in over my head..??!

[BalogSandorne]

am i going to be in way over my head..?! i've been reading all of the different posts and i'm starting to get worried. i haven't even applied to any schools yet, but i'm starting to think that maybe i shouldn't. i need someone to be brutally honest with me. preferrably someone who felt the same way that i do now before applying. did anyone who really was (is) an average student before applying apply anyways and make it successfully throught the hungarian medical school system? i need some encouragement...but i also want the honest truth...and what about maths? i haven't seen anything about what's required as far as math is concerned. here in the US you have to take calculus, trig, etc. before med school. im just wondering where all of that fits in. anyways. thank you in advance to anyone who replies!

[gawtti]

listen if you REALLY want something strong enough nothing is impossible. I was an average student in college. But, what got me this far was my desire to become a physician. I never been to Hungary before i came here for school. My wife and I had doubts about the whole thing. But, our doubts were about how we would adapt to a unfamiliar environment than what we were used to in the US. I too read the posts about how difficult it was in Hungarian schools. I honestly believe Hungarian medical education isn't as difficult as it's being protrayed on these forums. I think you will have a much easier time adapting because of your husband being Hungarian.
A lot of the students that i went to school with in Debrecen weren't geniuses. They were just humble and understood that Hungary has its own way!! (can't stresss this enough) You just have to get used to it and go with it. I'm sure American medical schools wouldn't want students from other countries coming to the US wanting to change how we do things there. So, the same is said for Hungary. The key is to make a few good, close friends (usually within your group). These are the friends that will help you get important notes, past exam papers, etc. to study from for the exams. This is popular in Hungary schools. No different than question banks that you will use to study for the USMLE. You see the people that complain about these past exams or notes or whatever are the ones that thought they can do without it. Again, weren't willing to adapt to how things are done in Hungary. and then when they go to the exams and see these very questions which they end up not knowing because they didnt study from them when they had the chance. Then they start complaining about everything.

Now, my biggest advise for you because you lack some important science knowledge. You need to enroll in some chem, bio, or physics classes. because you will need it in your first 2 years here. atleast basic knowledge. this is a MUST! DO NOT worry about math!!!!!!!!!!!! you wont fail because you dont know calculus.:)

am i going to be in way over my head..?! i've been reading all of the different posts and i'm starting to get worried. i haven't even applied to any schools yet, but i'm starting to think that maybe i shouldn't. i need someone to be brutally honest with me. preferrably someone who felt the same way that i do now before applying. did anyone who really was (is) an average student before applying apply anyways and make it successfully throught the hungarian medical school system? i need some encouragement...but i also want the honest truth...and what about maths? i haven't seen anything about what's required as far as math is concerned. here in the US you have to take calculus, trig, etc. before med school. im just wondering where all of that fits in. anyways. thank you in advance to anyone who replies!

[Bechtel]

listen if you REALLY want something strong enough nothing is impossible. I was an average student in college. But, what got me this far was my desire to become a physician. I never been to Hungary before i came here for school. My wife and I had doubts about the whole thing. But, our doubts were about how we would adapt to a unfamiliar environment than what we were used to in the US. I too read the posts about how difficult it was in Hungarian schools. I honestly believe Hungarian medical education isn't as difficult as it's being protrayed on these forums. I think you will have a much easier time adapting because of your husband being Hungarian.
A lot of the students that i went to school with in Debrecen weren't geniuses. They were just humble and understood that Hungary has its own way!! (can't stresss this enough) You just have to get used to it and go with it. I'm sure American medical schools wouldn't want students from other countries coming to the US wanting to change how we do things there. So, the same is said for Hungary. The key is to make a few good, close friends (usually within your group). These are the friends that will help you get important notes, past exam papers, etc. to study from for the exams. This is popular in Hungary schools. No different than question banks that you will use to study for the USMLE. You see the people that complain about these past exams or notes or whatever are the ones that thought they can do without it. Again, weren't willing to adapt to how things are done in Hungary. and then when they go to the exams and see these very questions which they end up not knowing because they didnt study from them when they had the chance. Then they start complaining about everything.

Now, my biggest advise for you because you lack some important science knowledge. You need to enroll in some chem, bio, or physics classes. because you will need it in your first 2 years here. atleast basic knowledge. this is a MUST! DO NOT worry about math!!!!!!!!!!!! you wont fail because you dont know calculus.:)


Gawtti,
excellent advise and very well explained

[BalogSandorne]

thanks guys for your input as usual! i know i'm full of questions..but i have another =) and it probably won't be my last. what level of math should i complete in order to be well prepared for the hungarian med schools?

[cools]

am i going to be in way over my head..?! i've been reading all of the different posts and i'm starting to get worried. i haven't even applied to any schools yet, but i'm starting to think that maybe i shouldn't. i need someone to be brutally honest with me. preferably someone who felt the same way that i do now before applying. did anyone who really was (is) an average student before applying apply anyways and make it successfully through the hungarian medical school system? i need some encouragement...but i also want the honest truth...and what about maths? i haven't seen anything about what's required as far as math is concerned. here in the US you have to take calculus, trig, etc. before med school. im just wondering where all of that fits in. anyways. thank you in advance to anyone who replies!
I second gawtti .. and here is more input.

As a med student, no one is going to spoon feed you. So , it all depends on the student, how to manage the things. If you just leave everything till the last one week before the final exam , things will defi be hard for you. I don't intend to say , that you need to study 24/7 , all I mean to say is, that we should defi keep in touch with whatevr is going in the class, either by being attentive in class, or by reading it up over the weekend, and if that is not possible, atleast by giving some more time to it before the exam. After all, as physicians, if we are not through with our basics, we might kill someone.

If you are diligent in your work , the chances fo you not passing the classes successfully are very slim. I have known many students, many seniors, who despite being average students have passed ti all throughout, only because of the consistency.

There are , and will be many claims from student who have failed, that they know many students who have repeated etc.. and so on and so forth. .... I know, its hard to decide whom to trust and whom not to trust, thts why , it you are planning to apply for the next academic year ( 2009-2010) , I would rather advice you to visit the places first, get a feedback from the students,and make your own informed decision.

You need to know , very basic maths, so dont worry abt maths at all.

Yeah but like gawtti said, you need , chem and physics a lot , in the first 2 years, so , better take those classes back home. It would helpful , if you take bio classes since, bio is the base on whch the medical science is kind of built. IMO



Good luck !!!!

[gawtti]

in the first year you will have bio-statistics. which is basically statistics. that's the only math you will have here.

thanks guys for your input as usual! i know i'm full of questions..but i have another =) and it probably won't be my last. what level of math should i complete in order to be well prepared for the hungarian med schools?

[BalogSandorne]

soooo discouraged. i've been planning to go to community college, but because daycare is so expensive and there are waiting lists everywhere, i haven't been able to put my daughter in daycare. therefore, i cannot go to school full time. im wanting to take one or two classes a semester to give me a good base in bio, physics and chem. bio and chem won't be a problem, but i didn't realize that here in the US they required calculus as a prerequisite for physics. i was just going to take the regular college algebra class, but it turns out i would need to do trigonometry, pre calculus and calculus in addition the the college math before i could even get into the first physics class i would need, let alone the 2nd! was hoping to apply for HU med schools for 2009-2010 year, but doing 1 or 2 classes a semester isn't going to cut it...i REALLY need to refresh my highschool physics knowledge at the very least..but i don't know where or how. maybe i'll ask my highschool physics teacher to tutor me...he's a cool guy. but i don't know..i guess ill just plow on at a snail's pace...

[Scandiguy]

I have heard that College International also has a 5 month intensive pre-med course beginning in January - this for some reason is not on their website.

[Firefires]

You could try studying on your own as well to fit it around your schedule instead of vice versa. Get the physics books from the community college or whatever. Also, some universities like MIT, Notre Dame, UC Berkley, etc. put open courseware (lectures, syllabuses, etc.) on the web for free you can download.

And of working with the high school teacher sounds like it would be a big help. Good luck

(This is my first post, so sorry if I made any formatting errors or anything)

[BalogSandorne]

so..should i take a trigonometry here before i apply...? sorry..i know im full of questions, but i just want to be prepared before i take a chance and apply. i don't want to blow my chance. i am wanting to do this more and more..but i DO want to be very prepared so it's not a waste. and thanks everyone for the replies. and to firefires- thanks! i found the mit course and i think that'll be a great help.

[gawtti]

Do whatever math you can do. The most important classes are biology and chemistry. General classes for both will be enough because you will have chemisty and cell bio in first year. Also remember the entrance exam is based on these subjects too.

so..should i take a trigonometry here before i apply...? sorry..i know im full of questions, but i just want to be prepared before i take a chance and apply. i don't want to blow my chance. i am wanting to do this more and more..but i DO want to be very prepared so it's not a waste. and thanks everyone for the replies. and to firefires- thanks! i found the mit course and i think that'll be a great help.

[Back_To_School]

You might want to have a look at the 'Dummies' books. I've just started college after many years away to do Chem, Bio and Physics and was a little worried that my maths would be seriously lacking when it came to the Physics course so I got the D. Guides to Trig, Calculus and Algebra and I think they are excellent. They actually go into far more detail then I need and are very user friendly.