Do you guys ever regret choosing the undergrad youre at now?

[Jeffy]

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I ask this specifically because I've come to realize that I woulda done things much differently had I known about Brown's PLME and other similar 7 and 8 year combined BA/MD programs. I definitely woulda done anything possible to attend one of those. I don't know about other SDNers, but I'm one of those people that's thought about a career in medicine since I was in high school. If I coulda guaranteed myself a spot at any decent med school back then, youre damn right I woulda chosen that over anything else.

What do you guys think? Did you guys know about these sorts of programs as high school students? Would you guys have taken that path had you known about it?

Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy at the undergrad I'm at, but if my goal since high school was to become a doctor, wouldn't that have seemed like the most logical path?

 

[Doctora Foxy]

I would have gone to my undergrad if I had to do it all again...we have special early-assurance programs with Tufts and one that used to be semi-exclusive with Mt. Sinai.....out of all my regrets, I should have taken an SAT prep class so I could have gotten in early. 😛 Too late now, and it all worked out in the end. So nope, no real regrets about undergrad. I think it helped me get in to med school, and it was worth all the money I'll have to pay back for it. 🙁 🙂

 

[Jeffy]

By the way Foxy, now you can never complain cause I'm in Cali and I'm always up til 2:00 or 3:00 am my time.

 

[El Jefe]

I basically didn't even consider any schools other than UCLA when I applied to college. I only applied to a couple other UC's and no out of states or privates or anything. I'm very happy here, so I don't regret it at all. But considering how much I liked Baylor's med school, maybe that Rice/Baylor program would have been pretty cool to apply to. Of course I had never heard of either of those schools when I was in high school, so it's a moot point.

 

[Street Philosopher]

I love UCLA!!!

 

[vyc]

i definitely do not regret my undergraduate school choice. at some points, have i thought about what another school would have been like? hell yes. did i think about transferring? you bet i did. lol

as for those combined BA/MD programs, i applied to several of them in HS and got rejected. in retrospect, however, i am SO glad i did!!! i cannot imagine going to the same school for 8 years. i didn't know enough about the med school process and about all the subtle and major differences in med schools back in HS, to make that decision and commit myself to a med school at age 18.

i have a friend who is in Brown PLME and she's thinking about transferring for med school.

it just goes to show... people's minds change.
the only thing nice about those combined programs is assurance.

 

[sorrento]

I loved my small liberal arts college. My only (tiny) regret now is that I passed up the chance to attend Berkeley, UCLA, etc. and graduate with little-to-no undergrad debt. I think had I gone that way, I would have felt more justified in attending an expensive, private med school as well. Now that I'm once again choosing between UC and private schools, I feel like this time I should do the financially responsible thing.

Of course, I had no idea in college that I wanted to go to med school. I just went where I thought I'd be happiest.

 

[Southern Gentleman]

I think about "what if...." all the time! Medicine was in the back of my mind in highschool but I was so young I could hardly be serious. I really wish I would have taken the innitiative that I have taken since entering college.....but we can't change the past....besides, undergrad is awesome!

 

[choker]

what's up sorrento!

so where do you think you're headed next year???

 

[sorrento]

choker - I sent you a PM.

 

[gel1]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by BowB4Jeff:
•What do you guys think? Did you guys know about these sorts of programs as high school students? Would you guys have taken that path had you known about it?•••••I remember in high school I had a friend that had been in all of my classes since 1st grade. We both decided that we wanted to apply to the HPME program at Northwestern since we lived in Chicago. Well, I visited NU and I hated the whole place. He also visited, and thought it was okay but he had been accepted to his dream school--Yale. I decided to get out of Chicago for once and have a real college experience where I wouldn't be cutting a year off of college and possibly not even ending up with a real bachelor's degree like in HPME. He decided to give up on Yale and take the guaranteed program at Northwestern because he was afraid of not getting into med school later on down the road. Fast forward to the present--he is living with his parents during med school, and I am taking 10 months off after living in California and finishing a degree in Neuro and plan to go to the med school of my dreams. For what it's worth, I got into Northwestern med anyway, so there are other paths to take that will get you to the same place.

Did I ever regret not choosing HPME? Sure, once, but that was when my GPA was at rock bottom during my sophomore year and I didn't think I would ever get in. I certainly am happy now that I chose the path I did. Your life is what you make it, and you can't live with that constant pre-med fear all the time. Good luck.

 

[Southern Gentleman]

Awesome advice Gel1!!!