The bad news is lots of people wash out of the pre-med track because it is usually only going to work for the most highly motivated and best suited students. Indeed, depending on the college, they can be more or less consciously intending to weed out all the kids who start as pre-med because being a doctor is a high-paying and prestigious profession, but without the real passion and abilities it requires.
The good news is the US has an enormous variety of colleges where you can explore your interests, finds something you are good at, get really good grades, and then use that to get started on a rewarding career. You donāt have to know in advance what you want to do.
And you can still go somewhere like that and try out the pre-med track. But if it isnāt working for you, then you can find something else that will work for you.
Thatās actually the ābestā reason to like the general admission college model at many Ivies. That model allows for such exploration and finding what you are actually good at. But they are far from having a monopoly on that model, and you can find many other alternatives that could work out great for you.
Okay, so this is about the worst way I can think of to choose a profession. You donāt know what else to be, so youāll choose one of the hardest professions out there to break into? A profession that depends on skills that youāre not especially interested in developing? No.
You have countless options ā itās FINE if you donāt know which ones will be best for you. Itās completely okay if you donāt have a career choice in mind right now, when youāre 17 or 18 years old. Thatās (part of) what college is for! Choose a college with a wide range of offerings, with good career services and internship opportunities (across the board), and donāt declare a major right away. Take lots of classes across lots of subject areas the first few years. Investigate service-learning or experiential learning opportunities that can put you in real-world settings (outside of medicine). Whatever you do, stop fixating on medicine, and let your college (whatever it turns out to be) open up new experiences and possibilities.
The world is large and complex and at 17, you shouldnāt know this. Many of us are in jobs that didnāt exist back in the day or we didnāt know existed.
You neednāt go to college with a specific career in mind. In fact, for most that would be awfully limiting.
I went to a pretty good middle school and maintained a 96 gpa, and got a high shsat score, but after COVID, my mental health and self esteem took a nosedive, and I grew much less motivated and my grades plummeted . After realizing I should try harder, it was a bit too late to change the outcome and Iām just hoping to make sure this wonāt be repeated in college.
Convince them that you have very little chance of getting into your reach schools? The issue here is that you MUST be able to pay. So you MUST ask your parents outright how college will be paid for, assuming you will not get into Brown, Cornell, or Columbia. NYU is almost certainly unaffordable, even if you get in. (They say they will meet full need this coming cycle, but letās see if that happens in reality.)
Applications are expensive but you might get fee waivers. Applications to top colleges are very time consuming and need to be exceptional. If you havenāt started them yet, please do so. Once school starts up, your time will be limited.
Please clarify how many AP and/or IB classes you have taken. Does your school offer those? Your app will be assessed in context with the course rigor of your fellow students. Your level of rigor needs to be most rigorous to have a shot because if itās at a lower level than that of your classmates, who might be applying to the same schools, it doesnāt help your app. @sybbie719 ās advice is spot on.
First Gen is helpful, but I wouldnāt say, in your case, that itās going to compensate for your GPA. Understand that in the rest of the world, you have a great GPA, but itās going to be below average at the most selective colleges. You can work really hard in your first term of senior year, which might be helpful, but you canāt change your transcript.
Take care of yourself first. Always. Prioritize your mental health. Like others have said, you donāt have to have a career in mind now. Study what you like in college, research potential careers. Enjoy the experience.
People who want to become physicians have to have a passion for helping others. If you donāt have that, and you donāt love science, there are plenty of other potential careers. No rush to find one right now.
There is a lot going on here and it seems that this process, which is already stressful, is creating even more stress. Your mental health is a priority.
You need an affordable school. This is why I keep asking if you can commute to a suny or cuny. It seems you may be eligible for excelsior (you wonāt pay tuition) and commuting means you will not have to pay R/B.
I decided that if I have to study more anyways, might as well just go for doctor.
I am actually not a peopleās person and only volunteer at both the prep center and the hospital to kind of push myself out of my own comfort zone and to fix my stutter(which interestingly enough did not exist until after COVID).
My parents have also realized they donāt know much about the college process but they also refuse to listen to me when I explain things I have picked up from other former applicants. They have enlisted the help of a mentor/tutor who was the one who told me I may stand a decent chance at Ivies, which I am now seriously doubting.
Thatās fair, but things happen in college too, and it is similarly hard to beat out the people for whom no such thing happens.
And while few people imagine themselves ending up in the bottom half of their Ivy class, every year half the students do.
Of course many of those people will be fine, but they didnāt necessarily help themselves all that much either. Particularly not if they could have done better at a different college.
They continuously say itāll depend on my performance at the school .
As for APs, itās also really competitive to get into APs(it may just be competitive to me but we needed a 99 in regular chem to even be considered for AP chem)
I have taken AP environmental science and received a 4.
I will be taking AP Calc AB and AP Mandarin next year.
Talk with your parents about the budget, including if any family members are helping pay for college. Run the NPCs. Understand the various state financial aid programs that you may qualify for. That will help determine your list, and what is affordable. You donāt have to share all of that on this thread.
The average income is also a factor. My father emphasizes that I will be able to pay off my loans easily in about 3-4 years if I am a doctor and if he helps.
I was thinking to apply to a liberal arts college so I have more chances to explore.
Iām not sure but my school has its own āspecializedā diploma which I believe I am on track for.
ā The requirements for the diploma include fulfilling the necessary credits for the Advanced Regents Diploma, as well as taking additional, primarily STEM, classes. For the diploma, students must pass one term of mechanical drawing, at least one term of computer science, and a total of five terms of computer science, technology, or applied science courses, four years of mathematics, four years of science, three years of the same world language and either pass the swim test or take a semester of swim gym.ā
You will not have a performance at āthe schoolā, which I assume you mean your future college, without being able to pay.
Do your parents think they will just pay for your first semester and see how it goes? And then the wealthy aunt will step in and pay the fees?
You need to have a conversation. Maybe get the aunt involved, or your counselor at school. Ask them all how to pay for college. If you work hard and save money, maybe you alone could contribute about $10000 a year, which I think is on the high side. Where will the rest of the money come from? You have to know this information. You have to apply to at least one college that you can afford.
No my dad will the one paying, with my aunt chipping in, but I think that may be what theyāre thinking. Or make me pay back the fees they paid, Iām not too sure.
My parents also donāt really want me working, since the jobs that will take me are jobs like at Starbucks(which I actually do want to experience )/!; they would prefer I do volunteer work to make my application look better.
