Postbac: Start a part-time job making $60/hr in an unrelated field, or $15/hr in medical field?

[j_diggity]

Hey all.

I’m broke and I need money, and have some credit card debt to pay off. I can only work part-time. I’m trying to decide whether to go back to my old career as a software engineer for something like $40-60 an hour, which would be game changing, or whether to work as an ER tech or research assistant for something much more lousy like $15 an hour.

Background: I’m a 30M non-trad premed postbac. Currently doing very well, sitting at a 3.98 sGPA with one year left of prereqs including orgo, biochem, and cell bio. My cumulative GPA will be around 3.63 though because my undergrad was a 3.52 with a downward trend because I got lazy and was studying business and they don’t care about grades as much.

• Undergrad GPA was 3.52, current sGPA 3.98 and post-bacc GPA is also 3.98. Still have one year left of classes incl. orgo, biochem, cell bio. Best case total GPA is around 3.62
• No MCAT yet.
• I have no research experience period.
• Clinical hours: currently hospital volunteering 3 hours a week, so I’m on track to have 150-200 by the time I apply, however have considered adding on a second hospital shift, which should get me to 300-400 by the time I apply. Thoughts appreciated on this.
• I worked for 6 years as a software engineer increasing in scope and responsibility over time.
• No recent leadership but in undergrad I was president of two clubs. This was 7 years ago.
• 2 red flags for criminal activity that took place respectively 9 and 14 years prior to when I’ll apply. Was being young and dumb smoking weed and got caught twice. Been told by advisors that this won’t kill my chances but that some schools will likely filter me out, though if the rest of my app is good I should have a strong chance of getting at least one A.

I don't think my ECs are that great so I'm anxious about that, but tell me if I'm wrong here. I really want to avoid reapplying if at all possible due to my age.

So yeah, I’ve got some credit card debt that I need to pay off, a lot of student debt from my postbac, and I’d like to save up a little money to travel before I start med school. If I do a $15/hr medical related job I’ll make enough to get by and maybe pay my cc debt off over the next year, but not enough to save up for anything or pay back loans. If I do a $40-60/hr software job I won’t get any additional clinical or research experience, but I’ll be able to pay off my debt in 2 months and have enough saved for an emergency cushion while I’m in med school. Plus be able to do a little traveling before I can’t do any in med school for 4 years.

Let me know what you good folks think I should do here.

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[GoSpursGo]

Bottom line, this just depends on your needs from a money perspective. OF COURSE if you work in the medical field that's going to enhance your application by increasing your hours, but if you need money to live then you have to take the job that takes more money. 150+ hours would be the minimum I would aim for, so you would meet that at your current pace, but obviously more is better.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Obviously 60 if your app is good.it seems relatively good on the surface but obviously It’s hard to tell on a website

I worked in finance during my gaps and was able to put enough away such that I will not need to worry about rent, food expenses, etc. and can keep investing while in med school

That being said, I was accepted to med school in a prior cycle so I knew I didn’t need to add that much.

You could always volunteer at a hospital on the side or on weekends

 

[Goro]

Hey all.

I’m broke and I need money, and have some credit card debt to pay off. I can only work part-time. I’m trying to decide whether to go back to my old career as a software engineer for something like $40-60 an hour, which would be game changing, or whether to work as an ER tech or research assistant for something much more lousy like $15 an hour.

Background: I’m a 30M non-trad premed postbac. Currently doing very well, sitting at a 3.98 sGPA with one year left of prereqs including orgo, biochem, and cell bio. My cumulative GPA will be around 3.63 though because my undergrad was a 3.52 with a downward trend because I got lazy and was studying business and they don’t care about grades as much.

• Undergrad GPA was 3.52, current sGPA 3.98 and post-bacc GPA is also 3.98. Still have one year left of classes incl. orgo, biochem, cell bio. Best case total GPA is around 3.62
• No MCAT yet.
• I have no research experience period.
• Clinical hours: currently hospital volunteering 3 hours a week, so I’m on track to have 150-200 by the time I apply, however have considered adding on a second hospital shift, which should get me to 300-400 by the time I apply. Thoughts appreciated on this.
• I worked for 6 years as a software engineer increasing in scope and responsibility over time.
• No recent leadership but in undergrad I was president of two clubs. This was 7 years ago.
• 2 red flags for criminal activity that took place respectively 9 and 14 years prior to when I’ll apply. Was being young and dumb smoking weed and got caught twice. Been told by advisors that this won’t kill my chances but that some schools will likely filter me out, though if the rest of my app is good I should have a strong chance of getting at least one A.

I don't think my ECs are that great so I'm anxious about that, but tell me if I'm wrong here. I really want to avoid reapplying if at all possible due to my age.

So yeah, I’ve got some credit card debt that I need to pay off, a lot of student debt from my postbac, and I’d like to save up a little money to travel before I start med school. If I do a $15/hr medical related job I’ll make enough to get by and maybe pay my cc debt off over the next year, but not enough to save up for anything or pay back loans. If I do a $40-60/hr software job I won’t get any additional clinical or research experience, but I’ll be able to pay off my debt in 2 months and have enough saved for an emergency cushion while I’m in med school. Plus be able to do a little traveling before I can’t do any in med school for 4 years.

Let me know what you good folks think I should do here.

Go with the $60 job. You can always find time to volunteer

 

[LindaAccepted]

Hey all.

I’m broke and I need money, and have some credit card debt to pay off. I can only work part-time. I’m trying to decide whether to go back to my old career as a software engineer for something like $40-60 an hour, which would be game changing, or whether to work as an ER tech or research assistant for something much more lousy like $15 an hour.

Background: I’m a 30M non-trad premed postbac. Currently doing very well, sitting at a 3.98 sGPA with one year left of prereqs including orgo, biochem, and cell bio. My cumulative GPA will be around 3.63 though because my undergrad was a 3.52 with a downward trend because I got lazy and was studying business and they don’t care about grades as much.

• Undergrad GPA was 3.52, current sGPA 3.98 and post-bacc GPA is also 3.98. Still have one year left of classes incl. orgo, biochem, cell bio. Best case total GPA is around 3.62
• No MCAT yet.
• I have no research experience period.
• Clinical hours: currently hospital volunteering 3 hours a week, so I’m on track to have 150-200 by the time I apply, however have considered adding on a second hospital shift, which should get me to 300-400 by the time I apply. Thoughts appreciated on this.
• I worked for 6 years as a software engineer increasing in scope and responsibility over time.
• No recent leadership but in undergrad I was president of two clubs. This was 7 years ago.
• 2 red flags for criminal activity that took place respectively 9 and 14 years prior to when I’ll apply. Was being young and dumb smoking weed and got caught twice. Been told by advisors that this won’t kill my chances but that some schools will likely filter me out, though if the rest of my app is good I should have a strong chance of getting at least one A.

I don't think my ECs are that great so I'm anxious about that, but tell me if I'm wrong here. I really want to avoid reapplying if at all possible due to my age.

So yeah, I’ve got some credit card debt that I need to pay off, a lot of student debt from my postbac, and I’d like to save up a little money to travel before I start med school. If I do a $15/hr medical related job I’ll make enough to get by and maybe pay my cc debt off over the next year, but not enough to save up for anything or pay back loans. If I do a $40-60/hr software job I won’t get any additional clinical or research experience, but I’ll be able to pay off my debt in 2 months and have enough saved for an emergency cushion while I’m in med school. Plus be able to do a little traveling before I can’t do any in med school for 4 years.

Let me know what you good folks think I should do here.

Take the $60/hour job, pay off your debt, save some money, AND volunteer to keep on increasing your hours and show ongoing commitment to medicine.

Sc