Too ambitious? At 21, returning to high school courses, and eventually medicine?

[ThePupil]

Hi everyone,

I'm 21-years-old living near Vancouver (one of the surrounding cities). I work as a transcriptionist at a local hospital and I've been there for almost 8 months. I received my MT certificate by doing at home study via an online company. It was very difficulty as I had no help from the instructors, the dictations were a nightmare, and the marking system was a little bit weird. I completed it though with a mark in the high 90s and was soon hired up by this hospital. I moved 300 miles away from my parents to start work down here.

 

Now though, almost 8 months later I have come to the realization that I have had a long dream for many years on what I want to do with my life and that has always been becoming a doctor. Growing up, I wanted this but for certain reasons I repressed it and focused on just getting through the day.

 

My question though is am I being too ambitious given the amount of obstacles I have to overcome to even apply.

 

My hurdles are:

1. My high school courses need to be upgraded. The school I went to placed me in classes that they claimed would get me into University and I did not find out until after I graduated that they don't. These include Science and Technology and Math 11a. I also have to upgrade my English as I was 3 marks away from passing the provincial exam.

2. I'm 21-years-old, is that too old to start the process?

3. Being able to afford it. I would like to work at my current job until I can do so from home (about another year to year and a half) and have more time for schooling. Is this wise?

 

Would you say that I should go for and start the ball rolling, or that I have missed the boat and should focus on something else?

 

Any/all comments are welcome.

 

I know I want this, it's something that is pulling at me and has been for some time now, I just need to know if it is feasible given my situation.

 

Thank you.

[Darla]

I think that at 21 you've got plenty of time! Give'r!

 

I personally started my second degree at 30 getting ready for my applications and feel comfortable with my stats.

 

Don't dawdle through high school so you can get to university and get going.

 

If you can take full time course load in university it will be a great advantage to you with respect to the extra number of schools that you will be eligible for.

 

Have a good read around the boards to see what will be expected of you as far as preporatory classes, averages and experience.

[ploughboy]

 

I know I want this, it's something that is pulling at me and has been for some time now

 

 

Well there's the answer to your question, then. You're 21 now, but someday you're going to be 80 years old and looking back at your life. If you think that you'll regret not at least trying, then you should try.

 

Easy for me to say.

 

On a practical note, you might want to talk to somebody in undergrad admissions at UBC (presuming that you'd want to go there) to see what you need to do to get accepted into an undergrad program. Maybe you can take some sort of qualifiers so that you won't have to (re)do all that highschool stuff? Just a thought.

 

pb

[celeria]

I finished highschool through Greater Vancouver Distance Education at 21, started University at 22 and applied to UBC medicine at 26. The only thing that I might reccomend is going to another University other than UBC for your undergrad (maybe even one in Alberta). Science courses are likely a little more laid back at SFU, UNBC, and UVic than at UBC (i.e. I assume that most people who are aiming to study medicine in British Columbia go to UBC for undergrad and are probably super competitive).

 

Good luck in whatever you end up doing! And don't forget to have a plan B...

[Maxime]

Hey the Pupil,

 

It's definitely feasible. I for one know, since I did just that. I completed my high school degree at 20 (after working for 3 years) in an adult education center, did my CEGEP, then biochem and I'm now a 3rd year med student! Granted, it's not easy, and there will be many hurdles on the way. Feasible? Oh yes!

 

Good luck,

Maxime

[SarahZ]

Hey, at 21 you are more than young enough, seriously, never question that again!!!!

 

I'd contact a college in vancouver like Kwantlen or Langara, you can do your first two years there and transfer into UBC, iits a LOT cheaper in tuition and it might make the transition easier, and they probably also have the appropriate highschool level prereqs required to take the university science courses courses. Vancouver community college also offers highschool level courses at night i think, and I am pretty sure they are free, or very cheap.

Keep in mind you might not need to do as many as you think, I did not take bio12 or chem12 and was able to take first year of both at my university.

Anyways like someone already said, read these boards, and also go look on university websites, once you know more about the process it will seem less scary. Good luck, and please never think you are too old at 21 again!!

[Jochi1543]

Yup, as PB said, you can always try - if you don't do well, don't like the courses, or whatever, and decide not to apply (or get rejected), at least you won't look back on it later and wonder what if. I'm not having the time of my life right now either (unemployed, all alone in a foreign country, taking seriously challenging courses, no friends or family, etc) and have definitely considered giving up and going back to Russia to make tons of money at my dad's company, but I don't want to look back on this when I'm 30 and hate my job and wonder if I could've gotten in despite all the perceived and real difficulties - because then it will be too late to restart. If you can continue working while taking your classes, it's even better, because you don't lose out on years on income while being in school. And if you did well in hard classes before, you know that there's a definite possibility of you doing very well in med pre-reqs in university, so why not give it a shot? You don't really have anything to lose except for some tuition money, which really won't add up to all that much in the end if you take as many courses as possible at community colleges.

[Sparkles]

I'm 30 and starting the process.....21 is nothing!!!

[ThePupil]

Thank you to all who responded!

You've definitely helped boost my confidence and convince me that I'm not too old.

I have been looking at UBC and SFU as well as BCIT; unfortunately what I'm reading is that to apply as a "mature" student I have to be 23 or older or out of high school for 4 years. As it is, I graduated late (6 months) because I had missed some credits and so I've only been out since 2004. Nevertheless, I am planning on taking my biology and math courses through the Vancouver School board hopefully starting in December. Lucky for me, they have classes that are in the morning as I currently work from 3pm - 11pm.

 

Again, thank you for all the great tips and advice! I will definitely keep tabs on this site and look at all the information out there for me.

 

Cheers

Pupil

[brut33]

the inside scoop on undergrad admissions is that if you want to move to the far east (NS, NB, PEI) you'll get in no problem. Enrolments are downa nd they are begging to fill seats. As far as having crappy high school grades you can apply as a mature student and get into some of the most respected schools in the country. I see many mature students and they do very well. They have a lot of experience that gives them perspective. You'll do fine.

[muchdutch]

I just heard this on the news a few days ago too (that atlantic Canada's numbers are slowly declining). They said that the last few years their numbers have been exactly where they want them to be, but from past admissions, and comparing to Ontario's admission competition, they think in the next few years their numbers will be dwindling.

 

Regarding the original post: Yes it is completely possible to do it. You're only 21 which is young to be starting. I know someone who went back to do high school at 25. They had received their diploma, but certainly didn't remember anything from high school and went back to get a better base. Now they are in university and doing well. You should just go for it...