

For students who hope to study medicine, the college years are little more than a time to earn top grades by whatever means necessary. Their mercenary tactics can be tremendously annoying, but that irritating behavior is not entirely their fault.

Pre-med students may be victims of a broken system. Medical school admissions should be competitive, but the standards have become so stringent that scholars must nearly abandon their individuality to ceaselessly study.

Perhaps, instead of separating the brightest students from the rest, pre-med programs weed out all but the few who are willing to give everything up – hobbies, athletics, even their curiosity – for the sake of a high-paying job as a body mechanic.

These are sweeping generalizations that are intended to provoke a heated debate, so try not to get too offended.

5. They haggle with their teachers for extra points.

As a teaching assistant, I would have been rich if my pre-med students gave me a dime every time they nagged me for partial credit on questions that they had gotten completely wrong.

4. They use questionable tactics to get good grades.

Some of them may turn to study drugs like adderall, dexedrine, provigil, and ritalin. Others will beg upperclassmen for copies of old exams, which give them an unfair advantage over their classmates.

3. They horde leadership positions and then run organizations into the ground.

To pad their résumés, they run for the presidency of science clubs and volunteer organizations, and then fail to fulfill their responsibilities because they are too busy studying.

2. They game the system to get good grades.

By strategically dropping any class that is not going well and carefully picking courses taught by the easiest professors they ensure themselves a good grade point average.

1. They are not motivated by curiosity.

If they ask a question in class, it's often to find out what will be on an upcoming exam. Some of them volunteer to work in a lab on real research projects, but they don't give it their all because they have no passion for scientific inquiry – it's just another line on their résumés.

Photo: hipsxxhearts / flickr

How do you feel about pre-med students? If you are one, speak up!