Advice needed for high school senior!

[kitvicto]

Hi, peoples. I'm graduating in less than three months (time passes so quickly!), and I have been accepted to Purdue University and Christian Brothers University in Memphis.

My goal is to become a forensic pathologist, so I am majoring in Biology before I go to medical school.

My question is should I go to a name brand school (Purdue) or should I go to my local school? If I go to Purdue, my debt would be around 120,000$, and my local school, 45,000$.

I have also had some people tell me that I should choose Nursing instead because of the vast amount of jobs available. Is the job outlook for a forensic pathologist any good? I don't want to put myself through almost a decade of school and paying off debt and end up not getting a position.

Thanks for your help!

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[DopaDO]

Hi, peoples. I'm graduating in less than three months (time passes so quickly!), and I have been accepted to Purdue University and Christian Brothers University in Memphis.

My goal is to become a forensic pathologist, so I am majoring in Biology before I go to medical school.

My question is should I go to a name brand school (Purdue) or should I go to my local school? If I go to Purdue, my debt would be around 120,000$, and my local school, 45,000$.

I have also had some people tell me that I should choose Nursing instead because of the vast amount of jobs available. Is the job outlook for a forensic pathologist any good? I don't want to put myself through almost a decade of school and paying off debt and end up not getting a position.

Thanks for your help!

Assuming you have no preference and like the schools equally, I would say it's best to choose the cheaper school. Unless you're going to a top tier college, I don't think reputation matters all that much. Just get A's wherever you go.

You will probably change your mind several times in medical school so don't worry too much about job market for pathology right now (although supposedly it's awful). Just find out if you want to be in medical field. Nursing can be a good option,but it is very different from being a physician imo. Shadow some healthcare providers and decide if it's for you.

 

[Arayh]

Medical schools place very little preference on which college you go to, as long as your GPA is good. Partly this is because the MCAT serves as a balancer between GPAs at harder and easier schools.

 

[AlteredScale]

Hi, peoples. I'm graduating in less than three months (time passes so quickly!), and I have been accepted to Purdue University and Christian Brothers University in Memphis.

My goal is to become a forensic pathologist, so I am majoring in Biology before I go to medical school.

My question is should I go to a name brand school (Purdue) or should I go to my local school? If I go to Purdue, my debt would be around 120,000$, and my local school, 45,000$.

I have also had some people tell me that I should choose Nursing instead because of the vast amount of jobs available. Is the job outlook for a forensic pathologist any good? I don't want to put myself through almost a decade of school and paying off debt and end up not getting a position.

Thanks for your help!

Go to a cheaper school and get good grades and kill the MCAT.

If you want to be a pathologist, a nursing program might not be so helpful if you want to take a route that is much less life consuming/soul sucking. Perhaps a pathologist assistant position is your best bet. Try and get into a pathology lab your first or second year and really learn your histo-techniques and get a cert for histo or cytotech. You have to take the MCAT (some GRE) for the PathA's programs. Check it out! http://pathology.duke.edu/academic-programs/pathologists-assistant-program

You have 4 years to decide if you want to commit to medicine. Remember that a) you might end up changing what your interested in (pathology to internal med) and b) you might not even end up becoming a pathologist even if you go through med (you don't happen to match into a pathology residency).

There are risks but if you really can't see yourself doing anything else (not talking pathologist but physician wise) then go for it!

 

[Time Table]

Assuming you have no preference and like the schools equally, I would say it's best to choose the cheaper school. Unless you're going to a top tier college, I don't think reputation matters all that much. Just get A's wherever you go.

I'd have to agree and partially disagree with that. I feel that there might be some factor of reputation. For example, a 4-year-university student has a better chance than a community college student. Of course GPA makes a difference, but a 3.7 at a 4-year vs. a 3.9 at a CC, I'd have to say that the 3.7 at a 4-year will garner more interviews than the 3.9.