What factored majorly in your decision?

[PNW_]

Hello SDN,

This is my first post so please bare with me. I'm currently a high school senior holding a 3.67 GPA with an unimpressive 1180/1600 SAT through my first 6 semesters. I plan on retaking the SAT this coming month as I was horrendously unprepared the first time I took it. The first quarter just finished, and I'm still managing a 4.0 so far with no plans of letting that slip. Let me cut to the chase:

I've taken science classes since 7th grade. I've always found them interesting, never finding myself bored in class like I would be in math or history. Matter of fact, I'd find myself actually enjoying the content and keeping my head up the entire time. I've never earned less than a solid A in every science course (physical science, biology, chemistry, and anatomy & physiology).

I've been pretty set on going into pre-pharmacy for the past couple years, but recently have indulged myself into the field of medicine, and it's fascinating. My question being; how did YOU decide that pre-medicine was for you? When did you decide? What was your GPA, class rank, ACT/SAT scores, and how well did you succeed in science classes? Yes, salary between the two professions (clinical pharmacist vs anesthesiologist) vary greatly, but that's not the only reason I'd want to go the medical route; I genuinely have a passion for science.

Any comments, suggestions, criticisms etc. are welcomed and would help me greatly!
Just a typical high school student conflicted on his future.

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[grapp]

High School GPA: 3.0 (terrible)
ACT: 20 (terrible)
Class Rank 18/32 (terrible)

Now in College...
GPA: 3.85

First year premed, 120 hours of volunteer work, 40 hours of shadowing (20 inside an OR), EMT-B student (almost done) #1 in my class.
My passion is medicine and pathophysiology.

Point being said, you don't have to be an amazing high school student to be an amazing college student. I see people with all this amazing stuff like good SAT scores saying they are bad, or excellent GPA's... The truth is, I've been the worst student ever and I've managed to graduate high school early.

You will do fine in college, it just depends on how you apply yourself.

You can read my article about studying smarter; not harder here:
http://www.studentdoctor.net/2016/02/study-smarter/

 

[CallMeMulan]

Hello SDN,

This is my first post so please bare with me. I'm currently a high school senior holding a 3.67 GPA with an unimpressive 1180/1600 SAT through my first 6 semesters. I plan on retaking the SAT this coming month as I was horrendously unprepared the first time I took it. The first quarter just finished, and I'm still managing a 4.0 so far with no plans of letting that slip. Let me cut to the chase:

I've taken science classes since 7th grade. I've always found them interesting, never finding myself bored in class like I would be in math or history. Matter of fact, I'd find myself actually enjoying the content and keeping my head up the entire time. I've never earned less than a solid A in every science course (physical science, biology, chemistry, and anatomy & physiology).

I've been pretty set on going into pre-pharmacy for the past couple years, but recently have indulged myself into the field of medicine, and it's fascinating. My question being; how did YOU decide that pre-medicine was for you? When did you decide? What was your GPA, class rank, ACT/SAT scores, and how well did you succeed in science classes? Yes, salary between the two professions (clinical pharmacist vs anesthesiologist) vary greatly, but that's not the only reason I'd want to go the medical route; I genuinely have a passion for science.

Any comments, suggestions, criticisms etc. are welcomed and would help me greatly!
Just a typical high school student conflicted on his future.

Hello!

For me, it started with a passion to serve people - and I mean SERVE specifically, not just help. In essentially any job, you are helping people in some way. However, as a doctor, you have the chance to take an unassuming, compassionate look at someone's situation and actively work toward what is best for them. That is exactly what I wanted to do. I was undecided between veterinarian, civil rights lawyer, and doctor, but the human service aspect and my love for science geared me toward the field of human medicine.

In high school, I got a 4.0 and was valedictorian of my class of over 600 with an SAT around 2250. However, that being said, medical schools really do NOT care about your high school grades or activities. They care more what you do once you're out on your own. I promise you they won't be concerned with your SAT score.

The biggest criticism I got from the first doctor I shadowed is that I emphasized my love for science more than my love for people - so make sure you're going into more for the latter than the former (just my opinion).

Of course, salary should not be a determining factor in whether or not you want to go to medical school. I would consider thinking about if you went to medical school and didn't like what you saw of anesthesiology - would you be content in another field?

You have time to decide. I would highly recommend shadowing both professions and getting some clinical volunteering to help make your decision and bolster your application.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[PNW_]

The biggest criticism I got from the first doctor I shadowed is that I emphasized my love for science more than my love for people - so make sure you're going into more for the latter than the former (just my opinion).

That really makes sense. It's not that I'm not in it to help people; I am, I genuinely would love to look a patient in the eye and assure them they're in competent, caring hands. I suppose it's just the best of both worlds for me. Thanks for your response!

You will do fine in college, it just depends on how you apply yourself.

Makes sense. I appreciate your reply! Volunteering seems to be a key point in beefing up an application, and I'm glad to see you improved greatly in your transition from HS to College. Thanks!

 

[doctorleospaceman]

High School GPA: don't exactly remember
SAT score: don't exactly remember
ACT score: never took it
Class Rank: no idea
(The above should give you a good idea as to the relevance of high school and college placement exams when it comes to medical school)

As for the rest, you don't really decide if pre-medicine is right for you until you're right in the middle of it all. You have to just give it a shot and see how it goes. Start taking the prereqs and get some exposure by shadowing and volunteering. I knew medicine was for me when I was still excited to go to biochem lecture despite the hellish exams and still wanted to become a doctor no matter how much the physician I shadowed and now work with tested me with the ridiculous amount of hours and paperwork.

 

[Turkishking]

High School GPA: 3.1?
SAT: Terrible
Class Rank: Terrible

 

[act9]

I decided on medicine because I wanted to work directly with the patient. I like science, but I get bored with ONLY science. I enjoy working with patients, talking about plans, working with them to find the best therapy. Sometimes the working with people can get a little frustrating too, but that was my decision on medicine. You can still work with patients as a pharmacist, esp if you are an inpatient pharmacist, but I don't like knowing all those little details on all the medications... if that's what fascinates you, lean that way. If you like the people side, lean towards medicine. That's just my opinion though...

 

[Instatewaiter]

Medicine has many things going for it.

You will realize that the amount of BS you have to go through to "help" people, whether it be the amount of training, the paperwork, administrators, the gov't, makes medicine an inefficient way to help people. Therefore it is the many other things that help medicine remain to be a great job. You must realize that if you don't view medicine as a job, you will probably burn out.

In addition to be able to guide people through a tough time in their life, medicine has great job stability, good pay, reasonable respect, a decent amt of power, quite a variety of positions whether you want to be a researcher, clinician, administrator etc. and is always changing. So individually medicine may be worse than other jobs. but, togeher medicine is hard to beat.

 

[mcworbust]

My question being; how did YOU decide that pre-medicine was for you? When did you decide? What was your GPA, class rank, ACT/SAT scores, and how well did you succeed in science classes? .

I first decided pre-med was for me coming out of high school, then got like a 3.3 my first semester of undergrad. I blindly followed stupid pre-med advisor advice to switch to something else so I did (Optometry), but then proceeded to do great in undergrad. I graduated, then was accepted to Optometry school but decided last minute not to go, then tried a lot of other stuff (EMT/paramedic, basic science research, epidemiology research/public health, clinical research) and finally came back to wanting to go to med school, so I applied and entered med school 2 years after graduating from undergrad. Basically I decided the second time to go to med school by ruling pretty much everything else out, which was a long road but satisfying.

My high school GPA was probably like 3.8/4.0, class rank was like top 15% (i think like ~75th/550 in my class), and I think ACT was 31. I got A's in all science classes (honors bio, honors chem, Anat/phys, honors physics) cuz they were interesting.

In this process, seek out multiple sources for advice, from different areas. The only people you should trust completely with med school advice are Med School admissions directors. Seek advice from everyone else (esp. med students and residents) and be wary of stupid "pre-med advisors" at your undergrad if they aren't a physician. Take pretty much all advice with a grain of salt.

Finally, I think your passion for science is the most important factor - if you have this you'll have the source of motivation to do well as you'll enjoy what you're learning, which is key to success. best of luck.

 

[flapjack3d]

Honestly I think as long as you're interested and driven and have some aptitude for science, you'll be able to get in somewhere , MD or DO.

 

[hmockingbird]

My HS GPA was something >4.0 because our weighting system was ridiculous. I did really well on SAT/ACT but don't remember my scores.

My whole debate was whether to enter medicine or pursue my other passion, writing/reading. I'm much more of a humanities than hard science person. Personal experience made me really interested in medicine and if I'm going to be honest, it sounds kind-of dumb, but it came down to the fact that you can't really do medicine as a hobby on the side while you CAN write as a hobby on the side. So that's what I decided, be a doctor and write on the side (there are a lot of doctor-writers anyway...). I'm very happy with my decision and I don't think I would've felt quite as fulfilled working as an editor or teacher/professor though I'm sure I would have enjoyed any of those jobs. I agree with others that medicine is a great combo of service, face-to-face interaction, and fascinating subject material/academics.

As far as other jobs within medicine, I always wanted to be a doctor specifically. If I had to say one reason why, I think it would be to be "in the center of it all", and I liked the idea of learning how to make decisions about a patient's care. I think that is up to the person. You may have a big passion in one subject area (like pharmacy) or type of work (eg if you are more interested in direct patient care, nursing might be more for you than medicine).

 

[FrugalMuscle]

HS don't matter. College does though. Buckle down and study study study. You can decide what path you want to take AFTER you figure out your GPA. I was the ultimate wishy-washy person and couldn't decide between medicine, dentistry, pharm, and optometry until mid-4th year of university... you'll come to find out that your priorities will change as you get older.