I agree 100% @Pizzagirl - Stanley’s findings (it’s been a while since I read his book) were that MDs arrive late to the status game compared to other high-paying professions and they too often see the lure of the country club and the nice car when their total financial picture should have them retiring debt and saving for the future.
“Then if kid choose wisely, she may negotiate with parents paying for the medical school instead.”
Because everyone has parents with a spare 150-300k lying around.
My kid had a teeny amount of undergrad debt. But we paid in full for her undergrad years. There was NO negotiation to take place with either of our kids over tuition for grad or professional schools. They knew up front that this was on them!
We did help both with living expenses.
If a parent can pay in full for Four years of private medical school…that is $200,000 or so…including housing.
A $10,000 a year full tuition scholarship for undergrad isn’t nearly $200,000. It’s not like it’s an even Steven trade off.
@thumper1 I work with premeds. Majority of successful premeds come in with all the APs and 100s of volunteer hours. But go ahead and cling to the anecdote in your head of the grind who came in from a flyover high school and blew their “rich” peers out of the water and became a Stanford MD.
You don’t have to be a Stanford MD to be a MD.
You are wrong about HS courses and how they affect med school admissions. Period.
P.S. I do not live in flyover country, but I do know some successful physicians in that neck of the woods.
@WayOutWestMom could you comment about the need to be accelerated in math and science in HS to gain acceptance into medical school?
My spouse drives a 2007 Camry. The way his office is situated, patients can see “the doctor parking spot” and he’s sometimes whisked patients to the hospital in his own car when it would take too long to call an ambulance. He’s long held that physicians who have glitzy cars are stupid - sends the wrong message to patients that they are overpaying or the doctor isn’t relatable. That’s his excuse too for not keeping me in furs and diamonds, lol.
In last application cycle, of those 52k+ that actually got to point of applying (ie taken MCAT, probably completed most if not all premed reqs, etc), just over actually 20K started, meaning over 60% failed to get even one acceptance. This failure rate for the last several years has hovered around 60%. And don’t forget the 10s and 10s and 10s of thousands who showed up as smiling faced premeds on first day of college who never got to point of applying. So where did you hear about acceptance rates?
https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/
Table A1
One of my kids has a friend who was in exactly this situation. The family was full-pay and could afford to pay for the kid’s undergraduate education. The kid knew she wanted to go to medical school. The kid got a full ride from her safety school (a flagship state university) and was also accepted to some more selective schools. Somehow, during conversations between the kid and the parents about which college to choose, the idea arose of accepting the full ride, with the parents hanging on to the money and using it to pay for medical school. I don’t know whether this was the kid’s idea or the parents’, but the family went with it. The kid is now a doctor. With no debt.
OP, it’s OK you don’t want to be a doctor now. But be a good student, in case you change your mind later. You don’t need to be a top student to go to medical school. I’ve seen kids with ACT 32 or SAT math <700 ended up going.
A 32 is 98th percentile. Not all that surprising that students in the top 2% by test score can do well in college and on the MCAT.
as to need to be accelerated in math and science in HS to gain acceptance into medical school?
With exception of college courses taken in hs which grades get factored into med schools GPAs, med schools do not care what you did in hs. If you took a bunch of APs, good for you as your parents probably are able to afford a nice home in a nice school district which offers a ton of APs. But med school admittance is not based on your hs performance. If you took APs and did well, med schools will look to see how you did in more advanced college course.If you didn’t take APs, you didn’t. You’ll essentially start college with a clean slate and whether you gain an acceptance will depend on post hs performance. You certainly don’t need accelerated hs math to gain a med school admission. You need to complete premed reqs, earn a bachelor’s degree and submit a competitive app (ie strong MCAT score, high college GPAs, etc).
You can major in anything in college and go to medical school. You can do prerequisites during college or after. In fact there are some special programs for that. Medical schools actually like applicants in humanities and the arts (music majors have a high admittance rate). You don’t have to think too much about this for several years. Tell your parents.
OP, my daughter went to a NYC test-in high school with a very large percentage of students whose parents were striving immigrants. She was in a program called Gateway to Medicine. In order to be accepted to that program, it was necessary for the applicant to have an interview with a group of current students.
They talked to each student for 15 minutes but the revevant question was, “Are your parents making you apply?” and for a pretty good number of students, the answer was yes.
Teachers, guidance counselors and assistant principals were pretty good at talking to parents about their ambitions for their kids. I suggest that you talk to your guidance counselor–s/he may be able to help.
^^^LOL, @Pizzagirl ! I have the same attitude as your husband regarding glitzy cars. It just seems wrong to drive a nice car when I’m doing volunteer work serving people down on their luck or struggling in some way.
I don’t judge people who want snazzy cars or other fancy things (we do have a nice house and nice furniture), but they seem like a waste to me.
Being a physician does NOT guarantee a job. Insecurity is one reason parents figure medicine is the way to go. I feel sorry for those pushed into medicine instead of being told to explore the wide, wide world of possibilities and then choose medicine if it seems to offer the most satisfaction. A college friend with a PhD and I met decades later and each wondered if we shouldn’t have gone the other’s route. Every profession has good and bad aspects. btw- Medscape posted a recent resident survey regarding job satisfaction type things (would you still become a physician is one as I recall)- there are peaks and valleys depending on the year post graduation. Parents- we need to look a decade and more into the future to know if we/our kids made the “best” choice. And then it is usually too late for various reasons to start over.
Thanks so much 
The best thing to do now is “say nothing.” Let your parents prattle on about you becoming a doctor. Don’t argue with them. You can even pretend to agree with them.
Do well in high school, then go to college. In the end, no one can force you to go to med school…even if accepted.
med school is rough. You have to want it. My son is a MS4 and has very little free time. But, he’s focused on his goal and will meet it. If he didn’t like it, he wouldn’t be there.
Hi, topicstarter!
Are you in order yet?
I think, you have to make your own choice. If you don’t like medicine, especially clinical job - run as quickly as you can from it.
What do you prefer: techs, humanities, arts etc.? Think about leaning the area you are the best.
OP keep thinking about careers and explore opportunities that come your way; enjoy HS and continue to do well - I agree with post 56. As things become clear to you, make sure you go to a college where you can get the education you are looking for.
For now, don’t say anything.
Look into computer science. See if you can take AP CS principles next year.
The various professions that require CS knowledge are well paid and they only require a 4-year degree, so if push comes to shove that can be an alternative .
On the meanwhile, do your best.
Most students who want to become doctored don’t, so there’s zero chance someone who doesn’t want to be a doctor will become one.