How do you resolve crossroads in your career?
June 13, 2017 6:22 PM Subscribe
As a soon-to-be college graduate who's faced with two potential careers to start, I look for feedback from those who've been there done that on career crossroads.
I graduate this August and see myself faced with a decision.
Recently I took the MCAT and voided my score because I knew I tested very poorly. Given that I have been studying for 5.5 months, this has cast a lot of self-doubt that I can be accepted into medical school and fulfill my dream of being a doctor. Sometimes people aren't smart enough to be a doctor and it is starting to settle in that I may be one of those people.
Meanwhile, I also have an offer at two locations.
Location one is for a consulting firm. High starting salary, reasonable cost-of-living area, very popular starting point to begin a strong business career. Cons: no support network in the area, begin LDR with girlfriend which leaves me pessimistic. I do not think the relationship would work out. I think the options and work is very interesting, however I do not see myself balancing this job and pursuing medicine at the same time (cannot work while studying for MCAT, volunteering, etc)
Location two is in clinical research. Low salary, similar COL. Flexible hours to study for the MCAT. Relationship will be ok. If I fail in becoming a doctor, this job gives me limited career opportunities. Potential financial instability.
This is a very first-world problem with a positive ending and I'm sure when my thinking is objectively rational I'll laugh and see how naive this post is. That said, I do feel like I am privileged with an opportunity to pick between two paths, one that is safer and probably ensures wealth for my life. The other is riskier (especially given my 3.5 GPA which is low for medical admissions) but I will be able to pursue my dream. It is basically, pick the steady $$ job or pursue the dream (that is also $$$ but besides why I've pursued this profession) with a risk.
I attend a school where it's extremely common to hear people discuss how they delay or throw away their dream occupation for a steady business job and I feel like this thought process is affecting me. I am 23 so surrounding myself with these younger folk is also affecting my thought process. I fear failure more than anything else and do not want to make the wrong choice especially because of the options I'm so fortunate of having.
I understand that I sound ridiculous and if it were anyone else I'd ridicule them for making a post like this. I welcome anyone to snap some sense into me just as much as I can hear even the most tangentially related advice.
I graduate this August and see myself faced with a decision.
Recently I took the MCAT and voided my score because I knew I tested very poorly. Given that I have been studying for 5.5 months, this has cast a lot of self-doubt that I can be accepted into medical school and fulfill my dream of being a doctor. Sometimes people aren't smart enough to be a doctor and it is starting to settle in that I may be one of those people.
Meanwhile, I also have an offer at two locations.
Location one is for a consulting firm. High starting salary, reasonable cost-of-living area, very popular starting point to begin a strong business career. Cons: no support network in the area, begin LDR with girlfriend which leaves me pessimistic. I do not think the relationship would work out. I think the options and work is very interesting, however I do not see myself balancing this job and pursuing medicine at the same time (cannot work while studying for MCAT, volunteering, etc)
Location two is in clinical research. Low salary, similar COL. Flexible hours to study for the MCAT. Relationship will be ok. If I fail in becoming a doctor, this job gives me limited career opportunities. Potential financial instability.
This is a very first-world problem with a positive ending and I'm sure when my thinking is objectively rational I'll laugh and see how naive this post is. That said, I do feel like I am privileged with an opportunity to pick between two paths, one that is safer and probably ensures wealth for my life. The other is riskier (especially given my 3.5 GPA which is low for medical admissions) but I will be able to pursue my dream. It is basically, pick the steady $$ job or pursue the dream (that is also $$$ but besides why I've pursued this profession) with a risk.
I attend a school where it's extremely common to hear people discuss how they delay or throw away their dream occupation for a steady business job and I feel like this thought process is affecting me. I am 23 so surrounding myself with these younger folk is also affecting my thought process. I fear failure more than anything else and do not want to make the wrong choice especially because of the options I'm so fortunate of having.
I understand that I sound ridiculous and if it were anyone else I'd ridicule them for making a post like this. I welcome anyone to snap some sense into me just as much as I can hear even the most tangentially related advice.
If / when you go to med school, you'll likely go to whatever school you can get into, or the best of several schools that you do get into. The LDR thing will bite you at that point. Also, it's reportedly difficult to keep a relationship alive in med school as well. So factor that in.
Is there a way to do any kind of sample test that has even a crude predictive value for how you will score on the MCAT? That seems like good data to have.
posted by puddledork at 6:29 PM on June 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
Is there a way to do any kind of sample test that has even a crude predictive value for how you will score on the MCAT? That seems like good data to have.
posted by puddledork at 6:29 PM on June 13, 2017 [2 favorites]
I come from a family of doctors. The truth is, you don't actually have to be that smart to be a doctor. You don't have to necessarily do great on the MCAT or you're screwed, either...there are plenty of working medical professionals who are shitty test takers, and the MCAT is only one part of your application.
Maybe you won't go to Harvard, but you can still definitely get into med school somewhere. If your heart is really, truly in this, and this is the career path you most want (and I think it seems like it is), keep practicing and taking the test. As puddledork said, you'll go to whatever school you can get into, and you WILL get in somewhere barring truly exceptional circumstances.
Have you considered doing a post-bac year? That might make you feel more prepared, while giving you a buffer, GPA bump, and experience that will look good on your application.
posted by colorblock sock at 6:50 PM on June 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Maybe you won't go to Harvard, but you can still definitely get into med school somewhere. If your heart is really, truly in this, and this is the career path you most want (and I think it seems like it is), keep practicing and taking the test. As puddledork said, you'll go to whatever school you can get into, and you WILL get in somewhere barring truly exceptional circumstances.
Have you considered doing a post-bac year? That might make you feel more prepared, while giving you a buffer, GPA bump, and experience that will look good on your application.
posted by colorblock sock at 6:50 PM on June 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Depending on the type of consulting, you could very easily spin this positively to medical schools once you do end up applying. I wouldn't necessarily view the first offer as closing the door on medicine, unless you truly think you would have to delay taking the MCAT and/or stretch yourself too thin and do poorly on the MCAT the second time around.
Another idea: do you think you can study for the MCAT and retake it before you graduate or somehow sneak it in right in between the time of graduation and whenever you start the next gig? That would at least get one of the items on your list out of the way. I know that you'd have to make a decision about which offer to accept before then, but if you got that out of the way, then you'd potentially have more wiggle room to get clinical exposure (even if it's volunteering only on weekends, or only once a month, or just continuing to shadow doctors) were you to take the consulting job. It's a lot, but it can be done.
That said, you've expressed that your goal and dream is medicine. I think you should give it a full shot first before setting your sights elsewhere. Your GPA isn't stellar, but if your MCAT is solid, you have a great chance at many medical schools. Medicine is way more about work ethic than it is about innate intelligence. I would take the clinical research job, use the time to get a publication or two (which helps in the med school process, and doesn't hurt even in the residency application process). With the support of your friends and family, make a schedule and study hard for the MCAT and ensure that you do well.
posted by gemutlichkeit at 6:54 PM on June 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Another idea: do you think you can study for the MCAT and retake it before you graduate or somehow sneak it in right in between the time of graduation and whenever you start the next gig? That would at least get one of the items on your list out of the way. I know that you'd have to make a decision about which offer to accept before then, but if you got that out of the way, then you'd potentially have more wiggle room to get clinical exposure (even if it's volunteering only on weekends, or only once a month, or just continuing to shadow doctors) were you to take the consulting job. It's a lot, but it can be done.
That said, you've expressed that your goal and dream is medicine. I think you should give it a full shot first before setting your sights elsewhere. Your GPA isn't stellar, but if your MCAT is solid, you have a great chance at many medical schools. Medicine is way more about work ethic than it is about innate intelligence. I would take the clinical research job, use the time to get a publication or two (which helps in the med school process, and doesn't hurt even in the residency application process). With the support of your friends and family, make a schedule and study hard for the MCAT and ensure that you do well.
posted by gemutlichkeit at 6:54 PM on June 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
I work in HR at a small (200+ person) consulting firm in the healthcare industry. We regularly have staff leave after two to three years to pursue medical school. They sometimes take a leave of absence to study for the MCAT and then return while waiting to hear from med schools. For valuable contributors, we're very open to accommodating them. We know that one way or another, we're going to lose them to another passion. It just makes sense -- and it's the right thing to do -- to support them. We've even hired staff in at the Associate to Sr. Associate level who are very upfront during the interview process about their plans to pursue med school in a few years.
I find that life choices often seems binary when, in fact, there are many paths to get you to where you want to be. This includes paths that you had no intention of taking but end up in really cool places anyway. Try the consulting gig and keep your med school options on the table. See how you feel in a few years, then adjust your plans accordingly.
posted by MissPitts at 7:02 PM on June 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
I find that life choices often seems binary when, in fact, there are many paths to get you to where you want to be. This includes paths that you had no intention of taking but end up in really cool places anyway. Try the consulting gig and keep your med school options on the table. See how you feel in a few years, then adjust your plans accordingly.
posted by MissPitts at 7:02 PM on June 13, 2017 [5 favorites]
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posted by peacheater at 6:26 PM on June 13, 2017 [7 favorites]