So I want to move to California... (San Francisco, Monterey: 2015, credit)

[davefan13]

I am a 17 year old male, about to graduate high school, and will be 18 in a couple months. I live in Southeastern Indiana, and will be starting college in Ohio in the fall. I plan on going to Medical school after my undergraduate education.

Recently I have realized that i dont want to spend my life in the midwest. I love the beach and the mountains, and think california would maybe be a good spot for me. I have visited California before, and loved it. I was in the San Francisco and Monterey area. I am from an upper-middle class family, but I don't expect to get any help from them after I have moved out. I have also lived in a small town for my entire life, but I dont think living in or near a big city would be a problem for me.

Now that you have some background information about me...
I feel that college may be the opportune time for me to move to California. I would have a place to live at school, could get a feel for the area, and meet some people. I had excellent ACT and SAT scores, and over a 4.0 gpa in high school, so transferring at the semester or end of my freshman year shouldn't be a problem.
I just don't know how to start going about figuring out what to do. I don't know if I would make enough money to live near LA (seems like this is a good place to be, near the beaches) I really just don't know what to do. I am also unsure about my future in the medical field...I'm sure there are opportunities around LA? If possible, I would like to own my own medical practice...is California a bad place to start this?

Basically California seems like the place to be. Near the ocean, and near mountains, it seems awesome. I wouldn't have a problem leaving the people i have at home behind. I am also in a part of my life where I can make some big changes. So if anyone has advice, links to similar threads, or words of wisdom for me, I would greatly appreciate it! I have been doing some reading an it appeared to me that talking to some other people may be my best option.

Thanks!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by davefan13

will be starting college in Ohio in the fall.

I feel that college may be the opportune time for me to move to California.

I don't expect to get any help from them after I have moved out.

How are you going to finance your undergrad?
How will you pay for housing?
How will you pay for medical school?

[Snort]

You should have academic scholarships with your grades and test scores. Get a good education (wherever that may be) and California will still be here when you're ready for the work world.

[davefan13]

Originally Posted by Charles

How are you going to finance your undergrad?
How will you pay for housing?
How will you pay for medical school?

Payment for my education is coming from A good amount of scholarships and my parents.

Housing will be payed for using my scholarship money if it's usable, and my parents if it's not.

Not sure how I will be paying for medical school. Probably with student loans

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by davefan13

Payment for my education is coming from A good amount of scholarships and my parents.

I thought you said there would be no money coming from your parents once you moved out? What schools are the scholarship offers from? This isn't the point in the game where you throw in your hand and ask for a re-deal -- you've got a good set of cards. What you're talking about takes years of planning and preparing for. If you have a good offer from a school in Ohio, cherish it. You can target a California medical school for 2015 admission if that's still your dream. Likewise with opening a practice in California. For now, worry about getting through Organic Chemistry and Physics.

Don't worry too much about the quality of your leisure life; college will take up much more of your time than high school did. Remember that we're still living in the largest economic contraction this country has seen in 80 years. In such times, you can't have everything that you want. You're lucky to have what you have. Don't throw it away chasing what looks like greener grass. California isn't all it's cracked up to be. Yeah, "it seems awesome"...from afar. But it's not like what you see on TV, and there are a lot of livability issues that aren't immediately obvious when you're just visiting or looking at pictures.

[Ceece]

Go to school where you already got in, apply to med school after undergrad, profit.

Its may or may not be in CA, you can't always get what you want.

[Snort]

...but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what, you get what you need.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by davefan13

Payment for my education is coming from A good amount of scholarships and my parents.

Housing will be payed for using my scholarship money if it's usable, and my parents if it's not.

Not sure how I will be paying for medical school. Probably with student loans

I think you are jumping way ahead of yourself and you made referance in your first posting to: you were not going to get help from your parents after you move out.

I say you are getting ahead of yourself because you are asking about whether Ca would be a good place to open up a practice: you have 4 years of college, then med school, then internship and residency: who knows in 10 years what it will be like, heck you may end up doing your rintership in Florida for all you know.

You say your scholarships will carry you through, the scholarships you are using for your education in Ohio may not carry to California and you will have very high out of state tuition if you get accepted into a good Ca school next fall or fall of 2013 I should say.

Whether your scholarshp money carries over depends on what kind they are and how well you do during your fresthman year. Do you have any idea what university, in Ca you would like to attend?

Your idea of transferring is great, but getting accepted may not be as easy as you think it will. With the cuts in the Ca schools right now, transfers are not guananteed like they were 10 years ago.

Keep on asking questions; yes, the best way to find out what to expect is by asking and your idea isn't off base, but maybe needs to be thought through. Just because you love the beach doesn't mean Ca is the best place for you to get your undergraduate degree. Now, if you are sure this is what you want and you can financually swing it, start applying this summer.

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Snort

You should have academic scholarships with your grades and test scores. Get a good education (wherever that may be) and California will still be here when you're ready for the work world.

Not necessarily, he says good SAT but doesn't mention how good. As for 4.0 plus, today a lot of kids are graduatiing with 4.0 plus. Our own graddaughter did, she got a nice scholarship but certainly not enough to cover CA out of state tuition and housing. She went to a less expensive school, yes, out of state but again not with Ca college prices. The high school she attended had close to 15% of the graduating seniors with GPAs over 4.0. They do this by taking AP classes which give them extra credit

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Brenda-by-the-sea

I thought you said there would be no money coming from your parents once you moved out? What schools are the scholarship offers from? This isn't the point in the game where you throw in your hand and ask for a re-deal -- you've got a good set of cards. What you're talking about takes years of planning and preparing for. If you have a good offer from a school in Ohio, cherish it. You can target a California medical school for 2015 admission if that's still your dream. Likewise with opening a practice in California. For now, worry about getting through Organic Chemistry and Physics.

Don't worry too much about the quality of your leisure life; college will take up much more of your time than high school did. Remember that we're still living in the largest economic contraction this country has seen in 80 years. In such times, you can't have everything that you want. You're lucky to have what you have. Don't throw it away chasing what looks like greener grass. California isn't all it's cracked up to be. Yeah, "it seems awesome"...from afar. But it's not like what you see on TV, and there are a lot of livability issues that aren't immediately obvious when you're just visiting or looking at pictures.

You are seeing this about the same way I did and leisure life for anyone expecting to make the grades necessary for med school, shouldn't be a concern at all.