Stories of graduate school life from students actually living it. Go Inside as we cut to the chase on what grad school is really like.

Catherine Laible recently completed her first year at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Williams College in Williamstown, MA, and enrolled in NYU for the post-baccalaureate pre-med program. She has three more years of medical school and then three to four years in residency to complete. Her greatest motivation for becoming a physician was her father: since he is a doctor, Catherine always considered the possibility that she would be one as well, yet she studied art and finance first. "Having tried other things, I know medicine is what I am best at, and it's the field with which I'll be able to give the most back."

Getting In
The application process took about a year: applications in August, then school started in August of the following year. It's a grueling process, with many sections of multiple applications, many essays to write, many interviews. It's something that you really need to want in order to be able to go through and not mind the intensity. If I had to do it all over again, I would not have applied to as many schools. I was persistent in my follow-ups and expressed my sincere desire to attend certain schools. I think schools like to see students who truly want to go there and are willing to fight for it. NYU--where I did my pre-med program--has a volunteer program at St. Vincent's Hospital. It's a fifteen-month rotating program where each month, you're in a new department of the hospital, learning about how the individual specialties function as well as how the hospital works as a whole.

Living the Life
There's no way around it: medical school is demanding, both physically and emotionally. Having a life outside of school is important and definitely possible to do on a consistent basis. However, there's always going to be work to do, exams to study for, and classes to prepare for. There are generally two types of students: those who work a few hours every day, and those who take some time off after each exam, then have to crunch for the week or two before the next exam. It's much better to be the first type, especially once you hit second year and also need to start studying for boards. Before exams, it's not uncommon to spend fifteen hours a day studying. I tended to do a lot of my preparatory work and learning at home, but working with other students is a must for before exams.

I consider myself lucky to have such great fellow students. The social chairs of the class are always planning activities and ways to have fun. I also lived in New York City for four years before starting school, so I had a base of friends and family established before school started. I tended to go out maybe twice or three times a week. I like that classes are usually over before work would typically end, so it's still light outside, and you can go to the gym before the after-work mad rush. The worst part of my day is when I can't or won't leave home or the library for hours on end in the days or week before an exam.

I live in an apartment alone, off-campus. I like living alone because it allows me to be able to work at home. How I balance school with sleep, grocery shopping, laundry, bill paying, and everything else unrelated to school is a challenge and gets figured out as the first year progresses. It's very important to remember that life exists outside of school.

The Scoop
The greatest challenge of this program for me is the fact that I have not taken any of the upper-level science classes since I was an art history major in college. I felt like this was somewhat of a disadvantage because my learning curve was greater than normal.

The greatest strengths of this program is the diversity of the student body, the focus on getting students into the hospital during the first weeks of school, and the focus on teaching first-year students about ethics/moral issues with medicine. Mt. Sinai is a very caring environment and everything can be accomplished if the student has the drive to pursue it. I am amazed at how much I learned during my first year in med school, but it also makes me realize and understand just how much I still have to learn. Keeping a life outside of school has been important--seeing friends, family, and going to the gym have kept me balanced and positive.

Everyone in the program is very intelligent and works very hard; most people have come from top colleges and programs. Sinai likes and accepts "alternative students" like myself, which is great because it brings a new viewpoint to a lot of the material. Also, everyone has an intense drive to learn as much as possible about everything, which is a wonderful environment to be in. Since everyone learns differently, you need to find a group of people to study with who work in a similar way to yourself. The amount of time I spend with other students varies, depending on if an exam is coming up, but we usually try to go out at least once a week together, and we'll spend every day, all day together studying before an exam.

The professors are always there to meet with you and help out. Some are obviously better than others, but on the whole, I've been impressed with the level of teaching. Many of the professors work in the hospital, so if you particularly like what someone is lecturing about, it's easy to talk to them about shadowing or setting up an internship, which is great. Sometimes professors who work in the hospital are busy with patients, but of course that's part of having doctors teach you about their specialty. If this is the case, there are always other doctors in the field who can help out. Sinai is a fantastic program, and I would urge anyone interested in going to med school in New York City to apply and visit.

The Future
At Sinai, I feel that they're teaching me not only the sciences, but also how to emotionally be a doctor. I'm learning how to talk to patients and deal with difficult issues, which is going to help in the future. In five years, I'll be starting my third year of residency and hopefully will still be in New York City. I'd like to stay in the city where I already have a family and friend base. It would be wonderful to be in whatever happens to be my first choice residency program as well.