Class of 2018 Chat

Hi Everyone,


I didn’t see one of these yet so I thought I would post it. I am excited to be starting med school in August but very nervous.


Congratulations to all who have been accepted and will hear soon about their acceptance.


Is anyone doing anything yet to prepare if that is even something that can be done? I spoke with several med students at the school that I will be attending and they all pretty much said to enjoy the time off (I work full time as a middle/high school teacher and part time as a college instructor) as they feel that there is very little that I can do. I worry about the memorization aspect and speed of the material as one med student said that you can’t learn it all no matter how much you study. She said that was a hard realization for her since she was summa cum laude at her school. She is currently an honor student in med school.


I also worry about the financial aspects of med school and weirdly some worries about being a non trad among trads have crept up on me which is not normally my thing.


My commute should not be bad- roughly half an hour. I am not taking the interstate as it is a straight shot for me up the highway as soon as I pull out of my subdivision.

Oh and I forgot to add the administration and teachers know at my school that I am leaving but I have not yet told the students. I sponsor our HOSA club (Health Occupation Student Association) so it will be a shock when I tell them the sponsor is going to med school.

Hi there,


Congratulations on your acceptance!! I have been doing my best to ignore the creeping fear and anxiety that hit me about 5 hours after I got my first acceptance letter ; ) I think I treated each step in this process like an individual challenge, just plodding along, doing my best and not thinking too far into the future… I am fairly certain that some part of me did not expect to ever be accepted! Now that I am though I’m just trying to keep taking things one day at a time and trust that I’ll be able to handle the upcoming challenges!!! (That’s not to say I’m not really, really excited… I am!!!). As for preparing… All the med students and Docs I talk to tell me to enjoy life this year… So I am trying to do exactly that. I have to work full time but I’ve been running almost everyday and reading 4-6 books a week


( mostly all the YA and scifi novels I LOVE that are total fluff but that I fear I may not get to read for the next 8 years or so). I’ve been lucky to have found work in a small Doctors office with a group of people who are all really supportive and I’ve been learning a TON… It’s been fascinating (and frustrating) to be on the front lines with all the insurance changes!


So that’s me!! Hope everyone is well and enjoying life before school starts

Mallory welcome and congratulations!!! With the exception of working in a doctor’s office I could have written your introduction. A part of me didn’t think I would get in anywhere Either. I have been reading, meeting friends for lunch as my two jobs and finances allow ,and trying to help my mom out (she has severe COPD).


I have also now had several 1st and 2nd year med students tell me the same thing about enjoying my life now. One told me she was shocked at times that she still does have free time here and there and another one said he still enjoys life


I start in August. Not sure when you begin.

Hello! Happy to be part of this crowd.

OK, guys, it’s getting closer…anyone else starting this year?

We can’t be the only ones…

Worst case, I have a colleague whom I knoooow qualifies for OPM…I’ll drag them over here. :wink: I am sure people will trickle over.


What did you decide between New Orleans and Shreveport? (Or you can ignore if you’d rather not say.) I am from the southwest originally, and my high school sends (sent?!!) a lot of people to Tulane, so I am in solidarity with the state of Louisiana.


[As a science teacher, you might appreciate an actual locker room anecdote. I am a tutor, mostly math and science, that being where the money is. I was getting changed after a swim. Usually I am the one naked person walking around, because hell, it’s a locker room. But in this locker room everyone is dressed, so whatever. I struck up a conversation with The Naked Person, not me this time, about some neighborhood issue. Turns out that she is the ACTUAL math teacher of one of my tutorees. “Oh, you must be a MUSICIAN,” she said, because that’s all the student in question cares about. “No, indeed,” I said. “I have been trying to get him to line up his equals signs, but he pays me no mind.”]


I am going to the public school in the Northwest Territory that is known for taking nontrads. (Going on 37, I can’t argue with their reputation.) Got in off the waitlist a couple of weeks ago. Before that I had an acceptance to one of the new MD programs, but this was sort of the offer I couldn’t refuse.


Basically, I’m petrified. My one comfort is that my school seems to have adapted its curriculum as little as possible. Very little problem-based learning. Mostly lecture. I, personally, like this. I feel like that’s what I’m paying for, to have the smart person stand up in front and tell us stuff. I was trying to be as open-minded as possible, but the idea of spending the bulk of my week in seminar with early 20s nonscientists was kind of freaking me out. So good. I figure if it’s in the textbook, I can learn it.


What specialties are you thinking about?


All the best,


Ethel