I've always been a believer that it's never too early or late to give an honest self-assessment. First find out what's wrong, next figure out what to do about it, and last do it. (And of course, like most people everywhere in whatever they're doing, it's the doing that's the hard part.)
What went wrong with Mini 2?
- I got too comfortable. I did very well on the first Mini and I think I lost some of the edge that I started out with. It might have been the day-to-day grind, but if it was, it was a very minor part of it. I know people who have sleep issues, home-sickness, and intense anxiety (especially right before exams) and none of those things describe me. It's very easy for me to get up out of bed, it's become routine to arrive on campus early, and it's habit to stay on campus for 11 hours every day, including weekends.
- Obviously the amount of hours I'm dedicating to studying isn't the problem, it's the quality. I just need to fix what I'm doing wrong (maybe take some new approaches to the material) and tighten up the studying that I'm already doing.
- I was already doing well in Histology and Physiology, but it's hard to say that I spent too much time on those subjects -- Histology in particular. For everyone who doesn't go to Ross, Mini 2 was the big Histology exam. "Histology" at Ross is really Cell Biology, Embryology, and Histology all rolled into one. And Mini 2 covered the majority of the Embryology material. (And if you've been wondering why I haven't posted a Power Point in a while; I was planning on making Power Points for all of Embryology, but it was so much easier to draw by hand. I'll probably scan all of my study products and post them eventually, once the semester is over and I'm back home.)
- I didn't dedicate enough time for practice questions at the end. I had already scheduled the last couple days, strictly for MCQs, but I don't think I dedicated enough. This time I plan on doing more.
- Go to lab more often. Especially since the second Anatomy Practical is coming up in a couple weeks, this is going to be big. I did pretty good on the first practical and I get the feeling that I'm going to need to be able to squeeze every point out of the this second practical as possible. (I'm still not convinced that the cadaver lab actually helps you during the written exams, but that's what everyone tells me, including the Academic Success adviser that I talked to the other day. Based on the questions that are asked, I'm still not a believer. But whatever I've been doing so far isn't working and I do believe that they know something I don't. Whether or not "going to the cadaver lab" is the secret ingredient or not remains to be seen, but I'll give it a shot.
- Use Baby Netters and BRS Biochemistry for more than just references. Time is the most valuable thing here on the island. You just don't get the luxury of being able to comb through every single source multiple times, while going to TA review sessions, while making time to study when your friends on a white board, while endlessly testing yourself with flashcards -- on top of everything else you've been doing. It's time to pick up the pace and make time to squeeze in something more and I'm going with additional sources and practice questions, specifically from these two books.
I need a drink.
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4 comments:
I've been following your blog for a very long time. Im a pre-med student and you make me very nervous about what's to come but you're also a very big inspiration.
I believe you'll do just fine. You know what your weaknesses are and you're working on them.
I only wish you the best!
Hi Brendon,
I recognize your name as one of the people who makes comments every once in a while (along with good number of other people), but from memory, I can never make the connection as to how far along they are in their own goals. If you're still premed, then the trick is to get into a US school. Just because I think Ross is harder isn't the only reason Ross has high attrition rates, they just have a more talented pool of students (in general).
I figure that if you ever get accepted into a US school, just take that as confirmation that you have what it takes. For everyone else over here... well... we'll see.
-Jonathan
i think the advisor is an idiot bc heres the thing, my buddy who never went to lab except for the day before an exam, he only studied netters and did questions from BRS anatomy and made med school look easy with his all A's. Actually he never showed up anywhere except for mandatory ones and only barely got B+ in 2 classes. I found that if i didnt go to class, i'd do better and less time wasted when u can do it yourself than have some foreign guy speak slowly. Actually i never went to a single biochem class in 2nd semester and got an A. Freaking A in a US state school.
I'm hoping that my grades are good enough for acceptance to US med schools. My first year grades weren't the greatest but I'm working on improving my GPA to at least a 3.6 or above before graduation. I'm yet to take the MCAT so we'll see.
I know of someone who recently graduated from Ross and she had an excellent GPA in college and a decent MCAT score. It's easier to get into Ross so it's expected that the attrition rate is going to be high but so many students from Ross goes on to become great physicians. The fact that you're so incredibly driven gives me all reason to believe that you'll be one of those student.
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