How do you make time for med school prep?

[CarlyM]

For all my fellow non-trads - how do you make time for everything you need to do to prepare your application? I work full-time 9-5, and I'm taking physics at night. I'll be trying to squeeze in volunteering and shadowing on the weekends. Unfortunately most of the doctors I know work the same hours I do! And of course, MCAT prep on the nights I don't have class. I don't know how anyone with kids does it!

What does everyone else's life look like for the next year or two?

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[Dirt]

Well I am in now , but I did it for the last two years.

Frankly, you just have to deal. It sucks working full time and going to school. I worked 40 hours/wk and took two labs at a time, and volunteered 4 hours on the weekends. It sucked, big time, but now I am in so it was worth it. Also, I think it probably prepared me well for medical school. I doubt that I will be spending as much time on medical school as I did while doing my pre-reqs. I can guarantee that I won't be studying and going to class more than 60-70 hours/wk which was my work+class+volunteering+study time during my post-bac. You will have a chip on your shoulder compared to those straight through folks who have never even had to work 40 hours in their life.

I don't have kids though, just a needy g/f.

 

[njbmd]

For all my fellow non-trads - how do you make time for everything you need to do to prepare your application? I work full-time 9-5, and I'm taking physics at night. I'll be trying to squeeze in volunteering and shadowing on the weekends. Unfortunately most of the doctors I know work the same hours I do! And of course, MCAT prep on the nights I don't have class. I don't know how anyone with kids does it!

What does everyone else's life look like for the next year or two?

The key to success in pre-med prep is to slow down and do very well. You don't have to cram everything into one or two semesters. When you have a full-time job, you can't use the same schedule that a traditional student would use in terms of prep.

If it takes you an extra year or two and you are successful, then that year or two is worth it. If you rush and can't get everything done extremely well, then you have not saved any time and you end up having to do "damage-control". Take your time, attend to each detail as it come, meet or exceed deadlines and realize that "the world wasn't made in one day".

 

[gman33]

Try to get a job volunteering at a hospital on the weekends.
They are always open.

 

[student1799]

For all my fellow non-trads - how do you make time for everything you need to do to prepare your application? I work full-time 9-5, and I'm taking physics at night. I'll be trying to squeeze in volunteering and shadowing on the weekends. Unfortunately most of the doctors I know work the same hours I do! And of course, MCAT prep on the nights I don't have class. I don't know how anyone with kids does it!

What does everyone else's life look like for the next year or two?

Join the I Only Sleep 5 Hours a Night club (I've been a member for the last couple of years). I usually stay up until 2 am, and sometimes 3. This is really the only way to get it all done.

I second gman33's suggestion about hospital volunteering. Just call the volunteer dept. at your local teaching hospital and explain that you want to work weekends in the ED, and I bet they'll gladly take you in. You'll get routine crap to do like making beds and running errands, but if you stick to it and work hard with a good attitude, they'll give you more interesting jobs (like going to the blood bank and the hospital pharmacy). And if you work weekends, you'll see a lot more action, because people bust themselves up a lot more often on weekends than M-F. (IMO, shadowing private-practice MDs isn't going to teach you much. But if you can manage to squeeze in a shift shadowing a RESIDENT in the ED, that is some good stuff. You'll see up close and personal the job we all want to have in a few years' time.)

 

[student1799]

Forgot something in previous post: Do the MCAT prep online. A lot of people say Kaplan's online materials are the best, but there's probably not a huge difference among the major test prep companies.

I took Kaplan myself; thought course was so-so but the practice tests were EXTREMELY valuable to get you used to the feel of the real MCAT. Don't know my score yet, so I can't tell you exactly how well it worked, but I don't think it would have been any better with a classroom course.

The value of the online class is that YOU control which, when and how much work you do. You can fast-forward through an online lesson if you don't need much review in a given topic, or skip it altogether. If you want to take chem tests at midnight, you can. For non-trads like us with kids and many things to juggle, it's great to have something you can actually control.

Friends I know who signed up for classroom courses all ended up ditching class after a while and doing everything online anyway.

 

[montessori2md]

A second vote for slow down and do it right.

I cut back my work hours to 35/wk or so, and occasionally took a day off when I had to, including sometimes cutting lecture (cell bio, the lecturer read the slides, so it was a waste anyhow). That allowed me to take 2 courses and 3 labs while prepping for MCAT. I also found a volunteering gig where the coordinator was able to help me come in on weekends and skip a week when I needed to study more.

In order to do all that, I was out of the house minimum 72 hours/wk, plus study time in house, the spring before MCAT.

I would not advise doing that more than necessary, simply b/c you'll have to do it enough later, and there is no point in torturing yourself or family any more than necessary. For myself, one semester of that was a mini-test to see if I could really hack it in medschool and residency. My family did ok, and it felt stressful, but I experienced no great loss of self -though I did get mono and strep 2 weeks before MCAT, in the middle of finals.

 

[JuniperB]

I work fulltime. Take 2-3 classes (now 10 sem cred.) I have a business on the side (Saturdays). Volunteer when I can - Hospice, also always looking. I'm married.

I agree it is very important to do really well in the classes, take only as much as you can handle and if it seems like you are not going to get a good grade, drop it!! and retake it, before you get an I or W, DO NOT wait it out for a grade if you are anywhere near a C. Check ratemyprofessor.com it is possible to get great professors with class times that work with your schedule.

Good luck - its a darn long road but it is worth it! Try to enjoy your classes.

Cheers,

JB

 

[Nasem]

Im a classical "non-trad"... been at it since spring 2007

I work as a software engineer (40 hrs per week) and I attend classes at night time, or I flex my working schedule so that I can go to both school and work (because sometimes the classes I need to take are not offered at night).... I ALSO volunteer at hospitals and habitate for humanity (8 hrs a month for HFH and another 8 hrs at hospitals)

One of my favorit advices I have heard here on SDN came from njbmd (I believe), he will always say "put all your ducks in 1 row and pull the trigger" (or something very similar).... basically.... when I first started my post-bacc, I was thinking I need to rush all my pre-meds in 1 year ALONG with my fulltime job, of course that would have NEVER helped cause my GPA would have sucked @$$... instead I slowed down and took my classes as a part-time student..... and now I have about 25 credits woth of post-bacc with a straight 4.0... I didn't apply this year because I am not ready yet, I am going to wait till next year (by then I'll have about 40 credits and HOPEFULLY my post-bacc gpa will remain between 3.8-4.0)

How do I do it? when I first started over a year ago, it was very hard to adjust, but now, you just get used to the stressful life... it almost becomes the norm for you..... I just finished my summer course last week, and I have 3 weeks off from school and let me tell you, I feel kinda empty inside, like, I get home at 5:30 and Do NOTHING... its soooo weird, im so used to having homework or studying for exams lol

I am also doing GPA damage control, which is a very nasty process cause it requires ALOT of money, time, and studying. my initial undergrad GPA was a 3.01 (science is maybe 3.15).... Now after 25 credits with 4.0, my overall is only 3.16 (science is "maybe" over 3.3-3.35)...... By time I apply to med schools, my overall will only be about 3.2-3.25 and my science (approx) will be a 3.4.... and if you know anything about those stats, they are pretty low compared to the national aveage.... Am I ever going to make it to allopathic schools? Probably not, but I am sure as hell gonna keep trying year after year after year (as long as I keep my job)

 

[frankg1401]

I agree with njbmd and montessori2md
there are a lot of things to do before we can get in
so we have to do it slowly

 

[travelbug73]

For all my fellow non-trads - how do you make time for everything you need to do to prepare your application? I work full-time 9-5, and I'm taking physics at night. I'll be trying to squeeze in volunteering and shadowing on the weekends. Unfortunately most of the doctors I know work the same hours I do! And of course, MCAT prep on the nights I don't have class. I don't know how anyone with kids does it!

What does everyone else's life look like for the next year or two?

This is what mine looks like usually (I started studying for my MCAT toward the end of my course work, so I did not have to split my attention):

4:30 - 6:00 AM: Study for MCAT (Now, I go to the gym)
6:00 - 7:00 AM: Get dressed, help with getting toddler dressed, get lunch boxes ready etc
7:00 AM - 6:00 PM: Work, with some studying during lunch hour
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM: Help with dinner, play with child etc, sometimes tried to hit the gym with Biology Examkrackers 1001.
7:00 PM - 10:00 PM: Study for MCAT or go to class. Yell at spouse everytime I don't understand a concept Now, I'm working on my secondaries.

I took a total of 6 AAMC practice tests, one every week for 6 weeks before the actual test. I went to work to do it, so I didn't get distracted. I did not get a spectacular score, but I'm not disappointed either.

I always take Saturday evenings and most Sunday mornings off. It is family and house chores time.
Many times, I study with the little one in my lap, each of us with our own pen and paper(s). You know, you have to start them early

I volunteer once a week for 4 hours (been doing that for a long time) and now, since I'm done with MCAT and I'm in the application process, I'm doing another shift at the local trauma ER. I work at a hospital, so I have been able to shadow occasionally.

Though the reasons were different, I only took 1 course plus corresponding lab in any given semester while I worked full time. Also, to say I have an extremely supportive spouse would be an understatement.

 

[One More Rep]

You have to develop a love for constant activity, little sleep and no social life. I work one job 30-35 hours a week, a second job 4 hours a week, take physics and chem with labs 4 days a week, volunteer at a hospital and coordinate one of the volunteer programs for American Cancer Society. In my free time, I work out and take dance classes because being in good shape is key if you want to have stamina to do everything else.

It's amazing how we can adapt, isn't it? I barely even notice how busy I am anymore. If anything, I get amazingly bored if I have any free time at all.