My Thursday

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1

I have so much to do today... but I feel so limited.

Ultimately I want to get into medical school. I was just looking at my courses for this next term, and there are two major conflicts for time slots that I didn't realize before. I would pretty much be missing two entire classes a week, but I can't change it now. I need these courses though, so I cannot drop them. It's not that I need those specific classes per say, but I cannot drop any courses because then my status would change to 'part time', and then I would lose my student loan. I also cannot switch them for something else, because everything is full right now. I'm also re-taking one of the courses that's in conflict, because I want a better grade for my GPA for med school. But I don't even know if a medical school will like to see that or not. Ahh.

So, I tried to call my university to find this out... but they are closed until January 2nd. I tried to call one of the medical schools I'm looking at too, and they are also closed. If I got a hold of them, then I could see if it's worth my while to postpone graduation and update a few more marks to up my chances of getting accepted. That would mean other things to do on my 'to-do' list, since applying for graduation takes a few steps.

I'm also worried about how much school I can really do in the future... back in highschool it was SO much easier on my levels to have the constant routine. Can I get an 'amen'? Every day you wake up at the same time, have lunch break at the same time, walk home at the same time, have cheer practice at the time time (in my case, anyway), and then eat dinner at the same time. But in university, every day is chaos. Class here, class there, exercise and eat wherever there is time, sleep if you don't have an exam the next day (if you are that lucky). Is this really something I can pull off by dreaming about medical school?

Yikes, I feel so anxious.

2

Agreed. I miss high school for that reason too! The routine made everything so damn easy. I am starting University next year and I feel the same way you do. I had no idea how to work out timetables though, so I missed out on the best times and now my schedule is all over the place. Not only that, but I will be working and combining in Netball if I can. It just seems all too much, and to deal with Diabetes on top of all that seems like HELL! But the only thing we can do is cope I guess! Good luck figuring out those courses.

I you believe you can pull it off! As cliched as it is - Put your mind to it!!

Leena.

3

Valerie, Most med schools will be more impressed with your MCAT scores rather than a single suboptimal course grade. You can always explain that single deficiency away during the interview especially if it is an anomaly. Just my thoughts. Good luck.

4

I am SO glad to hear you are interested in med school. I just got into med school, so I can tell you what they look for. Bob is right, MCAT is way more important than any one class grade and even GPA. Start studying early for the MCAT (like 6 months) and take as many practice tests as possible. I recommend at least 5. Another thing is that med schools look at your overall GPA, so repeating a course will not substitute the grade, only average with it so unless you get below a C, don't bother retaking it because any grade in any class you get will affect your GPA the same way as would taking the same class over again, and it is better to get more out of your education by taking a greater diversity of classes. It gets stressful, applying to med school is like the worst part, but you have a real reason to pursue medicine, and med schools want that. They will love the passion and conviction you have due to your experiences with diabetes. Let all that shine through and you won't have any problems. :)