I told Jill I was going to write about the MCAT's content after we've taken it. I think this information should be available to MCAT takers who know how to search for it. I really did not like studying for a test not knowing what it's about.
The MCAT has two parts. I'll start with part 2 since it is easier to describe. It's basically a psych exam that supposedly measures your value system and emotional quotient.
The first part has five tests which has subtests in each of them. I just want to say that it's hard - much harder than the NMAT. A big factor which caused the difficulty is that I didn't know what would be asked. They just say that it's like the NMAT.
I beg to differ. The five tests are English, Behavioral Sciences, Life Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Numerical Ability.
I'm not going to be overly detailed because maybe it's a secret... hahaha, but I doubt that.
The English part was moderately difficult because of the vocabulary part which for me had multiple meanings. Weirdly, it was mostly about computers. I wondered why. The time limit was short which adds to the stress. Numerical ability is obviously Mathematics. That was the hardest part for me because I didn't get to study the topics in that exam.
Natural Sciences included Chemistry, Physics, Geology (weird, right!?). I'm not sure if I missed anything. Life Sciences was about Botany and Zoology. It also asked about Anatomy. Behavioral Sciences is all about Psychology.
That's about it. It's really a lot harder than the NMAT but it could be easier if one can prepare. The best way to prepare is to know what the content is, in my opinion. It's too bad no one could answer us prior to the MCAT. Hahaha.
Still, I hope my friends and I will be accepted by PLM-CM.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
DABDA
Wow. This day brought major bad news. I'll stay on the positive side, though. The bad news I'm talking about is that Jill and I didn't make it to the shortlist for interview at UPCM. I felt bad for a few hours because I really was boggled why we didn't make it. I have theories that are highly likely but I still am just saddened that a high NMAT score couldn't cut it. Plus, I don't think my GWA is bad. On a positive note, I believe God has a plan and a reason for everything. That's why I'll accept this failure gracefully and use it as a motivation to do well in whichever medschool I will study in.
A short story on the finding out that we weren't on the list:
Jill logged on to pinoymd.com and checked the thread about UPCM. A member posted that the list for interview was out and she'll be posting pictures. I got anxious, nervous, and prayed. I texted a friend who also applied if he has a friend who's in UP at that moment to check. Since he didn't reply ASAP, I called my sister hoping it was still lunch break for her and that she'll pick up. On the second try, she answered and was really cooperative. I was surprised. Hahaha. After a while, my sister texted that we weren't on the list.
First stage of Grief: Denial. "Baka nagkamali lang siya" (which is really not probable since she's not stupid nor is she blind, with her glasses on at least) "Baka nagjojoke lang siya" (I don't think she would do something like that)
Second stage: Anger. Why?! Why?! It's so unfair. Blahs. Our effort was wasted. (but hopefully, we'll be accepted into the other schools we've applied to)
Third Stage: Bargaining. "Lord, sana mali lang si Janelle. Sana may chance pa."
Fourth Stage:Depression. I talked to Jordy and Sarah on the phone. They were using comforting words which triggered the tears. Thankfully, I didn't gush out because The end result will be headache and colds for me. (Jordy and Sarah really don't know how to comfort people, just like me and Jill!)
Fifth Stage: Acceptance. I understand that God has His ways. I fully entrust this medschool thing to Him. Maybe I won't be able to keep up there or I'd take some time adjusting to the teaching method. Whatever happens, I will do my best to be a good doctor.
This happened in a few hours, the longest was denial and acceptance and the other three were really short. I'm glad I was rational that time. I saw that our friend from UPCN got it. Congrats to you, Eian! I really hope and pray you'll get in! Oh, and there's also a Manresan there. Ang galing!
Again, back to ranting, it's not just Jill and me that I wonder about but also other girls I know about. They also have high NMAT scores, probably has a high grade, good people skills, and they're UP graduates. Hmmmm. It's hard to be a girl. I'm not just talking about UP. It's true for most medschools. I really have moments when I wish I were a boy. Argh, but not really.
So, for people who will get to read this... please pray for Jill and I (and our friends too!) to be accepted in PLM and UERM. I'm really hoping for PLM because of the affordable tuition. I know there's a scholarship for UE, but I'm not sure we'll get it and more importantly, if I can maintain it. Lord, help us.
I'll be posting about the MCAT yesterday at PLM. I won't post it yet since there's a second batch of MCAT takers and I don't want to provide leakage. :P
A short story on the finding out that we weren't on the list:
Jill logged on to pinoymd.com and checked the thread about UPCM. A member posted that the list for interview was out and she'll be posting pictures. I got anxious, nervous, and prayed. I texted a friend who also applied if he has a friend who's in UP at that moment to check. Since he didn't reply ASAP, I called my sister hoping it was still lunch break for her and that she'll pick up. On the second try, she answered and was really cooperative. I was surprised. Hahaha. After a while, my sister texted that we weren't on the list.
First stage of Grief: Denial. "Baka nagkamali lang siya" (which is really not probable since she's not stupid nor is she blind, with her glasses on at least) "Baka nagjojoke lang siya" (I don't think she would do something like that)
Second stage: Anger. Why?! Why?! It's so unfair. Blahs. Our effort was wasted. (but hopefully, we'll be accepted into the other schools we've applied to)
Third Stage: Bargaining. "Lord, sana mali lang si Janelle. Sana may chance pa."
Fourth Stage:Depression. I talked to Jordy and Sarah on the phone. They were using comforting words which triggered the tears. Thankfully, I didn't gush out because The end result will be headache and colds for me. (Jordy and Sarah really don't know how to comfort people, just like me and Jill!)
Fifth Stage: Acceptance. I understand that God has His ways. I fully entrust this medschool thing to Him. Maybe I won't be able to keep up there or I'd take some time adjusting to the teaching method. Whatever happens, I will do my best to be a good doctor.
This happened in a few hours, the longest was denial and acceptance and the other three were really short. I'm glad I was rational that time. I saw that our friend from UPCN got it. Congrats to you, Eian! I really hope and pray you'll get in! Oh, and there's also a Manresan there. Ang galing!
Again, back to ranting, it's not just Jill and me that I wonder about but also other girls I know about. They also have high NMAT scores, probably has a high grade, good people skills, and they're UP graduates. Hmmmm. It's hard to be a girl. I'm not just talking about UP. It's true for most medschools. I really have moments when I wish I were a boy. Argh, but not really.
So, for people who will get to read this... please pray for Jill and I (and our friends too!) to be accepted in PLM and UERM. I'm really hoping for PLM because of the affordable tuition. I know there's a scholarship for UE, but I'm not sure we'll get it and more importantly, if I can maintain it. Lord, help us.
I'll be posting about the MCAT yesterday at PLM. I won't post it yet since there's a second batch of MCAT takers and I don't want to provide leakage. :P
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Yearbook
Our college yearbooks were released at the end of last week but I've only picked up my copy yesterday. Well, putting it succinctly, it was disappointing.
I don't know where to start ranting about our yearbook. It's the last one for most of us so we all hoped it would be something worthwhile. (I hope our medschool yearbook would be well made, but I'm getting waaay ahead of myself :P)
Back to the yearbook, it's just too plain. The cover was plain (although I think that's our school's style, I'm not sure though) and it was all in black and white (except for the teachers' pictures.) I don't really remember how much we've paid for the yearbook but I'm positive that we didn't get our money's worth. It's not just about the blandness. It's about the numerous errors - blank pictures, misspellings, typographical errors, formatting errors, and just simple f***-ups.
Four of our batchmates from BSN had no pictures (and there are lots more from the other courses too). I feel so bad for them because one of these four girls is a cum laude, the two are class secretaries who most probably helped in compiling yearbook stuff from their sections, and the other, well, it's just not right to not have a picture when you had yours taken. How I hate the ineptitude of our school.
The misspellings and typographical errors can be forgivable if kept to a minimum (and by minimum, I mean 5 at most). It seems that our yearbook was not edited. Maybe no one proofread the final copy, I don't know why since there's an editor-in-chief supposedly. Oh, lest I forget, there are so many grammatical errors! It hurts my eyes and my mind comprehending what really is meant by the sentences. I know that I'm not perfect in grammar. Heck, I'm not even good at it but S-V agreement, that' so elementary.
Formatting errors may be a minor problem for some but this just irks me so much. If it's supposed to be bold, it should be bold. If it's italicized and has a bigger font size, it should be that way for everyone. That way, it would be clean. Now to the F-ups... Misspelling a name in a yearbook: I think that's a big no-no, don't you? A picture with a wrong name in a caption: just embarrassing. Copy-pasted write ups, achievements being placed under one person instead of the right student, additional false information, these are some of those that I've observed.
Another thing is that there was no differentiation of the academic award. Why the heck did they ask us to write our achievements if they weren't going to put it there. I just wish that if they didn't want to place the academic awards (such as Dean's lister) from first year to fourth year they would've said so in the first place. I'm sorry if this may seem off, but why did they not write if you graduated cum laude or had an honorable mention. It's not that hard. The school has a list. At first I thought that in the entirety of the yearbook there would be no listing of the graduation awards, fortunately there's a list on one of the back pages BUT it's not complete, there are wrong spellings, etc. Why weren't the awards of the nursing (and other courses) graduates not included. I have friends who have been a student leaders since sophomore year and also had other awards for performing but it wasn't listed (but a few were listed). Ugh. I really dislike incompetence. You could've just asked for help. Hopefully in the next years, there will be representatives from each course to oversee the yearbook.
There's probably nothing we could do to change this. Thinking optimistically though, even if these things are out of (or in) the yearbook, what matters is what we have in our memories and how we will remember each other and college.
I don't know where to start ranting about our yearbook. It's the last one for most of us so we all hoped it would be something worthwhile. (I hope our medschool yearbook would be well made, but I'm getting waaay ahead of myself :P)
Back to the yearbook, it's just too plain. The cover was plain (although I think that's our school's style, I'm not sure though) and it was all in black and white (except for the teachers' pictures.) I don't really remember how much we've paid for the yearbook but I'm positive that we didn't get our money's worth. It's not just about the blandness. It's about the numerous errors - blank pictures, misspellings, typographical errors, formatting errors, and just simple f***-ups.
Four of our batchmates from BSN had no pictures (and there are lots more from the other courses too). I feel so bad for them because one of these four girls is a cum laude, the two are class secretaries who most probably helped in compiling yearbook stuff from their sections, and the other, well, it's just not right to not have a picture when you had yours taken. How I hate the ineptitude of our school.
The misspellings and typographical errors can be forgivable if kept to a minimum (and by minimum, I mean 5 at most). It seems that our yearbook was not edited. Maybe no one proofread the final copy, I don't know why since there's an editor-in-chief supposedly. Oh, lest I forget, there are so many grammatical errors! It hurts my eyes and my mind comprehending what really is meant by the sentences. I know that I'm not perfect in grammar. Heck, I'm not even good at it but S-V agreement, that' so elementary.
Formatting errors may be a minor problem for some but this just irks me so much. If it's supposed to be bold, it should be bold. If it's italicized and has a bigger font size, it should be that way for everyone. That way, it would be clean. Now to the F-ups... Misspelling a name in a yearbook: I think that's a big no-no, don't you? A picture with a wrong name in a caption: just embarrassing. Copy-pasted write ups, achievements being placed under one person instead of the right student, additional false information, these are some of those that I've observed.
Another thing is that there was no differentiation of the academic award. Why the heck did they ask us to write our achievements if they weren't going to put it there. I just wish that if they didn't want to place the academic awards (such as Dean's lister) from first year to fourth year they would've said so in the first place. I'm sorry if this may seem off, but why did they not write if you graduated cum laude or had an honorable mention. It's not that hard. The school has a list. At first I thought that in the entirety of the yearbook there would be no listing of the graduation awards, fortunately there's a list on one of the back pages BUT it's not complete, there are wrong spellings, etc. Why weren't the awards of the nursing (and other courses) graduates not included. I have friends who have been a student leaders since sophomore year and also had other awards for performing but it wasn't listed (but a few were listed). Ugh. I really dislike incompetence. You could've just asked for help. Hopefully in the next years, there will be representatives from each course to oversee the yearbook.
There's probably nothing we could do to change this. Thinking optimistically though, even if these things are out of (or in) the yearbook, what matters is what we have in our memories and how we will remember each other and college.
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