With high risk comes... high reward? Help!

Ry0la

New Member
5+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
First of all, I am sure all of you are sick and tired of my type of sob story. Kids like me who have no direction with flighty interests come in here to lament their lack of decisiveness to a bunch of strangers :). I am a high school student (a senior) who loves learning new things, and I've been interested in everything from music to political science to computer engineering. About three months ago the tumbleweed that is my brain came upon medicine as an interesting, engaging, and ever changing field that would also fulfill my passion to help people. Becoming a doctor is now my number one goal, but some things hinder me from selecting pre-med as my major.
1. Am I smart enough? I took the ACT 4 times and ended up scoring a 33. (I didn't study but 4 is a lot of chances). I also slacked a whole bunch in high school and ended up with a 3.86 gpa my junior year. Now that I have decided to increase my work ethic, I have since arrived at the tail end of senior year a gpa of 3.96. ( not top 10% of my class but i do come from a good school district: 18th in the nation)
I'm really scared Ill fail out of pre-med, or even worse, get into med school and fail, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt.
2. Is the paperwork headache unbearable? If the stars align and I do end up graduating medical school and finish residency, is the amount of paperwork under our incredibly complicated healthcare system too much to deal with? I want to be able to focus on my job and my patients, not on the accompanying stacks of insurance hoohah.
3. How do you feel about the debt? Time spent in school and the sacrifices of years aren't really issues for me. I am concerned, however, with the amount of money required to graduate. I just want to know if anyone knows, or if anyone has experience with methods of paying off debt.
4. I am truly interested in psychology and philosophy. Should I major in biology, or take the chance and do psychology on the pre-med track? Does it matter to medical schools, and if so, should I major in something more intensive like biomedical engineering?(University of Alabama will be where I do undergrad, and they have this option available).

I know this is an absolute mess of questions and tangled up thoughts so I thank you for any answers you may have.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
Major in what ever you enjoy. That way you can ensure a high GPA. By the way, let's say by chance you are not a science major, there will be people who spit stupidity. "YOU HAVE TO BE A SCIENCE MAJOR" best ignore those people. I feel like punching them, but I let it go.

And don't rush everything.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
First of all, I am sure all of you are sick and tired of my type of sob story. Kids like me who have no direction with flighty interests come in here to lament their lack of decisiveness to a bunch of strangers :). I am a high school student (a senior) who loves learning new things, and I've been interested in everything from music to political science to computer engineering. About three months ago the tumbleweed that is my brain came upon medicine as an interesting, engaging, and ever changing field that would also fulfill my passion to help people. Becoming a doctor is now my number one goal, but some things hinder me from selecting pre-med as my major.
1. Am I smart enough? I took the ACT 4 times and ended up scoring a 33. (I didn't study but 4 is a lot of chances). I also slacked a whole bunch in high school and ended up with a 3.86 gpa my junior year. Now that I have decided to increase my work ethic, I have since arrived at the tail end of senior year a gpa of 3.96. ( not top 10% of my class but i do come from a good school district: 18th in the nation)
I'm really scared Ill fail out of pre-med, or even worse, get into med school and fail, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt.
2. Is the paperwork headache unbearable? If the stars align and I do end up graduating medical school and finish residency, is the amount of paperwork under our incredibly complicated healthcare system too much to deal with? I want to be able to focus on my job and my patients, not on the accompanying stacks of insurance hoohah.
3. How do you feel about the debt? Time spent in school and the sacrifices of years aren't really issues for me. I am concerned, however, with the amount of money required to graduate. I just want to know if anyone knows, or if anyone has experience with methods of paying off debt.
4. I am truly interested in psychology and philosophy. Should I major in biology, or take the chance and do psychology on the pre-med track? Does it matter to medical schools, and if so, should I major in something more intensive like biomedical engineering?(University of Alabama will be where I do undergrad, and they have this option available).

I know this is an absolute mess of questions and tangled up thoughts so I thank you for any answers you may have.

1) First of all, scoring a 33 on the ACT places you in the 99th percentile, according to PrepScholar, so I reckon that you're pretty smart. As for your GPA, there are obviously some people who have one that is higher than yours, but a 3.96 still really good. Worrying about failing in your pre-med courses isn't something you should be doing. If you study hard, pay attention, and stay on top of things, you'll do fine. Moreover, if you do well in your pre-med classes, chances are you'll do fine in medical school, which—assuming you'll still want to go into medicine—is several years away. Chill.

2) The paperwork and documentation that goes along with being a physician are definitely tedious and unpleasant, but it's doable. Shadow some physicians; you'll get to see what it's like. Bear in mind that medicine is ever-changing, so, in terms of paperwork, it may be streamlined by the time you'd be an attending physician.

3) The debt can be pretty scary sometimes, but from what I've gathered after asking many doctors, it's definitely doable depending on where you end up going and what resources you take advantage of. There are plenty of scholarships that can significantly decrease what you pay for med school, and there are some that even cover the costs entirely (e.g. HPSP), however, there are usually strings attached.

4) As long as you take your prerequisite courses for medical school, you can major in whatever field you are interested in. If that means majoring in psychology or philosophy, go for it. People who have majored in performing arts have gone to medical school. Do what you enjoy.
 
Last edited:
Members don't see this ad :)
I'm in a somewhat similar situation as you. I keep worrying about how well I'll be able to do later on in life when I was not the top student at school. I got a 32 ACT without studying, and assumed that I did well, but I found that someone else got a 36 their first try. So of course there will be kids smarter than you, with higher test scores and higher GPAs. But don't worry about how you'll do 5, 10 years from now. What's most important is where you are currently. If you only focus on the long term you will lose sight of the present. Just make small goals and slowly approach the big picture. It does wonders for anxiety.
 
First of all, I am sure all of you are sick and tired of my type of sob story. Kids like me who have no direction with flighty interests come in here to lament their lack of decisiveness to a bunch of strangers :). I am a high school student (a senior) who loves learning new things, and I've been interested in everything from music to political science to computer engineering. About three months ago the tumbleweed that is my brain came upon medicine as an interesting, engaging, and ever changing field that would also fulfill my passion to help people. Becoming a doctor is now my number one goal, but some things hinder me from selecting pre-med as my major.
1. Am I smart enough? I took the ACT 4 times and ended up scoring a 33. (I didn't study but 4 is a lot of chances). I also slacked a whole bunch in high school and ended up with a 3.86 gpa my junior year. Now that I have decided to increase my work ethic, I have since arrived at the tail end of senior year a gpa of 3.96. ( not top 10% of my class but i do come from a good school district: 18th in the nation)
I'm really scared Ill fail out of pre-med, or even worse, get into med school and fail, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt.
2. Is the paperwork headache unbearable? If the stars align and I do end up graduating medical school and finish residency, is the amount of paperwork under our incredibly complicated healthcare system too much to deal with? I want to be able to focus on my job and my patients, not on the accompanying stacks of insurance hoohah.
3. How do you feel about the debt? Time spent in school and the sacrifices of years aren't really issues for me. I am concerned, however, with the amount of money required to graduate. I just want to know if anyone knows, or if anyone has experience with methods of paying off debt.
4. I am truly interested in psychology and philosophy. Should I major in biology, or take the chance and do psychology on the pre-med track? Does it matter to medical schools, and if so, should I major in something more intensive like biomedical engineering?(University of Alabama will be where I do undergrad, and they have this option available).

I know this is an absolute mess of questions and tangled up thoughts so I thank you for any answers you may have.

Pre-med isn't really a major, and if your school has it, it's a stupid thing to major in. Major in something you're interested in, and take the pre-med reqs if you think you might want to go to medical school. My wife majored in philosophy, I majored in biology. I had a head start for like 3 weeks and then everything equalized out. Med school isn't filled with rocket scientists. It's just (mostly) filled with people with a slightly above average baseline level of intelligence, but a generally well-above-average amount of dedication and persistence.

Don't worry about paperwork right now; figure out if you think you want to do medicine first. You have long way to go to even answer that question.

Debt is real. Go into college/med school/residency/life with a plan to deal with it. State school, military scholarship, skip the Starbucks, whatever. Thinking about it now is good; you'd be surprised how many people in medicine don't think about it til it's too late. You don't want to feel forced into a specialty you don't enjoy just for financial reasons. It's going to be really hard to pick FM while staring down the barrel of $400K in student loans, no matter how much you love it.

Keep your options open. 3 months ago you weren't even considering medicine, and now here you are thinking you want to do it based on some TV shows and some internet forums. Who knows what you'll want to do after 3 months in college. You might want to teach English to kids in the jungles of Indonesia. It's your chance to learn new things, and some of them may take you away from medicine, and that's fine. If you really want to do medicine, you'll keep circling back to it. Have fun, meet new people, have new experiences. Just don't f*** up too much and dig yourself a hole you're going to have a hard time digging out of it.

Good luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
If it helps, I was kind of a slacker in high school. I got a 3.6ish GPA with a 22 on the first try and a 25 on the second try with the ACT. I was scared that I wouldn't be smart enough so I went into college with a totally different major and switched to biology (pre-med) my sophomore year. I ended up having a super high GPA and getting into med school.

In my opinion, it is all about how bad you want it. When I knew I wanted to be a doctor, nothing stopped me. Like you, I had a little interest in medicine in HS, but when I started shadowing, that's when it really clicked for me.

As far as the debt goes, I wouldn't worry about it. Most doctors I know pay it off in a decent amount of time after med school and still make a nice salary when they are paying it off. Like I said, it is all about how bad you want it.

As far as the major choice goes, as long as you take the prereqs (ochem, biology, physics, etc.), it doesn't matter what major you are. However, I will say having a science major such as biology or chemistry helps prepare you on the MCAT a little more because you get to take extra courses such as biochemistry, anatomy, etc.

Best of luck :)
 
Pre-med isn't really a major, and if your school has it, it's a stupid thing to major in. Major in something you're interested in, and take the pre-med reqs if you think you might want to go to medical school. My wife majored in philosophy, I majored in biology. I had a head start for like 3 weeks and then everything equalized out. Med school isn't filled with rocket scientists. It's just (mostly) filled with people with a slightly above average baseline level of intelligence, but a generally well-above-average amount of dedication and persistence.

Don't worry about paperwork right now; figure out if you think you want to do medicine first. You have long way to go to even answer that question.

Debt is real. Go into college/med school/residency/life with a plan to deal with it. State school, military scholarship, skip the Starbucks, whatever. Thinking about it now is good; you'd be surprised how many people in medicine don't think about it til it's too late. You don't want to feel forced into a specialty you don't enjoy just for financial reasons. It's going to be really hard to pick FM while staring down the barrel of $400K in student loans, no matter how much you love it.

Keep your options open. 3 months ago you weren't even considering medicine, and now here you are thinking you want to do it based on some TV shows and some internet forums. Who knows what you'll want to do after 3 months in college. You might want to teach English to kids in the jungles of Indonesia. It's your chance to learn new things, and some of them may take you away from medicine, and that's fine. If you really want to do medicine, you'll keep circling back to it. Have fun, meet new people, have new experiences. Just don't f*** up too much and dig yourself a hole you're going to have a hard time digging out of it.

Good luck!
Did your wife have a harder time getting into medical school with a philosophy degree?
 
1. First of all, scoring a 33 on the ACT places you in the 99th percentile, according to PrepScholar, so I reckon that you're pretty smart. As for your GPA, there are obviously some people who have one that is higher than yours, but a 3.96 still really good. Worrying about failing in your pre-med courses isn't something you should be doing. If you study hard, pay attention, and stay on top of things, you'll do fine. Moreoever, if you do well in your pre-med classes, chances are you'll do fine in medical school, which--assuming you'll still want to go into medicine--is several years away. Chill.

2. The paperwork and documentation that goes along with being a physician are definitely tedious and unpleasant, but it's doable. Shadow some physicians; you'll get to see what it's like. Bear in mind that medicine is ever-changing, so, in terms of paperwork, it may be streamlined by the time you'd be an attending physician.

3. The debt can be pretty scary sometimes, but from what I've gathered after asking many doctors, it's definitely doable depending on where you end up going and what resources you take advantage of. There are plenty of scholarships that can significantly decrease what you pay for med school, and there are some that even cover the costs entirely (e.g. HPSP), however, there are usually strings attached.

4. As long as you take your prerequisite courses for medical school, you can major in whatever field you are interested in. If that means majoring in psychology or philosophy, go for it. People who have majored in performing arts have gone to medical school. Do what you enjoy.
Have you thought about HPSP? I'm a little interested but I've heard they pick your specialty for you... Thanks for the reply!
 
Have you thought about HPSP? I'm a little interested but I've heard they pick your specialty for you... Thanks for the reply!

I've been seriously considering applying for the HPSP in the future. My family has had a long history of being in the military, so carrying on the tradition would be nice. Still, I'm not 100% sure if I'll apply or not. They don't choose your specialty for you, however, they can choose where you will be stationed when you are on active duty, which is what deters many people from applying. Serving in the military can be very rewarding, but it's not for everyone. If you ever choose to apply to the HPSP, before doing so, ask yourself if it's what you truly want; don't do it for merely the money. You'll be miserable. Make sure you are totally willing to serving your country. Anyway, if you're interested in reading more about the HPSP, here's a good thread that explains it in-depth:

Hpsp Faq

Being aware of the FAP is also good. Some people find it to be better than the HPSP, but it's all relative. Here's the link:

FAP: Read before signing HPSP
 
Last edited:
I've been seriously considering applying for the HPSP in the future. My family has had a long history of being in the military, so carrying on the tradition would be nice. Still, I'm not 100% sure if I'll apply or not. They don't choose your specialty for you, however, they can choose where you will be stationed when you are on active duty, which is what deters many people from applying. Serving in the military can be very rewarding, but it's not for everyone. If you ever choose to apply to the HPSP, before doing so, ask yourself if it's what you truly want; don't do it for merely the money. You'll be miserable. Make sure you are totally willing to serving your country. Anyway, if you're interested in reading more about the HPSP, here's a good thread that explains it in-depth:

Hpsp Faq

Being aware of the FAP is also good. Some people find it to be better than the HPSP, but it's all relative. Here's the link:

FAP: Read before signing HPSP

I've been watching this thread for awhile and also have interest in HPSP. What does "active duty" entail for a doctor?
 
I've been watching this thread for awhile and also have interest in HPSP. What does "active duty" entail for a doctor?

Similar to what entails for any person on active duty, only you're a doctor. You can be deployed wherever they want you to go. The length, frequency, and location of deployments vary, determined by which branch of the military you are a part of, what you specialize in, and other factors. When you're not deployed, you'll typically be stationed at a medical center that is affiliated with your branch. You can sometimes get a say in where you want to go, but ultimately it's up to Uncle Sam.
 
Top