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Do I need to attend a top college and have a high GPA in order to be successful in the medical field?

I am currently in high school and pursuing microbiology and medicine. I am unsure as to whether or not it is worth it to stress over grades. #medicine #microbiology #biology #science #microscopy #college #college-admissions

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Ken’s Answer

The short answer to part one: whatever major you seek, you should strive to get the highest grade point average possible, as this is an indication to any future employer of the caliber of employee that you might become. Working as well as you can to achieve your goals in the best possible manner is a trait that makes one stand out to any future employer. Therefore, you should always be intent on doing your best and getting the best GPA possible, whatever career area you choose.

The short answer to part two: it really does not matter what college you attend. What matters is how well you do with your school work and how well you do with your networking and making of career related connections along the way. Here is a video that will help, which was created by a person who worked in the admissions office at Stanford University. Based upon my years in Human Resources, it contains some very important information: ## http://www.ted.com/talks/julie_lythcott_haims_how_to_raise_successful_kids_without_over_parenting?utm_campaign=social&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=talk&utm_term=education

Ken recommends the following next steps:

A very important step to follow is to take an interest and aptitude test to determine which career area would be most suitable for your personality traits. When I was doing college recruiting, I found that too many students had skipped that step and found that they ended up in a job/career area for which they were ill suited. You can take an interest and aptitude test through your counseling office at your high school and have interpreted to allow you to see which areas might be most suitable. One of the reasons that many people have with attaining high GPA is that they are studying a career area for which they might not be best suited. It is helpful to take the testing as soon as possible in high school to make sure that one is taking the correct career related classes and possibly again upon entering college, as their interpretation might be somewhat different as it relates to their course and program offerring.
Many successful people in many career areas,, including me, got their start at a community college. They have smaller classes, lower tuition, lower GPA requirements, and opportunities to participate in intern and coop programs, which allows one to earn and learn and experience the career area as one learns in class.
When you get some information about the suitability of a career area, a good next step would be to talk to the people at your school (college) who track and work with graduates to arrange to meet, talk to, visit, and possibly shadow graduates who are doing that you think that you want to do, so that you can get the inside view of the job, which might be different from what you can see from the outside. Here are some helpful tips. This not only provides helpful information, but allows you to start forming networking connections which will benefit you throughout your education/career journey. ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people working in your career areas of interest belong, so that you can meet people who are doing what you think that you might want to do and get their advice. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
Thank you comment icon This advice was really helpful, thank you for answering my question Mr. Simmons! Marc Angelo
Thank you comment icon You are welcome. You have a good sense of showing appreciation! You will encounter many people who are willing to help, and their willingness will increase in direct relation to your showing of appreciation for their efforts. Keep me posted. I would like to follow your progress. Ken Simmons
Thank you comment icon And a second thank you for the networking link! Marc Angelo
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Richard’s Answer

No. Clinical success does not require an ivy league diploma

There are plenty of good colleges and medical schools. In general if you are interested in research, you may want to look at the more elite private institutions, but if you are interested in clinical practice, a state university may offer the best value
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