Now the Real Work Begins

The semester is over.  I just finished my last final exam, that being for Organic Chemistry 2.  I may finish with a "B" in that class depending on the results of that horrific test.  Now the real work begins.  Beginning Monday, I need to take a few days to rejuvenate my mental faculties, I will begin my quest to crush the MCAT, or at least not let it crush me.  This semester was trying in that I took more credit hours than I ever have before.  But I still have the possibility of getting straight A's in the 17 hours taken.  I will update the results when they come out, which I think is next week.

Since my diagnostic MCAT exam was not nearly up to where it needs to be, I will be working 8 hours everyday to give myself the best chance possible of succeeding.  My weakest area is physics, so of course  I will put off studying that as long as possible because let's be honest - physics sucks.  Biology is so much more kick ass than physics!  So I will start with biology and get to where I am a biology master as fast as possible.  Then, because physics is the bane of my existence, I will move on to general chemistry.  Hopefully, by then I will sufficiently be into MCAT study mode where I can focus on the beast.  I've read several posts on student doctor network that organic chemistry is too low yield to study for, and considering I just took two semesters of it, I plan on briefly reviewing that section last.

If anyone has any study tips, or things that worked well for them, please let me know.  I plan on taking a practice exam every week, probably on Saturday mornings since my MCAT is set for Saturday, July 14th at 8 am.  I also will make sure to go over every answer I got wrong, and even the ones I got correct to make sure that I have as solid a foundation as possible.  I will be self-studying as I do not want to shell out $1500 for an MCAT prep course.  Fortunately, my school library has many resources, and a friend is letting me borrow her books when she finishes with them next week.  Good luck to all those applying this cycle.  It's been a lot of hard work to get to this point, and we've only just begun!

Mourning a tragic loss, Next Semester, and Taking a Break

So I took the weekend to mourn the loss of my "perfect" GPA. Physics was my undoing. Physics is difficult for me. Could I have studied more? Yes. Should I have? Yes. But all in all, I'm happy. I got a B. It's respectable. Could have easily been worse. It's just that I don't like physics. It's awful. It's one awful word problem after awful word problem. Mundane. I'd rather have a root canal than study for it. The concepts I think are ingrained in my brain. At this point, it's a matter of putting my understanding into practice, and delivering the correct answer. Next semester I will work harder to get an A in Physics 2.

So my next semester's schedule is just about set. I am signed up for Physics 2, Organic Chemistry 2, Neurobiology, and I will soon be signed up for Psychology Research Methods. My 4 year University just needs a copy of my transcript showing that I took Statistics this semester, since it's a prerequisite. I also filled out the application for admissions into another local Community College. On Monday I will start the process of having my previous transcripts sent to them so I can do the Texas Fresh Start program. I'm not sure what class I am going to take at this point, but I'm thinking maybe either First Aid and Safety, or a beginning Nutrition class. Both are delivered online, so I wouldn't actually have to physically attend class.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to Christmas break. I plan on playing games with the kids, cleaning my sadly neglected house, and spending some much needed quality time with my wife. I'm thinking a night out on the town with a nice dinner, followed by a hotel room in the city. Woohoo! Party rockers in the house tonight! Fun is more than overdue.

Marley and Me

So it's just Marley and me right now. She's a half shar-pei, half lab mix. The wife is at work until very late. My brother came by and I pawned the twins off on him until morning. Muahahahaha. Hopefully they won't eat him alive before then. The older ones are outside playing with friends, and soon will be off to spend the night with their MeeMaw. So I'm here. Studying. Just Marley and me. It's quiet. I had forgotten what quiet felt like. It's a bit eerie. I'm trying to concentrate on my work, but I can hear everything. I can hear dogs barking in the distance. Nearby there is a high school football game in progress. I can track the play-by-play of the announcer (home team appears to be winning). I can hear the tick-tock of the clock in the living room. I can hear the sound of the keys on the keyboard as I type this. How foreign these sounds seem, though they surely happen all the time. Yet I cannot hear them through the din of my life. I kinda miss the din already... Hopefully I will be able to block out all this extraneous noise and buckle down for the homestretch of my organic chemistry study. The exam is Tuesday. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

The Texas Fresh Start Program and Me

Texas has this amazing program called "The Fresh Start." This is designed for non-traditional, aka old, students who wish to pursue a degree, not be held back by sub-par performances earlier in their educational career. Any grades ten years ago or older, are wiped away. This also means that if going on to professional school, like medical school, any prerequisites that were completed over ten years ago are also wiped away and must be redone (but shouldn't they be redone anyway? Who remembers anything from ten years ago?).

In my case, I will instantaneously have a 4.0 GPA! Amazing. Well, maybe not a 4.0 because physics and I are barely on speaking terms lately, but I digress. The only problem is that one needs to apply to the college as a Fresh Start applicant. Since I just learned of this and I am already enrolled, this creates a problem. I mean, I am already enrolled in a 4 year University (more to come about this later), as well as a local 2 year College. So in my case, I will need to enroll at another institution to be able to implement this plan.

My first thought was to enroll in another 4 year University because I need to take biochemistry at some point, and my current 4 year University does not offer it. Seemed like a great plan. The problem is that I just learned the course must be completed before I apply to medical school. Well my timeline has been carefully planned. I am finishing up my prerequisites next semester with physics 2 and organic chemistry 2. I was going to take a month in the summer and study for, then take the MCAT. I was going to then apply to all the Texas medical schools, except for maybe Baylor since they do not accept the program. Well now that I must have the class completed prior to applying, I need to readjust my plans.

So I will now apply to another two year college, take physics 2 there next semester. I will take organic chemistry 2 with my current 2 year college (I already know the professor, and am comfortable with his particular nuances, and I have a scholarship so it's free). I will also take Neurobiology and Psychology Research Methods with my current 4 year institution. So basically, I will be taking classes at 3 different colleges next semester. This is just about enough to make my head spin. The crazy things premeds must endure...

Homeostasis

The maintenance of equilibrium within a social group, person, etc. - Dictionary.com

October brought so much joy and pain. It always seems to equal out doesn't it? The good: There were three birthdays in a four day period. Hectic yes. But joyful nevertheless. My father splurged and got two of the kids kindles for their birthdays. Extravagant, but appreciated by myself as well as the kids. Halloween brings another joyful occasion. Watching the kids light up when trick or treating is something to behold. Watching them freak out when they pass that scary house that's all done up, with torturous screams emanating from within, and monsters laying in wait behind a bush (everyone knows of a house like this, and if you don't, you should). As an aside, this year we had an alien, Darth Vader, a dead hippie, and Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum (random people started taking pictures of these two goofball twins!)

As for joyfulness with school, I found out I got a B on my last organic chemistry test. Normally I would be slightly disappointed by this considering the amount of time I've put into this class, but since I had a ridiculous run of tests in a row, and considering the catastrophic feeling in the pit of my stomach upon exiting the examination room, and all week while waiting for the results, a B is extraordinary! Whew.

To balance, I found out I got a D on my physics midterm. Wow. Crushing. Admittedly I did not put forth the required time it takes to perform well. Physics is hard for me. It takes me a long time to fully grasp a given concept. I don't know why, but it does. Physics has humbled me to my core. Because I do not enjoy the subject, I do not want to study it. Because I am doing poorly, I do not want to study it. Yet I must. Fortunately I am still getting a B in the class, and the professor said he would substitute the Final Exam grade with the midterm, so there is still hope for an A actually. That seems a little weird but I will take it. I just really need to buckle down with it... but it really sucks. Did I mention that?

In addition, I know I did poorly on my last statistics exam. Again, because of time requirements of other subjects, I did not prepare properly. I think I did alright, but I will find out Saturday. I actually understand the subject, find it to be fairly easy, and love my professor whom I can only describe as "Mr. Miyagi." He is hilarious in his own weird, old man way. Because I can do the work relatively easily, I do not put much effort into it, as other classes require so much of me. I really hope this does not cost me in the end, for each grade is important.

Why can't it ALL be good news? Homeostasis sucks.

8 Days of Hardcoreness

The next eight days are crucial. After rebounding from what I hope to be a decent grade on my stats exam on Saturday, I have a monster upcoming schedule. The physics midterm is really what has my stomach in knots. Because I devoted so my time to orgo earlier in the semester, my physics preparation really took a hit. Basically it boils down to the fact that I had one week to complete half 1/4 of the semester's worth of work. While that may not seem like much, since I really can't stand the subject, learning a chapter per day is ridiculous. But I did it to myself, and if I had it to do over, I wouldn't change a thing. Because of all my hard effort in orgo, I got an A on the first test. There are only 4 exams in the semester and my professor does not drop the lowest grade. However, he does count the highest one twice. So in reality, I have an A on 2/5 of my orgo exams. Kick ass!

So back to my schedule, I've got a physics midterm on Saturday, a biology practical on Monday, and a biology lecture exam on Wednesday. Since I knew my schedule was going to be crazy hectic, I spoke with my biology lecture professor and asked if he would keep me on the class roster even if I didn't attend class. Even though the syllabus clearly states he would drop anyone if they missed more than 4 class periods, he was amenable. Nice! An extra 4 hours per week instantly freed up. Oh and I forgot, sandwiched in between the biology examinations, is another orgo exam for which I am wholly unprepared. Oops.

Well what I keep telling myself is the affirmation from below (See previous post). Somehow I know it will all work out. It always seems to doesn't it? In fact, tomorrow, since I have nothing else to do, I have/get to go to a meeting about getting inducted into another honors society. I guess it will help on the medical school application. I hope so anyway. Positivity rules the day!