Textbooks and Learning Styles

I guess these topics are related but probably should have been two separate posts... oh well!

As school comes nearer, I have begun my final preparations for this semester. This is the first year I have attempted to do these three things: get a hold of class textbooks before school begins, get them other sources than the school bookstore, and pre-read/learn for my classes.
Figuring out which textbooks are assigned for this semester has been difficult. Most of my classes didn't update on the day UBC told me they would. Apparently there have been some technical issues, but also some courses don't have assigned professors yet.
Getting a hold of the textbooks at a cheaper price has been much easier. So far, I've gotten one textbook through amazon.ca, one through craigslist.com, one through usedvancouver.ca and one through piratebay.org. Through UBC bookstore, the total of these texts would be $514.70 plus tax... My total comes to (drum roll) $311.49... including shipping and tax AND one textbook that's for next semester! Not bad, eh?

This lead me to think about learning styles. I started to procrastinate and look up research regarding different learning styles. What I found was a very controversial topic. What I've mostly heard before hand was information regarding the VAP (visual, audio and physical) style. Most of the studies I looked up seemed to state that there is no evidence proving people are a particular type. So what then?
Know thyself and maximize your possibilities! Whenever I talk to people in regards to healthy eating and/or working out, they always ask me what I think is the best method. I usually respond with "the method you actually do." The truth is doing something that is more efficient will only help you so much if you rarely ever do it. Also, even if one method helps you to learn better, doesn't mean the others can't help you learn even more. Mix it up then!
Read, take notes, do problem sets, ask questions, and discuss things with your professor, TA and peers. Get an overall understanding with enough ability that you could teach someone else. If you do this, no matter what, you will do well!


While writing this I listened to NIN's album Year Zero

Search Keywords and FAQs for A Long Premed Path

If you read my last post, you will understand what details and answers are and will be in this post.
It is quite simple. Blogger allows me to see what people keyed in at search engines, like Google, that lead them to my site. I will try to decipher what information these people were searching for and answer their questions. As well, anyone can comment on this post to ask questions and I will try to add the answers on here as quickly as possible.
I will not create new posts; but instead, I will continuously update this post. And so it begins...

Do I Need Physics
Short answer: Depends
Long answer: Whether in Canada or the States, each school has it's very own set of requirements. Medholic has a great table created for the prerequisites for Canadian medical schools. This information may or may not be up to date, but it gives you a good idea on how every school is different. Keeping yourself as competitive for the maximum amount of schools maximizes your chances of acceptance. Also, in my humble opinion, I believe that introductory physics is very important in science. Physics is the study of the laws of the universe and having some basic understanding in those areas is important. Also, if you've ever read Ian Wong's journey and advice, you will notice he mentions how knowledge is interrelated, specially in sciences. Having knowledge in Physics helps you understand why things happen the way they do in Organic Chemistry. Organic Chemistry helps you understand biochemical pathways in Biochemistry. Biochemistry can help you understand why people may have particular symptoms.

UBC BIOL 234 Fundamentals of Genetics
I've noticed people have been looking for information on this course at UBC (notes, exams, etc). I would like that too except that it's impossible because it's a brand new course. I will have information on this blog when I post my second year courses reviews up. I do know that it is an introduction to genetics (duh). As many have guessed, it is replacing BIOL 334, which the Biology Department of UBC is fazing out. My suggestion is to look for BIOL 334 resources, although most of my own searches have not found much. The content of the two courses must be similar since 234 is replacing 334 and you are only allowed credit for one.
Here is the course description:
Topics include genotype and phenotype, mechanisms of inheritance and genetic analysis.

Am I Too Old for Premed?

Short answer: Never

Long answer: Any way that you are outside of the "traditional premed" is a hurdle in your path. Not because med schools are being discriminatory towards others, but because being traditional makes you the most competitive. But hurdles can be overcome:

UBC has shown at least one person over the age of 39 has been accepted into their program in 2008 - 2010.

I'm sure other schools have similar statistics available. So it is possible. The problem is it may be more difficult; with age you may have developed more responsibilities. These responsibilities may distract you from being able to put in all amount of effort and attention necessary to succeed. Medicine is one of the most competitive fields of study and with higher competition means higher hoops are needed. Set goals and be realistic of your chances. You can do it! 
That's all for tonight... Expect to see more as I post.

Another Quick Personal Update

I like watching the stats of my blog. I find it quite interesting that people (around the world!) would read what I write. I don't mean this in a pseudo-humble/I-don't-deserve-this kind of way. I mean it is quite amazing that I can go to my computer, write some things down, and some people will actually read it. The numbers are not what I find so interesting; it is the personal information. I like seeing how people from other countries have viewed my site. What has really intrigued me lately is the traffic source. As expected, a large majority of people are from either Premed101 or Medrunner. What is really interesting is the Google keywords that brought people to my blog. Since I only have one more class to go for my first year reviews, I had been thinking on what to do next...

I've decided I'm going to make a post soon related to all the major searches that bring people here. If I can decipher what information the people were looking for in their search, I will try to answer it. As well, if anyone posts comments on that post I will also answer it there. Instead of constantly adding new posts as people find this blog via Google, I will continuously update that post....
In fact... because I'm getting excited by this idea I think I may start the post tonight! (Doesn't mean it will be finished tonight. Last post took 3 days and it's not even 100% complete)

For those of you that care:
My wife and I have moved all of our stuff to Vancouver and we're quite excited for our fall semesters. Due to financial reasons and how well my job in Victoria pays, we have opted for myself to stay in Victoria for weekdays while I work and then commute to Vancouver for the weekends.
I won't lie: I miss my wife, a lot. But, I get to see her tomorrow! :)

First Year Unicellular and Molecular Biology (and BIOL 200: Cellular Biology)

Although not all universities split their first year of biology the same way, I believe the separation created by my school should be similar to the separation on how you tackle these courses. Unfortunately, the amount of detail I can give regarding this class isn't much; many details from 2004 are very hazy, but I did take Cellular Biology (second year continuation of the course) last year. Due to the similarities of courses I will combine them here.

Physiological Basis of Life
Text: Don't remember... Too long ago.
As you discover quickly in undergrad, higher level in education usually means a more specific study and intense workload of a previous course. This course is really predominately Biology 12 with a university difficulty disguise. This course is mostly the study of tissues and cells. I completely forgotten how the labs were in regards to this course, but I don't recall any difficulty regarding them. It was one of the few classes I did ok in during my first year of taking random courses.
My course description read: The course focuses on the structure and functions of macromolecules, storage of information and replication of DNA as well as the role of DNA in protein synthesis and inheritance are described and related to the functions of whole organisms. Transport mechanisms, basic metabolism and hormonal and nervous regulation of function are explored with examples.

How I Did
B+

BIOL 200: Cellular Biology
Textbook: unsure because I never bought it...
Almost everything holds the same here. The topics are quite similar but go in far greater detail regarding the actual processes that take place within the cell and how it may affect the organism. As I took this course in a college, it came with a lab component. My professor was amazing and was really lab focused. My professor was also well known for all his material coming straight from his slides, which is why I never bought the textbook.

How I Did
A-

How to Do Well
Combination of logic skills and memorization would of been my key to success... If I had only knew then what I know now.
There are two types of memorization:
1) Straight memorization of all the facts
2) Memorization of basic ideas and overall picture
I find organismal biology to be more along the lines of the second type and this is even more apparent in Cell Bio. Too often I see classmates struggle, memorizing every single detail and situation. I find that, as you learn the basic overall concepts, the details come easier. I've been told this is a similar mistake many students make in Organic Chemistry. Once I feel I have a good overall understanding of the material, I like to quiz myself with material by comparing affects that would happen if changes were made and how this would affect the cell. These courses were heave on powerpoint presentations and because of this I never bought a textbook (not 100% sure if I did for first year). This is a good example on not wasting your time with material that isn't needed. BUT, always make sure he's not a professor to pull a fast one and place material on the exam just because "it's testable."

I wish I could say more but I can't think of anything right now. I'll add more as I think of it. Also, I will be posting another personal update soon.

While writing this I listened to Rob Zombie and Skrillex

Super Small Quick Update: UBC Second Year

My wife and I have found a place and will be moving to Vancouver soon.
I've been accepted to UBC with scholarship and into the program I wanted... although my program has significantly changed due to changes in the Biology department.
I will be taking Combined Honours in Biological Chemistry... and I'm really excited!

Here are the courses I'm taking this year (and you can look forward to me putting my usual review/advice regarding them):

First Semester:
BIOL 234: Intro to Genetics (new course; check here for more information)
CHEM 202: Coordination Chemistry (aka Intro to Inorganic for non-UBCers)
CHEM 203: Intro to Organic
ECON 100: Microeconomics
MATH 200: Calculus III

Second Semester:
BIOL 201: Intro to Biochem
CHEM 201: Intro to Physical Chem
CHEM 211: Analytical Chem
CHEM 213: Organic Chem w/ CHEM 245: Intermediat Organic Lab
ECON 102: Macroeconomics

Stay classy...

PS no music was used in the production of this post.

Calculus II (First Year Calculus, Part Two!)

Single Variable Calculus, Second Semester:
Text: Calculus of a Single Variable, 9th Ed.
Why did I divide calculus into two parts? Because, in my mind they are very different and this will help emphasize that point. The first semester is almost solely memorization of rules; meanwhile, second semester is predominately problem solving and learning strategies. In first semester you look at a question, see it wants you to differentiate/integrate, and then you try to decide which rule(s) to use. Example: Differentiate "blank" over "blank". "Oh, okay it's a quotient. Use the quotient rule." In second semester you learn a few rules and shortcuts; but for the most part, you're mostly using the strategies in second semester with the rules from first semester. The proecedure that seems correct may lead you to an unfortunate dead end. The questions usually result in a stronger problem solving and pre-calculus background than the first semester.
Some people find second semester ridiculously easier, while others find it much harder. I just found it different.

Although material and stylistically I found the two calculus' different, I still attacked them the same way.

How I Did
A

How to Do Well
Yet again PatrickJMT, and Maple (or Wolfram) were used. Yet again, lots of practice is encouraged for problem set style course. Math is always practice, practice, practice. Rinse. Repeat.
I guess what I'm getting at is although I didn't use a different strategy for this course from Calculus I, you may. You may find it easier or harder. As always: work hard, play hard and get plenty of rest.
While writing this post I was listening to the wind blowing cos its just darn to nice out and peaceful.

PS. I'm too lazy to proof read this one so good luck understanding me

Calculus I (First Year, First Semester Calculus)

Calculus. Most students dread this course more than any other (with the possible exceptions of English and Organic Chemistry). It is a lot of work and not everyone has taken pre-calculus, or something similar, in High School. In my case, it is also a prime example of how your favourite, find-most-interesting, or easiest course may not be your strongest mark (see my debate on "bird courses" in my first post). This was my strongest mark... but definitely not the easiest course.

Single Variable Calculus:
Text: Calculus of a Single Variable, 9th Ed.
Coming fresh out of High School, a lot of these topics can be completely new and alien (ex: limits, derivatives, integrals). If you are typically weak at Math you may want to consider taking a pre-calculus course first. These courses will introduce you slowly to the ideas and concepts that calculus is built on and is a good baby step between Math 12 and Calculus I.
A lot of universities and colleges are starting to offer calculus courses that are topic specific. For example, in addition to regular calculus, UBC offers a calculus course specifically for life sciences and for business students. I highly recommend taking one of these if you are eligible. Having course material that is more relevant can decrease the difficulty in learning new topics.
I worked hard at this class and physics in my first semester, because I knew these were the "tough ones." There is one great thing about math; there is only one right answer. Calculus will be easier if you have a good mix of logic and conceptualization (specially for second semester).
I ended up with 98.7% in the course. To be honest though, I went into the exam with 92% but my professor challenged us to a bet: if any of us beat our class mark in the exam, the exam would become 100% of our grade. I would of ended up with an A+ regardless, but I wouldn't have been the top mark in the school that semester if it weren't for my pretty exam.

How I Did
First semester: A+ (my highest mark in percentile)

How to Do Well
I said it before: PatrickJMT is amazing for math. In fact, there are a lot of good sources on the internet for helping you. Many of my classmates used the online Wolfram, while I used a copy of Maple, for checking over answers. Heed my warning: do not use these programs as a crutch. Getting the right answer on an assignment will not help you on the test if you cannot replicate the problem solving on your own. I saw many classmates beat me in assignments only to be destroyed by the unit tests.Just like physics, this course is almost purely problem sets. The only exception to this would be memorizing rules and possibly theorems/derivations. After each section was completed I would attempt 1-4 problems to see if I understood the concepts. When it came to a few days before the exams I would crash the books hard. This will get boring. This will get hard. This will get frustrating. Try to break up with quick study breaks here and there. I would either eat or workout for 5-10 mins every half hour or so. With calculus you can be brilliant but do bad or slower but do well. Practice makes perfect.
I did 1-4 questions a day each weekday, plus ~100 before my three unit tests, plus ~200 before the exam. This adds up to a lot of practice. With that much practice, I'm sure you could beat my mark. :)

While writing this post I was listening to In Flames and Deadmau5

Vacation!!

One month without a post! I'm almost as good as half the web comics I read!!

Updates in my life:
I've been accepted to UBC with entrance scholarship. This is the first scholarship I've ever been awarded... which means I should probably start applying and see what I can really get!
My wife and I are looking for a place to live in Vancouver. It really is as expensive as they say it is.

Updates in Blog:
Who knows how regular I'll post in the next while with how crazy things are...
Who knows when I'll finish updating the visuals of the blog...
All I can say is: I'll try my best. It's not like I have actual regular readers to disappoint :)

Facelift Planning For Premed Path

School is done. Grades are in. Transcripts sent to UBC. Plan B created with Langara.
Now, back to working full time for my local health authority.
Now, preparing my wife and I for the big move at the end of the summer.

Hopefully this will equal to more blog time... but I could see possibly the opposite happening.

I plan on finishing the current series and doing a little facelift. Currently, I have kept the site to its default template and its slowly starting to bother me.

Much Love.

First Year General Chemistry

I think next time when I write two posts in one day I will post both of them and not accidentally save as draft the second post... :P

General Chem
Text: Chemistry: The Central Science, 8th Ed.
Since my last post was about my weakest course, english, I thought I would follow up with my strongest course, chemistry. Most chemistry class are formated the same: labs, 1-2 midterms, maybe a few assignments, and a final. A lot of students dread lab courses as it means 2-3 extra hours of class time and an assignment (lab report) each week. I have to admit I'm quite the opposite. Chemistry tends to come easily to me. I have yet to experience problems with understanding the material or really getting stuck on a question. Because of all this, I knew to spend less time on understanding this course and placed most of my effort on other courses.
I don't say this to boast how awesome I am; I say this to once again show the importance of strategy in undergrad class selection. I have selected a program where I have 1-2 chemistry courses each semester. I play to my strengths while allowing me to concentrate on my weaknesses. Like most first year university courses, you will find most of the objectives to be review and expansion of their grade 11 and 12 equivelants. I did find the textbook helfpul in many ways and will discuss this later. My text named chemistry the central science because chemistry can easily be related to all the others. I continuously found the knowledge in my other courses helped me with chemistry. Some obvious examples: integrated rate laws and calculus, almost anything in cellular biology and organic chem, quantum physics and any chemistry dealing with the atoms.

How I Did
First semester: A+
Second semester: A+

How to Do Well
The reason why students have issues with lab courses is because of time management and efficiency issues. Try to complete your lab reports as soon as possible (easier said than done). Labs are usually integrated with the previous section of lecture, so it is important that both the lab and course work is as fresh as possible. I will stress again that a student excells when the teachers expectations are met or exceeded. Every proffesor or TA wants different information and style for lab reports. I try to find out right away what they are looking for. I then work increadibly hard on getting the first lab report as perfect as possible. After this, all subsequent lab reports are just minor alterations of the first with new data. I used this method even when my proffessor excluded a section for one lab. Example: lab three didn't require theory but I kept that section regardless to keep my format and to show understanding throughout the report. Another tip for labs is to approach it as a seperate course from the lecture. Although I did state previously the two are usually integrated, I did notice how my fellow students would get hung up on this idea and would get confused when they did not perfectly match.
General chemistry has a decent balance of memorization, problem sets and theoretical application, where the chapters will differ in magnitude of each. That's why a diverse strategy works best. I would preread the text the day before class, watch Freelance Teacher just before class, and then review my notes the next day. On average this would represent about 30 minutes for every hour of lecture.
Test studying would completely depend on the subject. For theoretical subjects I would make note summaries. For memorization topics flash cards and mind maps always work best. For problem sets I would practice as many problems as possible (priority for any ones given by proffesor or previous students over text book).
Overall, don't get frustrated and enjoy your time in undergrad! There will be stresses but don't let it get you down.

While writing this I was listening to Periphery!

First Year English

This will be short. As most have gathered by my awesome sentences, writing is not my strength. Not too sure why: I like to read, I am artistic (musically), and love to argue logically. Luckily I'm done English courses forever (except written section in MCAT). I have completed one semester of University Writing and one semester of Literature.

University Writing
I took this course in 2005, so please keep that in mind. I ended up with a B in the course with a teacher known for being an easy marker. This course is basically English 12 on steroids. The course is to teach good writing skills, according to your professor (keep this in mind for later). Usually the prerequisite for other English courses and mandatory for most programs. Mostly work on technique and how to properly source materials.

Literature
This class is nothing but reading and writing about reading. Material will usually consist of short stories, poems, plays and a novel(s). I somehow tricked a teacher, who is famous for low grades, into giving me an A-.

How I Changed My Approach:
I'm going to give the big secrets off the bat:
   * go to class
   * listen to the teacher
   * read the material
   * get at least two people to edit your writing
   * the big one: finish the assignment around a week earlier, visit your teacher during and get her to edit it by asking "am I on the right track" or "is there anywhere I can improve"
English is a subjective course, which means you're as good as your teacher thinks you are. You improve your chances of success when you are arguing the point your audience already believes. By taking these steps you will ensure that your essay is clear, concise and mostly what your instructor is looking for. A lot of schools have free writing centres so please use all the tools available.

This won't teach you how to write well, but it will show you how to do well in a course that is difficult for most science based premeds.
Oh PS: take in whatever you can on how to write well for the MCAT

Random Update

There's a few chores to get done with this post.

First, I've noticed a huge increase (relatively speaking... ex: one is more than none) of visits and was able to track the source down. MedRunner (aka HKing) has put a link on his blog to here. I'd like to thank him since there was no request or requirement and we don't know eachother personally. I would like to say check out his blog, not because he linked to me, but because he is a genuine great guy (even if he is a Canucks fan... go Jets!). Over at pm101 he is quick to assist and up lift others. You have to be a great person to seem like a good person online, so he must be awesome! So I command all two of my readers who accidentally found this to check his blog out!

Secondly, I fell for a huge blog cliche: I apologized for lack of update, followed by a promise, and then came up empty. Sorry. I promise not to promise to update regularly but will try my best to be as often as possible. This way no one is dissapointed.

Thirdly, I'm done my last year of college. I'm pretty excited. Next year I move to UBC and enter the big leauges. I'll go from a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond. I hope to meet this challenge! I've recieved my grades for this semester and I'm both happy and dissapointed. I beat last years GPA (not according to U of Man as they measure A- and A as equals) but I think I could of done better.

Fourthly, I will try to write two more posts today and hopefully finish my "first year courses" series soon!

First Year Physics

I said I wouldn't write the blogs on my first year courses in the order I listed them... but I just had my last physics midterm for my undergrad career, so it looks like I'll start with it regardless.

Calculus Based Physics:
Text: Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 8th Ed.
My first piece of advice would be to take the "college level" physics (also known as trigonometric based physics in most universities) if at all possible. There are only two possible advantages I can see to taking this harder version. First, it's prereq/mandatory class for your program (not really an advantage... more of a no choice). Second, you're in my position where you have taken a semester (or possibly two) of the easier physics and so having two new courses can potentially raise your GPA more than retaking one and having one new course. My personal experience was this class tended to have easy concepts to understand but difficult to master for the exams and tests. It is definitely more difficult than the other physics class. I'm not going to split the commentary into the two separate semesters as the courses subjects are interchangeable enough that each university goes through them in completely different order. I lucked out to have a great professor for both semesters, albeit his midterms are pretty difficult. As the course specifies, it is calculus based. The calculus tends to be very simple differentiation and integration. I found the bigger difference than college physics is vector multiplying using cross product and dot product and having to derive equations. Having some knowledge in linear algebra and/or differential equations would be useful (but not any where near enough help to take the courses for that reason).

How I Did
First semester: A-
Second semester: A

How to Do Well
What I would suggest is use Freelance Teacher to get the basic concepts of physics whenever you're stumped. Although I don't believe he uses calculus, he does help with some of the major concepts. PatrickJMT is amazing for the math concepts. Although I use him mostly for Calculus, he is good for getting a background in the knowledge of calculus, linear algebra and differential equations. I didn't find the textbook helpful other than problems for review, BUT this leads me to my next point...
This is a problem based course. Practice. Practice. Practice. Before a test I would do as much practice problems as possible. First I would re-do assignment questions, followed by example questions from lecture, and lastly questions from the textbook (if time allowed). I follow this order for one unfortunate reason. School does not test you on knowledge or skill. School tests you on what your professor wants you to know. Sounds obvious and ridiculous, but not everyone uses this information to your advantage. Which overlaps my last point...
Talk to your professor in class and in office hours. I don't condone kissing up, but by being an active learner and engaging your professor you end up learning more AND learning what your teacher wants you to learn.

Update and First Year Courses Review

Hello random people who stumble on to this website,
I want to apologize for starting of the blog with a long pause between posts. I do plan this to be semi-weekly but last week was my wife's birthday. Due to my super busy schedule with school, work, music and volunteering, I made it a week of small events instead of one large one and that took most of my time.
To give everyone (or anyone?) an idea of what my plans are for this blog in the next few weeks.... I plan to start off with giving an analysis of and how to strategize for the courses I have taken.

In no particular order (and not my planned order):
First Year Physics
First Year Chemistry
First year Evolution/Diversity/Genetics Biology
First year Cellular and Organismal Biology
First Year English
Calculus I
Calculus II

As I write each post I'll change these into links.
Also, I'm currently listening to Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains album The Big Eyeball in the Sky

GPA and Undergrad

Well here's my first real post...
One real controversial topic is regarding the selection of courses/majors. In my opinion the actual controversy is multi layered. I'll try to split the topics with respect to the layers.

GPA's Importance
First off, GPA is the least subjective, most controllable (at first), and most important aspect of your application. While there are many counter arguments used against this statement, I strongly disagree with those arguments. Volunteer work, character sketches, MCAT, letters of reference, etc. are important, but not every school will look at all of these aspects. Some of these will be used as flags, some as tie breakers, some as a small or major part of the algorithm. You may put all your eggs in one basket regarding your dream school, but the best way to succeed is to increase your chances statistically (see read the section on Do The Math by Matt Might). It is important to keep yourself as competitive as possible. As well, MCAT's can be rewritten (and usually are); volunteer work can be increased after school. It's far more difficult to change a weak GPA than it is to improve on the other aspects (this is an unfortunate reality for me...). A weak GPA can be an unrepairable injury. These things are important to succeed of course but GPA is your number one priority. Also, some people will argue that you need to prepare yourself for medschool by challenging yourself or taking courses that are med related... I've yet to hear a single doctor agree to that statement. Nothing will prepare you for medschool and if you're not competitive enough to get in, you'll never know for yourself.

Bird Courses
Bird courses are another layer to this onion. For those of you who don't know, bird courses are courses that are considered easy. Wait? Are you saying there are courses that are ridiculously easy for everyone? Sounds too good to be true! Because in part, it is. Think about it logically. Everyone is different, including in their individual strengths and weaknesses. It seems illogical that one course would be easier than another for everyone. Also, just because it's easier doesn't mean you will do better. Some of my best marks have been from difficult courses (98.7% in Calculus I was not easy to come by!!). So some would say try to use statistics to your advantage? UBC posts the class distribution of grades for all their courses, sections and teachers. Due to my GPA deficit I researched to try to find all the bird courses I could. Well I noticed a few things here as well. Some courses had really high class averages (consistently looking at the same teacher over multiple years), but the professor would have a really low percentage of higher grades. I saw one teacher have only one A+ in 4 sections of a course that had about 200 students in each and class averages in the high 70's - low 80's. Hmmmmmm... Makes you think doesn't it. In my opinion, a bird course is purely subjective. So my main point:

Know Thy Self
This is where the truth starts to reveal itself. You are the defining point on what is easy and what is not. The courses which will be most interesting to you or easiest for you (not always the same thing, but sometimes there is a relationship) are because of your own individuality. Use this to your advantage! Find the courses that interest you and you can do well with. Find the teachers that teach for your style. Do this, and you have the highest chance of success. 

Stratagize, Then Attack!
There are some universal tips, but I will try to avoid stating some obvious ones (ex: study, time management, etc). Your strategy to how you approach the course is imperative.  Not all courses/professors are equal in their style. Some are subjective; some are objective. Some are problem sets; some are conceptual; some are straight up memorization. Don't waste your time doing practice problems for a memorization course or conceptual course unless you think it's the best way for you to learn the concept or memorize the information. It would be useless to try to memorize all the possible questions that could come up in the Calculus I final. Also, don't waste your study time reading a textbook if your teachers marks are strictly testing you on their PowerPoint presentation or vice versa.
I also highly recommend trying to balance a life. Workout, run, hobbies, girlfriends/wife/boyfriends/husband, whatever... These things will actually help you as long as you don't waste all your time. Social interactions and physical activity stimulates the brain.
There are many more things but simply this is the major extent of my habits. I will sometimes preread, review, and other study techniques, but I think it all comes down to strategy and effort. Find out what works best for you.

While writing this I listened to Fall In Archaea's Gatherings and Mars Volta's Roulette Dares

In The Beginning...

Welcome! As this is my first post I will try to introduce myself and this blog.
My name is Garret. I'm a "premed" in the sense that I'm currently completing my undergrad in hopes that I will be competitive enough to gain acceptance to medical school. I'm usually not a fan of what most people associate a premed as... but that is a different blog for a different time.
I've decided to blog my journey. Mostly for myself,  but also to help other premeds, as other blogs have helped me (prime example: medhopeful).
There are already many blogs like this on the internet, so why should I do this? My path is a little bit different than most. I have statistically the worst chance of reaching my goal than the others. I'm semi "non-traditional." Ironically, I'm not non-traditional in the traditional meaning of the word, but over time it's meaning has shifted away in the premed world.

Six years ago I went to college as a very different person. I was playing music, having fun, enjoying life and mostly not caring about school. In four years, I went in and out of school, dropping courses, failing courses, and really not doing well. I ended up with about three semesters worth of credits averaging around a C. It wasn't that I couldn't do it; I was repeatedly called the smart underachiever, even by those who didn't like me. I had disappointed many in my high school years and was disappointing many more in my college years. I didn't care though; I was having fun. Music was going well. I was touring and had many great experiences and opportunities. To this day, I still don't regret what I did outside of school, just inside.
Long story shortened: I fell in love, got married and decided to go start school from scratch (no such thing as starting over, especially without the UBC 10 year rule, but again another blog). So, now you're probably thinking I'm old... well I'm almost 25. Which in the premed world is too old to be considered normal but too young to be considered old.
I'm glad to say in my first two semesters back I've gained 4 A+'s, 3 A's and 3 A-'s.
That's me in a nutshell.

I will give advice, opinions and reviews on here but for the most part it will be a story. I hope to eventually include MCAT writing sample practices and (if I'm privileged) MMI responses. I hope that one day I can look back at these with a sense of achievement. Worst case scenerio: others can learn from me and succeed where I fail. If you could get one moral from my first post: don't go to school unless you plan on trying.

Well other than that... I'm currently listening to A Textbook Tragedy's Dude, I'm on Allese