What is the one thing you wish you'd done differently so far in your pre-med journey?

[907914]

Yeah but then again... SDN is filled with incredible applicants that maintained a 4.0/524 with 1000s if hours of volunteering

I think the route a lot of these types of students take is to take an extra semester or two to finish the degree. They are also probably students who either have massive school or familial financial aid so they do not have to work. You can take 15 credits and be in class 12 hours a week, in lab 5 hours a week, doing research 10 hours a week, studying 10 hours a week and volunteering 10 hours a week. Thats only 47 hours a week, so like a full time job with a night of on call once a week. Easy to manage that when you don't have to work. Heck, if they drop going to class and only do 5 hours of reviewing the lectures posted online or just self studying based on syllabus/study guide then you are down to 40 hours a week.

It truly makes higher education easier when you have nothing else to focus on like work or a family. Still not easy by any metric, but a lot more manageable if you don't have other obligations.

TL;DR - Don't worry about what other people say they got/say they are doing - you be as competitive as you can be at your pace of competitiveness. .

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[chemdoctor]

Lmfao I stumbled upon this post right when you replied to my comment:
Could you calm my fear and tell me if you think I will get in?

Not a 4.0, but everything else is so perfect... rip us

I stopped reading after I saw an MCAT score of 524

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

How so?

Research, notes, and also just writing for the fun of it. I feel like I have so many stories from just my 1 year on the wards...it would be great to be able to write/publish them somewhere. But I have a problem with run-on sentences, and use too many pronouns

 

[Ad2b]

90% of the job is charting, so like... Writing skills sort of help with that

I was a consultant for a larger type hospital/clinic revenue cycle revamp...

What.
A.
Disaster.

I'm so sorry <3

 

[Gilakend]

On occasion I actually wish I would have taken things a little easier in college. I could have spent more time with friends, and sometimes I feel like I missed out on "the college experience."

But if that were the case, I may not be where I am now, so I guess I'm grateful. And although I'll probably never again have as few responsibilities as I did in undergrad, I know better than to assume the "best years of my life" are behind me. I'm trying to be optimistic about the future.

Party it up for the next couple months brother.

 

[RNtoMD87]

Wish I’d have done 3 years active duty instead of 5.

 

[Rogue42]

Biggest regret? I have a procrastination personality type coupled with the fact that I never had to study for anything to make a halfway decent grade, so I regret that I never made any efforts in undergrad to fix this. If I did, my GPA would be so much better. I also slightly regret choosing a STEM major when I could have chosen Underwater Badmitten and just made a higher GPA in general in it.

 

[RNtoMD87]

Man I agree so much instead it’s nursing instead of stem. One of my exes majored in small business, wasn’t very bright, never studied and had a 3.9. She came to me asking me to explain senior level ideas and it was common sense.

“Did you know you shouldn’t always dress as nice as possible?!”
“Err yeah.. you wanna dress as well as maybe slightly better than who you’re selling to so they feel like you can relate (I even adopt my patients speech patterns. Ones that are from the street, I cuss in front of and use a little slang, like “heard that”, or “my bad”. With say elderly white people I am extra cordial. It’s all about reading your patient/potential client (in business)
Long as you don’t over do it, it’s golden.

She couldn’t even grasp that fact. Really wish I had gotten a useless easy A degree now.

 

[907914]

Man I agree so much instead it’s nursing instead of stem. One of my exes majored in small business, wasn’t very bright, never studied and had a 3.9. She came to me asking me to explain senior level ideas and it was common sense.

“Did you know you shouldn’t always dress as nice as possible?!”
“Err yeah.. you wanna dress as well as maybe slightly better than who you’re selling to so they feel like you can relate (I even adopt my patients speech patterns. Ones that are from the street, I cuss in front of and use a little slang, like “heard that”, or “my bad”. With say elderly white people I am extra cordial. It’s all about reading your patient/potential client (in business)
Long as you don’t over do it, it’s golden.

She couldn’t even grasp that fact. Really wish I had gotten a useless easy A degree now.

Kinda conceited to call someone’s degree useless...I mean, some degrees are less or non-valuable than others....but still not something to say out loud.

 

[panbimbo]

1. Actually tried to make all A's instead of "A's and B's are fine, no need to be a nerd."

2. Started volunteering/clinical stuff at the beginning

3. Been more knowledgeable about the process in general at the beginning of college. Actually try to become a top 20 candidate instead of coming to the realization that I messed up the first two years of college.

 

[RNtoMD87]

Kinda conceited to call someone’s degree useless...I mean, some degrees are less or non-valuable than others....but still not something to say out loud.

You basically just said you agreed but you just shouldn’t admit it. I didn’t call it useless to her face. I just asked her
“Well what’s your back up plan if you can’t get a job like you want?” And she got all moody. Insisted a bachelors of business is all that’s required (doesn’t mean you’re competitive) 6 years later... she’s working at a T shirt place making maybe 25k a year. The hard truth is better than polite avoidance.

I don’t think conceited is an accurate term. Maybe abraisve at the least, harsh, maybe an a-hole thing (if I said it to someone’s face which I don’t. I have learned that outside of the military you tend to have to get on that Willy Wonka game and sugar coat facts lest people get offended).

 

[RTC19]

Research, notes, and also just writing for the fun of it. I feel like I have so many stories from just my 1 year on the wards...it would be great to be able to write/publish them somewhere. But I have a problem with run-on sentences, and use too many pronouns

If you ever have the time and inclination to publish these on SDN, I would love to read them! I am sure your writing is fine the way it is.