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

[AZK]

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Currently a 2nd year finance major thinking about medical school. If I go this route I could make up the minimum bio/chem requirements in time to take the MCAT next year. Is it unfavorable to have a finance degree with minimum science requirements? Does this answer change depending on the test score?

Thanks

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It is not unfavorable to have a finance degree with minimum science requirements. Medical schools don't really care what you pursue in undergrad or choose to study, the pre-reqs are simply so that you don't get worked in medical school. That being said, I feel like I have a substantial edge over people that didn't major in science. It all works out in the end though, they aren't as burned out and study longer, I can study less...This answer shouldn't change on your test score, it shouldn't matter what you study, bottom line rock the test. I know plenty of people that majored in history/english/business that simply destroyed the MCAT. Everything you need to know is in those books and not necessarily from your undergrad. science classes. More often than not these same people also do substantially better on the verbal section...

[AZK]

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AZK,

Awesome and very insightful post. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

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and nearly everyone in the program sucked...it was just awful.

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What is the difference, you think, between your SMP class and your current class of 1st years? Aren't like 80% of those from your SMP class going to medical school? Is it a matter of perspective, from outside to inside medical school, or do you think you are lucky with your current class? Could it be the school itself?

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The SMP class was very different than medical school, because it was basically taking everyone that got rejected from medical school or wasn't qualified and stuck them in a room to fight it out to get in. If you thought premed gunners in college were bad, you can imagine what this was like...insanity. People only cared about books, getting in, there was some back stabbing, people just sucked. Another difference was me. I made no effort to socialize, get to know people, care, etc... I was in my own world, and didn't really give a [censored] about anything/anyone else. I was really consumed by poker at this point, which also had a lot to do with it. Who needs peace of mind or friends when you have $, right? Wrong. At that point I didn't realize it though. A lot of the SMPers are in medical schools now, and I'm sure it's different for them too. A lot of it has to do with perspective when you are looking in vs. looking out of medical school, I don't think I am particularly lucky with this incoming class. I took a few classes at georgetown in undergrad to get them out of the way, and I met a few fun people but sort of had the same impression. I hate georgetown. I don't mean to offend anyone, but that school sucks. They have this air about them, undeserved, and they make everyone know it. I mean who are we kidding, you aren't an ivy league school so why do all the faculty, staff, and students, act like they are the best instituition in the US? I mean get real. I just found this mentality everywhere, I'm not condoning it at places like Harvard/Princeton/etc, but I can understand it there. I can't understand it here. So basically yeah, I think it was also a good part of the school itself.

[spacetime]

AZK,

I am not familiar with your past or really anything about you although I have seen your poker posts, so please forgive me if I am asking common knowledge about you or anything that you have said before in this thread or another.

I am in my 3rd semester of college. My major is biomedical physics (imaging, oncology, nuclear med, etc, its not wide known, only undergrad college offering it is the one im going too).

My questions are:
1) I can honestly admit that for most of my life I have been a waste of talent. I was considered "brilliant" in early high school, the kid who never missed a math problem and wrote awesome papers. Once my senior year started, I really slacked off. Going into college, my freshman GPA was like 3.2, and I got a C in chemistry. First semester of my soph year, my GPA was like 1.7 with 2 D's and an F. I am currently retaking the F and plan to do the D's next semester (one D was in chemistry again [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]).

Do medical schools look for improvement? I am enrolled in some very hard classes right now (anatomy, differential equations, linear algebra, programming, and like 2 more) taking 22 units, and it has seemed that I have regained my passion for learning. I actually study a lot now, not stopping until I know everything I can...

Is there still hope or are those bad grades going to haunt me forever?

2) How did you balance the premed courses with poker? What was your major? I love poker to death and would consider being a pro if I could do well enough at it, so its natural that I want to play a lot. I also am competing for a Div. 1 school in cross country and track, so I am extremely busy. How did you prioritize?

3) Studying for MCAT...did you do this all the time or just like the summer before you took it?

4) How med school going? Time for poker?

Thanks a ton for whatever feedback you give. I really appreciate it.

[meatypants11]

This is a joke right?

You're paying thousands and thousands of dollars investing in yourself as a business in the form of a college degree and you're getting D's and F's and want to know if you can get into med school and if somebody else might want to invest in you? Is this for real? Well at least there's D.O. or Do Over school.

You must not be paying for anything yourself but the good thing is you'll probably fit right in med school since 75% percent or 3 out of 4 people in my class at a private university with a $50,000 a year bare minimum estimated cost of tuition/living took out absolutely no loans at all.

[spacetime]

First of all, you are no AZK. Second, I do pay for my tuition, which costs 3k a year, not 50k. Third, I guess nobody ever makes mistakes huh? It was one semester, not a whole college full of it. Get a life, make your first few posts here meaningful.

[meatypants11]

Yo I was talking about 50k for med school not undegrad. Good luck with the reading comprehension on the MCats.

Also yeah people makes mistakes but from somone in college I would expect more along the lines of "I can't believe I slept with that hog last night" instead of lets light thousands of dollars on fire. WTF dude u can't figure out where the drop/add classes button on the intarwebs is?

I'm out this is a good thread and I don't want to hijack. Just realize that every question you get wrong on ur tests in premed/med school means someones dies.

[spacetime]

Just because you are in college means that the only mistakes you make are sleeping with ugly women? By no means is this true.

What does dropping classes have to do with anything? Your out of line here and you know it. I did not come here to be bashed for screwing up ONE semester, I came here to ask AZK a question.

[mmbt0ne]

meaty,

You don't happen to be Dr.90210 on SDN do you?

[meatypants11]

naw, not me. i haven't posted there in ages. prolly like 4 years or so.

[AZK]

I'm in the middle of something, but I'll respond to your post in a bit.