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Night would help the Germans far more.Think about it:As a defender in a fortified position, you have pre-registered fires - if you are stuck on the same bit of beach for half a year, you will have the pre-registered fires for every situation.You do not need to SEE the enemy. All you need to know is “Enemy is landing roughly in this part of the beach, that means I take this firing solution and pull the trigger”. Pin down the landing troops, call in the mortars, rinse and repeat, just like daylight. OK, so a bit less accurate… Still accurate enough to kill.And that works with machine-guns as well. If you want to get fancy you have a device like this:Czechoslovakian, but you get the idea - and Germans among others took a ton of Czechoslovakian fortification hardware and used it in the Atlantic Wall. The white cylindrical section above the machine gun would have a drawing of the field of fire, and would have a pointer showing you exactly where your gun was aiming, so that the fire control is as easy as “Fire between the tree and the barbed wire on the right!”.But even without this you have your range cards, sketches, aiming aids (even if just white stake telling you “this is the main sector for you” to help you fire so-so effectively even blind. Remember: Your MG is NOT the main killer… The artillery is, your job is just to make the enemy immobile for the artillery to get him.Now take the attackers.Darkness means no air support. Even level bombers would be as likely to hit you as the beaches, and forget about fighter-bombers.Forget about spotter planes, too. They see nothing, maybe they see muzzle flashes but if they do not see the terrain they cannot direct fire.Forget about effective direct fire from the warships. Same issue.And landing troops? Forget about reaching the right sector of the beach - heck, that was an issue even in the daylight, but at least generally battalions stayed together, even if in the wrong place. Forget about that.And forget about seeing the obstacles in the water. You lose many more landing craft on them.Once on the beach, all you have to fire at are muzzle flashes. You have a hard time spotting dangerous signs of minefields. If you run into barbed wire - without much warning - good luck getting through quickly in the dark while artillery is raining on your heads.Tanks? Same issue. Plus they may not really be able to dodge friendly troops.All in all, landing early in the morning gives you daylight, and it also gives you a full day to bring as many troops and supplies to the beach as possible.

Read the full Course Catalogue- Don’t just skim through the sections you think you are already interested in. Read absolutely everything that the college is offering this year. This will (a) give you clarity on new areas to explore and (b) help you better understand the areas of interest being explored by your new friends and dorm mates.But then:Request a syllabus in advance of registering for a course.- Especially if you are not sure about taking a particular course, just write to the professor and department admin and request the course syllabus. You can save a lot of time and make more informed decisions by pre-registering for courses only after you’re seen the syllabus.Yet, ultimately:Take any class you want.- Seriously. If you are absolutely drawn to a particular course, there is no reason not to take it . If it is totally full, just show up. Keep coming back and see how many people drop the class — a spot might unexpectedly become available for you. If a spot doesn’t open up, or if you are not entirely “qualified” to take the course, just ask the professor if you can “audit” the class. When you “audit” a class, you are basically sitting in on all the content but you won’t be receiving credit. You also are not obligated to do any of the assignments. I audited a senior film seminar during the second semester of my freshman year. It was brilliant.Get a campus job where you can learn practical skills- I worked in the Media Cloisters (now called the Digital Media Zone, I believe…) in the library, supporting students, faculty, and staff with developing fluency in various multimedia tools (video, graphic design, book layout, web design, audio production, presentation production, etc.). This job enabled me to learn marketable skills — I have no idea why anyone else would rush to take a campus job where they couldn’t also learn similarly valuable skills that just aren’t being taught in Vassar courses. Today, I operate my own business, but the skills I learned in my campus job are relied upon daily. I’m not so sure I could say the same it true for the soft skills I learned in the classroom… Those are important, too, but the campus job was critical for supporting me with more “day-to-day job skills.” Choose your campus job wisely.Get a writing coach.- Don’t assume you are a good writer. Don’t assume that you are going to naturally become a good writer over the course of the next few years by churning out a bunch of papers. You need coaching. You aren’t going to get that in any of your classes.After you’ve completed a few writing assignments, take them to the writing center and ask to meet with someone who can coach you on improving your writing. Even if you think you are decent, just get some coaching. After college, writing is an extremely difficult thing to get support with. Take advantage of the writing center — it is an incredibly underutilized resource.Moderate alcohol consumption- Too many college students waste their time pursuing alcohol, drinking, recovering from drinking, and dealing with the consequences of drinking too much. All of this is a waste. Get a firm grip on exactly how much you are able to handle and be mature about how you consume alcohol.Join a club that is outside of your comfort zone- Biggest regret that I have from my time at Vassar: I never joined the outdoor club because I hated the idea of “giving up” my weekends and having to wake up early. I wish I would have pushed myself to explore the beauty of the Hudson Valley — I also think it would have been healthy to expand my social circle beyond the familiar faces of my typical weekend. Challenging yourself doesn’t just have to be limited to the classroom. There are plenty of VSA organizations to choose from. And if you can’t find anything that seems absolutely terrifying, create one.Do all of your assigned readings.- Try it for at least the first semester. Read absolutely everything you are assigned. No exceptions.Explore the lesser-known parts of the campus- Vassar Farm: This property is insanely beautiful. It may seem like a long long distance from campus, but that makes is all the more special. Take a date there. Go for a run out on the farm. Go on a picnic with your dorm friends. Go for a walk by yourself. Forage for ramps and morels.- Campus Greenhouses: There is a somewhat hidden greenhouse near campus security. They grow special plants in there just for the campus and alumni house. When I was a student at Vassar, the maintenance staff that ran the greenhouse were extremely welcoming. Stop by, especially on a cold day, to warm up and see all the wild things growing in there. Another greenhouse is over by the new science building. More accessible, still interesting but not as magical.- Golf course: there is a ton of land out on the edges of the golf course that most students never explore. Check it out.- Meditation room in the library: Right above the main entrance. Kinda tricky to find, but very nice to duck into when you need a little study break.- Skinner Music Library: great place to study when the Main Library gets too distracting.- Forest behind sunset lake- Ask staff to tell you about their favorite secret or lesser-known places.Write ten ideas each day.James Altucher has a brilliant daily practice that involves writing ten ideas every day. Check out what he has written on this topic. Start writing ideas down — share these with other students, use them as paper topics, bring in ten ideas to discuss with a professor during office hours. Use this as your fuel. And save everything. It will be hilarious to look back on a few years later.

This can be viewed several ways.You know for sure you want to be a doctor. You are committed to being a doctor. You want to do well in medical school. Take the major that will maximize your GPA, or prepare you well for the MCAT and for medical school. Major in Psychology, Biology or Biochemistry. It is relatively easy to earn a high GPA in Psychology; the required courses may marginally help you on the new MCAT, but not in medical school. If you failed to get in or choose not to pursue a medical career, your options may be limited. Biology or Biochemistry, you are preparing for your MCAT by taking required courses. If you can learn the Basic Sciences before medical school, you are slightly ahead already. But remember medical school is a lot faster and more in depth than college. Courses like Biochemistry, Microbiology, Genetics, Cell Biology, Physiology, Neuroscience, Anatomy, Pharmacology in college mirror those in medical school. I was able to concentrate on other subjects, and did not have to study for Biochemistry, Genetics, Physiology etc. There were several PhD’s in my class who were professors in Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology, They could have opted out; but decided to stay and killed the curve. [Edit: Since many schools have turned the basic sciences freshman and sophomore years into Honor/High Pass/Pass/Fail, the need to do well compared to your classmates has become less intense. However, prior knowledge may help you earn those Honor or High Pass marks. And perhaps excel on the USMLE exams). If you failed to get into medical school, your career options may be limited. You may have to go all the way and get a PhD degree. Medical students are all smart and driven with good study habits. Your specialty options depend on you GPA and USMLE scores. It is better to be well prepared so you can do well compared to your classmates, and have long term goals. From day one, if you want to eventually specialize in Dermatology, you have to start looking around for research opportunities that can get you published. A friend of mine was a former mechanical engineer with an MBA degree. He was older, had no prior exposure other than prerequisites for the MCAT. He started doing Dermatology research as a freshman, before anyone thought about a specialty. He was Junior AOA (Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. As a junior - top 5%), which is a ticket to the most competitive specialties.You are not sure about medicine and want a backup plan. You want to have a good paying job if you don’t make it. Consider Pharmacy. While this may take 5 years, you will be prepared for the basic sciences. You would have a job and a good background in Pharmacy is tremendous. A doctor is only as good as the medications he/she prescribes.You are intelligent, want to have the college experience and can process new information quickly. Major in what you are interested in, which does not have to be life sciences related. You can study English, Computer Science, Engineering, Art etc. You can study Economics (taking a few courses actually would help your career as you will deal with medical economics issues. At least, learn how to invest.) The risk is too low GPA and MCAT scores take you out of the running. A lot of premeds self deselect this way. These non-traditional students may have challenges when facing basic sciences information for the first time. Some flunk out.10 Most Competitive Residency Programs in USPublished on November 27, 2015 at 2:50 pm by NIKOLA POTREBIĆ in ListsApplying for residency and awaiting matching results is probably the most stressful part of medical student’s life up to date, and we’ll probably add more pressure to some of them by compiling the list of 10 most competitive residency programs in US. Residency might not be med school graduate’s first true medical experience, but it’s definitely a start of one’s medical career. Most competitive residencies can be tough to get into – especially if candidate’s GPA and USMLE scores aren’t exactly strong. If med school graduates want to get a perfect match in highly sought after residency program of their choosing, they have to excel at both the USMLE and throughout their med school education.Some residencies are more competitive than others simply because there are less available programs and open positions for them. This means that more than one med school graduate vies for a single spot in a respective residency program. This further means that most competitive residencies require better USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 scores. All these criteria are important when trying to establish which of medical residency programs is the most competitive, and neither of them will be neglected.In order to compile the list with such diverse inputs, however, we’ve had to apply our own points to all three of the given categories (physician’s average annual salary, mean USMLE tests score and a number of open positions per US senior candidate). First we have pinpointed the maximum and minimum values across all three criterions. Then, we have calculated the difference between these two points and divided it with 10 in order to get ten scoring segments. Those residencies with scores in lowest of these segments have received a single point while those ending up in highest have been assigned with the maximum 10 points. With this done for all three criterions, it’s easy to figure out that point range spans between 3 and 30. More competitive residencies, naturally, have the higher overall score. Finally, if more than one residency ends up with a higher score, a number of positions per US senior is used to determine the more competitive of the two (or more). Let’s see which are the 10 most competitive residency programs in US.10. General SurgeryOverall score: 18Future general surgeons need to exhibit solid USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 scores which, in this instance average 238.5. They still, however, have more than a few spots open for them as an average US senior competes for 1.1 open position in trying to get the match in this residency. Finally, general surgery promises physician’s mean salary of $360,933 which represents the middle ground compared to the rest of available specialties.9. Diagnostic RadiologyOverall score: 20“The eye of medicine” – diagnostic radiology is responsible for diagnosing the illness and paving the way for other medical specialties. The average salary of $404,302 is quite promising indeed, but in order to earn it, every diagnostic radiology resident will have to get a 245 USMLE Step tests average or thereabouts. Lucky for them, at least they compete for 1.29 open positions.8. OphthalmologyOverall score: 20Ophthalmologists might earn slightly lower average yearly salaries of $343,144 than their predecessors on this list, but they don’t have plenty of maneuvering space when it comes to a number of open positions. 1.01 is the number here, and most US seniors have to really excel with their respective applications.7. UrologyOverall score: 22Urology is still competitive, even though the results vary between the years. Average USMLE tests scores for urology are almost impossible to find, but we have managed to dig urologist’s average Step 1 score from 2013 which sits at 238. Salary of $381,029 and positions per US senior score of 0.82, however, clearly pinpoint urology’s high competitiveness rating.6. Radiation OncologyOverall score: 23A present-day radiation oncologist is closely connected with cancer treatment, even though physician in this field would only be a part of any respective cancer treatment team. Still, their overall Step score averages 244.5, and they all fight for 0.93 positions. Furthermore, their respective yearly salary of $418,288 is also quite competitive, but they first have to finish their residencies before getting the chance to actually earn it.5. DermatologyOverall score: 24With mean USMLE Step tests score of 251, average US dermatologist represents the most qualified residency match. Their respective salary reaches $400,989 and they compete for 0.95 open positions. Considering all this, it’s no wonder why dermatology is one of the most competitive specialties on our list of 10 most competitive residency programs in the US.4. OtolaryngologyOverall score: 25Proudly carrying the moniker of “the oldest medical specialty in the US”, otolaryngology positions itself inside the top 5. Compared to some of less competitive residencies, the salary of $369,790 doesn’t seem like much, but 250 average in Step 1 and Step 2 scores, together with 0.84 positions per US senior applicant clearly make this residency stand out among others.3. Plastic SurgeryOverall score: 26Opposite of otolaryngology, plastic surgery is one of the youngest medical fields in the US. However, it has rapidly gained popularity in past couple of decades and is now considered one of the most competitive specialties. The future plastic surgeon can expect a median yearly salary of $407,709, but he/she also needs average USMLE test score results of around 248.5. Finally, Plastic surgery is the most competitive residency in terms of open positions per US applicant. 0.74 positions mean that only two out of three US seniors can expect to get a match.2. Neurological SurgeryOverall score: 27Neurosurgeons earn the most, with their average yearly salaries soaring as high as $609,639. However, they compete for 0.93 positions which isn’t the highest score; as we have seen. Their respective Step 1 and Step 2 score average of 245.5 also isn’t the best, but neurological surgery still manages to be one of the most competitive residency programs, regardless.1. Orthopedic SurgeryOverall score: 28The specialty that leads the list of 10 most competitive residency programs in US is orthopedic surgery. Orthopedics warrants the average USMLE tests score of 248, and all future residents have to know that they will compete for only 0.83 open positions. However, average annual salary of $535,668 should be enough to sway many a young med school graduates and seniors into considering this highly competitive specialty as their future vocation.10 Least Competitive Medical Specialties in AmericaPublished on November 23, 2015 at 3:14 am by NIKOLA POTREBIĆ in ListsFuture medical residents and specialists surely must wonder which are the most and least competitive medical specialties in America – more so because November 30th, 2015 (residency match early registration deadline) is rapidly closing in. Don’t fret if you’re not ready to register just yet, however. You can still register your match after this deadline for an additional fee.Samuel Borges Photography/Shutterstock.comEvery medical school graduate already knows that some specialties are more competitive than the others and most of them will try to choose their residency according to that. In order to actually match to a really competitive residency program, a future medical practitioner needs to possess a number of qualities – most importantly, high GPA and USMLE scores. Even though high GPA and USMLE scores are the main prerequisite for highly competitive specialties, they aren’t the only ones, and certainly not guarantees for a match. Highly competitive specialties are often much sought for (that’s why they are competitive after all), and even students with exceptional scores sometimes can’t find their match in one of these fields. But, what about least competitive specialties? Some residency programs have GPA requirements as low as 2.3, as shown in this table. Medical schools with low requirements usually go by the moniker “second chance” schools, and here’s the list of 10 least competitive medical schools in the US.All those schools offer a variety of medical specialties to choose from. They might be the least competitive med schools, but it doesn’t mean that all of their programs exhibit low competitive ratings as well. We’ll use a number of factors while bringing you the list of 10 least competitive medical specialties in America. For starters, we’ll start with compensation. Respective specialty’s salary has a large impact on its overall competitiveness rating. We have gathered data on physician’s respective salaries from here. Next we have the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 mean scores for every given specialty. This criterion is pretty much self-explanatory as least competitive residencies usually end up with lower mean scores gained by their respective student matches. Finally, most competitive residency specialties are most competitive for a reason and vice versa. A number of available residency positions per US applicants (not counting international ones) tell a story of supply and demand. Some specialties are filled almost instantly while others usually end up with plenty of open spots. Needless to say, the latter ones are less competitive and are mostly filled by independent applicants or even left unfilled to some extent. Finally, these three criteria are incompatible with one another which means that we have to assign certain points to them. Let us take a look at the salary points, for example. Overall yearly salaries for respective specialties stretch roughly from $200,000 to $600,000. That’s a difference of around $400,000. We have 10 spots to assign and have divided 400,000 with the number of spots in order to get segments of $40,000. Specialties with salaries between $200,000 and $240,000 have received 10 points, those with salaries between $240,000 and $280,000, 9 points and so on. We have done the same for mean Step scores and number of positions per US applicant as well. We have also used a larger number of positions per US applicants as a tiebreaker winner (or loser in this instance). Finally, highest cumulative scores determine our 10 least competitive medical specialties in America.10. Emergency MedicineScore: 18Deciding for emergency medicine is outright ludicrous. Not only that you’d have to put up with uncertain working hours, but you’ll have a very responsible job of saving people’s lives on a daily basis, and not so great compensation. Average annual salary for emergency medicine physicians (not residents) is $320,419 which doesn’t look so bad compared to other specialties but isn’t that high either. Step 1 score of 229 and Step 2 score of 243 average to a total of 236 which is just shy of 236.5 national average. Ultimately, there are 1.15 spots available per US applicant that decide to apply to this specialty.9. Obstetrics and GynecologyScore: 19Ob/Gyn and Women’s Health practitioners obviously don’t get enough credit since they have found their spot on our list of least competitive specialties. Their respective annual salaries which average $315,295 nationwide are also something that could improve. Still, both Step 1 and 2 scores of 226 and 242 are below national average, and so is their mean of 234, consequently. Add to that 1.24 open positions for every US applicant, and you’ll see why Ob/Gyn isn’t the most sought after practice among US med school graduates.8. AnesthesiologyScore: 19Most people well versed into this field will be surprised that anesthesiology has made the list at all, even at such a low spot. Average annual salaries of anesthesiology physicians speak in favor of previous assessment – amounting to $357,116. However, residents applying to this program showcase sub-par USMLE Step test scores of 230 and 241 for Step 1 and 2 respectively. That’s an average of 235.5 which is a whole point below the national average score. In the end, 1.31 open position for every US applicant also doesn’t speak in anesthesiology’s favor.7. PediatricsScore: 23Pediatrics is rather complex when it comes to final scores. There are a few niches inside pediatrics which range from $157,394 in average annual salary for pediatric endocrinology to $303,917 for pediatric cardiology. On average, Pediatric practitioner’s salary amounts to $206,961 which is right at the foot of our list. Average Step test scores for the niche are also below average with ratings of 226, 241 and 233.5 for Step 1, Step 2 and their mean value respectively. Finally, there are 1.41 spots available for every US senior attempting to get a match in one of Pediatrics’ fields.6. NeurologyScore: 24Neurology seems like a path worth taking, but things aren’t that good-looking when numbers get crunched. Median annual salary of $243,105 is low compared to other specialties, and so are the test scores. Residents that find their match in neurology are averaging 235.5 on their USMLE Step tests (230 and 241), and they apply for 1.76 open positions not counting independent applicants. Neurosurgery, on the other hand, is one of the most competitive specialties, but it’s a different thing altogether.5. Internal MedicineScore: 24Being one of the most common practices, it’s no surprise that internal medicine ends up as high as it does on our list of 10 least competitive medical specialties in America. Average annual salary for internists equals $223,175, and oddly enough, it seems that they could have chosen a better path for their careers judging by the USMLE Step scores. Internal medicine residents average 237 points (231 and 243) which is above the mean figures for both categories. The number of applicants and offered positions for this specialty exceeds other residencies by far, but still, US applicants don’t really have to roll up their sleeves as they all fight for 1.8 available spots.4. PathologyScore: 24Pathologists earn more than most other specialties that have made the list with their annual salary averaging $302,610. Mean Step scores achieved by the future pathology residents are close to national average with Step 1 amounting to 231 and Step 2 coming to 241 (average of 236). However, the fact that they apply for 1.98 open positions doesn’t really go in favor of pathology as a specialty.3. Physical Medicine and RehabilitationScore: 27PM&R is traditionally among the least sought for residencies which usually gets filled by international and other independent applicants. Average annual salary of $278,283 doesn’t look that bad for such a high spot on our list, but USMLE Step 1 and 2 scores of 220 and 234 certainly do. It’s an average of only 227 (almost 10 points below national average), and 1.79 positions per 1 US applicant don’t really go in favor of this residency as well.2. PsychiatryScore: 28All of you thinking of applying for Psychiatry residency; better think again. For starters, you’ll hardly be the ones to treat the Mafia boss like Tony Soprano, and you are highly unlikely to charge triple digits for a session. Average yearly salary of $227,478 is a more likely outcome, but at least you won’t need high Step test scores. In fact, they are exactly 10 points below the national average of 236.5 as 220 and 233 equal to a mean value of 226.5. Add to that 1.77 open positions per US applicant and there you go.1.Family MedicineScore: 30This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to those with some knowledge of the matter. Family medicine has always been near the bottom when it comes to residency competitiveness and it comes dead last on our list of 10 least competitive medical specialties in America. The annual salary of around $227,541 is mediocre in terms of medical average, but USMLE Step scores are even worse. Step 1 score of only 218 is particularly bad, and 234 points in Step 2 tests aren’t exactly flying colors as well. Average of only 226 speaks for itself, but that’s not the worst. US senior applicant rarely decides to get into family medicine residency as there are 2.13 positions open per one of them.