Need help planning my next few years

[Voices]

Context:
I am a computer science major at a lesser-known 4-year state school. I completed 6 semesters (3 years) at this college before I was diagnosed with cancer last August. I had a mediastinal NSGCT in my right lung and my oncologist told me I had a 40-45% percent chance of survival.

Really long story really short. I went to urgent care for covid-like symptoms. Got a chest x-ray. Then the ER for a chest ct scan. Then, general hospital. Then, the cancer center. Then, admitted to the hospital for chemotherapy (four cycles). Then a lobectomy. 2 months after my lobectomy, I went to the hospital to get a ct scan and my oncologist told me that I’m cancer free. But, 25% chance of recurrence.

It's been a couple of months since then and there is no doubt in my mind that I want to become an oncologist.

I came into college with a few credits from AP classes so I have 9 credit hours to go in my computer science degree.

3.89 GPA
0 hours in volunteering
0 science classes

Here are some possible paths I found from reading forums and looking through Reddit:

Staying at my current school (~2 years)

• Don’t finish my degree quite yet because after my first bachelor's degree I lose pell grant eligibility. (Finance will probably not be a problem because I will apply for cancer survivor scholarships)
• Take the premed classes first
• Clinical Volunteering throughout the week for 2 years
• Do research next summer
• Take the MCAT next June?

DIY or unstructured post-baccalaureate (~2 years)

• Finish my degree this semester
• Apply to my states flagship school (miles better in prestige than my current school)
• Apply to start this spring
• Clinical Volunteering in my current city for 6 months
• Clinical Volunteering in the new city for 18 months
• Research next summer
• MCAT next June?

Formal/Structured post-baccalaureate (~2-3 years)

• Finish my degree this semester
• Take the Spring semester to volunteer
• Apply for fall 2023
• Try to get into big-name programs(John Hopkins, Goucher, Columbia, etc.)
• 3.89 GPA should have a good chance of getting into these programs

What kinds of volunteering do I need? I was just planning on volunteering at places where I have a patient's perspective. (i.e cancer center, urgent care, ER, general hospital)

If you were in my shoes, what would the next few years look like for you?
I feel like clay waiting to be molded. And thanks for reading through this post.

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[ob_dc22]

Hey - congrats on overcoming cancer - that's quite a story! Without any additional information and taking out the financial scenarios, I would take the formal/structure post-bacc route. A lot of the quality post-bacc programs will set up these opportunities to make them easier for you to achieve. Some will provide research, volunteer, and clinical opportunities and will save you alot of time in finding them on your own. A big plus about the post-bacc, is that you are with a group of students where you can make friends and have a strong support network, whereas in your other two scenarios you're essentially doing everything on your own, which can be draining. You are right, with your GPA you should be a lock for the competitive post-baccs so choose wisely and look for some with linkages. The biggest con about going the post-bacc route is that there is some pressure to do well and some of the programs (i.e. Columbia) are known to be quite cutthroat.

Good luck on your journey! I'm happy to answer any other questions you have!