Can an average student become a doctor?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi, I have a question about becoming a doctor, and I was hoping that someone may be able to help me. My question is basically simple: can an "average" student become a successful doctor, or must the student be in advanced placement classes and get straight A's (I'm talking about in high school)? I'm concerned because I've been out of school from an injury since 9th grade (I'm a junior now). I was double-promoted from 7th to 9th grade, but over that summer, I got a severe injury from a roller coaster that left me with nerve damage in my upper body. Thus, I've been out of school due to pain and a lack of sensation/radiating pain in my arms. That transition was difficult, especially since the school was less than willing to provide me with tutoring. For the past 2 years (now working on my third), I have entirely taught myself -- no help from anyone. The teachers merely pass the work down to me, and I'm left to my own devices as to how I will manage to complete it. The fact that I'm also still taking the main-stream tests (despite the fact that they are largely based on class discussion, and I'm not in the class, so I have no way of knowing the answer), has lowered my grades dramatically. I've still managed to obtain a B+ to A average in all Honor Level classes (however, AP are offered). I was told that I could not take AP classes because I didn't meet the prerequisites from 8th grade (which I skipped). That made a chain reaction -- no prerequisites from 8th means that I had to take only Honor level 9th grade classes, which means that I only have the prerequisites for Honor classes in 10th grade, and so on. Lastly, I often have a problem with my "tutor." I tell her that a question that I got wrong was actually correct (I've even had an engineer from NASA that I know figure out some of my math problems), and she gets all irritated and won't change my grade. I'm hoping that things will be different this year, as I just had a meeting with all of the big-wigs in the town, but I didn't dare complain about the tutor because she's the ONLY ONE in the town, and if she's giving me my grades for the next 2 years, I certainly don't want to upset her. She's extremely unprofessional, defensive, and uneducated, and she constantly talks about her personal life. In fact, she tried telling me that I needed to drop down to level 3 or 4 classes (the lowest that the school offers!), and then finally admitted that it was because she could no longer keep up with the work I was doing... Yeah, like she was really helping my anyway. <em>rolls eyes</em> Her latest thing is that she goes around telling everyone that I'm struggling in my classes! First of all, even if I was struggling, that'd be reasonable considering I've taught myself for so long. Secondly, I'M NOT STRUGGLING, so stop lying! (Sorry for the little vent there...)</p>

<p>It's always been my dream to become a doctor, but I'm just afraid that I'll A) never get into a college (let alone medical school!), and B) the colleges won't believe my story -- I mean who would really believe that someone taught themselves for all 4 years of high school, and accept that as an excuse for their "bad" grades??? Even I wouldn't, and it happened to me! Not to mention, it seems very unreasonable that a high school wouldn't provide accommodations for a student in my predicament, but they truly haven't! Yet, in the same aspect, just looking at my transcript, for my instructors' names, it'll say "tutor-home instruction" -- yet I have received NO HOME INSTRUCTION! Please, please, please -- I'm completely stressing over this. Can you offer any insight? Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Sure, an average student can become a doctor, lawyer, or anything else, if he or she wants it bad enough. It may take you longer, as you may have to make up in undergraduate school what you feel that you missed out on academically in hs, but it certainly can be done. </p>

<p>Will you get into an Ivy? Maybe...maybe not. </p>

<p>But doctors, lawyers and other professionals come from a diversity of academic backgrounds.</p>

<p>Then, when you suceed, you will have a great story to share with other challenged ms and hs students who also have a dream!</p>

3

<p>Oooooohhh! I certainly hope you're serious (there have been some jokesters on here before... lol)! Of course I <em>wanted</em> Harvard or Yale, but I'm thinking that Tufts, BC, BU, maybe those are more attainable, yet they'd still look "good" when the time came to flash my credentials for getting a job. :-)</p>

4

<p>In the real world, you'll find that the contacts you make at Tufts, BC and BU can be just as valuable as those made at Harvard or Yale.</p>

5

<p>I work with many fine physicians who attended state colleges and medical schools and now are Harvard teaching hospital- affliated MDs. Perservere--you can do it!</p>

6

<p>An ivy league education is not nearly as much of a benefit in applying to medical schools as it is with law and business. Med schools care much much more about the work you've done, and your knowledge as reflected in the MCAT. Places like Tufts, BC, BU are excellent schools in this regard (although at BU you might be a little more anonymous than at the others).</p>

<p>You sound very driven, and your struggles with school while rehabbing have the makings of an excellent essay.</p>

<p>I would encourage you to do both of the following:
1) Get rid of this "tutor" who is causing you so much stress, and search surrounding towns for someone else. They certainly exist, probably in the phone book, and will probably be much more professional.
2) Be more willing to fight for your educational interests, especially with regard to AP classes and this tutor that they've foisted on you. Get your parents involved and go to the Principal, and make it clear that your medical history ought to create an exception for the standard prerequisites for AP classes. Get yourself into those and prove that you are up to the task, and colleges will see a lot more value in your course selections.</p>

<p>If a high school that is wealthy enough to offer so many AP courses is so unflexible as to their prereq policies as you claim, it is still possible to push them around into doing the right thing by you. Mail angry, legalistic-sounding certified letters to the principal and then to the superintendent. Threaten legal action if you have to. Better yet, mention that you will call the local/regional newspaper and have them publicly mocked for their stupidity in this regard. Nothing worries administrators like humiliation.</p>

<p>Best of luck,
Steve</p>

7

<p>Two things matter most for getting into med school: your college gpa and your medcat scores. The prestige of the school is secondary, in fact, it's preferable you have great grades/scores from a so-so school than so-so grades/scores from a great school. State schools & universities educate a huge percentage of today's doctors.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for all the responses, everyone! :-) It's very reassuring to know that I still have a chance!</p>

<p>
[quote]
Places like Tufts, BC, BU are excellent schools in this regard (although at BU you might be a little more anonymous than at the others).

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Can I please ask what you mean by I may be more anonymous than at the others? I don't know too much about those schools, only that many of my own physicians obtained their degrees from them.</p>

<p>
[quote]
2) Be more willing to fight for your educational interests, especially with regard to AP classes and this tutor that they've foisted on you. Get your parents involved and go to the Principal, and make it clear that your medical history ought to create an exception for the standard prerequisites for AP classes. Get yourself into those and prove that you are up to the task, and colleges will see a lot more value in your course selections.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Just yesterday, my mother had a meeting with the tutor, the principal, the superintendent, the director of guidance, and the director of special education. The best that they could come up with is that they'll have the directors of each of the subjects come up with a special curriculum that didn't involve sitting or much writing out (I can't sit or stand, only lay flat). They then said that they'd get students from that National Honor Society to tutor me, since it was obvious that the currect tutor for the town wasn't capable of handling my work load anymore. The tutor then nearly had a breakdown, threw her pens and papers on the table, and almost starting crying about how there was too much pressure on her. The superintendent gave her the evil-eye, so to speak, and said that it was inappropriate to be discussing this in front of a parent. Little did he know that this was the type of thing I have been dealing with for years. She then proceded to tell everyone how I couldn't handle the current workload as it was, and that I needed to be taken out of honor level classes, as I stated in my first post. She whipped out ONE test in math that I got a 62% on (my lowest grade, ever), and paraded it around like it was some trophy of my stupidity. Hmmm.. let's consider that a little further. Considering the fact that after reviewing it, I found that she marked answers wrong that were undoubtedly correct (even according to four NASA engineers), that seems to be... balogna (I'm going for a more censored version here).</p>

9

<p>I dont know about that. BU is a bigger school, but it's not so overwhelming that you cant get to know a lot of people and professors.</p>

<p>I'd love for you to go to BU with me. You sound like a really good and kool kid.</p>

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<p>And here, just to reduce the risk of sounding insane or like I'm making up the fact that she marked things wrong, even though they were correct, here's an example:</p>

<p>If the volume of a sphere is 2048/3[pi], find its surface area. I got 803.84, she says that's wrong.</p>

<p>What I did was:</p>

<p>4/3[pi]r^3 = 2048/3[pi]
x3 = x3
/[pi] = /[pi]</p>

<p>Now I have:</p>

<p>4r^3 = 2048
/4 = /4</p>

<p>Now I have:</p>

<p>r^3 = 512</p>

<p>I found the third root of 512, and got 8. So I plugged that into the formula for surface area:</p>

<p>SA = 4[pi]r^2 = 4 x 3.14 x 8^2</p>

<p>My answer was 803.84, yet she thinks that it's incorrect. <em>rolls eyes</em></p>

<p>I've been doing this kind of work since middle school, yet 2 years into high school (this test was back from sophmore year), I get a simple question about volume and surface area incorrect?! I THINK NOT! lol</p>

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<p>BU's a much bigger school with a tougher grading curve. I grew up in the boston area and several of my friends have spoken of that generally, on top of me visiting them a bunch.</p>

<p>Your math answer's right, but I think you'd be best served by getting over it and being glad that someone at the level of the superintendent is helping you out. Good politics would be to stay on his good side and show that you can be a credit to the school system. Whining about the past will hurt that; exploring options for the future will help.</p>

<p>edit: wait, just saw this quote:

[quote]
I don't know too much about those schools, only that many of my own physicians obtained their degrees from them.

[/quote]

The physicians probably got their med school degree, their MD, from those schools, all of which have highly regarded med schools. Are you sure you asked them where they went to college?</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
Your math answer's right, but I think you'd be best served by getting over it and being glad that someone at the level of the superintendent is helping you out.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Normally I would, as I did all year. However, this was my math final, so a 62% is entirely unreasonable -- it'll have a far greater effect on my overall average than just an average test. There's also 7 or 8 problems that were marked wrong in this manner. Sorry, that's my fault; I forgot to mention what TYPE of test it was. :)</p>

<p>
[quote]
The physicians probably got their med school degree, their MD, from those schools, all of which have highly regarded med schools. Are you sure you asked them where they went to college?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yep! A lot of them went to college at one (such as BU), and then got their MDs at another (i.e. Tufts). Does that make a difference though? Are the regular universities/colleges of BU, BC, and Tufts not as good as their med schools?</p>

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<p>I just found this thread, but congrats on all that you have accomplished so far. I believe that the fact that you have continued to challenge yourself academically, despite physical obstacles, would make you a unique applicant at many colleges. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Your math answer's right, but I think you'd be best served by getting over it and being glad that someone at the level of the superintendent is helping you out.

[/quote]

I think Denzera was right on with this remark. I know how frustrating it is (trust me ;)), but you're going to run into teachers like this from time to time. In the end, the grade that you recieved on one test isn't going to hurt you as much as continuing to focus on the fact that your tutor was horrible (this energy would probably be better invested in learning the new math concepts and skills). It sounds like you've eliminated that problem and now can hopefully be taught by more qualified teachers.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Yep! A lot of them went to college at one (such as BU), and then got their MDs at another (i.e. Tufts). Does that make a difference though? Are the regular universities/colleges of BU, BC, and Tufts not as good as their med schools?

[/quote]

I think that the reason most doctors choose to go on to med school at a different institution than their undergrad is the fear of academic "in-breeding." I think it just makes you look a little more well-rounded.</p>

<p>There's lots of good advice on picking undergraduate colleges if you search these forums. Making a list might be helpful to list traits that are important to you. For instance: location, size, strength of programs, disability support services, housing, etc. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

14

<p>Thank you very much, zpmqxonw.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I believe that the fact that you have continued to challenge yourself academically, despite physical obstacles, would make you a unique applicant at many colleges.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'm so glad that it appears that way! I was afraid that I'd come off as a slacker, using my injury as an excuse to not progress further, or at a faster pace. :-)</p>

<p>
[quote]
I think Denzera was right on with this remark. I know how frustrating it is (trust me ), but you're going to run into teachers like this from time to time. In the end, the grade that you recieved on one test isn't going to hurt you as much as continuing to focus on the fact that your tutor was horrible (this energy would probably be better invested in learning the new math concepts and skills). It sounds like you've eliminated that problem and now can hopefully be taught by more qualified teachers.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You really think that I should accept a D- on a math final, instead of getting it fixed (which could result anywhere from a C+ to an A-, depending on how the tutor views my corrections)? That weighs pretty heavily on the overall average for the year.</p>

15

<p>Just wanted to update -- I got a meeting with the tutor tomorrow to discuss the wrong answers (the ones that were actually correct), and she said that she only goes by the answer key, so it's possible that I was right. DING, DING, DING!!! We have a winner! lol</p>

16

<p>wait, the TUTOR made up (and graded) the test? Or didn't write it but is using some other canned response?</p>

<p>Just take the test in to an actual math teacher, point stuff out, and have him tell you what you got right out of the things you dispute. That should make a difference.</p>