Tentative Post-High School Plan (10 Years)

If the pediatrics plan is a go, four years of undergraduate school, four years of medical school, and three to eight years of residency would fulfill a 10 year post high school plan. 

After Bachelor's Degree...

Where do you go from here? Do you need more education? Would you look to move up in your work?

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree, medical school and residency are required to be a certified pediatrician. Medical school would take typically four years, and then residency would take three to eight. Once certified, pediatricians can be very flexible with how they handle their job. I could open my own practice, or be in a practice with others, but almost always as a pediatrician you are your own boss. 

Bachelor's Education

What bachelor's degree would you obtain?

The best bachelor’s degrees to obtain if interested in the field of medicine are a Bachelor of Science in either Biology, Chemistry, or Physics. Personally, I would go to obtain the Bachelor of Science in Biology, and that would make Biology my major. 

How many credits are needed to graduate?

For biology majors, at least 67 credit hours and 5 biology labs are required to receive a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology. 

What classes are needed to graduate with that degree?

§  18 credit hours of Biology courses
§  19 credit hours of Biology elective courses
§  5 Biology labs
§  16 credit hours of Chemistry courses
§  6 credit hours of Math courses
§  8 credit hours of Physics courses

Do they take AP credits? Are you taking AP classes? How would those transfer to the college?

Loyola University Chicago accepts up to 24 credit hours by AP exams for incoming freshmen. Below shows how my personal AP classes would transfer over.

Subject	Score Requirement	Course Equivalent
US History	4, 5	6 credit hrs / HIST 211 and HIST 212
English Language & Composition	4, 5	3 credit hrs / UCWR 110
Microeconomics	4, 5	3 hrs / ECON 201
Macroeconomics	4, 5	3 hrs / ECON 202
Calculus AB	4, 5	4 hrs / MATH 161
Spanish	4, 5	6 hrs / SPAN 250 and 251
Psychology	4, 5	3 hrs / PSYC 101

 Table and information from Loyola University Chicago’s Undergraduate Studies AP Guidelines, http://www.luc.edu/undergrad/academiclife/creditbyexamination/ap-credit/ap-credit.htm

Outline at least 4 to 5 years of what classes you would take to graduate.

Biology Courses (18 credit hours)	BIOL 101  General Biology I (3) BIOL 111  General Biology I Lab (1) BIOL 102  General Biology II (3) BIOL 112  General Biology II Lab (1) BIOL 251  Cell Biology (3) BIOL 265  Ecology (3) BIOL 282  Genetics (3) ONE lab course from the following: BIOL 252  Cell Biology Lab (1) BIOL 266  Ecology Lab (1) BIOL 283  Genetics Lab (1)
Biology Courses – Electives (19 credit hours)	Two elective courses must include a laboratory component.  For a listing of available Biology Electives, click here.
Biology Laboratory Requirements	A minimum of 5 labs are required for the B.S. in Biology.  For a listing of the lab requirements, click here.
Chemistry Courses (16 credit hours)	CHEM 101  General Chemistry A (3) * CHEM 111  General Chemistry Lab A (1) CHEM 102  General Chemistry B (3) * CHEM 112  General Chemistry Lab B (1) CHEM 223  Organic Chemistry A (3) ** CHEM 225  Organic Chemistry Lab A (1) CHEM 224  Organic Chemistry B (3) ** CHEM 226  Organic Chemistry Lab B (1) *   OR CHEM 105, CHEM 106 ** OR CHEM 221, CHEM 222
Mathematics Courses (6 credit hours)	MATH 131 OR 161  Calculus I (3/4) MATH 132 OR 162  Calculus II (3/4)
Physics Courses (8 credit hours)	PHYS 111 OR 113  Physics I (3/4) PHYS 131 OR 133  Physics Lab I (1) PHYS 112 OR 114  Physics II (3/4) PHYS 132 OR 134  Physics Lab II (1)

 

First Semester	Credit Hrs	Second Semester	Credit Hrs
BIOL 101, 111 CHEM 101* CHEM 111* MATH 131*	4 3 1 3	BIOL 102, 112 CHEM 102* CHEM 112* MATH 132*	4 3 1 3
Third Semester	Credit Hrs	Fourth Semester	Credit Hrs
BIOL 251 or 265 or 282 BIOL 252 or 266 or 283 CHEM 223* CHEM 225*	3 1 3 1	BIOL 251 or 265 or 282 CHEM 224* CHEM 226*	3 3 1
Fifth Semester	Credit Hrs	Sixth Semester	Credit Hrs
BIOL 251 or 265 or 282 PHYS 111* PHYS 131*	3 3 1	BIOL Elective PHYS 112* PHYS 132*	4 3 1
Seventh Semester	Credit Hrs	Eighth Semester	Credit Hrs
BIOL Elective BIOL Elective	4 3	BIOL Elective BIOL Elective	4 4

Both tables from Loyola University Chicago’s Department of Biology website, http://www.luc.edu/biology/bsinbiology/

Pediatrician

Why did you choose this career?

It’s something that’s challenging, but worth the challenge because you’re helping people almost every day. It’s something that has structure to it, but you deal with different cases on different days and are presented with new problems to solve and challenges to accomplish. Unlike certain work environments, you’re interacting with different people on different days. I like the feeling of helping people, and working with children in particular is my strong point when it comes to communication.

What type of work does someone with this career do?

Pediatricians deal with medical care for infants, children, and teenagers. Along with prescribing medicine and diagnosing illness in this specific age group, pediatricians examine well patients and are able to give them advice and/or counseling with their health.

Where?

Two prospective places of work for this profession could be at a practice or at a hospital, often a children’s hospital. I would personally like to work at a practice, because it’s a combination of helping well and ill patients more than a hospital. This could be done almost anywhere in the country; something I would love to do along with working in a practice would be to help with medical care in less fortunate countries outside the US. 

Loyola University Chicago

Why did you choose this school?

  I like how with this college, it gives many options and has many different aspects. This school is out-of-state and far enough away from home, in one of my favorite cities, Chicago. It has two campuses; one in a suburb that gives it a college-campus feel, but then the other is downtown giving it a big-city feel. Additionally, it is medium-size, which makes it big enough but not overwhelming. Additionally, this college is the only one of the three selected that offers the option of a dance minor.

Senior Year of High School - Tentative Schedule

§  English

·         Literature, Culture, & Humanities

§  Social Studies

·         AP Psychology

·         Government

§  Science

·         Honors Physics

§  Foreign Language

·         AP Spanish V

§  Math

·         AP Calculus AB

§  Electives

·         Advanced Journalism II (Tower)

·         Accounting I

·         Tutorial

Three Colleges

	University of Michigan	Loyola University Chicago	Boston College
What is required for admission	·         Essay(s) ·         SAT Reasoning Test or ACT ·         SAT Subject Tests: Required for Some	·         Essay(s) ·         SAT Reasoning Test or ACT	·         Essay(s) ·         SAT Reasoning and Subject Tests or ACT
Average High School GPA	3.8	3.7	3.7
Average Test Scores (ACT/SAT)	SAT Test Scores ·         Critical Reading: 600-700 ·         Math: 650-750 ·         Writing: 620-720 ACT Composite Scores ·         28-32	SAT Test Scores ·         Critical Reading: 540-660 ·         Math: 540-650 ·         Writing: 530-640 ACT Composite Scores ·         25-29	SAT Test Scores ·         Critical Reading: 620-710 ·         Math: 640-730 ·         Writing: 630-720 ACT Composite Scores ·         29-32
Travel Time from Home	50 miles away 1 hr away by car	300 miles away 5 hrs away by car	700 miles away 12 hrs away by car
Size of College/University	Large 27,407 undergraduates enrolled	Medium 9,856 undergraduates enrolled	Medium 9,088 undergraduates enrolled
Average Class Size	Less than 50 students	10 to 19 students	10 to 19 students
Cost	$12,994 + Room and Board	$34,938 + Room and Board	$43,878 + Room and Board
Why does this college interest you?	Close to home but far away enough. Large campus, lots of variety, competitive academics	Not too far away from home and Chicago has always been a favorite city of mine. Lots of variety  and unique campus life; offers dance minor	Far away from home but in a good location. School is big but not too overwhelming; competitive academics

The Information on this Page was found using the following sources:

·         Big Future by the College Board; Comparing Colleges

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/compare-colleges

·         College Data College Profiles

http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=144

·         The Princeton Review

http://www.princetonreview.com/universityofmichiganannarbor.aspx

·         Career Cornerstone Center

http://www.careercornerstone.org/math/mathprep.htm