should I stay or should I go now? Working or school til med school

[u2ecila]

Hi,
I am currently working a 9-5 job, and I am hoping to get accepted into med school starting fall 2005. I am trying to decide if I should stay at my current position (I work on security for a military healthcare website) or go back to school full time. The money is good, the job is awful (politics out the wazoo). I plan on taking more post bac classes in the evening.

So - what is everyone else doing? What do you think? I am saving all of the money I earn to help ease not having an income during med school, but maybe taking classes full time would be better?

Help!


u2ecila

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[LoneCoyote]

I hated my job before I went back to post-bac. The money was okay, but nothing to write home about, so the decision was pretty easy for me to bail and go to school full-time. I was able to work during my summer and make some money to pay for tuition and stuff, and now I have a lag year while I am applying so I am making some money now, but I am counting on having much saved going into med school. The advantage to going to school full-time and not working is being able to focus on a heavy course load, getting it done quicker, and having some time to volunteer. The way I saw it I would have a lot of loans at the end of this anyway so why not take the time to focus totally in school? On the other hand, if you are making good money and like having more of a balance, both work and school, in your life, I can see the appeal of staying. I think it comes down to how much do you dislike your current job. Good luck.

 

[linuxgrl]

I'm just like you. a 9-5 web coder who hates her job. The money is great, though, and I don't know how we'd get along without it. Here's what I'm doing. I talked my boss into letting me work part time. I work two full days during the week and telecommute the remaining half day, for a total of 20 hours.

I had finished all the premed requirements in my undergrad except for bio and chem, so that's what I'm taking now, Bio 1 and Chem 1. I'm also doing a nurse aide certification, so I can get some clinical experience. Over the summer I'll take Bio 2 and Chem 2, and then I'll have Cell Bio and Orgo 1 in the fall. In the spring I'll take Genetics and Orgo 2, and it'll be time for the MCAT and filling out applications!