Ok, so I’m contemplating not taking a job once I transfer to a UC and finish up my last 2 years of college, primarily because my parents give me $700/mo to help out yet I am an independent student according to FAFSA (my EFC for next year is only 271), so basically as far as I can figure, that $700 will basically “replace” what I would earn each month with a part-time job, thus freeing me up to not work if I so choose. The downside? Well, I’d probably have to take out about $10,000 in loans each school year instead of $6,000. I’m thinking though that the decreased stress during ugrad, and the probably endless opportunities for ECs, volunteering, shadowing, research, etc. I’d have with all that free time would perhaps be worthit. And btw, for those of you who don’t have help and have no choice, please keep in mind I’m not bragging in any way. I’m damn thankful & appreciative of the help I’m getting and just looking for advice on how to spend the time I would have spent working.
So in short, what would you do if you didn’t have to work? I’m talking about specifics. I know everyone would do the four things I listed above, but what specifically? I’ve worked as an EMT for close to a year, so health care & clinical experience isn’t an issue. I’m a certified SCUBA diver as you can probably figure out from my sig so any sort of underwater research opportunities at UCSB I could potentially partake in. I’m CPR certified too obviously, so that’s something else that may come in handy. What specifically would you recommend for volunteering, EC’s, etc.?
So you have something to go off of, the school is directly on the coast, so I’m sure there’s some unique volunteering/ECs/etc. that can be done in that area. Research is in no short supply at UCSB so I could probably dabble in that. I prefer the more action-packed stuff and/or interesting stuff as opposed to the typical pre-med crap. I volunteered in a hospital for 8 months and thought it was the most boring thing in the world to do. Not sure if I’d like research but I’m willing to try it. Haven’t found any doctors to shadow yet since they keep using the HIPAA excuse.
The only thing I’ve thought of so far that I could do is maybe do a PADI Divemaster program…basically teaches you a lot of the theory behind diving, hones your skills to the level where you can teach them to others…divemasters help instructors teach classes, so it would be relevant to the whole process since divemaster would teach and apply leadership, responsibility for other people, etc. And since I’m sure it’ll be asked, yes it is something I’m actually interested in…it’ll just suck passing the watermanship skills tests since I don’t swim regularly, but meh, anyway that’s the only thing I can think of. Advice is welcome.
Tim, I can’t speak intelligently about all of your questions but I do feel very strongly that if you have the opportunity to accept the generosity of your family and not have to work as a result then go for it!! The stress of school, volunteering, research, and any type of community service you might do outside of medicine is more than enough for all of us sometimes. To have the opportunity to concentrate all your energy on your GPA, MCAT, and application for med school is priceless!!! Good luck 
Taryn
Tim -
It’s a tough call. I don’t think working or not working will make much of a difference in terms of your medical school application. You have a past work history and have worked while going to school for at least a couple of terms. For me, the biggest consideration is the potential extra $16000 in debt. While this is small change relative to the amount of student loans you will rack up for medical school, you should also consider the possibility that you change your mind or don’t get into medical school. What effect will that extra $16000 in debt have then?
Additional considerations - if you decide not to work, make the most out of any extra time you have. I’m not saying you should replace all of your work hours with ECs or volunteering, but make the most of your time. You have the unique opportunity at this stage in your life to explore and experience things that you might not have time/opportunity for again or at the very least for a long time (especially if you end up in medical school).
If you don’t need to financially, it may not be a bad idea to take the time off, let your shoulder/arm heal and make the adjustment to your new school. You may find the new school to be different or more challenging than expected and not having to work will give you extra time/ability to adapt.
- Emergency! Said:
It's a tough call. I don't think working or not working will make much of a difference in terms of your medical school application. You have a past work history and have worked while going to school for at least a couple of terms. For me, the biggest consideration is the potential extra $16000 in debt. While this is small change relative to the amount of student loans you will rack up for medical school, you should also consider the possibility that you change your mind or don't get into medical school. What effect will that extra $16000 in debt have then?
Additional considerations - if you decide not to work, make the most out of any extra time you have. I'm not saying you should replace all of your work hours with ECs or volunteering, but make the most of your time. You have the unique opportunity at this stage in your life to explore and experience things that you might not have time/opportunity for again or at the very least for a long time (especially if you end up in medical school).
If you don't need to financially, it may not be a bad idea to take the time off, let your shoulder/arm heal and make the adjustment to your new school. You may find the new school to be different or more challenging than expected and not having to work will give you extra time/ability to adapt.
Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm thinking at this point...UCSB is going to be a whole different ballgame since a UC is obviously going to be a lot more rigorous than a CC. I did the numbers...it'd actually be an extra $10,000 in debt, not $16,000, so I would graduate with $34,500 in debt instead of $24,500. Suppose I decided to just use my biology degree to get a job, the starting salary for someone with a bio degree is $45,000ish...according to a loan calculator on finaid.org, I can contribute up to $558.75 a month based off 15% of my income going to student loan payments. With $34,500 in debt, my loan payment would be $397.03 vs. $281.95 a month with $24,500 in debt. So either way, I will be able to make my loan payment well within the limits of what is recommended. From what I hear, the better grades a graduate has, the better starting salary is typically offered to him/her by a potential company. So as far as I can tell, I don't think finances will come into play here to any appreciable extent.
I'm trying to think of what I would do with potentially a decent amount of free time (once I adjust to the UC system of course)...at this point, I could finally try to get some shadowing done, even though it seems impossible to do so in California due to liability and HIPAA concerns.
I could also become a CPR instructor and do that on the side..if they have a EMS response squad for UCSB, I may volunteer for that...I have little to no interest in hospital volunteering since it's rather inane so I doubt I will ever do that again.
I wouldn't mind volunteering at an animal shelter, however, I absolutely hate dogs and refuse to help them so that may be out since I doubt there's shelters for just cats or whatnot. I would probably do some research since I'd have time to. Volunteering would be iffy since a lot of it is stuff like hospital volunteering and/or cookie cutter...I prefer the more exciting stuff such as search & rescue, EMS, etc. but then that wouldn't be any different than working in EMS and I don't want to reinjure my arm.
I did notice that there's no SCUBA club at UCSB, which to me is just ridiculous considering it's right next to the Ventura docks and only a couple hours boat ride out from the Channel Islands, so I'm going to look into founding a SCUBA club for UCSB. More people need to be aware of how much there is to explore in the ocean and how much fun it is doing that exploration.
Anyhow, I'm still undecided at this point...I guess the determining factor will be how much time I have left after classes. I think I'm going to avoid work during summer classes and the first quarter to get my bearings then go from there. If I do work, I think I may get a job on campus, since commuting to an ambulance provider as well as being tied up for 12 hour blocks is probably not the best way to preserve grades.