University senior and biology major Melissa Welker is currently waiting to hear back from 13 CQ different medical schools she applied to across the country.
As if that weren’t stressful enough, she also manages a 17-credit class load, practices every week with the University’s triathlon team CQ and works another 20 hours per week as a lifeguard at the Student Recreation Center CQ.
To say the least, she has a lot on her plate.
Welker is one of thousands of soon-to-be graduating seniors preparing themselves for life after college, or life in the real world. And the task of planning post-college life can be a daunting one, Welker said.
“Applying to med school, I found out, is an ego-challenging situation,” she said. “Most people applying to med school have worked years and years in their lives to plan this out, and it all comes down to a couple pieces of paper and a couple essays.”
The process of applying to medical school is also a long one. Students begin the ordeal by taking the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) CQ, then submitting their initial application to a number of schools in the fall. If the schools are still interested, students follow that with a secondary application and an essay with additional information.
That’s still not the end of it. After the schools narrow the search again, students still in the running are invited to the school for a personal interview.
At this point in the year, Welker is about halfway through the process, still waiting to hear the results of the secondary application.
“I’ll hear anytime up until March, when they cut off the interview date,” Welker said. “If I don’t hear anything by then, I most likely didn’t get in.”
Most students with the ultimate goal of either medical school or graduate school have their plans in order by the end of their sophomore year, said Hilary Gerdes CQ, director CQ of the Office of Academic Advising CQ. For those that don’t have things in order, life is much more stressful.
“Sometimes if students get to their senior year and they haven’t really thought it through, I think it’s kind of a wake up call,” Gerdes said.
Some of the best resources for less organized students are the Career Center CQ in Hendricks Hall CQ and the workshops and meetings the Office of Academic Advising offers each term, she said.
It is also common for college students to simply take time off after graduation, either from burnout or from feeling a lack of momentum, Gerdes said.
In Welker’s case, she has a backup plan. Should medical school not pan out, she said, she’d consider taking a year off and attending language school in either Central CQ or South America CQ.
In such a competitive field, Welker said, anyone trying to get in should prepare for the worst.
“When a school is looking at 10,000 applications for like 100 positions, any little thing could take you off,” she said. “You become very in-tune to your weaknesses, and very aware. It takes a lot of confidence to be able to accept rejection from so many schools.”
Monte Westerfield CQ, a biology CQ professor at the University, said he wrote about a half dozen letters of recommendation for students in his lab applying to various medical schools. He said the students who have more focus in their goals might be more successful than those who aren’t.
“I think it’s really important for them to think about what they want to do and where they want to go, rather than send in a zillion applications,” Westerfield said.
As Welker continues to wait on her own future, she said the transition that occurs after college is much more significant than the steps that follow high school.
“Probably all graduating seniors, whether we realize it or not, are at a position in their life where they can do almost anything with their life, which is very exciting and very scary at the same time,” she said.
For any students who haven’t figured out their post-college lives, Gerdes said, the tools to do so are available any time.
“It’s never too early to start thinking about life after graduation,” Gerdes said.
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