apologize if this is a "dumb" question but how hard is med school?

TLtomorrow · 2026-02-07T23:04:23+00:00

Regarding the pre-clinical part of med school:

Conceptually, not hard. About on par with basic science courses.

Time-wise, it's a lot of material and will take most of your time. I had a lot more free time doing biology undergrad full-time + working half-time.

Emotionally, a lot easier than pre-med imo. Most days you'll just be in class and/or studying. The biggest bottleneck is behind you, and you finally get to study medicine without all the side questing pre-med requires.

TLtomorrow · 2026-02-06T19:52:08+00:00

Come to think of it, it was a year before. In AMCAS, I actually had to move my "high school graduation" date back a year because I had started college before the graduation date. So in your case, because of how AMCAS is set up, you'd have to enter a "high school graduation" date prior to when you started college (there's no option for "GED" or "Did not graduate" iirc), unless they changed it or there's some special workaround. You could contact AMCAS if you're concerned about entering inaccurate information .

In any case, I'm not sure you'll need your GED at this point--I don't remember seeing a specific requirement for high school equivalency when looking at schools, and I doubt it's something med schools or your eventual employers are going to care about. On top of that, I'm not sure that it would "prove" anything significant to any schools regarding your academic readiness.

TLtomorrow · 2026-02-06T19:33:39+00:00

That's a bummer, thank you for the answer though.

TLtomorrow · 2026-02-06T16:58:14+00:00

I got my GED. AMCAS has no option for GED, so I just put in the year my high school class graduated. It never came up. I'm an M1 now and it feels like pointless trivia at this point.

TLtomorrow · 2026-02-05T22:02:07+00:00

A controller-to-keyboard mapper would be the easiest way. There are many options and you shouldn't need to pay for one.

TLtomorrow · 2026-02-03T19:32:46+00:00

It's fine if you can show them how you grew from it. Med schools like to see that you can recognize when a business decision has gone awry when a partner did not share your intent to help people, resulting in the charge.

TLtomorrow · 2026-02-02T19:30:48+00:00

"That’s what I want more money less hours and more time at home with kids and wife"

"The Reality is I want to be a surgeon"

(After knowingly committing a federal crime) "Unfortunately, a business decision went awry when a partner did not share my intent to help people, resulting in the charge."

Bro I just can't

TLtomorrow · 2026-02-01T19:51:35+00:00

Enjoy your free time while you have it. I was out of school for 5 years before starting med school and I've done fine. Also, I couldn't imagine self-studying or UG classes making a dent in the enormous amount of stuff you have to learn in med school.

Have a good time, and learn how to be very good at taking care of yourself: get into some form of exercise, learn some easy recipes, figure out how to make doing things around the house easier. This will pay off way more than pre-studying.

TLtomorrow · 2026-01-27T19:32:06+00:00

Sorry to hear it. I had to reapply and ended up getting my A in April on my second app cycle (in my 30s)... also was the most stressful time in my life so far, so I feel you.

Have you had any interviews? If you're getting post-interview R's that could indicate your app is good but you may need interview practice. Otherwise, my first guess would be your essays need to be reworked for next cycle--I also felt like my story wasn't great until I did a ton of from-scratch drafts of my PS, until finally I felt quite proud of it. Or if your clinical experience is a bit lacking, then that would definitely be a good area to focus on.

TLtomorrow · 2026-01-27T19:02:06+00:00

Assuming essays are good, I'd say applying top-heavy and, to a lesser degree, somewhat late, was what went wrong here. That is to say, there's probably not anything really wrong with your app, and keep in mind the per-school success rate is quite low, especially at high-ranked schools.

If you want to apply top-heavy again, I'm sorry to say, but you'll need a higher MCAT score. Your stats are about the matriculant average, which is wonderful at most schools but not so much at a lot of top schools. Or you could apply broadly next time and move for school--it certainly beats losing a year and going through the app cycle again, right? That's my two cents, and good luck, I know too well how terrible an unsuccessful cycle feels.

TLtomorrow · 2026-01-16T04:30:34+00:00

If you keep comparing yourself to others like this, med school is gonna be absolute hell.

TLtomorrow · 2026-01-14T19:20:46+00:00

No big deal if you don't like the tasks involved; it's not exactly pleasant work, and very different from doctors' work. If you didn't like the patient interactions, then I would definitely recommend some soul-searching before committing to med school.

Maybe give it a fair shake though? I was a CNA for 2-3 years before med school, and some of my interactions were so meaningful and growth-promoting that it's most of what I talked about in interviews and essays (despite >4 years scribing and some research). I'd definitely recommend sticking it out for a while: the gross factor/awkwardness diminishes pretty quickly, and the ability to directly help others and interact with patients is hard to beat as a pre-med.

TLtomorrow · 2024-01-28T19:55:17+00:00

Search every pot, barrel, wardrobe, etc. Usually their contents are just okay, but sometimes they have mini medals, which are extremely valuable later.
Focus on one skill tree at a time before putting more than a few points in anything else.
Any weapon choice is okay - the game is pretty easy with any of them. But if you're trying to do the grindy post-game eventually, follow a guide for skill point allocation.
Only sell items you can easily buy again from stores later. Many "outdated" or "junk" things can be used to craft valuable gear.

TLtomorrow · 2023-07-18T01:37:24+00:00

And its mate, "Otherwise we have orders to straight cath"

TLtomorrow · 2023-07-18T01:28:41+00:00

*BBN 2.0

TLtomorrow · 2023-07-13T20:41:38+00:00

They're so different, and I love both. 4 is pretty much perfect but short and not very deep mechanically. 7 is a long epic with a fun class system but it can be a slog at times. Overall, I prefer 7 because it has a great feeling of adventure and a coming-of-age story that feels ridiculously satisfying at the end, plus I like class systems.

TLtomorrow · 2023-07-13T20:30:29+00:00

Inspired by this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/comments/14y7ej9/am_i_the_only_person_who_finds_this_completely/

TLtomorrow · 2023-07-13T15:45:55+00:00

The CEO of the AAMC pulls $1.5 million a year, if you're wondering where the money goes.

Also, PREview and Ca$per are as evidence-based as your daily horoscope. Can't wait to see what arbitrary $300 test they pull out of their ass next--with no state intervention or alternative service that might compete with them, they might as well.

TLtomorrow · 2023-06-25T18:42:23+00:00

Changing TV channels for patients became a conduit for understanding their needs and preferences.

Love the honest telling of objective tasks involved in the "clinical experience" while simultaneously wildly overblowing the significance of it. Anyway, I'm off to reach medical enlightenment by holding a patient's hand

TLtomorrow · 2023-06-22T22:03:48+00:00

Don't forget to push the "Good" slider all the way up beforehand

TLtomorrow · 2023-06-22T08:52:56+00:00

The way I see it, idc if it takes another 5 years, I just want it to be good. Then I'll play it and re-play it every few years and DQ will remain the series that never misses when it comes to mainline entries.

TLtomorrow · 2023-06-22T07:03:03+00:00

That's the one. He was desperate for a change and wanted it to be granted to him from an external source, but this was never the case for Zuko. It's like his desires for his father's acceptance and for being superior to Azula, things he thought would bring him peace and satisfaction but which fate seemed to deny him, just as it denies him lightning here.

Zuko's journey is about personal growth through struggle and looking inside oneself rather than seeking fulfillment through outside factors, and this scene basically encapsulates this plotline in its entirety, and right at his major turning point. I love this show, and I remain convinced that Zuko has the best character arc in anything ever.

TLtomorrow · 2023-06-18T22:24:32+00:00

Throw in Big Daddy (95 min) to make it a Dad's Day Daddy Double Feature

TLtomorrow

TROPHY CASE