Hi everyone. I recently got an official letter from Brandeis University inviting me to the Global Youth Summit on the Future of Medicine. With the encouragement of my parents, I applied to the program and got accepted, and already paid the 280 dollar deposit. I know that they send this kind of invitation out to many students and that it’s not a very big deal to be accepted. I also know that colleges don’t see attending this conference as any kind of special achievement. My purpose in wanting to go was to demonstrate my interest in and gain more knowledge about medicine. However, one of my teachers recently said to not attend these kinds of conferences because they are a scam. I had already called the university to confirm that they do indeed host this conference, but I’m getting worried that the experience isn’t worth the 3,000 dollar tuition. Is there anyone that has attended this conference in the past? If so, did you think it was worth it? Any opinions at all would be really appreciated.
Honestly, I doubt it would be “worth” anything. Research past occurrences of the conference and see how selective it is. A lot of these “programs” are just send in large masses and could have some noteworthy speaker, but definitely not worth going to show interest. If you want to show interest in medicine, then try to work in a hospital, shadow a doctor, or conduct research in some sort of life-science lab.