College in 3 Years?
Started by sharikkkkhan
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If money isnt a serious issue, don't graduate early.
If money is a serious issue, spread the credits lightly and work a job, don't graduate early.
Medical schools want maturity. Being a 20 year old applicant will NOT impress anybody.
If money is a serious issue, spread the credits lightly and work a job, don't graduate early.
Medical schools want maturity. Being a 20 year old applicant will NOT impress anybody.
I don't think it would be looked down upon. If you are able to graduate early and still have good grades, you've proved you ARE mature enough already.
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OP I don't think your age itself will be the disadvantage. However, other applicants will have had an extra year or more to do research, volunteering, ect which could put you at a disadvantage.
Here's an old thread on this in pre-allo, there are a couple of insightful posts in it(particularly Raryn's opinion/adivice on page 1).
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=615507
Your grades>>>> course load. If you can take a huge course load and suceed, more power to you. But do not mess up your grades by trying to fly through undergrad at high-speed.
This doesn't show maturity.
Here's an old thread on this in pre-allo, there are a couple of insightful posts in it(particularly Raryn's opinion/adivice on page 1).
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=615507
Your grades>>>> course load. If you can take a huge course load and suceed, more power to you. But do not mess up your grades by trying to fly through undergrad at high-speed.
This doesn't show maturity.
N
NAVY DDS 2010
I strongly disagree with you here. Getting good grades and graduating early has nothing to do with your maturity level. It just means you are motivated or very smart. I know people who fall into this criteria. One of which who graduated early from college with very good grades. His maturity level was no better than most junior high students. After 3 years of dental school, his lack of maturity (now at 23 ys of age) got to him. He was kicked out of dental school because of reasons that a mature individual would have probably not done.
Graduating early with great grades ..... has nothing to do with maturity. A person can be mature and get great grades and graduate early. But it doesn't mean they are automatically mature!!!
Now, I didn't graduate early, but I took very full courseloads in college and got great grades. I was very motivated to get into school, but looking back now knowing who I was then I was a very immature kid. I still got great grades while working 30-35+ hrs per week. Motiviated, yes. Mature, NO!
College is as much about learning from "books" as it is about learning about yourself. I'd *strongly* encourage you to take 4 years for college. You can take a lighter classload and do more things outside of school, or maybe get a jump on an MS....but graduating early really won't help you in the long run.
I was in a simliar position and I chose to spread out my classes and do additional research during my last 3 years, and it really paid off. Maturity is definitely a consideration, as there are few substitutes for experience. While you may not fully see this now, trust me when I say you will most likely want to stay in college for the 4 years. I know people who stayed for 5, 6, 7 years....though they aren't doctors, just students who didn't want to leave. 😀
I was in a simliar position and I chose to spread out my classes and do additional research during my last 3 years, and it really paid off. Maturity is definitely a consideration, as there are few substitutes for experience. While you may not fully see this now, trust me when I say you will most likely want to stay in college for the 4 years. I know people who stayed for 5, 6, 7 years....though they aren't doctors, just students who didn't want to leave. 😀
The reason I think it shows maturity is because it shows you know what you want to do early on. I know that, at least in my college, alot of people are undecided with their majors or don't know what kind of career they want to pursue, so making a plan and sticking with it, i.e. graduating 1 year early in hopes of getting into med school shows maturity in my opinion.
The problem is that it's the adcom opinion that matters. Knowing what you want in life is great, no doubt, but it's not really the definition of maturity. Would the 28 year old who has had another job, is married, takes care of his family, and only now realizes he wants to be a doctor be more mature than the 5 year old who decides he wants to be a doctor and sticks with it?
My concern with someone who tries to finish college in 2.5 years is that he needs to have a particularly good reason. Just trying to get into medical school isn't really one, it shows a bit of impatience. Now if there are monetary concerns as a primary reason, that's very understandable, if there are family concerns as a primary reason, sure. But, "I want to go to medical school really badly" isn't. Most applicants want to go to medical school really badly, most applicants have strong clinical, research, or EC components of their application. Most applicants have sufficent time to broaden their horizons of the world. With only 2 years of college on the application, can you really show any of that stuff? or are you just showing that you're smart and good at tests?
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Doing college in 3 years isn't a sign of maturity, it's a sign of intelligence. The vast majority of people who did college in 4 years also knew early on that they wanted to do medicine from the start and also made a plan and stuck to it. No matter how you slice it, it's not going to HELP you get into med school.
As others have said, it very well may HURT you, not only because you're going to have some old-fashioned adcoms who think you're immature because of your age (regardless of whether that's fair or not, but because by taking such a heavy courseload you're going to give yourself THAT much more chance to slip up on your grades or your MCAT studying. You're also going to have a year less of ECs compared to other applicants, and the time that you HAVE spent getting the ECs you'll probably get less accomplished because you have to devote more time to studying than the average student. Heck, a lot of people who graduate in 4 years will take a year off to improve their ECs before applying because they couldn't find the time to do them all in 4 years. In particular, you're going to miss out on a lot of the summer programs that many pre-meds participate in that really bolster their application by going to school year-round. Finally, if at the end you manage to make it, you're going to be very burned out, and trust me, you don't want to start med school ALREADY feeling burned out.
Don't rush through college just because you can and risk getting tripped up; take your time to cross all the t's and dot all the i's on your college experience so that you can have the strongest application possible.
Since the overwhelming concern from the other posters seem to worry about not maturing as much if you apply early, there is an alternative. You could graduate early, but use that extra time working, doing an internship, doing clinical research, pursuing a passion, volunteering in a third-world country (not the most pragmatic thing, but you get the idea of how valuable that extra time is and what you could do with it), etc. Essentially, living out in the world with lots of options.
That course may well be potentially better than sticking in college longer than you need to. It would show both intellect (from the fact that you did graduate early) and maturity (living out in the real-world, getting experience, and doing things that some pre-meds already do after college before they apply anyway).
Also, I have a similar thread available. It's not your issue, but I feel the gist of it might be advantageous to you.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=600049
Best of luck.
That course may well be potentially better than sticking in college longer than you need to. It would show both intellect (from the fact that you did graduate early) and maturity (living out in the real-world, getting experience, and doing things that some pre-meds already do after college before they apply anyway).
Also, I have a similar thread available. It's not your issue, but I feel the gist of it might be advantageous to you.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=600049
Best of luck.
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Wow this is a tough crowd... I didn't know 1 year in your 20's made such a difference on whether you were "mature" enough or not... I guess I'm the only one who see's graduating early with good grades is a good thing. And OP I also think Near's suggestion is very good.
I asked the same question on SDN, if you search for threads I have started Im sure you can find it. The responses varied from kids telling me that I would not be mature enough, to I was a huge nerd for wanting to graduate early to several kids who had done it and were very happy with their decision. Undergrad is fun, but if you have enough AP credits you don't need to overload yourself. I am graduating in 2.5 years and I have not had a semester yet with more than 15 credits. I was able to do a good amount of ecs, but just for a shorter period of time. As far as age goes for maturity, I dont think it means much. I know plenty of kids who are in their 5th years and less mature than freshmen. I am applying this year, and I think I have a decent shot at getting in, if I don't get in, I have the next year to do more research and volunteering and reapply. I dont think that another year of random undergrad courses would have improved my GPA to a 4.0 and my MCAT to a 40 so I think its a good idea if you are able to get good grades and a good MCAT score. It will save you lots of money and being younger when you graduate medical school might give you additional oppurtunities after medical school. I know a few people who have chosen to opt out of a long residency program or fellowship because of their age, 1 year is not a lot, but its something.
Anyways, those are my feelings toward it and I dont regret my decision. If you have any further questions, PM me, I am constantly on SDN to see which schools are starting to send out interview invites.
Anyways, those are my feelings toward it and I dont regret my decision. If you have any further questions, PM me, I am constantly on SDN to see which schools are starting to send out interview invites.
