High School Junior, Concerned about Future

[Marconis]

Hello everyone. My name is Nick and I am currently a Junior in high school. Since about 6th grade, I have always had a strong interest in the study of medicine, mainly diseases. I didn't start to really think about making a career out of it until mid-last year. In my freshman year of high school, I did pretty poorly in my earth science class. Last year, I did excellent in my biology class (Final grade of 93) but then got a low grade of an 83 on the regents exam. I am currently taking chemistry, and have an average of around a 90 (this is before midterms though).

 

That's just a little background. What I am really getting at, is that I would really like to study medical research in college, although I am still unsure of what specific field. My main concern is that I am not really smart enough to succeed in it. I have absolutely no background in research, as I do not qualify for any of the research classes in my school since you had to take them since 9th grade. However, next year I am going to join my schools science explorers club, in which the student does independent research on their topic of choice, and eventually will compete in competitions. My school is extremely competitive, and there are many students who greatly excel at science and are much smarter in the subject than I am. It's just a bummer, because I have such an interest in medical science and I feel like I am below average and will have a hard time succeeding at it. I will hopefully be taking AP Bio next year so I can get an idea of college work.

 

This might seem kinda confusing, and maybe the wrong place to vent, but I am just a little overwhelmed about it all and was wondering if anyone had any pointers and what not. Thank you.

[Paralith]

While I applaud any efforts to get an early and proactive start on the education you'll need for your career, you're still just in high school. The main purpose of high school is to prepare you to get into a good college. Once you're in a good undergraduate college, you can really get a firm grasp on all the basics and begin to explore more of the advanced concepts. In med school or grad school, you'll get into the real nitty gritty. And even then, nothing can replace actual on-the-job experience.

 

Long story short, definitely try hard and do your best - but don't get down on yourself for not being at the top of the top of the high school class. You're just beginning the long journey it will take to get to your career goals. Don't give up now just because you didn't have some kind of shining perfect start.

[thedarkshade]

If you really like what it then don't be afraid at all! I used to have a lot of stress during my physics classes, but I got over that! It's no big deal really!

 

There are two things you should know: will and hard work!

There is nothing that you cannot achieve with these two. (at least they worked for me)

 

Cheers,

Shade

[ecoli]

Hey dude... it sounds like we have a similar story. I probably did about the same in those classes in high school. I really kicked it up a notch in 11th and 12th grade. I found a research lab that was willing to take me in during the summers, and I got invaluable experiences. No matter how smart a lot of those other kids are, I bet most of them won't have research experience, so that's something to look into.

 

I got into an honors program at a good public university. It's hard work, but I'm maintaining over a 3.5 GPA. I'm now studying for the MCATs with the hopes of getting into an MD/PhD program at some medical school (hopefully a good one). I too want to study infectious diseases, perhaps clinical research but perhaps evolutionary biology studies.

 

I've been doing research in this field throughout my undergrad career... a must for MD/PhD programs.

 

So, yeah, with a lot of hard work, it can be done! I'm living proof you can make it at least into your undergrad years. Hopefully, I'll be going all the way!

 

Good Luck.

[Marconis]

Hey everyone, thanks for the kind words.

 

"No matter how smart a lot of those other kids are, I bet most of them won't have research experience, so that's something to look into."

 

Hopefully, I will be able to excel in the club next year that I spoke about in my original post. You've been an encouragement to me, and made me realize it can be done . Nice to know someone that was in a similar situation.