Tag Archives: medical school

Princeton Ly – At Long Last

March 30, 2012 – 8:05 am

It’s strange to think that my time at UCLA as an undergraduate will end in just ten short weeks. As I have said before, it’s been an amazingly fun run. Here’s to one more great quarter!

To start out, this is what I am up to in Spring 2012:

Classes:

The details are still being worked out, but I am signed up for four courses. The first is Biochemical Methods I, a biochemistry laboratory required by a few medical schools. The second is Chemical Communication, which finishes up my Marine Biology major requirements. The third is Cell Biology: Cell Cycle, a chemical biology class also required by a few medical schools. Lastly, I have a Individual Studies for USIE Facilitators contract course with my faculty mentor to keep me prepared for the class I am teaching next quarter.

[For you incoming Bruins, you can find the Schedule of Classes here and a pretty reliable, independently-run, professor rating site for UCLA here.]

Quite fortunately, all of this still allows for a free Friday.

Extracurricular:

Besides preparing for my aforementioned USIE class, I have my usual responsibilities with my Christian fellowship as well as at my home church. This includes preparing for an upcoming retreat, coordinating senior class activities, and other leadership team tasks. This also overlaps with general senior-year-spring-quarter stuff like attending my last Spring Game and Spring Sing, attending friends’ graduations, preparing for my own commencements, and making/completing an end-of-undergraduate bucket list.

On top of this, I still need to figure out where I am going to medical school next year!

Conclusion:

Whew, it sounds like a lot all put together, doesn’t it? Makes me a bit tired just thinking about everything, ha. Let’s just pray I can get everything done joyfully and successfully.

Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming

-Coach

By Princeton Ly | Posted in Academics, Life on campus | Also tagged , , , , | Comments Off

MCAT Prep

January 26, 2012 – 11:56 am

 

Well, it is my time to enjoy the favorite time of every pre-medical student’s career, preparing for the MCAT. The MCAT is essentially the medical school version of the SAT. Except, it is much more intense. The test includes sections on biological sciences, (organic chemistry and biology) physical sciences (physics and general chemistry), verbal reasoning, and two writing sections. All together total test time is about 6 hours with a few optional breaks scattered in. I will definitely be taking advantage of those!

It is recommended 300 hours of preparation time before the test! 300 hours!

I have decided to take a test date in the middle of April. To enhance my preparation, I am taking a course through Kaplan. The course meets two nights a week for three hours at a time. That doesn’t include all the “pre-work” and homework we receive. Bottomline: I could spend all day doing MCAT work and still feel behind.

I am taking a lighter load in school to give myself more study time for the MCAT. By light, I mean only two science classes. After two weeks in and already short on sleep, I have decided to take things one MCAT concept at a time.

By Gina Provenzano | Posted in Academics | Also tagged | Comments (4)

Princeton Ly – Never Forget

January 18, 2012 – 7:45 am

Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing at a medical school in New York. Afterwards, I paid a visit to the 9/11 Memorial, still under construction but already powerful and touching.

I don’t think anyone has forgotten where they were on that dark September day, and I will similarly never forget this day. It was terribly cold, made worse by an angry, swirling wind that whipped up misty sprays from the memorial’s twin reflecting pools. There were people of every country there, as well as a field trip full of kids that could not have been more than two or three when the attacks that killed 2996 occurred.

Looking back on the entire sobering experience, there is one moment that stands out to me. Alongside one of the buildings, there was a set of stations set up where one could look up the names of the deceased by birthplace, destination, affiliation. My friend and I used these kiosks to look up two people born in Los Angeles with the same last name. For whatever reason, we automatically assumed from their first names that they were brothers, which would have been tragic enough, but the pictures that appeared showed a young father and his baby boy. Sickeningly, this means that somewhere out there is a mother who was robbed of her husband and her child on the same heart-wrenching day. It really puts things in perspective, no?

Let’s all promise to never, ever, forget.

By Princeton Ly | Posted in Life off campus | Also tagged , | Comments Off

CRUisin’ all over LA

July 22, 2011 – 8:46 am

Silverlake

This past weekend my wonderful and beautiful sister Jessie returned from her extended time abroad in Normandy to the beautiful metropolis of Los Angeles. Who can resist the city of angels right? I mean, France? Psh. She had spent an entire year in a little city teaching English through the French government in French schools. Yes, this has been a moment of bragging, I can admit that. However, she is finally home from her adventures, romance, and picture perfect moments.

Why might anyone come home from a teach abroad you might ask? (Which, by the way is becoming an increasingly popular post college option for students these days! And not a bad option if I do say so myself.) Sadly, it is to return to the ever so dreadful, yet honorably prestigious, USC medschool. Yes, that is correct, there is Trojan blood in my family. Now I won’t have any naysayers about it though. I agree, the UCLA USC rivalry is not one to be toyed with and has fueled the fire of my Bruin Pride, but we must all be honest here: USC is a fantastic school. There I said it! Take my blue and gold, rescind my acceptance letter, ostracize me from the campus I have come to call my home. What? You won’t be doing that? Oh ok then!

Then I can safely say, no harm done, that my sister going to USC Keck School of Medicine is something to be proud of, and trust me, I will be as I hold up her poster and cheer in an unruly and loud manner at her very professional white coat ceremony. I guess that’s the Bruin in me ;)

The point of this post, however, is not to brag about my sister. (Although I must say, I did a fantastic job and if she ever comes to read this, be rest assured there will be more than matzah for me on the 6th night of Hanukkah.) The point is to tell you about an adventure we had in LA and express upon you the many adventures you can take advantage of while living in such a spectacular city. (And, I suppose, to touch on the UCLA USC rivalry. Which I would and will at every possible opportunity.)

As we moved her into her new and lovely little apartment in Silverlake, an up and coming hipsteresque neighborhood north of Downtown LA, we decided to explore and find a restaurant to tide over our ever so restless tummies. Unfortunately for us, my sister is allergic to some of the most basic ingredients, as in eggs and dairy. My  mother is allergic to gluten, and I am a vegetarian. Soo…….where can we all eat you ask? That is just the problem: next to no where. Until, we stumbled upon the perfect place for us; a gluten free vegan restaurant. I know, I know, we aren’t rabbits you say. And to you I say, AGREED!

Cru (meaning raw in french) was the most flavorful and delicious gluten free vegan restaurant I think we could have ever found. It may be my favorite restaurant I have eaten at in LA. We did not hold back ordering everything from a mouth watering bruscetta to the avocado and key lime pie dessert. Oh no. My tummy is calling….I WANT MORE! Just check out their website to see what I mean. Trust me, it’s not just for rabbits.

Just to throw a list of other cool things that were happening this very week and to give you an idea of some of the things you can explore if you keep your eyes open, the Los Angeles Street Food Fest was hosted,  the Los Angeles Crafts Fair was going on, and finally, every Thursday in Downtown LA there is an art walk which you don’t want to miss!

UCLA and Westwood are the perfect place to kick back and relax, but make sure you don’t forget what’s right down the road from you!

By Maddy Grubman | Posted in Life off campus | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 123 other followers

%d bloggers like this: