Hello! I've been lurking on the Non-Trad forum for quite some time, but as I learn more about the non-traditional application process, more questions have been forming in my mind. Here's a little background about me:
Undergrad: I went to a Jesuit university in the Midwest where I studied Philosophy (minor in Ethics) with a 3.81 GPA (3.96 in my major). I took Chem I and II and Bio II during my freshman year, but got Bs/Cs in them (I had a really nasty bout of mono during finals and swine flu during the early part of the semester. Also, I'm pretty sure that I just didn't know how to study back then!). After my freshman year, I lost a lot of motivation to continue with science courses (even though I loved science and performed very well in high school). At that same time, I discovered philosophy and fell in love with it. My interests shifted and I eventually abandoned the sciences altogether.
Post-Undergrad: I'm now enrolled in law school at that same university (just finished my second year) with a 3.23 GPA. (This places me in the top 25% of my class. In law school, percentile ranking is crucial and my school is notorious for very strict curves.) When I graduate, I'll have about $65,000 in loans (from both undergrad and law school. It's not as much as some, but it is still pretty hefty).
I knew within the first few weeks of law school that it wasn't for me, but as I didn't really have anything else I wanted to pursue, I decided to stick it out. Now, I'm clerking at a really great firm by most standards and I absolutely despise it. I cannot envision myself doing this for the rest of my career. I got assigned a case the other day to research and it was all about the necessities of MRIs and CT scans for lower back pain with no noticeable neurological symptoms. I loved it! It was so fascinating and I didn't want it to end.
But it confirmed one of my fears: that I'm actually in the wrong profession. Recently, I have been thinking about my time in undergrad and how I regret not finishing my pre-med classes, how I think I may have been more intellectually content if I had pursued that. I think I could do a lot better in my pre-req classes this time around because I feel more motivated (I know how crappy the alternative is) and law school really taught me how to study massive amounts of material (something I really didn't know how to do beforehand).
So now, I'm starting to wonder if I want to go down that path once again. Part of me thinks I'm completely insane to entertain this idea (wasted time in law school, additional thousands of dollars in loans, lost time in my career, lower energy as people age, etc.), but at the same time, the thought of working as a doctor makes me so much more excited than the thought of being a lawyer. I still plan on finishing out law school (as I only have two semesters left) and perhaps taking the bar and working as an attorney, if only to save money for med school. Anyway, my questions are as follows:
-Would it be better to stay employed full-time as a lawyer and take pre-reqs over the course of 3ish years or just go full-throttle into taking pre-reqs and getting them out of the way as soon as possible (i.e. not work as an attorney)? Or would some modified version of this be best (i.e. part-time work, part-time school)? In terms of loan repayment, which would be best?
-There aren't any formal post-bac programs for those looking to start pre-reqs around my area (I live in Nebraska) but I could take pre-reqs at my local community college or 4-year university (plus, it would only cost me about $10-12k for all of the classes rather than $30k). The only issue is that the university only offers science classes during the day, whereas the community college offers them at night. Would it be advisable to take pre-reqs at community college so that I can continue to work full-time?
-If I actually go through with this, I'll be about 28 when I start medical school, and 35/36 when I finish residency. As a woman, I'm really concerned that my prime childbearing years will all be spent in school. Does this sort of thing ever freak people out, that as older students, many great years of dating/socializing/childrearing are forgone for medical school? How do you handle that?
Anyway, thanks for reading this and offering any feedback that you could give! I appreciate it immensely!
Undergrad: I went to a Jesuit university in the Midwest where I studied Philosophy (minor in Ethics) with a 3.81 GPA (3.96 in my major). I took Chem I and II and Bio II during my freshman year, but got Bs/Cs in them (I had a really nasty bout of mono during finals and swine flu during the early part of the semester. Also, I'm pretty sure that I just didn't know how to study back then!). After my freshman year, I lost a lot of motivation to continue with science courses (even though I loved science and performed very well in high school). At that same time, I discovered philosophy and fell in love with it. My interests shifted and I eventually abandoned the sciences altogether.
Post-Undergrad: I'm now enrolled in law school at that same university (just finished my second year) with a 3.23 GPA. (This places me in the top 25% of my class. In law school, percentile ranking is crucial and my school is notorious for very strict curves.) When I graduate, I'll have about $65,000 in loans (from both undergrad and law school. It's not as much as some, but it is still pretty hefty).
I knew within the first few weeks of law school that it wasn't for me, but as I didn't really have anything else I wanted to pursue, I decided to stick it out. Now, I'm clerking at a really great firm by most standards and I absolutely despise it. I cannot envision myself doing this for the rest of my career. I got assigned a case the other day to research and it was all about the necessities of MRIs and CT scans for lower back pain with no noticeable neurological symptoms. I loved it! It was so fascinating and I didn't want it to end.
But it confirmed one of my fears: that I'm actually in the wrong profession. Recently, I have been thinking about my time in undergrad and how I regret not finishing my pre-med classes, how I think I may have been more intellectually content if I had pursued that. I think I could do a lot better in my pre-req classes this time around because I feel more motivated (I know how crappy the alternative is) and law school really taught me how to study massive amounts of material (something I really didn't know how to do beforehand).
So now, I'm starting to wonder if I want to go down that path once again. Part of me thinks I'm completely insane to entertain this idea (wasted time in law school, additional thousands of dollars in loans, lost time in my career, lower energy as people age, etc.), but at the same time, the thought of working as a doctor makes me so much more excited than the thought of being a lawyer. I still plan on finishing out law school (as I only have two semesters left) and perhaps taking the bar and working as an attorney, if only to save money for med school. Anyway, my questions are as follows:
-Would it be better to stay employed full-time as a lawyer and take pre-reqs over the course of 3ish years or just go full-throttle into taking pre-reqs and getting them out of the way as soon as possible (i.e. not work as an attorney)? Or would some modified version of this be best (i.e. part-time work, part-time school)? In terms of loan repayment, which would be best?
-There aren't any formal post-bac programs for those looking to start pre-reqs around my area (I live in Nebraska) but I could take pre-reqs at my local community college or 4-year university (plus, it would only cost me about $10-12k for all of the classes rather than $30k). The only issue is that the university only offers science classes during the day, whereas the community college offers them at night. Would it be advisable to take pre-reqs at community college so that I can continue to work full-time?
-If I actually go through with this, I'll be about 28 when I start medical school, and 35/36 when I finish residency. As a woman, I'm really concerned that my prime childbearing years will all be spent in school. Does this sort of thing ever freak people out, that as older students, many great years of dating/socializing/childrearing are forgone for medical school? How do you handle that?
Anyway, thanks for reading this and offering any feedback that you could give! I appreciate it immensely!
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