Study Abroad and Research options

[pacific123]

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I am a 10th grader. I want to do an Accelerated 7 year MD in a Top-Tier programs like Brown, St Louis Washington Univ, NW, Baylor or BU. After looking around I came to the conclusion that GPA, Teacher Recommendation, SAT, ECs & Doctor Shadowing alone does not get it done. Looks like I need more than that. So started thinking about

- Study Abroad
- Research

Net searching yielded no +ve results for high school students.

What are my available options Or any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

 

[Jojokarade]

I am a 10th grader. I want to do an Accelerated 7 year MD in a Top-Tier programs like Brown, St Louis Washington Univ, NW, Baylor or BU. After looking around I came to the conclusion that GPA, Teacher Recommendation, SAT, ECs & Doctor Shadowing alone does not get it done. Looks like I need more than that. So started thinking about

- Study Abroad
- Research

Net searching yielded no +ve results for high school students.

What are my available options Or any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

You can always find research opportunities, but the problem will most likely be your age. In my lab, we can have high school students, but there is a rule that they have to be 18 before they can really do much of anything.

In terms of study abroad, that may be an issue. I would suggest more travel abroad experiences where you are interacting on a daily basis with different cultures. Going to another country to sit in a classroom is great, but you can do that just as easily at home. When you go to another country and actually walk the streets and talk with the people, there is no experience like it.

Most of my friends who did things abroad during high school did so through either mission trips or habitat for humanity.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[ChiveON]

I'm my home state, we have a summer medical program for high school students at both medical schools. Maybe check out medical school websites for similar opportunities.
Research is tough- a lot of labs require the completion of at least the basic science courses. This depends on the school though. It's probably best for you to contact specific institutions about this.
Good luck!

 

[Optimus Lime]

I wish I was this motivated in 10th grade.

 

[LauraJo08]

I almost did a 7 year program, but ended up deciding against it because I wasn't positive that I wanted to go into medicine.

I studied abroad for my senior year of high school, and it definitely helped me get into colleges, especially since I became fluent in the language. But, I would make sure that you really WANT to study abroad for the experience itself and not just to fluff up your application. Studying abroad, living with a host family, and going to high school in another country without the support of your friends and family is no easy situation, so you have to do your research on the countries and different programs.

If you are interested in doing high school study abroad, there are programs such as AFS, ASSE, or YFU that go to a lot of different locations. Just fyi though, these programs are not inexpensive (say 8,000 or so plus airfare and money to spend over your year). Rotary has a more arduous application process, but it is much less expensive. If you have any questions about studying abroad, feel free to PM me.

 

[davidbm95]

I am a 10th grader. I want to do an Accelerated 7 year MD in a Top-Tier programs like Brown, St Louis Washington Univ, NW, Baylor or BU. After looking around I came to the conclusion that GPA, Teacher Recommendation, SAT, ECs & Doctor Shadowing alone does not get it done. Looks like I need more than that. So started thinking about

- Study Abroad
- Research

Net searching yielded no +ve results for high school students.

What are my available options Or any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

What could you possibly study abroad? You're in high school??? You can participate in research, find some programs in some of your local hospitals or you can work in specific projects helping out and you could be signed off on this as research.

And I think you should do some research in these BS/MD programs, their are a lot of great threads on SDN about these programs and you could get good insight on why you should and shouldn't do them.

 

[davidbm95]

You could also volunteer abroad that may help you. I have a lot of good sites for volunteering in health care projects abroad. Let me know if you're interested.

 

[NatrixCaelicola]

What could you possibly study abroad? You're in high school??? You can participate in research, find some programs in some of your local hospitals or you can work in specific projects helping out and you could be signed off on this as research.

And I think you should do some research in these BS/MD programs, their are a lot of great threads on SDN about these programs and you could get good insight on why you should and shouldn't do them.

Study abroad in high school is like 1e999 more influential and informative than study abroad in college.

OP, I went with AFS. If you have questions, PM me. I can definitely tell you though that it was the most important and impactful year of my life to date.

 

[davidbm95]

Study abroad in high school is like 1e999 more influential and informative than study abroad in college.

OP, I went with AFS. If you have questions, PM me. I can definitely tell you though that it was the most important and impactful year of my life to date.

That makes no sense. Shouldn't it be the opposite. My original question was what can you actually study abroad? Specifically speaking?

 

[pacific123]

Thanks for the pointers. Looked at the following. Here is what I found

AFS : 2 month program costs about 6-8K. Is this really worth spending this much money. Plus I could not find my choices.
ASSE: It is an year long exchange program. I am looking for only 2 months in Summer.
YFU: 3-8 week summer programs are traditional home-stay programs, where you'll live with a host family and participate in family activities throughout the summer. Program starts in April, but our high school is over only by Jun 1st week.
Looked into UNC and Duke: They have summer programs. But 1 issue, I have to be an UG student.

How valuable these programs are. What exactly colleges are looking out of these programs. Travel experience? Studying Foreign Culture/Food/Religion? Helping Poor? All of them? Any of them?

I am thinking to go to Myanmar after studying about the Nobel Peace Winner Aung San Suu Kyi's life story and her country's struggle. How about if I go on my own? Will it add value? If yes, here is what I am thinking

- I can contain the cost under 3K. I have found some families in Myanmar who can help on my housing and logistics.
- Raise enough funds in USA
- Organize a day/week camp in Myanmar to help less fortunate in the areas Health/Diet Awareness, Vaccinations, and Hunger Relief.
- Live there for about a month studying the culture, food and education.
- Study health related issues by shadowing a doctor in Myanmar.

Before I start to put my time and effort into this project, I want to evaluate whether it is worth since it will lock up my whole summer and I need to raise about 3K.

 

[UnclePhil]

Would it be worth it for what? Getting into a BS/MD program?

Think about it this way, if you spent the money on one of these programs and didn't get into a BS/MD program, would you regret doing it?

I'm personally not a big proponent of BS/MD programs. Dropping that kind of money just so you might be slightly more competitive for these programs is not particularly shrewd, in my opinion, but that's just me.