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So as a 30 year old applicant, who graduated from college 9 years ago, I will of course have to account for what I've been doing the last 9 years. Now I am by NO means ashamed of what Ive done and accomplished since graduating, Im concerned that the details (especially one which I will discuss) might be frowned upon by certain Adcoms.
So a bit of my history is needed here. I went to college at GW in DC in 1997. My initial intention was to complete the med school pre-reqs (I had always planned on going into medicine), while attaining a degree in my other passion (jazz performance). I am an electric and upright bass player and thought that while completing the pre-reqs, I had a great opportunity to grow as a musician by studying jazz and other forms of music, and receiving my degree in this field. I reasoned that my major didnt matter as long as i completed my med school pre-reqs, so I might as well major in a passion of mine.
Well, my passion for music quickly took over, and by the end of my first year I had decided that nothing would make me happier then having a career in music. Thus, I decided to put my aspirations of medicine on hold, and instead devoted myself to jazz and music, reasoning that I owed myself to pursue this passion while I was young, and perhaps return to medicine sometime later in life.
I wont bore you with all the details of my life since graduating in 2001. I will say I moved back home to NY and began my music career. I have been working as a musician in various capacities ever since. Making money in music (ESPECIALLY JAZZ), is nothing short of a miracle. While I have loved my life as a working musician, I will admit to the fact that the money was nothing less then pathetic. Now I dont imagine Adcoms will look down on my years as a gigging and recording musician, however there is very little in the way of tangible things I can offer to demonstrate what Ive been doing all these years. Would it be appropriate or even possible to include recording of mine with my application?? I have no idea if there is even a section in the app which would facilitate this.
Now...moving on to what I suspect might be the real problem. As I mentioned, the money earned as a jazz musician is pathetic-in my case it was not enough for me to live the life I had set up for myself. This of course....brings us to poker.
I, like many other young, bright minds, found myself entering the world of online poker quite early in my music career. At first I played just a bit, mostly for fun, but in a fairly short time, I realized that I won quite a bit more then I lost, and realized that by taking it a bit more seriously, and putting in more hours, I could very effectively supplement my dismal music income, with my increasingly profitable poker income. I wont get into details, but I will say that for the past 4 years, the bulk of my income has come from poker and not music, and the truth is that I have been able to live quite well since I began supplementing my income with my poker winnings.
So herein lies the dilemma: Do I make my poker career known to the med schools and Adcoms, or do I focus only on my music career. I do not want to lie or even omit what has been a big component of my life, and I feel no shame at ALL for my poker career (in fact I feel a strong sense of pride in that my ability to excel in this game of skill has allowed me to continue pursuing my musical passions). However, I am all to aware that there are many that misunderstand poker and view it as just another form of "degenerate sinful gambling", and such a person would likely not support me as an applicant. Im equally sure there are many open-minded Adcoms who would be intrigued by my unorthodox story and impressed at my accomplishments, and for these people, I can imagine that my atypical history could help me stand out from the crowd and actually INCREASE my chances at success. However the fact remains that there is no way for me to know which Adcom will respond which way, and I therefore might be best off omitting this portion of my life's story, in order to remove the variable of my Adcoms biases or naivety.
Sorry for the long post...Im just stuck on this subject.
But to sum up-
1. How will med schools view the fact that Ive spent my years since graduating college with no "real job" and instead have worked as a gigging and recording musician?
2. Is it advisable and possible for me to include recording to demonstrate to med schools my talent as a musician and also give them something tangible to connect to me and my career? Is this a good idea?
3. Lastly- what to do regarding poker?? On one hand, many might be impressed and I might stand out from other applicants. On the other hand, its possible some might have moral judgements on a career in poker, and this would obviously hurt me.
Thanks-SH
So a bit of my history is needed here. I went to college at GW in DC in 1997. My initial intention was to complete the med school pre-reqs (I had always planned on going into medicine), while attaining a degree in my other passion (jazz performance). I am an electric and upright bass player and thought that while completing the pre-reqs, I had a great opportunity to grow as a musician by studying jazz and other forms of music, and receiving my degree in this field. I reasoned that my major didnt matter as long as i completed my med school pre-reqs, so I might as well major in a passion of mine.
Well, my passion for music quickly took over, and by the end of my first year I had decided that nothing would make me happier then having a career in music. Thus, I decided to put my aspirations of medicine on hold, and instead devoted myself to jazz and music, reasoning that I owed myself to pursue this passion while I was young, and perhaps return to medicine sometime later in life.
I wont bore you with all the details of my life since graduating in 2001. I will say I moved back home to NY and began my music career. I have been working as a musician in various capacities ever since. Making money in music (ESPECIALLY JAZZ), is nothing short of a miracle. While I have loved my life as a working musician, I will admit to the fact that the money was nothing less then pathetic. Now I dont imagine Adcoms will look down on my years as a gigging and recording musician, however there is very little in the way of tangible things I can offer to demonstrate what Ive been doing all these years. Would it be appropriate or even possible to include recording of mine with my application?? I have no idea if there is even a section in the app which would facilitate this.
Now...moving on to what I suspect might be the real problem. As I mentioned, the money earned as a jazz musician is pathetic-in my case it was not enough for me to live the life I had set up for myself. This of course....brings us to poker.
I, like many other young, bright minds, found myself entering the world of online poker quite early in my music career. At first I played just a bit, mostly for fun, but in a fairly short time, I realized that I won quite a bit more then I lost, and realized that by taking it a bit more seriously, and putting in more hours, I could very effectively supplement my dismal music income, with my increasingly profitable poker income. I wont get into details, but I will say that for the past 4 years, the bulk of my income has come from poker and not music, and the truth is that I have been able to live quite well since I began supplementing my income with my poker winnings.
So herein lies the dilemma: Do I make my poker career known to the med schools and Adcoms, or do I focus only on my music career. I do not want to lie or even omit what has been a big component of my life, and I feel no shame at ALL for my poker career (in fact I feel a strong sense of pride in that my ability to excel in this game of skill has allowed me to continue pursuing my musical passions). However, I am all to aware that there are many that misunderstand poker and view it as just another form of "degenerate sinful gambling", and such a person would likely not support me as an applicant. Im equally sure there are many open-minded Adcoms who would be intrigued by my unorthodox story and impressed at my accomplishments, and for these people, I can imagine that my atypical history could help me stand out from the crowd and actually INCREASE my chances at success. However the fact remains that there is no way for me to know which Adcom will respond which way, and I therefore might be best off omitting this portion of my life's story, in order to remove the variable of my Adcoms biases or naivety.
Sorry for the long post...Im just stuck on this subject.
But to sum up-
1. How will med schools view the fact that Ive spent my years since graduating college with no "real job" and instead have worked as a gigging and recording musician?
2. Is it advisable and possible for me to include recording to demonstrate to med schools my talent as a musician and also give them something tangible to connect to me and my career? Is this a good idea?
3. Lastly- what to do regarding poker?? On one hand, many might be impressed and I might stand out from other applicants. On the other hand, its possible some might have moral judgements on a career in poker, and this would obviously hurt me.
Thanks-SH