Is it worth going to UMKC’s 6 year program to become a doctor? Or is it better to take the traditional route and go to a prestigious school such as Harvard/Another Ivy or WUSTL? I want to become a neurosurgeon with a really high starting pay
That question is beyond premature (and moot) until such time as you actually have offers.
I just dont want to feel bad about it if I get rejected or waitlisted lol
Admission to any of the schools you are talking about is not easy. It’s pretty much a crap shoot whether or not you’d get accepted at any Ivy, WUSTL, etc. No one can count on admission at those places, no matter how perfect their application. If you are worried about being sad that you get rejected or waitlisted by any of those schools, you probably shouldn’t apply. Because odds are you will see a rejection. And that’s not because your stats aren’t good (I saw your other posts), I would say the same thing to pretty much anyone.
I highly recommend creating a list of Reaches, Targets, and Safeties. Especially focus on 1 or 2 safeties that you would be willing to attend. At this point, figure out where you want to apply. And consider more than just reputation. Think about location, atmosphere, cost, etc. You can’t decide where you should go until you’re accepted.
Every year I see smart kids disappointed because they focused too much on reaches and then feel they have no options when the dust settles.
Bless your heart.
After college/med school (6/8 years) and internship (1 year), there is a 6-8 year residency, for which you will be paid in the range of $60-80k/year (rising from the low end to the high end).
After you have finished your residency your income will jump to about $350K, rising to about $600k over 5/6 years. Median income with 6-15 years experience is $900k.
So you might want to pace yourself here. It’s going to be a while before the money really flows.
Also, as for going to a ‘prestigious’ medical school, go look at the medical schools the top neurosurgeons attended For example, the neurosurgeons at the Mayo Clinic went to medical school at: UMn, NYU, UMd, U South Alabama, Baylor, UWi, Mayo, UPittsburgh, U Alberta, UWa, BU, NU. From ‘prestige’ names there are just two from Yale, and one each from JHU and Columbia. Clearly, you don’t need to go to a ‘prestigious’ medical school to be one of the top neurosurgeons in the country at one of the top hospitals in the world.
Again, you don’t know what you don’t know- yet. Spend less time daydreaming about how you are going to spend that really big paycheck and more on learning about the path to get there.
Whoa…what makes you so certain you will even match to a surgery residency if and when the time comes?
@WayOutWestMom can you provide some statistics for this student on acceptances to BS/MD programs…and also the competitiveness of surgery as a specialty? And what it takes to be a neurosurgeon?
You do know that before you get to that “really high starting pay”, you’ll first go into tremendous debt–probably over $300K (at 7% APR)–for your medical education.* After med school, IF you are one of the best of best medical students in the entire country (average Step 1 for neurosurgery is 244–which is >78th percentile for all medical students), and IF you match into neurosurgery (where there were 364 applicants last year for just 220 positions so only 60% of those applying actually get matched), then you will spend the next 7-10 years* of your life earning less than your high school science teacher (median resident salary $52K) while having the privilege of working 80+ hours/week.
Neurosurgeons and vascular surgeons, even as attendings, have THE longest average work week of all medical specialties.*
(JOKE: where do you hide a $100 bill from a neurosurgeon? Tape out to his kid’s forehead.)
Remember that before any of a neurosurgeon’s big bucks lands in your pockets, you have to pay on your student loans (which will have more than doubled during residency) and malpractice insurance (approximately 19% of your gross income*), plus all the usual–taxes, social security retirement saving…
Getting into a BS/MD is roughly equally as competitive as getting accepted into an Ivy League undergrad.
Do you have all of the following?
top SAT/ACT scores
high unweighted GPA
AP coursework in bio chem, physics, math, with scores of mostly 5 on the exam
physician shadowing in a variety of specialties, including primary care
clinical volunteer work
community service with disadvantaged groups
research experience
BS/MD programs look for students who have all of those. Plus you still have to pass an in-person interview where you will be assessed on whether you have the right personal qualities that are needed to be a good physician.*
*citation available upon request
1 Like