<p>I would have liked to work this summer just to get some money in the bank, but it looks like everyone else is in the same situation, and there’s hardly any job openings. So if I am unable to get a job, what would you recommend I do this summer to help my future goals of getting into medical school? For the record, I am a high school senior and I just graduated today. </p>
<p>Some things I’ve been thinking about are: </p>
<li><p>Getting a job- may not happen in the current economy. </p></li>
<li><p>Training as an EMT- expensive, but I could do it at a discount right now, and it may provide me with good hands on experience. </p></li>
<li><p>CC classes- I have tuition waivers, so I could take certain classes almost for free. Would it be worthwhile to do any classes at my community college? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I am working, taking trips, and taking community college classes. Jobs are available if you look hard enough. I started the hunt for a job back in January and had it lined up by March. Be creative. I found mine from cold calling.</p>
<p>Since you are pre-med, see if you can arrange a shadowing experience in a hospital or physician’s office. Or radiology. Or something. Be creative.</p>
<p>I’m not pre-med really, that’s just what I plan on being. Right now I am just a high school graduate (last day was today). </p>
<p>As for jobs, I will definitely start searching. I applied to two places already, was rejected by one, and am really hoping the second will accept me. </p>
<p>Okay, I will not do any CC classes “for credit”. I may do fun ones like car mechanics, but I will definitely not pursue credit from my University for them. </p>
<p>As for shadowing, or hospital volunteer stuff, could I list it on my med school app even though I have not begun college yet? I would be interested in doing this anyway, but probably only for small amounts of time. If I’m going to put in the hours, I want to make sure it will count.</p>
<p>I have to echo BDM here. Don’t take CC courses, they won’t be any more useful to you than spending a few afternoons with your textbooks prior to your courses would in all probability and they aren’t going to help you on your transcript. Just a waste of your valuable time. If you really want something to do I’d find a physician to shadow like kollegkid said, trust me you will appreciate having a head start later. Also you might spend some of your time this summer looking into the faculty research at your university so that when you arrive in the fall you know whose labs you are interested in getting involved in. Don’t wait like I did, your time this summer is better spent prepping for being a premed than taking some worthless class that no one is going to care about and won’t teach you much.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m sort of skeptical also. I know lots of kids are going to CC for two years, then switching over to a state school and they say the diploma would be the same. How could just a few CC courses blemish my otherwise solid college diploma?</p>
<p>History isn’t necessarily frivolous. It’s a crucially important way of thinking about the world. The fact that historians tend to spend most of the energy on colossal wastes of time is discouraging, of course, but there are many very worthwhile history classes.</p>
<p>And going to a CC because that’s where you go is already a bit of a problem, but intentionally seeking it out is even worse.</p>
<p>Is it an automatic rejection? Of course not. But it’s a waste of time and a minor negative.</p>
<p>Good grief! The OP will mostly likely be a science major and is going to a college that requires a full year of American history and a full year of government in order to graduate. He or she can certainly take one or two of these classes at a community college. Med schools will be looking at more relevant coursework when reviewing his or her med school application.</p>
<p>I’m still going to disagree here. First, the OP isn’t saying he’s feeling hurried, he’s saying he’s feeling bored. Being bored is not a good reason to take a CC class. Second, plenty of kids go to schools that had weird requirements. I had a full year of “cross cultural inquiry” and a full year of “civilizations” and a full year of “arts and literature” requirements; it wasn’t a problem in the least. I promise, most schools will help students work it out just fine.</p>
<p>Yeah, my only motivation for asking about CC is that I have lots of time and it would be very cheap. I would really prefer to take all my classes at my university, and I think I will since it seems to be the much better choice. </p>
<p>I’ve also spent the last week job searching, and I’ve found something that I’m fairly happy with, so I think I will just go with the summer job.</p>
<p>Do you guys do any academic study during the summer? I’ve been talking to a friend and we’re thinking of studying organic chemistry together; him because he is really interested, me because I want a bit of a base before taking the class (I’ve seen a lot of stuff about it being really difficult).</p>