I was never sure if I'd be going to graduate school after college. So when I finally figured out that I'd be attending some graduate school (but definitely PhD graduate school if at all) after last summer, it was time for a bit of a panic.
Over the course of my college years, I figured out that what I really, really wanted to do was design circuits and stuff that connected to brains. Stuff like connecting computers to brains. This has all sorts of awesome applications, like vision and hearing for people who otherwise can't. And plenty of other stuff. And I find it all really fascinating.
Problem #1 is that my college didn't have anything to do with engineering. This isn't so big, people get accepted to engineering places from liberal arts colleges all the time. But it's still annoying, and it reflects itself poorly in my test scores.
Problem #2 is a little bigger, and that I've figured what I really want to do to see my interests and goals through to the end is something like a MD-PhD program. But the problem here is that it requires a ridiculous amount of standardized testing (GREs and MCAT), all in the fall of my senior year (which I'm currently doing), and a second semester of biology (which I don't have yet) because the programs I've seen all start you off for 2 years in medical school before going to graduate work instead of the other way around. I'd really do fine if it was the other way around (I'd take the biology semester I'm missing over the summer, and take the MCAT later -- I really can't take all these tests at once). Another problem is that the medical school application deadline happened a long time ago.
I'm really not sure what the point of my posting this here is. I guess I'm sort of looking for advice, but I don't know what advice could even be given. What I've been doing now is applying for graduate school (extremely stressful by itself) and, once I get there, I figure I'll try to migrate into a dual-degree program. I don't know if that's the best way to go about things or not, but it's the only way I can see at this point.
Over the course of my college years, I figured out that what I really, really wanted to do was design circuits and stuff that connected to brains. Stuff like connecting computers to brains. This has all sorts of awesome applications, like vision and hearing for people who otherwise can't. And plenty of other stuff. And I find it all really fascinating.
Problem #1 is that my college didn't have anything to do with engineering. This isn't so big, people get accepted to engineering places from liberal arts colleges all the time. But it's still annoying, and it reflects itself poorly in my test scores.
Problem #2 is a little bigger, and that I've figured what I really want to do to see my interests and goals through to the end is something like a MD-PhD program. But the problem here is that it requires a ridiculous amount of standardized testing (GREs and MCAT), all in the fall of my senior year (which I'm currently doing), and a second semester of biology (which I don't have yet) because the programs I've seen all start you off for 2 years in medical school before going to graduate work instead of the other way around. I'd really do fine if it was the other way around (I'd take the biology semester I'm missing over the summer, and take the MCAT later -- I really can't take all these tests at once). Another problem is that the medical school application deadline happened a long time ago.
I'm really not sure what the point of my posting this here is. I guess I'm sort of looking for advice, but I don't know what advice could even be given. What I've been doing now is applying for graduate school (extremely stressful by itself) and, once I get there, I figure I'll try to migrate into a dual-degree program. I don't know if that's the best way to go about things or not, but it's the only way I can see at this point.
