Need some help.

[Dustin]

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Okay lots of detail here, I have 1 major choice to make and 2 sets of options I'm considering pursuing. I'm posting here because most people are eons ahead of me and I'd like to hear your take on my position

I've finished my high school prereq's with A's and the lowest being a B(english). I have a life goal of being a doctor, and have already applied into pre med. I'm considering going into my BSc pre med right now when the sciences I've just finished are fresh in my mind, I'm a bit worried, though, that I wont be accepted into med school right away after my BSc was finished.

Heres option 2 I'm tossing around. I am eligable for a grant that will basically pay for a college diploma (not a degree or even 2 years of a degree) It's good for a diploma program no more than 2 years. This is free education, very appealing to me. The upside of this free education? I'll have a moderately high paying job in a field I'll like (im considering Medical Laboratory Technology, that is working in a lab analyzing all kinds of things) to fund me through my bachelor so I can graduate mostly debt free. I'm sure it would look good to a med school admissions committee if I had a fair bit of experience in the field too.. The downside? The diploma will be a fair bit of new information to chalk up and I'm assuming the sciences that are fresh in my brain and especially the pre calculus math's I've taken will be fairly vague when I'm done with this diploma and If I jump into a bachelor after I finish that I think my marks will suffer.

So a recap
Option 1: Go into my BSc in pre med major in chemistry
Go into debt w/ student loans(probably edging around 30000((low ball park I'm assuming) in total when I'm done with the bachelor)
Bust my balls and get the marks I'll need to get into med
apply into med

or plan 2:
Do this Medical laboratory Technology diploma(which does have a lot of chemistry, physiology and a fair bit of biochemistry associated with the training)(free marketable skill basically)
add another 2 years onto my already mountainous amount of school I will have to climb in my future
Get a lot of free education (I love learning)
Go into my bachelor after all is said and done with the diploma with little or no debt because ill be making good money during the summers and maybe on weekends/reading weeks
bust my balls even more in calculus and physics because ill have been away from them for 2 years....

what do you think?

 

[GoodmanBrown]

Will option 2 necessarily delay you a full 2 years? If you're taking classes in chemistry, physiology, and biochemistry, aren't you working your way toward a pre-med major anyhow? So, maybe you're only actually adding 1/2 to 1 years of extra school by doing Option 2.

Likewise, why can't you work toward an Associate's degree in Biology as your degree? Then just take what you would've taken anyhow? Thus, you get your 2 free years of school, and you're not delayed at all.

Just curious what I'm missing because options 1 & 2 seem like you'd have a lot of overlapping classes. So as long as you took these classes at a reputable, fully accredited institution, I don't think you'd have to take them all over again for your 4 year degree. (Provided you took them at the same school or system.)

 

[Silverman780]

I'd double up the 2 year degree with a transfer degree from your local CC, or supplement it w/online classes from a CC for a transfer.

Oh and Pro tip: Don't have a major picked out going into freshman year unless you know without a doubt the topic can hold your interest for 4 years.

 

[Daedra22]

I'd double up the 2 year degree with a transfer degree from your local CC, or supplement it w/online classes from a CC for a transfer.

Oh and Pro tip: Don't have a major picked out going into freshman year unless you know without a doubt the topic can hold your interest for 4 years.

Excellent advice. I think that if you can get a certification to do something that makes decent money, you may as well do it... applying to med school is costly. Many of those courses should be able to transfer to a 4-year, so you'd probably be further ahead than you're thinking. Although, if it's going to be less than 15/hr, I would recommend waiting tables or delivering pizza instead.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I'd just go straight through college and take out the loans. Which leaves you with a greater amount of cash in the end: 2 years of work with an Associate's degree or 2 years of physician pay minus $30000 (or probably more like $60k after interest)? The choice is pretty obvious to me, but that's assuming you do, in fact, make it to and through med school. Still, I don't think I'd add any extra years to regular old college. Lab tech training is something you can get on the job, so you don't need the degree.

 

[avatarftw]

a