I encourage anyone who is thinking about medicine to do the PA route over anything else if they are absolutely certain they want to do medicine.
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- Thread starter cyclone13
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CycloneErik
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Why is that? My niece is now in the residency stage of her medical degree. She was certain of what she wanted to do and didn't seem to have any issues. Is there a way to cut time off school if you do the PA route first?
Nah PA is an entirely other career path even though they are capable of doing 90% or more of the things an MD/DO can do (in most non surgical cases). It is only a two year program that you can do almost right after undergrad. You don’t need any of the malpractice insurance in most cases, always have a physician you can call on if something is beyond your scope and the most important part of all, you can go into any speciality whereas physicians are essentially stuck with what they got into/picked.
If youre niece is going into certain specialities she will probably be fine, if she’s going family, internal, or emergency I wish her resilience.
First, if you haven’t taken the official visit to Notre Dame, take it. It is thorough and will provide an idea about fit.
I am ISU undergrad, ND grad. All five sons admitted to ND undergrad, all five went elsewhere. So I have done the admission tour six times. While they have two Domer parents, they all had high enough test scores to make ND early admission standards, which I think at the time some of them applied was at least a 33 ACT.
Oldest son could not turn down Caltech. Wanted the challenge, got better financial aid. It is a more techie school than ND. He was a National Merit Scholar and at that time ISU gave him a free ride, so they came in second to Caltech. You might look into the current scholarships if your son is a semi finalist.
Second oldest actually got better financial deals at ND but chose Iowa State because at the time ND did not have the specific engineering major he wanted. They added it two or three years later.
Sons 3-5 got better financial deals at ISU.
I think all of them considered ND a decent fit. We usually took them to campus every year for a football game. I think they all understood that the majority of the students would be from wealthier families and the institution has taken a turn politically due to some huge donations that does not align well with their own views. The dorm structure has some common traits with Caltech in that students frequently stay four years in the same dorm. Retention rate is good. For the most part, they made a decision based on finances. But make sure it is place your son would be comfortable with socially. They give you a chance to talk to students so go ahead and take it.
I think either of your choices should be fine for his academic interests.
I am ISU undergrad, ND grad. All five sons admitted to ND undergrad, all five went elsewhere. So I have done the admission tour six times. While they have two Domer parents, they all had high enough test scores to make ND early admission standards, which I think at the time some of them applied was at least a 33 ACT.
Oldest son could not turn down Caltech. Wanted the challenge, got better financial aid. It is a more techie school than ND. He was a National Merit Scholar and at that time ISU gave him a free ride, so they came in second to Caltech. You might look into the current scholarships if your son is a semi finalist.
Second oldest actually got better financial deals at ND but chose Iowa State because at the time ND did not have the specific engineering major he wanted. They added it two or three years later.
Sons 3-5 got better financial deals at ISU.
I think all of them considered ND a decent fit. We usually took them to campus every year for a football game. I think they all understood that the majority of the students would be from wealthier families and the institution has taken a turn politically due to some huge donations that does not align well with their own views. The dorm structure has some common traits with Caltech in that students frequently stay four years in the same dorm. Retention rate is good. For the most part, they made a decision based on finances. But make sure it is place your son would be comfortable with socially. They give you a chance to talk to students so go ahead and take it.
I think either of your choices should be fine for his academic interests.
She is ER. At mayo and loves it. Basically has her future set up, her mom was a CFO for a couple of their hospitals in smaller cities in Minnesota and still had/have connections that has her lined up.
My niece has great flexibility with hers and can basically choose her hours which helps with three young children.
Excellent for her! If she did part of her residency during the pandemic and is still all in then she will be fine. We lost a lot of residents and newer physicians the last couple years. Some left and some are just shells going through the motions. Mayo is obv a great place to be as it’s still one of the few places run by medical staff for the most part.
Thank you - this is another good perspective.
We did the official campus tour a week before Thanksgiving 2021 and after that his friend who is a junior at ND gave a tour around campus and even showed her dorm and dorm room.
We got the financial aid from U of Minnesota - that was a good option as he's a National Merit Semifinalist (hopefully he can be a finalist and thus eligible for that Goldy Scholarship). We do not know the financial deals at ND yet (they mention it will be sent beginning in February).
So definitely financial package will be a huge part of the process and having a good fit with his philosophy while still exposing him to different views. yes and socially too: we are not a wealthy family and he's not preppy. ND actually mentioned that the class of 2027 is actually another diverse class. I think the schools gradually try to improve on diversification of background, thoughts and ideas these days. When we went to campus tour, the students we encountered were nice and pleasant.
Send him to Pittsburg State University for constructions. top tier school solid education and you get in state price so for 7000 a semester your ROI is way better than anywhere else! It’s only 6 hours south!
The ND student body is quite diverse and friendly. I miss Father Hesburgh.
Son did get the scholarship from NMSC since Caltech did not give anything special. I think it was $5,000 at that time. His biggest scholarship was based on high school math contests, $25,000.
Personal FIT is the single most important criteria. I've been through this 4 times.
Daughter...She was determined that she and her best friend were going to Iowa and didn't even want to visit. I made her visit ISU. She admitted that she actually really liked the campus but everything was so big that she was overwhelmed. I reminded her that Iowa was very similar in size but with an inferior campus. They visited Iowa and after the introduction dog and pony show they both wanted to leave. Day before the WI game and they spent the whole intro. talking about how great the FB team was. I convinced them to complete the visit, which they did but pretty much crossed Iowa off the list. We then visited UNI, they both loved the size and feel they got and went there.
Son 1...He always wanted to go to Iowa State but was not a fan of schoolwork so had good ACT scores but low class rank. For admittance he needed to take a summer session at ISU or a year of CC. He did the CC route and decided he didn't like studying at the college level either. He has been working FT at Hy-Vee ever since and loves it.
Son 2...Perfect ACT scores, Top 10 in HS class of nearly 500, bored to death with schoolwork. Wanted to be a Musical Theatre Major. Visited ISU (because I made all of my kids visit ISU), Michigan, and Indiana. I absolutely loved both Michigan and Indiana campuses, he did not...too big. Visited Simpson in Indianola. He loved it even though it had fewer students than his HS. He ended up with a TON of debt but so far has been able to make his payments and loves what he is doing.
Son 4...Visited all 3 state schools but pretty much knew he wanted to go to ISU as he wanted to get an Animal Science degree and go on to vet school.
TLDR version: Getting them to visit actually exposes them to the feel of a place rather than the hype that others have given it.
Daughter...She was determined that she and her best friend were going to Iowa and didn't even want to visit. I made her visit ISU. She admitted that she actually really liked the campus but everything was so big that she was overwhelmed. I reminded her that Iowa was very similar in size but with an inferior campus. They visited Iowa and after the introduction dog and pony show they both wanted to leave. Day before the WI game and they spent the whole intro. talking about how great the FB team was. I convinced them to complete the visit, which they did but pretty much crossed Iowa off the list. We then visited UNI, they both loved the size and feel they got and went there.
Son 1...He always wanted to go to Iowa State but was not a fan of schoolwork so had good ACT scores but low class rank. For admittance he needed to take a summer session at ISU or a year of CC. He did the CC route and decided he didn't like studying at the college level either. He has been working FT at Hy-Vee ever since and loves it.
Son 2...Perfect ACT scores, Top 10 in HS class of nearly 500, bored to death with schoolwork. Wanted to be a Musical Theatre Major. Visited ISU (because I made all of my kids visit ISU), Michigan, and Indiana. I absolutely loved both Michigan and Indiana campuses, he did not...too big. Visited Simpson in Indianola. He loved it even though it had fewer students than his HS. He ended up with a TON of debt but so far has been able to make his payments and loves what he is doing.
Son 4...Visited all 3 state schools but pretty much knew he wanted to go to ISU as he wanted to get an Animal Science degree and go on to vet school.
TLDR version: Getting them to visit actually exposes them to the feel of a place rather than the hype that others have given it.
Well I went to college a long time a go. Are dorm days still a thing where you come and stay Fri and Sat nite ( i could be wrong maybe it was only 1 nite) I'll admit there was booze involved like I said it was a long time ago. Good way to learn more about the social aspects of campus went and played pickup ball etc in addition to scheduled things.
Yes I think they require to do it for 3 years. There are other schools having similar requirements (IIRC Vanderbilt actually requires you to win a lottery to allow you to to leave in the dorm during your senior year)
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Thought just give you the update - he's close to commit to Notre Dame. Financially, it's more expensive vs (U of Minnesota add the fact that he can graduate in 2-3 years as he's got so many PSEO credits) but as parents, I and my wife actually think it'll be good for him to go to Notre Dame.
It'll give him new perspectives and time to slow down and get him out of the comfort zone. He likes ND but initially was concerned with the COA difference but gradually more comfortable with going there. He likes the idea becoming part of something bigger instead of just being individuals.
The process has been interesting and I sometimes ponder whether the costs is worth the benefit but there are certain things too that you can't measure by money
It'll give him new perspectives and time to slow down and get him out of the comfort zone. He likes ND but initially was concerned with the COA difference but gradually more comfortable with going there. He likes the idea becoming part of something bigger instead of just being individuals.
The process has been interesting and I sometimes ponder whether the costs is worth the benefit but there are certain things too that you can't measure by money
I think Coach Freeman has brought back the players’ game day Mass and walk from the Basilica to the football facility, which is kind of fun. One of my favorite game day traditions is Trumpets Under the Dome. As a student, the game day invasion of alumni can be sort of annoying though.
People are usually surprised that the undergrad population of ND is as small as it is, I think around 9,000. He should make great friends while he is there. Even introverts like me manage to do that.
We’ve taken in a few hockey games there which is fun too.
Good luck on this adventure!
