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- Mar 17, 2016
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Hello!
I'm a HS senior planning on pre-med. It's right around admissions decisions release time and I'm waiting on the majority of my schools still, but I've been less stressed compared to the rest of my class because I'm putting my priorities on going to a cheaper, less prestigious school to save money and GPA points for med school. Now that it's so close, I'm finally starting to get some doubts, so please be brutally honest with me-- if I'm making a bad decision, I want to fix it as soon as possible. Sorry for the blocks of text in advance, and thank you!
1) The usual-- should I be a doctor? In terms of academics, hopefully I don't sound too jaded, but I don't really understand 'passion' for specific subjects. Biology has been one of my favorite classes because I loved my teacher and the class was easy, partly because of how visual I felt the subject was. I enjoy working in a laboratory, but the feeling of finally getting a western to work I think was more of relief than happiness. Not sure how relevant this is, but as for the social aspect: despite being an introvert I really like people, and my values are truth, and inherent value and dignity in life (please excuse how pretentious that sounded).
2) I have already been accepted to McGill. Although most of my decisions are not released, it seems like a logical choice considering that I'll be able to graduate a year early based on AP credit and save that year of tuition. Loss of US student aid is not a big deal because of my odd financial circumstances-- I doubt I'll qualify for any need-based aid at any private university due to my father (who is divorced from my mother, makes ~200k/year, and is required to submit forms as a non-custodial parent). He does live with us and support us, hence why even if I were eligible for aid I consider it dishonest for me to apply for it. However, studying at McGill means that I may be disadvantaged when applying to US med schools, will lose a year of preparation for my application and the MCAT, and will probably have to use some classes for French if I want a good shot at internships. This adds up to a very tight schedule if I want to take prereq classes despite having AP credits. In addition, I've learned that it's difficult to maintain a good GPA at McGill-- for reference, I currently have a 4.0 (for now... 3rd quarter slump Q_Q) at one of the best public schools in Massachusetts.
The issues I mentioned are solved by taking a fourth year at McGill, but one of the biggest incentives for attending is saving a year of tuition and a year of my life. I'm not decided or anything but surgery does sound appealing and I assume that takes up a longer residency period, hence my concern over time, although if I am qualified enough I know dermatology is often a highly desired match.
Alternatively, I think half or more of the schools I applied to are good state colleges. Only one is a MA school though (so while the state schools are considerably cheaper, they aren't exactly the cheapest either), and I would strongly prefer not to attend UMASS due to location. I expect to get in to most based on stats but I'm not counting on any generous merit aid (SUNY Stony Brook offered me 5k/year merit).
Without all my options available yet it's a bit silly to ask for thoughts on college, but any feedback to my career choices and college is very welcome. My graduating class is pretty toxic as we're an intensely competitive school and have had very disappointing, even shocking, acceptance rates for our year; I like to think I've been able to stand above that in part because I have a goal beyond college. Even so, I lack the experience and foresight to assess how true that is. I know I didn't ask many concrete questions, but really just your thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you!
I'm a HS senior planning on pre-med. It's right around admissions decisions release time and I'm waiting on the majority of my schools still, but I've been less stressed compared to the rest of my class because I'm putting my priorities on going to a cheaper, less prestigious school to save money and GPA points for med school. Now that it's so close, I'm finally starting to get some doubts, so please be brutally honest with me-- if I'm making a bad decision, I want to fix it as soon as possible. Sorry for the blocks of text in advance, and thank you!
1) The usual-- should I be a doctor? In terms of academics, hopefully I don't sound too jaded, but I don't really understand 'passion' for specific subjects. Biology has been one of my favorite classes because I loved my teacher and the class was easy, partly because of how visual I felt the subject was. I enjoy working in a laboratory, but the feeling of finally getting a western to work I think was more of relief than happiness. Not sure how relevant this is, but as for the social aspect: despite being an introvert I really like people, and my values are truth, and inherent value and dignity in life (please excuse how pretentious that sounded).
2) I have already been accepted to McGill. Although most of my decisions are not released, it seems like a logical choice considering that I'll be able to graduate a year early based on AP credit and save that year of tuition. Loss of US student aid is not a big deal because of my odd financial circumstances-- I doubt I'll qualify for any need-based aid at any private university due to my father (who is divorced from my mother, makes ~200k/year, and is required to submit forms as a non-custodial parent). He does live with us and support us, hence why even if I were eligible for aid I consider it dishonest for me to apply for it. However, studying at McGill means that I may be disadvantaged when applying to US med schools, will lose a year of preparation for my application and the MCAT, and will probably have to use some classes for French if I want a good shot at internships. This adds up to a very tight schedule if I want to take prereq classes despite having AP credits. In addition, I've learned that it's difficult to maintain a good GPA at McGill-- for reference, I currently have a 4.0 (for now... 3rd quarter slump Q_Q) at one of the best public schools in Massachusetts.
The issues I mentioned are solved by taking a fourth year at McGill, but one of the biggest incentives for attending is saving a year of tuition and a year of my life. I'm not decided or anything but surgery does sound appealing and I assume that takes up a longer residency period, hence my concern over time, although if I am qualified enough I know dermatology is often a highly desired match.
Alternatively, I think half or more of the schools I applied to are good state colleges. Only one is a MA school though (so while the state schools are considerably cheaper, they aren't exactly the cheapest either), and I would strongly prefer not to attend UMASS due to location. I expect to get in to most based on stats but I'm not counting on any generous merit aid (SUNY Stony Brook offered me 5k/year merit).
Without all my options available yet it's a bit silly to ask for thoughts on college, but any feedback to my career choices and college is very welcome. My graduating class is pretty toxic as we're an intensely competitive school and have had very disappointing, even shocking, acceptance rates for our year; I like to think I've been able to stand above that in part because I have a goal beyond college. Even so, I lack the experience and foresight to assess how true that is. I know I didn't ask many concrete questions, but really just your thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you!
