u/chocolateicecream123

Hi, sorry if this post is not allowed. I'm attending the Las Vegas D1 concert tomorrow (yay!) but unfortunately I am also preparing for an exam (the joys of grad school) so I kind of need to make sure I optimize my time :P I'd like to hear from people who have attended BTS concerts in Vegas previously. I have attended another kpop concert here in Vegas, but it was MUCH smaller and less traffic to navigate (Taemin's and Baekhyun's concerts earlier this year).

Some questions:

• How much extra time should I add for driving to the Strip? It usually takes me about 30 minutes to drive to Fashion Show, for context.
• How long does it take to get into Allegiant Stadium? My parking is only valid from 6PM onwards and I am worried that it will take me 1 hour to find parking alone. I also have to walk from the parking garage to Allegiant as well and I have no idea how long that will take.
• Finally, how difficult was it navigating after-concert traffic?

I've estimated that it'll take me 1 hour to drive, 1 hour to park, 30 min to walk (back & forth), and 1 hour to leave the venue but IDK if I'm undershooting or overshooting.

Other details: I'm a casual listener! Played their music 24/7 basically from 2016-2020, but since then I've explored other artists. So while I think it would be very cool to walk around and see what fans have made (ex. paper banners), it is definitely not a must for me.

Thank you very much!

I'll try to keep this post as short as possible:

• About me: Rising M2 @ newer US MD school, no home ophthalmology program. No history of previous classes matching ophtho.
• Preclinical scores: pretty poor. School is technically P/F unranked, but I have been able to discern where I fall in the class - faculty also release stats so we can see where we fall relative to our peers. I have never been above the median on an exam. No failed courses so far, but I am in the bottom 1/3 of my class.
• Does my school have AOA: Yes. Already confirmed with admin that I probably won't qualify unless I honor all my core rotations > research output = community service
  • Note: rotations are graded H/HP/P/F.
• Do I have an ophtho mentor: no, still searching for one. However I am hesitant to continue cold-emailing knowing how poor my preclinical grades are
• Research: One project that I am slated to be first author on, if I can get it done, but not related to ophthalmology. I know ophthalmology-related research isn't a requirement, so I'm grateful that I have this one project. That being said, I really, really want to get involved in an ophthalmology-related project -- that was one thing I didn't get to achieve in my gap years that I regret.
  • Note: no research at my institution, so I had to really bug people to connect me to a research group.
• Community Service: lackluster. Trying to do more of it this summer and also trying to find opportunities related to equitable vision access/care.
  • Note: no free health clinic at my institution.
• Leadership: 2 leadership roles (started 2 clubs on campus).

Reflections I've had over the past year:

• I am aware building a competitive ophtho app is difficult - I have classmates at more established MD schools who had to either take a research year or dual apply (and ended up matching into a different specialty). I think I would only be OK with taking a research year if I knew I was academically strong (like top 20% of my cohort in preclinical, Step 1 Pass, and 260+ Step 2). Because I will be graduating med school in my early 30s, I do feel more inclined to take the route that will get me a job vs. delaying my career for an outcome that is not exactly guaranteed.
• I think I could be studying harder/more hours/more efficiently. I could be doing more Anki (all the top scorers in my class use Anki daily, and I tend to cram it 7-14 days prior to the exam). I have 6 more months of preclinical to show faculty that I can actually score well on exams.

I would appreciate any & all honest feedback. I'm definitely leaning towards giving up on building an ophtho app altogether because it has become very discouraging. There are days where I think I should've just gone the optometry school route. If this does not work out, I am most likely going to apply internal medicine because I think other systems of the body are interesting & it fits with my other interest in primary care.

Seeking advice. My school's anatomy curriculum is a mess. A good number of my classmates are pretty confused as well. We have mandatory lectures & lab activities but they're so convoluted and do not really help us identify structures/function/etc. We do not have anatomy practicals at our school, and the only anatomy questions we get to see are on our exams (NBME).

Right now I am learning everything via Bootcamp's Gross Anatomy series and am using Complete Anatomy, but would like to know if I'm missing out on anything else, such as free anatomy quizzes, stuff that simulates practicals, free Youtube videos etc. I have heard of the BlueLink and Comprehensive Cadaver decks, as well as the BlueLink Michigan website. TIA.