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@mom2collegekids, I think @JustOneDad is saying that the student knows if he/she (from your post #31) “would A) have an interest in those specialties, or B) get a residency in those specialties.”
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No, an 18 year old would not know what specialty he/she would end up in…not at all.
Many high school and early year med students (if this person ever becomes a med student) “think” that they want a certain specialty, BUT once they’re in rotations they may find that their “fave” is gross or boring or whatever. Or they may not have the stats to get into a competitive specialty.
And stuff happens in med school. The man who thinks he is going to become a surgeon marries a classmate who ALSO thinks she’s going to become a surgeon. They realize that if they’re going to have children some day, one of them needs to be in a specialty with predictable hours and limited on-calls- and they need to be in residencies in the same city. Or a student who is already married in med school has a baby with special needs, and realizes that the lifestyle of a cardiologist is incompatible with this life situation, so opts for radiology.
Virtually every pediatrician I know started med school with a more esoteric frame of mind- big teaching hospital with lots of staff and resources, high degree of specialization, big bucks, fill in the blanks. And then life unfolds and becoming an employee of a large practice where you’re only on-call one weekend out of 6, you hang up the coat every day at 5 or 6 pm, you get a paycheck every other week without worrying about which procedures reimburse at what rate (since you’re in primary care and are not principally performing procedures) and you’re pretty happy with your decision.
But a pediatrician (employee of a large medical group) is not earning 500k per year.
My H was one of the rare ones who decided on a specialty in HS, and never wavered for a moment. He was laser focused! But he was also a complete outlier in that regard. We saw many in UG who got off the pre-med train, and one or two who got into med school but didn’t finish for some reason. We had a friend who quit 2nd year of residency to get an MBA instead. Plenty of classmates who changed their minds on a specialty with every rotation.
Wow, who ever made this post went through the SAME EXACT situation as I did. I had to turn down my dream school (Duke also) for Rice (I got the same half-scholarship) this year so because it is not worth the $120k debt. so I can tell you from the bottom of my heart, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE GOING THROUGH. Although it still hurts from time to time, I know that I and my family will be so happy of my decision come 2019 (graduation) I hope you chose Rice, if so, can’t wait to see you there!
This OP has left the room…started two threads then bailed.
Did I hear that Duke’s frosh dorms don’t have AC? If so, that would practically be enough for me to go elsewhere. lol