<p>I have been invited to intern at a foreign hospital (in Pakistan) where I will be shadowing various different doctors (mainly a cardiologist and urologist). This is great since I can put this in my resume and all but the problem is that the internship goes from December 7th to 26th. This makes me lose out on 2 and a half weeks of school. I don't want to miss the opportunity and I have already bought my plane ticket. My parents also scheduled my grandfather's surgery to happen at the same hospital since it would prove convenient for everyone especially my mom and grandfather (my grandfather lives in Karachi and will be flying up to Islamabad for the surgery). I really don't want to miss out.</p>
<p>My mom and I approached my guidance counselor who told us that this counts as an illegal absence from school but I am a bit skeptical about this. I am not actually cutting school and playing hookey. She also mentioned that I would be extremely behind in my classes especially my AP ones (I am a semi-weak student who has improved a bit from 1st quarter to 2nd quarter [C+ to a B+ in my ap classes]). I think I can at least confront my teachers and request the work in advance so I can cover two weeks of curriculum during my three week-trip; especially during those 18 hour plane flights but I don't want to approach them till I know it is alright to even leave the school without being charged with illegal absence. </p>
<p>I am doing actual work and something that could potential help me shape my future (I wish to become a doctor). I was wondering if I could some opinion especially from this part of CC. </p>
<p>Should I approach the principal ( a person who himself has volunteered in Africa) and main office (who are responsible for attendance) next? or completely forget about this huge venture?</p>
<p>Forget it. If you are a “semi-weak” student, you need to focus on getting your grades up. </p>
<p>Internships by high school students are not significant to either your college applications or your future medical school plans. Your grades are.</p>
<p>The thing is, my grades are up. I am at the upper end of the class now with my B+ average in calc and A- in physics b. I have A’s in all my other classes which is a huge improvement from last year where I had all B’s. </p>
<p>The internship is not as significant atm but it helps a lot and it will help me further in college when I plan on coming back again during my breaks/ summers.</p>
<p>Are the dates for the internship rigid? You’d lose less school if you pushed the internship back a week so the internship would more evenly match your school’s Christmas break.
Could you skip this internship and do one over the summer instead? You’d get a lot more time in Pakistan per dollar of airfare.</p>
<p>I would not advise any of my children or students to miss two and a half weeks of AP classes. If you insist on going now, you need to talk to the principal.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s “illegal” because you are informing them and doing it with your parent’s consent. However high schools do have a maximum number of days that a student can miss: and in our school it’s 5 per marking period. If a student exceeds that, they may not be able to graduate.</p>
<p>Are you a senior? If you are choosing to do this in December, is it so that you can put it in your college applications on Jan.1?</p>
<p>Honestly, 19 days is not a real internship and will not have any great impact or impression if it’s not part of a continuous interest in medicine, or volunteering in a hospital over time.</p>
<p>If I suggested this to my kids they would ask if I had lost my mind.</p>
<p>Skip it. As a high school student, your main focus is school and ultimately getting into college. An internship sounds great, but honestly, school takes precedence.</p>
<p>BTW, I have helped many students’ college application essays. Many have had these terrific sounding internships. As impressive as it is, they aren’t unique.</p>
<p>I will be missing out on 11 days of school. Last week before break is always a relaxing time which counts for 4 days. My high school has no maximum absent days. People miss out on a lot. I had well over 30 absences last year and nothing happened since they were all legit and reported to the school but they were all spread out through out the year.</p>
<p>I guess I will talk to the principal first then and see what he says. Not so sure about pushing my internship a week cause flights are always booked during the winter time and my mom and I lucked out.</p>
<p>Over 30 absences in one year!? Does that appear on your transcript, like it does on ours? That’s quite a picture and not a good one. It really doesn’t send a good message to a college that kids “miss out on a lot”.</p>
<p>Nope only our grades /gpa/courses and what not show up. nothing with absences also I am done with college applications as of tomorrow (sending in my last apps tomorrow and my next one is due on the 15th of feb which is a decent amount of time; finishing supplemental atm.) meaning I have applied; sent out my transcript and everything.</p>
<p>Depending upon the state you live, there may be state-level regulations regarding the maximum number of allowable absences. In our state, a student who misses 10 days of school without a medical excuse–even if he has permission of his parents to be absent from school–is considered a truant. Truancy is noted on a student’s permanent record. Additionally, parents of a truant could face mandatory counseling plus the possibility of fines and/or jail time.</p>
<p>At most schools, teacher do not have to accept make-up work from a student who is voluntarily absent from school. (That is absent without a medical excuse.) Your grades could suffer–and since colleges will not make admission decisions until they see your fall semester grades, your applications could be hurt if your semester grades are poor.</p>
<p>Re: interning----medical school admission committees will flat out not consider any activities that you do while in high school. Only activities that occur after the first day of college. (IOW, even an internship in the summer after high school would not be considered by med school adcomms.) So if you’re planning to use this quickie internship to demonstrate a long-standing interest in medicine–it won’t work.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone above–right now school is your job.</p>
<p>Lessee, this year you have A’s, last year you had B’s.
Last year you missed a month (or more) of school.
Seems you need to be in class not on a non school approved trip.</p>
<p>WOWM, I was thinking this student is international, but I may be completely wrong. His school does not seem to have those same restrictions you mentioned.
<p>Attempted to talk today but I couldn’t find my principal at all. T.T</p>
<p>Yes, my grandfather’s surgery is extremely serious (life-threatening). He had a nuero-surgery done by the top-notch hospital there, but unfortunately something went wrong and disabled him a bit and gave him a serious urinary infection. He is going to Islamabad to the top hospital in pakistan and is going to be cured hopefully.</p>
<p>It doesn’t really affect me much because I am not close to him at all but he does affect my mom which is something important. </p>
<p>Also I totally forgot but I am also going to visit several medical colleges there including (shifa/AKU/DMC-international) which will take up the first week of my visit.</p>
<p>“Internships by high school students are not significant to either your college applications or your future medical school plans. Your grades are.”</p>
<p>If he is planning on medical school in Pakistan, it probably works on the British model, which means that he goes to a medical program right after high school (or spends another year on qualifying exams), and internships will be VERY significant to future medical school plans.</p>
<p>At any rate, grandfather is really sick, family is close. Yes, he’ll miss some days of school. Big deal.</p>
<p>The school might be more lenient if the reason you were going overseas was to see your ill grandfather. Did you arrange the internship for that inconvenient time period because you were planning to be in country to see him?</p>
<p>@chevda: my main question to the thread was:</p>
<p>Should I approach the principal ( a person who himself has volunteered in Africa) and main office (who are responsible for attendance) next? or completely forget about this huge venture?</p>
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<h2>but no point now since my parents and i called the school to ask for what steps to take and they said we talk to the guidance counselor first then the principal.</h2>
<h2>Also @parentoftwo: yes we scheduled my internship around my grandfather’s surgery (before he goes for the surgery and afterwards).</h2>
<p>@mini: the medical schools there (specifically DMC-international) follow the appropriate stuff to help me gain a foreign degree, afterwards i would have to take different exams since I would be an IMG, to gain an actual residency in the us.</p>
<p>I understand: I’ve spent 35 years going back and forth to India, and I have two adopted Indian siblings, both Indian-trained physicians. Your internship will be MUCH more important than anything going on in your school during that period, and being with your family MUCH more important than that.</p>