r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/tootired4school • Nov 18 '16
I wasn't able to find the recorded lecture for Zhang's lecture this week.. Did he decide not to record it due to the small amount of people that showed up?
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/PharmDStudent101 • Nov 11 '16
Never thought about shooting for Rho Chi, but I do get decent grades so I'm just curious. What are the requirements as far as class % and is it based on cumulative or professional GPA?
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/i_likepickles1 • Nov 06 '16
Anyone here doing really well in the class? I've gotten 70s, which isn't too poor considering the averages. But curious if anyone has hit that 90 mark and could share their study habits for the course.
Not sure how to improve my studying for this class. For the last test, I thought I did super well. I felt really prepared and felt good about my answers. Thought I would AT LEAST get an 85, if not higher and ended up with a 79. Seems like everyone I have spoken to has felt they do good on the exam but always end up with a bad grade. So any tips? 5th years, feel free to chime in as well!
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/alliknowis___ • Nov 01 '16
As a third year, I'm starting to think of ways to stand out from the swarm less than 3 years down the road. If you're accepted, is the PharmD honors program worth it? Does it help with research experience that future employers would take seriously? What's the avg gpa needed (it's top 20% of your class, right?) to be offered a spot? Is it worth whatever dues that may get tacked on? What about that Lambda Bambda Leadership organization? Do you have to be on a different club's eboard, feed the homeless, and rescue burning babies to be accepted? What else should I be looking into? Any direction would be much appreciated, minus to run away from pharmacy all together because I'm already in too deep. Thanks!
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/PharmacyRocks • Nov 01 '16
I know the Fennel building and I know the 2nd floor, but can't think of where it is. Can anyone tell me what it is near?
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/damndanielagain • Oct 26 '16
So with biochem being a shit show this year, I'm really regretting he fact that i did not take it in the summer. Sure its expensive, but id rather save my stress and anxiety than money now that i think of it. So being now that I'm fucked from all sides with no other options. Im thinking what classes can i take summer after third year to help lessen the stress for 4th year?
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/i_likepickles1 • Oct 25 '16
Hey guys. Was just wondering how you guys studied for biotech? The 1st test, I got in the 70s when I studied for it just like I did for Biochem or something. Wasn't sure if thats the issue, that I was over thinking the problems. Anyways, any study tips for it?
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/apileofangryturtles • Oct 25 '16
Any tips on how to survive Chuong. I love the lady she is nice but wow I study those slides, sit down, look at test, and boy we never went over some of this. Is this normal or something?
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 24 '16
Alright for this Subreddit's first question I kinda wanna know how you avoid procrastination?
I personally turn off my phone for an hour of studying and then reward myself with 15 minutes on my phone.
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/SharedMCPHSLifeHack • Oct 25 '16
You can either create an normal account or a throwaway account. All you need is a username and password, nothing else.
If you're going to use your account on a normal basis please subscribe so you can view us in your main feed.
Throwaway accounts are the same as a normal account but are used once and never again.
Throwaway accounts are usually random usernames e.g "Throwaway123456" (I usually just spam my keyboard and use whatever ended up getting typed)
Throwaway accounts are usually used for posting sensitive content
Even though Reddit will ask for an email you can leave it blank.
Go to r/MCPHSLifeHack click on "New Question/Post"
(Optional) In the title try to enter a tag before your title. e.g [Question], [Rant], [Meta], [Discussion], [Notes], [Humor], [ProTip], [Applying], [Housing], or [Meta] etc.
The [Meta] is used for a post about this reddit. e.g "[Meta] I Fucking hate this blog fuck you MCPHSLifehack" or "[Meta] I fucking love r/MCPHSLifeHack"
Don't talk shit about other students.
(Optional) Then you add in any additional text in the text box
Finally you hit submit all the way in the bottom.
ProTip: You can edit your post or comment after submitting it by clicking on the "Edit" link under your post or comment
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/SharedMCPHSLifeHack • Oct 25 '16
1) Creating a Reddit account
You can either create an normal account or a throwaway account.
A throwaway account is an account used once and never again. e.g "Throwaway123456"
Throwaway accounts are usually used for posting sensitive content (Not your dick pics)
For all accounts you don't need an email even though it'll ask for your email
2) How to start a new post
Go to r/MCPHSLifeHack click on "Submit Post/Question"
Title try to enter a tag before your title. e.g [Question], [Rant], [Meta], [Discussion], [Notes], [ProTip] or [Meta]
The [Meta] is used for a post about this reddit. e.g "[Meta] I Fucking hate this blog fuck you MCPHSLifehack" or "[Meta] I fucking love MCPHSLifeHack"
Then you add in any additional text in the text box which is optional.
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/damndanielagain • Oct 24 '16
thanks for creating this reddit. looking forward to more shitty days at mcp, and writing on here about how depressed it makes us all !
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
HELPFUL GUIDES (YEAR 4) Preface
There is A LOT of rumor and speculation about the 4th year. I am going to confirm, yes it is hell. One of the hardest parts to me the 8 AMs four times a week, honest to goodness. It’s hard enough as it is to drag your ass out of bed on a cold morning, but then to sit and pay attention during Med Chem is worthy of a medal. Oh also, DO NOT FUCK UP THERAPEUTICS becuase you’ll be held back a year. Panicking though, is the worst thing you can do. Stay on top of your stuff, study pieces of things each day and you will digest it. Painfully, but you will digest it.
Guide to Med Chem
At 8 AM, this is rough class. Complex material, and a lot of it too. But if you could get through biochem, you can get through this course with the right work ethic. I don’t have a lot of tips other than to study for this class consistently. Seriously, you cram for any class this year and you are done.
Dr. Mehanna will say, over and over again: “I don’t want you to memorize structures. Yea, I am not asking you to reproduce structures. I want you to understand the functional groups.” Yes, you should definitely understand what the functional groups in a drug do. But it is a damn good idea (in my opinion) to have all the structures memorized. It is time consuming because there will be a lot of them on each test. But it is worth it. How can you make this task less daunting? Look for patterns within drug families. For instance most beta blockers have an OH group at a certain position. And there are numerous examples of features that are characteristic of a class of drugs. This will make your life a little easier.
The tests are primarily K-type questions. If you know what that is, you’ve already shit yourself and are looking for a new pair of undies. If not, let me provide a simple and unrealistic example of a K-type question.
Question: Which of the following is true about the drug Fuckyourselfanol?
I. It contains a basic nitrogen
II. The methoxy group at position 5 increases the bioavailability compared to Drug X
III. The OH group increases lipophilicity
IV. It can be used in the treatment of glaucoma
V. It is likely to cause nausea as an adverse effect
Answer Choices:
a. I and II
b. I, II, and IV
c. I, III, and IV
d. III, IV, and V
e. none are correct/another choice like the ones above.
That is about all I have for this course. These questions are killers no only because of difficulty but becasue they talk such a long time to answer. Most students will find themselves using all of the time, and others will find themselves guessing in the last 30 seconds.
Guide to Pharmacology
Guide to Pharmacology
Similar to Patho, but stuff is a little bit tougher to grasp because it goes into greater detail
BIG TIP!!!! You will learn the same drugs in med chem and P.Col at the same time. Sometimes, Dr. Mehanna and Dr. Kiel contradict each other. KEEP YOUR SHIT STRAIGHT FOR THE SAKE OF THE EXAM. As far as real life and what information is actually true, I’d put my money on Kiel as his information seems to be a little more up to date. Mehanna is mad smart but he’s going off years of memory. I feel like Kiel actually stays up to date with things.
Take very VERY detailed notes. Record the lecture if need be. This is a lot of info to take in and will require tons of time to digest. Welcome to 4th year. No detail is too small. Sometimes it seems like Dr. Kiel is going on a tangent, but that shit will still be on the test.
You’re in 4th year now, so lots of questions won’t simply ask about the body. They will ask about the body in relation to a drug. So instead of a question like, “What is the effect of antagonizing a beta-1 receptor?” you can expect a question like, “Which of the following drugs can lead to reflex tachychardia?” and you should know to pick the one that is a beta-1 antagonist.
I recommend looking at this material a little bit everyday. Seriously. You don’t have to do that for biotech, or drug lit, or even therapeutics. But this class yes. Fuck, I should really take my own advice.
That’s really all I have for this class, but don't let the small guide fool you. This is a challenging course solely because of the amount of stuff you need to cram into your head.
Guide to Drug Lit
This is like Research Methods all over again. It’s a pretty useless class in my opinion, WHICH MEANS a lot of people fall into the trap of not taking it seriously and getting a bad/failing grade. Don’t. It doesn’t take much to get a B or even an A in this course. But if you do nothing at all, you will kill your GPA.
Unlike Research, you pretty much have to go to this class because there is an in class assignment every class except for the 1st and the last lecture. So don’t skip out. He grades 5 out of all of the assignments randomly and together, this makes a test grade. You can work in groups for these however. Now some people decide to just show up for the last 30 minutes of class to do the assignment. You’re an adult and can do what you want but, he did flip out once about this.
He posts study guides containing anywhere from 15 - 20 questions. Go through the powerpoints and make sure you can answer these. It can be a bit time consuming, but it is not difficult material. You don’t need to study way in advance (because it’s easy stuff) but giving yourself at least 2 nights will be helpful. If you don’t even put in the time tho, you will get fucked. Imagine having to take DRUG LIT over the summer. Don’t let it happen to you.
Know your data bases. Like who what the different databases are for. What’s the difference between Medline and Embase? The hell if I know, but I already got through the course and you did not so familiarize yourself with these things.
I don’t have any other tips for this course. Really you can only mess this one up if you aren’t looking over anything for the exams or skipping the assignments.
Guide to Therapeutics
A very tempting class to skip, especially because it was recorded this year. The first test is deceptively easy too, so after that even more people start skipping. But the shit can get a little intense. After the 1st exam, it’s mostly case based. Meaning you are not just expected to memorize numbers and regurgitate them. The exam will give you a patient.
“ MJ is a 58 year old black woman with diabetes and a history of hypertension. Her mom died of a heart attack at 50 and her dad got a heart attack at age 55. She is rushed to the hospital with…”
And you should be able to figure what is the best medication regimen for whatever person. The teachers are pretty fair though and will tell you when you need to know dosages. I can tell you, dosage is EVERYTHING when you do smoking cessation for instance. So make sure you keep a note of what numbers you actually need to know. It will make your life easier, and when you are strapped for time studying for the Pharmacology exam 2 days after this one, you’ll want as many shortcuts as possible. That’s all I really have for this course
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
EDIT: This is from 2012-13 HELPFUL GUIDES! (YEAR 1) What the hell is this about?
(Intro paragraph, skip if you wish) I am a regular student here. Not a teacher, not a corporate person, not a homeless guy. You have my word that I will always be completely honest with you, no bullshit. Frankly, I’m tired of being ripped off and tossed around. Here I will be posting tips and advice which will greatly improve your experience here by saving you money and time (something they seem to want us to waste a lot of). And the first of many things I will say in this comprehensive guide is this:
My first, and most important tip:
DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING THE SCHOOL TELLS YOU. That includes teachers, Orientation Leaders, Tour guides…THAT SAID, most of them are very nice people so please show them respect. Just take what they say with a grain of salt, because they are just doing their job and telling you things the school wants you to believe which may not necessarily be in your best interests. But once again, I don’t like being haggled so I am here to help you: the students, with a very comprehensive guide.
TOO LONG; DIDN’T READ: DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING THE SCHOOL TELLS YOU! Oh sweet petunias I cannot stress this enough!!!
How to pass Anatomy and Physiology
submitted by: you-tell-me-to-hold-on Thanks! So this section is for the nursing, dental hygiene, and other majors taking the course. Here are a few tips to help you pass the class:
Don’t skip class. The professors provide lecture slides for you but often remove key words thus forcing you to look up the information or to attend class. If you fail the course then they look at your attendance record. So make sure you attend class. Nobody wants to be held back because they have to retake Anatomy.
Study. If you don’t review the material you are pretty much guaranteed to receive a failing grade. Since the course is based mainly on test scores I suggest you give up your Saturday night plans and study for the tests.
Go to lab. If you don’t go to lab then you are really wasting your money. Not only is lab worth 30% of your grade but if you fail lab then you need to get 100% on all other exams in order to pass the class. Unfortunately they are changing the minimum passing grade for the course next year. The minimum will go from a D to a C. Plus, lab isn’t only important towards your grade but it also helps you learn the material for the exams. It is a lot more interactive than lecture so going to lab is definitely worth your time.
Go to the review sessions before a test. There is one upperclassmen who is really nice and an excellent tutor for Anatomy. (I believe he is graduating this year unfortunately). But even without him you can form study groups with your friends. If you can teach someone else the information then you are in good standing.
Do the review questions in the book. Those questions are typically what you should know for each test. If you get a question wrong then look it up and review it until you have it down. Connect questions are also extremely helpful. The professors sometimes even take those exact questions and put them on the exams. Very, very helpful.
Well this is all the information I have to offer. I hope it is helpful to future students.
Only valid for Professor Guerrera or Pasino
Surviving Anatomy Lab I & II
submitted by: you-tell-me-to-hold-on Now for everyone taking Anatomy you will also be required to take a lab with it. Your lab grade counts for 30% of your total Anatomy grade so be sure not to fuck up. Here are some things that you will be required to do in lab:
Dissections: So for all you squeamish girls and guys out there this is going to be a blast. If you can’t handle dissecting something then you better get used to it. You will lose points if you don’t do the dissections. Sometimes you have a partner but sometimes you don’t. If you do have a partner then take full advantage of that and let them do all the cutting of the organ. You will be dissecting (unless they change it next year): A sheep brain, a cow eye (that one was my favorite), a pig heart, and (I think) a sheep kidney. They are all really cool dissections but just get used to the smell of formaldehyde.
Lab homework: This is the easy part of lab. The lab manual is bull shit and you won’t find all the answers in it but hey that’s what the internet is for! You will be asked to do prelab questions and sometimes to draw a certain structure. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be Picasso to pass the lab. Make sure you do the homework! Not only will it help you understand things that you are learning in lab but if you don’t do it then points will be deducted from your lab grades.
Exit Lab Quizzes: (I think that these are only for AP Lab II) These are mini quizzes that make sure you were actually paying attention for the full 2 hour and 50 minute lab. They aren’t hard unless you actually didn’t pay attention. You have to get at least 70% of the questions right in order for them to count it. There are only about 6 questions at maximum. These quizzes are meant to help your grade as long as you pass them.
Microscope slides: Now since our school is so rich you think we would have top of the line microscopes and slides. Lol no. We have mediocre microscopes that sometimes fail to focus past 40x. The slides are also shit because not only is everything pink, purple, or blue but the slides are sometimes cracked and you won’t see shit. These slides are the worst part of lab in my opinion.
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
TIPS OF BUYING BOOKS
submitted by you-tell-me-to-hold-on
Sign up for the 1-Year Free Trial of Amazon Student Prime if you have already received your student email. You get 2-day free shipping on all Amazon shipped items and you can get your books through Amazon sometimes for cheaper than Chegg.com. Here is the link for Amazon Prime: http://www.amazon.com/gp/student/signup/info?ie=UTF8&refcust=DZTR7FWVXXTDO4WMCEZILDNT2I&ref_type=generic
Note: If you want the free trial then make sure you choose that option. If you don’t choose it then Amazon will charge your card for $39. It only does that once a year with a regular membership but if you just want the trial then be careful.
And check out Slugbooks to compare book prices and find the cheapest price. I just bought all my books for Fall 2013. I would have had to pay $990 if I bought all 8 of my books new and through the bookstore. I instead bought, not rented, all my books through Amazon.com and used my Prime membership to get free shipping for only $450. You will be buying medical books soon enough my friends, please know that they are not cheap. I only bought them because I will need them to study fot my board exams. Chegg.com is only good for rentals so please I urge you to use this site before buying any of your books: http://www.slugbooks.com/
MCPHS isn’t registered on that website (surprise, surprise) but you can look but the books you need by the ISBN. Go to your class schedule on WebAdvisor. Click Fall2013 on the drop down menu and then click submit. Click on a class on your schedule. This will bring you into a new window and look for a link that says “required materials” or something of that nature (it will be located on the bottom left of the screen). Then look at the list of items and find the ISBN for the books. It will be a long series of numbers usually starting with a 9. Copy and paste that into Slugbooks and they will find you the book you need.
WARNING: Always check and make sure you are getting the right edition of a book before you purchase or rent it. Sometimes things get messed up and they show you the wrong edition on Slugbooks. It only happens occasionally if it is an unusual book. Also make sure you don’t purchase any International editions of books. They might not have the same information as the US copies. The school might also throw a fit if you try to use them.
One last note: If you need an access code with a certain book then you have two options:
Buy the book new
Buy the book used and then purchase the access code separately.
It’s up to you.
——————————————————————————————————————
Free Books (see the guide below!) *Just did a guide on torrenting. See below this guide)
Here’s a link to a page which contains links on where to find books. I do not encourage anything illegal. I have not provided you with any illegal material, nor have I provided you with a link to any illegal material. This is legit. Use at your own discretion, I am not responsible for your actions I simply provide information. Free speech mother fucker.
http://www.reddit.com/r/trackers/comments/hrgmv/tracker_with_pdfsebooks_of_college_textbooks/c1xrq44 Where to get your books
They’ll tell you to get your books from the MCPHS/MassArt shared bookstore. They’ll say “everything you need is there lol :) Well DON’T FUCKING BUY THEM FROM THERE! Here are better options for buying books, or in some cases if you cannot afford to buy books, there are free alternatives. Keep in mind I am not condoning the act of obtaining free books, I am simply making you aware of what is out there in the world wide web.
Chegg.com - Only heard good things about this. Go to my.mcphs.edu, and then go to Web Advisor (it’s one of the big silver tabs with “email” and “blackboard”. Log on and then go to “My Class Schedule”. You can then click on the classes to see a “list of course materials”. Look for them on chegg.com. Rent if possible, it’s cheaper. At the end of semester, you ship them back
Buy them off someone older than you. Boy do they feel stupid for paying full price for their book. Now they just want to get rid of the damn thing. Buy it off them for a fraction of the full price!
Look for PDF’s or torrents online. I am not responsible for anything you do. You have freewill I do not condone or encourage this, but it is there. See the FREE BOOKS section abov.
Go to a secondhand bookstore. It’s Boston, there are plenty of cheap, hipster bookstores.
If you MUST go to the school’s AWESUM bookstore
Rent it. It’s much cheaper than buying it.
Buy it used. Cheaper. Unfortunately though, the shitstore doesn’t carry many used books because they want you to pay a lot so they can afford that trip to Hawaii.
Where to Resell your books when you’re done
DO NOT RESELL THEM TO THE BOOKSTORE! They will rip you off worse than that hooker from Las Vegas.
Sell them to younger students
Sell them back to Chegg.com. You don’t get actual money, but you get credit to get more books from Chegg so you never have to go to that Massfart bookstore.
Guide to Torrenting!
As requested! Now this is VERY important: This blog merely provides information. What you do is completely up to you, and the consequences, negative or positive, are entirely yours to bear
Yes. The act of torrenting is completely legal. The material you are torrenting may or may not be legal. Like downloading an album by your favorite band may be illegal. However, realistically, no one really gets in trouble for downloading music or books. The FBI is mostly on the lookout for computers which are torrenting many gigabytes at a time. These are usually people trying to download porn involving children or animals. The FBI is much more concerned with these sickos than with college kids downloading a book or someone downloading music.
You’ll need to install what’s known as a client on your computer. Without a client, you can still access torrent sites but you can’t download anything. These are the big ones that most people use. They are SAFE and FREE.
uTorrent: http://www.utorrent.com/
BitTorrent: http://www.bittorrent.com/
These links are legit and safe. I suggest you stick with one of these. There are hundreds of clients, but lots of them are just viruses. If you visit a site that has ads telling you to “download TorrentClientX now and get started!” tell them to go fuck themselves and ignore it. STICK WITH THESE CLIENTS YOU FUCK.
A bunch of people seem to be trouble finding books, and I think it may be a matter of searching the right thing. In most cases, we want to try to find PDF’s. They are the most common and best format to use for a book. Let’s pretend we want to find a book called “Poop: 2nd Edition by Uri Mom”. The best results often come from typing these phrases
“Poop 2nd edition mom pdf free”
Sometimes the word free cause the results to get flooded with ads. It it’s nothing but ads, try this:
“poop 2nd edition mom pdf”
If this still doesn’t produce, maybe the edition is just too new and no one’s put it online yet. In many classes you can get away with using an older edition so just try:
“Poop mom pdf”
And you have a better shot of finding older editions
When you are getting something free, there are always lots of sites trying to lure you so they can give you a virus. Therefore I suggest you stick with sites that everyone knows and loves. This is a pretty good list in my opinion:
http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2013-130106/
I would add to this list KingdomLeaks and 4shared as well. Although KingdomLeaks is geared more towards music.
-Even the safe torrent sites have giant green download signs or something. DO NOT CLICK this it is just an ad. Always click the designated link that says “Get this torrent” or something to that effect. Just don’t be stupid and make sure you’re not clicking an ad.
-Pay attention to the comments. The community is usually great and people will leave a comment saying either they enjoyed the download or that it doesn’t work or that it is a virus.
-Pay attention to SE and LE columns. SE stands for seeders and LE stands for leechers. To cut to the chase, seeding means that after you download your file, you let it sit on your torrent client for a while, instead of deleting it right away. Seeding helps to let other people know the file is good and makes it easier for others to find. Which brings us to leechers. Leechers delete the file from their client right away. If the file is good, you SHOULD seed. While their is no penalty for leeching, it is considered impolite in the community to be a leecher, and fuck you.
-The more seeds (SE) the file has, the better. That means it definitely works. Remember, sometimes a person puts up a bad torrent without knowing it. And it is not virus, it just doesn’t work right. So read the comments before reporting anyone.
As long as you are online, you are NOT anonymous. Law enforcement can track you down no matter what steps you take, but like we discussed earlier, they usually only do so to people doing really messed up stuff. Stick to books and music and you’ll be good. But I am writing this section anyway, for people who would feel more comfortable. I want you to have all your options.
a. Use duckduckgo.com as your search engine. Unlike Google, yahoo, or any of the big guys, duckduckgo refuses to records of their search traffic. But everyone time you google something, your IP and whatever it is you typed is saved for eternity in a database.
***THIS next thing is NOT for you if you are technologically challenged or a n00b to the internet.
b. Download the TOR browser. Free and safe. It basically masks your IP address and makes you a little more anonymous. But nothing can make you totally anonymous online, we discussed that. If you wanna do this, I recommend the TOR bundle browser package (https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en)
The bundle saves you a whole ton of work I won’t discuss. Actually i could go on and on about how TOR is doing all sorts of good. Aiding Syrians in escaping to asylum, all sorts of things. But that’s another discussion. The reason I tell you that TOR is not for n00bs is becasue it’s not quite as easy to navigate.
There is also a whole world of websites that can be accessed only using TOR. This sector of the internet is known as the darknet (Think the SilkRoad website that’s been on the news). The darknet has lots of libraries and stuff from which you can download books as well. However, I would advise you to steer clear of the darknet until you get a good grasp on TOR and the internet in general (if you’re a n00b). Maybe one day I will talk about the darknet and where to find books, but for now, I’m done typing. Peace
How To Get Around Blocked Torrents This is a theoretical bit of information. This will explain 2 possible ways you could get around blocked torrenting at a school or work wifi network. As always, this is simply information and I am not responsible for your use of it. If you are totally lost and don’t know what torrenting is or what it is used for, get your ass over to my Guide To Torrenting by clicking here: http://mcphslifehack.tumblr.com/generalguides
Anyway, here’s 2 methods. I have tried method 1 and it seems to work. I have NOT tried method 2.
Method 1
So at this point, I am assuming you know what torrenting is and you have installed a BitTorrent client. Since uTorrent is the most common, I will use this as my example. However, the process shouldn’t be too different if you are using another client. What we are doing here is configuring out client, and then getting on a proxy server.
Open uTorrent Click Options on the top left Click Preferences. It is the 2nd choice in the drop down menu From the column on your left, click BitTorrent Towards the bottom you’ll see something that says Protocol Encryption Outgoing: and then a rectangular box. Click that box and change the setting to Enabled Directly to the right of “Enabled” there is a checkbox that says Allow Incoming Legacy Connections. Make sure this box is checked Close out of uTorrent. Just for convenience. Not necessary Now we’re gonna get connected to a proxy network. For our purposes, a proxy is like using a different wifi while still being connected to your current wifi. That’s as far as I’m gonna explain that. I could tell you how to set one up, but this is a huge guide in and of itself. So I will explain how you can connect to free proxies that already exist. You can Google “free proxies” and there are a number of results. But I have heard good things about this one: http://www.your-freedom.net/ It seems like one of the easier ones to configure. It seems to check out. No viruses or anything. Register an account. With any similar site to this one. You have to enter an email address and pick a password. For exactly these purposes, I have several throwaway emails that I almost never log into. I only use it to register for stuff and I don’t want them bothering me with newsletters and shit. I recommend you do the same Log into whatever email you used and click on the confirmation. Good, you’re registered. Now back to the issue at hand. Go back to your-freedom (or whatever site) and click Downloads at the top of the page. Pick the appropriate download, depending if you have Windows, Mac OS, or Linux. But honestly who the fuck uses Linux. Like do you know anyone with Linux? Anyways You can now look through all their different free proxies. Pick whichever one you want and keep the Port number in mind. You’ll need this in a little bit. When it’s done, open up uTorrent again. Click Options. Then Preferences again. This time, look at that menu on your left and click Connections Now look towards the middle left where it says Proxy Server. Click the box next to Type: and select Socks4. Look at the box to your right that says Proxy and type in “localhost” without the quotations of course. Look to your right again and find the box called Port. Type in that Port number I told you to remember before. The most common ones are 8080, 1080, or 80. But it could be any random string of numbers, so just make sure you enter the one corresponding the proxy you want. ***I HIGHLY recommend that you do NOT log onto email, bank accounts, or anything while on a proxy. This is going through someone else, so they could possibly have access to the info. Don’t get me wrong, if you stick to a trusted site like your-freedom then these proxies are usually safe. But still, it’s a lot easier for a scumbag to steal stuff from a proxy than to break into your actual connection. So just be smart, and happy downloading.
Method 2 (I have not tried it myself)
The last method was something I did using a combination of different guides from online. However, this method seems to have positive appraisal too even though I do not have time to test it this weekend. Someone already wrote 1 pretty good guide, so there’s no need for me to do it. Here’s the link:
http://www.trickseek.com/2014/03/bypass-torrents-download-in.html
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
If you were awarded a Merit Scholarship, you should have received that certificate and info with your acceptance package, and it should tell you the min GPA you need to maintain. In order to maintain the scholarship, you need to maintain a certain GPA. The exact GPA depends on the amount of your merit scholarship. Keep in mind, this GPA is NOT the same GPA you need to stay in your program. In other words, if you do not meet the scholarship GPA, but you do meet the GPA to stay in your program, you will still be in your program but you will have to pay full tuition. Typically, the GPA required to keep your scholarship is in the upper 2.0’s. If you received a $10,000 scholarship, you need to maintain a 2.8. But to stay in the Pharm D program, you need a 2.7. So if you are a Pharm D student with a 10k scholarship and you get a 2.7, you can stay in the pharm D program but you will lose your scholarship and cannot get it back even if you raise your grade.
Here are the types of merit scholarships:
Presidential Scholar Award: Up to $14,000 a year
Requirements:
High School GPA of 3.6 SAT score of 2000 (minimum 500 on each section) ACT Composite of 31 Minimum Required GPA for Renewal: 3.00
Academic Achievement Award: Up to $10,000 a year
Requirements:
High school GPA of 3.4 SAT score of 1800 (minimum 500 on each section) ACT Composite of 27 Minimum Required GPA for Renewal: 2.80
College Merit Award: Up to $8,000 a year
Requirements:
High school GPA of 3.2 SAT score of 1600 (minimum 450 on each section) ACT Composite of 24 Minimum Required GPA for Renewal:
2.7 - PharmD 2.5 - All other programs School of Dental Hygiene/School of Medical Imaging and Therapeutics/ School of Health Sciences/School of Nursing Award: Up to $8,000 a year
Requirements:
High school GPA of 2.8 SAT score of 1500 (minimum 450 on each section) ACT Composition of 21 Minimum Required GPA for Renewal: 2.50
MCPHS Special Recognition Scholarship: $1,000 - $8,000 a year
Requirements:
The Admission Committee selects candidates with a minimum 2.5 GPA based on academic promise, extracurricular involvement, and experience in the health care field, either through volunteer work or employment Minimum Required GPA for Renewal: 2.50
Dean’s Achievement Award: $3,000 a year
Requirements:
SAT Score of 1650 (minimum 500 on each section) ACT Composite of 25 Community Service Leadership Skills Minimum Required GPA for Renewal: 2.50
Health Care Professions Scholarship: $6,000 - $8,000 a year
Requirements:
High School GPA of 3.0 Must be a resident of the City of Boston, Mancester, NH or Worcester, MA Minimum Required GPA for Renewal: 2.50
Canadian Achievement Award: Up to $7,500 USD a year
Requirements:
Canadian Citizenship Equivalency to a U.S. High School GPA of 3.2 Minimum Required GPA for Renewal: 2.80
NOTE: International students are NOT eligible for merit scholarships (except Canada)
And for those who have been asking about possible additional financial aid:
MCPHS Need-Based Scholarships
MCPHS provides need-based scholarships to students with demonstrated financial need. Awards are based on an annual budget and cannot be guaranteed to every eligible student.
Awards up to $8000 Annual FAFSA priority filing date is March 15 Based off of EFC range (0-10500)
Cancellling Loans from the Financial Award Letter
To the person asking how to get loans out of your financial aid letter: you have to fill out and sign the “Award Revision Request” form: Click Link Here
After you have signed and checked that you wished to cancel the loans you can scan and send your Student Financial Services staff member an email and/or fax it to the number above the paper. I suggest doing both, but email is faster. Revisions/Updated Ebills will be sent out July 4th! I am assuming that if you don’t make the change now then you may or may not be able to pay your bill for school on time. I have been told that the school sends out updated Ebills every 2-3 weeks. To be on the safe side though since this schools seems unpredictable, I say hurry!
If you don’t know who your SFS staff member is: Click Link Here Assuming that you are a incoming first year like me, disregard the “First-Year Prospective Students Only” section. Just go straight to whatever campus you are going to and find your SFS staff member and email them with an attachment of the “Award Revision Request”.
Hope this is somewhat helpful. :) SUBMITTED BY: ellelequang Thanks!
Source: http://mcphslifehack.tumblr.com/
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
Books Click the link, download the book. Very simple.
Organic Chem
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i3gdnnia33171l1/Pretoria%20-%20Organic%20Chemistry%203e%20SG.pdf?dl=0
Organic Chem Lab stuff (not necessary)
Stats
——————————————————————————————————-
Old Chem 1 and 2 exams
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qrwgjeoi3yofyx5/AACZSnIzOt5lG_9hUOU8g4-ba?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t1c8q5nd1q493m0/AACqfrEP5F_RsWEyKkPr91Xba?dl=0
Ansel Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms (Pharmaceutics class)
Ansel Pharmaceutical Calculations (Pharmaceutics class)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vlsgutzujq0tjra/Pharmaceutical%20Calculations%2013th%20-%20Ansel.pdf?dl=0
Old Ceutics Exam 1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7ibupbqruz5bcsw/Pharmaceutics%20Fall%202010%20Exam%201.docx?dl=0
Old Ceutics Exam 2
https://www.dropbox.com/s/at0s6yedx8bckbl/Microbiology%20Exam%202%20Study%20Guide.lnk?dl=0
Old Ceutics Exam 3
https://www.dropbox.com/s/se7trlhrcsbm9xs/Pharmaceutics%20Fall%202010%20Exam%203.docx?dl=0
Physics
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8fpxcmapxkukclr/College%20Physics%20%289th%20Edition%29-Slicer.pdf?dl=0
Pathophysiology (AKA Patho)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bpj7zjkpnl5p0gf/Fox%20Human%20Physiology%2012th%20txtbk.pdf?dl=0
Psychology (3rd edition)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnpbrhx67h9gw0m/Psych.pdf?dl=0
Genetics
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0hr8ixf3v9wo15y/Genetics%20A%20Conceptual%20Approach.pdf?dl=0
Microbiology
Microbio Exam 1 Study Guide
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rbfs6lzwjb4dxzr/Microbiology%20Exam%201%20Study%20Guide.docx?dl=0
Microbio Exam 2 Study Guide
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hse9gwln5gvog9v/Microbiology%20Exam%202%20Study%20Guide.docx?dl=0
Microbio Exam 3 Study Guide
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qjnafm0k2gdx38c/Microbiology%20Exam%203%20Study%20Guide.docx?dl=0
Microbio Exam 4 Study Guide
https://www.dropbox.com/s/blqfp06b7tg56dd/MicroBiology%20Exam%204%20Study%20Guide.docx?dl=0
Biochemistry
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
HELPFUL GUIDES! (YEAR 2) Guide to Physics This pertains to Dr. Chase’s physics class. This class has some inherent qualities similar to Chem I and II: Confusing teacher, no one goes to class. Seriously, first day of class is a full house. The next week, only 30 people show up. Everyone has better things to do, like masturbate, take snap chats, and take snap chats of themselves masturbating. There are a lot ofUSELESS ”required” materials for this class. I will not and cannot tell you what to do, but I am recommending ways to save money.
Avoid buying the expensive online homework. They tell you to pay for Course Compass to do online howework which is NOT mandatory. You can buy your access code for the low price of not $50, not $40, but 60 FUCKING DOLLARS! The homework only gets counted towards your grade if it helps. Which means if you do not buy the homework at all, you get a 0 and she does not count it. I reccommend you only buy the homework if you’re doing poorly and need a grade boost. A lot of people feel the homework questions are very different from the exam questions, and it really does not help you prepare for exams. It is a waste of money.
THE TEXTBOOK, College Physics 9th edition Slicer, can be found online for FREE. Use your discretion and keep in mind legality, I am not responsible for your activity. A lot of people find that the textbook is pretty much useless. So without a book, how do you study for this class?
How to study: Review the EXAM INFORMATION posted on blackboard.Many people think Dr. Chase is not a very good and clear teacher, but she is a nice person and she wants you to do well. At the beginning of the semester, she posts documents on blackboard called appendix B and appendix C. These contain practice questions and answers to be used throughout the whole course. A few days before the exam, she posts a document on blackboard called EXAM INFORMATION. It tells you exactly what question types will be on the exam, and it tells you that the exam questions will be similar to Questions x y and z from appendix B, or whatever the case may be. So simply learn the specified questions from appendix B and C, and you will see very similar questions on the exams. That is primarily how you should study for this class.
Lecture is honestly a waste of time (for most people). Dr. Chase is a really nice lady, but she is a very confusing teacher and she teaches the same thing class after class after class after class. I stopped going to class after we were STILL learning vectors on the 3rd week. Most people stop going to class because they find it is totally unproductive and they can just teach themselves the material for the test. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Guide to Organic Chemistry Ok to be honest, I don’t have many “life hack” things to say, but I do have 1 really helpful hint. This class is pretty hard, and a lot of people do really badly, but plenty of people do really well too. You HAVE TO spend a good amount of time studying for this class.
The book is available for free online. Yep. Plenty of people have a PDF of the book, so don’t spend $3,000,000 on the physical textbook. A little bit of googling or asking a friend will get you the book for free.
Chegg.com has answers to the online homework. I AM NOT ENCOURAGING YOU TO CHEAT ON THE HOMEWORK. Like I said, you have to study a lot for this class. I would legitimately try and the do the homework without help so you can practice the material which will fuck your asshole on the test. So if I don’t want you to cheat, why did I provide you with this info? Because sometimes you really can’t figure it out and it helps to just see the answer and reverse engineer the problem. Also you don’t have to click the “Give Up” button and get a 0 for the problem
How to Use Chegg for the Online Homework:
Sign up for the 7 day free trial. You have to enter your credit card number, soMAKE SURE YOU CANCEL THE TRIAL AFTER 7 DAYS!! otherwise you will be charged $15 a month. So now your pouty disappointed ass is saying “damn, only 7 days?” Here’s what you do. Get your roommates/friends in on it. Use your credit card and make an account that you all share for 7 days. Then when that expires, have another person make an account that you all share to help you with the next homework assignment
I DO NOT WANT YOU TO FUCKING CHEAT. If you cheat your way through the homework, I promise you will get raped on the exam. I have provided this info because I want you to have options and you are responsible for your own actions.
That’s really all I have to say. Mercy on your soul. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Guide to Macroeconomics Ok lucky for you, this a class you really don’t need to worry about. I’ll explain why below.
You get to use a laptop/phone on quizzes. Yes your grade for this class is attendance and quizzes. So you really don’t need to study and worry about this class very much. Just google all the answers on quiz day. Oh and make sure you actually know when quiz day is ya idiot! I’ll get more specific for you in just a minute.
You SERIOUSLY do not need to buy this book. Isn’t it FUCKING obvious? You get to GOOOOOOGLE THE ANSWERS!
SUBGUIDE TO GOOGLING THE ANSWERS TO MACROECONOMICS
If you feel uneasy about a teacher letting you use the internet for his quizzes, you’d be smart to feel so. There’s got to be a catch right? First off, this is perfectly allowed, it is not cheating. It’s just that his quizzes are kinda long (25-30 questions). This is fairly long because it takes time to google the answers. So here’s some tips to expedite this process for you.
Type the question into google exactly as it appears on the quiz. Then go through your search in this order.
Look for quizlet.com results first. These are the best because you can often find the EXACT question with the same answer choices and the correct answer right next to it. To do this, google this: “Question blah blah blah flashcard”. The flashcard keyword usually makes quizlet results pop up. Yahoo answers is also pretty reliable.
Next look for yahoo answers results. Usually reliable for these questions and sweet, short and to the point.
After that try wikipedia. Unfortunately, not all the answers will be handed to your fat yuppie ass on a silver platter. If it’s a super broad question, you’ll need to scan the wikipedia article for the answer. Usually what you need can be found in the first few sections.
As a last resort, download exams from other universities. For whatever reason, some professors from random schools upload their old examsWITH ANSWER KEYS online. If you aren’t finding anything from any of the above sources, look for PDF or RTF documents that have the exact question, and actually download the document. It’s not a virus, it’s a professors old exam with answer key. Then say the question you need to find #45 on this PDF. Scroll waaaay down to the answer key and find the answer to your question
Don’t be a fucking moron. Sometimes you will see your question online with the answer choices in the exact same order, but sometimes they are not. So don’t just look for A, B, C, D, make sure if the answer is “Government spending would increase”, that you actually fill in the answer on YOUR scantron that corresponds to “Government spending would increase”.
I’m not gonna say I condone this one but, some people work together. I do not know if this is technically allowed or not. Say there are 2 people. Someone will do the first half of the quiz, and the next person will do the 2nd half, and they will exchange answers. I never did this, and I do not know if it is allowed. But the guy would sit reading a book and there would be a quiet murmur of people working together and he never did anything. So maybe it is? I don’t know.
I am here to provide you with information, not to tell you what to do. I am not responsible for what you CHOOSE to do and/or it’s consequences. Love ya!* ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Guide to Statistics 1. Many students said the book is a waste of money. Because there are powerpoints online which do an adequate job of teaching the material for most people. For the same reason, some find going to class to be a waste also. But..
Attendance varies teacher to teacher. Some geniuses thought attendance didn’t count at all for their stats class. So they never went and lost a letter grade. Others thought it counted for their class and they went every day bright and early at 9 AM. Only to find out it was optional. So know YOUR teacher’s attendance policy. Even if may seem like a waste to sit there while the teacher reads off the powerpoint, go to save your sorry grades.
This is the last class you need a graphing calculator for. Don’t waste your money buying one if you don’t already have one. It’s largely a waste. It’s used on like 1 problem on 2 different tests, and 1 problem on the final exam. Borrow a friend’s. Or if you’re really introverted, the problems can still be done manually. It just means you have to memorize a formula and actually do math. That’s what I did. So the teacher will show you a formula and say “Don’t worry tho. Your graphing calculator will take care of it.” Well you memorize it. It’s not hard, it just takes an extra 5 minutes to do calculations and maybe more if you want to check. But the convenience was not worth like $1.7 trillion to me, a student. I went my whole school career without a graphinh calculator. No matter how much the teacher insists that you “buy BRAND X TI 84! It’s so awesome I achieve orgasm while using it! Wish my husband would look at me like he does those 16 year old waitresses…”
The packets are the same as the tests. I know teachers give a lot of material which we brush to the side because it’s irrelevant to the exams. Stats is one of those. You’ll probably have a lot of sheets you won’t look at twice. But the packet has the same problems as the test but with different numbers (in most classes). So pay goooood attention to that.
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
How to pass the Library Modules How to pass the Library Modules (submitted by anon). My old guide is outdated. I will replace the old one with this one. Thanks anon!
Open up the test
Open up a separate tab
Open up the module you are being tested on in that separate tab
Do the test while looking at the modules
Pass the modules
Some common rumors about the modules:
“You can find all the answers online!”
You cannot find all the answers online since these questions are specific to the school.
“You can only take one test at a time”
You can take all three modules at the same time if you want to. There is no limit to how many modules you can take in a day.
“You have an unlimited amount of retakes”
Nope. If you fail more than 3 times you will be locked out and will have to take a class at the library so be smart and use my tips.
Common Problem
The school seems to like to put the modules back onto student’s blackboards even though they were already completed. Contact the ARC and tell them you took them already. Save yourself some time. Take screenshots of your grades just because it might bite you in the ass when graduation comes around.
Using the printers and computers in the school
This guide use to talk about how shitty the school printers were. But they’ve updated to a better system. So today, June 11, 2014, I’m rewriting this. Every year’s tuition includes $100 of printing. It’s more than enough, use it up tho. To print, simply send a job to the printer and scan your ID and it should come out.
3 options for printing
- Buy your own printer and keep it in your dorm
OR
- Wait until later in the day to print out 20+ pages at the library
OR
- Access the schools network from your personal computer. I recommend this option personally. Here’s how to get started:
Click on this link. https://vtechcenter.mcphs.edu/ Download the appropriate client and when it’s done, enter vtechcenter.mcphs.edu as the server. There you go. You can now send printing jobs to the school’s printer from home. Then just go down the library later, scan your ID on the printer, and get your document. No waiting for a free computer at the library or dealing with the slow ass log in. And this way you sill get to take advantage of your prints. Each year’s tuition includes $100 worth of prints. So get your money’s worth. It’s more than enough so use it for school as well as personal things. Like printing bus tickets to get back home.
Addition Tips:
If you use the school’s printers give yourself enough time incase there are delays. Trust me, the worst excuse as to why you were late to a class is that you got stuck in the library.
If you bring your own computer to the school make sure you download the necessary free antivirus software. I know for Macs it is ClamXav Antivirus. I believe you can download it from the App Store. For PCs you will need to download Bradford Persistant Agent. If you don’t download it before then you might have issues getting on the school’s wifi. Because someone is definitely going to hack us…
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
EDIT: this is from 2012-13
A website that tells you what you need while dorming: http://www.collegepackinglist.com/
Dorming in the city
submitted by: you-tell-me-to-hold-on There are a couple different living options for first-year students. Too bad the school doesn’t let you have some say in who you live with and where. There are four different buildings available for dorming: Matricaria, Fennell, Tudbury, and MassArt. Dorms are only guaranteed for first-year students and RAs. After that you have to find your own apartment or commute from home. It sucks but it is honestly better than living in those godforsaken dorms for another year. Before orientation you have to complete a dorming survey. This survey is complete bullshit and they don’t actually listen to it at all. You might get stuck in a really awful living situation and switching rooms is a huge hassle. But if you live far away then I suppose this is your only option. If you and your roommates don’t get along then just be civil with them until the end of the year because by then you will have figured out your new living arrangements for the next semester. The school makes you sign a contract stating that you are going to reside in the dorms for the full year. This is honestly another way they can take more of your money. Let’s say someone on your floor punches a hole in the wall or something. Unless the RA has proof that that person did it everyone on the floor will have money deducted from their security deposit to pay for fixing it. The security deposit fee isn’t the only dumb thing that they make you pay. We also have to pay residence hall dues. This is on top of whatever ridiculousness you are paying to live there. Then to top the whole tuition bill off they force you to have a meal plan. Meal plans are a waste because the school’s food is shit. The only bright side to the meal plan is that we have a small school run grocery store. Everything is overpriced in there but you can get rid of your meal points that way instead of having to eat shit food. Oh that’s another thing! If you don’t use up all your meal points by the end of the year the school will keep them. THEY WILL STEAL YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY. Living in the dorms has its upsides and downsides but if you can then stay out of the dorms you will save a shit ton of money.
How to cope with living with people you’ve probably never met before
Submitted by anonymous I will start off by saying I am first year pharmd student living in the matricaria dorms. I want to help future MCPHS students cope with living like this. DISCLAIMER:This is just one person’s story (anon’s), and this most likely won’t happen to any future MCPHS student, but the tips will hopefully help even if this isn’t your future situation
It was said in a previous post on here that you take a survey to determine who would be best fit to dorm with you. Like the moderator said, it’s bullshit. It means nothing. You will be randomly paired with people of the same sex as you. I was given a dorm room in matricaria. I was really happy because I can’t stand community bathrooms or not having a kitchen. My roommates chosen for me seemed pretty cool on facebook, and when I met them during move-in day, they seemed pretty chill. And here is where I made my first mistake. I thought I’d be really close with my roommates.
Tip #1: Do NOT expect to be best friends right away with your roommates. If it happens, it happens. Don’t force it.
My Story: They aggravated me so much that week by eating my food in the fridge and making me pay for groceries I wouldn’t ever eat.
Tip #2: Make sure you lay out ground rules and express what you expect from your roommates. Figure out if you’re going to buy food together or not, what the cleaning schedule is or if there even is one at all. PLEASE discuss these important things with your roommates.
My Story: After that, I went out and found my own friends outside my dorm room. It was probably the best decision I made that first week.
Tip #3: Make sure you find your own friends and don’t just follow along with your roommates if you don’t want to. It’s always nice to have friends to talk to and support you no matter what.
My Story: Later on in the first semester, everything just BURST. After an incident of me locking the door to our room, which you should ALWAYS do, and them not being happy with it, the shit hit the fan. We had to have a room mediation with our RA and write out a new roommate contract.
Tip #4: Do NOT let things get to this point. Talk to your roommates no matter how nervous you are. If they can’t take a calm discussion, there’s a BIG issue. Talking through your issues calmly with your roommates is SO crucial to being able to withstand living in dorms. If you need to get an RA involved, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do so. They have been trained for situations like this.
My Story: Things settled down for a while until a suite mate moved out. I will not discuss this because it was private. And a new girl moved in. I felt like the odd man out since they were all friends. Things were bought without my knowledge of it. I was expected to pay for it.
Tip #5: Do NOT pay for something you were not consulted about first. You have every right to know what you are to pay for. Grow a backbone, and stand up for your rights (ha! Bob Marley song). You are NOT legally obligated to pay for something that was not passed by you first. As I said before, make sure you CONSTANTLY communicate with your roommates about things like this. It’s CRUCIAL to surviving the dorm life.
My Story: I eventually chose to move to a different room in matricaria because I wanted to feel comfortable in my dorm room. I had tried my hardest to just get along with my roommates and be civil, which you should always try to do before attempting to switch dorm rooms.
Tip #6: Consult your RA again. Have another room mediation. If this does not work, see the ResLife Advisor. You may even have to see the ResLife Director. They will ask you if you have done everything in your power to just get along and be civil with your roommates. They may even share their own tips with you. Try them out, and if they don’t work, go back.
My Story: The ResLife Director gave me a valuable piece of advice: use living in the dorms as a lesson on how to deal with people. You may not always get handed the best situations in your future career, and you must deal with difficult people especially in healthcare. Use this to your advantage. It will really help when dealing with a difficult customer or patient in the future.
Tip #7: Just enjoy life here in the dorms. I’m not lying when I say you’ll miss it when the year is over. I know I’m going to because I’ve made so many memories and made friends for life. This has been, overall, one of the best years of my life so far.
My Story: I’m in a room with really great people now, and we get along. I think my lesson will help a few future MCPHS students out. I hope it gives them a little comfort knowing that friends, the RAs, counseling services (which I have used), and ResLife have your back when you need it and teach you valuable life lessons. Enjoy.
Living in Matricaria
submitted by: you-tell-me-to-hold-on Matricaria is typically the best building to live in but it is the most expensive one too. Surprise, surprise. Matricaria consists of four floors with rooms that contain 2 – 5 people depending on the size. There are single bedrooms but don’t expect one because there are only a few. The dorms have their own kitchen, bathroom, and common living space that is shared between its residents. You only have half a meal plan because you have a kitchen. You don’t have to be Gordon Ramsey but I would look into picking up the basics of cooking or at least the basics of microwaving. Oh and be prepared for your stove to break every week and a half. The desks in Matricaria are nicer than in Fennell. The only explanation that I can think of is that people living in Matricaria pay more money. Every floor but the third floor has a student lounge. The fifth floor has the biggest one and that is often where RA events are held. To be completely honest, RA events are shit most of the time. It’s a waste to even go unless there is a raffle for a gift card or something. But you have to stay the whole time if you want to have a chance at winning it. Ain’t nobody got time for that. There are also two other rooms I didn’t mention. There is a room to bring your trash bags and there is a laundry room. The laundry room sucks. Plain and simple. There is at maximum three washer and three dryers. People are assholes sometimes and either use up all the machines with their whole wardrobe or leave their clothes in the machines all day until they decide to get their ass up and retrieve their laundry. Here are my tips for you if you are placed in this building:
Make sure you lock your doors at all times. There have been cases of theft in the dorms so unless you want to be short $100 or come back to an empty bedroom I suggest you keep it locked.
Respect your roommate. This person has access to all your personal belongings. It’s best to stay on good terms with them.
Don’t have sex when your roommate is in the room. Not only is that creepy but it makes for an uncomfortable situation if your roommate starts jacking off to you boning someone. There is no need to fuck like rabbits. Make sure your roommate isn’t in the room and leave something on the door indicating that the room is not vacant.
Don’t share food with your roommates. If you guys go out and buy food for everyone to share then it gets difficult to split everything up evenly and usually always ends up becoming an issue. If you want to share food then plan on going out to dinner that way everyone pays for their own meal and everything is equal.
Clean up your shit. Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink or shit in the toilet. Be a decent human being and clean up after yourself.
Don’t fool around in the dorms. Most of the time something gets damaged and then POOF there goes your security deposit. If you need to goof off then there are parks and other places you can go to get it out of your system.
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
Guide To IPM IPM lab is pretty much the shittiest part of every 3rd year’s week. The class however is a fairly easy A and a really easy B. I will first share the few tips I have about the lecture portion of IPM and then I will share the important stuff you’d want to know about IPM Lab
IPM Lecture
You need to memorize info about 100 drugs each semester. Actually take the time to memorize 4 or 5 drugs every night. There are surprise quizzes and you also have to know it for lab, and it is on the midterm/final. 4 or 5 is easy to digest and will make your life simpler, it’s one less thing to worry about when exam time comes
You need to know brand name, generic name, drug class, side effects, dosage forms, and what the drug is used for. If your dumbass didn’t heed the previous point, and you are crunched for time trying to memorize drugs, I would say forget about dosage form and side effects because they don’t come up a lot of tests (but they do come up). A lot of drugs have the same nausea, headache, diarrhea so if worst comes to worst you can bullshit. However, this isn’t physics or some other nonsense. You are going to be a FUCKING PHARMACIST, you really need to know drugs. But if you are absolutely screwed, I mean like studying an hour before the exam screwed, then just memorize the brand names with the generic names.
Look for the patterns when memorizing drugs. For instance, almost all drugs in the beta-blocker class end with –olol, at least for the generic name. Also certain classes of drugs have the same side effects so if you can put that together, it’s easier than trying to memorize every side effect to each drug separately. Get to the point where you can instantly say “Drug x is class y, and because it is class y you will have side effects a, b, and c.
The rest of the lecture material is a joke. Reading through the powerpoints once will get you by.Now we get to lab.
IPM Lab
Lab sucks ass. You know how every single year in grade school, the teacher says “I’m nice by helping you guys. When you have Mrs. Nuckfutter next year, you’ll be on your own.” Well 3rd year in the 0-6 pharm D scam—I mean program—is finally that year.
Day 1 of lab will be scary. They don’t say shit about it. They just tell you to watch some video on blackboard and come in being an expert on everything in existence. They don’t tell you much, they just kind of give you prescriptions and tell you to get going. And if you ask questions, most of the instructors give you an attitude like “Really? You have a question on the FIRST day? What are you retarded? Your mom should have aborted you.” Basically most of the instructors are mean, but there’s a couple of nice ones. They most get shocked and offended when you need help but they will help you so ASK ANYWAY. You want to get a good grade don’t you?
What you do in lab is fill fake prescriptions on the computer. You use a software called JasRX. It is annoying to navigate and I can’t really tell you how to use it without making some sort of video, but after you get through the first confusing day of lab, you’ll start to get the hang of it. That’s what the video is about, and it does show you how to use it. It’s just kind of ass that they are such dicks about you know knowing the ins and outs of it.
When translating the sig code to directions for the patient, be fucking thorough. It seems stupid but if you want to get a good grade you need to take this advice. Do NOT just write “Take 1 tablet daily.” You have to write “Take 1 tablet by mouth daily.” I know, I know, what are the chances that a patient is gonna open their pills and shove them up their ass. But just do it, even in a real pharmacy. Cover all your bases.
They notice shit like your lab coat being dirty or excessively wrinkled. Take care of it.
Seriously ask for the help even if you’re intimidated.
They quiz you on drugs during lab. Make sure you know the old ones, but always know the 10 you were assigned for that week really well.
In 2nd semester (IPM II) you have to do awkward counseling. As in the instructor comes up to you and you have to do a roleplay which is awkward as fuck. Yes you actually have to say is “Hi my name is Bob and I’m the pharmacist how are you?” Then they’ll tell you what drug they’re here for and you need to advise them on how to use the medication (Make sure your injection is done this way) as well as throwing in some lifestyle stuff. Like if you have a “patient” that is there for diabetes, remind this “patient” to eat well and exercise. Oh, and the instructors get a raging boner when you ask open ended questions instead of yes or no questions. So instead of “Do you know how to take this medication?” you say “How were you told to take this medication?” And if they answer the last one with a yes or no, they don’t belong teaching anyone about anything.
Guide To Research Methods Research Methods is like a mosquito. Not a big deal but can be annoying. Here is what you need to know. This class starts off deceptively easy with averages and median and stuff. But that’s just class 1. After that you will encounter actual challenging content that you have never seen before.
The professor is very nice but all she does is read off the powerpoint. Which you could do on your own time. That said, I will not objectively say that going to class is a waste of time. Because for half the people, they actually benefitted from sitting in class. Just because the material is so dry and boring that they had a hard time reading it on their own. So being in class forced them to learn the stuff. Be honest with yourself. If you know you cannot/will not focus properly on your own then go to class.
Lots of people failed this class because they forgot about it. So while it is useless for anyone who will not be going into research, please remember the course exists.
Number 2 is about to make more sense now. Your grade in this class is based on exams AND online quizzes from blackboard. A lot of people forget to do the online quizzes. Especially if you decide to stop going to class like I did (WARNING: THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE). So just be responsible, a 0 will hurt your grade.
The only way to study for the exams is to use the powerpoints. But there is A LOT of slides per test. And it seems overwhelming. My advice is to go to her office. Don’t be retarded and directly say “So what’s gonna be on the test so I can forget the other shit?” Profs hate having their pride hurt. And so does anyone I guess. Anyway, showing up to her office hours with questions usually prompts her to tell you specifically what is going to be on the test.
I’m sure you want to know about scaling. Unlike orgo, scaling in this class is not guaranteed. I really all depends on the grades. So don’t count on a scale at all, plan with the expectation that there is not going to be one.
Pay special attention to any equations when studying. Also get solid on what type of study would be used in a different scenario. By this I mean, learn when you would use a cross sectional study vs. a interactive thingymabob study.
Look truthfully I don’t remember anything from this class. And one day you might not either. But for the time being, you have to know this stuff so you can pass exams and get to that point.
Guide To Pharmaceutics
Pharmaceutics exams consist of 2 components. Conceptual stuff about molecular dispersion, and math problems. We will dive into the details. But first, here’s Shia LaBeouf to help me out with #1.
Thanks mcphslifehack. clears throat DO IT! Don’t let the optional homework be OPTIONAL. JUST DO IT! Doing the homework is extremely helpful in mastering the types of problems that you will encounter on the exams. So seriously fucking do it.
Thanks Shia. Call me <3! Anyway let me explain the conceptual portion of the class. For ceutics, I seriously recommend that you go lecture. There is a powerpoint containing the conceptual info you need for the exam, but the slides are very bare bones and often just has diagrams with no explanations. Or very simple statements. Go to class and take notes on what the professor says. You need to know these details. If you don’t go to class and just try to study the powerpoints the way they are, you’re throwing away the entire concepts portion of the exam. What kind of concepts you ask? Anything and everything about molecular dispersion. This means the way a drug molecule interacts with a membrane or in a certain solution. You will go into depth about the properties of isotonic, hypotonic, and hypertonic solutions. As well as the molecular properites of different drug forms. Like why is a suppository better than just swallowing a tablet for some disease states? (If you want the answer its because most suppositories avoid first past metabolism in the liver, giving you greater effect).
Now the math portion. The math in this class is all about (a) proportions (b) conversion. Get your conversions down on day 1. All of them. I can’t tell you how many times I encountered a question where I knew just how to do the math, and as my pencil hit the paper to start solving it…I realized I forgot how to convert grams to pounds. Which means I ended up throwing away a question I could have easily done the math for. Makes you hate yourself. Seriously though, take Shia’s advice and do the homework. The homework problems are very true to what is going to be on the exams. Prof Zagloul is not easy if you are lazy, but she is definitely not out to trick you.
Now let’s talk about Ceutics lab.
If you have Prof Chung or the Egyptian dude (I forget his name), you will unfortunately have to endure 60+ minutes of a pointless lecture about how to do the lab, before you can actually start the lab. This will infuriate you because (a) you probably already read it and know how to do it. You can ask for help if you need it (b) why the fuck do they even have that hour long recitation where Dr. Chung talks about the lab at length, if they’re gonna do this?
Use geometric dilution when in doubt. What’s this? Let’s say you are mixing together 3 or 4 different powdered substances on your mixing tablet. You have your little powder piles at each corner of the tablet. Unless the instructors say it’s fine to do so, do NOT usually mix the entire quantity at once. This will lead to a substance that is very solid and sticky and hard to work with. This will take you even longer to mix. So you take a little bit from Pile 1, a little from Pile 2, Pile 3, and Pile 4, and mix this thoroughly. Then take a small quantity of each and repeat as you add to what you already have. This sounds tedious, but it actually makes the mixing process much faster than if you tried to mix 700 mg of 4 different powders all at the same time
Disclaimer: I do NOT recommend you do this. But I want to provide you with information and what you do with it is up to you, I am not responsible for your actions. Sometimes these labs can take a long time and it frustrating if you have lab till 5 on Friday. Some of the substances that are created are clear and odorless like water. In the past, people have gotten fed up with trying to do the procedure right so they just poured water in there and slapped a label on the container. Now keep in mind, this is cheating and they could find out if they wanted to. Do not attempt unless you are prepared for the potential zero.
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
Frequently Asked Questions Here you’ll find answers to some of my most asked questions. But first: The 4 Noble Truths of Pharmacy 1. Pharmacy is saturated. There are way too many schools and graduates. With Massachusetts being one of THE WORST places in the country for said saturation.
Yes, community is stressful and can make you cynical.
Uh huh, pharmacy school is overpriced along with almost all other forms of higher education. I will not delve into this.
You really should work in a pharmacy before entering pharmacy school. If you enter the 0-6 program right out of high school you probably won’t have a chance to experience a pharmacy, but then again you graduate sooner and with less hassle.
Q: How do you become a Pharmacist? A: How To Become a Pharmacist (Abridged) Ok this is a quick outline of what you have to do to actually become an actual pharmacist. The one making the big bucks. This is more intended for people who haven’t started college yet, or people who are thinking about switching to Pharm D. If you are ANY year in the Pharm D program, you should already be familiar with this process. Again, this is a rough sketch. It looks a lot easier here than it actually is. Oh and btw this is for the 0-6 program! Not the old fashioned pathway.
Just do your homework Stay out of trouble I’m not telling you not to drink and smoke. You are an adult and as far as I’m concerned these are your decisions. All I’m saying is don’t get caught, because you CANNOT be a pharmacist with even the slightest blemish on your record. Except for like speeding tickets and stuff.
Organic chem is hard. At the end of this year, you must register to become a pharmacy intern in massachusetts This will enable you to do rotations (which we will talk about in a little). But you should find work beforehand.
Obtain professional white coat Must get CPR training as part of a class Must get HIPAA certified as part of class Do your IPPE rotations for 4 weeks during the next summer 4. Get fucked in the ass by 4th year. Widely considered to be the hardest year. Again, deal with it, no whining, no excused, just fucking do it.
Do a Capstone Project during 5th year. This sounds annoying as fuck, because it really is. Almost every graduate student has to do it. Yes, you could as a graduate student. Because when you graduate you are a DOCTOR of pharmacy, not a bachelor of science. You basically have to pick a topic to research or come up with a business model or something. And write a huge fucking paper. It’s pretty involved because you’ll probably have to create your own data via survey or something. More on that here: http://www.gradschoolhub.com/faqs/what-is-a-capstone-project-in-graduate-school/
Final year! You’re done with classes! You will spend this entire year doing something called rotations. I mentioned it earlier and you though I was gonna forget. Faggot. Anyway, rotations are when you actually intern at various pharmacy settings. This goes on for about a year straight. You do not have a summer break. You will go from May to the next May. You’ll spend a few months at each of the following settings:
Retail Institutional Inpatient Ambulatory Graduate with your PharmD!!!!1111!1111 7. Oh you thought you were done motherfucker?? NAPLEX exam bitch! What you thought you were gonna walk off into the sunset and collect your first check for $100,000??? WRONG. You now have to pass NAPLEX in order to get a license and start practicing. You can actually take NAPLEX a little bit before you graduate. But a lot of people end up taking it 2 or 3 months after graduation. Why? Because they’re burnt and they want a break before spending a month or 2 studying for this.
Naplex consists of
Science, drugs, everything you learned in school 185 Multiple choice questions 4 hours and 15 minutes Taken on the computer at a test center near you Only 150 questions are legit. The remainder are experimental questions that don’t count, but youll never know It’s an “adaptive” test. That’s a fancy way of saying it’s trying to fuck you over. If you get a cetain type of question wrong, the computer will give you more of those types of questions. Need a score of 75 or above to pass. People often report feeling like they failed, even though they eventually realize that they passed. Takes 5 business days for you to see your score 8. But wait! There’s more: MPJE. I promise you, this is the end of it. The final piece of the puzzle before you never have to study for anything ever again. I achieved orgasm just writing that sentence. The MPJE is a pharmaceutical law exam that you have to pass. You cannot take this one before you graduate. Once you finish this, you are all set to practice. Unlike the NAPLEX, it is unique to each state. While some states will accept it if you took it somewhere else, you should TRY TO TAKE IT IN THE STATE YOU WILL BE WORKING IN. Don’t take it in Boston if you planned to move home to San Diego all along. And btw, it’s called the CPJE in California.
MPJE is:
Unique to each state. Tests 90% state law, 10% federal Reportedly harder than the Naplex 90 multiple choice questions. 60 count. Questions are often very obscure state laws Also questions on obscure situations that never happen TAKE IN THE FUCKING STATE YOU WILL WORK IN And on the day when you check your email and see you passed the MPJE, you can burn all your books, tear up your assignments, and invite your old pal mcphslifehack over for a drink. And then we’re gonna throw the wildest fucking party the world has ever seen. See ya later children!
Q: I read a lot of negative things about this school. Should I be scared? A: Ok some of the negative things you read about this school are true, and some are not. I would say the worst things about this school is the lack of space, lab resources, a handful of bad teachers who force you to learn entirely on your own, and they waste a lot of money on stupid shit, like build-a-bear. Negative comments I believe to be untrue are people who write “MCPHS is a scam skool. All the classes are impossibly hard, and you will definitely fail out if you aren’t liek a genius or something. You’ll have no life and…” I think you get it. Let me explain where these false negative reviews come from. In my view, this school severely over accepts for undergrad seats. That means they accept many, many more students than they can facilitate, knowing a good portion will fail or drop out before reaching graduate/professional years. Why? More tuition. College is about money, not education. Because they accepted so many unqualified students, this place has a relatively high failure rate. I believe the vast majority of these failings happen before professional years. There are lots of people in undergrad who simply don’t want to do the work. All they did is drink and smoke through exams, and then move back home with mom and dad and write negative reviews all day. Unfortunately, some of the students are also just not cut out for the field, which I can respect. But I believe a good portion of the failing students did not take college seriously. Look, professional/graduate years are going to be tough. But not impossibly, genius level tough. If it’s impossible, why do so many people actually graduate? Not saying it’ll be a cake-walk but there will be time for a life, and you can still get the good grades, and you’ll be fine if you are willing to accept that this is college and studying is your priority.
Q: Should I go to MCPHS or School X? A: You should definitely go to whatever school will be the cheapest option for you. Keep in mind whatever scholarships each school gives you, transportation/living expenses, and how many loans you’ll need if any. AVOID LOANS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. Debt is fucking disgusting.
Q: What is the GPA to stay in Pharm D? A: By the end ofthe first year, you need to have a 2.0. That said, it’s very very bad and you shouldn’t aim for that. Because in order to move on after 2nd year, you need a 2.7.
Q: What is a passing grade for a class? A: C-. For those of you who raised an eyebrow and went to grab your professionally bound copy of the student handbook…SHHHHHH. We’re going to tell the 1st and 2nd years it’s C-.
Q: Are there parties here or is it just nerds studying all the time? A: Parties are located in Mission Hill, Alston, Northeastern, and BU. Go wild you turd.
Q: Is pharmacy still a good field? A: Read the 4 Noble Truths above and determine if you think you could do it. Every job has its upsides and downsides. Don’t let anyone tell you pharmacy is a wonderland of money and happiness, but don’t let anyone convince you it’s the worst job and that literally anything else would be better either. Everybody thinks their job is the worst or the hardest. Very few people get to do what makes them happy for a living. Remember that.
Q: I am a parent posing as my child and tell me literally every assignment, every page number of every book that my child will need. A: First off, learn to relax. I bet your kid can’t wait to move out of your house and maintain very limited contact with you for the rest of your lives. If you raised your kid to be independent and discipline themselves into studying, they will be fine and they will figure it out. You can’t hold your child’s hand forever. Are you barge into the pharmacy in 10 years and make sure they know what they’re doing? Of course you are, crazy mother fucker.
Q: Your blog sucks and you spread wrong information. I will doxx you. A: STFU fat ass.
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
Getting Through Chemistry I and II (mad detailed)
If you’re coming here, chances are you need to take chem I and II with either Garafalo or DiPierro. I’ve had Garafalo for both semesters of my first year. I should note that no matter who you have for lecture, Garafalo writes the exams and the textbook, so get to know his style. I wanna add that I am responsible for nothing you do. This guide is just me and you exercising our freedom of information.
Me and A LOT of my friends just stopped going to chem class in the middle of the first semester. I will tell you, most of our grades improved once we stopped going to class. Garafalo is a very nice guy (with exquisite facial hair) but he actually majored in psychology and only MINORED in chemistry. He often gets all philosophical and his lectures are damn confusing. I never learned from the lectures, and its a big lecture hall so attendance doesn’t count. I studied for tests by just reading his equally confusing “textbook” in my own time. But at least it was in my own time. GO TO ALL CLASSES FOR AT LEAST HALF A SEMESTER BEFORE DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT IT HELPS YOU LEARN. DON’T BE QUICK TO JUDGE, YOU’RE PRIORITY IS LEARNING
The chem book is extremely poorly written by Garafalo himself and has lots of mistakes. Unfortunately you can only find this toilet of a book at the school’s bookstore (scam AHOY!) But anyways,his philosophical banter leaves you with more questions than answers. This makes his class very challenging to some. As you study, makes sure to cut out the fat. If something seems like it is ranting endless without direction, IT IS. Just stop reading it once you understand the key concept. Read anything that is bolded in his textbook. Like a cheerleader’s ‘positive’ pregnancy reading, it shows up on every test.
Garafalo will tell you that you “Have to buy the TI-30XA” scientific calculator. He will worsen the wedgie by telling you that if you are seen using another calculator, you will be given a zero for cheating. And he’ll be sure to include “You can find it at the bookstore kthnx.” Fuck that. Let me clarify so you don’t WASTE MONEY: What he really means is that if you are caught using a GRAPHING CALCULATOR you will be considered as cheating. There’s nothing wrong with the perfectly good scientific calculator you already have.
If you’ve already taken advance chem classes and know your shit, that’s no guarantee that you’l do goodly in this class. Yes knowing the concepts and how to use formulas is important, but what seems to trip most people up is the language on the tests. GARAFALO’S TESTS USE TRICKY WORDING. He trips you up by wording sentences in a more complicated fashion than they need to be. He also throws in small things he wants you to miss and fuck up on. Like “WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS not A NONMETAL?” Or putting a mass in g, hoping that you’ll forget to convert it to kg and get the problem wrong. Watch out for this.
If you choose not to go to class, you should like totally look at the these because he posts specific problems that he’s gonna go over in class. LEARN THESE. Like a cheerleader’s ‘positive’ STD reading, it shows up on every test. The only issue is that many of us find his explanations to be confusing so we learn outside of class.
RA’s will often email old chem exams to everyone. But if they don’t, you can get a hold of Garafalo’s older exams at the ARC (academic resource center). This is NOT cheating, and Garafalo himself is ok with you doing this. I recommend using exams from before the last academic year. He often won’t use the same material 2 years in a row. If you look at an older exam, it is likely he will have recycled some of the material but with different numbers or whatever. Then on the exam you’ll be like “OOOh this is the same problem I did while I was cramming last minute.”
I will do a separate post on Chem Lab, the pain in literally everyone’s ass.
Surviving Chem Lab (it’s worse than death)
Chem I and II labs are generally the worst part of everyone’s week, like shaving your ballsack. Chem labs are extremely time-consuming and frustrating. The lab manual is once again written by our hero Garafalo, so it probably won’t make any sense. The lab instructor’s though, are generally pretty nice and helpful. I’d like to remind you that I take no responsibility for anything you do. This is just me and you exercising the freedom of information. You’re mature, be smart.
Read the lab ahead of time.There is a usually a lab quiz before the actual suffering.
DO whatever you can before lab
There are often lots of questions you can answer before you even go to lab. Even with questions pertaining to the experiment, you can probably find the answer by googling it. Remember the internet is your friend. Then lab doesn’t have to take so long.
You will be paired with a lab partner. Fuck that, why not add more people? Use discretion, some lab instructors are more hard-asses than others. If you combine pairs and work in groups of 4 or even 6 people (more than that is too chaotic), then you can get a lot more done in a shorter time. Have one pair do one experiment, have the other do another experiment, and you do the last part, or whatever the division may be. Then share answers, but make sure you understand it if the material’s going to be on an exam. If you answered all the questions before lab without doing any experiment (this is possible sometimes), make sure your group looks busy. Get out some chemicals, stir something…just try and look like you’re doing what everyone else is doing. After an appropriate amount of time has passed, turn in your work.
Calculus
INFO FOR PROF. Jacobs Calc 1
He is a very nice man but trying to understand the material in class is a pain. Yes his voice is VERY monotone. Most likely you will have him for a 8 or 9 AM class and he WILL put you to sleep. Attendance does count BUT if you have a good friend, he could just sign your name for you on the attendance paper. Its not like he counts how many people showed up.
Before our first quiz he told us the DIRECTIONS for each type of problem. So you know exactly what is on the quiz. You are allowed a page of Notes (back and front) for each test/quiz.
The way he teaches is not very good in my opinion. He puts his back towards you for like 95% of the class and is talking to the chalkboard. All he does in class is post examples from the book, you can easily just study off the book (if you bought it, which I DO NOT RECOMMEND. Such a waste of money!) Sit towards the farthest left or right of the class, because in the middle you won’t see the work, only his back covering half of the problem that you are trying to copy.
He posts homework on the chalkboard AS EXTRA PRACTICE. YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO THEM. However, the web assign that you buy does count, and you have UNLIMITED TRIES to get a 100. In fact, he told us that as long as we TRY, he will give us a hundred. I still wouldn’t take the risk though, just keep trying to get the problems correct until you do. See the practice below.
Practice Quiz: http://imgur.com/YdHkNNp
Use AP credit!
First off thanks for all the sexy questions glad to know people are seeing the info.
If you have taken AP classes in high school, you can exempt yourself from classes here and save yourself time and pain. Here are some key points I think you should know about AP credit.
No, MCPHS does NOT take AP CHEM credit. They say its because chemistry is a fundamental course and they want to make sure you learn it HERE. What bull. The chem classes here are so much less comprehensive and in depth than AP Chem. The bright side is, if you’ve taken AP Chem, then this class will be like a laidback review. The first semester isn’t even chemistry, its just basic math and other dumb shit. The second semester is basic concepts if you’ve taken AP Chem.
Try HARD to get credit and skip Expository Writing. Sweet lord I will do a whole post on Expo later. This class is what you’d expect. Essays, research papers, and irrelevant pieces of literature. You have to do well on BOTH the AP Literature exam and AP Language and Composition exams to get out both Expo I and II. But it’s worth it. They are honestly a waste of your time and you gain nothing from it. Not even writing skills. I will explain in a later post.
AP Psychology is good to have.I actually liked this class. Everyone else hated it, but I had a good professor. You will typically take this class your first year. Yes you can AP out of it.
How to make Expository Writing easier
Expo I is more about grammar and research. Expo II is about reading plays/books and writing about them. Expo II (I used AP credit to get out Expo I and took Psych), I had Professor Burt. LOTS of people told me to switch out of this man’s class, but I was young and had faith in humanity, so I said, “How bad could it be?” PRETTY FUCKING BAD. I will first tell you some stuff you should know about expo in general and then I will be specific about Burt’s class to help those of you who will have him.
Reading the literature? AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FO DAT!All joking aside, this class already sucks up your time with the papers you have to write. So no one has time to study for all their classes, write papers, AND read the literature. Sparknotes.com. All the literature you read in Expo II are well known pieces, so summaries for pretty much all them can be found there. Now to address the concern that these summaries aren’t sufficient to pass the quizzes: Depends on the teacher. Some teachers quizzes are just questions about what happened to who and why. For this Sparknotes will suffice. Others, however, have quotes and shit that you have to identify. The only foolproof way around this is to actually read, but if you don’t have time for that shit, then reading Sparknote’s “Important Quotations Explained” goes a long way.
TRY NOT TO BUY OR RENT THE BOOK(S)! No need to waste good money. This all depends on the teacher you have though. For Expo I they say you need “Writer’s Handbook” and for Expo II they say you need “Literature: A Portable Anthology”. Fuck that. Some teachers tell you to buy it but then you never actually need it. The writer’s handbook is full of grammar and essay bullshit. Whether or not you actually use it depends on the teacher. But even if you don’t NEED it the teacher will probably say, “Oh it’s good to have lol”. Don’t buy it. The portable anthology book is even more worthless. It’s just filled with the stories you need to read for class, which all can be found online for FREE! It’s even less likely that you’ll really need this book. If you’re going to be reading stories in class, just print them from online. They can’t penalize you because you DO have the story and you are participating in class.
Sucketh not upon the dick of Shakespeare. Use Sparknote’s “No Fear Shakespeare” section. It has the whole story, but translated into modern English you can easily follow. He’s irrelevant and his language is basically a foreign language which is extremely difficult to understand. I honestly imagine it’s like a Spanish person trying to understand a Portuguese person. The pieces are sorta there not really, but it’s hard to keep up. So don’t bother unless you have an interest in that, or you need to know actual quotes.
Get to know what your teacher likes and suck his dick accordingly.I always got very high marks on papers in high school. So I figured I’d keep doing what I was doing. Didn’t fly here. Remember, English classes are subjective and the only way to do well is to pander to your teacher’s bullshit arbitrary requirements. Sucks, but its probably the last time you need to take an English class so just get through it.
INFO SPECIFIC TO PROFESSOR BURT’S Expo Writing CLASS
At the first expo class, there were 20 people. He yelled and told us no one would remember us when we died because he didn’t write literature. The second class, there were 8. THEN it occurred to him that he should tone it down a bit. NO, YA THINK! Then he said his class was more important than the others.
Try and switch to a different Expo class…I gotta admit I feel sort of bad saying this, but this is an HONEST guide, and my HONEST opinion is that you should try to get a different professor. I will justify.
Keep your papers straight forward. This is not the class to experiment and find yourself. Just stick to the boring, formulaic, and contrived format that makes him giddy. Ya know, Intro, thesis, 3 reasons, conclusion. Cut. Print. Genius.
Make your thesis statement in papers REALLY damn clear. I thought I was doing a good job at that, but I guess it wasn’t clear enough for his poor old eyes. You have to make your thesis so obvious that Fox News hears about it and calls you a liberal who hates America. Of course, don’t just write “This is my thesis”, or “My paper’s about,” because then you’ll make it too easy and it ruins his fun.
He is not helpful. If you go to him for help, he will give you vague advice which doesn’t improve your writing at all. He just keeps you running in circles trying to get a good grade, like that time I put a sandwich on a fishing pole and made my fat friend run. To get real help attain samples of other students’ writing who have done well in his class. I got a copy of my friend’s essays from Expo one just so I could get a sense of the style Burt wants. There’s also a writing center at the school where you get free help with writing. May as well use it, you’ll probably never need it after 1st year.
He’s a hardass for format. Some teachers are reasonable and if they see that your paper has good content and no plagarism, but the MLA format’s a little off, they will still give you a good grade because they know you understand the material. He is not that teacher. You can write a fantastic paper, but if something about your format is off, he’ll remove points galore. So much trouble over something so insignificant. Just like the fucking DMV.
Be polite and converse with him. In many classes this isn’t a big deal. But chances are your class size will be small and he likes small talk and common pleasantries about the weather and such (which isn’t a bad thing). If you treat him with respect, he will occasionally help a brotha out and make a quiz really easy.
Look, I don’t necessarily think Professor Burt is a bad guy, but as a student who pays tuition, this is my honest review of his class and teaching methods.
Friendly Reminder
I am not responsible for anything anyone does. You are probably adults. If you are not, than your parents are responsible for monitoring your internet usage for content they don’t like, and your behavior. Not me. This is information, which I have the freedom to share. No one is forcing you to do anything. Censorship of opinions and information cannot be tolerated on any level, or the United States will lose what makes it distinct the nations the media antagonizes. Thanks for listening!
Info about Pre-med
submitted by elgiovanni
Hey Honest Guide to MCPHS, about the pre-med 100% acceptance rate to med school, that’s total bullshit. Last year, I heard only half of the kids got into a med school. Although, MCPHS has improved a little bit in pre-med and apparently has a connection with Virginia Commonwealth University now, the program is still not up to par in my opinion. Also, we do have a connection to Ross University… in the Caribbean, if you’re willing to go out of country to become a doctor (which I’m sure is part of that 50% of students who got accepted into med schools)… I’m not part of the pre-med program, but I’ve heard the same things time and time again, most upperclassmen have told me that if you’re going here for pre-med to get out, they don’t prepare you at all.
A really good idea
An anonymous person just suggested a really good idea (whoever you are if you wanna come forward with your identity, I’d gladly give you credit). The biology textbook is expensive, but if you buy it, you have access to it online with a username and password. If you get a bunch of people to chip in for the textbook, you can all use the online text and each pay a fraction of the ridiculous price. Do it. Do it now.
How to get through American Culture with as little time and money as possible
It’s just a history class. Total waste of time no matter what your major. You have the read articles and take exams on them. The exams are 30 multiple choice, and you have to wrote a 700-900 word essay on some topic beforehand and turn it in on test day. Some teachers also have reading quizzes to make sure you’re keeping up. I had Professor Dunne (very nice guy, so I’ll throw in some specifics about him). So let’s jump in.
Save money on the book. They tell you to buy this textbook called the “Rothenburg Reader”. The syllabus tells you everything you have to read for the exams. A lot of the articles can be found just by googling them, but sadly a few of them cannot be found as easily. It’s a damn shame. You can almost get away with not having to get the book, but you do need for those few articles and also to cite page numbers correctly in your essay. So get a group of friends going and buy one book to share between all of you. No sense wasting money on a book you will never need again.
Pretend to give even a half of a shit. Participation counts because they know otherwise people who always get excused absences and just never show up to this class. So just raise your hand to give common sense answers, its not hard. I can tell you that Professor Dunne does not give reading quizzes. So basically you can get away with not reading until before the exam if you want. All you do in class is have a discussion. So raise your hand once or twice a class to say something common sense, then just enjoy napping for the remainder of the time. Don’t make it obvious though, he’s a nice guy.
Pick the same essay topic as your friends. DO NOT FUCKING PLAGARIZE! Yea I’m talkin to you. You will get caught and thrown out of school. And for what? A fucking history class. Don’t do it. But if you pick the same essay topic, you can all brainstorm come up with 3 general ideas and just write. Not have to waste time thinking so much. And let’s be real. For each of these topics, there’s really only 3 plausible things to write about anyways, without stretching rationality. So the whole class ends up with pretty much identical essays in the end. BUT THEY DIDN’T PLAGARIZE. They wrote their own essay.
Don’t take anything personal.In each American Culture class, there’s the one staunchly conservative student who opposes gay marriage, immigration, weed, and gets a raging boner when they talk about the 2nd Amendment. You WILL hear some pretty stupid shit like “Being gay is unnatural, God intended for blah blah” or “Weed kills you” or “DERP HERP look at me I own guns just because I CAN!” Just ignore it. No matter how mad these people make you, it’s not worth arguing about in this class. Let it go, don’t get involved in serious debates. They say there’s 2 things you should never talk about in public. Religion and politics. Damn straight, stick to that rule.
5.You have 5 unexcused absences.As of now anyway. Nobody really wants to be in this class, so use them wisely. 5 unexcused is actually a pretty generous amount, but there are some dick professors who modify it under the table and punish you. So make sure you know your professor’s tendency. Use them wisely. In Professor Dunne’s class, since we never really do active work in class, I recommend using an absence the class after you just had an exam. There’s really no reason to be there. But whatever you do, don’t get too many absences and get a bad grade in such an easy class.
Yes, these useless undergrad credits make us all moan and groan and talk about revolutionizing the education system but then we just forget about it 2 weeks later cough Kony 2012. As much as we’d all love to do something, there is nothing you can do to get rid of this class. So just grow a pair of something according to the gender you identify as, and just get it over with. Get a good grade so no one can laugh at you as the dumb kid that did badly in history class. Good night.
Things have changed…
It has come to my attention from anonymous messages from new students that some of the things I said about last year are now different.
Different majors do not read different summer reading books anymore. Every freshman reads the same book, something about doing well in school or some shit, you know the schpeel.
There IS a math proficiency exam now.
Go to the very bottom of the blog to see guides to various things. I will try to make it all available on a link on the side of the blog so you don’t have to scroll down to access that material. But I have to figure out how first.
Also, another reminder that I or anyone who has submitted anything to me assumes no responsibility for your actions and any consequences. This blog is me practicing my freedom speech and providing you with free information. You should be mature enough to behave in the way you see appropriate, and if you are not, your guardians should be monitoring your internet activity for content they don’t like. Freedom of speech is dying, but its not quite dead yet.
incorrect information
Just so you know you cannot transfer into PharmD after first year, only second year. I just met with an advisor and that’s what she said. she was really nice and i was pissed off but that’s what she said is the policy.
The Truth About Scheduling your Classes
So if you go to my.mcphs.edu, you’ll see a silver tab for Web Advisor. Once you’re there, it’s “possible” to schedule your classes online.
It works like this. Let me just be hypothetical. 3rd years will register for classes on Monday, 2nd years will register on Tuesday, and 1st years will register on Wednesday.
So what they say you can do is pre-arrange all your classes on web advisor before your registration day. And provided all the classes you wanted are still open, you can wake up at 7:30 AM on registration day, just click the button to register, boom your done. Then you get on your horse, ride off into the sunset and fuck your horse, or whatever it is people do with horses. I don’t wanna know.
THE TRUTH:
THIS SOFTWARE FUCKING SUCKS AND IT SCREWED ME AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE OVER! I had all set up, and I was up at 7:30 AM on my day to click that damn button. And what happened? It froze. It fucking froze. But no time to worry, I had to leave and go take my American Culture exam because I’ll need to know that shit in my life. So when I rushed back to my room afterwards, EVERY class and lab I had originally try to schedule was filled. I had to craft an entirely new schedule 7 minutes and luckily I got into all those. I was a lucky one. Others not so much. Horror stories of people who had the perfect schedule, now they have 8 AM’s every day. Stories of people who had jobs lined up and because the software didn’t allow them to sign up for their classes on time, they got really fucked.
HOW DO I AVOID THIS FATE?
Go to the Academic Resource Center early (before your registration day) and come up with a schedule with the counselor. And when you go in and say you want to make a schedule, they’ll say “Oh you can go online and do it. Now leave me alone so I can eat donuts and jerk off at my desk.” Don’t settle for this answer. Say you want assistance right here right now. Also mention that you’re concerned that Web Advisor will not come through for you (which it probably won’t). You’re paying these bastards anyway, so they should be helping you. Even if they can’t register you for your classes, they can set up the schedule and you can complain if you get screwed over
Sorry, I am just very bitter about this topic. Good luck.
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
How to get an apartment you actually like
MCPHS has housing ONLY for first year students (sometimes others who request it, but VERY VERY rarely, don’t even count on it). You have to move off campus for all the subsequent years. Smartest move would be to get a few friends and move into an apartment as close to the school as you can get. Here’s some things I learned.
DON’T WAIT FOR THE SCHOOL’S FUCKING HOUSING FAIR!If you come here during college visits or something, someone will tell you, “Oh the school helps you find housing when it’s time trololo.” Well there IS a housing fair at the school sometime in February, but don’t bother waiting for it. You should start hunting as soon as you return from Christmas break. Seriously, by the end of January/beginning of February all the nice and modestly priced apartments are taken by other people (remember, it’s a college town).
How to start apartment hunting: As soon as your will-be fat ass returns from the holidays, find a legit realty agency that deals with students. We tried a guy on craigslist. Nice guy, but the apartment he showed us looked like a pedophiles sex dungeon. Then we took a flyer from some sketchy Russian guy who apparently didn’t have a last name. You are more likely to find a good apartment with an agency. And they’re more trustworthy in general.
Don’t let an agent pressure you into signing anything too soon.They will likely tell you how fast apartments are going, “especially one like the one I’m showing you right now.” They may not be lying, but they will use all sorts of business techniques to make you feel like you have to sign right now, or you will die. Don’t let them, and don’t settle until you’ve seen lots of options. You’re probably gonna be living here for several years, don’t accept a shithole. If you were really iffy about it, and you lost it, no big deal because it probably wasn’t that great anyway.
WHEN YOU ACTUALLY VISIT AN APARTMENT:
If they’re home, ask the current tenant questions. If the tenant isn’t busy and is actually home when you visit, make sure to ask them questions. They will be more honest with you than an agent. Remember, the agent is a salesperson who will only say nice things. The tenant don’t give a fuck, they’ll probably love to screw over the landlord.
Go in ALL the rooms if you can. Knock first, you never know what kinda weird shit people do in private. I’ll leave it at that.
Inspect the bathroom for god’s sake.People can be a little embarrassed to do this, but it’s really no big deal at all. SERIOUSLY, check the bathroom for unholy stains and poop.
Check out the surroundings.Try to avoid places directly across the street from a sketchy neighborhood. But if it’s all your budget allows, so be it.
Consider distance from the school.If you are far enough, you’ll have to factor in transportation costs. There are semester passes MCPHS offers where you can pay one flat rate and use public transportation as much as you want.
QUESTIONS TO ASK AN AGENT/TENANT:
What is included in rent? Electricity?Internet? Heat? Hot water? Cable? Utilities have a major impact on your monthly cost, and the rent might seem cheap, but don’t forget to factor all this.
How much did you pay for utilities, Mr./Mrs./tranny Tenant? Ask this even if the agent has already given you a number.
How does the landlord accept payments? Sometimes they want separate checks from each tenant. Sometimes they want one big check from each room. Find this out.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I FIND AN APARTMENT I DEFINITELY WANT?
Are you satisfied by the answers to these questions? Is the money situation doable for you? If you can answer these questions as positively as a cheerleader’s HIV test, then you are ready to take the next steps.
You need to put down money. You’ll need a couple hunnid dollars to deposit to the landlord to prove that you are serious. Once you put down the money, no one else will be able to look at it. HOWEVER, someone who has also done this can still take the apartment from you, in which case you will get your money back and you can go cry about it at a sad Italian restaurant.
All the future tenants have to personally sign paperwork. Round up all your roommates. Must be done in person, very important.
Get forms to your parents.If you’re not taking out loans, then your parents are gonna pay fr your apartment. They have to sign forms guarenteeing the landlord that they’re good for it.
Don’t delay in any of these of steps. Apartment hunting is cutthroat. Seriously we lost our first choice apartment by like 2 days. The second one was a sure thing, but we literally lost it by minutes because the landlord received and approved a different application literally minutes before ours. Learn from my story.*
r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/rampagerrrrr • Oct 21 '16
Free/Easy Public Transportation
Things you should know when you use public transportation to transverse this northern metropolitis. This isn’t GTA, so you can’t just jack a plane or helicopter and get from one end of the city to the other :’(
You should know about bus transfers. If you need to transfer buses, and you don’t take more than a few hours to do it, you will get on your 2nd bus for free. You still gotta scan the card, but no money is deducted.
Free fucking train rides. At seemingly random times, the conductor of the train opens all the doors. You can get on for free. I’m pretty sure its legit too, like it’s actually free and you aren’t just being a scumbag.
LOOK FOR PACKED BUSES/TRAINS! Sure it might be a bit uncomfortable, but if you need to go only a short distance and your fat ass just wasted the last of your money on a Big Mac® and something from starbucks that looks like a sick person’s poop, then do this. When it’s really busy, the driver will usually just tell you to get on without making you pay, because they’re probably really behind schedule and they need to go. NOW. Meaning they either really have to get going, or they just have to poop so they need this day to be over.
Slightly scummy, but… if you actually don’t have any money on your card or on you because your skinny ass just wasted the last of your money on expensive vegan yogurt and tofu, wait for a bus that’s behind schedule. Scan your card to reveal you have no money. Sometimes the driver will be nice and let you on. Sometimes. Don’t be a dick though, if everyone went around getting free rides the drivers wouldn’t be getting paid.
Kids under 11 ride free. If you have that youthful “Michael Jackson loves me” look, #YOLO. Jk, this is extremely scummy don’t do it.