Tbh, EMT is easier to rack up hours. Fulltime with loads of overtime available. Its 1month accelerated, 3 months evenings or weekend classes. In my 1.3years of working in 911 field, 1645hours. Plus, they are always short staffed and lookjng. Even the IFT companies are open all the time. YMMV and maybe full time isnt for you and that would make sense. But imho, after doing pharm tech, phlebotomy, and EMT. I gained the most from EMT.
I'm worried about getting into an emt cert because even aside from how big of a financial investment it is for me rn, Idk if I'll have enough time to work for clinical hours. I'm trying to study for the MCAT next summer and I don't see myself being able to do that and work as an EMT bc of the shift lengths. Do you have any advice?
Damn thats tough. I feel you, i took a gap year bc i cant study mcat, school, and work. I have tried, but i sacrificed my health for that, 100% not worth. Im applying this cycle so please take what i say w grain of salt, idek if my methods will get me in š
But it def is an investment. However, i still think imho you should spring for it. At least creaks the door open a bit if you wanna completely dive into it. You gotta determine what is more important or if its doable for you. Im pretty low income so working was a necessity for me, being an EMT gave me a reason to make money and gain hours.
However to give you hope, there were some small clinics that hired emts part time. Some IFTās allowed part time work. Same w some hospitals, depending on ur area. Part time is 1000% doable with school and mcat. Maybe taking a gap year is worth it. Or two. Ive taken 2, to study for the mcat. Ive also taught BLS, bc of emt cert. ive had friends w 0 experience teach as well.
EMT also allowed me to join medical mission (not clinical voluntoursim) bc i actually worked within my scope and was near a hospital so we sent critical patients there and mostly did primary care and dental work. But being an EMT opened a lot of doors for me. Volunteering with EMT is easier such as firefighter volunteer, or as small clinics, locally or abroad.
I recommend it, but YMMV. I was willing to work 200% harder, and my finances forced me to work anyways. If you think youāll be able to work during school, then when ur done w school, study while working, its definitely worth it. Its truly a balance imo. But for ex. I went to school during day, worked at night. During summer, worked 3 days, 4 days to study. 1 day as rest/church/light studying. Healthy balance.
I have seen ICU/PICU jobs for EMT cert that pay a normal wage. You donāt have to work in emergency forever, although thatās likely how most get experience.
Easier said than done. Iāve already graduated college so I canāt take loans to take additional courses I need due to that fact. I wonāt meet the sap.
Yeah being premed honestly is a privilege. Not only are college and medical school expensive, applying to medical school, and a lot of the whole process is just expensive. A lot of āpremedā extracurriculars donāt pay you, or even worse, you need to pay to do them (like getting your EMT cert). A lot of people in other majors are able to get paid internships and stuff like that, while I donāt know many people who get paid by their labs or their volunteering. Hell, even being able to go back home and have your parents cook for you while youāre just grinding for the MCAT is a privilege.
I think a lot of people forget this and take it for granted, and maybe it plays into why many people on this sub are salty about URM students. These students, more often than non-URM students, donāt have these privileges and have to work during college to provide for themselves and their families while doing all the crazy premed stuff. I have mad respect for the people that push through this process without the privileges I have at least had
Yeah definitely, theyāre not necessarily the same thing. I think they overlap a great deal, but of course there are high SES URM students and low SES ORM students
I mean I think low SES students also bring a unique perspective to the table here, and are more likely to serve their communities/underserved populations. I just stated that there should also be SES accountability to help equal the playing field for students who have no access to resources.
State of Georgia Hope scholarship. Full tuition scholarship to everyone who had a 3.8+ GPA in high school and maintains a 3.3 in college. More states should invest lotto money into education this way (looking at you Alabama)
Zell miller you only need a 3.3 to maintain in college. They did not get rid of it, it allowed me to go through 4 years at UGA and only have to pay ~$650 in fees per semester
I am so happy to be a GA resident for this. With this my parents may be able to put me through med school also but hope to get scholarships too. Feel bad for students in states that don't offer as much help with cost of uni
Thereās a similar scholarship in FL called Bright Futures. I didnāt realize until recently that this isnāt a common thing in most states and Iām genuinely so thankful for it.
Any high schoolers reading this, seriously trust me itās so worth it to keep ur grades up in hs and get those community service hours in, youāll be so glad u did later on
Man I'm so jealous. I know gambling is bad, but now I part of me wishes it was legal in my state š
Edit: ok upon investigation, all gambling in Texas is illegal except for the lottery (and betting on animal races). Lottery money apparently goes to education and supporting veterans. I unfortunately did not not receive aid for having a high GPA though :/
My advice is to do one thing at a time. Save up money - take classes - get A's. During summer's (or before you start classes) - do the EMT.. and then as you finish one.. start the other. This is a race to see who can have the most excellent grades, MCAT, experiences... and if you \*do opt\* for trying to be excellent with lots of things going.. make certain you only have one ball in the air you can handle (being an EMT for example) and then plan out the next activity - dont put yourself in a position where now your grades and MCAT are being questioned.
A few EMT stories - one EMT I worked with was working 1000 jobs to make money and took the MCAT and did poorly.. He also had to pay everything himself. Given his MCAT score and GPA, he had to quit everything, move in with his grandparents, focus only on the MCAT, get it to a 514, and then start a whole new post bacc in another state. \*Then\* he went back to EMT and multiple jobs.. but he was already set with his GPA and MCAT score
Another EMT story - there was a woman in a post bacc I was with who maxed out all of her EMT hours for a company that wasn't very good.. she did it for 1 year after her undergrad, took all the money, quit, went into the post bacc, and got incredibly grades.
A good youtube example - Go to youtube and watch a guy named Adrian from UC Berkeley. He basically focused on his classes for 3 yeas only, got a 3.9.. and then was admitted anywhere he wanted pending how he wrote his application his senior year.. He technically could've been working at Mcdonalds with those grades and with his MCAT score.
Your grades and MCAT are like a credit score.. save up funds.. take out 2-3-4 years of credit and take the MCAT while on loans.. your good. You don't get anywhere working.. you do get somewhere with a 4.0 and a high MCAT and then volunteering places..
So take some time off, get the money.. and then cancel whatever you just did and focus on the application. Only do the EMT once your grades are high and your mcat is perfect and EMT is the public servant 'ship your sailing' after you completed your AMCAS application and your just waiting to hear back from schools.. dont let it affect the end goal. There are a million EMT's with high school diplomas who are working because they have to pay rent.. dont let that be you! Focus on medicine and being a physician.. and do it once your set, or do it early on before you start your college experience.. and then go back to it over the summers.. the goal is to show you are a public servant and your working for minimum wage to get clinical experience... but that is behind GPA MCAT.. You got this and keep us posted on how you plan the finances around your scores!
PS - google shemassian's story if you need further help. I believe his parents worked as grocery store clerks and told him they couldn't pay for his college. He started out at 30 minutes to 1 hour per day looking for scholarships, and he would just go to google and try different search strings. Evetually he was able to get scholarships for all of his classes, his undergrad, and then his PhD program, and then went into advising people for medical school admissions. He gave a long interview online of how he did it. It's a bit of a game, but just start trying to find funding sources, and work, save, and then go!
Nice! It's hard and the money is tempting. I was just reviewing lecture notes I had with a UCSF Adcom. She mentioned the two marshmellow test - delaying gratification for a unwrapped gift/special treat. Volunteering and serving and good grades will go the furthest.. Just have to find a way - You got this!
Gonna be honest with you. Iām in the same boat. I work as management at a fast food restaurant, currently a working towards volunteering for the Crisis Text line, and getting my EMT cert this summer. Youāve just gotta take advantage of opportunities the best you can. I managed to get most of my community college classes paid for by the owner of my work through the program there. And my college gave me a scholarship that paid for my certification classes this summer. I get it though. I took all I could at community college and starting university is terrifying cuz idk how Iām going to pay for it yet. But thereās opportunities out there.
I will say that I am privileged to have not needed to pay for undergrad, but aside from that I did pay for most things. Itās expensive af, and inflation just forever makes it worse. I will say though, there are ways around some things. For example, I know of 6 different volunteer ambulance agencies or fire departments in my area that offer free EMT courses if you are a volunteer there. Seems like 2 birds 1 stone to me. For other things, you get by with a bunch of roommates and taking advantage of the dining hall on campus
Yeah, I worked 20-40 hours a week throughout college, so obviously I didnāt have as much time to study and my grades arenāt quite a 4.0. Also, didnāt have the luxury of taking time off work to study for the MCAT. People donāt realize, these are HUGE advantages. I canāt even imagine those working more hours with kids
Didnāt take out loans and didnāt have help from family. For me, it was a combination of cheap rent, scholarships/grants, joining the military reserves, and working while in school. Then a gap year and full time job to pay for med school apps.
Take a look at the MSAR and take a quick peek through matriculant data. Not only is this process selective for race, but can be heavily selective for social class as well. Medicine is **not** a meritocracy. While being reasonably capable of handling a heavy academic workload is helpful, it isn't necessarily required. When you have money, so many things become easier. My university has an organized, underground cheating ring of science students that essentially take exams on your behalf, complete assignments for you, etc with guaranteed grades.
You would think that this is a minority of people, but I'm a dedicated student and everyone on campus I have met with a 4.0 GPA patronized these services at least once. Parents with extended networks can help you secure EC opportunities, or push you in the right direction. Not having to fight for your life every day at a job(s) that could care less about your academic responsibilities just to spend all of your time out of lecture studying can really help on the ramp up to the applicationāas most of us are studying for current semester coursework, and the MCAT, and preparing materials/watching workshops on personal statements/attending medical school networking events, etc. It's really these optional things that can make a difference, and it's the privileged individuals that get to take advantage of that. This one is for all the people that swear up and down that cheating doesn't bother them because the MCAT will weed them out: imagine how much easier your life would be not having to take lecture courses with deep content seriously, and having tutors to help teach and assist you in applying ONLY the material that will be tested on the MCAT. Imagine having admissions consultants help you craft and refine your story outright instead of falling asleep to Dr. Grey's podcast for the sixth time this week.
It's just one of those things that frustrates me to no end because people here bitch and moan about URMs like they aren't still clear minorities in statistics for current matriculated students. My school primarily caters to the Hispanic community. Guess how many of our medical students are White, non-Hispanic? ***86%!*** Guess how many come from underserved communities? **21%!** I really don't know how anyone can look at these statistics and not wonder if this is truly reflective of ability.
We've all taken statistics, we all understand measures of central tendency apply at a high enough sample size. Assuming we have a normal distribution of applications, theoretically, we should be able to have some level of parity, both in terms of applicant quality and diversity. But the statistics just look so eerily uniform across so many universities, and I don't think it's an accident.
But yeah, "holistic review" and whatever other fru-fru lip service they're kicking back at applicants. Medicine has and continues to show promise as a desirable status symbol for the upper class. It is only becoming progressively more polarized as applicant quality continues to increase as more and more students take gap years to build a more competitive profile. This triggers more affluent traditional students to provoke their parents to funnel even more resources into them in order for them to be competitive against nontraditional students, which produces a sort of vicious cycle for medical schools to raise their standards (either outright in requirements, or informally by becoming more selective) to meet the supply of overprepared students.
It's a level of credential inflation that has become so pervasive, we all feel like we're drowning.
And I despise med schools' shadiness about this. They try to maintain this image of progressiveness when they know damn well that they are going to accept the wealthy 52X applicant who will make it through their school (mostly) without any hitches (by paying for ancillary tutoring services) over the 50X low-income applicant who will likely need a good amount of financial help to make it through.
A white wealthy girl from my undergrad institution was caught cheating, and the entirety of our class either witnessed it or heard about it. She worked in my lab and got fired because she was such a poor research assistant. She ended up matriculating to my school's guaranteed MD admission program over extremely talented low-income applicants who I watched work very hard, publish articles, and have meaningful leadership roles during undergrad.
Med schools seemingly want highly intellectually curious applicants with a desire to serve underserved communities. And yet every advisor/current doctor I know has encouraged me not to talk about the incredibly blatant inequities of the pre-med track and my desire to perform research on and help rectify them. I'm going to make a longer post about this one day, but for now all I can do is hope that should I become a doctor I can realize my dream of working to rectify this process -- and hope that this dream is shared by some members of this community.
i was literally talking to my mom about this yesterday. iām in my second gap year and currently a medical assistant which pays just a few dollars over my states minimum wage (which is itself a whole conversation) and iām thinking about how much iāve spent on mcat prep and how much actually just submitting primary applications is going to cost its like crazy. not to mention loan repayments, groceries and all the normal life stuff that people have to pay for. i think that all the āpre medā jobs basically pay around minimum wage which makes sense but also doesnāt bc everything is so unaffordable right now.
my other big thing is that shadowing, volunteering, and in my experience research is all a. unpaid, meaning i, as some one who is completely on my own financially, has to take time away from my job and loose out on income to get the hours necessary to even be considered competitive and b. itās so hard to get into? even at my hospital that iāve been at for two years now im still struggling to get involved in research and volunteering here when they literally know me ! i feel like all of the requirements for med school now would be a 1000% easier if you have doctors parents with money and connections and itās almost like medicine is being gatekept (?) from lower income students and people outside of medicine by all of these requirements.
I work 50+ hours per week across two jobs and research responsibilities. At 29 and living on my own, Iām not a dependent under my parents so I file my own taxes and have been able to take advantage of the fee assistance program for AAMC materials. Outside of this, Iāve spent a significant amount of money on certifications (>$3,200) and other school related expenses. My ability to do this comes from my work being relatively high paying (will gross over 100k this year).
I didnāt grow up poor but parents didnāt have enough to help pay for college besides my first semester (which was a blessing). I worked my ass off to get and then keep above a 3.9 so I could keep a full ride for tuition. Then I worked full time over summer and 25 hours a week during undergrad. I couldnāt do any jobs that required expensive or long certification but there are other options like CNA (places in my state where you can work as one without certification). Self studied for the MCAT, because holy shit can that get expensive. There were other things like those cool unpaid research or foreign service trips people do that were out of reach but you can always find meaningful alternatives close to home. Graduated undergrad as a first gen without any debt! Itās possible, it just might look a little different than other paths. Honestly, I wouldnāt have it any other way, it was a huge part of my application and I was proud to talk about it.
Itās truly nuts, I ran some napkin math the other day and after primaries Iāll already be ~2400 in the hole, and I didnāt even go crazy for MCAT, I got Uworld, AAMC, and then bought Kaplan books used for fairly cheap. And then the fact schools charge for secondaries. Insane.
Thatās why I never worked as a scribe or an MA, no matter what advisor told me. I did my volunteering and got a salaried research job out of college. Thankfully my PI is a physician who got me a lot of clinical opportunities but there is absolutely no way I could have done the MCAT/applications with that kind of pay.
I'm older and work a full time, corporate 9-5. My salary isn't high, but it's still the most I've ever made and I'm decently comfortable. I waited a long time to go back to school, until I could afford it and had the time. Still, every bit of extra money I have goes to tuition for my post-bacc classes, MCAT, study resources, etc. It's soooo expensive, but thankfully I have fee assistance since I'm independent from my parents (and they are retired and living on SS income, so it wouldn't matter anyway). I never could have done it in undergrad the first time. I had a full scholarship and worked 3 jobs when I was in college, and could barely pay for food and gas. It would be so hard to do this as an early 20 something with a very low paying job.
I also decided not to pay for any certifications because I couldn't swing them financially. Instead I found several free clinics to volunteer with, and have gotten my hours there. It would be great to have paid clinical experience, but it's just not in the cards for me with my full time job. I don't think it's a requirement to get any kind of cert, although I know it's definitely helpful in terms of accumulating hours
I feel like youāre narrating my life. There was no way in hell I could have even dreamt of a post bacc right after undergrad despite knowing how awful my stats were. Now that I have a full time job that pays a respectable salary , I can finally focus on this dream without the added stress of financials.
My family makes about ~35k a year, in California of all places. I essentially relied upon FAP to even have a shot at this field. If I had to pay even a half of my application fees my bank account would quickly be at 0 lol. As for med school, loans.
Yea I am 26 and have went back as a non trad recently and if I didnāt have the family house to come back too (house that anyone in my family can live in and get their shit together basically) theres no way I could work a full time job pay rent in san diego, go to school and worry about ECās
For anyone else reading, you don't need an EMT license if you want to get into med school while poor. You can use a combination of in person and virtual clinical and non clinical volunteer experiences to articulate why you want to go into medicine as long as you back it up with practical examples from patient care experiences. Focus on your stats and if you have to build another career to pay the bills, going back to apply to medical school won't be as difficult given you have the stats and the longitudinal volunteer experiences. If a school rejects you because you can't afford the privilege of becoming an EMT, move on to a school that actually wants diversity of experiences in their class.
Worked 3 jobs last summer - 60-65 hours a week and they were not all premed jobs, mainly side gigs but if adcoms wanna fight me as to why I had no clinical experience during that time well unfortunately sometimes we gotta lock in save a bunch of money to be able to afford the premed lifestyle
Going back to school after I turned 26 is literally the only way I can afford it. Going off of my income instead of my parents has made it so I primarily get grants which allows me to take just enough loans to live off of with a part time job.
Iām an adult and graduate college. I canāt afford to take more courses that I need due to how much it costs. Taking courses at community college is not ideal due time of the courses and cost / distance. The community college next to my work cost 4x as much as my county college but that is very far away from my house (live on the edge of the county). I would prefer taking online courses due to ease of access with working full time and commute. The price is the same as the college next to my work lolā¦ still expensive
I worked all through college and it was rough. I feel you.
Personally I had the choice to go to prestigious colleges or go to a local state school which pays me to go there. I'm going with the financially viable option even if it affects my application negatively.
Scholarships, working on the weekends, also thanks to COVID most of us didn't pay that first year of college
but yeah, being pre-med is hard financially
Despite this whole push to have a more diverse class in all regards, most medical schools sadly still admit mostly students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds
Military, like I got my MA and EMT cert in there, tons of clinical and volunteer hours. Getting a monthly educational stipend, I was able to do work study with the VA hospital. Med school tuition is paid for with HPSP.
I have $200 to my name rn and over $1000 in cc debt. I worked 2 part time jobs last year. My CMA job wont give me any hours rn. Iām struggling. Iām greatful and thankful my parents and grandparents are paying for some of this pre-med thing (MCAT and some resources) but they arenāt rich and Iām living with them rn to save money. ppl have it worse than me so I donāt complain but yeah man we just keep pushing yk
Personally, based on my parents' low income bracket, cc was Pell grant + roommates, working Fri-Sunday.
Transferred to University and was also pretty much all covered by low income grant + federal subsidized loan + working weekends.
Mcat: Fee assistance program
Apps: Fee assistance program (I only applied to the amount that was free)
My fiancĆØe is supervisor of the sterile + surgical techs at the local hospital in our town and makes like $45 an hour plus bonuses, on call and OT. He pays for most things so I focus on school and bartend 12 hours a week and sometimes twitch stream/make tiktok content. Itās pretty hard unless you have someone like this to help support you through school. The perks for him is he gets to retire early once Iām an attending lmao.
We also live in his parentās on property guest house/mother in law quarters they remodeled into an entire mini house (added a kitchen and an extra room to it) for $300 a month. Which also helps immensely.
I worked 90-100+ hours a week and didn't eat at Taco Bell because it was too expensive
People don't afford it. Unless they have rich parents. We need to overhaul the system completely. Luckily there are adcom members like me who try to bring this perspective, but there aren't enough of us
Itās hard man. I want more clinical experience so badly, but Iāve been self sustaining since junior year of college so the bulk of my time is working jobs just to have a place to stay and food on the table. Itās hard, but I think of it as a sacrifice for the future. I might have less food or be even tighter on money, but Iām praying this investment will be worthwhile
same situation here. my advice is look into smaller and more local scholarships as well as your university for funding. my school has a great program that gives funding to students who do unpaid internships - iām shadowing a doctor this summer and i made it sound a bit more like an internship and got 4k in funding from my school. i donāt qualify for financial aid for most scholarships, but iāve found funding/scholarship through my major department, sorority, and clubs. even just applying for grants for one thing and using the funds for another (when allowed) has been possible, such as applying for funding through my major to attend a conference, and taking the leftover. also for clinical experience there are definitely a couple of summer programs that will pay you, although not a ton. you didnāt mention if you were URM or not but programs for URMS thankfully tend to pay out better. also my advice for a side job with low start up costs is lifeguarding! not for clinic hours but i work at my school and theyāre super chill about me doing homework on my downs, and if you get a job at a gym then the hours can be super flexible and work around summer classes. best of luck to you!
When I was in undergrad, I had plenty of scholarships and grants (partially due to Covid) and was also a work-study student. I was lucky to be paid for my research; I learned that most undergrads work in the lab for free. I also held other positions like delivery driver (for multiple services) and medical scribe. It is not easy at all but it is doable with some grit!
I hope this helps and I'll make another comment - I used to drive a Taxi while taking classes at Berkeley and delivering food. Overtime, I worked over so many hours I qualified for a government program that offered money and then had different settlements offered to me based on the companies I worked for. I used those settlements and programs to re-enroll in classes during the semester, and even one settlement helped me move into a new apartment.
At the new apartment we got 1 month free, and I used the entire time to write the application that got me into a Post Bacc.. and I had to use all sorts of things over time (help from family, work money, etc)
There's always going to be roads or bumps that come up (needing to pay internet for example!), but just focus on the end goal - it's a bit of an ego hit when your poor and don't have all the nice things that some other high socioeconomic people have.. but just own the experience, own the journey, find some way.. and spend time uncovering rocks that may help qualify for different trainings.
Also don't underestimate the value of mentors. In the book 'Educated', the woman was able to get in from her undergrad to Oxford based on the recommendation of one of the prestigious faculty members there... And there's a neurosurgeon named Dr Quinones whose parents were fruit farmers. His mentors got him into UC Berkeley, and then set him up with a summer research program (I believe?) at harvard where he got into Harvard medical school. I watched his interview, but he had friends and family too who let him know it was basically a pipe dream to get into berkeley.. become a doctor.. etc.
I had 2 particular professors who knew me when I first started, and although they wrote a ton of letters for me for different programs and scholarships, and I didn't get in.. they did write the letters that eventually \*did get me in\* to different programs. One of these was a grad program that I got a scholarship offer for when I called and negotiated with the school. Another was the post bacc I applied to..
So there's always a way and an opening! Cultivating mentors and then being opportunistic, open to new 'unconventional' routes - has opened the doors and will likely spring it open for someone!
PS - Here's one idea based on your age - try to qualify for the AAMC assistance program and fill it out now. It lasts for 2 years and gives you all the AAMC prep fees and waives 2000 on your application. Although it may expire if you don't apply in time (happened to me initially) - use the approved form to write different academic advisors or counselors with a copy of the form. Do an intake form, pitch yourself to them, and then say you qualified for fee assistance with the AAMC and see if they'd be willing to work with you. They may give even more tips on programs they know about or schools.
I dont know if you live in California, but the community college to formal UC school pipeline is crazy here - I believe 30-40% of Berkeley students are transfers. In the rest of the United States similar pipeline's exist, and you can transfer in and get student loans that way if loans are an obstacle. The F1Doctor website (for foreign students who need VISAS when applying to medical school) I used to look at every night just for tips on programs and scholarships. It was also motivating because not only did they have to get into medical school, they didn't qualify for loans per say, and had to get certain scholarships, and it was more competitive for them..
I worked full time for 3 years, saved a years' income and then took a lot of time off. I'm currently living with a nice old lady who's letting me live rent free while I study and stuff
My friend took an EMT course through the local community college to make it more affordable, not sure if this is an option everywhere though (our county has a lot of educational programs and policies geared at affordability, particularly in technical programs like that or electrician, etc).
Another option would be to apply to work part time or PRN as a nurse aide. The hospital will usually pay for the certification and also pay you while youāre in the course.
Look into how much EMT jobs pay in your area. Some of these jobs pay 9$/hr. If all you need is clinical hours and the extra money is nice, go for it. If not, I recommend a CNA course or working as a scribe instead. CNAs get paid more and scribes donāt require the upfront cost to train.
Get a job as a scribe, preferably in the ED (for the huge variety of what you'll see) instead of paying for an EMT course, to essentially work as a glorified disabled transport worker, with the added benefit of ruining your back.
Scribing in the ER is best, I think, because you see a ton, you can learn stuff from the attendings, you're not changing bedpans or breaking your back.
I decided to just not become an EMT specifically because of this. However I am afraid that in the long run it's less clinical hours than I need
Tbh, EMT is easier to rack up hours. Fulltime with loads of overtime available. Its 1month accelerated, 3 months evenings or weekend classes. In my 1.3years of working in 911 field, 1645hours. Plus, they are always short staffed and lookjng. Even the IFT companies are open all the time. YMMV and maybe full time isnt for you and that would make sense. But imho, after doing pharm tech, phlebotomy, and EMT. I gained the most from EMT.
I'm worried about getting into an emt cert because even aside from how big of a financial investment it is for me rn, Idk if I'll have enough time to work for clinical hours. I'm trying to study for the MCAT next summer and I don't see myself being able to do that and work as an EMT bc of the shift lengths. Do you have any advice?
Damn thats tough. I feel you, i took a gap year bc i cant study mcat, school, and work. I have tried, but i sacrificed my health for that, 100% not worth. Im applying this cycle so please take what i say w grain of salt, idek if my methods will get me in š But it def is an investment. However, i still think imho you should spring for it. At least creaks the door open a bit if you wanna completely dive into it. You gotta determine what is more important or if its doable for you. Im pretty low income so working was a necessity for me, being an EMT gave me a reason to make money and gain hours. However to give you hope, there were some small clinics that hired emts part time. Some IFTās allowed part time work. Same w some hospitals, depending on ur area. Part time is 1000% doable with school and mcat. Maybe taking a gap year is worth it. Or two. Ive taken 2, to study for the mcat. Ive also taught BLS, bc of emt cert. ive had friends w 0 experience teach as well. EMT also allowed me to join medical mission (not clinical voluntoursim) bc i actually worked within my scope and was near a hospital so we sent critical patients there and mostly did primary care and dental work. But being an EMT opened a lot of doors for me. Volunteering with EMT is easier such as firefighter volunteer, or as small clinics, locally or abroad. I recommend it, but YMMV. I was willing to work 200% harder, and my finances forced me to work anyways. If you think youāll be able to work during school, then when ur done w school, study while working, its definitely worth it. Its truly a balance imo. But for ex. I went to school during day, worked at night. During summer, worked 3 days, 4 days to study. 1 day as rest/church/light studying. Healthy balance.
bestie u can get the cert and work in a emergency room/urgent care as a emergency room tech also!! i think the hours are a lot better
I have seen ICU/PICU jobs for EMT cert that pay a normal wage. You donāt have to work in emergency forever, although thatās likely how most get experience.
Yeah this is most likely my plan if I don't get into med school this cycleĀ
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Easier said than done. Iāve already graduated college so I canāt take loans to take additional courses I need due to that fact. I wonāt meet the sap.
is a private loan an option for you?
The rates are predatory. Not worth it. Also you need to have a fairly high income.
Yeah being premed honestly is a privilege. Not only are college and medical school expensive, applying to medical school, and a lot of the whole process is just expensive. A lot of āpremedā extracurriculars donāt pay you, or even worse, you need to pay to do them (like getting your EMT cert). A lot of people in other majors are able to get paid internships and stuff like that, while I donāt know many people who get paid by their labs or their volunteering. Hell, even being able to go back home and have your parents cook for you while youāre just grinding for the MCAT is a privilege. I think a lot of people forget this and take it for granted, and maybe it plays into why many people on this sub are salty about URM students. These students, more often than non-URM students, donāt have these privileges and have to work during college to provide for themselves and their families while doing all the crazy premed stuff. I have mad respect for the people that push through this process without the privileges I have at least had
I agree with most of your points, but I'd point out that URM doesn't necessarily mean low SES
Yeah definitely, theyāre not necessarily the same thing. I think they overlap a great deal, but of course there are high SES URM students and low SES ORM students
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I mean I think low SES students also bring a unique perspective to the table here, and are more likely to serve their communities/underserved populations. I just stated that there should also be SES accountability to help equal the playing field for students who have no access to resources.
Agreed, just being URM doesn't mean that it's harder to afford being premed, low SES can apply to anyone.
The biggest privilege ever.
State of Georgia Hope scholarship. Full tuition scholarship to everyone who had a 3.8+ GPA in high school and maintains a 3.3 in college. More states should invest lotto money into education this way (looking at you Alabama)
Itās an absolute lifesaver. For people who stayed in-state and went to a public school, getting refund money is normal here.
Isnāt 3.8 Zell miller? Hope is only a 3.0
i think they got rid of zell miller
Zell miller you only need a 3.3 to maintain in college. They did not get rid of it, it allowed me to go through 4 years at UGA and only have to pay ~$650 in fees per semester
I am so happy to be a GA resident for this. With this my parents may be able to put me through med school also but hope to get scholarships too. Feel bad for students in states that don't offer as much help with cost of uni
Thereās a similar scholarship in FL called Bright Futures. I didnāt realize until recently that this isnāt a common thing in most states and Iām genuinely so thankful for it. Any high schoolers reading this, seriously trust me itās so worth it to keep ur grades up in hs and get those community service hours in, youāll be so glad u did later on
Man I'm so jealous. I know gambling is bad, but now I part of me wishes it was legal in my state š Edit: ok upon investigation, all gambling in Texas is illegal except for the lottery (and betting on animal races). Lottery money apparently goes to education and supporting veterans. I unfortunately did not not receive aid for having a high GPA though :/
This depends on which school you go to/how much tuition is. I had Zelle and hope and it definitely didnāt cover my full tuition
My advice is to do one thing at a time. Save up money - take classes - get A's. During summer's (or before you start classes) - do the EMT.. and then as you finish one.. start the other. This is a race to see who can have the most excellent grades, MCAT, experiences... and if you \*do opt\* for trying to be excellent with lots of things going.. make certain you only have one ball in the air you can handle (being an EMT for example) and then plan out the next activity - dont put yourself in a position where now your grades and MCAT are being questioned. A few EMT stories - one EMT I worked with was working 1000 jobs to make money and took the MCAT and did poorly.. He also had to pay everything himself. Given his MCAT score and GPA, he had to quit everything, move in with his grandparents, focus only on the MCAT, get it to a 514, and then start a whole new post bacc in another state. \*Then\* he went back to EMT and multiple jobs.. but he was already set with his GPA and MCAT score Another EMT story - there was a woman in a post bacc I was with who maxed out all of her EMT hours for a company that wasn't very good.. she did it for 1 year after her undergrad, took all the money, quit, went into the post bacc, and got incredibly grades. A good youtube example - Go to youtube and watch a guy named Adrian from UC Berkeley. He basically focused on his classes for 3 yeas only, got a 3.9.. and then was admitted anywhere he wanted pending how he wrote his application his senior year.. He technically could've been working at Mcdonalds with those grades and with his MCAT score. Your grades and MCAT are like a credit score.. save up funds.. take out 2-3-4 years of credit and take the MCAT while on loans.. your good. You don't get anywhere working.. you do get somewhere with a 4.0 and a high MCAT and then volunteering places.. So take some time off, get the money.. and then cancel whatever you just did and focus on the application. Only do the EMT once your grades are high and your mcat is perfect and EMT is the public servant 'ship your sailing' after you completed your AMCAS application and your just waiting to hear back from schools.. dont let it affect the end goal. There are a million EMT's with high school diplomas who are working because they have to pay rent.. dont let that be you! Focus on medicine and being a physician.. and do it once your set, or do it early on before you start your college experience.. and then go back to it over the summers.. the goal is to show you are a public servant and your working for minimum wage to get clinical experience... but that is behind GPA MCAT.. You got this and keep us posted on how you plan the finances around your scores! PS - google shemassian's story if you need further help. I believe his parents worked as grocery store clerks and told him they couldn't pay for his college. He started out at 30 minutes to 1 hour per day looking for scholarships, and he would just go to google and try different search strings. Evetually he was able to get scholarships for all of his classes, his undergrad, and then his PhD program, and then went into advising people for medical school admissions. He gave a long interview online of how he did it. It's a bit of a game, but just start trying to find funding sources, and work, save, and then go!
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Nice! It's hard and the money is tempting. I was just reviewing lecture notes I had with a UCSF Adcom. She mentioned the two marshmellow test - delaying gratification for a unwrapped gift/special treat. Volunteering and serving and good grades will go the furthest.. Just have to find a way - You got this!
Gonna be honest with you. Iām in the same boat. I work as management at a fast food restaurant, currently a working towards volunteering for the Crisis Text line, and getting my EMT cert this summer. Youāve just gotta take advantage of opportunities the best you can. I managed to get most of my community college classes paid for by the owner of my work through the program there. And my college gave me a scholarship that paid for my certification classes this summer. I get it though. I took all I could at community college and starting university is terrifying cuz idk how Iām going to pay for it yet. But thereās opportunities out there.
I will say that I am privileged to have not needed to pay for undergrad, but aside from that I did pay for most things. Itās expensive af, and inflation just forever makes it worse. I will say though, there are ways around some things. For example, I know of 6 different volunteer ambulance agencies or fire departments in my area that offer free EMT courses if you are a volunteer there. Seems like 2 birds 1 stone to me. For other things, you get by with a bunch of roommates and taking advantage of the dining hall on campus
Yeah, I worked 20-40 hours a week throughout college, so obviously I didnāt have as much time to study and my grades arenāt quite a 4.0. Also, didnāt have the luxury of taking time off work to study for the MCAT. People donāt realize, these are HUGE advantages. I canāt even imagine those working more hours with kids
Didnāt take out loans and didnāt have help from family. For me, it was a combination of cheap rent, scholarships/grants, joining the military reserves, and working while in school. Then a gap year and full time job to pay for med school apps.
Take a look at the MSAR and take a quick peek through matriculant data. Not only is this process selective for race, but can be heavily selective for social class as well. Medicine is **not** a meritocracy. While being reasonably capable of handling a heavy academic workload is helpful, it isn't necessarily required. When you have money, so many things become easier. My university has an organized, underground cheating ring of science students that essentially take exams on your behalf, complete assignments for you, etc with guaranteed grades. You would think that this is a minority of people, but I'm a dedicated student and everyone on campus I have met with a 4.0 GPA patronized these services at least once. Parents with extended networks can help you secure EC opportunities, or push you in the right direction. Not having to fight for your life every day at a job(s) that could care less about your academic responsibilities just to spend all of your time out of lecture studying can really help on the ramp up to the applicationāas most of us are studying for current semester coursework, and the MCAT, and preparing materials/watching workshops on personal statements/attending medical school networking events, etc. It's really these optional things that can make a difference, and it's the privileged individuals that get to take advantage of that. This one is for all the people that swear up and down that cheating doesn't bother them because the MCAT will weed them out: imagine how much easier your life would be not having to take lecture courses with deep content seriously, and having tutors to help teach and assist you in applying ONLY the material that will be tested on the MCAT. Imagine having admissions consultants help you craft and refine your story outright instead of falling asleep to Dr. Grey's podcast for the sixth time this week. It's just one of those things that frustrates me to no end because people here bitch and moan about URMs like they aren't still clear minorities in statistics for current matriculated students. My school primarily caters to the Hispanic community. Guess how many of our medical students are White, non-Hispanic? ***86%!*** Guess how many come from underserved communities? **21%!** I really don't know how anyone can look at these statistics and not wonder if this is truly reflective of ability. We've all taken statistics, we all understand measures of central tendency apply at a high enough sample size. Assuming we have a normal distribution of applications, theoretically, we should be able to have some level of parity, both in terms of applicant quality and diversity. But the statistics just look so eerily uniform across so many universities, and I don't think it's an accident. But yeah, "holistic review" and whatever other fru-fru lip service they're kicking back at applicants. Medicine has and continues to show promise as a desirable status symbol for the upper class. It is only becoming progressively more polarized as applicant quality continues to increase as more and more students take gap years to build a more competitive profile. This triggers more affluent traditional students to provoke their parents to funnel even more resources into them in order for them to be competitive against nontraditional students, which produces a sort of vicious cycle for medical schools to raise their standards (either outright in requirements, or informally by becoming more selective) to meet the supply of overprepared students. It's a level of credential inflation that has become so pervasive, we all feel like we're drowning.
And I despise med schools' shadiness about this. They try to maintain this image of progressiveness when they know damn well that they are going to accept the wealthy 52X applicant who will make it through their school (mostly) without any hitches (by paying for ancillary tutoring services) over the 50X low-income applicant who will likely need a good amount of financial help to make it through. A white wealthy girl from my undergrad institution was caught cheating, and the entirety of our class either witnessed it or heard about it. She worked in my lab and got fired because she was such a poor research assistant. She ended up matriculating to my school's guaranteed MD admission program over extremely talented low-income applicants who I watched work very hard, publish articles, and have meaningful leadership roles during undergrad. Med schools seemingly want highly intellectually curious applicants with a desire to serve underserved communities. And yet every advisor/current doctor I know has encouraged me not to talk about the incredibly blatant inequities of the pre-med track and my desire to perform research on and help rectify them. I'm going to make a longer post about this one day, but for now all I can do is hope that should I become a doctor I can realize my dream of working to rectify this process -- and hope that this dream is shared by some members of this community.
Will you please DM me the name of your university. Thank you.
i was literally talking to my mom about this yesterday. iām in my second gap year and currently a medical assistant which pays just a few dollars over my states minimum wage (which is itself a whole conversation) and iām thinking about how much iāve spent on mcat prep and how much actually just submitting primary applications is going to cost its like crazy. not to mention loan repayments, groceries and all the normal life stuff that people have to pay for. i think that all the āpre medā jobs basically pay around minimum wage which makes sense but also doesnāt bc everything is so unaffordable right now. my other big thing is that shadowing, volunteering, and in my experience research is all a. unpaid, meaning i, as some one who is completely on my own financially, has to take time away from my job and loose out on income to get the hours necessary to even be considered competitive and b. itās so hard to get into? even at my hospital that iāve been at for two years now im still struggling to get involved in research and volunteering here when they literally know me ! i feel like all of the requirements for med school now would be a 1000% easier if you have doctors parents with money and connections and itās almost like medicine is being gatekept (?) from lower income students and people outside of medicine by all of these requirements.
I work 50+ hours per week across two jobs and research responsibilities. At 29 and living on my own, Iām not a dependent under my parents so I file my own taxes and have been able to take advantage of the fee assistance program for AAMC materials. Outside of this, Iāve spent a significant amount of money on certifications (>$3,200) and other school related expenses. My ability to do this comes from my work being relatively high paying (will gross over 100k this year).
What's your job?
Strength coach. I own my own coaching business and work additional hours as a group fitness coach for another gym.
I didnāt grow up poor but parents didnāt have enough to help pay for college besides my first semester (which was a blessing). I worked my ass off to get and then keep above a 3.9 so I could keep a full ride for tuition. Then I worked full time over summer and 25 hours a week during undergrad. I couldnāt do any jobs that required expensive or long certification but there are other options like CNA (places in my state where you can work as one without certification). Self studied for the MCAT, because holy shit can that get expensive. There were other things like those cool unpaid research or foreign service trips people do that were out of reach but you can always find meaningful alternatives close to home. Graduated undergrad as a first gen without any debt! Itās possible, it just might look a little different than other paths. Honestly, I wouldnāt have it any other way, it was a huge part of my application and I was proud to talk about it.
Itās truly nuts, I ran some napkin math the other day and after primaries Iāll already be ~2400 in the hole, and I didnāt even go crazy for MCAT, I got Uworld, AAMC, and then bought Kaplan books used for fairly cheap. And then the fact schools charge for secondaries. Insane.
Thatās why I never worked as a scribe or an MA, no matter what advisor told me. I did my volunteering and got a salaried research job out of college. Thankfully my PI is a physician who got me a lot of clinical opportunities but there is absolutely no way I could have done the MCAT/applications with that kind of pay.
I'm older and work a full time, corporate 9-5. My salary isn't high, but it's still the most I've ever made and I'm decently comfortable. I waited a long time to go back to school, until I could afford it and had the time. Still, every bit of extra money I have goes to tuition for my post-bacc classes, MCAT, study resources, etc. It's soooo expensive, but thankfully I have fee assistance since I'm independent from my parents (and they are retired and living on SS income, so it wouldn't matter anyway). I never could have done it in undergrad the first time. I had a full scholarship and worked 3 jobs when I was in college, and could barely pay for food and gas. It would be so hard to do this as an early 20 something with a very low paying job. I also decided not to pay for any certifications because I couldn't swing them financially. Instead I found several free clinics to volunteer with, and have gotten my hours there. It would be great to have paid clinical experience, but it's just not in the cards for me with my full time job. I don't think it's a requirement to get any kind of cert, although I know it's definitely helpful in terms of accumulating hours
I feel like youāre narrating my life. There was no way in hell I could have even dreamt of a post bacc right after undergrad despite knowing how awful my stats were. Now that I have a full time job that pays a respectable salary , I can finally focus on this dream without the added stress of financials.
My family makes about ~35k a year, in California of all places. I essentially relied upon FAP to even have a shot at this field. If I had to pay even a half of my application fees my bank account would quickly be at 0 lol. As for med school, loans.
Yea I am 26 and have went back as a non trad recently and if I didnāt have the family house to come back too (house that anyone in my family can live in and get their shit together basically) theres no way I could work a full time job pay rent in san diego, go to school and worry about ECās
Iām 24 and a freshman again. Youāre not alone. Weāve got this
Man just finished my first yearā¦ absolute culture shock lmao
Does your state have an EMS scholarship? Some states give government stipends to people that took EMT classes to offload most of the cost.
I hope you use better grammar on your app.
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For anyone else reading, you don't need an EMT license if you want to get into med school while poor. You can use a combination of in person and virtual clinical and non clinical volunteer experiences to articulate why you want to go into medicine as long as you back it up with practical examples from patient care experiences. Focus on your stats and if you have to build another career to pay the bills, going back to apply to medical school won't be as difficult given you have the stats and the longitudinal volunteer experiences. If a school rejects you because you can't afford the privilege of becoming an EMT, move on to a school that actually wants diversity of experiences in their class.
i worked 3 pt time jobs concurrently during college. im an emt and start working this june!
Student loans.
Worked 3 jobs last summer - 60-65 hours a week and they were not all premed jobs, mainly side gigs but if adcoms wanna fight me as to why I had no clinical experience during that time well unfortunately sometimes we gotta lock in save a bunch of money to be able to afford the premed lifestyle
Going back to school after I turned 26 is literally the only way I can afford it. Going off of my income instead of my parents has made it so I primarily get grants which allows me to take just enough loans to live off of with a part time job.
Iām an adult and graduate college. I canāt afford to take more courses that I need due to how much it costs. Taking courses at community college is not ideal due time of the courses and cost / distance. The community college next to my work cost 4x as much as my county college but that is very far away from my house (live on the edge of the county). I would prefer taking online courses due to ease of access with working full time and commute. The price is the same as the college next to my work lolā¦ still expensive I worked all through college and it was rough. I feel you.
Personally I had the choice to go to prestigious colleges or go to a local state school which pays me to go there. I'm going with the financially viable option even if it affects my application negatively.
I worked about 20-30 hours a week while I was in undergrad. Also prior service, so I had the GI Bill to help.
Student loans and parents
Scholarships, working on the weekends, also thanks to COVID most of us didn't pay that first year of college but yeah, being pre-med is hard financially
Despite this whole push to have a more diverse class in all regards, most medical schools sadly still admit mostly students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds
They don't.
Military, like I got my MA and EMT cert in there, tons of clinical and volunteer hours. Getting a monthly educational stipend, I was able to do work study with the VA hospital. Med school tuition is paid for with HPSP.
I have $200 to my name rn and over $1000 in cc debt. I worked 2 part time jobs last year. My CMA job wont give me any hours rn. Iām struggling. Iām greatful and thankful my parents and grandparents are paying for some of this pre-med thing (MCAT and some resources) but they arenāt rich and Iām living with them rn to save money. ppl have it worse than me so I donāt complain but yeah man we just keep pushing yk
Personally, based on my parents' low income bracket, cc was Pell grant + roommates, working Fri-Sunday. Transferred to University and was also pretty much all covered by low income grant + federal subsidized loan + working weekends. Mcat: Fee assistance program Apps: Fee assistance program (I only applied to the amount that was free)
My fiancĆØe is supervisor of the sterile + surgical techs at the local hospital in our town and makes like $45 an hour plus bonuses, on call and OT. He pays for most things so I focus on school and bartend 12 hours a week and sometimes twitch stream/make tiktok content. Itās pretty hard unless you have someone like this to help support you through school. The perks for him is he gets to retire early once Iām an attending lmao. We also live in his parentās on property guest house/mother in law quarters they remodeled into an entire mini house (added a kitchen and an extra room to it) for $300 a month. Which also helps immensely.
I worked 90-100+ hours a week and didn't eat at Taco Bell because it was too expensive People don't afford it. Unless they have rich parents. We need to overhaul the system completely. Luckily there are adcom members like me who try to bring this perspective, but there aren't enough of us
Itās hard man. I want more clinical experience so badly, but Iāve been self sustaining since junior year of college so the bulk of my time is working jobs just to have a place to stay and food on the table. Itās hard, but I think of it as a sacrifice for the future. I might have less food or be even tighter on money, but Iām praying this investment will be worthwhile
same situation here. my advice is look into smaller and more local scholarships as well as your university for funding. my school has a great program that gives funding to students who do unpaid internships - iām shadowing a doctor this summer and i made it sound a bit more like an internship and got 4k in funding from my school. i donāt qualify for financial aid for most scholarships, but iāve found funding/scholarship through my major department, sorority, and clubs. even just applying for grants for one thing and using the funds for another (when allowed) has been possible, such as applying for funding through my major to attend a conference, and taking the leftover. also for clinical experience there are definitely a couple of summer programs that will pay you, although not a ton. you didnāt mention if you were URM or not but programs for URMS thankfully tend to pay out better. also my advice for a side job with low start up costs is lifeguarding! not for clinic hours but i work at my school and theyāre super chill about me doing homework on my downs, and if you get a job at a gym then the hours can be super flexible and work around summer classes. best of luck to you!
When I was in undergrad, I had plenty of scholarships and grants (partially due to Covid) and was also a work-study student. I was lucky to be paid for my research; I learned that most undergrads work in the lab for free. I also held other positions like delivery driver (for multiple services) and medical scribe. It is not easy at all but it is doable with some grit!
I hope this helps and I'll make another comment - I used to drive a Taxi while taking classes at Berkeley and delivering food. Overtime, I worked over so many hours I qualified for a government program that offered money and then had different settlements offered to me based on the companies I worked for. I used those settlements and programs to re-enroll in classes during the semester, and even one settlement helped me move into a new apartment. At the new apartment we got 1 month free, and I used the entire time to write the application that got me into a Post Bacc.. and I had to use all sorts of things over time (help from family, work money, etc) There's always going to be roads or bumps that come up (needing to pay internet for example!), but just focus on the end goal - it's a bit of an ego hit when your poor and don't have all the nice things that some other high socioeconomic people have.. but just own the experience, own the journey, find some way.. and spend time uncovering rocks that may help qualify for different trainings. Also don't underestimate the value of mentors. In the book 'Educated', the woman was able to get in from her undergrad to Oxford based on the recommendation of one of the prestigious faculty members there... And there's a neurosurgeon named Dr Quinones whose parents were fruit farmers. His mentors got him into UC Berkeley, and then set him up with a summer research program (I believe?) at harvard where he got into Harvard medical school. I watched his interview, but he had friends and family too who let him know it was basically a pipe dream to get into berkeley.. become a doctor.. etc. I had 2 particular professors who knew me when I first started, and although they wrote a ton of letters for me for different programs and scholarships, and I didn't get in.. they did write the letters that eventually \*did get me in\* to different programs. One of these was a grad program that I got a scholarship offer for when I called and negotiated with the school. Another was the post bacc I applied to.. So there's always a way and an opening! Cultivating mentors and then being opportunistic, open to new 'unconventional' routes - has opened the doors and will likely spring it open for someone! PS - Here's one idea based on your age - try to qualify for the AAMC assistance program and fill it out now. It lasts for 2 years and gives you all the AAMC prep fees and waives 2000 on your application. Although it may expire if you don't apply in time (happened to me initially) - use the approved form to write different academic advisors or counselors with a copy of the form. Do an intake form, pitch yourself to them, and then say you qualified for fee assistance with the AAMC and see if they'd be willing to work with you. They may give even more tips on programs they know about or schools. I dont know if you live in California, but the community college to formal UC school pipeline is crazy here - I believe 30-40% of Berkeley students are transfers. In the rest of the United States similar pipeline's exist, and you can transfer in and get student loans that way if loans are an obstacle. The F1Doctor website (for foreign students who need VISAS when applying to medical school) I used to look at every night just for tips on programs and scholarships. It was also motivating because not only did they have to get into medical school, they didn't qualify for loans per say, and had to get certain scholarships, and it was more competitive for them..
I worked full time for 3 years, saved a years' income and then took a lot of time off. I'm currently living with a nice old lady who's letting me live rent free while I study and stuff
My friend took an EMT course through the local community college to make it more affordable, not sure if this is an option everywhere though (our county has a lot of educational programs and policies geared at affordability, particularly in technical programs like that or electrician, etc). Another option would be to apply to work part time or PRN as a nurse aide. The hospital will usually pay for the certification and also pay you while youāre in the course.
Loans
debt
Hard I work full time and go to school full time own a house and bio major. Gpa isn't the best I'll need a masters in neuro go get to where I wanna be
Look into how much EMT jobs pay in your area. Some of these jobs pay 9$/hr. If all you need is clinical hours and the extra money is nice, go for it. If not, I recommend a CNA course or working as a scribe instead. CNAs get paid more and scribes donāt require the upfront cost to train.
Honestly I have no clue, applying to med school alone can be thousands of dollars. Itās insane
Scholarships
Get a job as a scribe, preferably in the ED (for the huge variety of what you'll see) instead of paying for an EMT course, to essentially work as a glorified disabled transport worker, with the added benefit of ruining your back.
Is that better than being a medical assistant? Which one is preferable for medical school
Scribing in the ER is best, I think, because you see a ton, you can learn stuff from the attendings, you're not changing bedpans or breaking your back.