Nairalanders In College/ University

post modified. My boss saw me posting on nairaland and he was really interested in what I was writing so I had to look for the Ecuador equivalent for him (he is from ecuador).

alright. I got it now.   
so is the workload as difficult as people say it is? what kind of kids are there? lots of wealthy business students?




it's a liberal arts college.

 
God. that's one of the reasons I sort of refrained myself from applying to those schools. I'll feel sooo intimidated.
there's a kennedy on your floor? 

ok thanks. i wanted to major in bio but now i'm rethinking it. lol
I'll just major in something else that i like but try to fulfil pre-med requirements at the same time.
i really don't know what i'm doing. lol

yeah the process is really random. but i guess some schools can reject you for being overqualified (maybe that's what happened to you). their ranking go down if plenty of accepted students don't attend their school. many of US schools have an obsession with rankings etc
but you're at an awesome school, so it's their loss.

prestige is something i might worry about for grad school.

overqualified?   I don't think it was overqualification. I said my SAT scores were OK not spectacular. I think because they have a sort of nationality quota. MY friend got into Wes and Williams but took Williams over Wes. I got waitlisted at Wes but pulled of the waitlist two days after my friend, who's nigerian, turned down Wes's offer. Don't forget that liberal art colleges offer the most financial aid to international students making them the most competitive. Lots of Internationals especially asians get rejected at low liberal art colleges because of country quotas. No school can make all their students korean.

The people here are not intimidating like rich nigerians so it I don't feel intimidated. They are usually very nice. You're also premed? I wouldn't advice you to call yourself premed until you have finished taking Intro bio 1 and organic chemistry. Nigerians and 'dokita.' Biology is not that bad. However have a backup plan because if you don't get into med school what are you going to do with biology?. science PhD holders are having problem getting jobs in the US now from what I heard. Yeah your undergrad does not matter. Grad school is more important than college anyway. Liberal art colleges are really really good.  I wish I had selected an easier major- I am biochem- so my course load is higher than the average in my school. Grad school prestige is also  difficult to gauge. In my own opinion were one goes to does not matter but what one can do. I was looking at the profile of most lawyers in a top patent firm (law is one of the most prestige obssessed professions unlike medicine where neither your undergrad nor your grad school matters) and very few of them attended a top law school. By the way the new world bank president is a swarthmore graduate and I am sure only a select few have heard of swarthmore.

Yeah if you're premed work your butt of from day one. I don't call myself premed yet because my GPA sucks right now but I would probably start calling myself that next year when I get straight As  . Be involved in everything that happens in your school. Join clubs and volunteer at hospitals, food shelters e.t.c because premed sucks. The average GPA for accepted students is like 3.6 which I can assure you is not easy to get. And I repeat from experience never take extremely difficult classes or schedules because medical schools don't give a shit about your schedule.This post is so long. Anyway when you read it and post a reply I would modify this post though it would be the last post I modify. I would give you my facebook account in August or september when you start school.  

Yeah, your major does not really matter. Sociology is an easy major though. All the athletes in my school major in  sociology. Just joking  . Careers at the UN need work experience- I believe there are no entry positions in the UN- I don't know what major is good for working in the UN though a medical degree could be used to work as a medical officer.

My parents also wanted me to be a doctor even before I learnt how to speak. Medicine in my own opinion is overrated. The healthcare industry in the US is moving towards socialized medicine- like canada and the UK- and this would cut doctors salaries by a lot. Working in the UN makes more money if you can get a good position.

You told your mum you want to study history or english! Shit you have been living in the US for a long time because when I was in Nigeria history and english were for misfits while medicine was for smart students. In my school however nearly everyone studies economics, history, political economy and government.

The volunteering part is not as easy as you think. It takes time and it involves a lot of commitment.

I really want to study economics or political economy but I am too scared to tell my parents since they have already told everyone that I am going to study medicine. I feel depressed sometimes whenever I know I am doing something I don't like. I am very good in the sciences but I don't want to major in pure science since it is a pain in the neck and it feels like a waste of time if you don't like it. The problem with premed is the commitment. For example you said that you like volunteer work. Imagine doing 4 hours of volunteer work a week while taking biology and chemistry. It might sound easy but later you would begin to feel overwhelmed.

Liberal art majors might not make money but it depends on your major. Economics earn the highest average salary in my school and they do the least work. Biology majors  who did not get into the medical school make the least money when they enter the workforce. In my own opinion do what you love because you are the one who is going to go through all the sleepness nights of premed and not your parents.The only safe profession in the US is engineering since you are guaranteed a good salary after graduation. law sucks if you work for a firm you become the firms slave. Insurance companies are killing doctors. Very few professions have job opportunity. However the fact still remains that if you do what you love and you still don't have a high salary you will still be happier than most people.

Also if you hate chemistry it would be very difficult for you to excel in your premed class. Premed is 50% chemistry, 25% biology and 25% physics.

Wes and Sef, being a premed is really fun. l'm a Neuroscience major and l hope to get into med school after l get my B.S. The truth is, don't be intimidated with the thought of taking Chem, Phy, Maths, or Bio because they are just like every other course that u are going to take. I'm not telling u that they are super easy, but just giving yourself time to study will determine how well u do in them. Volunteering while taking these courses isn't difficult as long as u create time to volunteer and time to study. I did volunteer 4 hours/week at the hospital while taking Ochem and Integral calc coupled with other classes (and l did great). l believe u both are very smart and u shouldn't let anything stand in your way to becoming medical doctors if that's what u (both) want to do. Have fun.

yeah i agree. lol