Utterly confused undergrad.. Help!

[Russ2]

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Hello everyone, I am 20 years old and currently a junior in college going for a BFA in Computer Art and Design. I am an excellent student, part of the honors program, and will likely graduate with a 3.7-3.9 gpa. Unfortunately, after working for a year in this industry part time during school, I have discovered that I hate the every day reality of the design field and my true desire has always been use my mind and body to help others. I always toyed with the idea of becoming a doctor when I was younger, but allowed my parents and family to sway me into doing things they wanted and never sought after a challenge. But alas, here I am.

Now, at the ripe age of 20, I am finally starting to take my future into my own hands (yes, pretty late I know 🙁). I am currently writing my thesis on interaction design for medical devices which has been fun, and signed up for my local fire department's volunteer ambulance corps to see if this really is for me. I have not completed most of the requirements for medical school. But I would like to pursue something in medicine because I have always enjoyed the sciences and seek to make a real impact in the lives of others. I believe this may be the only path for me to enjoy real professional satisfaction in my life.

However, I am utterly overwhelmed and confused by the insane amount of information and possibilities out here on the internet and seek help from others who have blazed this trail before me. Should I take my prerequisites at the school where I am now and graduate late? Should I just finish what i'm doing and apply for post-bacc career-changer programs after receiving my bachelor's? Or should i just give up on this ridiculous dream and accept a life spent chained to a desk with little professional satisfaction because its the 'responsible' thing to do?

(Btw in case anyone is wondering I stayed local for school and will have <$10,000 of debt coming out of undergrad so I'm not particularly worried about monetary cost right now)

I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone can give me on this because I am completely lost as to what my next step should be. Thank you!

 

[StIGMA]

Are you going to a traditional 4 year college that has many pre-meds? If so, best bet is most likely to stay where you are and complete the pre-reqs (even if it takes you an extra year- no big deal at all). You don't have to change majors.

 

[Russ2]

Yes I'm at Long Island University, they do have a pre-med advisement program but I have not spoken to anyone in the program there and have no idea what the community is like. I also worry that it will cost me a lot more than taking the classes at a public school in the city or a cc because after next year my scholarships most likely will not apply and the school costs over $1,000 a credit without them.

 

[theseeker4]

Hello everyone, I am 20 years old and currently a junior in college going for a BFA in Computer Art and Design. I am an excellent student, part of the honors program, and will likely graduate with a 3.7-3.9 gpa. Unfortunately, after working for a year in this industry part time during school, I have discovered that I hate the every day reality of the design field and my true desire has always been use my mind and body to help others. I always toyed with the idea of becoming a doctor when I was younger, but allowed my parents and family to sway me into doing things they wanted and never sought after a challenge. But alas, here I am.

Now, at the ripe age of 20, I am finally starting to take my future into my own hands (yes, pretty late I know 🙁). I am currently writing my thesis on interaction design for medical devices which has been fun, and signed up for my local fire department's volunteer ambulance corps to see if this really is for me. I have not completed most of the requirements for medical school. But I would like to pursue something in medicine because I have always enjoyed the sciences and seek to make a real impact in the lives of others. I believe this may be the only path for me to enjoy real professional satisfaction in my life.

However, I am utterly overwhelmed and confused by the insane amount of information and possibilities out here on the internet and seek help from others who have blazed this trail before me. Should I take my prerequisites at the school where I am now and graduate late? Should I just finish what i'm doing and apply for post-bacc career-changer programs after receiving my bachelor's? Or should i just give up on this ridiculous dream and accept a life spent chained to a desk with little professional satisfaction because its the 'responsible' thing to do?

(Btw in case anyone is wondering I stayed local for school and will have <$10,000 of debt coming out of undergrad so I'm not particularly worried about monetary cost right now)

I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone can give me on this because I am completely lost as to what my next step should be. Thank you!

Delay graduation if possible until you can complete all the pre-reqs. Make sure you look at what the new MCAT will cover, since it has additional courses over the standard biology, gen chem, organic chem, physics that it covers. Regardless of the size/strength of your school's pre-med program, it is cheaper, and no real disadvantage, to complete the pre-reqs at your current school rather than graduating and entering a post-bac program. Keep up that GPA when you take your pre-reqs, and you will have no problem getting into med schools (assuming the rest of your application looks good as well).

Definitely do some shadowing and volunteering as soon as you can to see if you even want to do this. Talk to physicians, and find out the bad things about the field, not just the good. Make sure you actually want to be a doctor, and are not just in love with the thought of being a doctor, before you push too far into this process.

If you decide based on your shadowing and clinical volunteering that you want to do this, look into expanding your ECs, but ONLY AFTER ensuring you can maintain a high GPA in the pre-reqs. If you over-load yourself with ECs and start bombing the pre-reqs, you will face a MUCH harder road to become a doctor. Don't jump into the pre-reqs thinking that since you have a high GPA so far, you can ace the hard sciences without any additional effort. Many people have higher cGPAs than sGPAs because getting an A in organic chemistry is a lot different than getting an A in English or History.

Finally, you are 20 years old. You can't even legally drink yet. There are tons of people on here who are old enough to be your parents who are just starting down the road to becoming a doctor. Don't be surprised if some even say you don't belong in this part of the forum since you aren't actually non-traditional. Point is, you are NOT old by any measure to be making this move, so don't even begin to think anything is "too late" for you.

 

[Russ2]

.

 

[Russ2]

BTW, I am on Long Island, are you at CWPost

Really? Sweet! Where on the island are you? Yes I am at CW Post!

 

[el_duderino]

Late? Are you kidding? I'm 33 next month and just got accepted.

It sounds like you don't know what to do. I suggest you spend some time volunteering at a hospital and getting some shadowing time so you can get a better idea of what the various professionals in the medical field do. Figure out what you want to do with yourself. It's better to be an excellent, happy RN or PA than a miserable physician.

 

[Being]

Spend some more time reading SDN. The questions you are asking get asked and answered pretty much every day. As everyone else said, though, you're in a great position to make this happen if you want it.

 

[Russ2]

Delay graduation if possible until you can complete all the pre-reqs. Make sure you look at what the new MCAT will cover, since it has additional courses over the standard biology, gen chem, organic chem, physics that it covers. Regardless of the size/strength of your school's pre-med program, it is cheaper, and no real disadvantage, to complete the pre-reqs at your current school rather than graduating and entering a post-bac program. Keep up that GPA when you take your pre-reqs, and you will have no problem getting into med schools (assuming the rest of your application looks good as well).

Definitely do some shadowing and volunteering as soon as you can to see if you even want to do this. Talk to physicians, and find out the bad things about the field, not just the good. Make sure you actually want to be a doctor, and are not just in love with the thought of being a doctor, before you push too far into this process.

If you decide based on your shadowing and clinical volunteering that you want to do this, look into expanding your ECs, but ONLY AFTER ensuring you can maintain a high GPA in the pre-reqs. If you over-load yourself with ECs and start bombing the pre-reqs, you will face a MUCH harder road to become a doctor. Don't jump into the pre-reqs thinking that since you have a high GPA so far, you can ace the hard sciences without any additional effort. Many people have higher cGPAs than sGPAs because getting an A in organic chemistry is a lot different than getting an A in English or History.

Finally, you are 20 years old. You can't even legally drink yet. There are tons of people on here who are old enough to be your parents who are just starting down the road to becoming a doctor. Don't be surprised if some even say you don't belong in this part of the forum since you aren't actually non-traditional. Point is, you are NOT old by any measure to be making this move, so don't even begin to think anything is "too late" for you.

Thank you so much for the excellent advice and encouragement, I really appreciate it! I will contact advisors at my school about getting the pre-reqs done and start looking for shadowing and volunteer opportunities to gain some insight into the field as soon as possible.