<p>Hey guys, I am a senior in high school (wasn't sure whether to post here or on the other board) and like thousands of others, I'll be pursuing a pre-medical degree next year. I aspire to be a top neurosurgeon working at a big hospital and handling a great deal of patients on a day-to-day basis someday. </p>
<p>Unlike what looks like the majority of students that post here, I'm not headed to a WashU, JHU, Duke, or Northwestern-esque school next year. I've narrowed my college choices down to The Ohio State University - Columbus, the University of Tennessee, Clemson University, and the University of South Carolina - Columbia.</p>
<p>As I have understood, the few who go on to become top neurosurgeons like I aspire to become attend med school at schools like WashU, JHU, Duke, Northwestern, or one of the Ivys.</p>
<p>So these are my questions:</p>
<p>1) By deciding to attend a big state school, have I already killed my hopes of going as far as I aspire to go?</p>
<p>2) If I haven't killed these hopes yet, which of those four schools would give me the best shot at making it into one of the top reputed med schools, and what sorts of things will I be expected to do over the next four years to get there?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your time and your help.</p>
<ul>
<li>Ashwin</li>
</ul>
<p>how on earth would ur hopes be dead even before you started college?</p>
<p>What's the reason behind wanting to be a "top" neurosurgeon, instead of just a "normal" (?) neurosurgeon?</p>
<p>In such a competitive field where med school namesake is important and so few make it, would it not it be somewhat likely that not going to a big time college to begin with would put me too far behind the 5 or so people in the nation that will get to where I want to go to catch up?</p>
<p>The reason I want to be a "top" neurosurgeon is because I am motivated to be known as one of the best in my field and I want to - at least regionally - be a trusted and respected name who handles many patients. I want to work at the sort of hospital that will receive special and high-profile cases and that will offer an exhilarating pace.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No</p></li>
<li><p>Whichever provides the best environment for you to excel. You're the best person to decide that.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you want to be a "top" neurosurgeon, it is FAR more important where you do your residency rather than where you go to med school. Yes, you can get into top med schools from the schools you listed - search the threads for premed advice on what you need to be a top applicant. You have a long journey and it's too early to be worried about being a top anything. You will not truly study neurosurgery until the late stages of your residency program (which you will stay in longer than non-specialty doctors). Don't forget that this is after 8 years of undergrad and medical school. The point is don't worry about being a top doctor just yet. Worry about getting into medical school, which you will find is more than enough to worry about.</p>
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be a trusted and respected name who handles many patients.
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I want to work at the sort of hospital that will receive special and high-profile cases
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that will offer an exhilarating pace
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<p>Yeah, pretty much all neurosurgeons get this. Their ego-stroking, I suppose, can range from enormous to galactic. If you need galactic, then by all means feel free to order the USMLE books now.</p>
<p>I think the OP has been watching too much Grey's Anatomy.</p>
<p>What inspires you to be a neurosurgeon and not any other specialties?</p>
<p>lol at bdm's posts</p>
<p>How do you define "top"? Is it taking the cases no one else can handle? Is it doing the research that redefines the field? Is it having all your patients adore you and never getting sued? Is it having the recognition from other neurosurgeons? Is it becoming the nation's expert on some exceedingly rare disease so that all those patients have to come to you? Is it being exceedingly well rounded in all fields of neurosurgery so you can handle most everything, but never being the best at one thing (ie, in track and field, those who compete in the decathlon are exceedingly athletic, but if they were really talented in one area they'd specialize in that event). Do you want to be one of many experts in some sort of very common malady, something so common that people may only seek you out within a small metropolitan radius?</p>
<p>And why neurosurgery? As a senior in HS, you're at least 8 years away from having to even worry about residency matching with a number of huge, huge hurdles ahead of that.</p>
<p>I'm absolutely 100% not saying you can't achieve these things, and as a proud alumnus of a large state public, I can tell you I wouldn't have gone to college any other way. I'm just exploring where your motivations lie and hopefully getting you to look at your future a little bit differently. Otherwise I fear you'll always consider yourself a failure.</p>
<p>I'm currently wading through all of BDM's posts, and they've all been quite helpful. Thanks for those links, Mike.</p>
<p>In response to Sir. Loinsteak, I feel more inspired to eventually specialize in neurosurgery than in anything else because I feel like it's the field with so many advances just waiting to be made. I just find the vast power over the body that the brain and central nervous system have to be wildly fascinating, and I would love to dedicate my life to learning more about the aforementioned and doing my part to further neurosurgical practice on the whole.</p>
<p>Oh, and in response to Norcalguy, I guess you could call me a Grey's fan though I think it's take on surgeries and such seems very rosy. I really enjoy all kinds of shows that touch on some of the fascinating aspects of neurosurgery, but I'm well aware that it's a bit tougher than Derek Shepherd walking in without a care and doing what he wants lol.</p>
<p>my friend's parents went to UTennessee for undergrad and med school and are very respected doctors-- her mother just solved some case that is apparently super-hard to diagnose, etc. which = big news in the area.</p>
<p>Big Red,</p>
<p>I really think you touched on almost everything I aspire to be. I want to take on the special cases that others might not be able to take on. I hope that my research will be redefining, and that the generation after me will be able to advance upon it the way I advance upon the research of my past generation and my peers as well. Though I can't expect - in this day and age - to never get sued, I hope that I will garner the respect of all my patients for my work someday. I think I have a desire to be exceedingly well-rounded more so than I do to specialize in one specific thing, though I hope that my research will have me seen as a specialist in one or two areas as well.</p>
<p>I touched on why I feel compelled to pursue a career in neurosurgery in my last reply, and I hope that my studies will only serve to validate and ripen this interest. I do understand what you're saying, though, in regards to the sheer amount of time I will have to decide what to specialize in.</p>
<p>Any other thoughts are most appreciated, and thank you all so much for your help so far.</p>
<p>I find myself wishing that I had structured the links post:</p>
<p>"Who **you should become (EC's)"
"What to major in"
"Where to go to college"
"When to take courses"
"Why med school rank might matter"
"How **residencies will view you"</p>
<p>Hindsight is 20/20, I suppose.</p>
<p>ok...first of all how do you know you want to be a neurosurgeon? have you gone through the rotations in medical school or are you going by the name alone? what makes you want to work at a big hospital as opposed to a small one? how do you know you will live in an area with a 'big hospital'? have you ever done any serious research to see if you even enjoy doing research?</p>
<p>also what makes a 'top neurosurgeon' is not necessarily by his/her pedigree. It is also a lot about your work ethic. My bro didnt go to any great med school but he a very successful cardiologist in cali.</p>
<p>i think its cute you have this great view of the future but maybe you should get into medical school first and have some knowledge of the field before you say all that...</p>
<p>I guess in my previous posts I've tried my best to explain why I'm motivated to eventually become a neurosurgeon, but I am still just a senior in high school and I haven't gone through a day of medical school - let alone college. It's not so much the name as it is the field and its expanse of knowledge and power that interests me. I can't say if I'll be burnt out and want to work in a small private practice in 20 or 30 years, though at this point in time, I am more excited about potentially working in a metropolis and handling a high number of patients. As I have little formal medical knowledge, I can't say that I've done formal research extending beyond reading and trying to understand the latest journals in neurosurgery.</p>
<p>It's clear that much knowledge and experience will come over the next decade or so to help me find the specialization and work schedule that best suits my interests, and - given all of that knowledge and experience to be gained - how premature it looks to say that I already know exactly what I want to do and how I want to do it.</p>
<p>This is just my long-term goal... my shooting for the moon if you will, and all I really wanted to know was if going to a big public school would hinder those hopes, and what sorts of things I'd need to do over the next ten to fifteen years to get to where I'm shooting for.</p>
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if going to a big public school would hinder those hopes
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Ah, but this is a different question than the original question. The original question was whether they were dead. That answer is easy: no.</p>
<p>As to whether your probability is lower, that's much harder to guess at. I'd be inclined to speculate that yes, your probability is somewhat lower. How much lower? That I'm unwilling to guess at.</p>