Then you need to major in something that will give you the ability to make a living with your college degree, in case you wind up deciding not to go to med school. Some 80% of people who start as premeds wind up not continuing with it. Is there something that you would like to major in, that is a marketable degree, should you decide against med school somewhere along the line?
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Ohh yea, I know things can change. I am going to be majoring in health science, or Public Health if I can be accepted into that department.
That is very good. If your total cost of attendance is $12k, that is also very good and suggests that you have earned very substantial financial aid. Regardless of whether this comes from merit aid, or from your getting accepted to a school that provides good need based aid, or from you choosing to attend an affordable in-state public university, or some combination, either way you have already done a great deal to earn this relatively low cost of attendance.
Premed classes will be demanding, and will be full of very strong students. Neither of my daughters was premed, but both had majors that overlapped quite a bit with premed required classes and knew quite a few premed students from their classes. I have heard quite a few stories about how tough the premed classes can be in some cases. You will want to plan to put a lot of time and effort into your academics.
I think that you just will need to depend upon support from your parents to a significant extent. As a parent, to me supporting our children (our daughters) as they find their way in life is a big part of why I am still here in the world. I have a daughter in her late 20âs who is still somewhat dependent upon us financially â that is just part of the necessary process for her to get to the right place for her (which in her case involves veterinary medicine). In return she is putting an enormous effort into her classes.
Our other daughter is currently doing biotech research (working on potential cures for a particular illness). Some people do medical research with just a bachelorâs degree (eg, if they have a lot of lab experience and want to do lab work). Some have masterâs degrees. Some have PhDâs. Some have MDâs. I have been told that some MDâs do indeed do research that might not in all cases involve patient contact. Some start with bachelorâs degrees, work for a while, and then go back to university to get a graduate degree of some kind.
However, you will need to get quite a bit of patient facing experience in a medical environment to get accepted to medical school. Our daughter who is studying for a DVM had a LOT of related experience (thousands of hours). While getting into an MD program may have somewhat different experience (you will be dealing with human patients rather than cows and horses) the importance of getting experience is not much different.
Exactly.
Putting this all together, I would not expect you to be able to work more than something like 10 to 12 hours per week to make money and still have the time and energy required to both do well in your classes and get the required medical experience. Even 10 hours of âwork for moneyâ will be a lot unless you are very driven and very energetic. I think that doing well in tough classes is your most important task over the next four years, with getting medical experience being a close second.
I think that full time work is just a complete non-starter. You wonât be able to do it.
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If they offer an undergrad degree in Public Health, I think that is an excellent plan. It dovetails with the interest of becoming an MD; in fact, it says to medical schools, âI care about Public Healthâ, a much-needed specialty. And if you wind up deciding against med school, you can still get a job in public health with a bachelorâs degree.
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Our bill was ~$62K per year for our daughterâs Med school program. That is NOW considered cheap! That amount does not include her post-undergrad expenses for 1 ½ years of (rent, food, car, insurance, cable, etc., in the very expensive Bay Area of California) volunteering in clinical care positions with medically indigent patients.
She worked lab jobs but she could not afford to support herself before, during, and after her program. Sheâs working now, thankfully, and making very decent money, but not everyone is fortunate to complete their med school education without debt.
Are your parents aware of how much the future bills will be? We had a rough estimate of costs, but the costs were a lot more than we had budgeted, so she had to take out some small loans to help pay for her education. It wouldnât have been financially âfairâ to her two siblings, for us, to completely fund our adult daughter.
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I am not planning to leave where I live as there is a medical school in my city and also a DO just 30min away if I chose that route. I said that to say, we are pretty much aware of cost of living here. Now if I went out of state for med school that would be a different case and also the tuition would be higher. I understand that, because I have three younger siblings who plan to go far from home for college. So their cost of attendance will be much more than me.
When you apply to medical schoolsâŚyou will likely be applying to 20 or so places, and you will hope for ONE acceptance. And that might not be to the DO and MD schools near where you live.
Medical school students can take out grad plus loans up to the cost of attendance. Iâm not advocating thatâŚbut itâs possible.
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I am aware of the competetiveness, but I am also hoping to be in state. I just want to keep my hopes up for the best yet also keeping them open if I have to. Going out of state is a whole other cost of which I do not want to add, and I donât like moving in generalđ
No medical student, who was applying to medical schools, who I ever knew, knew in advance, what medical school they would be attending. (unless they were already admitted to a BS program). How are you so certain that you will be attending that local school or the DO school? Have you done any research in how the system works?
My daughter flew to 4 states for her interviews. She also flew up and down, within the state, for her interviews. She had no idea where she would be attending. My daughter was lucky to be admitted in state-such that her costs to attend were only $62K, per year, as a resident. Her best friend ended up in Med School on the East Coast from the West Coast. You may not want to add a âwhole other costâ, but you donât make that choice, the medical school admissions team makes that decision for you.
Itâs not just âcompetitiveâ, it is uber competitive and most students, preparing for a career as a physician, know that they have to volunteer with patients in low SES populations. They are fluent in desired second languages, have perfect grades and great recommenders. They know that they will be applying to any and all medical schools with high MCATs, strong clinical experiences, EMT/lab/scribe volunteer positions and saved funds from part-time jobs.
So, youâre only applying to one med school and one DO. Wow, kind of narrow choices.
OP hasnât even begun college yet. Assuming she can get the grades, Iâm sure she will become more knowledgeable about the process, as she goes through undergrad.
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I am not narrowed to one school, however I am believing to get into that school. They are many others, statewide, I will apply to, but I know what my top choice already isđ Itâs just being hopeful for the best not worst.
One thing is for sure I am definitely not planning to go a whole other region. If things do not work out the way I wish than I will consider other opportunities.
My cousin went into Pharmacology at Oxford which was totally mind blowing. But she would always kept her hopes up and told us where she wanted to be. It just taught me, if you know what you want in life go push for it, and always have a backup plan. If it doesnât work then choose something else that you may have wanted in your circle.
p.s. I am fluent in two languages other than English.
I definitely agree, once I start full time it will be a learning experience! However, I have been in college for the past 2 years via my school. I did knock out quite a few intro courses so it wonât be brand new to me, but just slightly different.
I think you should be commended, not admonished, for looking for ways to pay for your education. Posters on CC are usually chastised for not considering finances enough! I think some of the adults here also forget what it is like to be asking these questions at 17, without a ton of lived experiences, and with parents and younger siblings that you want to be near. I know you will get a better understanding of med school requirements and the other issues you mention soon. You are already doing a good job with seeking advice and accepting feedback.
As far as real estate goes, a big reason that it isnât a good fit for a college student, especially one with med school plans, is that it is an entrepreneurial field. As with starting any business, there is a steep learning curve and a period in which you are investing more (in terms of time and effort) than you will be getting back in pay. You need a job where you can hit the ground running. My friend who was pre-med was a phlebotomist in college (back before it was as regulated or perhaps the hospital offered some quick start training), and it was ideal because she had a set shift and could make much more than she would have at a work study job. Something similar, where you have finite shift and guaranteed income would be better than real estate which could happen at any time with an unpredictable income stream.
You should definitely start with a part-time job. I was not pre-med, but I went to a high stress/weed out kind of school, and I started with about 10 hours of work/week. I wouldnât start with any more than that, but if this is something you feel strongly about doing then look for a job where you can pick up shifts. I never ramped up to much more, probably not doing much more than 15 hours/week, but some kids can balance more. The important thing is that you donât know which kid you will be yet â the norm, who can work a handful of hours while also going to school full-time, or the rare exception who can work a lot of hours while succeeding academically. Because getting the very highest grades is absolutely one of the most critical pieces of the med school application, what you can handle is not something that you can learn the hard way. Do not put yourself into a hole by overcommitting.
Good luck! You sound like a great kid who will figure things out quickly.
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Thanks for this info! I will definitely put some reconsideration!
I came to your thread this morning to say essentially the same as @CCName1 ! 
Most people I know who work in real estate spend 6 months to a year building a network before making any real money. The schedule can be inflexible at times. It is not what I consider a realistic part-time position for a college student so please, please make sure you have thoroughly researched the reality of the job before investing too much time in licensure and training.
My D is pre-med and has worked with her university to find part-time paid and volunteer positions that relate to healthcare. Last year she worked at a community home health organization performing admin duties and supporting the staff on home visits. This year she had a very difficult fall semester so did not work much at all. Organic chemistry + lab, genetics + lab, creative writing, research assistant position, first-year leader position⌠she barely had time to socialize, much less work. Luckily she had that flexibility. This semester she has a part-time job through the university that is not health-related but pays over $20 per hour and is super flexible. She also shadows a doctor once a week. Last summer, my D worked as a medical assistant (and had training as a medical scribe). In her case it was an unpaid internship at a free health clinic, but you could look for paid positions. This summer she is considering her EMT certification while working part-time⌠still to be determined. Itâs a lot of cobbling together positions that work for her goals, but she is making it work. These are just examples of what other pre-med kids are doing.
Many students work in restaurants or shops near their school. It is important to work for a business that is used to working with college studentsâ schedules. Whatever you do you want to do it well and you want to be able to balance it with your school responsibilities and a healthy life. I suggest working full-time over the summer and saving money to help throughout the school year. If you want, you can supplement with working about 10 hrs/week along with classes, but you will need to see how much time you have available as college level classes require a lot of work.
I have no doubt you will be successful whatever you decide. You are asking for input and thinking out of the box⌠both qualities will serve you well. Keep up the excellent work and remember that with med school as a goal, GPA is extremely important. Whatever you decide, your classes must come first. You will figure it out!
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Thank you for your inputđ
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Medical school is straining.
Medical residency is even more straining.
A CNA, EMT, phlebotomy, or other health care job will count somewhat as a pre-med extracurricular in addition to providing money. A real estate job will only provide the money, so you would need to find additional time for pre-med extracurriculars.
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