- That for the University of California system, picking any major is better than applying undeclared (that was from my friend).
- That changing majors is ridiculously easy, which is not what everyone told us. I think my friends and I fretted about it unnecessarily, only to discover it's really not a big deal in the first or second year.
- The differences between SN1 and SN2 reactions in organic chem.
- Studied abroad or
- Did PeaceCorps and go overseas to help peoplez, and because the other two out of three years after I graduated really feels like a waste of time, so I could have done something really awesome.
- (From my friend) Don't play baseball, football or tennis with Mingle because you'll get hurt in the worst possible places. Sorry Russ, it was an accident, I swear!
- To have demanded to see a sports medicine specialist earlier.
- That I appreciated my research internship more.
- That I practiced my ukulele more, because now I don't have time =[
- Don't talk to any of the campus pre-health advisers at my school. They make you hate yourself.
- The pre-health peer advisers also tell you the dumbest things. One told a classmate that 'You should keep your course load (even though she was getting Cs), because schools would rather see that you're still able to cope with the workload despite bad grades.' Erm....I kiiinnnnda see the logic, but I'll believe it only if it comes out of the mouth of an Admissions Committee member.
- Don't seek out any of the peer advisers for classes/major counseling, because they don't give you any useful information.
- Find a major that doesn't have a 1-month wait list to meet a faculty adviser.
- That I went for the double major instead of the minor. I could have done it.
- That I made extra effort to take more classes with one of the Asian American Studies professors because he was freaking awesome, and awesome is hard to come by.
Hmm what else?
Ah, well 15 sounds like a definite lost opportunity. Never mind. You live and learn, hey?
ReplyDeleteYeah...but I gotta gripe about it somewhere :P
Delete16. That it doesn't matter what you major in, you can still get into med school. Woo art history!!
ReplyDeleteBut I have to second your pre-health advisor notes- they are HORRIBLE. One told my best friend that she would never make it to med school, she would have to find something else to do. She's at Georgetown getting her MD right now. And one told me that although I have a parent who is a doctor, that does not mean that I will be getting into med school, and to "not feel so entitled." He also told me that volunteering in a hospital in a third world country didn't "count," and I had to volunteer at the University of Michigan Hospital if I wanted med schools to take me seriously. Did I mention that my volunteering there consisted of me sitting in the back room buttoning together patient gowns? I quit after a month. And LO AND BEHOLD, got myself into med school with some international volunteering.
Pre-meds should do their own research, be pro-active, and NEVER see a pre-med advisor!! Or do, but take everything they say with a grain of salt. They are telling you things based on *statistics.* That you can also get offline, where words on a screen cannot personally insult you in the process.
17. Getting a great group of friends who are also pre-med and push you to work harder, both in school and in extracurriculars, is probably my best tip. :)
Ew. "not feel so entitled?" Someone was CLEARLY very bitter.
DeleteThere's a lot of negativity in those offices, from staff and faculty, and I have NO idea why. One even discouraged my friend from going into physical therapy and I have NO clue why, because his grades were good enough for a lot of med schools. They're nuts.