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- Jun 18, 2013
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Hi There:
This is my first time posting and I really have no idea what I am doing. I feel everything is going really fast and I feel out of place.
My name is Damon and to be short, I am an individual who screwed up a lot. As a result I lost everything and everyone. It took two full years to right the wrongs. Now I am in a position to start my life again but I do not know if I am way over my head. So please forgive me if this post is long because I am working so hard for the very thing that I never thought I will do. It also does not help that I found out what I wanted in a short period of time.
It was last year when I decided to set out to do what I love. However the problem was I did not know what that was. Especially because I thought I loved money, and other things for a long time in the past. Fortunately, I applied to a hospital to volunteer and learned everything that I can. Initially I did not have "doctors" in mind when I applied, it was more in the lines of positions that can be achieved through college. However I pushed myself to learn everything and the more I learnt, the more I was in love with what a doctor does, more specifically radiologists.
This is why I am embarking on my third year full-time and retaking all my courses that happened to be prereqs for medical school in Ireland (Atlantic Bridge Program) and St. George University's Pre-Med Program. I do not know if that is a good thing, because the first two years of uni, I was a part-timer who had done horribly academically (mostly Bs and Cs). However this time I am sure that it will change, I studied very hard for chem, calculus, bio and physics over the summer. When I said very hard, I mean very little sleep, forgetting to eat and not having a social life hard. It is gotten to the point, where I am solving peoples questions on the internet because I finished reviewed everything in my textbook. Also I am was a bright student, always did very well in high school while doing very little. I know this is not an indication if I will do well, however academics was not a problem.
The reason why I did horribly, is because I had a major health issue that seriously impeded my academic performance. Tie that with a full-time job to survive and being overwhelmed. Especially since I come from a circle where no one ever went to med school, or even university for that matter. Which is why I plan to petition those marks.
So here are my main questions.
Lastly, the reason why I want to go abroad is because there will be huge obstacles if I stay here. If I get into medical school, I am sure that I will not do well academically because of personal reasons and other factors that can be very hard to manage. If I leave now, then I actually have a chance of doing well in med-school and have a shot at radiology.
My Questions:
1. Do I have a fighting chance to study in Ireland (Atlantic Bridge Program) or Grenada (St, George)? I am going to retake all 8 courses of my courses and hopefully I am going to ace all of them. To be honest, I am very sure that once I retake my courses, (previous marks aside) I will get close to a 4.0 average, if not a 4.0. I studied over the summer, plus all my courses are with my previous professors. So I know what they expect from a student, if he/she wants an A+ in their class. Also these courses were pretty much the same courses I aced in high school, with the addition of some new concepts. However this does not exempt the fact that I retook courses. I know St. George has grade forgiveness where they take the second grade only, however what about the schools in Ireland? If my university does not accept my petition, then what will my chances be then with the universities under the Atlantic Bridge Program?
2. If I do great academically this year? I worry about my history. Even though I volunteered at a hospital, I cannot get a reference from them. A reason I cannot disclose, even though I was a great volunteer and did nothing wrong. So I cannot prove that my love for medicine, is not a infatuation. However I can prove that I am an above average and unique applicant.
One instance, is that I started out as a administrative assistant and ended up as a junior partner within three years at a firm. I brought more than 50% of sales ($600 000 in billings) within two years. I pretty much brought more accounts then the whole sales team combined. Granted, that there were only 7 people in that team.
Also my professor from my intro to physics will most likely write a stellar reference letter. We are close and it was around the time where my health issue started to not become so much of an issue. I got 96% in his class and worked really hard. I came to most of his office hours, tutorials and utilized every resource that he had to offer.
However that is pretty much it and I worry that this is not enough because none of my references pertains to clinical experience, or some experience in a medical environment.
3. Assuming that I get accepted to all of the schools I applied to, would you go to St. George University's Pre-Medical or go to the six (hopefully five year) med school program in Ireland. Money is not an issue, I have the ability to pay the fees in full and still live comfortably for my time there. Though I will pretty much have nothing in my bank account afterwards, but at least I will start working again. However the reason SGU is an option because all I have to do is keep a 3.2 GPA for two-years and pass a test to gain admission to their medical school. Besides that, SGU seems like a great school when I toured their campus and spoke to their students. In a broad sense, it seems that students in Ireland's med school complain about the school (organizational matters), and St. George's students complain about student life. When I say complain, I do not mean they were constantly complaining about the schools. The reality was that they had very little complaints, which was surprising to me. For instance, even though St. George has one of the most beautiful and pretty advanced campuses, it is still on a island. This kind of makes it isolating, because there is not a lot to do. Well I think what they meant is that there is a lot to do but not as much as what you can do in Ireland. Which I personally think it is great because I am not going abroad to vacation. While when I toured Ireland's medical school, there was a common complaint that there is a disconnect between admin and the students. As a result, notifications such as exam schedules are late.
4. If you were me? What would you do? Any insight will be appreciate very much. When I said I lost everything, I meant it. I had to drop friends and family who were holding me back and work a full-time job to make a living. So I did not have time to make new friends. All I have are some doctors from the hospital, the medical school itself, and their students. If you can help me out and put some sort of perspective for me, it will mean so much to me. Since I feel very lost, because this phase of my life is totally new to me. Maybe because I am in a new territory... who knows. What I do know is that I want this really bad, and I am willing to do anything.
Lastly, I apologize if this was a long post, forgive me again. Also I apologize for any spelling/grammatical error because I am writing this at 5AM. However please know that I will appreciate whatever you have to offer, and hopefully maybe in the future I will get to pass on some of my experiences to the future generation once I get accepted to med school.
This is my first time posting and I really have no idea what I am doing. I feel everything is going really fast and I feel out of place.
My name is Damon and to be short, I am an individual who screwed up a lot. As a result I lost everything and everyone. It took two full years to right the wrongs. Now I am in a position to start my life again but I do not know if I am way over my head. So please forgive me if this post is long because I am working so hard for the very thing that I never thought I will do. It also does not help that I found out what I wanted in a short period of time.
It was last year when I decided to set out to do what I love. However the problem was I did not know what that was. Especially because I thought I loved money, and other things for a long time in the past. Fortunately, I applied to a hospital to volunteer and learned everything that I can. Initially I did not have "doctors" in mind when I applied, it was more in the lines of positions that can be achieved through college. However I pushed myself to learn everything and the more I learnt, the more I was in love with what a doctor does, more specifically radiologists.
This is why I am embarking on my third year full-time and retaking all my courses that happened to be prereqs for medical school in Ireland (Atlantic Bridge Program) and St. George University's Pre-Med Program. I do not know if that is a good thing, because the first two years of uni, I was a part-timer who had done horribly academically (mostly Bs and Cs). However this time I am sure that it will change, I studied very hard for chem, calculus, bio and physics over the summer. When I said very hard, I mean very little sleep, forgetting to eat and not having a social life hard. It is gotten to the point, where I am solving peoples questions on the internet because I finished reviewed everything in my textbook. Also I am was a bright student, always did very well in high school while doing very little. I know this is not an indication if I will do well, however academics was not a problem.
The reason why I did horribly, is because I had a major health issue that seriously impeded my academic performance. Tie that with a full-time job to survive and being overwhelmed. Especially since I come from a circle where no one ever went to med school, or even university for that matter. Which is why I plan to petition those marks.
So here are my main questions.
Lastly, the reason why I want to go abroad is because there will be huge obstacles if I stay here. If I get into medical school, I am sure that I will not do well academically because of personal reasons and other factors that can be very hard to manage. If I leave now, then I actually have a chance of doing well in med-school and have a shot at radiology.
My Questions:
1. Do I have a fighting chance to study in Ireland (Atlantic Bridge Program) or Grenada (St, George)? I am going to retake all 8 courses of my courses and hopefully I am going to ace all of them. To be honest, I am very sure that once I retake my courses, (previous marks aside) I will get close to a 4.0 average, if not a 4.0. I studied over the summer, plus all my courses are with my previous professors. So I know what they expect from a student, if he/she wants an A+ in their class. Also these courses were pretty much the same courses I aced in high school, with the addition of some new concepts. However this does not exempt the fact that I retook courses. I know St. George has grade forgiveness where they take the second grade only, however what about the schools in Ireland? If my university does not accept my petition, then what will my chances be then with the universities under the Atlantic Bridge Program?
2. If I do great academically this year? I worry about my history. Even though I volunteered at a hospital, I cannot get a reference from them. A reason I cannot disclose, even though I was a great volunteer and did nothing wrong. So I cannot prove that my love for medicine, is not a infatuation. However I can prove that I am an above average and unique applicant.
One instance, is that I started out as a administrative assistant and ended up as a junior partner within three years at a firm. I brought more than 50% of sales ($600 000 in billings) within two years. I pretty much brought more accounts then the whole sales team combined. Granted, that there were only 7 people in that team.
Also my professor from my intro to physics will most likely write a stellar reference letter. We are close and it was around the time where my health issue started to not become so much of an issue. I got 96% in his class and worked really hard. I came to most of his office hours, tutorials and utilized every resource that he had to offer.
However that is pretty much it and I worry that this is not enough because none of my references pertains to clinical experience, or some experience in a medical environment.
3. Assuming that I get accepted to all of the schools I applied to, would you go to St. George University's Pre-Medical or go to the six (hopefully five year) med school program in Ireland. Money is not an issue, I have the ability to pay the fees in full and still live comfortably for my time there. Though I will pretty much have nothing in my bank account afterwards, but at least I will start working again. However the reason SGU is an option because all I have to do is keep a 3.2 GPA for two-years and pass a test to gain admission to their medical school. Besides that, SGU seems like a great school when I toured their campus and spoke to their students. In a broad sense, it seems that students in Ireland's med school complain about the school (organizational matters), and St. George's students complain about student life. When I say complain, I do not mean they were constantly complaining about the schools. The reality was that they had very little complaints, which was surprising to me. For instance, even though St. George has one of the most beautiful and pretty advanced campuses, it is still on a island. This kind of makes it isolating, because there is not a lot to do. Well I think what they meant is that there is a lot to do but not as much as what you can do in Ireland. Which I personally think it is great because I am not going abroad to vacation. While when I toured Ireland's medical school, there was a common complaint that there is a disconnect between admin and the students. As a result, notifications such as exam schedules are late.
4. If you were me? What would you do? Any insight will be appreciate very much. When I said I lost everything, I meant it. I had to drop friends and family who were holding me back and work a full-time job to make a living. So I did not have time to make new friends. All I have are some doctors from the hospital, the medical school itself, and their students. If you can help me out and put some sort of perspective for me, it will mean so much to me. Since I feel very lost, because this phase of my life is totally new to me. Maybe because I am in a new territory... who knows. What I do know is that I want this really bad, and I am willing to do anything.
Lastly, I apologize if this was a long post, forgive me again. Also I apologize for any spelling/grammatical error because I am writing this at 5AM. However please know that I will appreciate whatever you have to offer, and hopefully maybe in the future I will get to pass on some of my experiences to the future generation once I get accepted to med school.
