Post-Unified Tips

First off, pat yourself on the back for getting through your first rite of passage in medical school- the first big exam!!

Did you do well? Stellar! Clearly your method(s) of studying is/are working for you so keep at it! While a good grade on the Unified is awesome, don't let that lull you into a false sense of confidence which causes you to slack off on your studying. Midterms are roughly 3-5x as long (Anatomy- 150 questions, Histo- 150 questions, Biochem- 75 questions) and include practical components (Anatomy- virtual slides + wet lab, Histo- slides) and will require you to have a thorough mastery of the material. Keep up the good work!

Not too pleased with your grades? Don't fret too much. It's called the Unified quiz and only worth 5% of your grade for a reason. They're giving you a chance to fix things! Take a good hard look at your studying methods- where did you wrong? What can you do to improve yourself so that you blow your midterms out of the water? Make an appointment with Aris Scott in DES and pick up some valuable study tips. Go to DES sessions. Take advantage of your professors' Office Hours. Form study groups. It's never too late to ask for help until you're staring at your Scantron, pencil in hand. Ultimately, do NOT beat yourself up over your grades. It's counter-productive and you lose valuable study time. I know your confidence might be shaken, but there is no time to lick your wounds. Instead use this as motivation to kick butt on midterms. Keep in mind that it is entirely plausible to fail the Unified and still get an A in the class. A quarter of our class failed the Biochem Unified...but I have news for you- we definitely didn't lose a quarter of our class when we got to second term.

Keep your heads up, work hard, and you'll go far.

All the best!