Balancing volunteer work, internships, and class? Advice, p-please?

[white plum]

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Ok, here is my situation:

I am currently enrolled at a community college, and I'll be transferring to a 4-year this fall. This university offers scholarship money for GPA. My GPA is meh; my plan was to take courses over the summer to bump it up so I can get the highest amount of scholarship money possible. (I'll be applying for other scholarships, but this is irrelevant to my dilemma). I'll only be taking two classes, but I'll need to do very well in them, which I'm not worried about. This is necessary, as I'll be able to secure up to $3,000 more than what I can get now.

Currently, I'm in the process of volunteering at a nearby hospital to get volunteer hours. (This'll be my first time volunteering in a medical setting.)

Here is my problem: I'm a sophomore, and I have practically no volunteer/shadowing/research, because I came around to the I-wanna-be-a-doctor! realization rather late, it seems. I am panicking.

Because of this panic, I have found and want to apply for 4 nearby internship opportunities, but they are all strictly full-time, and most if not all require on-campus lodging. They're all in Chicago, and about 2 hours away from me.

(I am going to wait on shadowing; I'm leaving my current college so soon that I just figured I'd get contracted with my 4-year instead.)

I have a feeling I'm spreading myself too thin. Here are my questions:

Am I setting myself up for failure here? Is it possible to hold off on the research until later on? I know that the part-time school is absolutely necessary, and I've practically already signed up for volunteering... Should I just forget about the research and try to compensate by shadowing and volunteering my ass off during my stay at my 4-year? I had been under the assumption that it's either research or hands-on experience...

(All questions are to be read with the image of me flailing my arms desperately.)

Thank you for reading!

 

[CaliGirl14]

Forget about research until you transfer. Not is it impossible to find research now, but you need to focus on your GPA. Volunteer when you can, just don't let it interfere with your grades. It's EVERYTHING.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Just take things slow. Do what you can handle. When you feel like you could do more, do more. You don't have to do research to get into med school.

 

[Jli]

I'm kind of in the same situation, but I suggest you to transfer first. Do research when you transfer to your new school. Volunteer you could do anytime so just do it when you got the time. Don't know what to say about shadowing, cause I haven't done that yet. 2 years is a long time you could research and shadow at the same time. If this help, a fellow sd member told me this, of course this is a general view. Avg. hospital volunteer hours (150 hours) Avg. shadow hours (60+ for each field) Research (not sure). Hope this help a little and stop panicking, anxiety brings you nowhere.

 

[BlueElmo]

Agree with above, slowly at a time. You would have enough time for research later down the line. Research can be time-consuming, so wait until you have more time and feel more ready.

 

[white plum]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, everybody! 🙂

Avg. hospital volunteer hours (150 hours) Avg. shadow hours (60+ for each field) Research (not sure).

Hey, thanks for this; I've been meaning to search for that and write it down! (And yes, I promise to stop panicking; I am a bit of a worrier.)

Ok, so I've decided to nix the internship applications, and just focus on GPA boosting and fitting in some volunteer hours instead. I have a feeling that once I get to my 4-year, more opportunities will be open to me and I'll probably know more of what the hell I'm doing.