So stuck about what to do this year :/ (1 Viewer)

[AB940]

Hey sorry this is complex, I'll try and keep it brief.
My end goal is to do medical research but also be qualified to practise as a doctor. I didn't do the UMAT in grade 12 (stupidly) so I can't get straight into Medicine this year. I unexpectedly got an offer from USyd to study a B Sc (Advanced) which I love the sound of because of the flexibility of unit choice and there is one major that sounds like exactly what I want to do, so I thought about doing that and then doing postgraduate medicine.

The thing is, i don't live in New South Wales, so I'd have to move. And when the offers came out I wasn't in Australia so I couldn't accept (no one could have acted on my behalf). I was going to just have a year off, even though I absolutely hate the idea, then go. But work has cut my hours to about 3 a week and I am already bored after only a few months off. (Ideally I'd want a full time job but easier said than done where I live)

I live in a place with only 1 university and I enrolled in a course that sounds sort of similar to what I want to do (but intended to withdraw). I made a snap decision last night and went to the first lectures today and it seemed pretty good, but I feel sad to let the USyd offer go. I don't want to have a year off, but it's what I'd accepted I'd have to do as a means to an end, so I feel totally unprepared and as though I really won't have a good start to this year.

Sorry haha that was pretty much my life story but I am so confused! Just when I feel like I've made my mind up I change. Should I just suck it up and take a year off or stick to it?

 

[Sainteced]

So ultimately you want to be a research physician.

You have answered your question, you don't want to have a year off. Is it possible to transfer units from this degree over to USyd Adv. Sci.? If so, then it's probably better to continue.

However, what do you plan on doing in your potential year off? Look for new experiences? Travel? Are you sure in yourself that you want to pursue research and medicine?

What has happened is in the past. Now you need to make a choice, continuing uni will bring your closer to your ultimate goal but a gap-year can be an invaluable experience to grow and develop as a individual. Hope this has helped.

 

[AB940]

Thanks heaps for the advice, it really helped to put things into perspective! In the end I did decide to have a year off, which isn't great in the short term but I have more time to think about it now. I often doubt my own decisions (not just with this but everything else) so you're right in that it has helped me to be able to think about it more clearly.