How to prepare in High school

[Guest thambipi]

My sone is in grade 9 and I need some experienced students to advise what course he should take in scol now that could give him edge. He is going take grade 10 math in suller school so that he can take more science. Does this help?

[Guest UWOMED2005]

I would advise taking the basic science requirements in high school for university (gr 10 math and science. . . then math through to gr 12, along with bio, phys and chem) but he should also take a broad base of other stuff.

 

It's good to have an idea this might be where you want to go in terms of not cutting off options (I abandoning math and science classes) but you definitely don't need to be stressed about particulars until much later.

 

I don't think any decisions made in grade 9 would give someone a particular 'edge' towards getting into medicine over anybody else.

[Guest Avi44]

I wouldn't recommend taking grade 10 math in summer school to fit in more science courses. In grade ten I believe there is only one academic science course!! Sacrificing thoroughly learning grade 10 math is not worth it. He will be TOTALLY LOST in grade 11 if he doesnt understand the basics like quadratic relations, trig, etc.. that are taught in grade 10 math. As UWOMed recommended, I would also suggest taking all the required courses when he's in grade 11 (phys/chem/bio). Don't get too stressed out in grade 10, just get your basics covered and make sure he has the proper prerequisites for those grade 11 courses.

[Guest tim23]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here, you son is going into grade 9, you should not be worried about med school, posting on pre-med websites, etc... your son needs to enjoy his high school years and summers, so don't put him in summer school. Also, at this age summer school is mainly full of students who failed the year before, not the best learning environment for a bright kid.

 

Also, just as a precautionary measure, med school is a lot of work and you really have to want to go into yourself, I've seen so many parents push their kids into things and have them hate the parents for it, don't be one of those parents.

 

Please don't be offended by this post but I've seen it too many times...

 

Tim

[Guest DrSahsi]

I've seen so many parents push their kids into things and have them hate the parents for it, don't be one of those parents.

 

Amen.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Agreed. I think that was well worded Tim23.

 

I was in one of those 'gifted' programs (think 'Malcolm in the Middle') when I was in High School and many of the kids were pushed very hard by their parents in the early years of High Schools. Many to most of them rebelled. . . in late high school. . . or in university, when things ended up counting. I have several close friends who dropped out of university - surprising because of their abilities. I know a couple extremely bright people who have fallen way off the bandwagon. . . got involved in (hard) drugs and aren't where they should be right now.

 

Hard work and motivation are fantastic qualities in a person. But they have to be maintained. . . and the route from grade 9 to graduating medical school is LONG - about 11-12 years all told, depending on what route.

 

I'm not saying I'm specifically worried about that sort of thing happening here. I am NOT commenting on your relationship with your son - that would be ridiculous based on a two line post on a message board. I'd just like to reaffirm what's been said about the dangers of having too much pressure too early in the game.

[Guest makdaddy08]

That you put him in whatever he likes to be in. Totally agreed that he should enjoy his HS years and to be perfectly honest, my highschool education probably had no bearing on me being in med school whatsoever. I did no med-school prep activities until 2nd yr university, when I decided to write my MCAT.

 

You don't even need to take a bunch of science courses to qualify..there are ENglish and Philosophy majors alike in med school classes. However if you do know that this is what your son wants then yes, tell him to take the science courses....but i mean, if he's interested in science anyways, he will naturally take them on his own.

[Guest dissanayake]

I totally agree with tim23 on this one. I, being Sri Lankan, am aware of this type of parental pressure. Many parents view medicine to be very prestigious, and it is. However, I believe it should be one's choice to pursue a career in medicine, and I am grateful my parents are happy as long as I pursue a career I admire. I know a lot of friends who are being pressured by their parents to pursue a medical education, and many of them are finding it frustrating and are not enjoying what they are studying. So far, many experiences in my life have influenced me to strive towards a career in medicine, and I believe this should be the case for everyone. Nearing the end of my grade 12 year, I have found my highschool experience to be quite fulfilling. I have matured greatly and have felt as if the past 4 years were years in which many people discover themselves and their interests. Please, do not force your son into a career, I personally know the damage it can do.

 

- Dan

[Guest caliente]

Like some other posts have mentioned, I don't think there is much of an edge to be gained in HS, whatever this "edge" may be :b

 

When I was in high school (sheesh, you know you are old when...), it was possible to do extremely poorly early in high school, yet still get into university. For most programs I applied to, my gpa/average for admissions purposes was just my 6 BEST OACs (although this included any pre-reqs). Therefore, one could get 60's early in HS and just start working in grade 12 or in OAC (although I think your acceptance offer would come later if you needed to use a lot of OAC grades from your final year).

 

I really don't know what admissions into undergrad is like anymore, but I know when I did it you could apply to general arts (usually slightly lower average and less HS pre-reqs), take some science courses in 1st year, and then apply to a science program in 2nd year. This probably only works at schools where 1st year is general for everybody in Arts & Sciences and everybody has to apply for entry into programs in 2nd year.

 

I know OAC is now long gone, but I still don't think HS achievements (or lack thereof) has any real bearing on med school admissions.

 

The main advantage I can see with doing super well in HS is getting into a really competitive undergrad program. Also, people who do well in HS perhaps tend to do well in undergrad (not always true though)? On the other hand, it is definitely also possible to do poorly in HS yet do very well in undergrad.

 

If he likes science and has nothing better to do in the summer, why not take summer school if he wants to do it? I don't think med school adcoms expect too much at the HS level since many people don't have any direction at all at that age (well...I didn't and most people I knew were pretty much the same...)

[Guest Spencer]

Hi thambipi,

 

I'm a high school student and I can relate to your situation very well. I am glad to see that you have taken the initiative to find information for your son. My parents were never that interested because they couldn't speak English very well. They left the academic decisions up to me and that forced me to do my own research.

 

This is an important suggestion here. You can only help your son do so much. Ask your son to do the research himself. This way, he will become more engaged in the high school decision-making process and he will truly understand why he is taking certain courses and for what reasons.

 

Back to your original question! If your son is in the Ontario high school curriculum. I would completely advise AGAINST taking Gr. 10 math in summer school. There is only ONE Gr. 10 Science course, so unless your son is in a semestered school, he may not even be allowed to fit in an extra Gr. 11 Chem/Physics/Bio course.

 

Because there is no more OAC, the high school curriculum has been condensed such that the new Gr. 11 Math course was the OLD Gr. 12 Math course. My teachers tell me this. The jump between Gr. 10 and Gr. 11 Math is PHENOMENAL. I personally found Gr. 11 Math the most challenging of all the Math courses I took in high school. You should encourage your son to take the Gr. 10 Math course during the academic year because he needs to have a solid grounding in this course before moving on to the Gr. 11 course. So to answer your question...NO, it does not help to take Gr. 10 Math in summer school because A) You can't take an extra science even if you wanted to and Depending on your son's mathematical ability, it could mean future trouble ahead.

 

If you are like my parents and do not wish to see you son vegetate on the couch over the Summer holidays with absolutely nothing to do except watching TV. I would recommend that your son take Gr. 10 Canadian History. Canadian History is a REQUIRED course for all Ontario Gr. 10 students. Unless you son wants to go into Canadian History in the future, the Summer School course is sufficient to fulfill the credit and there will be an extra space left in his Gr. 10 academic year so that he can take another course if he wants to.

 

I took Gr. 10 Canadian History after I finished Gr. 9...and I had an extra space open in my Gr. 10 year which I used to take Gr. 11 Anthropology/Psychology/Sociology. I took it because I was interested in it!

 

I know this is still very early...but if your soon does well in Gr. 11 Math, he may consider doing Gr. 12 Calculus over the summer. The calculus course in summer school is much easier and much less painful to do when compared to the regular Gr. 12 calculus course. That way, your son can have a spare period in Gr. 12 to do all that science homework he will get :b !

 

I hope everything works out! He should be the one asking the questions on this forum...maybe if he told us what he was interested in, we could give him more advice!

 

Best of luck,

Spencer

[Guest FungManX]

Please be aware that I, like the other posters are not trying to criticize your way of parenting.

 

But I do have a story to tell about a friend of mine in HS who had a parent that had/has high hopes for her child to make it to medical school since grade 8 (when my friend was 13 years old)!

 

All throughout elementary school my friend was denied access to the television or to a computer, he would only be allowed on the tv 30 minutes per week, and all the other times he was pretty much forced to study or read books/novels otherwise punishments would be made.

The result, a social outcast. To this day I am one of the very very few people he talks to.

 

His parents had such high hopes in him that when they found out he was rejected by UBC they rejected him as their son! He was stellar all throughout elementary and up to and including grade 11. In grade 12 (the year of the provincial exams) he completely broke down and ended up barely getting accepted to SFU arts program (the other university in BC's lower mainland).

 

He was probably one of the more severe cases.. I have other friends that also 'lost it' in grade 12 who all came from similar families wanting nothing but the best of their children. It's really sad to see these bright young people being pressured so hard by their parents to do well in school, completely killing off the social life that their kids get.

 

Let the kid choose his path, its definately the best way to go.

[Guest nby]

I think everyone on this board, if they think back to high school and all the students they knew who were going to "end up in med school in 4 years" and compared that to who still applied and made it, would see about a 1/10 success rate.

 

The thing I've noticed is the students who were the least controlled, the least parental driven, seemed the be the ones to make it. Personally, I did a few Advanced Placement classes in high school (actually against the wishes of my parents who only pushed for balanced lifestyle and hard work, not marks and advanced classes), and all the students I knew taking AP or IB(International Bacheloriate) classes, only one other one made it, despite medicine being the career of choice for everyone. The guy who made it was similar to me, he knew he wanted med, and did well in the science courses, but only took what he was interested in, strove for good marks, not the top of the class. In otherwords, he definitely spent more time on his snowboard than in the books, but when he studied he worked his ass off. I feel I did the same.

 

As for the friends pushed by parents to excel, I can tell you a story about a few drug dealers, a half dozen kicked out of school prematurely, many living in their parent's house working at call centres just making enough to get a car but not pay rent, and many other stories. There are good non med turnouts too, alot of grad schools and what not.

 

Another point, from grade 9 to completion of residency is 4 years HS, 4 ys UG, 4 ys med, 2-5 ys residency. 14-17 years and then a few more of working your ass off while still in serious debt. Working your ass off for something that wasn't inner driven for this long will make anyone crack.

 

Basically, if you want your kid to goto med and he wants the same, push him to learn the value of hard work and balanced lifestyle, and if med follows suit, great, and if not, with those two things down (s)he'll still end up independent and somewhere good.

[Guest Isoceles]

With respect to taking Math 10 early, I would personally advise against it unless your son himself is really set on it. I did accelerated math (took math 9 and 10 in grade 9), and it was not a good idea for me. I did not absorb the material as I should have (even though my marks were good) and therefore I struggled in math 20 (grade 11). Again, my marks were fine, but up until that point I loved math... from then on (& up until now) I really can't enjoy it anymore. Granted, I went to a very small junior high and I think the instruction for the math 10 wasn't what it should have been...nevertheless, cramming it in meant I missed fully understanding some concepts, and lost my enthusiasm for the subject.

If your son has time to take his courses in their proper time, I strongly suggest that he does... he will then be much more likely to build a strong foundation of knowledge, and preserve a love of learning these subjects. Just my personal opinion and experience.

I echo the sentiments that prep for med school really needn't take place in high school (certainly not in junior high!!). I didn't decide on Medicine until the summer before 3rd year, and I think i am doing fine. My only suggestion for high school (other than taking all your core grade 12 subjects, including all sciences) is to have some good extra-curriculars... this will always help him later, and let him grow as a person and enjoy himself now!

[Guest medeng]

Just thought I'd add my 2c to the fray... Having tutored many students in HS math & science, I can attest to the difficulty of the math courses in the new Ont. curriculum (everyone else seems to be basing this on Ont, don't know if the OP was actually in Ont...) Gr. 10 presents a number of new concepts (particularly the move to more abstract concepts such as functions) that are a stepping stone to the more challenging courses in Gr. 11-12. Unfortunately summer school is often not as thorough as normal school (mostly due to the condensed schedule, you still have same # of hours, but there is value to spreading the hours out and letting you become more comfortable with concepts) So I would recommend against doing Gr.10 math in the summer.

 

As a previous poster recommended, if you really want to get something done in the summer, I would recommend a "humanities" course, these are generally less dependant on learning concepts, and don't suffer as much from the condensed schedule. Another good choice is to do a second language. The quasi-immersion of doing one class all day at summer schoold makes this a fairly effective way to learn.

[Guest 007]

I agree with all of the above posters. For me, the most important part of high school in terms of being prepared for university and medical school were my extracurricular activities. They helped me mature and I learned how to have balance in my life. I ultimately used a lot of examples from high school volunteer committments in my medical school application essays because they had profound effects on who I am today and my decision to enter medicine. In addition, most of these examples were not medicine based. I volunteered with the Girl Guides of Canada for many years and played on a number of sports teams. My advice would be to encourage your son to do something fun and active that he enjoys for the summer to gain some experience that way. It is important to remember that social development is just as important as academics on the road to medicine.

[Guest rookiemeds]

Reading this thread reminded me of a certain incident that happened to me in high school. Pretty funny stuff so I thought I'd share.

 

We were sitting outside class one day. It was probably grade twelve so we obviously felt pretty old and mature. We were discussing future plans. The super brainy "wanted to be a neurosurgeon since he was born" keener asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I said "hmm... well I dunno. Maybe a doctor or something like that." He looked me straight in the eye and said condescendingly "You know - it's really hard to be a doctor." I've never forgotten it. The point is that now I'm in med school and he could be too. He may have been planning since birth but we both ended up in the same place - and I know I had more fun!

 

Anyway, what I really want to say is don't worry about it. If your son really wants to be a doctor he will get there, and nothing that he does in grade nine will change that.

[Guest Koppertone]

I can't help but think of my summer after grade 10.. it involved swimming, mountain biking, hiking and camping with friends in addition to hours and hours of videogames (with friends as well:p ). Oh and I think that year was when the old theatre converted to costing $1 a show, so I saw about 30 movies on the big screen as well.

 

Anyhow, I think HS is important for building a foundation for future knowledge, so work hard when necessary and learn the appropraite info (and hopefully get good grades in the process). I see no reason, though, to do any academic work outside of school other than for the student's own interest or if they're failing a class, because overall HS marks have no bearing on med admissions.

[Guest 0nsp]

I agree with the above posters, and that nothing done in grade 9 can impact a med school admission. However, now is a great time to start thinking about university admissions. I think it is more important to work super hard in high school and take part in a lot of extra-curriculars for 2 reasons: 1) If you have a lot of great ECs and are super involved, with great marks, you can get a lot of scholarship money coming out of grade 12. For instance, my sister is actually MAKING about 7,500 $ per year from various scholarships while going to university. and 2) the harder you work in high school, the easier university is. I know I was able to slack and party hard in first year, and for all 4 years in fact, because my hard work in high school meant that the transition to university was a lot easier. And, it looks like I will get into med school (keepin my fingers crossed; will find out this month!). Just my 2 cents.

[Guest coastalslacker]

Jesus christ, parents like this scare me. I remember going to a volunteer information session at VanGH a few years ago and seeing this 13 or 14 year old kid sandwiched between his parents, one of whom was frantically scribbling down every irrelevant thing that was said. He did not look happy, but who knows, I could have been wrong. The summer after grade 10 I played baseball, watched TV, got drunk and went to the beach-why would you go to summer school if you don't have to???

[Guest chemgirl]

My summer after grade 10 was a lot like Koppertone's. You know, during high school, I admit it, I was a big geek and did all my homework, but I took the summer off. It was nice, and you really miss the time off when you can't do it any more... I'm glad I prolonged it as long as I could. I'm all for delaying the "growing up" and taking the summer off for another couple of years.