Deciding whether or not to go to medical school
Before embarking on a pre-medical curriculum, ask yourself if medicine is something you really want to do. If you are pre-med because your parents are doctors or your parents are forcing you to pursue such a medical education, you will most likely be dissatisfied with your courses. Getting the good grades to get into med school will naturally become a chore.
On the other hand, if you've always wanted to be a doctor, get some first hand experience with patients; volunteer at a hospital. Not only will such experience help you during your med school application process, you will also get a better idea of whether or not you really want to spend your life working in a hospital.
Gut check
So you're about to apply to med school. Before you apply, ask the following two questions:
- Do I have the credentials to get into med school?
- Do I want to go to med school?
It's always good to have alternatives if you don't get into med schools, even if your credentials are excellent. Although you should not rely on re-applying the following year, bare in mind that getting into med school is much harder than getting into college; the average acceptance rate is around 30%. In other words, 7 out of 10 applicants are rejected.
