume building things ( Like, some people volunteer in a hospital for a year then do some research stuff, etc. )

 

[Eleithyia]

I know, I just stared at him incredulously. Maybe I should have been volunteering at the Hogwarts infirmary?? But if I recall correctly, even they can't cure complications secondary to basilisk eye-contact yet.

Whaat is this madness? They've always known the cure, it just takes a long time to grow the mandrake root!

Mandrake root only works after indirect basilisk eye contact If you actually look it in the eye I think you just immediately die

 

[akuko2]

Me talking to a HS student at my church:
Him- "How is medical school man?"
Me- "Great! Its not that bad to skirt by, but I'm trying to do as well as I can so I'll have a shot at a competitive field later on."
Him- "Its ok man, even if you Just pass you can at least be like a nurse or physical therapist."
Me- "No man, I'm in medical school, it is for people studying to be doctors, the choice I'm talking about is for resicency which involves what specialty you go into."
Him- "Oh so like a PA or a dentist?"
Me- "I'll explain it to you later, have a nice day lol"

 

[mehc012]

Mandrake root only works after indirect basilisk eye contact If you actually look it in the eye I think you just immediately die

Well right...I was assuming you weren't referring to death, as I would hardly call that a 'complication' and it goes without saying that death cannot be cured by magic.

 

[bioboy23]

I think it's meant that you have a transient experience in healthcare before doing other resume building things ( Like, some people volunteer in a hospital for a year then do some research stuff, etc. )

Yeah but you can do all of these things at the same time, right? It's really not that hard if you use your time wisely. I would never tell somebody to quit their hospital job for volunteering, I would tell them to do it at the same time. But that's just me

 

[mwsapphire]

Yeah but you can do all of these things at the same time, right? It's really not that hard if you use your time wisely. I would never tell somebody to quit their hospital job for volunteering, I would tell them to do it at the same time. But that's just me

I don't think handling more than two things is commonplace
Like, say you volunteer four hours a week, and then do 6 hours of research, do you * really* have time for 7 hours for tutoring? That's a little much, especially if you have a tough schedule.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I don't think handling more than two things is commonplace
Like, say you volunteer four hours a week, and then do 6 hours of research, do you * really* have time for 7 hours for tutoring? That's a little much, especially if you have a tough schedule.

It's fairly common actually, that's only 17 hours outside of school. I know a good amount of the pre-meds at my school take 14-15 credits, work part time (~24 hrs), do research, and shadow/volunteer almost on a weekly basis. On top of that a large chunk of them are married with kids.

 

[TSteezy]

+1

My kaplan scores capped at 507
got a 512 on the real thing.

Apparently the deflation used to be even worse.

This. I took the first test date of the 2015 exam and only had Kaplan's first attempt at 2015 practice tests to gauge my progress. Scored in the 505 range consistently, thought I was doomed and ended up with a 515 on the real thing.

 

[mwsapphire]

It's fairly common actually, that's only 17 hours outside of school. I know a good amount of the pre-meds at my school take 14-15 credits, work part time (~24 hrs), do research, and shadow/volunteer almost on a weekly basis. On top of that a large chunk of them are married with kids.

Oh ofc its doable, it's just outside of the norm. I don't think *most* people can handle that, nor is not having that level of time management something that'll kill your app. I know plenty of pre meds who would rather make sure they don't overload and be sure they're last semester grades are strong as can be.

 

[gertlush]

Me- "I'll explain it to you later, have a nice day lol"

Is the joke here that you actually said lol?



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[Goro]

Do me a favor, go smack him upside the head. I can't tolerate much more foolishness without exploding!

My premed advisor told me my hospice volunteering (for 2 years) isn't enough patient/clinical experience and has strongly advised me to take a volunteer EMT class.




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[homeostatic2]

This. I took the first test date of the 2015 exam and only had Kaplan's first attempt at 2015 practice tests to gauge my progress. Scored in the 505 range consistently, thought I was doomed and ended up with a 515 on the real thing.

Oh lord, you just brought back some memories I had hoped were stashed away for good. I remember getting a 501 on a Kaplan practice test just 2 weeks before my exam. I came sooo close to canceling, but after doing well on the AAMC materials I went for it, and got a 518. What the frick, Kaplan!

 

[NeuResurgens]

Oh lord, you just brought back some memories I had hoped were stashed away for good. I remember getting a 501 on a Kaplan practice test just 2 weeks before my exam. I came sooo close to canceling, but after doing well on the AAMC materials I went for it, and got a 518. What the frick, Kaplan!

My best was a 508 on Kaplan and got a 521 on the real thing. Those things were hard.

 

[Chromatic543]

Recently reconnected with a high school friend who I told about my Medical School dreams. He responds by saying, "Oh I already went to Medical School, and didn't like it. I got into Stanford, and then left. Medical School was too easy for me." I was surprised because not too long ago he told me that he was thinking about going into paramedics. I got a little skeptical, and asked him what his MCAT scores were. He replied by saying, "Um, 127 or something like that." Seriously? Something like THAT?! My MCAT scores are ingrained into my brain. I instantly knew he was lying. So I did a googled, "MCAT scores." The first thing I saw was "127" for matriculating. Obviously this was only for one section, so I knew this guy was full of it! He just did a Google search for MCAT scores to "prove" he went to Stanford School of Medicine.

 

[Shovo]

Recently reconnected with a high school friend who I told about my Medical School dreams. He responds by saying, "Oh I already went to Medical School, and didn't like it. I got into Stanford, and then left. Medical School was too easy for me." I was surprised because not too long ago he told me that he was thinking about going into paramedics. I got a little skeptical, and asked him what his MCAT scores were. He replied by saying, "Um, 127 or something like that." Seriously? Something like THAT?! My MCAT scores are ingrained into my brain. I instantly knew he was lying. So I did a googled, "MCAT scores." The first thing I saw was "127" for matriculating. Obviously this was only for one section, so I knew this guy was full of it! He just did a Google search for MCAT scores to "prove" he went to Stanford School of Medicine.

Lmfaooo. Call him out on his bull**** next time.


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[kingarty24]

Had a girl in one of my o-chem labs tell me she was already accepted to medical school. I congratulated her and asked her how she did on her MCAT (because we had just been talking about my MCAT score). "I haven't taken it yet but I have done signed a contract with the medical school and if I just pass the MCAT I can start school there.". At this point I am confused but she continues. "My dad is a pretty well known M.D. across the country and they made this contract special for me because I am his daughter.". The next week she was asking our instructor why water wasn't designated for the halogenated waste container.

So one of the docs I work for swears this is how she got into medical school. Mind you, this was around 2001-2002 so things may have been different, I don't know. She told me that she had an agreement with the dean that she would stay at her undergraduate institution and start at their medical school once she graduated. I've heard her tell this story at least 5 times to other pre-meds at our office over the last year and a half and she hasn't changed it. She's a younger doctor and as far as I know not a pathological liar. Was this really a thing?

 

[JB50]

It's fairly common actually, that's only 17 hours outside of school. I know a good amount of the pre-meds at my school take 14-15 credits, work part time (~24 hrs), do research, and shadow/volunteer almost on a weekly basis. On top of that a large chunk of them are married with kids.

I highly doubt that boyo. That is not common by any definition of the word nor is that normal. There is not a single student currently or in my graduating class that is anywhere near that time commitment week to week and we send a LOT of students to med school each year.

Also you must go to an exclusive non-trad college because almost no one in my entire population of students were married, let alone married AND pre-med.

 

[mehc012]

I don't think handling more than two things is commonplace
Like, say you volunteer four hours a week, and then do 6 hours of research, do you * really* have time for 7 hours for tutoring? That's a little much, especially if you have a tough schedule.

If you volunteer 4hrs/wk and do 6hrs of research, you're barely hitting the time investment of a standard (aka not D1 football or whatnot) college athlete with no other extracurriculars, at least while in-season. That's a standard, normal, baseline extracurricular set, you have plenty of time for more.

 

[mehc012]

I highly doubt that boyo. That is not common by any definition of the word nor is that normal. There is not a single student currently or in my graduating class that is anywhere near that time commitment week to week and we send a LOT of students to med school each year.

Also you must go to an exclusive non-trad college because almost no one in my entire population of students were married, let alone married AND pre-med.

Most of my teammates in college had at least 1 other EC, if not more. We practiced 10hrs/wk and spent the entirety of every few weekends at tournaments. And we weren't even the 'serious' athletes at my school, this was club sports (which meant the leaders had to put in an extra load of time planning our practices, booking fields, planning tournaments, etc.) Plenty of science majors and premeds in that crew, and the way our school did credits, science majors ended up taking 16 credits on a light semester.

 

[You're My Boy Blue]

Data point 4,848,876,501 that most pre-med advisors are *****s.

I had great pre-med advisors in undergrad so I had no idea this was a thing, but I talked to people in my SMP that had crazy stories of terrible advice from undergrad...like using the actual MCAT as a practice test

 

[JB50]

Most of my teammates in college had at least 1 other EC, if not more. We practiced 10hrs/wk and spent the entirety of every few weekends at tournaments. And we weren't even the 'serious' athletes at my school, this was club sports (which meant the leaders had to put in an extra load of time planning our practices, booking fields, planning tournaments, etc.) Plenty of science majors and premeds in that crew, and the way our school did credits, science majors ended up taking 16 credits on a light semester.

Nice

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I highly doubt that boyo. That is not common by any definition of the word nor is that normal. There is not a single student currently or in my graduating class that is anywhere near that time commitment week to week and we send a LOT of students to med school each year.

17 hours a week on top of classes is nothing, and happens all the time. Like I said, anyone who works usually just has 20 hours a week just from working, before doing any ECs.

Also you must go to an exclusive non-trad college because almost no one in my entire population of students were married, let alone married AND pre-med.

My undergrad isn't really a secret, I've talked about it before, and thebrepirted number is that 55% of graduates are married. The majority of pre-meds getting ready to apply are married.

 

[JB50]

17 hours a week on top of classes is nothing, and happens all the time. Like I said, anyone who works usually just has 20 hours a week just from working, before doing any ECs.

Right, but you're saying the norm is to do full time class load + 24 hours of work + 20 hours of EC's + research. Sorry broski. The average student is not doing that and pulling grades to be competitive. Some are, yes but no way does the average applicant handle that. I may have misread your post but just saying.

My undergrad isn't really a secret, I've talked about it before, and thebrepirted number is that 55% of graduates are married. The majority of pre-meds getting ready to apply are married.

Is this at your school only or nationwide

 

[dwgrubbs1s]

So one of the docs I work for swears this is how she got into medical school. Mind you, this was around 2001-2002 so things may have been different, I don't know. She told me that she had an agreement with the dean that she would stay at her undergraduate institution and start at their medical school once she graduated. I've heard her tell this story at least 5 times to other pre-meds at our office over the last year and a half and she hasn't changed it. She's a younger doctor and as far as I know not a pathological liar. Was this really a thing?

This is insane. I do believe this probably still happens. Although I would say it doesn't happen as much as what it used to. I mean if the person was a good candidate and they said "Score a 511 MCAT, get 3.7 GPA, and we will have a spot for you", this wouldn't be as bad. But to simply just say "go ahead and just graduate, take the MCAT and you are in"...? Scary to think about.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Right, but you're saying the norm is to do full time class load + 24 hours of work + 20 hours of EC's + research. Sorry broski. The average student is not doing that and pulling grades to be competitive. Some are, yes but no way does the average applicant handle that. I may have misread your post but just saying.




Is this at your school only or nationwide

Oh ok, I think you misunderstood what I said. An above poster said that doing 17 hours of anything outside of class was very abnormal, I just pointed out that a lot of students easily do 20 hours of work/ECs on top of school on a regular basis. I agree with you that the average applicant does not spend like 40 hours outside of class on work or ECs.

That is just for my school, I will be the first to admit that it is atypical.

 

[mwsapphire]

^ I just noticed the strange thing in your sig......

 

[mehc012]

Right, but you're saying the norm is to do full time class load + 24 hours of work + 20 hours of EC's + research. Sorry broski. The average student is not doing that and pulling grades to be competitive. Some are, yes but no way does the average applicant handle that. I may have misread your post but just saying.




Is this at your school only or nationwide

What? They said that 17hrs on top of a full class load was not outside of ordinary.

 

[bioboy23]

Oh ok, I think you misunderstood what I said. An above poster said that doing 17 hours of anything outside of class was very abnormal, I just pointed out that a lot of students easily do 20 hours of work/ECs on top of school on a regular basis. I agree with you that the average applicant does not spend like 40 hours outside of class on work or ECs.

That is just for my school, I will be the first to admit that it is atypical.

I spend about 25 hrs/weekly on work and EC's without many problems. Although, I am only in 13 hours currently. There are kids who do much more than I do (40+ hours) and kids who do much *much* less. It amazes me when I hear what my classmates haven't begun to work on.

 

[mwsapphire]

I spend about 25 hrs/weekly on work and EC's without many problems. Although, I am only in 13 hours currently. There are kids who do much more than I do (40+ hours) and kids who do much *much* less. It amazes me when I hear what my classmates haven't began to work on.

What year are you? I'm a soph and feel like I'm suuuuper behind D:

 

[bioboy23]

What year are you? I'm a soph and feel like I'm suuuuper behind D:

I'm currently a first semester junior. No need to feel behind! I didn't even decide on Med school until a year and a half ago when I was beginning sophomore year (had to take a semester off). You have plenty of time. That's something I need to remind myself as well. And if you're still feeling that way later down the road, it's always okay to take a gap year to beef up your ECs. Med school will always be there

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I highly doubt that boyo. That is not common by any definition of the word nor is that normal. There is not a single student currently or in my graduating class that is anywhere near that time commitment week to week and we send a LOT of students to med school each year.

Also you must go to an exclusive non-trad college because almost no one in my entire population of students were married, let alone married AND pre-med.

Not sure how common it is, but I took 12-14 credits a semester, worked 70-100 hours per week, raised two kids and had my marriage, and did research (that resulted in at least one pub) and volunteering. I know it's anecdotal but I wasn't even the only one at my command to do that. I think you might be underestimating people's commitments.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

SDN taught me to ignore my premed advisor and I actually never went to see her


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

My pre-med advisor told me my volunteering (hospice, bone marrow donor recruitment/registration, suicide hotline counselor) was "too sad" and that I should "do something happy with kids or puppies or something, they won't want to interview a downer". Isn't the core of volunteering helping those who are underserved or in need? Of course you are working with people in "sad" situations. Not really sure how you can separate that out.

Data point 4,848,876,501 that most pre-med advisors are *****s.

My pre-med advisor gave me a handout the other day with "guidelines" on how to be pre-med (don't know why he gave me this 3 years after starting college) and it had a year-by-year schedule attached.

It states that one should seek employment with a hospital freshmen year summer, then down under sophomore year it says "seriously consider quitting job if you haven't already done so." Uhhhh what??? I'm so glad I have common sense and SDN to fill in the cracks.

Curious...what type/level of undergrad do/did you all attend? Top ranked? Mid-tier? Low-ranked? I think people expect that top schools have awesome advising, but really it seems like premed advising sucks everywhere. Maybe because the job just doesn't pay enough to get serious quality?

 

[bioboy23]

Not sure how common it is, but I took 12-14 credits a semester, worked 70-100 hours per week, raised two kids and had my marriage, and did research (that resulted in at least one pub) and volunteering. I know it's anecdotal but I wasn't even the only one at my command to do that. I think you might be underestimating people's commitments.

That is extremely impressive, my man...

 

[bioboy23]

Curious...what type/level of undergrad do/did you all attend? Top ranked? Mid-tier? Low-ranked? I think people expect that top schools have awesome advising, but really it seems like premed advising sucks everywhere. Maybe because the job just doesn't pay enough to get serious quality?

I go to a small private university. In his defense, my advisor is actually a very capable and knowledgable of the process. He actually got his PhD then attended medical school for a year before dropping because of family issues. But the others are just *****s.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

That is extremely impressive, my man...

Not really. I just didn't get much sleep for a few years. There was definitely some strain pulling from so many directions, but ultimately it worked. Thank God I have a patient wife.

 

[fball22]

Not sure how common it is, but I took 12-14 credits a semester, worked 70-100 hours per week, raised two kids and had my marriage, and did research (that resulted in at least one pub) and volunteering. I know it's anecdotal but I wasn't even the only one at my command to do that. I think you might be underestimating people's commitments.

What type of job was having you work 100 hrs a week?

 

[PreMedMissteps]

I go to a small private university. In his defense, my advisor is actually a very capable and knowledgable of the process. He actually got his PhD then attended medical school for a year before dropping because of family issues. But the others are just *****s.

Well that makes sense. Someone who had the stats, went thru the app process, interviewed, was accepted, and so forth would have real insight. I think many advisors haven't had any personal experience (their own or a close family member) and are often just loosely informed about the process - perhaps just following some basic info found in the advising office binder. They also seem to mostly only know about the med schools in their state or region.

Compounding the problem is that there seems to be a high turnover in many prehealth offices below the director position. I doubt these positions pay very well so likely the job becomes a stepping stone for something better.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

Matthew9Thirtyfive said: ↑
Not sure how common it is, but I took 12-14 credits a semester, worked 70-100 hours per week, raised two kids and had my marriage, and did research (that resulted in at least one pub) and volunteering. I know it's anecdotal but I wasn't even the only one at my command to do that. I think you might be underestimating people's commitments.

What type of job was having you work 100 hrs a week?

Sounds like he may have been working two jobs to support the family or maybe one horrible fast-food management job. Don't know when he slept considering also taking 12-14 credits.

With only 168 hrs/wk, if working 100 plus travel, going to class for probably at least 16 plus travel, doing research for some unknown number of hours, spending some time raising kids and being with spouse, that would leave about 2 hrs/night of sleep.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

"Wait... You're going to DO school instead of getting an MD in the Caribbean?!?!?!"

I think some people will (wrongly) choose Caribbean schools over DO just because they want MD after their names.

A friend of mine made a huge mistake of applying after only 2 years of undergrad and she applied kind of late (August), and even tho she had qualified stats and was a Tx resident, she got no IIs. Devastated, she met some family friend who was home at Christmas and he talked her into applying to AUC (where he goes).

 

[getfat]

"Wait... You're going to DO school instead of getting an MD in the Caribbean?!?!?!"

Had this same exact convo with a family member.

"My PCP wen to (Insert Island here) SOM. Check that out!!!!!"

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

What type of job was having you work 100 hrs a week?

Sounds like he may have been working two jobs to support the family or maybe one horrible fast-food management job. Don't know when he slept considering also taking 12-14 credits.

With only 168 hrs/wk, if working 100 plus travel, going to class for probably at least 16 plus travel, doing research for some unknown number of hours, spending some time raising kids and being with spouse, that would leave about 2 hrs/night of sleep.

I'm in the military. On deployment, I regularly got 2-3 hours of sleep for weeks to months at a time between working 16 hour days, then standing watch in the middle of the night and doing school work in between. In port, my hours average 70-80/week, so I had/have time for research and to volunteer. To be fair, my research is in math, not a wet lab. Much more flexible.

Edit: I'm not trying to make this some amazing feat. A few people at my command were doing the same thing. You do what you have to do.

 

[bioboy23]

Well that makes sense. Someone who had the stats, went thru the app process, interviewed, was accepted, and so forth would have real insight. I think many advisors haven't had any personal experience (their own or a close family member) and are often just loosely informed about the process - perhaps just following some basic info found in the advising office binder. They also seem to mostly only know about the med schools in their state or region.

Compounding the problem is that there seems to be a high turnover in many prehealth offices below the director position. I doubt these positions pay very well so likely the job becomes a stepping stone for something better.

I agree. I think the most qualified people to help us through the journey are working in medical schools and in some cases, hospitals. But they are needed more there.

 

[tarheelpenner]

SDN taught me to ignore my premed advisor and I actually never went to see her


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I didn't know what SDN was until about September (I have very few pre-med friends). I wish I had, I would have done things sooooo differently, and might have gotten into my top choices. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

I'm in the military. On deployment, I regularly got 2-3 hours of sleep for weeks to months at a time between working 16 hour days, then standing watch in the middle of the night and doing school work in between. In port, my hours average 70-80/week, so I had/have time for research and to volunteer. To be fair, my research is in math, not a wet lab. Much more flexible.

Edit: I'm not trying to make this some amazing feat. A few people at my command were doing the same thing. You do what you have to do.

Ahh...thank you for your service. I should have noticed.

So, you did school online?