I hate to put people in a group based on stereotypes. Really, I do. I fought it for a long time. But I realized after meeting pre-med after pre-med that the culture of pre-med life makes it impossible to survive unless you’re a certain personality type.
I know I’ll make some people angry out there, but I’ve noticed a few things about the many pre-meds I’ve come across in my time at college. This surely isn’t true of every doctor wannabe out there, but it is a lifestyle and mindset that ensares many a good student.
1. A pre-med is always the one asking “Will this be on the test?” Yup, the pre-med is always the really annoying kid in a class, ignoring the intellectual meat of any discussion. Pre-meds are fixated on performing well by the numbers, of doing well on the test and getting the A, regardless of what they get out of the course. A pre-med’s moves are often calculated just to get the grade rather than stimulate discussion.
2. A pre-med can’t stop talking about grades. “What did you get on the exam?” “What do you think the curve will be like?” “Man, I was studying ALL last night.” “I’ve got to get an A in this course if I want to go to so-and-so med school.” It can rapidly get exhausting to chat with a pre-med. They can’t stop talking about doing well on exams and actually getting into med school — their singular obsession. They don’t want to talk about literature, art, or culture. They only want to talk about themselves and that big exam coming up. Read More »





It’s difficult enough entering into the real world without having to worry about paying back thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loans in the years after we graduate. It’s best to think of that money as an investment more than an evil, insurmountable debt that is going to be attached to our backs for years. But there are some options to lessen that weight in the forms of loan forgiveness.