Settling in Life

Off Topic
1

Have any of you settled in your professional lives? I’m at the point where i know that settling may be my best option, but I know if i keep chasing my dreams there’s a good chance it may set me back.

Let me explain.

Ever since i was a little kid I wanted to be a doctor. I graduated from UGA in May '08 with a degree in biology. During my senior year i interviewed at a number of medical schools, which gave me the illusion that i had the luxury of choice and selectivity.

I didn’t get in anywhere. I took a job that looks good on my resume but i don’t care about. I’m 23 years old and re-applied to school to give it another shot, but found out today that i got straight up rejected from the school that i thought i had the best chance of getting in.

No interview. No nothing. Just rejected. Now, i don’t think i have a legit shot to get in anywhere, even though this is all i have ever wanted to

I’m qualified to have a competitive chance to enter medical school. I graduated from UGA with a 3.9 GPA, I got a 31 on the MCAT, which was in the 85% percentile of the country at the time. I was in the honors program. I did community service. I volunteered at hospitals. I did internships and completed a research project on pelvic inflammatory disease.

I did everything i could think of to relay the fact that I’m qualified and deserving of the honor and privilege of a medical education.

I got arrested when i was an 18 year old freshman in college. I was walking home from the bars to my dorm room on the sidewalk of a major street. It was blatantly obvious to the officers that i was underage and intoxicated, so they stopped me to question me and found my fake ID. The policemen did their jobs and took me to jail.

I plead no contest to a possession of fake ID charge. During every job and professional school interview i have ever had, i always told the truth. I believed in honesty and that displaying integrity through full disclosure of my past were the best option. So far, they have gotten me nowhere. In fact, i have gotten my ass kicked up and down the professional world for being honest and admitting my shortcomings.

I accept and admit that i made a poor choice when i was 18. I hate that in an employer’s eyes, I have been labeled as a delinquent and a liability. The fact of the matter is that everyone my age (18 year old college freshman) made the same poor choices i did; I just happened to have been caught for it and have had it follow me around for some time.

So now i’m faced with the reality of just trying to keep my job for the sake of securing a steady income (I work in a lab doing mundane things for 8 hours a day). I never thought i would end up in this position, but its where i am and i need to deal with it.

Has anyone else had a professional problem like this? What did you do and how did you fix it? I don’t want to work in a lab for the rest of my life, but i need the reliable income. I don’t see any path of advancement for me; I feel like I’m in a dead-end job.

I’m not just bitching; I recognize that this situation is my own fault and part of being an adult is being accountable for your own actions. I get it. I just don’t know what to do anymore and don’t know what direction to turn in. Any advice would be apprecieated.

2

Your in a difficult situation, I can relate although ive never had a criminal record, i have finished university with a good degree, done internships god knows how many certifications and worked with all sorts of professionals and have been turned away from strength and conditioning jobs i was sure i was certain to get.

But still unable to find that professional niche you have to keep trying. Ive found that networking has done more professionally for most people that “knowing things” ever has.

Ive seen people slide into the malaise of indifference to their professional lives, these are often the same people who live for the weekends and trudge through their weekly lives paralysed by inaction and precieved loss of comfort if they try something else.

You always have options regardless of your situation.

3

I have a friend that is sort of in your situation, only he went to grad school and then 2 years of med school in the Bahamas. He still can’t get accepted into a US med school.

But he has a golden parachute in the form of wealthy parents so he doesn’t have to worry about income. In your situation, I would move on and find something else to work towards.

4

Ok, first off I would recommend that you contact the schools you were most interested in and ask for a sit down even if they didn’t interview you. Be blunt and ask them what you might do to make yourself a better prospect, sort of like an exit interview.

Even contacting an interviewer “off the record” might yield better results. It could be a dozen other things that pushed you out, not only the legal history. And then again, it could simply be that others were better choices, who knows?

But try to find out in case it is something you can work on. I can tell you that reading your post you pretty much hit every “hoop” I could think to jump through (not to discourage you).

But it might be your interview skills or your ability to write if an essay was involved.

But let’s assume it is nothing you can fix and you are done with medical school and it’s off the table.

Let me ask this: why do you want to become a doctor? Many people go into it for prestige, family pedigree, money, challenge, etc etc

If you are going into it for the only reasons I think someone should (a fascination with biology/medicine, a natural sense of curiosity, and a pretty thick skin) then you are by no means out of the professional medical picture.

You can look toward PA school, Nurse Practitioner, etc and other areas that will get you out of the lab and into the field. Those fields are growing and you will make a good living with job security if those are concerns.

If medicine is what calls to you then you will find a way toward that passion. I’m sure you’ve thought of this but didn’t mention it: the MD path is not the only rewarding medical profession.

My advice to take a good long look at the medical path as a whole and then start working toward another option. You might be surprised once you start looking into things.

In fact I’m going to take some of my own advice and get off my ass about my own situation :slight_smile:

5

I can’t offer advice about your situation, but all I can say is don’t settle for less then what your worth.

For me, there is nothing worse in life working in a mundane job that you hate and you only stay because it provides a steady income. Your life will be truly miserable if you stay and you will live in regret if you don’t pursue your goals.

I worked in a bank earning $25/hr with loads of career options. I had loads of employee benefits and I lived within walking distance to work. It was an easy job, but I quit because I hated it and just couldn’t put myself through that.

Everyone said I was crazy, and this just goes to show that the majority of people are fine with mediocrity. Although I can tell you that >70% of middle age people are unhappy with their lives. Don’t be one of these.

As for being honest, I am the same and it has done nothing but bite me in the ass. I missed out on promotions, pay rises and opportunities over people that lied and made themselves look good over being honest and having integrity.

Your situation might suck, but 1 setback is no reason to give up.

6

I don’t know how it works for medical school but for MBA’s most school require significant amounts of work experience (~2/3 years).
Maybe that’s why they rejected you.

Option2:
Look abroad. most foreign schools have programs recognized in the states. or alternative stuff like chiropractors, you could do an MBA and get a job on the management end of pharmaceutical corps.

7

Found this, might help you out:
it’s a page that lists the requirements for expunging a criminal record in Georgia.