Good evening, everyone! I’ve been following the forums for a little while now, so I figured it’s high time to introduce myself and share a little of my story.
I’d call myself a "not-quite-nontraditional " pre-med student. Like many of you, I didn’t go to school to study medicine at first. I wanted to, though – in fact, I went to school elsewhere because I thought med school was for geniuses who were far beyond my merely mortal ken. I figured if I couldn’t score roughly a bazillion points higher than perfect on the SAT, I could probably design advanced surgical lasers to bring cutting-edge technology to surgeons still using outdated CO2 lasers. Pretty easy stuff, right . . . ?
So, after four years of hell at a VERY prestigious engineering school and an unremarkable BS in optical engineering, I realized that I was now ready for the level of work I would need to sustain in order to succeed in med school (there’s a much longer, more interesting story there, but I’ll only tell that if you all are interested).
After spending the summer volunteering with Oncology and Medical Physics in a hospital in Indiana, I decided to turn down a good offer for medical physics school and headed back to my old college (my high school consisted mainly of two years at EWU, which had its own consequences). Now, one year in, my grades are markedly improved, and I feel considerably less like a fish flopping about on the deck of a ship. Which may or may not be on fire. Did I mention college was hell?
Anyway, I’m here now, knee-deep in the AACOMAS application for Fall of 2012 and studying for my MCATs, which I take in late July. It’s intimidating, exhilarating, and tiring all at the same time, but I figure it will all be worth it in the end. If my 5+ shadowing experiences are any indicator, anyway. I can always hope, right?
Welcome aboard! I also was turned off by med school in the beginning by the seeming need for genius: I was a bio major so my classes were filled with the “pre-med allstars” who hated ecology because it wasn’t a ‘real science’ and freaked out over a B+ in orgo. I think you’ll find here that those of us who are/aspiring to be doctors are rather more down to earth. Glad to hear that things are lining up well for applying this cycle; I think it def will be worth it. Good luck and keep us posted!
Welcome!!
Welcome to OPM!