hi, i just started my postbacc program as of january, taking chem and bio. Chemistry is okay for now but biology is really starting to get on my nerves. It seems like no matter how hard I try, I keep getting little tacky points taken off. My struggles in bio are making me completely paranoid, pessimistic and such.
Being a postbacc, I guess I have the mentality that I have to get A’s in all my prereqs. This mentality is driving me up the well, making me become a greedy point hogger, which disgusts me. Do any of the other postbaccs feel this way? And is my “need to get an A mentality” needed to get into Med school? I feel its making me less humane. Another student in the program is making it worse, saying he’s going to drop out the instant he receives a B. =( I just started and I’m already stressing myself out. T_T
Getting yourself worked up opnly 1 month into your class is not good for you. Relax. When you stress, things go wrong. Just review where the points come ouut from and learn it.
If you just started, you have a long way to go. And if you are getting stressed already you are heading for a world of hurt.
Just remember, relax. The best thing you can do is come here and vent. Or take a day off. Relax the body and the mind.
- Don’t listen to the pessimists who say that if they screw up any single component of the premed period, they will leave the program. Because the process is such a long hurdle-filled marathon, there are bound to be incremental milestone-type setbacks.
2. You can ALWAYS do better. Your performance in your second month is not indicative of your general ability to excel in science over a two-year postbacc… and beyond.
3. Whatever you do, please please please don’t allow your justified and justifiable desire to get those As lead you to cheat. The blow to your integrity will feel terrible, and an ethical black mark will stop you in your tracks faster than any B. Also, the professors tend to respond better to future-minded appeals (What can I do to improve my studying / preparation for the next midterm?) than appeals to the past, like the niggling fight for every point that many people try to wage.
Hope this helps. We have ALL been there, believe me.
Matt
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hi, i just started my postbacc program as of january, taking chem and bio. Chemistry is okay for now but biology is really starting to get on my nerves. It seems like no matter how hard I try, I keep getting little tacky points taken off. My struggles in bio are making me completely paranoid, pessimistic and such.
Being a postbacc, I guess I have the mentality that I have to get A’s in all my prereqs. This mentality is driving me up the well, making me become a greedy point hogger, which disgusts me. Do any of the other postbaccs feel this way? And is my “need to get an A mentality” needed to get into Med school? I feel its making me less humane. Another student in the program is making it worse, saying he’s going to drop out the instant he receives a B. =( I just started and I’m already stressing myself out. T_T
Are you seriously becoming a grade grubber, or are you just dismayed to find yourself in a position where you feel TEMPTED to grovel for those points? I think there is a huge difference. As long as you don’t actually ASK for points you don’t deserve, or outwardly act like a jerk about a class or an exam, then you haven’t technically grovelled and I would say your integrity is intact. (At least by my standards.) Just because you are stressed out, on the other hand, doesn’t make you an actual “greedy point hogger.” Now, if you are arguing over small points on past exams, then I agree with other posters that a better strategy would be to ask your profs for advice that pertains to the future. Profs usually love to help in that way!
It can be really hard to chill out as a premed. Personally I do not think there is a high road whereby you are so separated from the “competitive” aspect of being a premed that you simply float through the whole experience and don’t even worry about grades. On the other hand, don’t go overboard. Don’t make an outward display of the stress. No one gets perfect scores on every exam or assignment, so just let it go and aim to do better next time. And don’t listen to that other guy in your class. He’ll probably burn himself out before the semester’s done.
By the way, what exactly about bio isn’t going so well? Maybe we can help you if you give us some specifics.
Another incentive to chill out - if you conduct yourself as a “grade grubber” then it will likely have a deleterious effect on any LORs that prof may write. You are far better off to seek advice & counsel on how to do better & not fret over points. That tactic will be much higher yield in the long run. Afterall, if you are not facile w/ the material, come MCAT time, those points you begged for do not mean $hit.
I started my process this past fall. I had the same worries for a while. I think you’ll do better in school if you just focus on having fun with it, study hard and let the ball bounce where it may. At least that is what I have learned (and have to remind myself of often).
thanks all of you for those encouraging words. in my mind, i believe in what all of you have said and that’s what i try to practice; not stressing and worrying too much. i guess i just needed to rant. OPM has been such a blessing for me with all the knowledge and experience flowing through the forum. glad to know we are all in the same boat~
A ‘B’ is not the end of the road, and I would question the committment of the person you mentioned who was willing to give up at the first B. I took General Chem I and II last spring and summer. Both classes went well. Then I hit Organic Chemistry in the fall with one of the most notoriously difficult professors at UM. He insists on bell curve distribution in his grading, and since we’re the post-bacc students, there are not a lot of people willingly bringing up the lower portion. I was demoralized at every exam because I hovered between an A and a B.
It was maddening. When I ended up with a B+ at the end of the semester, I was completely devastated. But, I was also determined and committed to this process. More than that, I was determined to overcome this obstacle to realizing my goal so I signed up for Organic II with the same professor this semester.
Monday was our first exam, and I scored a 98. And, I will tell you that that A felt better than anything grade I’d ever received before.
It’s about not giving up. When you’re down, you have to remember that there are a lot of other people going through the exact same thing. Being a nontraditional student often means you have more demands on your time and additional stress, but it also means that the achievement is so much more worthwhile.
You are not alone. Hang in there. Even when things seem doomed, you will amazingly find the passion and wherewithal to take the next step forward and push through.