Senioritis

Well, well. The time which I never thought would come is actually upon me: my last semester of undergraduate study is in full swing. After speaking with a lot of other students in my position, I've decided to say a few words on an affliction which is clearly affecting many of us heavily: senioritis. This disease is tricky. It will sneak up on even the most hardcore of studiers before he or she knows what hit her or him. In an effort to help you diagnose yourself--or someone you love--I'll list a few of the more common symptoms below, using myself as an example (who else am I going to use...?)

Symptom 1: Drastic change of scholastic habits.
Example: For years, I used to come home from hours of lecture and re-write every word of notes from that day, heavily accompanying my notes with outside references and clarifying supplements, etc...(I know, I know, you're thinking, "What a nerd"...well, be that as it may, this was a habit which contributed largely to my very nice GPA. So, admitted nerdhood aside, it worked for me. And, I recommend this practice to those of you who are not currently suffering from this affliction, but I'll get back to the point.) I find myself this semester, however, unexpectedly throwing my notes at my desk and not even looking at them until I absolutely must. By this time, of course, they've become a jumbled mess of shuffled dates and incomprehensible chicken scratch. Oh, well...I've only got to pass…which brings me to the second symptom.

Symptom 2: Extreme relaxation of academic expectations.
Example: Anyone who knows me would describe me to you as a ridiculous perfectionist when it comes to school. My papers must be done early, sometimes months ahead of time, tests must be studied for weeks in advance; 'B's' were a result of Satan himself. These days, however, I find myself stating more and more frequently, "Well, I've been accepted to medical school, all I have to do now is pass." Just pass? The me from a year ago would faint. The me from today, however, just wants to take a nap. Ahhhh...the third symptom.

Symptom 3: Complete exhaustion.
I don't know if this happens as a result of the disease or if three and a half years of unyielding overachieving finally take their toll, but (whatever the reason) sufferers of senioritis can expect to be totally worn out. Example: In all the years past, I would stay awake for literally two or three days at a time. Knowing that there were things that had to be done, my academic adrenaline would kick in and keep me wide awake for days. These days, I'm not feeling that adrenaline. I don't know, perhaps it's a side effect of my anticipation of the rigors of medical school...a desire to enjoy these "simple" (simple?!?) days while I have them. Whatever the cause, I'm scraping the bottom of the willpower barrel every time I pull myself away from what I actually want to do and work.

Symptom 4: Competitive edge hiatus.
You've probably got it in you as much as I've got it in me: the overwhelming drive to be the absolute best at everything we do. That's what pushes us to do the things we've done. This drive slows during a bought with senioritis. Example: I was once so upset that someone tied me for the top Organic Chemistry test score that I actually shook. These days, I am satisfied doing well...without the nagging perfectionist requirement of being the best (see Symptom 2 for more details).

Well, these are a few of the symptoms of senioritis. If you find yourself suffering from this disease, you are not alone. After realizing there is no cure (except graduation!), I've come up with an idea about how to handle this: just go with it. See, I've been really uptight lately, worried about what's wrong with me...why I don't feel like I used to regarding school and being academically perfect and all that jazz. Here's the thing (and I know many of you find yourselves in the same boat): I've been accepted to medical school. You've been accepted to medical school, or law school, or graduate school, or some other college of your choice. I think that we deserve a little respite from our own expectations. So, I think we can afford to close the books for a few hours a week. It's OK to loose a day or two, take the phone off the hook, turn off the PDA...you get the idea. Let's enjoy this period between when we receive our acceptances and when we start the next phase of our lives. We'll never get this time back again--and in a few months, that perfectionist, type-A, super-achieving student will have to awaken within us again and give us the edge we need to become the professionals we're meant to be. So let's take a deep breath today, while we still can.

If you would like more information about senioritis, here's the link to Wikipedia's description of the disorder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senioritis (because if it's in Wikipedia, it's legitimate, of course!).

Disclaimer: I am in no way saying that we should stop going to school completely or totally blow off our responsibilities. After all, medical schools find a bachelor's degree a bit of an...asset. I'm just talking about relieving ourselves of some self-inflicted perfectionist pressure. So, let's do what we must without killing ourselves. After all, I've got a Molecular Evolution test tomorrow for which I will be studying the rest of the day...um...right after I order a pizza and watch a movie... See? Senioritis strikes again!

Ouch...Thank You!

This week, I received rejections from two of the more "prestigious" medical schools on my AMCAS list. (Although, at this level of education, I'm not sure what "more prestigious" means besides "more expensive"...if anything. I've heard over and over that getting into any medical school in America is a huge accomplishment and, after having went through the entire application process, I'm now quite inclined to believe that's true. Anyway.) Even though I have been accepted to another school, these rejections still stung. So, just in case you currently find yourself holding a rejection from one or more of these schools, (or in case you will sometime in the future) here are some statistics that I hope will make you (and me) feel much better:

According to the current US News and World Report, this year's top 10 United States medical schools are the following:

1. Harvard University
2. Johns Hopkins University
3. Washington University in St. Louis
4. Duke University
5. University of Pennsylvania
6. University of California San Francisco
7. Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
8. Stanford University
9. University of Michigan Ann Arbor
10. Yale University

So, there's the top 10. Now, according to the 2007-2008 MSAR (Medical School Admissions Requirements, basically the Bible of medical school application statistics), if you add up all of the applications each of these schools received last year, the total application pool consisted of 52,342 hopeful applicants--each, I'm sure, quite talented and qualified in his or her own way (I know, I know...obviously some of these are duplicate applicants--that is, the same applicant applying to more than one of these schools--but there's no way for me to distinguish between them, so I've just added up all of their applications for conversation's sake). Now, if you sum up the number of students who actually matriculated at these schools last year, the number is 1,317. This means that about 2.5% of the applicants to these schools actually made it. 97.5% were rejected. Remove from the 2.5% of successful applicants all those who were "aided" in the application process by some alumni family member or an otherwise non-academic hook-up that those of us lacking such connections cannot possibly make up for, and that number dwindles even further. I know. Wow.

Now, I am not in anyway trying to discourage anyone from applying to these medical schools. I believe you should learn what you can about each school and, if it fits, go for it. Absolutely. Don't hesitate because you only live once. I'm just trying to make those of us who were rejected by all of these "dream" schools feel better with the facts. So, here are some more:

If you happen to have acceptances to one of the 115 U.S. medical schools not on the list above, congratulations! That is an incredible feat. Just because an acceptance isn't from one of these top 10 schools does not mean that it wasn't very, very difficult to receive. So, here are some statistics on just how hard it was for you to get that acceptance letter, no matter from where (in America):

According to the AAMC's National Applicant Data, last year there were 39,108 complete, individual applications submitted to AMCAS. Further, there were 17,370 students who got in. That means that everyone (assuming for a moment that qualifications were equal) had only about a 44% chance of acceptance. I know that next to that 2.5% above, these chances seem great. However, when you consider all of the pain, effort, uncertainty, and expense of undergraduate study, research, the MCAT (shudder), volunteering, shadowing, and applying (etc.)...a less than 50% success rate is still quite small and means that those of us who knew the risk but still went for it are either very brave or very... Ha ha. Let's stop at brave.

So, to those of you currently in my position: I feel better, don't you? Let's enjoy the acceptances we've earned and shrug off the rejections, wherever they may be from. Perhaps we should even be thankful because we're only going to have about 1/2 the debt that those who do go to these top 10 schools will incur...

Not-So-Idol Obsession

Ok. That last post was pretty introspective...and so now for something lighter. I think that the time has come that I completely admit to and accept the fact that I am a total reality TV nerd. However, it is not every reality TV show that holds my attention, no, no...I am faithful to The One Show above all other shows. That's right...I'm an American Idol Freak. Shut up, you know you are, too...and now, thanks to my bravery, you can admit it! Here are some examples of just how deep this Idol nerdhood is encoded into my DNA:

1. I actually felt sick to my stomach when Chris Daughtry was voted off of Idol...I know, that one still hurts... Though he has to feel vindicated by the fact that his album has already gone platinum while Taylor Hicks' album is propping up the short leg on wobbly dining room tables across the land... (As an aside: have you heard Daughtry's debut album? It's all I've listened to since it was released. One word: amazing! He's absolutely incredible. And have you seen the It's Not Over music video? Thank God for leather pants...but I digress...)

2. When faced with the dilemma of studying for an important exam or watching the rerun of Idol on some obscure cable channel, the rerun inevitably wins...sorry glycolysis, you're just not important enough to trump Idol Rewind: Season One...the chemical mechanism of phosphofructokinase? Who cares!?!? I have to know: will it be Kelly or Justin?!?!?

3. Sleep vs. Idol? Good guess. I will be so incredibly tired that my eyes actually feel like they're going to spontaneously pop out of my head and roll under the couch just so they can be in some form of darkness. But, I'll stay up one or two hours longer to watch the episode of Idol I had recorded on my DVR. So...Sleep vs. Idol? Idol wins, no contest.

4. Violence. I have actually punched people when the vote has gone a way I disagreed with. Cue memories of Tamyra Gray, Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry being voted off...Oh yes, and, of course, memories of Kellie Pickler getting through so many rounds [God, every time she opened her mouth I could hear brain cells from all across the nation begging for sweet death...and, um, has anyone else noticed her painfully obvious and not-so-symmetrical new purchase(s)? Here's a before and after. Jeeeeeeeez...give me a break...]. To those within an arm's length at these times: I am truly sorry and I hope those bruises healed up nicely.

5. I actually know who Jim Verraros, Ryan Starr, and RJ Helton are. Um, 'nuff said.

So, there it is. I know I can't be the only one this into Idol...can I? Hello...?

Preparation

I found out just a few days ago that I have been accepted to medical school...and I still can't quite believe it. For so many years, I have spent every second either studying, shadowing, volunteering, or researching in order to make myself a good applicant...and now, it's over. It's a wonderful feeling that I wouldn't trade. But, under all this joy is the now inescapable apprehension that I suppose inevitably comes with increased responsibility. I used to be afraid that I would never be a doctor...and now I'm afraid because I WILL be a doctor. It's ironic and understandable, I guess. But I've suddenly shifted mentally from college kid (responsible for my chemistry midterm) to medical student (responsible for the lives of strangers). What an incredible opportunity...and a humbling responsibility. Before, I thought of presenting myself well to medical schools. Now, what clouds my mind mostly is the thought that (with my acceptance) I've suddenly become an example--to other pre-meds, to my family and friends, and to my future patients. This is a fact that has not escaped me...and one that has impacted me in an unexpected way. I thought I knew what important preparation was: I spent weeks preparing for every exam in order to keep my GPA high, months getting to know physicians in the hope of helping with their research; years preparing for the MCAT. Now, however, I think that the most important preparation is totally different: that of a mind that's prepared to grow, learn, change, and care on an entirely new level. And, that of a life that is transparent and truly inspirational. It is in these ways that I now try and prepare myself.