@Loveinglife97 Aw, hi baby Blue Jay! You remind me of myself a little bit (I spent all summer before college looking at grad programs, but now I'm pre-med so it's irrelevant). You're right that it is good to be goal-oriented. Just don't do what I did and limit yourself up if a new path opens up for you. And don't beat yourself up if a mistake / life diverts you from your pre-planned path.
The thread became off-topic so fast, but still, listen to what people are saying. You
may be arrogant. You may just be overly idealistic. You may actually do what you say you will. People are just guessing at your motives based on how you sound, but even you have no way of looking at yourself objectively and without bias. Humility and the desire to learn from others are crucial to being a good student, clinician, and general person. It starts here and now, even if you're 1000% sure of what you're going to do.
Also,
pro-tip: Start thinking about med schools other than Hopkins. Whether you kill it at Hopkins, or Hopkins kills you, there's a good chance that you'll be tired of the environment and the city after four years. I don't think any of my pre-med friends are interested in Hopkins Med, despite its reputation.
And
@Salt Salt, n = 2, because I know that I'm going to do peds, but I have no idea about specialties. I thought that pediatrics vs. adult medicine was one of the first things pre-meds figure out. Because people usually know from life experience whether or not they can stand kids, and then pretty quickly while shadowing / volunteering whether or not they can bear to be around sick and dying kids. Then again, there might be something about the long name that sounds more prestigious, lol. Or the idea that smaller / more fragile patients = more difficult job = more prestigious title.
