Career paths

[careerpaths]

TL;DR: Having trouble choosing between soft eng/graduate school and medical school. The main factor I'm worried about is the difficulty of medical school.

I’m studying math and CS at a Canadian university. Right now I’m facing a major dilemma. There are two career paths I’m interested in, but I am having a hard time deciding. One path is pursuing graduate studies in math, and then getting an academic position (or if that doesn’t follow through, working as a software engineer). I’ve gotten coops and internships at large companies, and coupled with the rest of my resume, I think I can get a job at one of the big 4 right after graduating.

The other option is going to medical school. I’ve taken the prereqs and have scored in the >99th percentile on the MCAT. Even as an international student, I don’t think I will have a lot of difficulty getting admitted to medical school. The problem for me is going through medical school. Through undergrad I’ve worked very hard to maintain my grades and test scores, but I’m getting very tired of it. I feel like I’m wasting my life trying so hard to get good grades, and if I go to medical school, the whole cycle is going to happen again (get good marks on tests, aim for a good Step 1 score etc). I don’t really want to go through that again. Afterwards, I know that I will have to work longs hours in residency too. But I’m more worried about the studying in medical school. I have never been a fan of memorization, but I managed to do well in the biology and chemistry prereqs. If this wasn’t a factor, then I would definitely choose medicine.

Money isn’t a big factor for me. I know that by going into medicine I will earn a lot more (and I will not have to take out loans for med school tuition), but I would still be content from the salary I would get as a software engineer.

One option I’ve considered is an MD/PhD in an area related to bioinformatics, but I will still have to put in the same amount of work.

Basically what I’m asking is how difficult is it to manage the workload in medical school? Will it be the same rat race I’ve gone through in undergrad? There are only 2 preclinical years, so I might be able to stick it out. But some insight from the experienced people here would be very helpful.

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[Goro]

Imagine drinking from a firehouse while running after the fire truck.

 

[careerpaths]

Imagine drinking from a firehouse while running after the fire truck.

Well that doesn't sound good...

 

[libertyyne]

Imagine drinking from a firehouse while running after the fire truck.

That sounds like a great time!!! Sign me up!

 

[Kurk]

Imagine drinking from a firehouse while running after the fire truck.

cliche

 

[Kurk]

have scored in the >99th percentile on the MCAT.

I smell a troll...
You joined today and your username is too generic.

 

[Member314159]

You sound burned out from undergrad and studying for your MCAT. I suggest parting from education temporarily and pursue some hobbies/travel/etc. I think when you can look back at your time in undergrad and studying for the MCAT with more distance, you can make a more accurate assessment of whether you can/would enjoy doing four years of medical school which ultimately becomes a life of learning.

The other options your are considering also to entail a life of learning, but to a lesser extent. You already know that. I hope that the more distance you give yourself from education the more you can look at it from a bird's eyes view. Education, as you know, isn't about test scores/GPA/percentiles that's why many medical schools are moving towards pass/fail. You don't need to get to medical school and be a 'gunner' who tries to out-do everyone, you can learn the ever elusive skill of balance.

Software engineering, more than anywhere else, has realized this. Many top companies pay less and less attention to GPA and degrees and more attention to projects and sample codes. My brother works at Microsoft with a Master's in CE and had a boss who didn't go to college. You're clearly talented; just think about how you want to use your talent.

I can tell you from personal experience, I'm a math major who accidentally fell into software engineering (like you mentioned). I was very comfortable salary/lifestyle-wise but I learned that I didn't want to sit in front of a computer for 40 hours a week programming (a testament to why I wasn't a CS or CE major). I decided that I'd rather work in a hectic emergency room for 80 hours a week with horrible coffee on my feet all day than a comfortable window office with all the free food I wanted surrounded by action figures and nerf guns. It wasn't an easy decision.

You can PM me if you want, but I think you just need more time away from books.

 

[careerpaths]

You sound burned out from undergrad and studying for your MCAT. I suggest parting from education temporarily and pursue some hobbies/travel/etc. I think when you can look back at your time in undergrad and studying for the MCAT with more distance, you can make a more accurate assessment of whether you can/would enjoy doing four years of medical school which ultimately becomes a life of learning.

The other options your are considering also to entail a life of learning, but to a lesser extent. You already know that. I hope that the more distance you give yourself from education the more you can look at it from a bird's eyes view. Education, as you know, isn't about test scores/GPA/percentiles that's why many medical schools are moving towards pass/fail. You don't need to get to medical school and be a 'gunner' who tries to out-do everyone, you can learn the ever elusive skill of balance.

Software engineering, more than anywhere else, has realized this. Many top companies pay less and less attention to GPA and degrees and more attention to projects and sample codes. My brother works at Microsoft with a Master's in CE and had a boss who didn't go to college. You're clearly talented; just think about how you want to use your talent.

I can tell you from personal experience, I'm a math major who accidentally fell into software engineering (like you mentioned). I was very comfortable salary/lifestyle-wise but I learned that I didn't want to sit in front of a computer for 40 hours a week programming (a testament to why I wasn't a CS or CE major). I decided that I'd rather work in a hectic emergency room for 80 hours a week with horrible coffee on my feet all day than a comfortable window office with all the free food I wanted surrounded by action figures and nerf guns. It wasn't an easy decision.

You can PM me if you want, but I think you just need more time away from books.

I know that I am overly competitive and I worry too much about things like grades and side projects. But throughout undergrad, I've had no problem with this because I really enjoy what I was learning. But when it comes to courses I don't enjoy, like memorization heavy courses, I get very stressed out when I try to do well in them.

It sounds like a good idea to take some time off. Maybe then I can come to a decision about whether or not I want to continue with this for 2 more years.

 

[shoal007]

work for a year or 2, volunteer at the local hospital then decide.

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