Alternative career paths?

[Elizabethx89]

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[Tommyguns89]

Is this your first time taking science classes at the college level? I was a liberal arts major and I am now in my second semester of my post-bacc and I am having a much easier time this semester despite taking harder classes and more credits. After not taking math and science classes for years it took me a while to relearn the basic info you are supposed to get from high school. Trying to do all that while learning new material for all your classes can be challenging. But once you get a semester of each science under your belt it should get a lot easier from that point on.

Oh and the classes are intended to weed out the weak and make you question yourself like you are doing now. Dont give in. Maybe you will have to sacrifice some side projects but you can make it work if you truly want it. Dont try to delude yourself into thinking you dont want to be a doctor. I mean if that is the truth fine.But it sounds like you are just getting discouraged because you are struggling.

As for money you can take out a private loan if you have a co-signer. If you take the classes at a state college or community college it will be a pittance compared to the debt you will take out for medical school.

 

[Elizabethx89]

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[Tommyguns89]

Kind of. I took general biology 1 and 2 as an undergrad, as well as college algebra and and statistics, and that was all of the math and science I took. I did have some problems in the beginning with re-familiarizing myself with basic math and science concepts, but the issue I'm having now is moreso that we've just reached a place in my chemistry class where I feel completely over my head and like the book may as well have been written in Chinese. We're covering basic quantum chemistry concepts like photons, energy emission and absorption, work functions, orbitals, measuring uncertainty in position and momentum, etc., and this kind of information just does not come naturally to me at all. It's not so much that I can't understand it as that I have to sit with the material for hours to get it to sink in, and I don't have the time to do that. I have bills I need to figure out how to cover, other classes, extracurriculars to work on, etc., and there's just not enough time to get it all done. I'm too slow.

hmmm try khan academy and this website: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/chemistry/chemistry3/ch/07/chemtours.aspx that link has some of the topics you listed in relatively quick and easy to understand lectures with practice questions(although the questions are probably easier than what is on your test they help solidify concepts). Its formatted to the book used in my class, so you can see if there is a similar website for the one in your class. If not khan academy has most first year topics.

 

[Elizabethx89]

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[petyr_baelish]

It sounds like you are doing too much at once. This is not a race. Secure your income and take one class. Forget the MCAT until your classes are finished.

 

[Elizabethx89]

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[Being]

Based on your screen name, were you born in 1989? If so, you're 24-25, IE you're only just now at the average age of a med school matriculant. You still have so much time left to do this. Calm down. Slow down. It will be okay.

Read this again:

It sounds like you are doing too much at once. This is not a race. Secure your income and take one class. Forget the MCAT until your classes are finished.

Ok.


First, you need to sort out income/living situation. Is it at all possible for you to live at home and commute to class? This will make your life 100x easier.

What kind of jobs are you looking for? Getting a clinical job (EMT, CNA, scribe, medical assistant, secretary at a doctor's office or in an ER, whatever) could kill a few birds with one stone for you.

Next, you need a tutor, or at least somebody you can talk to about things because it sounds like you don't learn well out of a book. I've seen people advertising as low as $20/hour online here. If that's not an option, reach out to people in your class and try to form a study group or something. If you were able to get a 3.95 GPA in undergrad, I don't buy the argument that your brain just can't process information (even if you majored in art).

 

[Goro]

Consider this process a marathon and not a sprint. Make yourself a timeline over then next 4-5 years so you can work an do all of the necessary things. Keep in mind that as a non-trade, you're viewed in a different light than a professional student. We realize that you have a life. You don't have to, ffor example, do research, but do some clinical ECs to show us you know what you're getting into and that you want to be around sick people for the next 30 years.

I can't do this. I can do school. When school is the only thing I have to focus on, I do great at school, which is why my undergrad GPA was a 3.95. But I cannot do school, volunteering, job shadowing, various freelance projects, job hunting (replace with working full time if I get a job), and studying for the MCAT at once. I'm too slow, and there's not enough time in the day.

My intention was to get through two chapters of chemistry today and put in at least 4 or 5 hours of work hon the freelance writing projects I've been doing since I've yet to find a stable source of income. Instead, I got through about 10 pages of chemistry in 5 hours. I've tried utilizing alternative techniques to make myself a more efficient studier, but my brain just doesn't let me process information any faster.

I can delude myself into thinking it will all magically work out in the end, but the reality is that it won't. As is, I'm going to have to drop the summer courses I'm signed up for because I don't have the money to pay for them. The money situation is just going to keep getting worse given how expensive it is to be a pre-med student overall.

The reason I've held on this long is that I have no idea where to go from here. I'm not even close to being a qualified candidate for PA school, or I would look into that. Ideas?

 

[Elizabethx89]

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[EMDO2018]

Seems like you have made up your mind about not pursuing medicine and that is okay. Keep in mind you still have to shadow, volunteer, etc if you want to do PA or any other health care program. I empathize with you because I have been where you are. Unemployed, depressed, hating most of my family members, but in times like this you have to be strong because the decisions you make now will impact the rest of your life. All bad times pass and things eventually get better. It may not seem like it now but they get better. So if you don't want to pursue medicine, reevaluate your options, take some time and learn about yourself and what you are passionate about. And once again, there has to be someway you can get free or discount counseling. I think I would greatly improve your outlook on things.

 

[Elizabethx89]

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