Ask AZK about being Pre-med/Getting into Medical School

[AZK]

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I have to take a semester of biochemistry next year. However the last time I took bio was in high school. Am I [censored]?

What was your favorite chem class?

Is p-chem really has tough as I've heard? I'm pretty decent at math, and from what people say it sounds more like a math class than a chem one.

Did you take the standardized o-chem final?

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Biochem shouldnt be a big deal, if it's taught through the chem. dept, it will be heavy chem, if its taught through bio dept. it will be more bio oriented, the biochem i took (2 semesters) was through the chem dept so it was fine, but I did have an extensive bio class beforehand, I would go through the text book, but most of it is pretty basic and easy, they are testing chemical principles and ideas to explain biochem when taught by chem professors...so you should be fine...

My favorite chem class was Orgo, it's how I got sucked into being a chem/biochem major...I wouldn't have been a chem major if I would have known that being one wasn't all like orgo was.

pchem is really really hard, unless you are very good at math, calc 2/3, i'm not, so i suffered. I had to take 3 semesters of it, it was basically a math class with problem sets but the problems were chem related, but it was all math, I died the last 2 semesters, the first semester was an intro. pchem class and kinda light, so it was easier...

We had 4 orgo exams each semester, 3 regular ones and cum. final.

[AZK]

will respond more later

[AZK]

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does the horrific load of classes they have to take combined with the competitiveness of the process make them that way?

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I think this is the main reason, the pre-med kids I know work very hard because they so much pressure on them to get A's.

Another question I have, how much does GPA matter when med schools are reviewing applications? Does your MCAT score have more influence or is GPA the most important factor?

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Yeah, ed's question is really complicated, so I'm not going to type out my whole rational, it's safe to say that 90% of premeds/med students suck. Luckily I'm in that 10% that don't. Somewhere along the lines of college (freshmen year) I went from being a tightly wound anal retentative premed to someone that just stopped caring...I also was non-premed for a bit, I dont really know what caused the change, but when I got back into and even now I wasn't as gunner as I had been for grades...much happier now. I think I realized there were more important things to me than getting 100% on everything.

As for grades and MCAT it's best to do well in both (these 2 are the most important and are what initially gets you in the door for the most part) compared to really well in one and really awful in another. I'd say MCAT=GPA> MCAT>GPA >>>>>>>>>>>&gt ; GPA>MCAT.

While the MCAT is just a test, it tells medical schools a lot about how you handle pressure and workload, my MCAT was basically on par with my GPA, but I did have to explain a few lazy grades. Schools don't want to see you blow the MCAT out of the water but get Cs in class cause you are bored, likewise they don't want to see you get a 4.0 but a 25 on the MCAT, something is wrong with this picture. Shoot for 3.5+ and 30+, that being said, once you are in this range, the difference between a 3.5 and 3.8 is insignificant imo, but the difference between a 30 and 34 is SIGNIFICANT. Along those lines, don't get a 15 in bio and physics but then a 5 on verbal, that doesn't look good either...

[AZK]

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Were you playing poker before your medical school interview?

Did you mention poker in your application or bring it up in the interview?

I'm assuming it would be unwise to mention it, but if your hobbies are brought up, do you think mentioning poker in a med school interview would be very bad?

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Yes I played poker before my med. interview, I basically took one class senior year of college and started playing poker seriously summer of junior year/post MCAT. Poker ensured that my success and road to medical school take a few turns before actually arriving at my destination. I didn't mention it the first time I applied and I was heavily obsessed with it in a bad kind of way. The 2nd itme I applied and interviewed I actually wrote about poker for my personal statement on AMCAS, but by the time interviews rolled around I was on my decline of poker fever. It was casually mentioned in interviews, but not from a I am DEGEN RICH BITCH!!!11!! perspective, more from a making decisions with incomplete information, mathematical/analytical thinking ability etc... I spun it well and downplayed the $ aspect. If you seem like a good kid/level headed and have other hobbies and you spin it well it will be fine. If you look like you haven't left a casino/your basement in 6 months and you are talking about flipping coins for $5k and not giving a [censored] it will be bad. This should be obvious.

[tabako]

I've always done well on standardized testing, but never before have I spent time to prepare for them.

What did you do to prep for the MCAT, and how well did you do? Is comparing the test to the SAT/ACT a fair comparision? (like, how would doing well on SAT/ACT correlate to doing well on MCAT)

[AZK]

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I've always done well on standardized testing, but never before have I spent time to prepare for them.

What did you do to prep for the MCAT, and how well did you do? Is comparing the test to the SAT/ACT a fair comparision? (like, how would doing well on SAT/ACT correlate to doing well on MCAT)

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No. SAT is nothing like the MCAT. I enrolled in a MCAT class (princeton review) so pretty much did their study plan and then just put in a lot of hours, basically a month of 3-5 hours of work/day everyday but sunday, and then a month of non stop 12+ hour days. In hindsight I should have taken more practice exams. I think that is key. I got above a 30.

[Allinlife]

100% being the best student possible, how much do you rate your self now and how much do you think you can achieve if you were to stop browsing 2p2?

[AZK]

70% now, I largely cut back my viewing time on 2+2 until the diablo forum opened. Now I'm back up to spending probably an hour or so a day on...so if i stopped altogether probably raise that to 72%...I have other things in my life keeping me from being 100%...the prime one being desire to be 100%.

[Mr. Philosophy]

I would actually mention for anyone thinking about applying to medical school and mentioning poker in their personal statement or interview not to take this route. I actually included playing poker in my essay for medical school for this application cycle, and I have received feedback from admission committees that the subject made me an undesirable candidate. So far for this cycle I have not received an interview invite and I have a 3.5+ GPA and 30+ MCAT. While mentioning poker worked for AZK, I would still advise fellow poker players interested in med school not to include their poker experiences in their application.

I am curious AZK if you received several interviews or not when you applied? It is possible that I might have just applied to schools that were too conservative, but it seems like most admission committees have this type of mentality.

[mmbt0ne]

A,

you and fimbulwinter HU for med school grades.....who wins?