See I am only a sophomore in high school and I would consider myself quite smart, through 3 semesters I have about a 3.86 gpa without really trying. But that is my problem I don't have much of a work ethic, it really sucks because I want to succeed but I have no motivation to do the work, I want the "easy way out." I just fear that once in college that will screw me over and then I won't be able to get into med school, or even if I make it to med school a lack of work ethic will screw me over. I just don't know...
Worried about college/med school
- Thread starter hs2013
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It's a pretty common problem to have. I'd guess that the majority of people on this board were able to pretty much breeze through high school without needing to try very hard for any sustained period of time. But at some point we learn how to study, how to work hard and apply knowledge appropriately. Those who 'figure it out' in undergrad are a lot better off than those of who maybe try to go into med school with the same cramming habits only to find out too late that the game has changed big-time. You didn't really ask a question, but if you're looking for advice I'd say first off enjoy high school and second try to find some motivation to develop those time management and learning habits that will be so important later on no matter if it's med school or anything else.
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I think you will be motivated to work harder and develop a work ethic when you start applying for medical school 
Competition for gaining admission to med school is tough and in order to be a successful applicant I think you will study harder for the MCAT exam to get a high score, take on research position while being a full-time student as an undergrad, etc.
Competition for gaining admission to med school is tough and in order to be a successful applicant I think you will study harder for the MCAT exam to get a high score, take on research position while being a full-time student as an undergrad, etc.
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da8s0859q
Necessity = mother of invention. You'll find that work ethic when you really need to have it. That's certainly been the case for lots of us making the transition from college to medical school -- light-duty studying in college may have been enough (aside from the handful of really tough courses we all had), but you quickly find that it's not going to cut it in med school.
Getting really efficient with your study time becomes the name of the game here.
As far as college goes, one of the few parallels between it and medical school is that it's all about studying smart, not hard. I almost never used textbooks and did very well going to class and making sense of what was taught, so for me, reading all of those texts sounds very work ethic-y ("I read the whole book..."), but would've been a poor use of time. Other people never stepped foot in lecture halls except for exams and stuck to just the book. It's all a matter of figuring out how you learn most efficiently, sticking to it, and forgetting the rest.
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OP, you are me when I was in high school. The only thing I can say is that you have to get into the mindset of college being the real deal. There are no opportunities for screw ups. Have fun high school, enjoy the ability to do well without studying, but understand that if you want to achieve the same level of success in college you'll more than likely have to put in some effort. It all comes down to how seriously you want to do well.
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Well yes, I'd say your lack of work ethic might screw you over.... Med school might as well. But to be honest - college won't. I went to a good school, decently ranked, not an Ivy League, but a good university, not a joke party school.... and it was easier than high school in my opinion. Key to getting through easily is checking out every professor on rate my professor dot com before you sign up for the class - easy as pie!
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da8s0859q
Hah. I used Pickaprof when it was still called Pickaprof -- I think it's "myEDU" or something like that now -- and that was occasionally helpful, too.
Just don't let it talk you out of a class just because ~8% of students get As or anything like that.
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Well your on this forum and that's a start, because honestly not too many kids in high school look up forums related to the career they want to pursue, so it's good you come here to get some better insight and knowledge from people that have been through it.
This get's you ahead of the game already, and you will know what to expect in the future.
But, yea high school is a joke, just study hard in college and most importantly put forth the EFFORT. You can be the smartest kid and and put no effort and fail.
School honestly is not as hard as you hear it from others, it's chill/laid back just need to study and pay attention. Don't stress too much, and make sue you absorb information from people who have had experience, don't listen to anyone that has not been through it because they tend to give you wrong information
3.86 without trying is really good also.. Just imagine if you did try.
This get's you ahead of the game already, and you will know what to expect in the future.
But, yea high school is a joke, just study hard in college and most importantly put forth the EFFORT. You can be the smartest kid and and put no effort and fail.
School honestly is not as hard as you hear it from others, it's chill/laid back just need to study and pay attention. Don't stress too much, and make sue you absorb information from people who have had experience, don't listen to anyone that has not been through it because they tend to give you wrong information
3.86 without trying is really good also.. Just imagine if you did try.
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Same way I was in high school... except your GPA kills my HS GPA! Mine freshman year of college even sucked pretty hard. The good news, like everyone else is saying, is that you care. College is a whole different ball game. We all change when we get there. If you truly want to be a doctor, your work ethic will come to you. But don't be too concerned about in right now, enjoy HS. Trust me, there are times I would love to be back there and care free!
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I skated through high school on procrastination fumes, crash landed somewhere in the first semester of college, and dusted myself off to move toward a good GPA.
Try to hit the ground running in college, but if you get a shock to your system when you get your first batch of grades, don't panic; just take it as a lesson learned and fix it.
Try to hit the ground running in college, but if you get a shock to your system when you get your first batch of grades, don't panic; just take it as a lesson learned and fix it.
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Hah yea mine in hs was like 2.9 or even below that.
I wanted to dual-enroll in college full-time after my soph year in hs, at first the people were skeptical because my performance in hs, now I currently hold a 4.0 for 2 years in college. Work ethic really does come, especially when you leave hs.
Well looks like I may have lied a bit of my 3 semesters gpa to be 3.86, not sure yet but that was what I had assumed would happen since this current or my 3rd semester isn't over yet but it looks like worst case scenario my gpa might be a 3.76 and best case scenario a 3.9 but I think it is going to be a 3.8 making my overall gpa a 3.84 or 3.83 which I assume is terrible right? I wish I would not have slacked off so much but I have no effort like I said so is a 3.8 in one semester along with a 3.84 gpa through 3 semesters of high school terrible? Like if I want to get into a college like Marquette, Northwestern, UW-Madison, or Loyola? Also is a A- in AP US History bad?
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Is your 3.86GPA with advanced courses? Its not hard to get good grades if your competition is poor and you are taking easy courses. I'm not saying you necessarily are in this boat, but some are.
HS was pretty hard for me since I took a lot of AP classes and was at a very competitive school. It can be pretty darn difficult.
HS was pretty hard for me since I took a lot of AP classes and was at a very competitive school. It can be pretty darn difficult.
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da8s0859q
Are you listening to yourself? You've got to relax. What you are calling "terrible" is far into the right-hand side of the bell curve. AND you're something like halfway through high school.
Dude, calm down. You're going to be fine.
I don't know if you would consider my courses hard but I up to this point have taken the hardest possible at my school( AP US History, Honors English last and this year.) Also I have Med Term next semester, hard????
OP I'm assuming you're around 16 years old. In that case believe me when I say you do not have to be stressing this right now. Clearly you're doing all the right things so far or else your GPA wouldn't be so impressive.
Yes college can be tough but you still have a few more years of school before then. Of course you don't feel ready for college now when you're just a sophmore in highschool! You have plenty of time to find your way and figure out your study habits.
Right now your interest in medicine is in it's infancy since you've got no time invested in it so far and that's okay. In fact I think you should be as open minded as possible; explore all of your interests. Medical school + residency is a long haul and honestly I think if you can see yourself being happy in another career then you should do that. If not then you know you've got work to do.
But go easy on yourself. It sounds like you're kicking ass right now at your school, keep your grades up and have some fun. The rest will make sense as you go along, can't have everything mapped out at 16.
Yes college can be tough but you still have a few more years of school before then. Of course you don't feel ready for college now when you're just a sophmore in highschool! You have plenty of time to find your way and figure out your study habits.
Right now your interest in medicine is in it's infancy since you've got no time invested in it so far and that's okay. In fact I think you should be as open minded as possible; explore all of your interests. Medical school + residency is a long haul and honestly I think if you can see yourself being happy in another career then you should do that. If not then you know you've got work to do.
But go easy on yourself. It sounds like you're kicking ass right now at your school, keep your grades up and have some fun. The rest will make sense as you go along, can't have everything mapped out at 16.
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da8s0859q
I don't think he's listening to us. Just wants to know how hard everything is.
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you'll need good work ethics to get through med school..
