Summer Options- help

[futuredrcrawfor]

Hey everyone- I am trying to make a decision about what to do this summer

Plan A: A research internship (part time and unpaid) at a leading Children's Hospital and then working part time as well

Plan B: Take Physics 2 over the summer and work part time... doing this would allow me to have enough time during my senior year to get in all the courses I need for a history minor.

So my only research has been in history but I have a lot of other EC's (check my MDApps). I am wondering is the research internship would make that much of a difference in my application process for medical school- or should I take Physics (the teacher is better than the one I would take in the fall) and get it over with and be half way through the course when I took my MCAT in July.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

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[Breazy]

from what ive gathered, adcoms dont give two ****s about a minor. only get the minor if you really really want to - not just because you want to impress them. otherwise, it'd probably be a better idea to do that research. the physics predicament is a judgement call that you can only make - is it really worth taking it with a "better" prof and missing out on some solid research? if the one in the fall is abnormally brutal or the one in the summer is exceptionally great, then maybe its worth missing out on the research. hope this helps

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

I want the minor for me trust me- if someone had said let me show you how to major in history and apply to medical school with pre-reqs in 4 years when I started UG then I would have. Now it would add time and just isn't practical.

The hospital is 45 mins away without traffic so we are talking a LOT of gas too. I am really town- if I have research to discuss (which i do and I presented at a national museum) is doing science research going to make or break the application?

 

[sunny1]

Hey everyone- I am trying to make a decision about what to do this summer

Plan A: A research internship (part time and unpaid) at a leading Children's Hospital and then working part time as well

Plan B: Take Physics 2 over the summer and work part time... doing this would allow me to have enough time during my senior year to get in all the courses I need for a history minor.

So my only research has been in history but I have a lot of other EC's (check my MDApps). I am wondering is the research internship would make that much of a difference in my application process for medical school- or should I take Physics (the teacher is better than the one I would take in the fall) and get it over with and be half way through the course when I took my MCAT in July.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Silly question (because I gather the answer is yes) - do you have to work part-time? Could you ask your parents to support you a little over the summer or take out a bit more in loans to cover some expenses so that you can do the research internship at the children's hospital AND take Physics 2?

You don't sound terribly interested in the internship and combined with the fact that you'd have to drive 45 minutes each way, perhaps it's just not the option for you. Personally, it sounds interesting and I would do it. But everyone is different...so do what interests you most and makes sense practically.

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

Silly question (because I gather the answer is yes) - do you have to work part-time? Could you ask your parents to support you a little over the summer or take out a bit more in loans to cover some expenses so that you can do the research internship at the children's hospital AND take Physics 2?

You don't sound terribly interested in the internship and combined with the fact that you'd have to drive 45 minutes each way, perhaps it's just not the option for you. Personally, it sounds interesting and I would do it. But everyone is different...so do what interests you most and makes sense practically.

no i have to work- my mom is a stay at home mom so finances are tight and I have a car payment and some credit card stuff to pay off. I am really interested in the internship- I want to go into peds hem/onc I think- but I am not sure if it is valuable enough for the fact that it is such a large commute and I kinda want that physics teacher. I don't want to turn down a good opportunity but I am just not sure if the time/money for non-paid internship is worth it

 

[sunny1]

no i have to work- my mom is a stay at home mom so finances are tight and I have a car payment and some credit card stuff to pay off. I am really interested in the internship- I want to go into peds hem/onc I think- but I am not sure if it is valuable enough for the fact that it is such a large commute and I kinda want that physics teacher. I don't want to turn down a good opportunity but I am just not sure if the time/money for non-paid internship is worth it

If the main reason to pursue the internship would be so that you could learn more about peds hem/onc, then I think it's ok to decline the opportunity. You will have plenty of chances in med school to really explore peds and specifically peds hem/onc if you want to narrow down specialty choices. If your main reason were simply to beef up your application for med school, then I think it does look impressive. But it sounds like you have a lot of other ECs already, right? Combined with your financial needs and driving so far, it just might not make sense this summer.

In the future, you could do an elective in Peds Hem/Onc, the summer POE program at St. Jude accepts medical students too, etc. etc. Plenty of time left to learn more about that field.

 

[CTtarheel]

NEVER NEVER NEVER take summer classes unless you absolutely have to.

Summer is your time to do cool and interesting stuff, or at least make money.

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

NEVER NEVER NEVER take summer classes unless you absolutely have to.

Summer is your time to do cool and interesting stuff, or at least make money.

yea this is my first summer class ever- I am studying abroad though in may before the class, and doing several other things- class is only 2x a week and in all honesty I don't think it will be that much work- I breezed through Physics 1 because I did it AP in HS. But I want to have fall without labs for med school interviews and then get my minor in history (I know it is not that important for many but it is for me cuz I love history)

 

[HumidBeing]

Having fewer classes to miss while you go to interviews is a plus.

 

[Ella Shepherd]

Plan A is very interesting but I think you should go with Plan B. You have a number of ECs already and you seem to really want to take the minor and be under that Physics teacher. Good luck!