Hello, I’m an international student who has already accepted an offer from yale for the class of 2020
sorry for the disconnected post,
the continuation is below:
Last week I received a full scholarship to the best local university to do pre-med( it follows a typical american-style medical program: pre-med, medschool…), and I have only a few days to reply.
I still am not utterly sure I want to do medicine, though it is something I love and am passionate about. I also have a strong study ethic and have no problem with the length/difficulty of the journey.
when I was accepted to Yale, I did my research and found statistics specific to Yale that 80% of international students who do pre-med at Yale do get into medical school, which is a very good chance compared to the 10 percent national acceptance rate of internationals students to do med-schools abroad.
It was a risk I was willing to take, funding would be a problem but if I do get into medschool investing in myself through loans Id pay back eventually didnot seem too big of a deal.
also, pre-med here is 3 years as opposed to 4 as I dont need to do freshman.
Also, i am aware that a huge percentile who go in to college as pre-med end up switching so I didnot really consider very seriously what happens if I find out medicine is my true calling.
Now, after receiving this scholarship, my parents have forbid me to go to Yale if i want to do medicine, as here it is cheaper, shorter in time and guaranteed, and I can do my residency abroad so it would make no difference, a longer route to the same goal. they said if I want to do anything else, I should do it at Yale.
I totally agree with them on that point, but the following points keep me thinking:
-what if I find out I do not want to do medicine during my first or second year at home? A yale education is soooo much better that anything I would get at home, where all courses of study are specific, college is purely “go to class and come back home and study”, and the whole experience is far less mind-opening than a Yale education would be. The opportunities here are less, my personal and academic development would be less, professors are no where as accomplished, research at an undergrad level is unheard of here. If I go to Yale I would be the first in 2 years to represent my country there, and it is totally affordable because of their aid.
it would only be about an 8K difference per year between what Id pay here at home for dorms and living expenses.
I understand that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and for someone from my background and environment, I am very lucky to have been accepted
- if I go to Yale and choose to do something else due to convenience ( and obviously because it appeals to me as well), I do not want to work all my life thinking that I sacrificed what I really want to do for a more engaging, fun and better academic education and undergraduate experience. I do not want to feel regret every time I pass by a hospital or go to a doctor's appointment.
If anyone has any advice or can help me put things in perspective, or if you see any flaws in the argument you can point out, please feel free to do so.
to make things worse, I am currently in a whole month of official exams and always have my thoughts clouded with no time to think. This is a life decision and the first real decision I’ve ever made.
I have been thinking about what I to major in for 2 years now, and because my interests are so diverse and I do well in all subjects at school, I never was able to decide. medicine was always a top consideration though. personally i find it greedy wanting the best of both worlds. I really do not know what to do.
First off, congratulations! Secondly, RELAX!
Students at Yale do NOT declare a major until the end of their sophomore year, so you have two years to decide what you want to do and what courses you will need to take to graduate with that degree.
And even then – you can graduate Yale with a specific major and still get a job upon graduation in a completely different field. For example, my son graduated Yale with a BS in psychology and is working as a computer science data scientist at a well-known tech company (you probably have the app on your computer and phone). His roommate, a Yale graduate with a BA in History, is working as an editor at a publishing company. Or, my daughter who graduated Harvard with a humanities degree – she just completed a post-bac finishing all her pre-med requirements and is currently applying to med school. (Yes, there are students who graduate with a humanities degrees and become doctors!)
Infinite opportunities await you at Yale, but to take advantage of them you need to be open to all the possibilities. And to do that, you need to breathe and relax. Best of luck to you!
Thank you Gibby for your prompt reply and congrats to your son!
I am aware that I do not need to declare a major till sophomore year at Yale, but that doesnot change the fact that personally I will not be able to do medicine if I go to Yale,
reading my original post I can see how my main worry doesnot come off clearly, Im just worried of sacrificing medicine to go to Yale, about regretting going to Yale if medicine is what i decide I want to do.
eliminating it though it is something Id love to do is what is really bugging me. I do not want to reach a point where I regret choosing to come to yale over doing medicine, no matter what I major in at Yale.
Id love to hear your thoughts on this specifically?
^^ I’m still not understanding why this is so. This may have to do with NOT understanding the nature of universities in your country or the requirements for practicing medicine in your country – both of which you have not clearly articulated. One possibility: you could graduate from Yale having completed all your pre-med requirements, attend an accredited US medical school and then go back to your country and practice medicine. I’m sure your country has reciprocal agreements, just as the US has with certain countries such as Germany, France, United Kingdom, China, etc.
Thanks again.
well, the main reasons are as follows:
As an international student, I will face a lot of difficulty in med-school admissions
http://admissions.yale.edu/applying-yale-international-student#med
at home its guaranteed
assuming I get accepted to a medical school abroad,
funding would be an issue Im not sure I could resolve
at homes its much cheaper
and finally, my parents are not fund of the idea of me staying abroad for such a long time, and I have to take their preferences into consideration
As a parent of a yale alumnus, do you personally think that going to yale is worth all of this?
if I do go to medschool in the US I would definitely be able to work back home, Im not concerned about this aspect, in fact the most successful doctors here at home have attended residency in the states
A lot of ppl I’ve talked to have said something along the lines of
" if you want medicine stay here and dont look back"
I didn’t know that.
Yes – especially as you indicated that Yale is offering you a full scholarship. However, if you really want medicine then I would have to agree with the people you’ve talked to that have said stay in your country and don’t look back.
I think the fact that you are not sure you are 100% convinced you want to study Med is your answer. You have two opportunities in front of you. A cheaper and shorter path to study medicine (but its a decision made for you) or a 4 year undergraduate degree where you get to study anything you desire (and there is still the potential for medicine even if it may be a little more difficult). So many of my daughters friends started off aiming for med school but changed their minds along the way, because they could. You would not be afforded that choice if you stay at home. The fact that you are unsure now means you could be even more unsure in a year or two. That is a very big decision to make at your age. I would tell my child to pick Yale. There are more opportunities there and more choices that result in a great, happy life. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity, medical school can come at any time and anywhere if you want it bad enough and try hard enough. You have plenty of time to decide that- you only have one shot to be a Yale undergrad. Just an opinion from a mom.