I know I’ll make some people angry out there, but I’ve noticed a few things about the many pre-meds I’ve come across in my time at college. This surely isn’t true of every doctor wannabe out there, but it is a lifestyle and mindset that ensares many a good student.

1. A pre-med is always the one asking “Will this be on the test?” Yup, the pre-med is always the really annoying kid in a class, ignoring the intellectual meat of any discussion. Pre-meds are fixated on performing well by the numbers, of doing well on the test and getting the A, regardless of what they get out of the course. A pre-med’s moves are often calculated just to get the grade rather than stimulate discussion.

2. A pre-med can’t stop talking about grades. “What did you get on the exam?” “What do you think the curve will be like?” “Man, I was studying ALL last night.” “I’ve got to get an A in this course if I want to go to so-and-so med school.” It can rapidly get exhausting to chat with a pre-med. They can’t stop talking about doing well on exams and actually getting into med school — their singular obsession. They don’t want to talk about literature, art, or culture. They only want to talk about themselves and that big exam coming up.

3. A pre-med is endlessly competitive. If you’re friends with pre-meds, I’ve discovered it’s best to keep your grades to yourself. They thrive on competition and they’re determined to be better than anyone else in terms of academics. GPA’s are thrown around like currency, and they’ll stop at nothing to keep that GPA high, from shamelessly sucking up to professors, to wheedling them for grade bumps. I’m just glad the majority of my classes are arty and not swarmed with these guys and gals.

4. A pre-med can’t relax and enjoy themselves. This isn’t the pre-meds’ fault. Colleges expect a tremendous amount from their pre-meds, and the competition is so fierce that I can understand why students think they have to live this obnoxiously hardcore lifestyle in order to survive. Plenty of people start out thinking they’ll be doctors and find out early on that they just can’t hack it. However, the way the system stands now, the universities reward this bad behavior with success. Rather than valuing learning for learning’s sake and really getting something out of their classes, pre-meds know that what counts is the grade, and not the content of the class. It’s a terrible cycle of competitiveness increasing obnoxiousness, which only increases the competition.

I know some pre-meds who find time to party hard and end up wasted on the weekends, but again, there’s an air of desperation and competition to their partying, as if they feel compelled to do everything just to get the requisite college experience in. Get the grades, do the bodyshots, wear the right pants, and you’ll end up getting into the right med school. When college is only a means to an end, though, it wastes four years of what could be the best time of your life.

So to pre-meds, I say relax, try and enjoy yourselves and enjoy learning a little bit more. And to friends of pre-meds, I say, try and be patient, but make sure you have other friends as well, so you won’t be constantly surrounded by that wearying talk.

If you aren’t familiar with the process, loan forgiveness is the cancellation of all or part of your student loans if you decide to go into certain charitable fields for a certain amount of time. Below is a list of some areas that offer loan forgiveness, but it’s not comprehensive. In fact, if you go into some sort of public service upon graduation, it wouldn’t hurt to consult the Human Resources department to see if your job qualifies for the program. Also, the military offers numerous loan repayment programs.

Volunteering

Americorps A year of service gets you up to a $7400 stipend and around $4500 to use against a loan.

Peace Corps Volunteers can get a loan deferment and up to 70% loan cancellation.

Teaching

The American Federation of Teachers has a list of scholarship and loan repayment programs by state. Usually they are given to teachers working in low income areas. If you are interested in this program, contact your school district to see what schools are eligible. The government website on the program also has a lot of good information.

Law/Medicine

If you are going to Law or Medical school, chances are your loans are going to be fairly staggering. Much like teaching, however, going into a public interest or not for profit field could be grounds for loan forgiveness. This website has information on the program for law.

There are many resources for nurses, therapists and doctors who work in low income areas or are doing clinical research as well. Here is a list of programs by state.

There is tons of information on loan forgiveness that you can find by doing a google search. You should also consider federal loan consolidation to cut back on your payments and if you work for your state, check and see if your agency offers a Student Loan Repayment Program. It’s not technically a loan forgiveness program, as your employer will pay back part or all of your loan as a recruitment incentive.