Hi I am currently going into 8th grade with no extra-curricular that I am fabulous at. However I play violin and chess, do science fair yearly, I won the spelling bee in 6th grade, and I am the school secretary. I am also in all TAG classes and I am doing geometry this year. I would like to become a surgeon but I am totally confused as to AP vs. IB, what courses to take in 9th grade, and what extra curriculars I should pursue. If anyone has already been through this, please offer me some advice. I would like to know exactly what I should do to end up as a cardiologist, or some other type of surgeon. I am honestly extremely scared that I will regret the choices I make now later. And I would like to get started now, so please don’t tell me to have fun, because I do. I would just like to know whats ahead of me.
First of all, check in with your local high school (or whatever one you’re going into) to see their course listings. AP and IB may not be available there, or only one, or both may be offered. For ninth grade courses, does the high school require freshmen to take any “prep” or “foundation” courses? At my high school, all freshmen are required to take Bio (no accelerated course), Freshman Lit, and PE. In my opinion, if freshmen want to take advanced courses, then they should take honors courses, not AP, because they have no idea what that’s like.
Now, to clear things up. A cardiologist is not a always a surgeon. A cardiologist is a doctor that works with hearts. In eighth grade, your dreams may not be clear yet, and who knows, maybe you’ll fall in love with physics or poetry in your time in high school. When I was in eighth grade, I wanted more than anything to become a doctor. Take your time during your underclassmen years (freshman and sophomore) to answer the question: Do I really want to be a surgeon? You can do this by taking classes that relate to it, shadowing a surgeon (which I strongly recommend, just so you can see what a day is like), getting an internship, attending a lecture series, all that type of stuff. Join a few clubs related to what you want to do when you figure it out.
Also, a heads up. My uncle is a cardiac surgeon specializing in stents and bypasses. I shadowed him for a day. It seems like an interesting job, but it was absolutely exhausting. He performed at least 4 surgeries in one day, and worked at least 12 hours (it was a holiday season, around New Year’s) that day.
Hi, thanks for the response. My uncle is a pediatric surgeon and I shadowed him for a week last summer. We ended up sleeping in the hospital. I know its exhausting but I know that this is what I want to do.Both my parents didn’t have the money to become doctors so it is very important to them and me. How would I figure out the course listings? I can send u the name of my high school in a private message. My high school is one of the top ones and it offers both AP and IB. The thing is, I dont even know what courses I would take there. Thank you so much!
If you are this concerned this early, I bet you can contact the school and ask to speak to a counselor who can help you understand how it will work next year.
It seems that your uncle would be a good resource for pre-med advising. Most high school counselors should be able to do a passable job as well.
You have plenty of time to work out which extracurriculars you’d like to get good at or which major you’d want to pursue. Don’t feel like you need to get all your ducks in a row just because high school is impending-- enjoy your last year of middle school without high school/college stress. I would also suggest getting off of College Confidential. It’ll probably just make you panicky about the admissions process, which is a long ways away for you.
I don’t feel that you should pick your career now (especially if you vocalize it to your parents. they tend to latch on to that and then get confused when you-- suprisingly!-- don’t want to do the same thing you did 5 years ago). On the other hand, if it’s something that you’re genuinely interested in and not just something that you’re going for because you like the idea of being a surgeon/there are family pressures, then it’s great that you discovered your passion so early.
I don’t think that your extracurriculars up to this point really show me anything about your personality. They seem pretty classic for the types of awards that people receive pre-high school. I suggest picking which of these interests (spelling bee, violin, chess, science, stuco) you enjoy the most and really becoming exceptional at it (e.g. entering in regional/national competitions, pursuing it outside of school, doing summer camps for it, really making a change in-school to the club or activity that pertains to the one you choose.) Then I suggest that you branch out and try new things. You can check out if your high school has a club related to your medical interests. If not, you could start one once your there, or you could just pursue this interest with outside of school activities like shadowing surgeons or volunteering at hospitals.
Of course, this is all a ways off in the future, but I just thought it’d be nice to have some food for thought 