Will being Part-Time college student be a problem?

Should I go to college part-time?

  • Yes; Go For It

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yes; But Keep Plenty of Class Time

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No; Not A Good Idea

    Votes: 4 100.0%

  • Total voters
    4

grapp

EMT-A Firefighter
7+ Year Member
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I would like to become an EMT-A (advanced) before/starting college and would like to do very well in my class. Can I be a part-time college student while doing this without it majorly effecting my "potential" medical school admissions application?

Afterwards, I would like the opportunity to work and go to school. I would plan on working with a public ambulance service while going to school part-time. This would allow me to receive lots of patient contact and to get out in the field of pre-hospital medicine while earning valuable experience. If I were to explain this to a medical school, do you think this would suffice as a sufficient reason?

My current "ideal" speciality is emergency medicine.

In my state EMT's (emergency medical technicians) often work two days a week with (12) or (24) hour shifts. Does anyone have reasons why I shouldn't do this, or any encouragement on why I should procceed like this?

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If you want to go to medical school, don't commit to anything that may get in the way of good prereq scores. Also, adcoms want to see that you can handle academic rigor. Getting an A in chem while only taking 6 credits is different than getting that A while taking 18.
 
If you want to go to medical school, don't commit to anything that may get in the way of good prereq scores. Also, adcoms want to see that you can handle academic rigor. Getting an A in chem while only taking 6 credits is different than getting that A while taking 18.
Okay.
 
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I would like to become an EMT-A (advanced) before/starting college and would like to do very well in my class. Can I be a part-time college student while doing this without it majorly effecting my "potential" medical school admissions application?

Afterwards, I would like the opportunity to work and go to school. I would plan on working with a public ambulance service while going to school part-time. This would allow me to receive lots of patient contact and to get out in the field of pre-hospital medicine while earning valuable experience. If I were to explain this to a medical school, do you think this would suffice as a sufficient reason?

My current "ideal" speciality is emergency medicine.

In my state EMT's (emergency medical technicians) often work two days a week with (12) or (24) hour shifts. Does anyone have reasons why I shouldn't do this, or any encouragement on why I should procceed like this?
The time you spend on your "job" is time away from studying, time away from volunteering at hospitals, time away from doing research, and time away from recovering from a hangover after a regretful night. So, should you get a job while in college? No. No you should not.
 
The time you spend on your "job" is time away from studying, time away from volunteering at hospitals, time away from doing research, and time away from recovering from a hangover after a regretful night. So, should you get a job while in college? No. No you should not.


EMT-B is clinical exposure and specifically one that many medical schools largely value much more than just changing bed sheets. It's a very strong thing to put on your job rec. Likewise my friend in my class did it mainly 2 or 3 nights a week. Which isn't exactly impossible to pull off.

That being said grades take priority. It won't matter if you have 4 years of EMT experience if you're applying with a 3.0.
 
If you want to go to medical school, don't commit to anything that may get in the way of good prereq scores. Also, adcoms want to see that you can handle academic rigor. Getting an A in chem while only taking 6 credits is different than getting that A while taking 18.

Right, the minimal you want to show is that you're able to keep up with it full time generally. But don't take that as a you need to be doing 18 credit semesters to prove something as you won't and it's a big mistake a lot of premeds make. You will not impress anyone with a 3.5 taking 18 credits if taking 12 or 14 would have gotten you a 4.0.
 
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